Completely unaware of how much psychological damage his casual concern had caused Aina, Chisa Kotegawa glanced at the seniors happily playing the limbo game and kept her distance.
She knew all too well that losing this game meant performing a "Magic Show." If you weren't a massive extrovert, it was best to stay far away to avoid becoming collateral damage!
"Azusa-senpai, how's the situation? Why does Aina look like her soul's been sucked out and she wants to marry a girl and live out the rest of her life?"
By the bonfire, Yuu Miyazawa took a break from his duties as the grill master to inspect Azusa's progress.
The results were visibly obvious; the way Aina was staring blankly with a hint of drool at the corner of her mouth reflected a mental state that was far from pretty—she looked like she'd been run over by a heavy truck several dozen times.
"That's a very specific description..."
For some reason, Azusa Hamaoka always felt Yuu's assessments were overly vivid. She also wondered how Aina had suddenly gone brain-dead the moment she looked away for two seconds.
But as far as the counseling results went, they were top-tier. At the very least, Aina had promised not to intentionally distance herself from Kohei or Iori. It seemed she had truly begun to face her own heart.
"That's good then... I hope she can move past the shadow of heartbreak as soon as possible."
"Speaking of which, Yuu, how do you plan to compensate Iori?"
Tilting her head, Azusa Hamaoka suddenly poked a finger at him and teased with an exaggerated tone, "The poor guy just unconsciously lost his chance to follow in the footsteps of the ancient sages!"
"Emmm... sometimes the gap between humans is bigger than the gap between humans and dogs. I'm helping him resolve a potential 'school days' disaster! Iori should be thanking me!"
Despite saying that, Yuu Miyazawa still looked toward Iori, who was fiercely challenging his seniors despite having zero athletic talent. A sliver of guilt managed to brew in his eyes.
No matter how justified the reason, he had indeed kicked away one of the guy's ladders. As a bro, that was a serious lapse in judgment!
Given Iori's heartless nature...
"Yoshi! Can you still get under the bar when it's this low, Senpai?!"
"Don't underestimate your seniors, Iori!"
"Tokita! Give this kid a little 'Senior Shock'!"
On the other side, Kitahara Iori was having a blast with the limbo game when he suddenly felt someone patting his shoulder. He turned around to see Yuu looking at him with a face full of tenderness.
That's right! Tenderness! Not a smile, not a grimace, but the ultimate expression of gentleness from his eyes down to his micro-expressions.
"Eek!"
He froze for two seconds as a chill instantly surged through his body. Sensing a major disaster was imminent, he turned and tried to bolt—no matter what Yuu was planning, it definitely wasn't anything good! Run first, ask questions later!
However, after two steps, Iori realized something was wrong: no matter how hard he ran, he stayed in the same spot. The reason for this was likely the two large hands clamped onto his shoulders.
"Gulp! Yuu, Yuu-kun... binding you up was all Chisa's idea! I didn't participate at all! Please, don't look at me with that gentle face!"
"Iori, actually, I've been a gentle person from the very beginning!"
"Like hell you have! Nanaka-san!!!"
A vein popped on Yuu Miyazawa's forehead. Seeing Iori wailing and howling in an attempt to summon Nanaka to exorcise him, Yuu let out a helpless sigh and set him firmly on the ground.
"Sigh, since Iori is being so uncooperative, I guess this last popsicle will have to go to Kohei..."
"Popsicle?"
Detecting the keyword, Kitahara Iori turned toward the bonfire. Sure enough, he saw the two kids and Azusa-senpai sitting in a row, watching his suffering while sucking on popsicles. It looked like Yuu wasn't bluffing!
But how could such a good thing fall into his lap? Had Yuu's brain finally broken?!
"Where is it? You didn't put laxatives in it, did you!?"
"Of course not... it's completely unopened, okay!"
Annoyed, Yuu plastered the popsicle against Iori's face. Seeing the latter finally break into a satisfied smile after being treated roughly, Yuu retreated two steps in disgust—
He should probably go easy on the combos with Iori in the future. It would be bad if he gave the kid a weird fetish; he couldn't actually let the guy enjoy himself!
"Eat it if you're going to! If not, I'm giving it to Kohei!"
"Ah~ that's more like it. Honestly, Yuu, you should just be more straightforward!"
After checking repeatedly to confirm the popsicle was indeed sealed, Kitahara Iori shoved it into his mouth immediately. There was no way he was giving up something he'd already gotten his hands on.
