“I really don’t get you. You’ve got plenty of women around you, so why do something this pointless? Do you just enjoy picking on me?”

Fio grumbled under her breath.

Leon was quiet for a while. Then, as if he’d made up his mind, he said, “Actually, after I snuck in, I wasn’t interested in anyone else at all. I just wanted to look at you. By the time I realized what was happening, things had already gotten like this.”

“Huh? Wait, what did you just say?” Fio was stunned by Leon’s sudden, brutally direct confession.

Was Leon saying he’d gotten tired of the other girls and wanted to try something new?

Or did he actually not like anyone else at all—only her?

Before she could decide, Leon’s next words cut off her thoughts.

“You’re the only one who’s special.”

Leon’s unfairly direct words made Fio realize what he meant, but she had so little experience that she didn’t know how to respond to the mood between them.

Should I accept Leon’s…?

B-but… it can’t be right to just accept him like this! He’s a total pervert, a man whose desire is maxed out every single day.

But it’s my first time being confessed to. Wouldn’t it be awful to turn him down?

Fio was in turmoil. With zero experience in love, she naturally had no idea what to do against Leon’s aggressive advance.

Time slowly passed. In the cramped space, all they could hear was each other’s heartbeats speeding up.

Someone passed by the front of the corridor. Behind them, a group of girls walked toward the lockers, chatting and teasing one another.

“I’m telling you, no guy likes a flat chest~”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean, you cow? Don’t take a dig at me!”

“Huh? Flat-chest, why’d you take the bait so fast? No wonder A-Cheng said yesterday that you’ve been getting so bad-tempered.”

“What did you say?! A-Cheng told me yesterday he was going to get his hair done alone. Why was he with you?”

“Crap, I let that slip… Tch, might as well come clean. While you were in the dark, Flat-chest, A-Cheng was getting ready to get engaged to me.”

“You bitch! I’ll kill you!”

BANG—!

A loud crash rang out against the locker door, startling Fio and Leon out of their delicate little moment.

Leon leaned toward the door, pressing his ear to the crack. His eyes widened in surprise.

“Holy crap… Are women’s fights always this terrifying?”

With her back to the outside, Fio couldn’t see anything in the cramped space, so she could only ask Leon.

“Leon, what’s going on out there?”

“Looks like they’re fighting,” Leon replied.

BANG!

Another loud crash shook the locker. Someone outside had slammed into it and knocked it over.

Fio’s sense of space was instantly thrown into chaos. Everything turned upside down, and when she came to her senses, the locker had toppled onto the floor.

At least they were both safe. The people outside had moved elsewhere to keep fighting, and no one had noticed them.

The problem was, something was pinning Fio down, and she couldn’t get up.

“Oh no, how did we fall over…?”

Leon’s voice came from above her. Fio’s eyes flew open, and she saw a scene that made her heart race.

“Eek!!”

She and Leon were in an extremely compromising position. Leon was on top of her tiny body, and it looked as if she’d been forced down.

This was awful. Their situation looked just like something out of a dirty doujin.

The ties on both their bathrobes were balanced precariously, and could come undone at any moment.

And worst of all, Leon’s hands were wandering.

“Ah, ah…”

Fio’s eyes grew misty, and her fair skin flushed with embarrassment.

“Wait, Fio, don’t make a sound!”

“Y-you need to move your hand first!”

Only then did Leon realize what he’d done. He pulled his hand back and stared at it, as if recalling the sensation.

Fio instantly bristled.

I’ll kill him. I’m definitely going to kill him, this damn light-novel protagonist!

Fio tried to push Leon away, but then they ran into a problem: the locker door had flipped shut beneath them, and neither of them could get out. They could only stay in that position.

“Fio, don’t move around.”

“What did you say?”

“They’ll find us…”

Fio’s face changed in an instant. To stop her from making a fuss, Leon had actually started getting handsy.

How could he…!

Fio really felt like crying.

“Pervert. Scumbag.”

“Shh, shh!”

Leon urged Fio to keep her voice down while using his strength to hold her in place. This really was just like a scene from a dirty doujin now.

It was over, it was over! Fio had never imagined she’d be taking the first step into adulthood here. She wasn’t psychologically prepared at all!

“Leon, get away from me!”

“Wait, they’re about to leave. Just hold on for five more minutes…”

“Aahhh, I can’t take it! I can’t even last one minute!”

Stars appeared in Fio’s eyes. She lost control and gathered ice magic in her hand.

“Fio, don’t!!!”

BOOM—!

The locker exploded. Fio detonated her spell in the tiny space, blasting the locker apart.

She couldn’t worry about anything else anymore. She crawled out of the wreckage.

When she looked back, Leon was on his knees, the lower half of his body frozen solid. His face had gone deathly pale.

“Heh, serves you right!”

With her revenge finally complete, Fio laughed in satisfaction and sat on the floor, panting.

An ice cream bar smacked into Fio’s head and fell. Confused, she touched the spot, then looked up and saw someone terrifying—

Vivian.

“Oh, it’s Vivian! W-what a coincidence, running into you here…”

Fio couldn’t stop trembling. Vivian held another ice cream bar in her hand, her eyes completely empty.

“I was thinking you’d worked so hard to help me, so I’d buy you a little treat. And here you are sneaking around behind my back, huh, little kitten?”

“N-no, it’s not what you think…! Leon, say something!”

Fio shouted at Leon, but he couldn’t get a word out. He just kept trembling.

“Brother, Fio, I’m telling Mother what happened today,” Vivian said. “I’m sure she’ll be furious when she hears about the shameless stunt you two pulled. When she gets angry, she absolutely won’t let this go. You’d better be prepared.”

Fio and Leon both fell silent and lowered their heads guiltily. And so, the day’s farce came to an end.