Chapter 337: The Proof It Wasn't a Dream Was What Fell from Her...
It was like a balloon attached to a water faucet.
As the faucet released multiple waves of water, the balloon continuously expanded and grew larger.
When it reached a certain point, the internal pressure caused the balloon's opening and the faucet to loosen, eventually forcing them apart under the pressure.
Once separated, the balloon's intense contraction expelled the liquid inside, and the force of that eruption was undoubtedly more powerful than the faucet's water pressure in an instant.
As a result, the five girls standing in front of Sona were drenched from head to toe.
For a moment, they stood there in disarray, staring blankly at Sona.
They were looking at this cold, stern president, whom they usually feared, now in such a state.
And this president now seemed to have lost consciousness.
"Sona? Sona?"
In her blank state of mind, Sona felt as if someone was calling her.
"Sona? Are you exhausted?"
The voice grew clearer, as if it were Rias.
Gradually, Sona's consciousness began to clear. Slowly, she opened her eyes and lifted her face from her arms.
"Huh? Rias, what is it?"
"You've been overworking yourself again, haven't you?"
Rias looked at her seemingly exhausted friend with a mix of concern and exasperation.
When she had entered the student council room, she found Sona asleep at her desk, completely unaware of her arrival—a clear sign of how tired she was.
It had taken several calls to rouse her from her deep slumber.
So, during the training in the alternate space with its different time flow and after returning to reality, she probably hadn't gotten proper rest.
Seeing her push herself so hard made Rias feel a bit guilty.
But something else had been odd earlier. On her way to the student council room, she had run into Sona's servants, including Tsubaki.
When I asked if Sona was in the student council room, they said yes, but their expressions were subtle, their faces inexplicably flushed with an incredible redness.
"Overworked?"
Had she just finished some task and exhausted herself to the point of collapsing here asleep?
She slept until afternoon? It was already after school.
Come to think of it, at noon, Tsubaki mentioned wanting a bottle of the special perfume too, asking if she could have permission to ask him for it.
So of course, Sona had no reason to refuse.
After that, she reassembled her family and headed to the training space to adapt to the artifact he had also given her.
After messing around for a while, she left alone for the bath, wanting to properly wash her body.
And upon arriving at the bath—
Huh?
Memories didn't require Sona to consciously recall them; they surged forth on their own like a tide.
Thus, the flood of memory scenes made Sona's eyes widen in growing shock.
"N-No way, I—I actually did that in front of everyone? That idiot, uwaa, I..."
She instantly turned bright red and began stammering incoherently.
"Sona?"
Rias looked at her friend with slight confusion. Why had she suddenly turned red and flustered, seemingly on the verge of tears from inexplicable shame?
"Sona, what's wrong?"
After calling out again, Sona's delicate body trembled as she snapped back to reality.
"Ah, it's not like that, Rias! It's all his fault! I'm not that kind of shameless woman!"
"What? What shamelessness?"
Thoroughly bewildered by Sona, Rias couldn't help but gaze at her friend with a subtle look.
Sona's current panic seemed related to that guy.
"It's just that I... Wait, I'm in the student council room? A dream?"
The flustered Sona calmed down slightly.
It must have been a dream, right? Otherwise, how would she have ended up back in the student council room?
But why was there no clear memory of returning to the student council room either?
Was it really a dream?
For a moment, Sona felt torn between hope and fear.
If it was a dream, then she wouldn't have to worry about losing face in front of her members.
But if it was a dream, she couldn't help feeling an emptiness inside.
So, there was also a tiny part of her that wished it had been real.
Even though she'd been utterly humiliated, she would have shared a deeper connection with him.
"A dream?"
Rias blinked in surprise, then revealed an amused expression.
It seemed Sona had dreamed about him—being bullied by him in the dream, where something very subtle had happened.
As the saying goes, day thoughts lead to night dreams. This proved Sona's feelings for him were growing stronger.
Unfortunately, this tsundere friend of hers—so rigid and proper—just couldn't drop her pride. Even in his presence, she maintained that icy demeanor.
"What dream? Can you tell me about it, Sona?"
"It was nothing. Why did you come to see me?"
Sona stiffened her expression again, reverting to the aloof student council president image of Kuoh Academy.
"Nothing much, just wanted to discuss your dream, Sona."
Rias walked around the desk to stand behind Sona, who was seated in her chair, and intimately draped an arm over her shoulders.
"Tell me about it."
"I said it was nothing. Let go, don't bother me. I still have a lot to do."
Sona pried off the arm that had been wrapped around her.
"Want to talk about it? We're such good friends, what couldn't we discuss? How about this—I can tell you the secret of the perfume, what do you say?"
Rias dangled this temptation, but her words immediately made Sona react strangely.
"You have the perfume too, don't you?"
At this probing question, Sona's delicate frame trembled slightly.
"I—"
"Then I'll just go ask him directly"
Sona, who had been about to deny it, found her words cut off by Rias's statement, and her face grew increasingly flushed.
"Hehehe"
Under Rias's smile, her friend grew more flustered, her adorably red face now beaded with glistening sweat.
"When did it happen?"
An amused follow-up question.
"I don't know!"
Sona abruptly stood up and pushed Rias away, preparing to leave the student council room.
However, after taking a few steps after standing up, she suddenly froze in place.
"What's wrong? So—"
Rias's voice cut off abruptly because she saw something fall from Sona's body.
"Sona, are you sure that was a dream?"
"I..."
The student council president—Sona Sitri—didn't know what to say.
Now, her mind was in complete chaos again.
That clearly wasn't a dream, so how should she face everyone from now on?
And while she was utterly at a loss, there was also a thread of joy and satisfaction in her heart.