Next Bonus, 200PS!
Very long chapter.
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During the lunch break.
Kai prepared to head to the Service Club room as usual.
However, the moment he stepped out of the academic building, he spotted Megumi Kato waiting for him.
"You really are a busy man, Kai-kun." Seeing Kai approach, Megumi spoke in her usual flat, deadpan tone.
"Showing up this late... Were you too immersed in Yuigahama-san and Miura-san's gentle embrace?"
Even though she maintained her signature expressionless face and calm tone, Kai could easily detect the biting sarcasm hidden beneath her words.
"Hah!" He let out a relaxed laugh.
Since he had chosen to be a Playboy, a bit of sarcasm didn't bother him.
"I understand bringing up Yui, but what's this about Yumiko? She and I are strictly friends."
"..." Hearing him say that, Megumi rolled her eyes and retorted,
"Don't try to tell me you can't see that Miura-san has a massive crush on you. Plus, she's pretty—I doubt you have any interest in her."
"I didn't expect Megumi-chan to be paying such close attention to me."
Seeing Megumi press the issue, Kai smiled and didn't bother denying it. He closed the distance and naturally wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Megumi put up a brief, token struggle out of modesty before surrendering and letting him hold her.
"It's not just me. I'm pretty sure half the class has already figured it out."
After all, Yumiko Miura wasn't the type to easily hide her true feelings.
If Yui Yuigahama weren't notoriously a bit dense, she would have noticed a long time ago.
"You really should be careful."
In reality, this was the primary message Megumi wanted to convey.
If Kai officially got branded a "Scumbag" by the student body, his high school life would become difficult.
"Don't worry, I'm not an idiot!"
Ignoring the fact that Kai didn't care about his social reputation, the trivial social rules of a Japanese high school couldn't restrain him.
But since Megumi was worried, he gave her a warm, reassuring smile. "I always knew Megumi-chan secretly cared about me. Come here and give me a kiss!"
Saying that, he aggressively leaned in.
"DON'T. PEOPLE ARE WATCHING."
His bold action brought an unnatural, flustered look to Megumi's usually stoic face.
She wasn't really rejecting him—she was just embarrassed.
"Alright then, let's go. I'll take you somewhere empty."
"..."
'What a troublemaker.' As he pulled her toward a quiet spot, Megumi gave him an exasperated look.
Yet, she made zero effort to resist as he dragged her along.
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"Kai-kun!"
When Kai arrived at the Service Club room with Megumi in tow, he saw Marin Kitagawa casually chatting with Yukino and the others. Seeing him walk in, Marin brightly raised her hand in greeting.
"Marin?" Seeing her sitting there, even Kai was taken aback. "Didn't you take the entire day off sick?"
He knew he'd pushed things a bit too far last night. One day off probably wasn't enough for her to recover.
"Hehe! I started feeling a lot better, so I decided to come in!" Marin had only skipped morning classes, dragging herself to school in the afternoon and heading straight for the Service Club.
'So this is her?' Megumi, walking just behind Kai, gave Marin a quick look before looking away.
Thanks to Kai's blatant honesty, Megumi already knew exactly why Marin needed such a long "sick leave."
Was she jealous?
Not really, after all, she had known he was a scumbag from the beginning—what was the point of getting jealous now? She could only lament that this man was pure poison.
In fact, Megumi internally wondered if there would come a day when she, too, would be forced to call in sick for the exact same reason.
"Come here, let me introduce you guys. This is Megumi Kato. She's officially a member of the Service Club from now on."
Kai stepped aside, naturally introducing Megumi to Marin.
"Oh my!" Suddenly seeing Megumi standing there, Marin jumped in surprise.
If Kai hadn't pointed her out, Marin wouldn't have noticed there was another person in the room.
"It's exactly like Yukinoshita-san and the others said! Your presence is so low! I didn't even notice you standing there!"
"KITAGAWA-SAN!" There were some things you could think about, but saying them directly to someone's face was rude.
Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but issue a sharp reprimand.
"Sorry, sorry!" Realizing her blunder, Marin frantically bowed her head in repeated apology.
