If it were anything else, she would definitely try to help, but with this kind of thing, she really couldn't help.
What about someone like Kashima Risako, who didn't even know what a kiss was, could she bear to push Kashima Risako into Hachiman's hands for him to bully?
It was enough that they got bullied. They couldn't drag anyone else in for Hachiman to bully.
"You all keep drinking. I'm going to the bathroom first. Mind if I use your room, Chabashira?"
Ebihara Urara stood up slowly, smiled gently, and let out a soft breath.
After turning around, she stepped lightly in her white flat heels, starting slow then picking up pace, going straight into the bathroom of Chabashira Sae's room.
Mm... She wasn't like Mizuho Kazami or Hanamori Kotomi, trying to escape. She just had a feeling that intense fighting was about to break out.
Her constitution was a bit special, and this feeling made her body overly tense and excited, which could make it hard to hold back.
Soon, only Shizumi Suzune and Kirisu Mafuyu remained beside Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Shizumi Suzune, like Mizuho Kazami who had run off, didn't have any close friends and wouldn't actively drag anyone into trouble.
As an angel who eliminated demons and protected humanity, she would only choose to stay neutral in this situation.
At most, when she saw a truly unbearable scene, she would step up and sacrifice herself to take their place.
Hiratsuka Shizuka understood this, so she looked directly at Kirisu Mafuyu, who had been pulled over by Hoshinomiya Chie.
Kirisu Mafuyu had her eyes on Hachiman and often caused trouble for him. She was also the only one among the five home visitors who had stayed out of it and hadn't been dragged into a counter-education session on the bed.
At a time like this, she couldn't stay out of it anymore, could she?
"Cough! Shizuka-senpai, don't look at me like that..."
Still wearing her black-and-white maid outfit, which stood out completely against the professional skirt suits and dress shirts around her, Kirisu Mafuyu felt helpless. She bit her lower lip and quietly warned Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"If Hikigaya wanted me, could I even resist..."
"So it's not that I'm unwilling now, it's that Hikigaya doesn't want me..."
"..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka fell silent at Kirisu Mafuyu's reasoning.
Although Kirisu Mafuyu's words were definitely an excuse, if Hachiman really told Kirisu Mafuyu to step up, she would definitely find some other excuse to dodge.
When they were going through hell on the bed, Kirisu Mafuyu just kept her head down, mopping the floor, running bathwater, hand-washing the underwear scattered on the floor, no matter what, she just wouldn't look up at them.
But as Kirisu Mafuyu said, she was in a state where Hachiman could have her anytime. Sending her over wouldn't really help.
Because one Kirisu Mafuyu wouldn't hold out long. Once she went over, she'd get pulled in.
Half an hour? Twenty minutes? She probably couldn't even hold out ten minutes.
"Mafuyu, why aren't you drinking? Or are you all waiting to use the bathroom?"
The awkward atmosphere between Hiratsuka Shizuka and Kirisu Mafuyu didn't affect the others, who were a bit tipsy. Itashiro Kurumi noticed three people missing from their seats and looked confusedly at the three open room doors.
They'd been eating and drinking for a while, so going to the bathroom was normal.
But three at once?
Were they hiding in the bathroom to avoid drinking more?
That couldn't be it. Sure, they'd drunk a lot, but no one was forcing anyone. If you lost a game and had to drink, you could answer a question instead.
In theory, you had to tell the truth, but occasionally telling a small lie wasn't a big deal.
Take Kirisu Mafuyu, they couldn't get her to say who she liked most, but they did find out her most hated problem student: Hachiman.
If the setting wasn't so awkward and there wasn't a risk of other girls overhearing sensitive topics, she'd have wanted to dig deeper a few more times.
For example, what exactly was the most hateful thing about Hachiman?
Because logically, Hachiman just skipped class a lot, got good grades, and didn't negatively affect other students.
Kirisu Mafuyu shouldn't hate Hachiman that much, unless...
"Kurumi, do you need to use the bathroom? Karuizawa's room door is open."
Hiratsuka Shizuka stared at Itashiro Kurumi, whose cheeks were flushed and who reeked of alcohol. After a moment's hesitation, she smiled brightly and pointed toward Karuizawa Kei's room.
