Pink and tender strawberry-flavored pocky, with only the tail end being a faint yellow.
Bocchi nervously held it in her mouth, but didn't dare touch it with her teeth, afraid she might accidentally bite it off.
Although it wasn't her first time eating pocky, she had never before experienced sharing one stick of pocky with someone of the opposite sex.
She could only nervously close her eyes, her fair face as pale as ivory full of blush, cautiously leaning forward.
Even Kaito felt something was off.
The attention from the people around was one thing, if it were anyone else, fine. But Yumiko not only wasn't jealous, she even actively offered a box of pocky with a face full of anticipation and excitement.
Still, Kaito hesitated for a moment but did not refuse.
After all, that was the game rule. And anyway, he and Bocchi were pure and innocent, his conscience was clear.
Kita had been paying close attention to his expression. Seeing that Kaito had no intention of refusing, she secretly let out a huge sigh of relief.
Though she envied Bocchi-chan's good luck, ultimately it depended on Kaito's will. If he actively refused, no one could force a good boy to comply.
'Since he doesn't refuse Bocchi, that means he won't refuse others either.'
The normie girl thought happily, 'When it's my turn later, will the reward… no, the punishment be a kiss? Or a hug? Or maybe both?'
'Aah! So hard to decide!'
———
Sitting face-to-face with Kaito, Bocchi didn't dare open her eyes. She could only smell a pleasant, grassy, woody fragrance coming closer and closer.
'This must be a dream… it has to be a dream, right?'
The little socially anxious girl tried hard to hypnotize herself. Otherwise, someone as lowly and insignificant as a wild mallet snake like her, how could she receive such favor?
'That's right! I must still be dreaming!'
Never mind reality, at least she had successfully convinced herself.
Bocchi didn't dare think further, like a well-wound doll, she only kept her head down biting the pocky.
The girl's pink lips slowly crept forward bit by bit, wanting to finish this public execution as fast as possible.
But maybe her CPU overloaded, she had already lost the ability to think.
In just a short time, most of the pocky had been consumed, but the little socially anxious girl still showed no sign of stopping.
As the distance between the two shrank, the surrounding girls began to breathe more rapidly.
Yumiko didn't even dare exhale, her jade-green eyes unblinking, afraid to miss even a single detail.
Finally—
"Mmgh…", Bocchi, not disappointing anyone, bit her own tongue.
People who often share a pocky with their girlfriend all know: as the stick gets shorter, the two bodies will lean closer.
The little socially anxious girl, teary-eyed, opened her eyes from the pain. Her forward-leaning body instantly lost balance, her little hands flailing to find a new support point, and in a panic, she unintentionally grabbed downward.
———
Moments later—
"Gomen nasai sumimasen, for daring to defile your noble body, I have undoubtedly lost the right to be human. Only death can atone for my sin—I am terribly sorry," Bocchi rapidly chanted her apology in standard dogeza posture, prostrating fully on the ground, her forehead respectfully touching the floor, panicked to the point she didn't dare raise her head.
Even though it was just a brief touch, that fleeting contact made the girl blush and her heart race, her mind filled with strange things.
'E-Even though there was a layer of pants in between… but that terrifying size…'
'Mgh… I'll die, right? I'm definitely going to die, right?'
Kaito cleared his throat, "It was just an accident. Anyway, Bocchi, get up first. No need to be so tense."
Although that place is indeed famously vulnerable and known as a man's weak point, that only applies to ordinary people.
With Kaito's capabilities, never mind an accidental press. Even using it to roll a car tire over wouldn't be a problem.
Bocchi trying to break his defenses? She's ten thousand years too early.
Yumiko, having firsthand experience, knew this well, so she wasn't worried at all. Instead, her expression screamed "She hit it, she hit it!"
But Bocchi didn't understand the hidden truth. Everyone says that area on a boy is the weakest, even a slight bump hurts unbearably, let alone her accidentally pressing down hard…
'I-If Kaito really ends up with a problem…'
Just imagining that terrifying consequence made the little socially anxious girl's face turn pale. She had already prepared to devote the rest of her life to caring for him. No matter if she's beaten or scolded, she wouldn't leave! She'd make sure Kaito lived a carefree life with food and clothes delivered to his hand.
'This is the path of atonement for me, Gotou Hitori!'
She remained prostrated on the floor and said in a muffled voice, "P-Please let me make up for this! No matter what the request is, I'll do it!"
'Even if you say that… I don't really have anything I need your help with.'
But seeing the little socially anxious girl clearly stuck in a mental loop, Kaito thought for a bit and simply said, "I can't think of anything I need you to do for now… but I'll remember your promise. If there's something I need help with in the future, Bocchi, you're not allowed to refuse."
"Understood!"
Actually, Nijika and Kita were also a little worried about Kaito's body, but seeing him speak with strong energy and a normal expression, not like someone faking wellness, they relaxed a little.
But what followed was awkwardness.
Originally, the card game had been going smoothly, but this whole incident blew up. Truth or dare punishment couldn't continue anymore.
But Kaito didn't really mind. Whatever the game is, just play it how it's meant to be played.
In the following rounds, he remained the consistent winner. Only the losers kept changing—Scummy Ryou, Yumiko, and Nijika all took losses.
Only Kita found it unbelievable, seriously suspecting she was being ostracized.
'Otherwise, we played three full rounds, why hasn't it been my turn yet? Nijika-senpai has already gone twice!'
Let's not talk about how the normie girl was doubting her life. Learning from the earlier lesson, Kaito no longer chose dare as punishment, instead, he uniformly picked truth.
"What's your favorite food?"
"What's your favorite movie?"
"When was the last time you lied?"
All of them were pretty innocent questions.
But when it was Ryou's turn, there was a slight twist, "What's your favorite genre of hentai doujinshi?" [T/N: Mine is Supernatural... comment yours]
If she were a shy and introverted girl, she'd just flusteredly deny, ["What doujin? I-I-I never read that stuff!"]
If she were an easygoing and bold girl, maybe she'd laugh it off.
But this was Ryou.
The blue-haired girl pinched her chin in a thinking pose, then calmly said, "Of course, pure love."
"Pure love?"
Nijika cast a suspicious glance, 'What a joke! I've seen your collection at home! Clearly NTR is the most!'
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