"Very soon? That's good. Then keep studying."
Seeing that Ijichi Nijika didn't complain about her suddenly calling, and having gotten the answer she wanted to hear, Ijichi Seika nodded in satisfaction.
But before she could hang up, she suddenly heard Nijika let out a startled cry.
["Ah?"]
["Kita?"]
["Ryou, close the door!"]
["Don't suddenly shove Bocchi-chan over here?"]
"Bocchi-chan?"
Even though the background noise was loud and the phone couldn't clearly pick up the sounds on Nijika's side, once Seika heard Gotou Hitori's nickname she immediately sensed something was wrong.
"Nijika, didn't you say you were at Ryou's place helping her with her makeup classes? Why is Bocchi-chan there too? And it sounds like your band's runaway vocalist, Kita, is there as well?"
["Huh? Uh, sis, what are you talking about? Bocchi-chan's grades are bad too, she needs tutoring with Ryou. And today Kita rejoined the band, so she's tagging along to study too."]
"When did you ever say that? Nijika, are you hiding something from me?"
["Anyway that's that, sis it's too noisy over there! Call me after closing time, I-I'm going to study with Ryou and Bocchi-chan!"]
"Nijika, wai—"
Seika wanted to ask a few more questions, but the phone instantly cut off.
"So how is it, Manager? How's the progress on Nijika's tutoring session?"
Seeing Seika stop mid-call and stare blankly at her phone, Aoyama Nanami, who had been sitting aside with Nishikigi Chisato and Inoue Takina to give her space, finally asked about Nijika's situation.
"A bit more crowded than I thought…", Seika stared at her phone in a daze, not knowing how to even describe it.
Nijika sounded really busy, speaking super fast.
If the study session at Ryou's house had simply added Bocchi-chan and Kita, that was fine. But she was afraid a certain boy had also been added. That annoying guy Hachiman.
What was supposed to be a two-person tutoring session had now basically become a four-member band training camp. All that's missing is Hachiman to complete the set.
'Hmm… it shouldn't be, right? Nijika's a good girl, she's never needed much supervision.'
'Even if she likes that playboy Hachiman, she wouldn't go so far as to hang around with Ryou and Bocchi-chan just to entertain him.'
'Though Bocchi-chan, the super-shy one, clings to Hachiman a lot, and Nijika always talks about him with suspiciously warm feelings. Even the always-odd Ryou doesn't seem to dislike hanging out with him.'
'But Kita doesn't even know Hachiman well at all. Even if she rejoined the band today, there's no way she'd get hooked by him right away… right?'
"More people? Are they boys or girls?", Hearing Seika's answer, Aoyama Nanami exchanged a glance with Chisato, not knowing how to comment.
They didn't know that Seika wasn't worried about Bocchi-chan and Kita at all, but about some unfamiliar boy. They couldn't give advice or comfort on this.
Takina glanced at Chisato, who was happily immersed in normal daily life, then pulled out her phone to check her newly-assigned anti-cult extermination mission, thinking hard about how to proceed.
The mermaid singer's open-air concert had ended perfectly, and thanks to the full security checks and protection by the Lycoris, not a single dangerous incident happened.
But missions that big require lots of Lycoris. After finishing, they each disperse back to their own areas.
She and Chisato had also received a new mission: a mind-corrupting cult was operating in the area. They needed to find its base and eliminate it.
But she was still new to this region and didn't have any leads yet.
If she could find clues before the other Lycoris and destroy a dangerous cult, she might earn enough merit to be transferred back to HQ soon…
Compared to everyone else fretting about everyday life, Takina looked completely out of place with her mission-focused mindset.
———
Meanwhile, at the Hikigaya home.
"Ryou, you're dead!"
"How dare you answer my call without permission and mess around while I was talking!"
"Bocchi-chan, grab Ryou! Hachiman, teach her a lesson!"
"Mmgh!"
Kita Ikuyo stared at the door that had suddenly opened and shut, listening to Nijika, who had just been caught in Hachiman's arms, now exploding with embarrassment and yelling for vengeance on Yamada Ryou. Kita swallowed hard, face crimson, and looked at Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana beside her.
"I-I think we should go sleep in Komachi-chan's room? H-Hikigaya-kun and Nijika seem… really busy…"
"Yeah! Hikigaya-kun's protection zone is huge, we'll be fine just sleeping beside it!"
Yotsuya Miko, who had been just as shocked by Ryou's sudden door-slam and had witnessed the overwhelming chaos in the room with Ichinose Honami, Gotou Hitori, and Lala, nodded hard. She grabbed the still-gaping Yurikawa Hana and hurried toward Komachi's room.
With whatever all-nighter or chaos was going on in Hachiman's room, she didn't dare sleep there.
But she also didn't dare go far. Compared to being targeted by spirits, embarrassment didn't even register anymore. No matter how awkward the scene was, she wouldn't faint on the spot again.
She could only go to Komachi's room with the others and borrow a place to sleep.
Komachi and Shion seemed to sleep together pretty often, so they already had extra futons ready to be laid out on the floor.
Tonight, they took Shion's spot and hoped Komachi wouldn't mind squeezing with Shion on one bed.
———
[Next Morning, Hikigaya Home]
The hot sunlight cut through the curtains, shining across Kita Ikuyo and the others who were sleeping on the futons by the bed.
"Uh… morning…"
"Mm… good morning…"
Yotsuya Miko and Kita slowly drifted awake, blinked at each other for a moment, then finally greeted each other.
But seeing the dark circles under one another's eyes, both looked equally embarrassed.
"Hana, get up, it's time for school!"
