Walking along unfamiliar streets for about twenty minutes.
I was starting to wonder where we were headed.
It wasn’t towards the bus stop, nor towards the station.
That’s precisely why I’d assumed, quite presumptuously, that Amamiya Tōru’s house was actually near the school and that she was just escorting me there.
Time-wise, it was only twenty minutes, but walking down such unfamiliar streets made me anxious about finding my way back. After all, I’m hopeless with directions.

So I asked.

“By the way, how much further is it to your house, Amamiya-san?”

To my perfectly reasonable question, Amamiya Tōru tilted his head for some reason.

“My house? Do you want to come?”
“Eh? We’re heading to your house now, right?”
“No, we’re not.”
“Eh!?”
“We’re almost at a love hotel that even high school students can get into.”
“Eh?”
“That’s our destination.”
“Whaaaaaaat!?????!”

I was utterly shocked. Completely dumbfounded.

And then, before I knew it, we’d actually arrived in front of a building that looked exactly like that.

◇

Led by the efficient Amamiya Tōru, I found myself in a room inside what was definitely a hotel-like building.
The first thing that struck me in this situation was how incredibly efficient Amamiya Tōru was. She absolutely must be a regular here.
　She’d mentioned “I come here often” earlier too.

Had I been tricked?

I’d been told it was her first time in the classroom, and I’d been completely taken in by those words – whether they were lies or truth – and had half-accepted this relationship of giving and giving.
But here, finally, I began to suspect Amamiya Tōru again. Was this another trap?
What’s more, she’d paid for everything in the end.

　I’d glimpsed her purse earlier, filled with several banknotes bearing Shibusawa’s portrait, and it no longer seemed clear why she’d demand money at all.

“…Why did you suddenly bring me here? What do you want?”

As my suspicions grew, my voice dropped involuntarily.
I gripped my bag’s handle tightly, preparing myself to flee at any moment.

“Hmm? What do you mean, what am I doing? It’s a return favour.”
“…I haven’t brought that much money with me today.”
“How much?”
“Well…”

She took the purse she’d confirmed she’d brought from the classroom out of her bag and checked its contents.

“About three thousand yen.”
“Hmm.”

Amamiya Tōru placed a hand on her chin, adopting a pensive pose.
　She was already settled on the large bed with its prepared white sheets, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the line where her thigh met the hem of her uniform skirt.

Had she engaged in such dubious acts here, time and again, with her former Knights?
Had those former Knights, at that very line I was now transfixed upon, lifted her skirt to touch that soft skin, perhaps even glimpsing her underwear?

　She claimed she’d never once shown skin in the classroom.

Yet in my fantasies, a dishevelled Amamiya Tōru is vividly depicted.

Just how much would I have to pay to make Amamiya Tōru appear before me exactly as in my fantasies?

How much would it cost to dye her, who knows nothing of showing true emotion, crimson with shame?
With a warm, moist, sweet voice. How much would it cost to make her cry…

“Right then, two thousand yen will do for today.”

Eh?

“You’ll let me hold you for two thousand yen!?”
“You idiot? Of course not. Like I said before, I’m still a virgin. Two thousand yen is far too cheap for that.”
“But honestly, you don’t seem like a virgin at all. From the moment we got here, you seemed incredibly experienced.”
“Ah, right.”

Amamiya Tōru nodded expressionlessly, as if strangely convinced.
What exactly had she been convinced of? If this meant some misunderstanding had arisen in our conversation today, and Amamiya Tōru was actually the genuine nymphomaniac rumoured to spread her legs for anyone, I’d be heading straight home.

“So you were suspicious of me? Is that why you’ve been standing there by the door all this time? Ready to make a run for it?”
“…Well, if you’re being that blatant, I’d be suspicious. I’d wonder if I’d been tricked.”
“Huh. Is my first time really that important to you?”

I felt my face flush rapidly.
Amamiya Tōru’s face remained expressionless.
It was transparent, and I, standing right in front of her, knew better than anyone that those words weren’t spoken with the intention of teasing me.

　So the next words were surely her honest reaction to me too.

“You’re naughty, aren’t you, Mashiro?”

“Aaah, for goodness’ sake. ………Ever since earlier, I’ve been naughty, haven’t I? For goodness’ sake!”

Twice in the classroom. And now, once more here.
Just today, I’d been told “You’re naughty” three times.
And all by Amamiya Tōru, whom I’d been following with my eyes this whole time.

“For such a naughty Mashiro, I’ll give you two thousand yen worth of reward right now.”

She called me naughty again…

“What will you do for me?”
“Before that, come over here first.”

Amamiya Tōru patted the spot right next to where she was sitting.
Just that simple action made me feel like I was being invited by her, who should be transparent, and I was stunned by how reckless I was being.

“Is it alright if I sit next to you?”
“Sure.”

Having received clear permission, she sat down on the bed, leaving a modest space —about half a fist’s width —between them.
Unlike when Amamiya Tōru sat down, the bed creaked slightly, but it certainly wasn’t because she was heavy.

　What was about to happen?
What exactly was this two thousand yen worth of return?
Expectation and embarrassment made the blood rushing through my body pound faster, my face growing even redder.
My eyes stung slightly, but still, drawn by the sweet scent drifting from beside me, I looked at Amamiya Tōru’s face.

She looked utterly bewildered.
I too was bewildered, not understanding why she looked so surprised.

“The distance… it’s rather close, isn’t it?”
“…?”
“I did say to come beside me, but I didn’t expect you to sit so close that our shoulders touch.”
“Ah…”

I’m sorry, I’m a woman who doesn’t quite grasp personal space.
I felt my face grow even hotter.