Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
The morning classes passed quickly and before anyone knew it, it was time for lunch. While Yakumo and Chiho, who usually brought their own lunch, ate their lunches in the classroom, Tatsuo left and made his way up to the rooftop to meet Kasumi and Ayane to have lunch together. Luckily, it had stopped raining a little before the lunch bell rang. Otherwise, they would have had to find a spot in the cafeteria or postpone their lunch date until another day.
Though, Tatsuo was surprised that Ayane actually agreed to join them.
"You could have invited Yakumo-Chan and Chiho-Chan if you wanted." " Kasumi said softly while opening the lunch box Sumire packed.
"I actually left them behind on purpose." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "It seems like the girls in my class try to give us space when I'm around. So, I figured I'd come up here to let them get to know the other girls in our class."
"How considerate." Ayane said frankly.
"It really is." Kasumi added with a gentle smile. "But that can't be the only reason, could it?"
"Actually, there is something else." Tatsuo said while narrowing his eyes at his adopted sisters. "Now, don't take this the wrong way, but it's strange that I haven't found a single love letter in my shoe locker or desk. Even though it's only the third day, I can feel the stares. So, I know what should have happened. In fact, it didn't even take three days before the love letters started coming back in middle school."
"Girls sure are bold now-a-days, aren't they?" Kasumi asked while trying to suppress a giggle.
"And you think one of us has been taking the love letters before you get to them?" Ayane asked with an eyebrow raised, clear disdain for the act showing on her face.
"The two of you? No." Tatsuo replied while shaking his head lightly. "But I do get the feeling that you do know what happened to them."
Hearing that, Kasumi and Ayane exchanged glances. Then, they both shot Tatsuo a knowing glance. Seeing that glance, Tatsuo could only sigh. That look was all Tatsuo needed to understand the situation.
"I should have known, it was Mai-Nee, wasn't it?" Tatsu asked rhetorically. "Even more unbelievable is the fact that Mom is actually letting her get away with it."
*Sneeze!*
At the same time, in the CEO's office of Kurashikki Ensō, Mai, who was organizing paperwork for Sumire, sneezed. Then, while wiping her nose with a handkerchief, she smiled in a silly manner.
"Tatsu-Kun must be thinking about me right now." Mai said in a dreamy tone.
"I bet he figured out what you've been doing behind his back." Sumire said without looking up from the contract with Shuchi'in Academy. "He's probably not gonna be happy that you've been meddling in his affairs, Mai-Chan."
"Huh? There's no way he could know about that. I made sure to---" Mai began to protest. However, when she realized she was giving the game away, she snapped her mouth shut while turning to look at Sumire with a horrified gaze. "What... are you talking about, Sumire-Sama? I haven't done anything that would make Tatsu-Kun unhappy. I've especially not been sneaking into Yagami High after hours to destroy any love letters stuffed into his shoe locker or his desk space."
Hearing that, Sumire finally looked up from the contract and gave Mai the driest side-eye the kunoichi had ever seen.
"*Sigh* Why didn't I think of doing that?" Tio, who was sitting on the couch in Sumire's office, asked with her own dreamy expression. "Mmm~~~! The punishment that would follow would be incredible."
A moment later, Tio's eyes lit up as if she had a great idea.
"Say, Mai-San, how about this." Tio said while leaning forward excitedly. "If Tatsuo-Sama asks you about it, you can tell him it was me who did it. That way, both of us win. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
Tio's suggestion made Mai's eyes light up as well. Meanwhile, Sumire could only sigh at the hair-brained scheme the two just came up with.
"Do you think that would really work?" Sumire asked in a tired tone. "You know how smart my Tatsu-Chan is. Seeing through a low-level lie like that would be child's play for him."
Sumire's words dumped a bucket of cold water on Mai's and Tio's enthusiasm. However, Mai had not given up, turning to look at Sumire with puppy dog eyes.
"You've been trying that trick a lot recently." Sumire said while looking down at the contract again. "And just like Tatsu-Chan, it's not gonna work with me, either.
Hearing Sumire's blunt refusal, Mai felt as if her entire world was crashing down around her. Flopping back into her seat, she continued to organize Sumire's paperwork. Though, she was completely listless. If it weren't for excellent work efficiency that had become instinct by this point, Mai would not have gotten any work done at all.
