Subsequently, Su Rui and Shirai Kuroko learned the true reason Kaguya Shinomiya wanted to return.
It was indeed due to the girl's shyness, but the deeper reason, of course, was that the girl was about to reach the summit.
Even with her eyes closed, Kaguya Shinomiya still felt somewhat embarrassed in Su Rui's embrace, releasing her arms from around Su Rui's neck and covering her face.
Shirai Kuroko was also well aware of Kaguya Shinomiya reaching the peak.
Because some moisture had accidentally splattered onto her cheek from Kaguya Shinomiya.
Shirai Kuroko, with a flushed face, stared intently at Su Rui, her breathing becoming rapid, indicating she was indeed a bit angry.
It was as if she would immediately cause a scene if Su Rui didn't properly appease her.
Su Rui tried his best to suppress his urge to laugh, reaching out to gently rub Shirai Kuroko's cheek and mouthed to her to calm down and that he would come find her later.
In reality, neither Su Rui nor Shirai Kuroko could read lips, but in such a situation, what needed to be said could almost be directly guessed, so it didn't hinder their communication at all.
Su Rui carried Kaguya Shinomiya, who was already asleep in his arms from the exhaustion of her 'climb,' to her large bed, then gently placed the girl down and covered her with a blanket.
Even with her eyes closed, too sleepy to move, Kaguya Shinomiya still reached out and softly grasped Su Rui's wrist:
"Su Rui, stay with me a little longer~"
"Get some good rest. If you need anything, you can find me directly."
Su Rui simply cupped the girl's face, used his spiritual power to slightly restore Kaguya Shinomiya's stamina so she could sleep peacefully, and then released his hands.
He couldn't replenish too much of Kaguya Shinomiya's stamina; otherwise, if Kaguya Shinomiya woke up completely refreshed, wouldn't that interfere with Su Rui's subsequent actions?
With that thought, after hearing Kaguya Shinomiya's even breathing, Su Rui got up and walked towards the bathroom where Shirai Kuroko was.
He gently opened the bathroom door and walked in, no need to lock the door, as no one would disturb them at this moment.
Su Rui leaned against the door, took out a tissue, and carefully wiped away the water stains that had accidentally gotten on Shirai Kuroko's cheek.
It seemed the prank earlier had indeed made Shirai Kuroko quite angry; the girl preferred to have those water droplets on her cheek rather than wipe them herself.
After wiping away the moisture, Su Rui held Shirai Kuroko in his arms, sat down, and leaned close to her ear to apologize:
"My prank just now was wrong. What compensation do you want? You can ask for anything."
"Hmph~ You did those vulgar things right in front of me, and now you're coming to consider my feelings?"
Shirai Kuroko snorted, turning her face away in Su Rui's embrace, appearing unswayed by his apology.
However, Su Rui had his own method; he simply held the girl in his arms, buried his face in her fair, slender neck, and breathed slowly, his warm breath caressing the skin on her neck, tinting the fair skin with a blush.
Shirai Kuroko felt the breathing on her neck and felt a little uncomfortable in the silent atmosphere, finally unable to resist speaking:
"Alright, alright, tsk, so, what do you want to apologize with?"
"That depends on what Kuroko wants?"
"No, since it's your apology, you have to figure out what I want and give it to me yourself, or it doesn't count."
Shirai Kuroko snorted in Su Rui's embrace; he had done such a terrible thing, especially since Shirai Kuroko felt that the water droplets that had splashed on her cheek earlier were intentional on Su Rui's part.
So she had to properly torment Su Rui before accepting his apology.
"Alright, let me think…"
Su Rui put on a thoughtful expression, resting his chin on Shirai Kuroko's shoulder, silently pondering.
And the girl in his arms also enjoyed Su Rui's embrace, relaxing her body and closing her eyes in his arms.
However, when Su Rui's silence lasted so long that even Shirai Kuroko in his arms noticed something was off, the girl still turned to look at Su Rui:
"You haven't fallen asleep, have you? How come you still haven't thought of a suitable method?"
Su Rui smiled and opened his eyes, looking at the girl in front of him, suddenly leaning closer to her face, and then kissing Shirai Kuroko's lips.
"Mmph~" Caught off guard, Shirai Kuroko didn't dodge. After realizing what Su Rui was doing, the girl's hands retaliated by pounding Su Rui's body several times.
But because she was worried about actually hurting Su Rui, what was called 'pounding' actually ended up being light taps, as if she were playfully hitting him.
Soon, Shirai Kuroko also abandoned her coy resistance and actively cupped Su Rui's face, kissing him.
Until the girl herself was a little breathless and broke free from the long kiss.
Su Rui looked at the girl in front of him, who was breathing heavily and staring intently at him, and reached out a finger to gently wipe away the silver thread from Shirai Kuroko's lips, asking softly:
"How is it? Are you satisfied with my apology?"
"So you waited that long just to wait for me to turn around?"
Shirai Kuroko snorted, "In the end, you're still taking advantage, aren't you~"
The girl put on an unyielding facade, but she squirmed a few times in Su Rui's embrace, avoiding his eyes, and still whispered:
"I'll forgive you this time, but you can't do such a terrible thing to me next time. I'm really angry… At least you should tell me first."
"I know, this was truly just an accident."
Su Rui replied to Shirai Kuroko with an apologetic tone, while tightly embracing the girl's soft body in his arms.
"The end was truly an accident." Shirai Kuroko snorted, and in Su Rui's embrace, she suddenly thought of Yotsuya Miko in Su Rui's room.
She fell silent for a moment. Although increasing her own competition made Shirai Kuroko somewhat unwilling, Shirai Kuroko still felt that comforting herself in that way when Su Rui wasn't around was a bit pitiful.
So after hesitating for a moment, Shirai Kuroko still spoke:
"Su Rui, you should pay attention; have you been neglecting anyone lately?"
"Hmm? Why are you suddenly bringing this up? Of course, I'll take good care of everyone."
"Is that so? Then there might be a girl in your room right now who couldn't find you, perhaps?"
Shirai Kuroko gritted her teeth and still brought up the matter.
"...Then shall we go check?"
"Okay."
After speaking, Shirai Kuroko directly pulled Su Rui and activated their abilities.
