"Ah!" Tetsuya finally snapped out of his endless loop of embarrassment, quickly lowering his hand, which was still in the pose of taking a photo, and pushing against the ground in an attempt to stand up.
However, his legs had gone numb, and he couldn't exert any strength. As soon as his butt lifted halfway, it slumped back down repeatedly, as if he had something stuck on there. He muttered as he struggled to get up, "Sorry, sorry, I'm not... I... didn't mean to—"
Before he could finish, a foot landed on the back of his hand that was still on the ground—where he was holding his phone.
"—Oh! Hiss—" Tetsuya gasped in pain, causing his fingers to release the phone.
The girl bent down, yanked the phone from beneath his hand, straightened up, and then shifted her weight back onto the foot pressing against his hand while skillfully scrolling on the phone.
With one hand pinned down, Tetsuya couldn't stand up even if he wanted to, so he just grimaced and kept his head bowed.
"Did you just move in?" the girl asked suddenly, lifting her foot.
Tetsuya shook his hand, raised his head, and saw the girl handing the phone back to him. She glanced disdainfully at the open door of apartment 402, adorned with bright red double happiness characters.
Taking the phone, Tetsuya finally managed to stand with a shaky grip on the wall, not daring to look directly at her and instead focusing on the greenery at his feet.
"Uh, yes—"
"Tell your parents to clean the hallway!" The girl's response and speaking speed were quick, as if she didn't care whether he finished speaking or not.
"I—" Tetsuya struggled to lift his head, realizing the girl was about his height and seemed quite young. While her face was youthful and delicate, it also showed a fierce expression. He was certain that this look was not something an innocent little girl would have, so he quickly stifled his voice and lowered his head again.
"What do you mean 'I'? Seriously, you have the audacity to call yourself that? It's hilarious! I tolerated the mess during your family's renovation, but you're moving in and leaving trash everywhere—what kind of operation is that? If your parents don't clean up, you're responsible for it, got it?" The girl scolded him emphatically, as if lecturing a grandchild.
"Um..." Seeing that the girl's tirade was only about the trash spilled in the hallway and didn't lead into the territory of peeping under skirts, Tetsuya felt somewhat relieved. He didn't want to argue with this girl about being the 25-year-old newlywed master of the new home; he just wished to extricate himself from this encounter quickly. After all, the mess was partly his fault—due to his poor judgment in choosing help—so he just nodded awkwardly.
Tetsuya knew that his short stature and wide forehead made him look young, and his unchanged bowl-cut hairstyle led others to think he was still a minor. This was one of the main reasons he struggled to interact normally with women. Aside from his newlywed wife Misaki, he didn't know how to talk normally with other girls, let alone handle this bizarre situation.
"And also! Pervert, could you at least be a bit more professional about peeping? Hiding among the leaves? Are you practicing some kind of ninja tactic? Ugh! You better wait until your head turns a bit greener!"
The girl mocked him coldly. After saying this, she went down the stairs on her own. After a few steps, she viciously turned her face and added, "You creep, don't let me see you again!"
Tetsuya didn't dare to speak, only glancing with his peripheral vision at the long ponytail swinging behind the girl like a black wisp. He sighed inwardly, realizing he hadn't escaped after all, and was also amazed that such a young girl could say something like that. Though he didn't know the expression she wore while saying it, he guessed it was likely similar to the look someone would have if they stepped in dog poop.
It wasn't until he could no longer hear the sound of her footsteps that he moved his stiff body, picked up his phone to check, and as expected, that photo under the skirt had already been deleted by her.
*"Pervert?"* In Tetsuya's memory, this was the first time a girl had called him that. With no luck with the opposite sex, his attitude towards sex had been stuck in a vicious cycle. Even watching adult films—an entertainment activity that most people enjoy—he avoided. Not only did he feel no excitement from watching them, but he even felt a slight fear.
Perhaps it was a physical issue, or perhaps a psychological one; the feeling of immersion while watching adult films was for him akin to watching a horror movie.
Thus, like a sexual insulator, his life had been reduced to just studying and working, and the only woman he could normally communicate and interact with was his childhood friend and newlywed wife, Misaki, who was five years older than him.
He thought to himself, *"Pervert? Huh? Could I really be a pervert? No way! But... what was that sudden thump in my heart just now?"*
Tetsuya recalled the unusual flutter in his chest earlier, which was not caused by fear; it felt so unfamiliar, something he had never felt before.
He brought to mind the reflection he had seen moments ago in the mirror: in the sky-blue skirt, the pale thighs seemed not fully closed, the light yellow underwear hugging the body, the clean edges, the slightly rounded pubic area, the faintly visible line, and the few brown bear patterns…
However, the memory began to fade, like smoke blown away by a gentle breeze. While he tried to hold onto the recollection, he also tried to experience his feelings, wanting to extract even a sliver of the excitement, impulse, or perhaps... fear that arose from that image. He felt somewhat dejected to realize that he seemed to have no real feelings about it… But… it wasn't a complete void, like a snowflake falling onto a calm surface of water.
*"Maybe it's because I didn't see it clearly enough?"* Tetsuya thought as he glanced at his phone again. *"Hey? Could it be…?"* He quickly opened the recycle bin in his photo gallery—only to be disappointed to find it empty as well.
He suddenly froze.
*"Disappointed? Am I really disappointed? …What a strange day!"* He knew that today was the day he moved in, and a whole new life was about to begin; he just hadn't expected it to open in such a way.