“Huuuhhhhh?!?!” A loud scream echoed through the dorm. We were lucky no one was around to hear it. Otherwise, Carol would have gotten caught sitting on my lap.

  “Y- you wanna see my room?! Are you serious? J- just don’t, okay? There’s nothing interesting going on there!”

  This is the one thing I have to avoid… If she goes to my room, she’s gonna see all my embarrassing stuff… My games, my anime, my merch… It’s gonna creep her out! Her interest? Immediately gone! Then she’ll break up with me there and then! I can’t allow that! I absolutely can’t!

  “Ahahaha… You’re just joking, right? Th- there’s really nothing there… Don’t you wanna ask for something better?” I tried to act calm…

  Carol got off my lap and stood up, crossing her arms. “I know what I said. I wanna see your room. I’m sure of it, and you’re not gonna say no, right? You said you’d do anything. You’re not going back on your word, are you?” Oh no… The look on her face… She’s determined to see this through to the end… Can I get her to listen somehow?

  “Okay… I get that, but! But…” What do I do? What do I say…? “Think about it… It’s anything! I said I’d do anything, you know? Literally anything! You could pin me down and ravage my body! O- or… Turn me into your pet and order me to kiss your feet! Or something else! I don’t know, but there are a lot of options. You get that, right? Just seeing my room is a waste!”

  Carol looked at me in silence. With a perplexed look on her face.

  “Did you just self-report? Wait… Aren’t those two different extremes?” What she heard was so over the top that Carol needed a second to think. “*Sigh…* Doesn’t matter. I wanna see your room, and that’s final.”

  “There’s nothing interesting there!”

  “I don’t care!” Carol firmly put her foot down. There’s no convincing her anymore, is there? I thought I was being pretty persuasive…

  “B- but why? You’re gonna be disappointed…”

  “I don’t mind…” She brought a hand to her hair and twirled it, looking away with a slightly red face. “You’re my girlfriend, you know…? I just wanna see what you’re like outside of the dorm… What your life is like.”

  Damn! That’s cute! Too cute! She’s making it really hard for me to say no. Of course I wanna spoil her. Of course, but…

  “C- can we negotiate? How about two normal anythings, meaning lewd anythings, in exchange for that?” Because let’s be real, it’s only normal to ask for something lewd when someone says they’ll do anything.

  “Shut up.”

  …

  That didn’t work.

  “It’s a nice building… Not bad…” The two of them left the dorm, and with no other choice, Iroha brought Carol to her apartment. They were still outside, and Carol leaned back while watching her fiddle with the lock. She was taking much longer than she should have to open her own door. “What are you doing? Hurry up.”

  “Well… Are you sure? Isn’t there anything else you want?” Iroha squirmed, trying to persuade her one last time.

  “*Sigh…* What are you so worried about…?” Carol rolled her eyes.

  “It’s just… Well… It’s embarrassing.”

  “You’re so dumb…” Carol shook her head. “No matter what I see, it’s not gonna change anything. I’m not gonna start hating, so get that door open already.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Uuuuuh…” Iroha finally unlocked the door, her shoulders shaking. Carol was about to go in, but… “Wa- wait… Can I clean up a bit first…?”

  Silence… An annoyed glance…

  “No.” Carol plainly said and pushed Iroha to the side.

  The inside was dim. There was not a lot of light besides that coming in through the door. There was a small kitchen near the entrance. Some plates were there, waiting to be put away, but everything was clean. “Is this what you were embarrassed about? I was expecting a much bigger mess from how you were act-”

  Carol froze as her gaze moved from the kitchen to the main living space. “Wow.”

  Iroha closed the door behind her and covered her red face with her hands. There was still light entering the room through a slightly open window in the back.

  The first thing Carol saw was a big desk made out of wood painted black with the three monitors on top, a big computer case, and a couple consoles. The room wasn’t particularly big, so seeing a desk that occupied so much space made her question the intelligence of the layout’s designer.

  The only other functional pieces of furniture in the room were a small couch and a coffee table. Probably part of the bigger set that had been split to fit the ridiculously large desk. Functional pieces, because the rest were display cases colored like the desk filled to the brim with statuettes of skimpily dressed girls, game cases, books, and other things. Not even the walls were spared, as almost every empty space had a colorful poster plastered there.

  It took a while for Carol to speak. Everything was so over-the-top that it took her some time to process things. Behind her, Iroha was still covering her face in shame. Carol had to do something to break up the tension.

  “I knew you were into this sort of thing already from how easily you were able to play with Narumi, but this is on a whole other level…”

  Iroha stiffened in place. “That’s why I didn’t wanna show you…”

  Carol shrugged and relaxed her shoulders. She casually approached the couch and sat down. “Why? Are you embarrassed about having dozens of figures of girls wearing lewd clothes? Maybe you shouldn’t have bought them in the first place.” Carol teased Iroha with a grin as she finally put down her hands. Her shoulders hung in defeat.

