However, after finishing their shopping, they still hadn't seen Kirisu Mafuyu come back, which surprised her as well.
Didn't Hiratsuka Shizuka, Kirisu Mafuyu, and the others say they were only doing a home visit for Hachiman?
She didn't really understand why five people would go on a home visit together, but the time involved shouldn't be much different. It wasn't like all five of them were going to take turns conducting separate home visits.
"A home visit for Hikigaya-kun?"
The moment Hanamori Kotomi heard that surname that had been keeping her awake at night lately, she immediately thought of some unspeakable possibilities.
"What is it?"
Kashima Risako looked at Hanamori Kotomi, who had suddenly cried out, with confusion.
'Does Hanamori Kotomi have some special connection with Hachiman?'
Recently, whenever Hachiman was mentioned, her expression always seemed a little strange.
She didn't understand the reason, but Hanamori Kotomi's change had started after that student punishment issue was resolved. She felt that Hanamori Kotomi might have made some kind of deal with Hachiman in exchange for his help.
But Hanamori Kotomi refused to say anything, and she couldn't find Hachiman to ask about it.
Because he skipped class all the time, nobody knew where he would appear.
"N-No! I'm just surprised that Mafuyu-sensei takes Hikigaya-kun so seriously. We already agreed to have a gathering today, but she still made time for a home visit. It would've been fine to start next week."
Seeing Kashima Risako looking at her suspiciously again, Hanamori Kotomi quickly shook her head.
Based on her own experience, she felt it was very likely that Kirisu Mafuyu and the others had been kept at Hikigaya-kun's house and wouldn't be able to come over anytime soon.
But Kashima Risako, Hoshinomiya Chie, and the others didn't know about Hikigaya-kun's situation. She couldn't just say things carelessly.
If Hikigaya-kun found out, he would definitely drag her to the Service Club and punish her severely.
"Since they aren't here yet, let's start eating first. We don't need them to buy anything else anyway."
Chabashira Sae paid no attention to the home visit and simply took out her key and opened the room.
"Kotomi, come help move the tables outside."
Seeing this, Hoshinomiya Chie opened her own room as well and called Hanamori Kotomi and the others over to help move tables, spread tablecloths, and heat up food.
"Coming! Coming!"
"We bought quite a lot on the way here too. It should be enough. We need to remind Shizuka-senpai and the others not to buy more. We won't be able to finish it all."
"Yeah, put the beer and drinks in the fridge first. If it isn't enough, it's easy to go down to the convenience store."
Hanamori Kotomi, Kashima Risako, and Takamine Ayako put down the bags filled with food and drinks in their hands. Dividing the work among themselves, they helped set up tonight's gathering area in the hallway outside the rooms.
Originally, they had planned to hold the gathering inside a room, but later realized there would be quite a few people attending. At least a dozen people would be coming, and cramming everyone into one room would be too crowded.
Considering that the only people on these floors besides Kirisu Mafuyu, Chabashira Sae, and Hoshinomiya Chie were female students, they simply opened the room doors and set the tables up in the hallway.
Two tables were already enough for seating. Once Kirisu Mafuyu returned, they could bring out another table and it wouldn't feel crowded at all.
There was something enjoyable about sitting together in the hallway, chatting and drinking under the moonlight.
If they got drunk, they could just go into their rooms and sleep on the beds.
If any girls staying here happened to see them and wanted to sit down and have some food or drinks, they wouldn't refuse, as long as they didn't let students drink alcohol.
Of course, even though they didn't mind students chatting with them, under normal circumstances very few girls dared come over and get talked to by all of them in turn.
If they were all friendly and approachable teachers like Hanamori Kotomi, with warm smiles, then even bold students wouldn't miss the opportunity. But among them were quite a few female teachers who looked cold and merciless in students' eyes, like ice queens that people didn't dare approach.
As night grew deeper, the young female teachers attending the gathering arrived one after another.
Matsubara Miria, the beautiful blonde teacher with a poor reputation among students and extremely strict toward underachievers;
Kisaragi Miyuki, cold and serious, strong-willed, unable to take jokes, and kept at a distance by her students;
Itashiro Kurumi, popular among the girls, speaking to students like friends and carrying herself like a dependable older sister;
And Anna Tsukioka, the school nurse responsible for student health management and guidance. Unlike Mikado Ryoko, she was almost expressionless while working.
Other than Kirisu Mafuyu, Hiratsuka Shizuka, and the other four who had gone on the home visit, almost everyone attending tonight's gathering had arrived. Nearly all of Sobu High's young and attractive female teachers were here.
Although there were occasional minor frictions between them, this gathering was nominally a young female teachers' gathering and also a preparation to form a small group to deal with the new teacher who might arrive next week. The atmosphere was fairly good.
Those who could handle strong alcohol drank strong alcohol. Those who couldn't drank soft drinks. Drinking wasn't required. The main goal was to speak freely, resolve conflicts, and strengthen relationships.