"I swear I didn't mean anything bad by it! I was just startled!"
"It's fine. I'm already used to things like this."
Since they were in the same class, Megumi was familiar with Marin's golden retriever personality.
She was always like this—she definitely wasn't trying to maliciously mock her.
Furthermore, Megumi no longer took offense at her lack of presence to heart.
"Ah, well..."
However, Megumi's calm explanation only made Marin feel worse for her.
Being constantly ignored by everyone around you had to feel terrible, right?
Thinking this... Marin straightened up, her face adopting a much more serious look than anyone had ever seen.
"I'VE DECIDED!"
"?"
Under Megumi's perplexed gaze, Marin declared with unwavering conviction: "Kato-san, from now on, we are going to be best friends!"
"Uh... that's really not necessary..."
Being confronted with such direct extroversion made the normally unflappable Megumi feel slightly flustered.
But before she could finish her sentence... the highly social Marin closed the distance and practically glued herself to Megumi's side.
"Megumi-chan, you can just call me Marin from now on!"
"A-Alright..."
Although it felt awkward and unnatural, Megumi didn't dislike the sensation at all.
Watching this bizarre interaction play out, Yukino couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. The atmosphere within the club was fantastic, and as President, Yukino was thrilled to see it.
"Kato-san, Kitagawa-san is also a new member of the Service Club. She just had to take some time off recently because of an unexpected injury."
"An injury?"
Megumi shot Yukino a surprised look. 'Wait... does she seriously not know what kind of 'injury' Marin suffered?'
"Yeah! I was walking too fast and accidentally smashed my foot. It hurt for a super long time!"
As she spoke, Marin gave a nervous, unconvincing laugh.
It was obvious she hadn't told Yukino or Hitori Gotoh the actual truth about her condition.
"I see!"
Megumi nodded, a look of profound understanding crossing her face.
"Then you really need to take better care of your body from now on, Kitagawa-san."
"I told you, just call me Marin!"
Marin subconsciously corrected her.
But right after, Marin sensed something odd in Megumi's tone. Even though her words were normal, Marin had a strange feeling.
'This Megumi Kato knows something.' She stared hard at Megumi, but the girl's perpetually blank face revealed zero clues.
Left with no other choice, Marin turned her suspicious gaze toward Kai.
"..."
Faced with Marin's interrogating glare, Kai smiled back.
He didn't say a word, yet that smile confirmed everything.
'I knew it. Kai told this new girl everything!' Surprisingly, Marin wasn't upset by this revelation. Instead, the gaze she directed at Megumi grew noticeably more heated.
"..." Sensing the sudden shift in Marin's gaze, Megumi instinctively took a small step back, moving a little behind Kai.
This girl... There is definitely something wrong with her head.
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"Bocchi?"
Meanwhile, Kai, the instigator of all this chaos, remained completely unfazed.
Not a single trace of guilt or awkwardness could be seen on his face.
He casually strolled over and took a seat right next to Hitori Gotoh.
"K-Kai-kun!"
Even now, whenever she directly faced Kai, Hitori still felt shy and flustered.
"Is something wrong? You've been staring at the floor, looking miserable. Did something happen?" From the second he walked into the room, Kai had noticed that Hitori's mood was off.
"Or did our esteemed Club President bully you again?"
Saying that, he provocatively glanced over at Yukino Yukinoshita.
"..."
Yukino didn't dignify that with a response—she merely shot him an icy, exasperated glare.
If anyone in this room is bullying people, the probability of it being you is astronomically higher. However, Yukino had actually noticed Hitori's depressed mood as well. The problem was that, having never had a single friend in her entire life, Yukino genuinely had no idea how to ask what was wrong without sounding overly intrusive.
Fortunately, since Kai had broken the ice, Yukino seamlessly turned her attention toward Hitori.
"No! No, that's not it at all!"
Hearing Kai's accusation, Hitori frantically shook her head, terrified that he might misunderstand the situation.
"It's just..."
Seeing that everyone in the room was now staring at her, Hitori hesitated agonizingly.
