Koakuma, who had been listening by the door for a while, stood up and walked away. Continuing to listen would only make her feel miserable. She also wondered how much longer it would take Patchouli to take things to the next level if this continued. But what she cared about most was when her punishment would finally end.
"Koakuma, where is Kars?" While Koakuma was deep in thought, Flandre ran into the Great Library, looking for Kars.
"Kars? Ah! Please wait a moment, I'll go call him! Lady Patchouli is teaching him a lesson." Koakuma told Flandre to wait and then walked back to the room door. She gently knocked and said, "Lady Patchouli, the Second Mistress is looking for Kars."
Koakuma prepared to leave after saying that, waiting for the people inside to come out. However, before anyone could emerge, Flandre, seeing Koakuma knock, knew Kars was inside and walked straight over, intending to open the door. Without giving Koakuma a chance to react, Flandre opened the door and saw Patchouli, whose face was flushed and who was breathing slightly heavily, and Kars, who was sitting nervously next to her, looking like he had been caught doing something wrong. Flandre looked at them with a puzzled expression.
"Kars, what are you and Patchouli doing in the room?" Flandre looked at the two of them. They didn't look like they were studying. Their posture suggested they had been doing something just before, and Flandre's gaze fell on Patchouli's chest, where the fabric was slightly raised and a little damp.
"N-nothing." Kars answered immediately, but his nervous tone made even Flandre realize Kars was hiding something.
"Kars, lying is not allowed, you know! That's not what good boys do." Flandre walked up to Kars, frowning slightly.
"I was just having Kars help me with a massage, Flandre. You don't need to worry about it." Patchouli explained calmly. "It's just that Kars didn't do a very good job the first time he helped, so he's embarrassed to talk about it."
"Oh, I see." Flandre didn't doubt Patchouli's words and immediately believed her. She then began to comfort Kars.
"It's okay! It's just your first time and you didn't do it well. That's nothing. When Sister was teaching Flandre some things, my first attempts were always bad too." Seeing Flandre's attention diverted, Patchouli breathed a small sigh of relief. If she hadn't reacted quickly, Flandre might have seen something more. She then silently glanced at Koakuma for not stopping Flandre in time. Koakuma responded with a gesture indicating it truly wasn't her fault; she really didn't want any more punishment.
"Well then, let's go play quickly." Flandre said, pulling Kars away. This result was frustrating for Patchouli, but she couldn't stop them.
"Hmm, Kars smells entirely of Patchouli now." As Flandre hugged Kars, she sniffed his scent and detected Patchouli's lingering perfume. This made her a little unhappy, not because she disliked Patchouli, but because she preferred Kars's natural scent.
"But why is the smell in your mouth too?" Flandre brought her nose close to Kars's mouth, sniffing the same scent, which confused her a little. Kars didn't know how to answer this question.
"Kars, why aren't you saying anything? Did you play the same game with Patchouli that you play with Flandre?" Flandre assumed Kars and Patchouli had played the kissing game. This thought made Flandre unhappy. Because of her sister, she hadn't played that game recently, and now Kars was playing it with Patchouli instead. Flandre suddenly understood why things in the room felt strange—they were hiding inside to play a game!
"Kars is so mean! He didn't think to play with Flandre! Instead, he went and played with someone else!" She was definitely angry. Kars had played the game, but not with her, which made Flandre very upset.
"I… just now…" Kars wanted to defend himself, but he didn't know how to tell Flandre what he had been doing with Patchouli. He became stuck.
"See! You're not saying anything yourself!" Flandre took Kars's silence as an admission. However, she didn't press the issue further. She thought the reason Kars played the game with Patchouli was due to her sister; since her sister forbade them from playing the game, Kars must have obediently gone to play with Patchouli instead.
"It's alright, Flandre isn't really mad at Kars. After all, Kars is only doing what Sister told him." Flandre stroked Kars's head to comfort him, while Kars was confused about what she meant.
"Anyway, Sister won't be watching us all the time. If Kars wants to play next time, we can just hide and do it secretly." Flandre believed that hiding in a place like the Great Library would make it hard for them to be found. Flandre wrapped her arms around Kars's neck and kissed his lips. She was now very familiar with this, and it was no longer just a simple peck.
"Where did you two run off to?" When the two finally emerged, Remilia, seeing Flandre and Kars holding hands, asked them. She wanted to make sure Flandre and Kars weren't playing the kissing game anymore, so if she didn't see them for too long, she would have to go look for them.
"We just came from Patchouli's place." Flandre replied. This wasn't a lie; she and Kars had indeed just come from the Great Library, but only after they were finished playing.
"From Patchouli's place, you say." Remilia nodded slightly. She assumed Flandre had gone to find Kars while he was studying there and that they had just left together when he finished. She felt there was no need to worry. Flandre smiled, seeing Remilia's lack of suspicion. She was a little happy that she had successfully kept a secret from her sister.
However, Remilia looked at Flandre's smile and felt that something wasn't quite right, though she couldn't pinpoint it. She decided she would just have to pay closer attention from now on.