  “I mean… I like them… My apartment’s just not the place for guests…”

  “You’re too funny… I’m not a normal guest, remember? I told you nothing would change from seeing your room, and I stand by that. You’re a pervert. Big news. Not like asking to date multiple girls didn’t give that away.”

  Iroha stayed quiet… She slowly loosened up and took a peek at Carol. “Ahahaha… Sorry…”

  Iroha walked up to the desk and reached for the window to open the blinds a bit more. She bent over the desk with one knee on a gaming chair, and the room got brighter. Clearly, the setup wasn’t perfect. But Iroha’s inelegant yet trained movements had a certain charm to them. A special uniqueness…

  Carol looked around with a satisfied smile. She stood up to explore and pointed at one of the doors. “So, what’s here?”

  “That’s my bathroom.” Carol started reaching for the door before Iroha could even answer. She caught up to her but didn’t try to stop her.

  “Wait, what? Ughh…”

  That was the polar opposite of the reaction Iroha expected. “What’s wrong?! Why are you reacting like that!?” She panicked.

  “It’s nothing… It’s completely normal… Clean too… Insane whiplash…” Carol feigned being in shock to startle Iroha, and it worked. She closed the door while Iroha let out a sigh of relief. False alarm. “What about over here?” There was more to explore. Carol pointed at another door and reached for it.

  “Uhmm… Storage space? It’s practically empty in there.” She wasn’t lying. The room was mostly empty. Some boxes against the walls and the rest of the couch. Found it.

  Carol closed the door and moved across the room towards the final door. “And this?”

  “My bedroom.”

  Carol opened the door, and this one was like she expected. It looked like a continuation of the living room. A little less technology with only a television in sight. But otherwise, filled to the brim with girls on colorful posters, figurines, and covers. Wilder than the living room where the colorful stuff was framed by the black woods. “More of the same, huh?”

  “Yeah… Ahahaha…” The door was closed off, and Carol went back to the couch. With her inspection complete, Carol could finally sit down and talk, satisfied with the exclusive tour.

  “Dubious tastes aside, it’s a nice place you have here.” Iroha pulled up her chair and sat across from Carol. “Do you live here alone? I mean… You gotta.”

  “I do…” Iroha let out another awkward laugh. “It’d be impossible to have things set this way without being alone.”

  “Where are your parents?”

  “They moved out of Three Records. We’ve been here since I was young, at another place, but they had to move because of work.”

  “And you stayed behind by yourself?” Carol didn’t want to ask any insensitive questions, but it didn’t bother Iroha. And as her lover, it was Carol’s right to at least ask.

  “It’s a funny story, actually… They had to move right as I was entering high school. The plan was for me to stay at the dorms of our school, but there was some kind of error in Three Records’s system. And so, I get to live here on my own for dirt cheap.” Iroha grinned.

  “Hmm… Lucky you… From what I’ve seen here, you wouldn’t have survived life in a dorm.”

  Iroha nodded aggressively. “I completely agree.”

  “So?” Carol leaned forward, chin on hands and elbows on legs. “Was it really that big of a deal showing me your room? Still think I should have picked something else?”

  “If I say yes, are you gonna demand something else? I mean…the bedroom’s right there, but…”

  “That’s not what I meant! Idiot!” Her face grew red, and she looked away, crossing her arms. “I mean… I didn’t like it when you saw my room that one time… Right after the weird thing around my ankles appeared. It was embarrassing having you look around, but now I don’t think I would mind…”

  “Oh… Yeah… You had a plushie collection, didn’t you? But that’s just cute! Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “Shut up! I didn’t say that you could comment.” From an outsider’s perspective, Carol’s room may have just appeared cute. But this idiot is in the same position. Doesn’t she realize the double standard?

  “If you don’t mind, can I see your room again?”

  “You wanna visit my room again?” Carol blushed but put on a strong front. “Sure… I guess I can let you visit sometime.”

  “Really?”

  “But only after you return. You’re leaving with Galene tomorrow, aren’t you? Focus on that first.”

  “It’s a promise then!” Iroha smiled, happy to make plans with Carol. The two stared at each other, and the conversation died down. “Uhmm… What now? Did you see what you wanted to see? Is this enough?”

  “Don’t let it get to your head, but it was interesting. More interesting than I expected.” Carol crossed her arms. She remained seated on the couch with no intention of getting up.

  “Th- that’s nice… I’m glad you liked it… Are you going back then?”

  “Going back…?” Carol thought about it. She came to see Iroha’s room. Nothing else. But… “Hmmm… What if I spent the night here?” She grinned.