Finally, tightly squeezing her eyes shut, she blurted it out.
"I... I WANT TO INVITE YOU ALL OVER TO MY HOUSE!"
In truth, Hitori's mother had been aggressively demanding to meet her daughter's supposed "friends" for a long time. Her parents suspected that Hitori had invented imaginary friends to stop them from worrying.
Even though she suffered from crippling social anxiety when dealing with strangers... When it came to her own family, Hitori desperately wanted to show off and prove herself.
She had puffed out her chest and firmly promised her mother that she would bring her friends over.
And the result??
She had agonized over it for weeks, incapable of forcing the actual words of invitation out of her mouth. If Kai hadn't confronted her today, Hitori likely would have bottled it up for another month.
"..."
As Hitori's scream echoed through the room—
The room went quiet.
You could practically feel Hitori's internal panic skyrocketing into the stratosphere.
'It's over! It's over!'
'I was too arrogant! They probably only pretend to be my friends out of pity! Inviting them to my house out of nowhere is a massive burden for them!'
'WHAT DO I DO?? THEY DEFINITELY HATE ME NOW!'
'I WANT TO DIE SO BADLY RIGHT NOW!!!'
Just as Hitori was about to lose hope, Kai reached out and comfortingly patted her trembling shoulder.
"Agonizing this much over something so simple... You truly never change, do you, Bocchi-chan?"
"Huh?"
Kai's gentle words... made Hitori freeze in shock. She bewilderedly looked up at him.
She saw Kai flashing her a warm, reassuring smile.
"Didn't I tell you a long time ago? Someone as cute as Bocchi-chan... who could possibly have the heart to reject you? It just so happens I'm free this weekend, so I'll gladly intrude on your hospitality."
"R-Really??"
'KAI-KUN! ARE YOU AN ACTUAL ANGEL??' She stared blankly at him, the profound reliance and affection in her eyes impossible to hide anymore.
"Ahem!"
'The atmosphere in here is starting to get entirely weird.' Yukino quickly cleared her throat and chimed in.
"If something like this comes up in the future, please just tell us directly. While I haven't visited anyone else's house before, if you don't mind having me, I'll gladly accept your invitation."
Understanding exactly how fragile Hitori's psychological state was, Yukino completely dropped her usual tsundere act.
She firmly accepted the invitation.
"Me too! Me too! I'm definitely going!" Marin threw her hand into the air, radiating enthusiasm.
"Well... I suppose I'll tag along as well."
Even if Megumi hadn't originally planned on going, since everyone else had enthusiastically agreed, what else could she do?
Furthermore, as she had stated before, Megumi didn't actually enjoy being lonely—she was forced into isolation because of her lack of presence.
Deep down, she wanted the fun and chaos of having friends as much as anyone.
"Everyone...!"
Hitori looked around the room, her eyes brimming with happy tears.
She was on the verge of breaking down and sobbing right there.
'This is amazing! I have to make sure Mom and Dad get a really good look at them! I finally have real friends too! HITORI GOTOH! MASSIVE SUCCESS!'
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The group quickly hammered out the final details.
They agreed to meet up and head over to Hitori's house together on Saturday morning.
As the primary instigator, Hitori spent the rest of the club period giggling stupidly to herself, immersed in unadulterated joy, oblivious to everything else around her.
"Alright everyone, we're heading out first!"
Soon enough, the lunch break ended.
Radiating her usual chaotic energy, Marin waved goodbye to Yukino and Hitori, prepared to head back to class alongside Kai and Megumi Kato.
After all, all three of them were in the same class, so naturally, they walked back together.
"So... Megumi-chan already knows everything, right?"
Once they were safely out in the hallway away from the others...
Marin dropped the innocent act. She giggled wickedly and immediately sidled right up to Megumi's side.
"..."
Even Megumi, usually so composed, hadn't anticipated Marin to directly ask that out loud in the hallway.
"Kitagawa... Marin." She had initially planned to use her surname, but when she saw Marin staring at her with eager puppy-dog eyes, Megumi relented and used her first name.
"Doesn't that make you feel... weird, Marin?"
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