What he failed to realize, however, was that he had just finished eating piping hot roasted meat. Now he was eating ice, combined with intense physical activity—these three together were the "Tummy Ache Trio."
Not long after Yuu left, he suddenly felt his stomach churning. He made an early exit, and after "liberating" himself, he walked back grumbling to himself.
"Dammit, I knew I fell for that guy's trap!"
"It's obviously because Iori is an idiot that you managed to pull off the 'Diarrhea Triple Play' on yourself!"
Chisa Kotegawa, watching Iori clutch his stomach in pain nearby, felt it was a bit much to blame it all on Yuu. Clearly, Iori was the one responsible!
"Wrong! Yuu definitely calculated this to frame me! Ugh, my stomach still hurts..."
"Sigh... fine, I'll help you..."
Even if Iori was an idiot, he was still her childhood friend. Seeing him in such distress, Chisa let out a soft sigh and walked over, intending to help him to the restroom.
However, there was an awning in front of the school building blocking the light, and being far from the bonfire meant the visibility was extremely low. She didn't notice a soft object lying right in her path.
"Ah, thanks~"
Without thinking, Iori looked up and reached out his hand, hoping for some leverage to stand up. But in the next second, Chisa felt her foot slip, and the distance between them was instantly erased.
Iori had no time to react before he was pinned heavily against the steps. A shocking sensation of softness surged from his lips straight to his brain.
"???"
In the darkness, two pairs of eyes snapped wide open. Although Chisa couldn't see, she certainly knew what her lips had touched!
Her brain stalled for two seconds. The expected feeling of disgust didn't come. It wasn't until Iori's hand reached out to tremblingly pat her shoulder that she snapped out of it and sat up abruptly.
"Just..."
The distance increased, but both could see the panic in each other's eyes. Chisa touched her lips with one hand and offered a defensive explanation: "Just now... I think I stepped on something. Iori, you... you okay?"
"I'm fine..."
Kitahara Iori had expected Chisa to scream, wail, contort, and crawl in a dark and twisted manner. He was prepared for a thunderstorm of rage!
But at this moment, even an idiot could see that while the situation was beyond imagination, neither Chisa nor himself felt any discomfort. It was as if everything was perfectly natural.
When did their relationship reach this level?!
"That... it was probably some trash someone threw around, right? Sorry! If I find the person who threw it, I'll skin them alive!"
"Actually, there's no need for that..."
Shyly turning her head to look at her feet, Chisa was about to tell him not to be so violent when a familiar, "magical" tool caught her eye in the next second.
Lying quietly on the ground, the thing that had tripped her was a piece of konjac with a hole in the middle—used version! If she remembered correctly, the last time this thing appeared, the final outcome was...
"Iori, was this part of your plan all along?"
"Eh?"
Just as he thought he had successfully moved past the incident and was starting to calculate his victory, Kitahara Iori found himself grabbed by the collar, staring into Chisa's eyes which were now overflowing with fury.
"Iori just said if he found the person who threw the trash, he'd skin them alive, right?"
"Uh... huh?!"
"Yoshi~"
Since he was man enough to take responsibility, there was nothing left to say. With veins bulging on her arm, Chisa Kotegawa dragged the bewildered Iori behind her, heading into the darkness of the school building.
"Nee-san! Iori seems a bit tired, I'm taking him back to sleep first~"
"Okay~ Should I save some alcohol for Chisa-chan? The kids are asleep, so we can start drinking the Water of Life!"
"Please, be sure to leave me a bottle for disinfection!"
"Ding!"
Meanwhile, in a yakiniku restaurant in Tokyo, the registrar lady was drinking with a friend when her phone chimed. She picked it up to see a message from the brat she had once slapped.
In this group photo, everyone was properly dressed for once. It wasn't filled with "holy light" and mosaics like the last one.
"Hm? What is it, Ms. Hayashi?"
"Nothing, just a certain club that has managed to keep its status for the time being..."
"Aww~ Ms. Hayashi is so strict!"
Feeling the alcohol, her friend leaned on the table and teased, "I heard that PaB club you're in charge of has a lot of muscular hunks. How about it? You can make your move once they graduate!"
"Actually, sometimes physique is secondary. The most important thing is character!"
"Hahahaha! That doesn't sound like you at all!"
"..."
Sitting seriously to the side, the girl in glasses flinched slightly upon hearing the name "PaB."
Since her sister and her friend were dead drunk—with her sister's head hitting the table with a thud—she naturally picked up her sister's phone.
A flash reflected off her large round glasses, and her lips curled into a smile, like a predator discovering its prey!