"Only Haruna and Mafuyu's group are missing..."
"Haruna has a gathering at home, so she'll be late. But why haven't Mafuyu and the others come back yet?"
"A home visit taking this long? Even if the parents kept them for dinner, they should be back by now..."
Hoshinomiya Chie, Hanamori Kotomi, Itashiro Kurumi, and the others with livelier personalities poured drinks for each other, kept the atmosphere active, and talked about the people who still hadn't shown up.
Suddenly, Hoshinomiya Chie spotted school doctor Mikado Ryoko at the other end of the hallway. She quickly put down her beer, stood up, and waved.
"Doctor Ryoko? The school arranged for you to live in this apartment too?"
"I have my own place, but my friend lives here. She was just arranged to stay here a couple of days ago. You probably haven't met her yet."
Mikado Ryoko slowly walked over. Looking at the lively gathering outside the rooms, then at the tightly closed door, she smiled and shook her head.
"A friend? A newly hired teacher?"
"Perfect timing. We're having a teachers' gathering tonight. Doctor Ryoko, you and your friend can come have a drink with us."
Hanamori Kotomi, who had also stood up, immediately invited Mikado Ryoko and her friend to join.
"Doctor Anna is here too. Doctor Ryoko, you can't refuse this time."
Although Mikado Ryoko and Anna Tsukioka worked alternating shifts and were usually in the infirmary, they often had free time and frequently came to the main office area to chat.
Everyone was quite familiar with both Mikado Ryoko and Anna Tsukioka and got along well with them. After all, they were all women. Every month there were a few uncomfortable days, and it was convenient to rest in the infirmary if they felt unwell.
They had invited Mikado Ryoko to drink before, but she had said she already had plans with a friend. They hadn't expected that friend to live in this apartment. It was a good opportunity to invite them and get closer.
None of them even considered whether Mikado Ryoko's friend might be male.
The school had specifically chosen this apartment as housing for transfer students entering Advanced Nurturing High School and had also arranged for several female teachers to act as dorm supervisors because only women were allowed inside this apartment.
"There's no need to call me doctor when we're not at school. Just call me Ryoko."
"My friend will be joining Sobu High as a biology teacher. She'll officially start next week. It wouldn't be bad for her to chat with you all first."
Mikado Ryoko didn't try to hide it. Smiling, she nodded, then walked to her good friend Tearju's room and used a key to open the door.
"But my friend isn't very good at handling lively situations like this. I should ask her first."
"No problem. Take your time. There are still a few people who haven't arrived yet. We'll be drinking late."
Watching Mikado Ryoko enter the room, Hanamori Kotomi and Hoshinomiya Chie sat back down and continued talking with everyone about their earlier topic of romance. Laughter occasionally broke out among them.
Even though Sobu High was about to undergo major changes, countless forces were eager to get their hands on Hachiman, and even supernatural groups would soon enter Sobu High, most of them had no involvement with that world.
Since everyone wasn't here yet, nobody wanted to talk about troublesome work matters. Their topics naturally revolved around romance, marriage, and similar things.
Many students thought they were beautiful, sexy, mature, and charming women who must know a lot about men.
But in reality, everyone present knew very well that they were all theoretical experts who had never even been in a relationship.
Acting mature and generous in front of younger girls and offering advice as bystanders was one thing. When it came to themselves, they were completely lost.
For example, the cool and mature-looking blue-haired beauty teacher Kashima Risako was actually innocent and naive. During her student days, she focused entirely on studying. Not only was she inexperienced in life and poor at social interaction, she didn't even know what oral was.
Among everyone present, the only ones with higher skill levels who could reject men while leaving them delighted were probably Hoshinomiya Chie and Itashiro Kurumi, both cheerful women with high emotional intelligence.
With so many unmarried female teachers here, they had originally wanted to ask Ebihara Urara, who was already engaged, for advice about romance and engagement. Yet Ebihara Urara had gone on the home visit with Kirisu Mafuyu's group and still hadn't arrived.
Of course, Hanamori Kotomi felt she should be the only person here with actual experience.
But she couldn't even figure out what her own situation counted as. It felt strange.
Calling it being deceived didn't seem right, because there weren't any obvious feelings involved between them.
But saying she had been forced didn't seem right either, because it was she who had begged the other party for help.
With such a confusing situation, how could she possibly reveal it and act like a senior giving advice? Not to mention that she didn't dare let everyone know who that one experience of hers involved.
"Sorry, sorry! The family gathering took longer than expected. I'm late!"
"It's fine. Haruna, you're actually pretty early. Mafuyu-sensei and the others might not even be done with their home visit yet."
"Huh? They're still on the home visit?"
As time passed, even Tachibana Haruna, who had attended a family gathering, finally arrived at the apartment.
However, just as Tachibana Haruna was preparing to drink a few cups as punishment, the door to Kirisu Mafuyu's room, which had remained closed all this time, suddenly opened from the inside.
