"Screech!"
An ear-gritting sound rang out as the slippers on Busujima Sakurako's feet ground against the wooden floor, nearly kicking up sparks before she managed to shed all her forward momentum.
She looked up, staring at the smiling Hamaoka Azusa with eyes full of shock. Like a stray cat caught by the legal wife, she began making small, nervous gestures—like smoothing her hair—to hide her guilt.
"Hama... Hamaoka Azusa? Why are you here?!"
"Well~ It is my boyfriend's house after all, so naturally, I have a key to come in!"
"..."
Although Hamaoka Azusa didn't do much else, simply dangling her keychain and tilting her head to act cute and ditzy was enough to leave Busujima Sakurako speechless.
After all, what she said made sense. Strictly speaking, Sakurako was the intruder. Questioning the lady of the house in her own home was, frankly, a bit unbecoming.
"Nanaka-姐! This woman! This woman has accepted the baptism of dark forces! She's a pure scumbag now!"
As his heartbeat slowed and he recovered from the tension of nearly being "Strongman-Locked" by that jerk Busujima, Miyazawa Yuu immediately began complaining frantically to Nanaka, who had just entered a step behind!
If it weren't for his incredible willpower and lightning-fast reflexes, he might have actually fallen into this female devotee's trap!
It was simply too dangerous! He was shaking with indignation—why was the world dealing such a heavy hand to a simple, honest youth like him who hadn't done anything wrong?
"There, there. Thank you for the hard work, Yu."
Wearing a gentle smile, Kotegawa Nanaka didn't mind at all that Yu was still covered in un-dried water droplets. She generously, albeit with a red face, pulled him into a tight embrace to reward him and soothe her own longing.
You had to understand, with Yu away these past two days, she couldn't cook well, couldn't sleep well, and her time spent staring at Chisa's photos had been cut by more than half!
More importantly, Yu had actually resisted Busujima's temptation. Even though he held out until the very last second without surrendering, he was truly superb—a boy worthy of her trust!
"Ugh... I can't breathe! By the way, Nanaka-姐, why did you two suddenly come over?"
With his entire head buried in Nanaka's vast embrace, Miyazawa Yuu enjoyed it for two minutes before his face turned a bit blue from the lack of oxygen.
Perhaps moved by the moment, Nanaka was hugging him particularly firmly. He had to exert quite a bit of effort just to poke his mouth out from the "Great Evil" to ask: "Could it be that this is what they call telepathy!"
"Well, about that..."
Her expression turned slightly awkward. Kotegawa Nanaka tilted her head, hesitated for a moment, and gave an unconfident little nod without saying anything, as if everything was understood in silence.
Seeing Nanaka's guilt, Hamaoka Azusa's mischievous side flared up. She turned around with a wicked, teasing grin. "Eh? Who was the one saying, 'Yu hasn't replied to my messages all day! This won't do! I have to go check on him!'??"
"Azusa!!!"
With the truth exposed, Kotegawa Nanaka's face instantly turned a blood-red. She turned and began complaining loudly and cutely at Hamaoka Azusa.
However, facing a "bad girl" like the black-bellied Azusa, trying to make her back down with just a glare was a tall order. Within two seconds, Nanaka was blushing, covering her face and crouching down, not daring to meet Yu's eyes.
After all, coming to "check up" on a boyfriend just because he didn't reply for a day was a bit too much!
"I'm sorry..."
"Well, it might not be romantic, but thank you for saving my life, Nanaka-姐!"
Reminded by Azusa-senpai, Miyazawa Yuu instantly realized what had happened. At the Fujiwara house yesterday, though he had pulled out his SIM card, the phone itself was definitely trashed.
And since he had almost no money left after paying the Livehouse deposit, he had to wait for them to obediently deliver a new phone. Thus, he had missed Nanaka's messages.
Fortunately, because of that, he escaped the fate of being trapped by Busujima Sakurako. Good things really do happen to good people!
"...Sigh, you win, Azusa. I give up~"
Looking at the happy... family of three? Busujima Sakurako closed her eyes and took a frustrated, deep breath. She tossed the taser onto the bedsheet, indicating she accepted her loss.
She had exerted all her effort to dig at the foot of the wall, but the foundation hadn't even budged.
Plus, since such a perfect plan could be broken by an accident, she completely saw that she didn't just lack the advantage of place and people—even time wasn't on her side.
There was no end to this. Rather than letting her enemies show off their affection high and mightily in front of her, it was better to back out with some dignity.
"Kyoko and I are moving back home tomorrow so we don't disturb your leisure. Goodbye!!!"
Hamaoka Azusa didn't reach out to stop her, crossing her arms and letting the impotently raging Busujima walk past. She only kept a bit of her peripheral vision on the girl's retreating back.
Sure enough, even without her doing anything, as Nanaka looked on helplessly at the awkward atmosphere, someone reached out and firmly grabbed the girl's hand.
"Wait! You can go, but Kyoko stays!"
"Miyazawa Yuu!"
Never expecting that even if she stopped playing she'd be force-fed dog food, Busujima Sakurako glared unhappily at Miyazawa Yuu, who was crouching down to comfort Nanaka. However, the boy's eyes were clearly more serious than hers.
"This is no place for you to throw a tantrum! Either both of you stay, or you leave by yourself!"