Meanwhile, back at Yagami High, Tatsuo, Kasumi, and Ayane ate while chatting about any interesting topics they could think of. Then, about ten minutes before the bell signaling the end of lunch rang, they headed back down to their class rooms.
A few minutes later, Tatsuo was just about to enter Class 1-D. And as he did, he heard a few girls chatting. And the topic almost made him stop and wait outside. But since he had nothing to hide, he decided to push through anyway.
"Neither of you is dating Soramoto-Kun?" One of the girls in class asked in a shocked tone. "But you're always together. Honestly, I thought at least one of you was dating him."
"Nope." Chiho replied with a giggle. "He did ask Yakumo-Chan out, though."
"Really?" The girls chorused, their eyes sparkling at the sign of some good gossip.
"But if you're not dating him, that means you must have rejected his confession, right?" Another girl asked, her tone filled with hope.
"I didn't reject it, per se." Yakumo replied, her tone making it clear she was uncomfortable with the topic. "I just asked him to give me some time to think."
Unfortunately, Yakumo knew that, even if she ended up rejecting Tatsuo in the end, telling unrelated people about his status as a supernatural being was not an option.
"If neither of you is dating Soramoto-Kun, does that mean we have a chance?" A third girl asked with her eyes sparkling.
That question caused all the girls other than Yakumo and Chiho to squeal in excitement. Meanwhile, Chiho looked at Yakumo with worry. Although she knew that Yakumo had not responded to Tatsuo's confession yet, it was clear to anyone who knew her long enough that Yakumo had feelings for Tatsuo. The only question was…
'Why is Yakumo-Chan hesitating?' Chiho asked herself. 'Is there something strange about Tatsuo-Kun?'
When Chiho asked herself that question, the image of a brunette with long hair and an explosive body glaring at her popped into her mind.
'Oh, I forgot about her.' Chiho thought to herself while smiling strangely. 'Yeah, when Shiranui-San stares at you like that, it's kinda intimidating.'
Unfortunately, Chiho's assessment could not have been further from the truth. From the moment Yakumo first met Mai, the glare that seemed to scare everyone else had no effect on her. Even so, she was right about one thing…
'I don't like this.' Yakumo thought t herself while looking at all the girls who were talking about asking Tatsuo out. 'I don't want to let anyone else have him.'
"By the way, I put a love letter in Soramoto-Kun's locker before I left school yesterday." The first girl said excitedly. "I wonder if he read it yet."
"Hmph! Do you really think you were the first one to have that idea?" A fourth girl asked disdainfully. "I bet his shoe locker looked like those tropes from manga this morning. There's no way he had time to read all the letters that were stuffed in there."
"Really?" The first girl asked. "Then---"
However, before the conversation could continue, one of the girls who was facing the classroom door noticed Tatsuo entering the room. So, to make sure that he did not overhear them, she shushed the rest of the group. Then, they all said they'd talk later before returning to their own seats.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo only shook his head when he saw the girls scatter. He heard everything they said after a certain point. So, he already knew they were thinking about the best way to ask him out. Even so, he did not pay much attention to it. Ordinary girls were not enough of a treasure to join his hoard, after all.
Though, Tatsuo did not realize that the only girl he really saw as a treasure in the entire school was Yakumo. Not even Haruhi with the powers she was unaware of was enough to make Tatsuo take a second look.
"Yo, I'm back." Tatsuo said with a smile as he approached his desk. "Have fun chatting with the other girls?"
"Uh... Well…" Chiho stammered while her gaze shifted between Tatsuo and Yakumo.
Yakumo, on the other hand, only stared at Tatsuo with a complicated expression on her face.
Realizing Yakumo and Chiho had some stuff on their minds, Tatsuo only shrugged his shoulders before taking his seat. Then, after deciding to change the subject, Tatsuo turned to Chiho.
"By the way, are you working tonight, Chi-Chan?" Tatsuo asked curiously.
"Yeah, my shift starts right after school." Chiho said, happy to change the subject. "Why? Are you planning to stop by tonight?"
"Yeah." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "Because of the attack at the concert, I haven't talked to Maou-San in a while. And I have some good news to give him. So, I was thinking of stopping by."
"Good news?" Chiho asked curiously. "What good news?"
Even Yakumo turned to look at Tatsuo with interest in her eyes.
"Well, Mom told me that the house she bought is almost done being renovated." Tatsuo said with a smile. "So, we'll be moving this weekend. And since our apartment is going to be empty, Mom told me to ask Maou-San if he and Ashiya wanted to rent it for a low price. That way, it won't sit there empty since we're not selling it."
