After being told what to do, Kane finds himself in front of an extremely daunting door. It towered over him like a final boss in Light Souls. His fingers twitched, which he immediately took as a sign of regret.
"I can't back away now…" He thought as he closed his eyes. He forms a fist in his hand, not ready to give up even before he started his conquest. "I will not fail my mission over such a simple obstacle!"
He breathes in deeply through his mouth, preparing himself for what is to come… before exhaling out through his nose quickly and opening his eyes. In one fell swoop, he grabs the sword (house key) from his holster (pocket) and enters a battle-ready stance (stands in the hallway, shaking).
Kane the Knight approaches the large stone door with extra caution. He places his palm on a runic symbol (inserts the key into the keyhole), which immediately lights up with a red glow — even with such an intimidating mechanism, he pushes forward despite the ominous light.
He rotates his hand (rotates the key) slowly, unknowing of what was on the other side of this door and what it could unleash on this world. Was it a plague that would wipe out 90% of Japan, or would it be unfathomable riches? It was a complete coin flip, really.
As the lock mechanism is deactivated. The large door made of stone (made of high quality wood) swings open slowly and menacingly (creaks as it is pushed open slowly after pushing the door handle down) as the earth below Kane the Knight shakes uncontrollably (it was his legs that were shaking).
Kane the Knight stands his ground. Pointing the tip of his sword forward, he is ready for what comes at him. What he is met with afterwards though is enough to drive any living being insane. It nearly drove him to madness as he…
…As he fully accepts that he was just imagining all this and it was just a simple hallway — how boring. Despite this disappointing information, Kane takes a step forward into the dim hallway.
"O-ojamashimasu." Kane muttered as he walked past the front door. Now finding himself past the front door which he unceremoniously closed behind him, it was obvious how completely dim this apartment was.
This stemmed from the fact that the balcony was covered with a large curtain. Despite this obstacle, Kane pushed forward through the darkness — his first objective: Finding a lightswitch!
…Objective complete! It wasn't really all too difficult to find a lightswitch as it was literally by the front door, although it only activated the light for the hallway. The rest of the apartment stayed dim.
"...Erisa-san, I never got to ask, but where is your room exactly?" Kane muttered under his breath as he questioned Erisa, despite her being in his apartment, taking a bath in his own bathroom.
Sighing deeply with eyes shut, before looking up and walking forward. "Whatever, I just have to get her… u-underwear…" Kane suddenly stuttered and then paused for a moment as a blush formed on his face. Afterward, he clears his throat while covering it with a fist, and continuing.
"...And get out, right? Pretty easy, if you ask me," he said with a confident tone as he continued walking forward, before looking to his side and noticing an eye-catching sign hung in front of a door.
It was a store-bought, pink-colored sign with the words, 'DON'T COME IN' painted on with a red color.
Despite its flowery and cutesy nature, the red paint was completely outlandish and out of place, as if it was painted over the original text. "This must be Erisa-san's room." He remarked bluntly with a blank expression.
He holds the door handle firmly, and a pang of fear and hesitation hits him like a truck. "W-wait a minute, this is my first time entering a girl's room…" He then swallows his saliva, before suddenly recalling a previous memory he kept in the back of his head.
It was a vivid memory of her laughing at him, mocking him for his choice of decoration inside his room back during their junior high school years. "You're like…"
"...a total virgin!"
Those words echoed in his head as he felt a vein bulge out the side of his head. The tone of her delivery and the way she laughed at him, it was completely infuriating and pride shattering. "Who do you think you are…? it's not like you're a virgin as well, Erisa-san…"
He cursed under his breath — Erisa, who was still showering, catches herself sneezing despite the warm temperature of the water. She shrugs it off. "Must have got something in my nose…" She thought, unaware of the sudden backstab.
Back to Kane, who was now consumed with petty rage, tightens his grip on the door handle as he twists and pushes on it. Once the door fully opens, there is not much to see since it was dark inside.
He squints his eyes and reaches for the light switch, which is something he would regret. As he flicks upward, he is instantly blinded with the bright light and the depraved decorations in her room. He tries to stand his ground as he covers his eyes with his arms, but the force is too strong.
Kane gets pushed back little-by-little, taking the full brunt of the light. He inches forward slowly, before taking the chance to hold on to the doorframe with his left hand. He screams through the pain as he pulls his arm away from his eyes and stares directly forward.
He is met with a spectacular sight; the room reeked of otaku, she even had a shelf for all her figurines of her favorite anime characters — albeit small, it was still impressive how dedicated she was to her hobby.
An awkward smile began to twitch onto his face. "I-I thought her room would be more… girl-like…" his eyes began to wander onto her laptop, which had a small bookshelf filled to the brim with manga, before continuing, "...This just looks like the room of an insane otaku…"
Suddenly recalling what Erisa wore when she came to his apartment, it all became clear to him. His expression softened as he finished his doubt, "Ah right, what am I thinking? She IS an insane otaku!"
"Ha-choo!" Erisa sneezed once again with a little bit more force. She wipes her nose before checking the water of the shower. "I-It's not even that cold…" She muttered with a confused expression.
Returning to Kane once again… He scratches his cheek as he steps into her room. The aroma of the room definitely likened to those of a woman, but the way it presented itself was a complete 180 in terms of looks.
Noticing her uniform, which was hung up on a hanger on the empty wall next to her bed, he could only let out a little chuckle. "I guess she really likes to take care of her uniform, huh?" He commented with a smile.
Continuing on, he stands in front of her closet. He opens it without any hesitation and looks down at his feet. "There it is," he spoke with a happy tone as he crouched down. He grabs the knob and freezes.