"They're having a party too. Why don't you go check it out?"
She remembered that Itashiro Kurumi was just a bit younger than her, cheerful and outgoing. In front of Kisaragi Miyuki, Hanamori Kotomi, and the others, Itashiro Kurumi was both an older sister and a senior.
Itashiro Kurumi was also popular among the girls. She wasn't a student guidance teacher, but she talked to students like a friend, giving off the image of a reliable big sister.
Although Itashiro Kurumi hadn't reached the age for arranged marriage yet, she was very interested in romance topics.
Still, Soubu High's discipline was no joke. The discipline committee members weren't just students, they could oversee anyone and strictly cracked down on impure relationships between different sexes.
To avoid setting a bad example for students and to be a role model for her juniors, Itashiro Kurumi had to lead by example.
If they gave Itashiro Kurumi a good drunken excuse this time, she might end up being more proactive than they were.
"Oh, you're right. I'll go see what they're playing."
Itashiro Kurumi turned to look at Karuizawa Kei's room and noticed that the door wasn't fully closed, just slightly ajar. She paused, then opened another can of beer, sipping the cold, refreshing drink as she slowly walked over.
She wasn't in a rush for the bathroom since she was the one making others drink and hadn't had much herself.
But she was curious about what these kids were doing, all gathered in one room late at night.
With so many students from one class, were they all that close?
Kirisu Mafuyu, Takamine Ayako, Matsubara Miria, and a few others were all solemn and unsmiling. Even when the atmosphere warmed up, it was hard to ask overly deep questions.
And she couldn't exactly go out of her way to tease the seemingly cold and serious but actually clumsy Miyuki.
But... among the girls, she did have some authority. She could probably be a bit bolder and ask more private questions.
Like who they liked, or what their boyfriend's favorite position was...
"Karuizawa, sorry to interrupt, Eh?"
Itashiro Kurumi was thinking about teasing these younger girls with some adult topics as she slowly reached Karuizawa Kei's door. Suddenly, she found Karuizawa Kei standing right behind it, smiling brightly at her.
The moment she saw Karuizawa Kei, Itashiro Kurumi's pupils dilated instantly, and her lips stopped mid-sip.
Because on Karuizawa Kei, she only saw a blue hair tie on her blonde ponytail and a black choker around her neck.
Other than that...
"Kurumi-sensei, do you want to know what Mafuyu-sensei and the others were doing in that room earlier?"
Karuizawa Kei reached out and grabbed Itashiro Kurumi, who had instinctively stepped back. Smiling, she whispered temptingly.
"You mean... it's your turn now?"
Hearing this, Itashiro Kurumi immediately thought of the man who was completely missing from Kirisu Mafuyu's room.
Looking at the living room, from which faint, suggestive sounds drifted, Itashiro Kurumi took another sip of beer to calm herself down.
Had she discovered some big secret?
First Hiratsuka Shizuka, Kirisu Mafuyu, Mizuho Kazami, and the others, and now Karuizawa Kei, Sakayanagi Arisu, and the rest?
———
After Itashiro Kurumi left, aside from Kisaragi Miyuki occasionally glancing toward Karuizawa Kei's room, worried about Itashiro Kurumi who hadn't returned, the rest continued eating and sipping drinks at random.
They'd drunk pretty heavily earlier, so they were mostly done.
But they'd already agreed to stay the night, three rooms were enough for all of them, so no one was in a rush to leave.
And because Hiratsuka Shizuka had revealed a fair bit about next week's situation, they were even more conflicted and troubled.
Soubu High was hiring so many excellent teachers, even some with supernatural abilities, but they were still at the same level. They were very likely to get phased out.
"What's going on? Why are there fewer and fewer people?"
However, as they chatted and drank, they suddenly noticed that fewer people were at the table.
After Itashiro Kurumi, Kisaragi Miyuki, who had gone to find her, was gone.
Then Kashima Risako, Matsubara Miria, Takamine Ayako, Tsukioka Anna, Tachibana Hinata... not just Karuizawa Kei's room, but Kirisu Mafuyu's and Chabashira Sae's rooms too.