Hearing that, Chiho's eyes widened in surprise. Although she had never been to Sadao's apartment before, she knew he did not live in the most upscale place. So, to think of him living in Tatsuo's apartment was a novel thought for her.
"Does that mean you plan to come with me after school today?" Chiho asked, hoping Tatsuo would say yes because she was not sure if she could keep the secret for very long.
"Nah… I can't." Tatsuo replied while shaking his head. "I have to go home first. I need to punish a certain assistant.
Chiho tilted her head cutely when she heard that. Yakumo, on the other hand, was reminded of the girls talking about putting love letters in Tatsuo's locker. Then, she thought about Mai. And since she knew about the identities of the people living in the Soramoto residence, she put two-and-two together rather quickly.
And when Yakumo reached the correct conclusion, she could not help smiling slightly. So slightly, in fact, that if Tatsuo had not glanced at her at the right moment, he would have missed it completely.
'I guess she figured it out, too.' Tatsuo thought to himself as he smiled, as well. 'I wonder what kind of excuse Mai-nee will come up with when I ask her about it. Will she spout the same crap about the promise under the cheery tree? Or maybe she'll blame it on Tio, which would make Tio happy if I actually believed that crap. Well, there's really only one way to find out.'
The rest of the day passed quickly. After school, Tatsuo, Kasumi, and Ayne headed back to the apartment after saying their goodbyes to their friends. And when they arrived, Sumire, Mai, and Tio were in the living room as usual. However, while Sumire was just the same as always, Mai looked apprehensive while Tio wore an expression filled with anticipation.
"We're back." Tatsuo said cheerfully, looking as if nothing was wrong.
"Welcome back, Tatsu-Chan." Sumire replied, just as cheerful as ever.
Unfor5tunate4ly, that was where the normal greetings ended. Deciding to ignore Tio because her look of anticipation creeped him out, Tatsuo turned his attention to Mai. And when his eyes fell on her, Mai tried to act natural. Yet, the stiffness in her movements gave her away instantly.
Tatsuo stared at Mai for nearly a minute. Usually, something like this would have Mai ready to jump him. But this time, she felt as if she were standing in the cold with no clothes on, her body shivering more and more as time passed.
"If you confess your crimes, I'll make your punishment lighter, Mai-Nee." Tatsuo said softly.
"Crimes? What are you talking about, Tatsu-Kun?" Mai asked nervously, her eyes landing on everything in the room but Tatsuo. "I haven't done anything that could be considered a crime in the last ten hours or so."
The dumbfounded expressions on Tatsuo's, Sumire's, Kasumi's, and Ayane's faces must have been a sight to see. Although they knew how audacious and shameless Mai could be, they never expected her to go in that direction when directly confronted about what she'd done.
Tio, on the other hand, had produced a notebook at some point and was furiously taking notes. Because like the others, she never expected Mai to play it like this. However, she also knew that when Tatsuo snapped back to his senses, Mai's punishment would be even more delicious than it would have been before.
Eventually, Tatsuo sighed. Then, a magic circle appeared at the tips of his fingers before threads sprouted from his fingertips, slithered towards Mai, and wrapped around her wrists and ankles. A moment later, with several flicks of Tatsuo's fingers, Mai found herself sitting on the floor in the seiza position with her wrists and ankles tied together.
"What the...?" Mai, only reacting after she was tied up, asked in utter confusion.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo produced a piece of posterboard and a marker from his [Inventory] and began writing while Sumire, Kasumi, and Ayane looked at Mai with amusement and Tio stared at her with obvious jealousy.
A few seconds later, Tatsuo finished writing on the posterboard. Then, with the marker, he poked two holes at the top of the board, created a woven rope with the [Thread Magic] he copied from Elicia, stepped forward and hung the posterboard, which read: "I lied, so I'm being punished." Around Mai's neck, before sitting in the spot Mai was just forced to vacate.
"Now, do you feel like telling the truth, Mai-Nee?" Tatsuo asked in a solemn tone. "Keep in mind, I really don't like being lied to."
*Gulp!*
Mai reacted by audibly gulping the saliva in her mouth. Then, after a short struggle, she confessed her crimes. And as she explained, sighs of exasperation could be heard from almost everyone in the room. The only exception, Tio, was gritting her teeth in jealousy, wishing she could trade places with Mai.