Well then, it's two days left to the festival after which we're going to start Act 2. What will happen, I do not know.

...My eyes. My back. My everything.

Where am I? It's not my room... And what's this under my left hand? It's so soft and squishy and...

…

…

Oh dear God. Please tell me this is isn't what I think it is...

…

It is. Sweet mother of mercy, it is. Thankfully, it's hidden in a safe place, in a comfy space of this innocently white bra with frilly laces-God, what am I thinking?!

I slowly remove my hand from Saki's breast and take a while to comprehend what's going on. We're in her room, that's obvious enough. No wonder my alarm clock didn't wake me up. Still, I don't remember falling asleep. Must have been the exhaustion which makes me wonder what exactly happened here? Did we do things that should not be named? I don't see any, ahem, traces of such activities.

The girl next to me has fallen asleep in her uniform, although she did unbutton her blouse... or was it my work? I shudder to think about it. She's still in her skirt, although it slid a bit down her waist and shows a glimpse of her equally innocent underwear. As for me, I'm fully clothed, although my shirt was partially unbuttoned too. The necktie lies on the chair near the desk.

...I'm gonna need a long, long shower. That is, if I'll figure out how to sneak out of there. Then again, if Misha could do it with her pink drills, I should be able too.

That being said, she had only Kenji and Hisao to bump into. I've no idea how many other girls live near Saki, so...

I catch myself taking another look at the girl that I probably love right now. Contrary to my beliefs, she does not look like an innocent angel when sleeping. Actually, she's sprawled all over the bed, making these weird motions with her right hand, as if she was a cat or something. She's also snoring. Not loudly, no, but it's audible enough to pique my attention.

Guess perfection really does not exist.

That being said, I think about what has happened yesterday. Do I really love her? Do I feel something for her? Maybe this is a one-night stand, just like it was in Misha's case(although back then we established we're friends and nothing more)? Maybe we were just lusting for physical contact and saw that the other one feels that way as well?

What if we really are an item from now on though?

I take another look around the room. For some reason, the monstrous teddy bear doesn't seem that threatening in the morning light. It seems to be thinking, stuck in a deep contemplation.

...What's the hour?

I hastily take the phone out of my pocket. Eighteen past eleven. Hoo boy... Guess I will give up in case of today's lessons. While I know Saturdays are usually less demanding, I don't feel like going anywhere when it's so late.

I'll be honest, I'm content with being here, alongside still sleeping Saki. I want to see her body, hear her breathing and enjoy every second of it. After a longer moment of hesitation I decide to ruffle her hair a bit. Her response is a long, quiet purr as she shifts in her sleep and wraps her arms around me. With a chuckle, I continue to slide my fingers around her face and neck. As tempting as it is, I do not dare going anywhere lower. Well, I guess I could explore her legs, but only that... And even then, it feels wrong to do it without her knowledge.

With a sigh, I begin to button her blouse. My hands are shaking a bit, but I get the job done: She doesn't wake up even for a split second as I continue to cover her with her clothing. Once I'm done with the blouse, I try to get up as silently as possible, while gently putting her arms away. She sleeps like a log. That, or we really went all-out on each other... She will probably mention all of it once she comes into full consciousness.

Now, the hard part. The skirt. My task is to put it back on her. Thankfully it was not unstrapped, so it's only a matter of gently pushing it upwards a bit. If she does wake up during that though, I might as well jump off the window.

Just a little push, right? A little push. With a gulp I lower my hands around her hips and start doing what I'm supposed to do. She lets out a quiet moan which makes me curse myself even more. Come on, don't tell me hips are her sensitive place? No matter, just a little bit more and we're done.

Phew. It's back. It's a bit... askew, but the general premise of hiding girl's undergarments is still there.

Despite the fact that she's still sprawled all over the bed now that I'm not around to hug and snores, she still looks cute. I think I really did fall for her. Giving her one final kiss in the forehead, I depart from her room, trying my best to not be noticed by anyone.

...This goal of sneaking through girls' dorm quite unfortunately does not go as I planned.

"'Ello." Oh God. Oh God no. I recognize that voice... "What could you possibly do in Enomoto's room at this hour?" I turn to face Miki, smiling like the smuggest bastard ever.

"..." No words can possibly justify me.

"I'm going to assume she wasn't showing you the landscape." To hell with you and your puns.

"...Why are you not in class?" Currently, it's the only response I can come up with. Brown-skinned girl seems amused.

"Festival stuff, so no lessons today." She waves her stump dismissively. "Who cares about that?"

