"Ah!"
"M-My stockings and panties are gone?!"
Inside their shared tent, Kasumigaoka, her hair messy, clutched her head and screamed in panic.
"What's wrong?"
Beside her, Shinomiya Kaguya groggily opened her eyes, her expression blank as she looked at Kasumigaoka.
The two had been assigned to sleep in the same tent.
"The panties and stockings I took off last night—gone!" Kasumigaoka's wine-red eyes widened as she inhaled sharply.
"Maybe I accidentally took them?" Kaguya sat up and reached for her bag.
"If that's the case, then thank goodness…"
Kasumigaoka frowned. She clearly remembered putting them away properly last night. Kaguya shouldn't have taken them by mistake.
Still, if it was just a mistake, that would be the best-case scenario.
Otherwise, it meant they'd been stolen!
Rip!
Kaguya unzipped her little bag.
Kasumigaoka didn't even dare breathe. Her hands clenched nervously, trembling slightly.
At that moment—
Kaguya froze, suddenly realizing something serious.
They had been sharing this tent.
If Kasumigaoka's panties and stockings hadn't been taken by mistake, then someone had snuck into this tent last night!
The thought made Kaguya bolt upright, chills racing down her spine, her hands beginning to shake.
As the heiress of the Shinomiya family, even her photos couldn't be allowed to end up on other people's phones.
If someone had stolen something personal from her too—or secretly taken pictures of her while sleeping—
Or worse…
"Shinomiya-san? What's wrong?" Kasumigaoka was startled by her change in expression.
Kaguya quietly voiced the terrible possibilities she had just imagined.
The two girls sat in silence, their faces growing colder and more furious by the second.
Kaguya turned her entire bag upside down—but Kasumigaoka's missing underwear and stockings were nowhere to be found.
Kaguya's anxiety and anger were no less intense than Kasumigaoka's.
"Could it be him?!"
The two looked at each other and blurted out the same name with icy expressions.
"Excuse me, Shinomiya-san—did something happen?" a voice called from outside the tent.
Hayasaka Ai, already dressed, asked politely—pretending to be unfamiliar with Kaguya, per their usual cover.
Her tent was pitched right beside theirs, and she'd heard Kasumigaoka's screaming and all the rustling sounds, which immediately made her suspicious.
"Yes. Something happened," Kaguya replied calmly.
At school, Hayasaka always acted like a gyaru and maintained the pretense of not knowing Kaguya to help cover her activities.
"I'm coming in."
Hayasaka lifted the flap and peeked in.
She saw Kaguya with her hair tied up and Kasumigaoka already wearing shoes. Both girls looked deeply upset.
"Huh? What's wrong with you two?"
Hayasaka glanced at Kaguya, puzzled.
"My panties and stockings from last night were stolen!" Kasumigaoka said flatly, not even lifting her head.
Hayasaka froze for a few seconds. After a glance from Kaguya, she immediately understood.
This was very, very serious.
If the thief had only stolen Kasumigaoka's panties and underwear, he might get away with his life. But if he'd dared to mess with Kaguya...
Hayasaka's body twitched. A wave of suffocating tension washed over her.
"I haven't noticed anything missing... yet," Kaguya subtly added.
"This is awful. Did the thief leave any clues?" Hayasaka asked, feigning concern, though her eyes narrowed slightly.
"There were no clues. But I know who it was!" Kasumigaoka's wine-red eyes burned with fury.
A certain name and face flashed in her mind—an overweight, disgusting otaku.
She had immediately thought of Yoru.
Only someone like him would dare to go this far!
Who else could it be?
She regretted not zipping up the inner flap of the tent last night. Otherwise, this wouldn't have happened.
"It was that... Kitakami Yoru!" Kaguya said with a terrifyingly cold expression.
"I agree. It has to be him!" Kasumigaoka bit her lip, then glanced at Kaguya.
Having a powerful heiress like her on her side was a huge advantage.
Their conversation wasn't even quiet. Some curious girls nearby overheard.
And soon, like locusts, the rumor spread across the entire beach camp.
"Kasumigaoka-senpai's panties and stockings were stolen? That's so scary..."
"There are only so many people here on this private beach. Who would dare do that?"
"Hey, you don't think it was that disgusting fat creep from yesterday, do you?"
"Wasn't his name... Fatkawa or something?"
"Him? Wow, he's got guts…"
A dozen or so girls followed Kasumigaoka and Kaguya in a group, chattering as they headed straight for the boys' tents.
About twenty meters away.
Some boys were already up washing up.
They saw the girls marching over and were stunned—quickly waking their still-sleeping tentmates.
When they arrived at the boys' camp, Kasumigaoka stood with her arms crossed, giving the area a cold, commanding scan.
"Which tent is Kitakami Yoru's?!" she asked coldly.
"Uh… that one over there…" a bespectacled student stammered nervously, pointing at a tent that clearly stood out from the rest.
"What happened this time? Why is Kasumigaoka-san going after that fatty again?"
"They say someone stole her panties and stockings last night, and she thinks it was that Yoru guy."
"What, Hey—get up already…"
"No way, someone was really that bold?"
This explosive gossip once again spread like wildfire throughout the boys' camp.
Even the ones who were dead asleep from staying up late were slapped awake by their tentmates and quickly told the story.
Meanwhile, Yoru was still curled up in his tent, fast asleep under the weight of heavy black eye bags.
He had no idea that the entire spring trip group had gathered right outside his tent.
"He's sleeping in his own tent far from the boys' camp, and after what happened on the bus earlier, he's definitely the prime suspect," Hayasaka said seriously while hidden in the crowd.
Her analysis made complete sense and was immediately accepted by the group.
Especially Utaha, who was already furious and had assumed the worst about Yoru.
"Sleeping alone in a tent? Definitely suspicious!"
"He stole panties and stockings, then holed up alone far away. Calculated and disgusting!"
"How can someone so gross even exist? He should just die. Gross."