"Target has entered the planned area."
"Understood. The filthy maid is about to commence the assault."
"The biker gang is also ready for pickup at a moment's notice."
"Golden idiot... Hey, why am I the only one called an idiot!"
"Stop fooling around, golden idiot, and go be the bait!"
"I know, I know. Geez."
Under an incandescent streetlight, Michiru Matsushima swung her golden twintails with a hint of annoyance. Grumbling under her breath, she walked on her plump thighs wrapped in black stockings, approaching Jhin, who was on his way home after dropping off Hitori Gotoh.
"Jh-Jhin!"
"Huh? Michiru, what are you doing here?"
Didn't she go back to the residence with the others?
"I was just bored, so I came out for a walk. I-it's not like I was waiting to walk you home."
The same classic tsundere phrasing as always.
Jhin found it amusing and reached out to pat her little head. "I get it. Let's head back now, then."
Michiru Matsushima's pupils instantly turned emerald green, a look of a successful plan on her face. "Of course we're going home."
Komine Sachi shot out from a nearby alley where she had been lying in wait, like a shark hunting its prey. She swiftly pulled a black bag over Jhin's head and then tied him up tightly with a rope.
"???"
It wasn't that Jhin didn't notice her surprise attack; he just trusted them too much to think they would do anything to hurt him. The result was getting trussed up by this sloppy ambush.
Komine Sachi hoisted Jhin onto her shoulder and placed him on the back seat of Suou Amane's motorcycle, which had arrived right on time. She then sandwiched him between the two of them like the filling in a cookie.
"Filthy maid has successfully captured the target. Otaku girl, now preparing to head to the designated location."
"Roger. Be careful on the way."
The roar of the motorcycle, accompanied by the choking exhaust fumes, carried the trio away, leaving Michiru Matsushima standing there dumbfounded. As expected of the bait, she was abandoned as soon as her purpose was served.
"Hey! I'm not on yet! I'm not on the bike yet!"
The blonde, twin-tailed girl chased after the motorcycle's red taillights as it sped away, while the surrounding passersby who witnessed the whole thing gulped hard.
Is this how you snatch a man these days? Straight up bagging his head and tying him with ropes? So wild!
...
Jhin solemnly enjoyed the feeling of being sandwiched between two soft, delicate bodies on the motorcycle. Before long, he was carried off the bike. Based on his judgment, the person who had bagged his head and was now carrying him had to be Komine Sachi.
Don't be fooled by her delicate maid appearance; she was the one who carried a bunch of gas canisters into the school building on the day they blew it up. There was no way her strength was anything to scoff at.
Through the bag, which was inexplicably translucent, Jhin observed his surroundings. It was just as he had guessed: they had brought him to Kazami Kazuki's residence.
After carefully placing Jhin on the sofa, the girls from Mihama Academy all gathered around him. Oh, wait, one was missing—Michiru Matsushima hadn't returned yet.
"I... I mean, normally, would you just abandon someone like that?"
When an exhausted Michiru Matsushima finally stumbled back to the residence ten minutes later, she was panting with her little pink tongue sticking out, collapsed in the entryway, unable to move another step.
Seeing that everyone had finally assembled, the mastermind of this "kidnapping incident"—Kazami Kazuki—used her small hand to pull the thing off her little brother's head and tossed it aside.
"Little brother, don't you think you owe us an explanation about your cute girlfriend?"
So it wasn't that they would let it slide, it was just a matter of time!
Jhin wriggled his rope-bound body. "Um, how about you untie me first?"
"No! We'll decide on a suitable punishment based on your answer! If we untie you before that and you run away, it'll be a problem."
It was do-or-die. Jhin closed his eyes with a look of grim resolve. "Bocchi-chan is my girlfriend, but I won't let go of any of you either. That's how it is!"
"Hmm... 6 points for honesty, 0 points for wording. Total score: 6 points."
Jhin felt like he was treading on thin ice. "What's... the full score?"
His sister gave a radiant smile, her red lips, especially bewitching under the light, uttering a number that sent Jhin plunging into an icy abyss: "100 points."
I'm screwed!
"However, seeing as you're my little brother, let's change the full score to 10 points."
"Huh?"
She had pulled Jhin back from hell to heaven.
Kazami Kazuki reached out and lovingly pinched his cheek. "These girls have been through life and death with you. Did you really think they'd fly into a rage over something like this?"
"I thought I'd be competing with the others at school to see who would date Jhin first, but we got intercepted by some pink-haired girl who popped out of nowhere."
Komine Sachi, caught in the crossfire, raised her right hand. "Um, Amane, I have pink hair too..."
"Ah, sorry, Sachi."
"Didn't you already call yourself his big sister, Suou-san? Why are you thinking about being his girlfriend now?"
"Hmph, now that Kazuki's back, I obviously can't keep calling myself his sister. Competing for the girlfriend spot is a pretty good option, wouldn't you say?"
While the girls were bickering among themselves, Jhin caught a glimpse of the "black bag" that Kazami Kazuki had carelessly tossed onto the sofa—the one they had used to cover his head.
If Jhin's eyes and common sense weren't deceiving him, that wasn't a bag at all, but a black stocking.
The moment he pictured the ridiculous scene of himself with a stocking over his head, the excess fabric dancing in the wind, his spirit shattered a little.
I hope no one I know saw that. Otherwise, I might just have to move to another planet.
But then again, whose black stocking was it? Jhin immediately channeled his inner Sherlock Holmes and began to analyze the suspects one by one in his mind.
First, rule out Amane; she doesn't really like wearing socks. Makina... also unlikely. At least, I've never seen her in black stockings.
Yumiko and Sachi can be ruled out too. The former has never worn stockings, though I could recommend she try pantyhose—it would suit her cool demeanor. The latter always wears the standard-issue white lace garter stockings for maids.
Then there's only one answer left. Michiru! This stocking is yours, isn't it! As a tsundere character, black stockings are an indispensable element.
A tsundere not wearing black stockings would be as unbelievable as Batman having parents, or Tatsuki Fujimoto not going insane!
Jhin's gaze, shooting like a laser across everyone's legs, made them stop talking. They all turned to glare at Jhin, who for some reason seemed to be growing more self-righteous.
"That's Michiru's stocking, right?" Jhin gestured toward the stocking on the sofa with his chin.
"Huh? So it was a stocking. Sachi, didn't I tell you to use a black gunny sack?" As the plan's coordinator, Sakaki Yumiko wouldn't have made such a basic mistake.
"I had a gunny sack ready, but Miss Kazuki told me to use this."
And so, everyone turned to look at Kazami Kazuki.
"Who's to blame? Michiru was the one who left her stocking right next to my hand."
"..."
"Waaah!" Steam practically puffed from the top of Michiru Matsushima's head like a locomotive. She stormed into the living room, snatched the stocking, and shot a glare at Jhin.
"Glaring at me won't do you any good. I'm the victim here."
"But you wore it on your head, didn't you?"
"Sachi was the one who put it on me!"
"You wore it on your head, right?"
"...Yes."
"Hmph."
Jhin's whole being turned gray as he flopped onto the sofa like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.
"Daddy, are you okay?"
"Makina, you're such a good daughter."
"Hehe..."
Irisu Makina, that thoughtful little darling, untied his ropes. She was the only one who hadn't participated in the plan because she was already so far ahead of the others. If Kazami Kazuki hadn't been keeping such a close eye on her little brother, even she might not have known that this seemingly innocent little girl was the biggest winner of all.
"Little brother, this is for you."
Jhin took the paper Kazami Kazuki handed him, and the contents almost made his jaw drop.
___
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