Going to the bathroom, looking for them, one after another, after they went in, there was no more movement.
———
[Karuizawa Kei's Room]
"Gulp..."
Pulled to the edge of the bed by Karuizawa Kei, Itashiro Kurumi watched Kamuro Masumi hold up her purple side-ponytail high, while below the bed, a drenched Hasebe Haruka struggled. She had trouble swallowing the saliva that kept building up in her mouth.
Even with her rich theoretical knowledge and being the oldest in the room, she was still deeply shaken by the grand spectacle of Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi's celebration tonight.
What was going on with girls these days?
Were they all freely spending their youth like this?
Kamuro Masumi, Sakura Airi, Satou Maya, Matsushita Chiaki, Kikyo Kushida, Sakayanagi Arisu, Mori Nene, Shinohara Satsuki... Itashiro Kurumi didn't know them well, or just calling their names would have taken a while.
Hasebe Haruka even instinctively glanced back at Itashiro Kurumi, then quickly turned her head away.
No one looked at Itashiro Kurumi, who had been brought in by Karuizawa Kei, but they all knew each other's nervousness and shyness from the sudden quickening of their breaths and the suppressed sounds they made.
"I'll just call you Kurumi-nee, okay? You can call us by our first names too."
Karuizawa Kei pushed Itashiro Kurumi in front of Hachiman, gently put a service club member's exclusive choker on her, and had her watch with Sakayanagi Arisu and Kikyo Kushida as the magical girl awakening ritual reached its final stage with Kamuro Masumi.
"As you can see, this is our party to celebrate good grades after exams. The next study session might also be held here."
"Besides us, a few people in the hall outside served the master before the party."
"For example, Shizuka-nee, Kotomi, Nanami..."
"I see. So many people are involved..."
Hearing Karuizawa Kei name those people, Itashiro Kurumi wiped the moisture off her face, pressed her lips together, and a complex look flashed in her eyes.
"No wonder Kei, you dared to have this kind of party right in the next room with so many people around..."
Earlier, when she'd seen Kirisu Mafuyu and the others stay in their room so long without coming out, she'd already suspected that Kirisu Mafuyu had hidden a man in there. She and Hoshinomiya Chie had even gotten up without hiding it and searched the room, but found nothing.
If the hidden man was Hachiman, that actually wasn't surprising.
Because no one at Soubu High could compare to Hachiman. If it wasn't him, that would be the strange part.
Even though she'd seen it with her own eyes, she was still deeply shocked.
These girls in the bed were all transfer students from the Advanced Nurturing High School. With this many, it was probably more than half of them.
Wasn't Hachiman supposed to skip class every day?
How had he managed to get involved with so many girls without anyone noticing?
Then did Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie, who also lived in this apartment, know?
Was tonight's gathering a trap to catch them from the very beginning?
For a moment, Itashiro Kurumi couldn't help thinking of all the conspiracies about being brought here for the party.
But then she thought of their worries at tonight's party about becoming old maids, and the fact that many of them had never even dated for various reasons, and she quickly made up her mind.
Actually, she liked younger boys quite a bit, and she didn't really care much about differences in status, wealth, or position.
She just hadn't found the right person, and Soubu High's discipline committee was really strict, especially someone like Kotegawa Yui, who would watch you like a hawk with her rigid, serious attitude.
This time she had a chance, she couldn't let it slip by.
Since so many people liked Hachiman, she probably wasn't much better than the rest. On second thought, even if Hachiman didn't have any connections, all of them together could support him. Keep the little boyfriend at home, no, keep him at soubu high...
Thinking this way, she felt much more relaxed facing Hachiman. They weren't after his money or his power; they just wanted his body.
Seeing Itashiro Kurumi's eyes light up with no intention of shyly looking away, Kamuro Masumi was speechless.
Was Hachiman's charm really that strong?
One after another, they knew how unfaithful he was and still acted like this.
Still, what made Kamuro Masumi feel a bit better was that she wasn't the only one. Itashiro Kurumi wasn't the only one either. Many people were in the same situation. Getting bullied by Hachiman here wasn't even a black mark on your record, it could even be seen as a measure of how much Hachiman favored you.
Even if that thought was just psychological comfort.