← The Studious Boy and the Secret Account Girl
Volume 3
Chapter 37: Swept Along, At the Limit
Chapter 37: Swept Along, At the Limit
“Hmm~”
Holding up her smartphone, Matsurika was deliberating over something. Her lustrous hair, long enough to reach her waist, swayed with each movement of her head.
As Tsutomu watched in silence, she suddenly began unbuttoning her dress shirt. One button at a time, starting from the top. He found himself spellbound by the dance of her fingers. The constraint around her chest loosened, producing a sway that made gravity unmistakable.
When the buttons were undone down to the middle of her stomach, Tsutomu was made aware of something.
–She’s not wearing a bra.
It was only natural, when he thought about it. Every piece of Matsurika’s drenched clothing was in the wash. There was no way she’d put cold underwear on a body fresh from the bath. He accepted the logic and swallowed the saliva in his mouth. This was no time to be calm. They’d agreed to take photos, but he’d never expected Matsurika to expose her skin so readily. Maybe she’d become desensitized to baring her body through her secret-account posts… but even so, Tsutomu was right here. This willingness to strip was beyond anything he’d imagined.
–Or is she just used to men?
A voice like that echoed from somewhere in his mind. It was the kind of ugly voice that would reach him even if he covered his ears.
There were many rumors surrounding the school idol Tachibana Matsurika. It was no exaggeration to say that those concerning her romantic relationships topped the list. Her passionate, intense, and spectacular love life had reached even Tsutomu’s ears, despite how oblivious he was to gossip.
Until just the other day, Tsutomu and Matsurika had barely had anything to do with each other. That was why he’d never had to concern himself with whether the rumors were true.
Now it was different. Tsutomu and Matsurika were “friends.” It was hard to call themselves unrelated.
It would be presumptuous of him to meddle in Matsurika’s personal relationships. Even as a friend, he had no standing to comment on someone else’s love life.
–I want to know.
He had no intention of dressing it up as intellectual curiosity. Tsutomu simply wanted to know about Matsurika. It was by no means a pure feeling. He had to admit that something close to jealousy lurked within it.
“Hey, Kariya-kun.”
“…”
“Ka-ri-ya, kun!”
“Whoa, wh-what!?”
While he’d been agonizing in his chest, Matsurika was suddenly right in front of him again. She leaned forward from the same wide-legged stance as before, peering into his face. Thanks to the open buttons at the front, the destructive power was immense.
“What kind of attitude is that, looking away when I’m right in front of you?”
“No, I wasn’t looking away at all.”
“Then what was it?”
“…Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not lying.”
There was no way he could say he’d been jealous of the ex-boyfriends from those rumors. The usual him—or rather, the him from before—might have been able to say it openly. The current him couldn’t. That was… that version of himself was far too uncool.
So even if it was transparent — even if anyone could see right through it — he had no choice but to cling to this pointless pride.
“Hmm~”
“…”
They glared at each other at point-blank range. Matsurika’s breath brushed against Tsutomu’s cheek. It smelled sweet, bewitching, and dangerous.
“…Well, whatever.”
The edge faded from Matsurika’s face, as if she’d convinced herself. What remained was her usual charming self.
“So, what was it you needed?”
“Oh, right. Hey, Kariya-kun… do you think I should undo all the buttons?”
“Huh?”
As his mind snapped back online, he found himself unable to look away from the expanse of Matsurika’s skin spread before him. He nearly drowned in the oncoming visual bliss, unable to process what she’d said.
–Undo? What? All of them?
“I saaaiiid, the buttons!”
“O-oh. Yeah, you probably should.”
If it was a matter of doing or undoing, undoing was the answer. Tsutomu had replied almost on instinct. It was only after answering that he replayed “buttons?” in his mind and nearly panicked with shock.
He’d never been more grateful for his facial muscles, which rarely earned their keep. He’d just barely managed to preserve the image of a rational “Kariya Tsutomu”… or so he alone believed.
“Really? I figured a perverted Kariya-kun would say exactly that.”
“No… any man would say the same.”
“Pervert.”
His eyes followed Matsurika’s fingers as they giggled their way down her skin, tracing as if caressing—
“W-wait a second!”
“What?”
“I don’t know why you’re suddenly in a bad mood. Tachibana, your underwear… hey, don’t take that off!”