"I do and I do believe Shizune asked me to do a few things, so I need to help, so excuse me and I'll be on my way..." Not really taking pronunciation or grammatical correctness into consideration, I swiftly turn on my heel and am about to leave, seeing this one-of-a-kind opportunity, but Miki's good hand places itself firmly on my shoulder.

"Not so fast, Master of Romance." Master of what? Oh come on! "You see, I'm something of a big sis around. I get to know stuff going on here rather quickly." Gulp. "So, my swagtastic friend, how about we talk about it over a big bowl of ice-cream?"

"...I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Miki's room is what I'd call a cavity of disorganization. Clothes are everywhere, including numerous sport bras and numerous panties. There are also various notebooks and handbooks, a few Lego bricks, a pack of French letters... In general, walking here resembles tap dancing through a minefield. The long-haired athlete has no problems with literally bouncing around her room though. She jumps into a small niche in the left corner of the room and seems to be taking something out. This "something" is a giant see-through container, filled to brim with mentioned ice-cream. Jesus Christ, the thing is big! If not for the handle, I've no idea how would she take it anywhere.

"Sit wherever you want." She offhandedly mentions as she puts the container on her desk and then goes back into niche where, I suppose, her mini-fridge is located and takes out four spoo-four.

Shit. As if I'm not up to the hilt in this...

I take a sit on her messily organized bed, shifting a bit uncomfortably. It's like a complete opposite of Saki's room. It's a place I wouldn't like to find myself after curfew.

"So..." Miki grabs four small cups and puts them on desk next to the ice-cream container. "Rumors were true."

"...What rumors?"

"Come on, dude. Rumors."

"No, really. What rumors?" Miura looks at me, amused, as she hands me a cup filled with ice-cream and gets one for herself as well.

"That you're spinning around at least three girls like some harem protagonist and, what's even more amazing, you're succeeding with all three. Or maybe that you're a son of some big cheese from Yakuza who got a plastic surgery gone wrong to hide for reasons unknown. Presumably you're also a descendant of some guy named Arnold Ernst Toht."

…

The fact only one of this gossips has any sight of possibility does not help my hurting head at all.

"This has to be the biggest amount of bullshit I've taken in a long time." I respond truthfully, digging into ice-cream. Cream-flavored, yummy.

"Some of it might or might not be true, judging from what I see." Miki presents the biggest grin ever. "Ikezawa wasn't talking to anyone at all apart from some necessary stuff like book borrowing. Enter you and in a span of one week she can be seen briefly chatting with completely dumbfounded Tainaka."

"..."

"Misha, class rep's watch dog who doesn't leave her side apart from some minor cases. After your appearance, she can be seen sneaking through the girls' dorm, completely flustered. When asked what's she doing here that late, she said that "she totally wasn't in boys' dorm nor was she visiting no one named Casper"." ...Really? Et tu, Shiina? "And then, Miura-sama catches you red-handed while you exit Enomoto's room." This really has to be the biggest shit-eating grin ever made by a human being.

"What are you expecting me to say?"

"...Which one has the biggest tits?"

"W-what?!" Miki laughs for a longer while.

"Chill, Master of Romance, chill." She finally says after she's done.

"C-can you stop calling me that?! A-and what was that about their...?"

"Just screwing with ya." Great to know I'm becoming a local plaything. That surely will help my self-esteem. "Still, something is in the air and you can't deny it, can you?"

"For starters..." Before I can even make a part of my retort, there's knocking to the door.

"Come in." Brown-skinned girl says. As expected, Suzu and Molly. They seem briefly surprised when they see me, but then it's replaced by slight smirk of narcoleptic and a frown of an Indian.

"Bugger." Braids girl murmurs as she reaches into pocket of her skirt and hands Suzu a five hundred yen coin.

I take a glance at them. Molly's casual attire doesn't seem to be too different from her school uniform. She's wearing a red t-shirt with some inscription in what I assume is Indian, a black skirt ending just above her knee, a pair of black stockings and brownish shoes. Suzu, on the other hand, is covered in denim. She's got a denim cut-off adorned with names of various bands, plain black t-shirt, knee-length jeans, knee-high striped socks and shoes which seem to be also made of denim.

"...What's this about?" I ask, glancing at blue-haired putting the freshly acquired coin into pocket of her jeans.

"They were betting whether you're going to be caught by me or not." Miki responds with yet another shit-eating grin.

"Betting. So you know as well?"