"..."
"Azusa-senpai, I want to talk to Busujima alone."
In the silence, Miyazawa Yuu stood up with a dark expression and threw Busujima back into the room. He cracked his neck and spoke softly to Hamaoka Azusa. The latter followed his lead, nodding and walking out of the room.
Kotegawa Nanaka, being attentive, ran to the bedside and wrapped the bath towel firmly around Yu before cautiously closing the door.
To be honest, this seemed to be the first time she had seen Yu this angry. He wouldn't perform the "traditional arts" on Sakurako that only Iori could endure, would he?
"Wha—what are you going to do? Going against a woman's will is a criminal offense!"
The door slammed shut. Terrified by Nanaka's final "good luck" look, Busujima Sakurako slowly backed toward the bed as Miyazawa Yuu approached step by step, her eyes filled with panic.
In reality, a girl's courage is binary. When her opponent, Miyazawa Yuu, truly became dominant, she withered instantly like a frost-bitten eggplant.
"Busujima, first of all, I know your past, so I can roughly understand your logic."
To Sakurako's surprise, Miyazawa Yuu didn't choose violence. Instead, after she backed onto the bed, he sat on the edge with a vacant gaze and began talking to himself with his head down.
"The pressure from money forced you to shrink your social circle and suppress your emotional needs. So when the shackles are gone, blind obedience to money quickly takes the high ground."
"And because of a longing for the glamorous, you added the 'attractive' label to your criteria for a partner..."
"Enough!"
Physical blows were secondary; psychological trauma was the true damage. Having her "undergarments" snatched away in an instant, Sakurako froze for two seconds before screaming as sharply as a skinned fox.
Tears spilled from her eyes. Honestly, if possible, she'd rather be slapped in the face and called a "slut"!
Anything was better than this understanding that felt like pity. It was worse than being killed outright; that would at least comply with the Geneva Convention.
"...I just wanted to say, perhaps you should look forward, Busujima."
This time it was Miyazawa Yuu's turn to calmly pat the spot beside him. After a moment of hesitation, Sakurako crawled over obediently, only to be subjected to a fierce, comforting head pat.
"Everything you're doing now might just be because I helped you, out of a sense of compensation and gratitude. I hope you can understand the difference between friendship and love."
"...It's no use! I have no direction. Even Natsumi and the others only like playing with a 'cool gal'!"
With her head lowered, Sakurako's eyes were full of confusion. She indeed no longer brooded over the "accidents" of the past, but whenever she looked up, the road ahead was dim!
Even her best friends—Natsumi and Yuki—were only together with her because of her "Gal" persona.
If she dug deeper, after stripping away the labels of gold-digging, looks-obsessing, and disposability, what was left? Nothing but a pink-haired hollow shell!
The only person who could still tolerate her after knowing her true self was Yu. That was why she tried so hard to tie him to her side—even if it was just his body, that would be enough!
"Well... don't be so harsh on yourself. Why not try socializing like a normal person?"
Feeling the unease of a lost animal from Sakurako's trembling body, Miyazawa Yuu looked up at the ceiling wordlessly with a headache, then, like a father, tried to enlighten and re-educate her.
Honestly, this kind of thing should have been left to Azusa-senpai; she had experience making Aina open her heart. But given the hostile relationship between them, he could only take the field himself.
"Join the Pab club! No one there will judge you. You can completely start a beautiful new life!"
"Really?"
Raising her big, teary eyes, Sakurako must have cried herself stupid. Looking at the obviously suspicious and pre-prepared club application, she obediently pressed her thumbprint on it.
"Can someone like me really start over?"
"What do you think of Iori and Kohei? You know, the blue-haired and blonde guys who are always with me?"
"They are pure scumbags!"
Slipping the cold evaluation out of her mouth, Sakurako thought for a moment and immediately drew a scumbag inequality in her mind: Iori = Kohei > Yu > Herself!
In other words, if those first three could thrive, she probably wouldn't be judged either?
"Feel better now?"
"...I'm sorry. I'll try to start over in the Pab club. Please, at least don't hate me because of today!"
"Good girl! Good girl!"
Seeing that Sakurako's emotions had stabilized, Miyazawa Yuu's smiling comfort vanished instantly. His warm, fatherly image was torn away like a pair of Iori's old underwear!
Applying a bit of force, Sakurako suddenly felt the gentle caress on her back turn into a clamp locked onto her neck!
In her shock, she turned her head to see Miyazawa Yuu smiling "powerfully." His sharp teeth shimmered in the moonlight as he leaned close to her face.
"Gulp... Wh-why?"
"Since I'm acting like a father, in addition to counseling a daughter who made a mistake, there must naturally be appropriate corporal punishment to show the cruelty of paternal love!"
Flexing his wrist, Miyazawa Yuu showed no hesitation as he slowly raised his other hand. Under Sakurako's terrified gaze, he swung it so hard it left an afterimage!
"Slap!"
"Ya!!!"
"Slap!"
"I'm sorry! I was wrong! My butt! My butt is going to break!"
"..."
Outside the door, awakened by their sister's shout of "Enough," the three little girls stood huddled by the door with red faces. None were willing to leave; after all, a "live broadcast" comparable to ASMR was a rare sight!