Meanwhile, on the beach outside the villa, Rias—who should have been scattered about relaxing—found a certain Holy Sword wielder girl clutching a volleyball while staring longingly toward the villa's main entrance.
"Irina, are you organizing a volleyball match?"
"Mm... ah, not exactly."
Shidou Irina's mind was full of wondering when Asia would return. She didn't react immediately, responding reflexively before shaking her head.
"Though it's not really a competition, we did plan to find several people to play beach volleyball together. But just now Asia said she'd go back to help Bokue, so now it's just Xenovia and me. But I definitely can't beat Xenovia alone. In short, it's very difficult... Eh? Asia's back!"
Her words barely finished when the Holy Sword girl's peripheral vision inadvertently caught a golden graceful figure slowly emerging from the seaside villa's entrance.
It was indeed Asia who'd left earlier.
Except the nun right now looked somewhat strange—not only were both hands clasped before her in a somewhat conflicted manner, her pale face also carried faint crimson.
However, Shidou Irina paid no attention to these details, straightforwardly waving toward her nearby friend.
"OI~ Asia, did you finish over there? Want to come play volleyball with us?"
"Mm-hmm, sure..."
The nun—whose thoughts had completely immersed in her own world—nodded reflexively in agreement.
Though she hadn't clearly heard what Irina was saying at all.
But in any case, this successfully brought participant count to three.
Though numbers remained far from sufficient.
"Mm, in that case, how about we join in as well?"
Rias smiled with the suggestion.
'Eh?'
Hearing these words, a buffering icon practically appeared above Shidou Irina's head.
'Seems... not impossible?'
After all, they currently lacked people for beach volleyball. If Rias and the others were willing to join, they'd definitely have enough players immediately.
Plus now that tripartite talks had concluded, it was no longer the old days of shouting for battle upon meeting.
Combined with such long cohabitation making everyone feel pretty good about each other—even establishing the subtle friendship called "shaft sisters" from living together daily.
In short, having enough people to start the game was good.
"Mm... of course!"
After brief consideration, Shidou Irina agreed.
Hearing this, Rias smiled faintly again before turning to face the others on the beach, raising her volume somewhat to call out.
"Everyone! We're about to hold this vacation's first beach volleyball competition. Those wanting to participate can eagerly sign up. As for rewards... mm..."
Before finishing, Himejima Akeno's smiling voice came from behind.
"President, I propose using tonight's first bathhouse access rights as the victory reward—how about it?"
"Bathhouse access rights..."
Rias raised an eyebrow.
Calling it bathhouse access rights was actually euphemistic phrasing.
After all, when living at Keystone Gate, they bathed daily in the old schoolhouse's expanded bathhouse. And naturally what they did during that process was... mm-hmm~
In other words, the winning side of this competition would receive tonight's priority to be favored by Bokue.
Thinking of it this way, it actually seemed like pretty good stakes.
"Mm, then that's decided. The winning side will receive..."
"Wait! If you add one more rule, big sister will participate too~"
Again interrupted before finishing—except this time, the speaker was a certain black-haired, straight-haired cat-eared girl.
Today Kuroka had unusually worn crimson two-piece swimwear completely contrasting her hair color. Red tassels hanging from the thin fabric at her chest swayed gently in the sea breeze blowing against them. The distance between tassel tips and her abdomen further accentuated her proud upper measurements, displaying that sultry figure to perfection—even giving her somewhat exotic beauty vibes.
"Additional rule? What rule do you want to add?"
Rias looked somewhat confused.
"That is—"
Kuroka deliberately drew out her tone, humming smugly.
"The winning side's highest scorer will have the right to decide tonight's order of fun with Bokue-chan!"
Knew this horny cat was scheming this!
Rias's mouth twitched.
As mentioned before, the so-called "bathhouse priority access" actually meant receiving Bokue's favor first.
And now Kuroka also demanded the winning MVP gain authority to determine favor order—what she was thinking needed no elaboration.
Simply put, she just wanted first shift!
Of course, this was indeed a good idea. After all, it could largely avoid situations like fighting over position later.
"Fine—let's add that to the rules too."
Rias nodded agreement.
This represented quite substantial rewards. With the above rule added to beach volleyball competition rules, the girls' enthusiasm immediately ignited.
Even Yasaka revealed a hint of interested expression.
She'd originally been teasing little Kunou and Kyokotsu with her sister Hagoromo-Gitsune. Hearing this, she gracefully stood up. Behind her, nine large fluffy tails representing Nine-Tailed Fox identity began swaying lightly as her hand stroked her cheek, lips curving upward slightly.
"You all seem to be deciding something quite interesting. Unfortunately, I won't agree to yield my adorable child to you... Sister, let us work together to win this competition."
"Mm... if you wish to participate, little sister."
"Hmph hmph~ looks like many big sisters want to join. But my sword, Nagisa's, has never dulled!"
'Good—this really stirred up the atmosphere.'
Watching participant numbers increase, Rias thought this while reflexively shifting her gaze toward the silver-haired head maid standing beside the villa's main entrance—still wearing maid attire even during holidays.
'So doing this should meet Mom's expectations, right, Grayfia-neesan...'
The red-haired girl thought silently.
She was the Gremory household's successor head. As successor head, she naturally must achieve perfection under all circumstances, becoming the focus of any occasion with her powerful organizational abilities.
Just like now—though her heart actually just wanted to quietly enjoy this beautiful holiday with Bokue, as hostess she had the obligation to ensure everyone played happily and to their heart's content.
Thus the beach volleyball tournament officially began.
❁❁❁❁
As time passed and the sun's angle gradually approached perpendicular to the ocean surface—
Inside the villa's first-floor parlor, the beautiful lady who'd been thoroughly "entertained" all morning finally sat down at the dining table with Bokue's assistance.
Compared to when adjusting her swimsuit in the room earlier, Venelana now showed rosier cheeks, slightly hazy eyes, and steam rising from her entire body as if she'd just finished a marathon—otherwise basically no major changes.
Bokue thoughtfully poured a glass of warm water and placed it before the beautiful lady, then turned to retrieve some small snacks from the refrigerator.
"The timing's about right now. Mother-in-law, just sit here a bit. I'll go check if Rias and the others want to come back yet."
"Mm... mm..."
Several seconds later, as Bokue turned to leave, something trickled down along Venelana's ankle beneath the dining table.
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