Chapter 120: Kitagawa Marin's Peculiar Sense of Embarrassment
"Senpai, what's wrong?"
"What? Kitagawa-san, what's wrong with me? There's nothing wrong with me! How could you tell something's wrong when—actually, there's really nothing—"
"Stop! Stop! Hold it right there!" Marin quickly raised her hands in a timeout gesture and shouted, "Senpai, you're acting like this, and you still say nothing's wrong?"
"You're mistaken, it's just a misunderstanding. I was just trying to joke around with you, Kitagawa-san."
Shunsuke realized his emotions were a bit off and quickly tried to adjust himself.
"Super suspicious."
Marin took a few quick steps to stand in front of Shunsuke, then turned around to face him, walking backward as she studied his expression.
"Watch where you're going," Shunsuke said as he forcefully guided her back to walking properly. "If you trip and get hurt, you won't be able to cosplay as Shizuku."
Marin instantly started walking normally and stopped pestering him.
When they got home, Shunsuke motioned to Marin with his eyes to wait for a moment, then led Mashiro into the studio.
"Mashiro, try using your current skills to revise the first chapter of Nisekoi. Let's see how far you've progressed."
"Okay."
Mashiro's calm, emotionless eyes betrayed nothing of her thoughts.
Shunsuke gently patted Mashiro's head before leaving the studio, carefully closing the door behind him.
When he returned to his room, Marin was already lying on his bed in her underwear, casually playing on her phone.
In her underwear!!!???
"Kitagawa-san, what are you doing?"
Having been provoked repeatedly throughout the day, Shunsuke was barely holding back the dark dragon's murky flame breath.
"Uh, I'm waiting for you to take my measurements," Marin said, looking confused. "Senpai, are you the type who doesn't like others lying on your bed? Sorry, sorry, I didn't consider that. At home, this is just how I use my phone, and before I realized it..."
"...What I meant is, why are you only wearing underwear?"
"Isn't that what's written in the book? No way, Senpai, you don't even know this basic stuff, do you?" Marin tugged at her bra strap. "Originally, I planned to wear a swimsuit, but you didn't even give me a chance. So, in the end, I could only wear this for the measurements."
Though Marin spoke boldly and even struck a pose, her darting eyes betrayed her true feelings—she was self-conscious.
Even though, in terms of coverage, underwear and swimsuits weren't all that different—and which one seemed more revealing depended on the context—there was something undeniably strange about it.
For some reason, even if the size and coverage were identical, swimsuits could be worn confidently in public while underwear could not. Where did this unspoken rule even come from?
If she were wearing a swimsuit now, Marin would likely feel no embarrassment. But standing here in underwear, in the room of a boy she cared about... This was bad. Very bad. Even if she couldn't pinpoint why, it was undeniably bad!
"Let's start by measuring your head circumference."
"Should I close my eyes?"
As Shunsuke approached her step by step, Marin instinctively tilted her head up slightly and closed her eyes.
—What's with this kiss-me pose!?
Shunsuke firmly pressed Marin's head back down, feeling as though his willpower had once again been tempered.
If it weren't for Mashiro, you might already be dead by now, he thought to himself.
After carefully measuring her head circumference, Shunsuke turned Marin around and began measuring her shoulder width, sleeve length, upper arm circumference, elbow circumference, wrist circumference, and shoulder circumference...
Once the upper body measurements were complete, Shunsuke took a deep breath, steadied himself, and moved to the front of Marin to begin measuring her lower body.
While measuring Marin's upper body, the interference of a "large slime" required him to work from behind.
However, for the lower body, there was no such concern, so measuring from the front was completely, totally, 100% fine.
After finishing the measurements for her thighs and calves, Shunsuke asked Marin to sit on the bed.
He crouched down, gently picking up her pale, slightly spread foot to measure its length, circumference, and width.
Naturally, after holding this position for a while, his neck started to ache. Without much thought, Shunsuke instinctively tilted his head upward...
—Tsk, Kitagawa, why did you have to take off your skirt? With everything so plainly visible, there's no sense of mystery left at all!
After finishing the measurements for her left foot, he reached for her right foot. Due to their relative positions, Marin naturally rested her left foot on Shunsuke's shoulder.
—Wait, wait, hold on! Kitagawa-san, why are you so practiced at this? Have we really progressed this far already? Is it supposed to escalate this quickly?
—Even though the affection level is already quite high, it's not high enough for this! Triggering this event now would lead to an individual route instead of a happy ending for everyone. Can we wait until I've maxed out the affection gauge before you choose this option?
Shunsuke's pupils trembled. His thoughts were so jumbled, he barely knew what he was thinking anymore.
Glancing up at Marin, he saw her beaming with narrowed eyes, clearly overjoyed at being one step closer to embodying Shizuku.
Shunsuke was hit with a wave of resentment: Why am I suffering while you're having so much fun?
Recalling Marin's peculiar sense of embarrassment, Shunsuke finished measuring her feet and said blankly, "Stand up now. Time to measure leg length."
"Got it!" Marin immediately stood up, happily striking a confident pose with her hands on her hips.
Shunsuke positioned the measuring tape between her legs, starting from the bottom and pulling it upward with a quick, sharp motion.
The tape measure slid up, up, and up—
"Uh!"
Marin suddenly felt an odd sensation, and her face instantly flushed a deep red.
"Kitagawa-san, what's wrong?" Shunsuke asked with a mischievous tone.
"Ah, n-nothing! Nothing at all! Everything's fine!" Marin stammered in a panic, denying it over and over. Only now did she truly understand what it meant to feel embarrassed.
—Oh no, oh no! I've been wearing this panties all day. What if there's a smell? What if Senpai notices? If he does, I'll die on the spot!
That thought was something Shunsuke never saw coming.
"If you're fine, then don't move. I'll continue measuring."
"O-okay..."
Her face burning so hot it felt like it might ignite, Marin stood stiffly in place, waiting awkwardly as Shunsuke completed the leg measurements.
"Is it... is it done now, Senpai? We're finished, right? You've measured everything."
"What are you talking about, Kitagawa-san? We still have the bust measurement left. Come over here. Didn't you want to make the perfect costume? The details matter—chiccupy's positioning and spacing are critical, and we need to measure it properly."
Shunsuke gave her a kind, but undeniably devious, smile.
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