“Mmm~”
Matsurika wasn’t wearing any underwear. If she undid every button on that dress shirt—
“RIKA’s account is all-ages, right? If anything shows, the platform will delete it!”
“Hehe… ‘If anything shows’—like what?”
“Wh-what… well…”
He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away on reflex. His reason, a moment away from short-circuiting, had done its job at the very last second.
“Hey, Kariya-kun.”
“What.”
“Look.”
“…I refuse.”
He gritted his teeth and endured the meltingly seductive voice. Then a smooth sensation crept across both of Tsutomu’s cheeks. When he realized it was Matsurika’s palms, his whole body flinched.
His eyes weren’t open. They weren’t open, and that was precisely the problem. With his vision blocked, he could feel every trace of her fingers as they traced from behind his ears down along his jaw. He was seized by the illusion that she was stirring his brain directly. He was far too tense to shake her off.
He felt warmth close to his face. The heat radiating from Matsurika’s body. A sweet fragrance slipped through his nostrils and invaded his mind.
“Why… why are you doing this?”
“You saw the replies to RIKA, didn’t you? I don’t want to disappoint everyone.”
“Then do it when I’m not here.”
“Heheh, how about: I wanted to see what a real boy is like?”
“That’s not funny enough to be a joke.”
“It’s not a joke. I want to hear your raw reactions—like what kind of photos would be well received.”
“Is it that important?”
He didn’t say “What is?”
If he had to specify, it was everything connected to the secret account. He’d heard that people who got hooked on secret accounts were lonely, or tossed around by their craving for validation. Neither fit the kind of person Tachibana Matsurika was. He’d tilted his head and wondered “why?” more times than once.
And now she was stripping in front of a boy, saying she wanted to hear his opinion. No matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t normal. He wanted to know why Matsurika was so invested in her secret account.
“Yeah, it’s important.”
Matsurika’s answer was the height of simplicity. It didn’t answer Tsutomu’s question. He felt a faint dissatisfaction at being dodged.
“…I’m not going to say anything about your hobbies, Tachibana. But this is going too far, isn’t it?”
Not nitpicking about the secret account was Tsutomu’s policy. It was also his greatest show of bravado. If Matsurika were doing this against her will, he’d stop her no matter what—but this situation was clearly one she was enjoying herself. She wasn’t being forced, so him asking her to reconsider felt out of place.
At the same time, he couldn’t help recalling an article he’d read: “Erotic secret accounts keep escalating to meet their followers’ demands.” Maybe RIKA—maybe Matsurika—was in the middle of exactly that, right now.
The situation kept accelerating without pause, and he’d come this far without being able to decide which choice was right… but he couldn’t overlook this.
“Going too far…? I meant it as a thank-you.”
She answered his halting question without missing a beat. There wasn’t a shred of unease in Matsurika’s voice.
“A thank-you? I didn’t ask for anything like this.”
That was a lie. In his heart, he did want it. Of course he wanted to see the body he admired. But even so… he couldn’t answer with the truth.
Even Tsutomu, hopeless as he was with human relationships, understood. He understood without being told. Matsurika’s invitation was clearly beyond the bounds of “friendship.” If he opened his eyes now, the relationship they’d built would be destroyed. That—exactly that—was what he feared, purely and simply.
“But this is about all I can do.”
“That’s not true. Think it through.”
“Kariya-kun, please… don’t embarrass me.”
Matsurika’s voice, earnest and desperate, struck his ears mixed with the distant sound of rain. If she wouldn’t stop even after saying all this, perhaps she had circumstances he couldn’t begin to fathom. Such a convenient thought flickered through his mind, and the strength sealing his vision wavered.
In any case, he didn’t understand. He had no idea what Matsurika was thinking… but regardless, he couldn’t keep his eyes shut forever. He couldn’t keep them shut. He was at his limit.
“Don’t blame me if something happens.”
“…Yeah. It’s fine. So look—here.”
That voice was the final push. His reason boiled over, and desire burst through. No matter how many arguments he lined up, he couldn’t beat instinct. Irresistible lust outweighed even the terror that it might shatter everything he’d built with Matsurika.
–Damn it, what the hell am I doing…!!
He steeled himself and lifted his eyelids.
And then—at the scene that unfolded before his eyes, Tsutomu was struck speechless.