Chapter 33: Pushing Through with a Clever Scheme (1)

After leaving Leas and Reiko, I canceled the transformation and hurriedly returned to the school through the back gate.

If I came in from the main gate side, there was a chance Leas and the others would see me and feel something off about why I had gone outside. That alone probably wouldn’t make them realize the identity was me, but better safe than sorry — or so I thought.

"Shusawa, why are you sneaking in through the back gate in indoor shoes after going outside?"

I bumped right into Harukaze. After that, he crossed his arms and glared at me.

Basically this school doesn’t have strict rules, and going out to the convenience store during lunch break is allowed.

But that didn’t mean he would just let me, who had come back sneaking through the back gate in indoor shoes, pass. Of course not. If I were student guidance, I would interrogate "What the hell did you do?"

"Ah, sorry. Actually, just now I saw Atel Octo flying from the school building—"

"Atel — ah, that one who called himself the Vigilante."

"Yeah. So I dashed out before changing into outdoor shoes to try and get an autograph..."

It was a forced excuse, but not a complete lie.

At the last moment when I leaped away, several students had seen my form. Some of the people out in the schoolyard had also been chasing me, so it wouldn’t be strange even if I was one of them.

Harukaze seemed to accept it to some degree, nodding "Hmm" as if convinced.

"I see. So he — as I thought, something is happening at the school."

"...At a time like this I thought you’d get angry like ’an outsider is trespassing,’ but that’s not the case, huh."

From a teacher’s perspective isn’t he completely a suspicious person?

At those words Harukaze nodded "There are opinions like that."

"I won’t deny that itself — but he is a benefactor of the students, so I can’t treat him coldly. Since I cannot protect the students with my own power, I can only feel gratitude and cannot dislike him."

There was no lie in the words he declared with his chest puffed out, and it was pretty embarrassing.

It’s not that I protected the Sacred girls because I wanted to be recognized by someone, but when I’m recognized like this I sincerely think it was good that I did it.

But from the overflowing embarrassment I couldn’t help averting my gaze — and then I saw it.

"Yo—tt — ge, it’s Harukaze."

Perhaps she had been chasing Atel Octo like the earlier excuse, a single brown-haired female student returned in indoor shoes.

Disheveled uniform, flashily bleached hair color, and a strained face. Probably a regular at student guidance, she tried to hurriedly escape into the school building.

"You too... hey, wai—"

Because she was running in a hurry, the hem of her skirt, which was considerably shorter than the other students’, swayed.

But perhaps because she was used to wearing it, even when the hem swayed there was no big flipping movement. Still, the way the hem fluttered softly and her moderately soft-looking thighs looked extremely erotic.

If I crouched maybe I could see, no, did I forget this morning’s incident — just as that thought was interrupted, a whoosh of wind blew.

The wind that blew as if thrusting up from below at the female student who was about to leap into the school building was a violence that mere cloth called a skirt could not defend against. The mini-mini skirt abandoned the act of hiding underwear in an instant and transitioned into a form like a substitute for a belly warmer.

On the lower body where the skirt had abandoned its job, there was no longer anything to obstruct. The fluffy pink underwear covering a somewhat large butt was exposed under the light of day — no, that’s wrong.

That isn’t underwear — it’s what they call "show panties," something worn over underwear.

"Ah geez, the wind today is really annoying...!"

Because they were show panties it was safe; without even looking embarrassed the female student escaped into the school building.

But she doesn’t understand. That female student doesn’t understand at all...!

For a man, the moment a skirt flips up and the lower body is fully exposed, whether it’s panties or not is already trivial — no, of course panties are still better, but leaving that aside.

In short, the very fact that what was hidden by the skirt is exposed is itself erotic and makes the heart leap.

"...Man, the wind today is really something, right Harukaze-sen— sensei?"

"Hm... a-ah, yeah... It’s been like this since this morning; as I thought it’s not normal."

Harukaze, who had been gazing at the departing figure of the female student with an unusually blank expression, hurriedly nodded.

◇

Together with the sound of the chime, homeroom ended and after-school began.

In that instant, the ones who hurriedly started moving were the female students. While protecting their skirts with bags, they headed toward the shoe lockers at a quick pace. The majority of the girls slowly preparing to go home were wearing show panties or track pants under their skirts.

Of course. As a man I won’t claim I can fully understand their feelings, but when I imagine how many times they’ve exposed their panties just today I get super excited — I mean, I can understand the feeling of wanting to escape home.

And following after them, a fair number of boys stood up while saying things like "Ah, I should head home soon too, I’ve got stuff to do." Of course, there is no one of either gender who would believe such words. Looking at the figures starting up the camera app on their phones while grinning, anyone can tell what they plan to do.

"——Girls, come this way quickly. And you big idiots who started the camera app, stay right there."

And anyone can also tell that the "I will never forgive those types" man — Niekawa — would go into a rage.

Because of his tall stature he doesn’t give a particularly muscular impression, but the figure glaring at the boys can only be described as a wall or something.

"Ah damn, the girls are leaving...!"

"Don’t fuck around Niekawa, a chance like this doesn’t come often!"

If they tried to chase the girls, he would decide a technique without question.

At that kind of gaze, the boys who had started to stand up complained but could do nothing.

Although he was guarding the door, the classroom has two doors. If the boys all surged in at once even Niekawa shouldn’t be able to stop them, but every one of them apparently hated being the first sacrifice.

"...Nie, kawa."

"Hm? What is it, Shusawa. Sorry but you too—"

Niekawa’s gaze, which had a somewhat displeased expression, turned toward me.

At this moment our eyes met for the first time — me holding my stomach with a deathly pale face and him.

"Muu... what is it? You, what’s wrong...?"

"Since homeroom, my stomach has been, seriously, no joke... let me pass—"

Without waiting for my words, a gurrrrrrrrr sound rang out.