Senior Hiratsuka Shizuka walked out first, her face flushed red.
Behind her came Ebihara Urara, who unusually wasn't wearing her skin-colored stockings and instead showed her bare white legs; Shizumi Suzune, wearing a black collar around her neck; and Mizuho Kazami, pressing her lips together while constantly swallowing.
Finally came the room's owner, Kirisu Mafuyu, who still hadn't changed out of her maid outfit and slowly followed them out.
"Shizuka-senpai? Senior Urara? Suzune? Nanami? Little Mafuyu?"
"You were all inside?"
"When we rang the doorbell earlier, why didn't you open the door?"
"What were you doing in there? We've been drinking outside this whole time and you never came out?"
At that moment, not only Hanamori Kotomi and Hoshinomiya Chie, but even Chabashira Sae, who had been casually eating and drinking the whole time, stared blankly at Hiratsuka Shizuka, Kirisu Mafuyu, and the others as they emerged one after another.
What had five people been doing inside for so long?
'Hm? Th-That smell?'
Looking at Ebihara Urara's tightly pressed-together white legs, Hanamori Kotomi wrinkled her small nose. Then her eyes went wide as she stared at Kirisu Mafuyu, Hiratsuka Shizuka, Mizuho Kazami, Ebihara Urara, and the others in disbelief.
"Sorry, we came out late."
"Is everyone here? Then we can start the gathering."
Under Hanamori Kotomi's fixed stare, Ebihara Urara calmly touched the ring on her finger. Shizumi Suzune and Hiratsuka Shizuka also touched the black collars around their necks before sitting down under everyone's gaze.
In truth, they weren't very worried about the unusual signs on them being discovered.
Because the magic essence awakened by Hachiman wasn't the kind of scent mentioned in biology classes. It could even be described as a very pleasant smell and taste.
Only people like them who had personally experienced it, or those who smelled it often, could accurately identify it. Otherwise, even if it were mixed into tea or coffee, nobody would notice.
Except for Hanamori Kotomi, Hoshinomiya Chie, Kashima Risako, and Takamine Ayako, everyone present was an outsider and couldn't possibly detect it.
Although they had come out somewhat hurriedly and hadn't managed to hide the redness on their faces in time, most of them remained calm and showed no signs of panic.
Why worry without evidence? And by the time there was evidence, the person would probably already be one of their own. Then there would be even less reason to worry.
Only Mizuho Kazami, who had gone through the magical girl awakening ceremony for the first time, and Kirisu Mafuyu, who had done nothing but clean nearby, found it difficult to face their colleagues' intense gazes.
"Mafuyu, I suddenly need the bathroom. Let me borrow yours."
"I'll wash my hands too!"
Hoshinomiya Chie and Itashiro Kurumi stared at the most unnatural-looking pair, Mizuho Kazami and Kirisu Mafuyu. When Mizuho Kazami finally lowered her head under their gaze, the two women stood up at the same time and walked straight into Kirisu Mafuyu's room.
They might not have actual experience, but they weren't stupid. Even if they had never been with a man, they had watched videos before. How could they not recognize that Kirisu Mafuyu and the others' reactions had something to do with a man?
Otherwise, had the five of them just been fooling around together in the room?
However, what they didn't expect was that even after checking the bathroom, the bath, the closets, under the bed, and every other place, they couldn't find any man.
The room was spotless and tidy. Even the bathroom was clean and free of dust.
There wasn't even any strange smell in the room.
Unable to find a man no matter where they looked, Hoshinomiya Chie and Itashiro Kurumi exchanged glances and reluctantly came back out.
They knew their suspicions weren't very realistic. Kirisu Mafuyu, Hiratsuka Shizuka, Ebihara Urara, and the others were five people. How could they possibly all be involved together?
But they believed even less that those five had stayed in the room that long doing absolutely nothing.
"Mafuyu, why are you wearing a maid outfit? Cosplay?"
After sitting down again, Itashiro Kurumi smiled as she looked at Kirisu Mafuyu in her black-and-white maid uniform.
"This is just what I wear while cleaning. We were cleaning the room earlier. I didn't have time to change because I didn't want to keep everyone waiting too long..."
Kirisu Mafuyu had already prepared an explanation and answered quietly with a natural expression.
Although the excuse wasn't very convincing, she hadn't wanted to come out wearing the maid outfit either. The problem was that Hachiman had left right after finishing and hadn't said a word about the maid outfit. What was she supposed to do?
In the past, she had worried that everyone would discover how messy she was in private and she'd never be able to live it down.
But now she was only afraid that everyone would find out about her relationship with Hachiman.
If that was exposed, she would never be able to clear her name.
Who would believe she had only watched from the side and done nothing? They would definitely treat her as an accomplice of Shizumi Suzune, Ebihara Urara, Hiratsuka Shizuka, and the others.
[🎉 Shoutout to Cesar and Kai for joining p@treon. Thank you very much 🤗]