The Pet Girl of Sakurasou

Chapter 3: Part 4

When Sorata came to, he found himself looking at a disco ball.

The ball hung right above Sorata and reflected suspicious-looking pink and purple light as it revolved.

"Awake?"

Mashiro's upside-down face came into view and blocked Sorata's vision. Because of the room's lighting, there was just a bit of color in her normally white skin.

Still feeling a bit disoriented, Sorata vaguely looked at Mashiro.

Something happened, didn't it?

Why was this strange girl upside down?

Where did she buy this soft pillow? Sorata wanted to know, since he wanted one for himself.

However, it was probably about time for him to come back to reality.

"Hey, Shiina."

"What?"

"Am I... on your lap?"

"Yes."

With that one word, Sorata's dim conscoiusness was instantly knocked back into reality.

Panicking, Sorata tried to get up. However, because of that action, his forehead crashed into Mashiro's.

Without making a sound, Sorata fell to the floor and rolled around in agony.

However, Mashiro didn't seem bothered by it at all, but just rubbed at the affected area with her hand.

"That hurt."

"Then sound more like it hurt!"

"That didn't hurt."

"Then don't say it hurt in the first place!"

Sorata didn't get her at all. This being known as Shiina Mashiro was just beyond comprehension. Also, you really shouldn't be so willing to let a boy rest his head in your lap like that.

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

"About the world and how it works."

"What the hell?! You were thinking something that deep?!"

"......"

"Nevemind."

Seeming to not know of any other option, Mashiro didn't say a single word in response, but just sat there blinking.

"Also, this place..."

When Sorata stood up, he found himself on top of a bed. It was a double bed. The bed was in the shape of a pink heart, and took up half the room. The room itself was intended just for this bed.

The ceiling and the walls were all pure white. It was just that with this bewitching lighting floating through the place, there was a rather lewd feeling wafting through the air.

The room was furnished by antique-style furniture, and it ultimately came off as a room you might expect a princess to inhabit in a fairy tale. However, this wasn't a pure princess who dreamed of a prince riding in on a white horse, but rather a sketchy princess who was using everything in her arsenal to win a power struggle going on in the castle.

Sorata blinked. His started to feel dizzy.

Dumbfounded, Sorata stood there stock-still. Mashiro just continued to sit on her knees, on top of the bed. Together, they stood out like a sore thumb, like two innocent kids who got lost in the wrong part of town.

"Are we seriously in a love hotel?!"

Mashiro just looked up at Sorata without a response. It's almost as if she wanted to say "Isn't it a bit late to be saying that?"