He closes his eyes and he begins to pump himself up using words. "Right… you got this Kane Koyasu, you just have to get her underwear and bring it to the bathroom… It's not like you're some complete creep that steals underwear off of the drying rack…"
"You can do this…" Kane reassured himself. He then began to pull on the drawer, before stopping instantly — unbeknownst to him, his hand which held the knob began to tremble aggressively.
"NOPE! I can't do this! I absolutely cannot!!!" He screamed as he held his wrist using his free hand in an attempt to stop himself from feasting his eyes on the promised lands.
"I-I… This is… This is completely despicable! Only a complete creep who steals underwear from the drying rack would do this kind of thing!" Kane completely retracted his past statements.
Kane then tried to pull away, but it seems his hand had unconsciously glued itself to the knob as kept on trying to relax his grip, but it always seemed to remain the same way. Simply put, he was fighting his own brain.
With gritted teeth, he kept on pulling away from the knob, even using his feet to aid in his pulling. As Kane falls back in defeat, he lets out a strained groan as he looks up at the ceiling.
"Muri da[1]!!!" Kane cried, hopeless and defeated as his hand still clinged on to the knob.
Now catching his breath, he thinks with a defeated tone, "I want to go home." However, he still knew that he had to complete this task given by Erisa, despite it being completely off-character for her to ask somebody to do such a thing.
"It would be completely acceptable if it were Ayumi doing this, since they did seem like close friends and were both girls… but this?" Kane was at his wits' end as he couldn't bring himself to look at such a treasured possession.
A blush that reaches his ears then forms as he condemns his childhood friend, "Are you not embarrassed one bit for asking a boy to get your underwear!?"
Suddenly, his eyes then light up as he realizes something. "...W-wait a minute, does Erisa-san enjoy this kind of thing? Does she enjoy having people look at her underwear — that also kind of makes her an exhibitionist…"
Kane then reaches his conclusion. "Erisa-san you dirty exhibitionist!!!"
"Achoo!" Erisa sneezed once more, now sat in the water-filled bathtub with her legs curled up to her face. She tightens her grip on her legs as she mutters, "Mou~, I even made sure to use warm water…"
Returning to Kane, who had realized he had stalled for long enough thanks to the sudden wave of embarrassment washing over him, comes back to his senses. He looks down at his hand which had been holding on to this knob for the past five minutes.
"..." Staring at it intently and coming to a conclusion, he begins to formulate a plan that will not sacrifice his pride as a man. "I think it's best if I don't look at what I take… Yes, I may feel the sensation, but if I just put it in my mind that I'm just grabbing a shirt, then I won't worry so much!"
Kane gives himself a proud nod and a smile. "Alright, that's what I'm going with!" As he mutters that, he then closes his eyes. With a deep breath, he prepares himself for the worst.
He slides open the drawer until it comes to a full-stop. Now understanding that the drawer is fully open, he reaches his hand into the drawer. He feels around for a moment, before grabbing what seemed to be a supposed bra and a supposed panty.
Now trying his best into not giving into the temptation of opening his lecherous eyes, he begins mumbling to himself. "It's just a shirt… It's just a shirt…" After pulling out the two pieces of underwear, he uses his foot to close the drawer.
He slowly stands up and holds the undergarments behind his back using one hand. Making his way out of the room and into the hallway, he closes the door behind him and maneuvers slowly toward the front door.
"Just a few more steps…" Kane told himself as he stood by the front door and peeked outside. The coast seemed clear as he slipped out the front door, making sure to close it behind him, and sneakily tiptoeing to his apartment.
Without any obstacles or distractions in his way, he successfully sneaks back into his apartment! With a slam of the front door, he leans his back against the door while breathing heavily. "H-holy crap! I can't imagine what someone would think if they saw me holding such a thing!"
Now feeling a little bit confident, he makes his way to the bathroom while bobbing his head happily. "I suppose there's no need to worry about that anymore, I'm back in my apartment!"
As he comes face-to-face with the bathroom door, he grips the door handle before pulling down — a thought then suddenly enters his mind, "I hope I didn't take too long getting her underwear…"
"...It would be a shame if I miraculously walked into her as she was drying off her hair with a towel and her body was in full-view! Yup, that would be a complete shame, and I would just be like one of those rom-com protagonists!"
"Honestly, it would be super funny if that happened!" With a hearty laugh now erupting from the depths of his mind, he opens the bathroom door with his eyes closed and a wide smile on his face.
He begins to speak, informing Erisa who was supposedly still taking a shower. "Erisa-san! It's done! I'll just leave your underwear on top of the dryer!" He then walks in with his eyes still closed.
Since Kane had somewhat memorized the layout of his apartment thanks to his sole efforts in placing everything where they are supposed to be yesterday, he effortlessly walks over to the dryer and leaves the requested underwear there.
"Don't worry! I did my best to not look at your underwear — I swear on my life!"
Walking back to the bathroom door, he makes sure to close the door behind him, before shouting since he felt a little bit sticky thanks to the rice glop. "Once you're done taking a bath, please tell me… I still need to take a shower as well!"
"..."
"?" Kane seemed confused due to the out-of-place silence, maybe Erisa already had finished with her bath and hid in his room for the meantime?
"Y-you…" Erisa began to speak with a stuttering voice behind the door.
"Y-you just walked in on me drying my hair though!?! W-what do you mean by t-telling you!?! You literally j-just walked in on me! L-like… Mou~! How much of a perve…" Her voice began to trail off into static.
Kane held a blank expression on his face. He then fell on his knees, before falling on his arms. "GODDAMNIT!!! I COULD HAVE BEEN A ROM-COM PROTAGONIST!!!" He began to scream his heart out in his head.
Not so funny now, huh?
"SHUT UP, NARRATOR-SAN!"
[1] “Muri da” (むりだ) roughly translates to, “This is impossible”