"Well, we were the ones who caught Misha." Suzu mentions offhandedly with a weak shrug before plopping straight on bed. "But we didn't know if it's a one-of-a-kind situation or are you really the Master of Romance."

"Can you stop calling me that? This has to be the stupidest nickname I've ever heard." Groan. Oh why? Why does the force up in the skies hate me so?

"Molls came up with it." The narcoleptic girl does a slight nod towards Molly who profusely blushes. "But, man, if this is not a surprise."

"Yeah." The braids girl takes her seat next to Suzu. "We thought it will be Hisao who will earn the title of Master of Romance."

…

"How does one achieve such a title?"

"By being a being made of swag, tolerance and awesomeness." Miki exclaims with mock piety.

"...I'm pretty certain Hisao is still a better candidate. I mean, he has charms and all."

"It's you who got them." Awkward silence.

"Look, you three. Nothing happened between me and Hanako, maybe apart from the fact we talked a bit. About Misha, we have established with each other that we're friends and nothing more. In Saki's case, well..." Crap. Shouldn't have end a sentence with "well". Yup, I messed it up and Miki's yet another shit-eating grin just confirms my speculations.

"Busted." She chimes cheerfully. "So what did you do?" Am I really being interrogated about this?

"Girls, no offense, but who gave you the right to-"

"He's getting defensive." Suzu interrupts me offhandedly. "Clearly there had been something." ...Looks like I really don't have what it takes to just take my things and leave post-haste. Apart from what's happening right now, I really don't have anything against them. I just... Gah. Guess I'm just sort of used to people being mean to me.

"Alright, you three. There is something and I probably fell head over heels for her. There. Happy? No Master of Romance gimmick. No harems. Just a girl I consider a great person." Phew. It probably sounded more awkward than I imagined it.

"Heh. Guess we went a bit too far in our interrogation..." Miki grins cheerfully. At least you're admitting that. "Well, good for you two, am I not right?"

"I'll be honest, I expected something slightly more... dynamic." Suzu butts in with a shrug. Yes. Rin through and through. Now that I think of it, what was the last time I saw her?

"Hey, it's good Saki has found someone." Molly disagrees with her friend's statement while shaking her head vigorously. "Even if, uh..." She seems to be staring at where my mouth is supposed to be. I get it, this might come out as creepily disgusting at best and downright fetishist at worst. Great, Saki's probably not even aware how people's opinion of her is falling. "B-but he's a nice guy at heart, I'm sure of that. Right?" That last question directed at me really seems to be hopeful.

"...I guess. It's all relative." I respond with a shrug. I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable now that Emi's not around to save me from increasing awkwardness.

"There you go!" Molly doesn't seem convinced of her own words. How charming.

"Look, girls, it's all nice and candy and that ice-cream is all the rage, but can I really be on my way? If someone else catches me in girls' dorm in a school uniform, they might be not as forgiving to me as you three were."

"Sure thing. We have what we wanted." Will it be really surprising if I say I didn't like the sound of that Miki's statement? For some reason I'm starting to feel that way about damn half of the statements made by girls in here. Seriously... "But chill, Master of Romance, chill. Miura-sama and her posse are not going to say anyone."

"Since when we're your posse?" Suzu tilts her head at her friend's words. For a nice change of pace, she seems actually confused.

Thankfully, I made it back to my room without any other incidents. Well, there was Hisao who gave me a surprised glance, but once I looked at him with what I can only describe as "the most terrifying threat to be ever made"(I think), he just nodded understandingly and backed out to his room.

Dear God, I can change into "civvies". Ain't that the most positive thing about this day? Waking up in Saki's bed while accidentally fondling her seemed too much of a shock to consider it "positive", so... and while the company of Power Trio wasn't that bad, well, the case of them getting to know what I'd rather preferred to keep secret... Eh.

I will have to look out for some laundry to get all of those uniforms clean... But it doesn't matter now. Now, it's time to feel the life of freedom! Fixing my favorite attire, consisting of black shirt with a melting skull, black jeans with a few metal studs – I'm a sucker for these – black sneakers, black fingerless gloves and my inseparable black fedora, I exit the room and the dorms, ready to face the sun and the music!

It's one o'clock. There's a ton of things to do. What to do then, what to do...?

[]Look out for Misha and Shizune

[]Search for Emi and Rin

[]How about looking for Hanako and Lilly?

[]Uh... Back to Saki? I don't think I should...

[]Go to city

And here you got yet another chapter. What say you, guys? :)