Utaha lifted her skirt, revealing her black pantyhose underneath, through which the outline of her white panties could be seen.
"Are you going to keep staring?" she asked, her wine-red eyes fixed on Sui.
"Uh, sorry." Sui quickly turned his head away, only to steal a glance a few seconds later.
By then, Utaha had already bent down and removed her pantyhose, revealing her long, pale, and delicate legs. Her panties were now fully visible—white with a playful strawberry pattern—perfectly hugging her figure.
"Ahh, I feel so much better now," she sighed with relief, holding the stockings in her hand, her smile mischievous.
Since her ice cream had fallen onto her stockings earlier, they had become sticky and uncomfortable. That's why she dragged Sui into the secluded woods to remove them.
"Hey, Kouhai-kun, do you want my... stockings?" she teased, waving them in front of Sui's face with a sly grin.
Sui could catch a faint scent from the stockings, but with a frown, he replied, "No, thank you."
"But I don't have any pockets to keep them in. Do you want me to wear them around my neck?" she suggested, her teasing eyes locked on his.
Before Sui could respond, they were interrupted.
"Hey, you two! Come out right now!" A distant voice called out, revealing an old man in a security guard uniform approaching them.
"You young people... if you can't control yourselves, go to a hotel!" he grumbled, glaring at them. "What are you doing in the woods?"
Utaha's face flushed with rare embarrassment as she instinctively moved closer to Sui.
"Uncle, we weren't doing anything like that," Sui protested.
"What do you mean? Why was she waving stockings in front of you then?" the old man demanded.
With a sigh, Sui took the stockings and shoved them into his pocket, feeling the lingering warmth from them. With a grim expression, he turned and led Utaha out of the woods.
Utaha, still blushing, clung to his arm like a guilty child, her head bowed. This was the first time Sui had seen the normally confident and teasing Utaha act so flustered.
"senpai, where should we walk now?" Sui asked as they left the woods.
Utaha naturally slipped her hand into his and leaned closer to him, their proximity now even more intimate than before.
"Hmm, anywhere is fine," she replied, holding the stick from her ice cream in her mouth. Even though her ice cream had long since fallen, she seemed to enjoy sucking on the stick.
"How about the literature department?" Sui suggested after a moment.
"Sure," Utaha agreed, nodding sweetly.
They strolled to the literature department, spending the afternoon together. After getting hungry, they went to Todai University's cafeteria for a bite to eat. The food was delicious, and the two enjoyed each other's company.
When the day wound down, they headed back to Sui's apartment. There, they ran into the Nakano sisters, who had come over for their after-school study session.
"Oh? Did Utaha-sensei and Sui go on a date today?" Ichika asked, surprised to see them holding hands. Something about their relationship seemed a bit different.
"Ha!" Nino scoffed, arms crossed as she eyed the couple suspiciously.
Miku, meanwhile, puffed out her cheeks and glared at Utaha, her jealousy apparent in her expression.
"Um, we just went for a walk around the university," Sui explained awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, just looking around, thinking about future schools," Utaha added with a calm smile, though one eye was slightly narrowed in amusement.
"Yeah, right. Walking around campus, but holding hands like that? Who are you trying to fool?" Nino scoffed.
It was only then that Sui realized Utaha was still holding onto his hand. They both let go awkwardly, Utaha's cheeks turning slightly pink.
Later, after the Nakano sisters finished their tutoring session, they stayed for dinner. However, this time, Sui didn't eat with them. He helped cook the meal but then went back to his own apartment for dinner, feeling like it had been a while since he had done so.
——
A few days later, the first batch of almond cabbage Sui had planted in his garden was ready to be harvested. Normally, cabbage takes about fifty days to mature, but the soil enriched with mineral earthworms seemed unusually fertile. As a result, the almond cabbage grew much faster than expected.
Isshiki and others had helped Sui plant the seeds, and after hearing about the early harvest, Alice was so excited that she dragged her mother, Leonora, over to see.
Leonora was dressed simply in long boots, a blue plaid shirt, and gray trousers. Her long silver hair was braided into a neat plait, and she wore a sun hat, giving her a fresh and sunny appearance. But her elegance and noble air still shone through, making her look like the matron of a European estate.
Alice, similarly dressed in a sun hat, still wore her Totsuki Academy uniform.
"Oh, this cabbage is growing wonderfully! I bet it tastes delicious," Leonora commented with a smile, struggling slightly to hold a cabbage she had just cut with a sickle.
"Achoo!" Erina sneezed unexpectedly while cutting cabbage.
"Erina-sama, are you... pregnant?" Hisako Shinto asked nervously, her concern immediately evident.