"Mmm… Miko? Why are you in my room? Uh… this isn't my room?"
"We're at Hikigaya-kun's house, remember? Come on, Komachi and the others are already up."
Seeing the clock showing it wasn't early anymore, Miko quickly got up and woke Hana. The three washed up and went downstairs for breakfast.
Miko and Kita hadn't slept well at all.
But not because of noise from the next room.
Actually, the soundproofing at the Hikigaya house was really good. They didn't hear a thing the whole night.
And that was exactly why they lost their minds.
Komachi's room was right next to Hachiman's. With that many people in Hachiman's room, how could it be so quiet when the door was shut?
How were they supposed to know if Hachiman was even still in the room?
Miko was terrified he'd take everyone and vanish invisibly, leaving them undefended if a spirit barged into the house. She was the only one who could see spirits, so no one else understood how horrifying it was.
If she fell asleep and woke up to find a spirit inside her blanket, she would die from shame.
They were in someone else's house. If she ruined someone else's bedding in fear, it would become a lifelong black mark.
Right now only Hachiman knew about her fainting from a spirit, and she didn't want any more people knowing how scared she was.
Kita had different problems. She couldn't see spirits and wasn't scared of them.
Her insomnia came from something more complicated. She had "abandoned" her bandmates, running away alone, leaving Nijika, Ryou, and Bocchi-chan in Hachiman's room to face him.
But what could she have done?
If she stayed, she couldn't save Nijika and Ryou, who kept dragging each other down. She would've gotten dragged down too.
To have a boy she barely knew do this or that with her… Even if she didn't want a boring normie life, she absolutely wasn't ready for that kind of situation.
She just wanted a fun life, not to become some careless girl.
Nijika, Ryou, and Bocchi-chan sleeping with Hachiman was because they had a close relationship. If she just joined in casually, it would be her own problem.
Though being close didn't fully explain why they were all willing to sleep with him… What happened to Nijika, Ryou, and Bocchi-chan in that room last night?
Now that she narrowly escaped disaster, how was she supposed to face them later?
Could she quit the band again?
Caught between shame and anxiety, Kita and Miko spent the night imagining all sorts of scenes behind the silent door, exchanging glances until they finally drifted off around midnight.
Only Hana slept soundly the whole night.
"Good morning, Kita-oneechan, Miko-oneechan, Hana-oneechan~"
The three went downstairs and saw Komachi setting out bowls and chopsticks. She looked up with a bright smile.
"Shion's almost done with breakfast, please wait a bit."
Komachi had slept soundly too, completely unbothered by three strangers sleeping on her floor.
She used to have trouble sleeping when new girls kept appearing in her and Hachiman's sibling world, even sneaking to the door to listen to see when the next room would quiet down. But now she was used to it.
She often ended up with a bunch of new "sisters." She felt that when she finally made it into Sobu High, she'd probably be surrounded by familiar upperclasswomen. She wouldn't even need to ask Hachiman for help with anything.
"Good morning, Komachi… um… where's Hikigaya-kun? Is he still asleep?"
Kita greeted Komachi while awkwardly glancing around the living room. Seeing only Komachi and Shion in sight, with no other girls anywhere, she hesitated before asking quietly.
She wasn't worried about Hana, since she was Miko's only friend.
But her own friends were all in Hachiman's room. It was mortifying.
How late had Hachiman and the others gone to sleep? She and Miko had passed out past midnight, and they were already awake.
"Nii-san will come down a bit later. You girls eat first. Shion and I will eat with you too, or else there won't be enough seats later."
Shion brought out a pot of fresh soup, glanced at the blushing girls, and gave a shy smile.
She hadn't expected them to come for a sleepover only to sleep separately and completely avoid joining the chaos.
It was her first time seeing this pattern, but judging by how inexperienced they seemed in romance, she figured it was only a matter of time before they pounced on Hachiman like the others.
After all, Miko was terrified of ghosts, and Hachiman could protect her.
And as for Kita… with Ryou, Nijika, and Bocchi-chan all having gone to Hachiman, could Kita really escape?
"Ooh~ Shion-chan, breakfast smells amazing. It looks delicious~"
Hana didn't overthink anything. At Shion and Komachi's warm welcome, and seeing the big spread on the table, she immediately sat down, stomach growling.
"Hana, don't rush. You haven't even washed your hands!"
Miko saw her friend's gluttonous instincts fully awakened and, setting aside all her worries, helplessly pulled Hana up to wash up.
Her friend really had nerves of steel… or was simply extremely optimistic.
Even staying over at someone else's house didn't faze her at all.
"Hehe, there are lots of big-sister types here who cook well. I don't cook that often, so my skills aren't that great. I hope you like it."
Seeing Hana's eager expression before even taking a bite, Shion smiled happily but still modestly.
Since many of the girls around Hachiman were good cooks, she mostly ended up helping or cleaning with Komachi.
When it came to cooking, Vignette's food really was tastier than hers.
But recently Gabriel and Vignette hadn't been coming to cook at the house. At most they dropped off groceries when Hachiman wasn't home. They didn't even come during meals, saying they were playing games at Kaimei's place.
It confused Shion a lot. She even suspected Hachiman might've had a falling-out with them.
Because until now, she had never seen Gabriel or Vignette join the Hikigaya nightly "no-sleep gatherings."
But when talking about Hachiman with Gabriel and Vignette, they always got vague and blushed red, so it didn't seem like they were fighting…
If it's about body shape, that shouldn't be the issue either, since Iris-oneechan, Elio-oneechan, and even another Rurikawa had joined last night.
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