"Kamuro... you really did a number on me..."
Although Hachiman hadn't directly put her through the magical girl awakening ceremony, being pushed forward by Kamuro Masumi had nearly been too much for her to handle.
"Sakayanagi, please recognize your position. My master is not you."
Kamuro Masumi curled her lips in response, not hiding the contempt in her eyes.
'So ungrateful.'
If she hadn't given Sakayanagi Arisu that hard push, that girl would still be frail and sickly, unable to walk far without a cane.
Who was it that used to constantly push her to kneel before Hachiman? Now that she had knelt, Sakayanagi wasn't happy about it?
"Heh! Heh..."
Seeing Kamuro Masumi openly rebel after acknowledging Hachiman as her master, Sakayanagi Arisu's smile grew even brighter.
That disobedient Kamuro really needed a good lesson.
However, most of the students in the class were originally from Class D, Class C, and Class B. Most of them had already been won over by Karuizawa Kei and Kushida Kikyo. She couldn't compete with Karuizawa Kei and Kushida Kikyo for them.
Now that Kamuro had gone around her to become Hachiman's dog, she really didn't have many people left to use.
Should she ask her father for help now?
With her father's abilities, he naturally couldn't send anyone in. After what happened at Advanced Nurturing High School, her father, as the school's chairman, couldn't escape blame either. But there were still people above her father's faction.
By now, Sobu High had long become a grand stage for various factions. The Fujiwara faction had sent Fujiwara Chika, and the Naegi faction's Ayanokoji Atsuyomi was also ambitious, trying to send in his own forces.
Given age restrictions, Ayanokoji Atsuyomi would probably send students of similar age, in other words, the girls from the "White Room" experimental program.
But because the Naegi faction had lost the election and their influence had greatly diminished, combined with the age issue, those children seemed to have been sent to the middle school to get close to Hikigaya Komachi.
And she was at Sobu High, so far away, it really wasn't easy to compete for people.
The atmosphere around Sakura Airi, Satou Maya, and Hasebe Haruka was much better. They didn't get too involved in the conflict between Sakayanagi Arisu and Kamuro Masumi.
Still, they also felt that tonight's celebration had gotten out of their control.
Many of them still hadn't truly served Hachiman yet, let alone started the magical girl awakening ceremony.
But now they had to watch Hanamori Kotomi, Kashima Risako, Itashiro Kurumi, and Kisaragi Miyuki give instruction right in front of them.
Not only did they have Ebihara Urara and Mizuho Kazami supporting them from the side, but there was also a whole group outside who could be brought in as reinforcements.
Speaking of the gathering outside in the hallway, Sato Maya and Matsushita Chiaki noticed that Karuizawa Kei and Kushida Kikyo, who had long since pledged themselves to Hachiman as pets and personal maids had disappeared again.
They looked toward the entrance, their gazes flickering.
Sakayanagi Arisu, dragging her slightly sore legs in white stockings, quietly made her way to the bedroom door and pressed herself against the wall to sneak a peek outside.
———
[Karuizawa Kei's Room, at the Entrance]
The tall, voluptuous, exquisitely beautiful blonde Matsubara Miria held the black collar around her neck with one hand and tightly covered her mouth with the other. Her chest heaved up and down, sweat beading on her pale forehead, her clothes nearly soaked through.
Beside her, Takamine Ayako, with her black ponytail, stared blankly at Matsubara Miria, who looked like she had just finished a long run, her body overexerted, her gorgeous face flushed, completely at a loss.
"Miria... are you okay? What exactly is going on here?"
They had noticed that Ebihara Urara and the others hadn't returned, and Kashima Risako, who had gone to look for them, was also nowhere to be seen. So a few more of them had come to search together.
They hadn't found anyone in Kirisu Mafuyu's or Chabashira Sae's rooms, so they had made their way to Karuizawa Kei's room.
Sure enough, there was something wrong with Karuizawa Kei's room. The moment they entered, they heard a series of familiar sounds coming from the bedroom.
But what they hadn't expected was that Kushida Kikyo had, without a word, put strange black collars on both Matsubara Miria and herself.
Now, seeing Matsubara Miria in this state, she didn't dare make any rash moves. She felt like she might end up the same way in the next second.
"According to our investigation, Matsubara-san doesn't have a very good reputation at school. Many students have complaints about her."
Kushida Kikyo curled her lip at that and immediately put on her airs as Hachiman's personal maid.
"This little punishment shouldn't be much for Matsubara-san."
"Of course, if Takamine-san can't bear to see Matsubara-san suffer alone and wants to share her hardships, you can also press the sync switch on your black collar and experience the same sensation as Matsubara-san."
Among those currently serving the master inside, there were no acquaintances or friends of Takamine Ayako or Matsubara Miria.
Both of them had rather strong personalities and were hard to persuade, so unlike with Kashima Risako, they hadn't been brought inside. Instead, they had been stopped right at the entrance, to prevent Matsubara Miria and Takamine Ayako from losing their composure after seeing what was happening inside and offending the master.
Of course, Matsubara Miria had a poor reputation and tended to over-punish disobedient students, so she needed a little correction.
But Takamine Ayako, like Kirisu Mafuyu and Kisaragi Miyuki, seemed cold and unapproachable but actually cared deeply about her students, she was just a bit strict with them.
So they had only put the sync collar on Takamine Ayako's neck without forcing her to experience the same sensations as Matsubara Miria.
They shared a common understanding of the master's personality and temperament.
Good girls were given plenty of freedom to choose. Bad girls needed proper discipline, going a little further was acceptable too.
On this principle, it was fine to adjust things slightly up or down when handling matters, everything fell within acceptable limits.
Kushida Kikyo, who appeared sunny on the outside but was dark on the inside, fell into the "bad girl" category. Meanwhile, Ichinose Honami, who had once been sent as a spy, was a "good girl," able to navigate between various groups and get free food and drink.
This made Kushida Kikyo quite angry, but there was nothing she could do about it. She could only try to make Hachiman understand that bad girls had their own advantages.
"Not a very good reputation..."
Hearing Kushida Kikyo's assessment, Matsubara Miria felt like she was about to faint from anger.
She hadn't expected that even among people who had been dragged into this together, there would be such differential treatment.
She wanted to curse at Kushida Kikyo. So what if she was strict with students? Disobedient students deserved to be taught a lesson. How else would they learn they'd made mistakes without some physical punishment?
But right now, she didn't dare open her mouth. The moment she did, an unbearable moan would escape.
Seeing Matsubara Miria like this, Tsukioka Anna and Tachibana Hina, who had come in with them to search for people, were even more confused.
"Um... what about us?"
Tachibana Hina raised her hand and asked cautiously.
"What do you want us to do?"
Tsukioka Anna asked expressionlessly.
They had also been fitted with black collars. But if they hadn't seen Matsubara Miria's predicament with their own eyes, they never would have imagined that such a small black collar could have such a powerful effect.
"Hmm... Tsukioka Anna, you're the school nurse. You can wait a bit for Mikado Ryoko not far away and see if she wants to join you... As for Tachibana Hina..."
Kushida Kikyo looked at Tachibana Hina and Tsukioka Anna, thought for a moment, and made her judgment.
"You're a Tachibana. For now, you don't need to join."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Tachibana Hina hadn't expected that answer from Kushida Kikyo. She stared blankly at her.
Did the Tachibana family get special treatment? Were they really that impressive?
"Hina-nee, you don't have to join now. You can join later with the other Tachibana family members."
Seeing that Tachibana Hina didn't know the inside story of the Tachibana family, Karuizawa Kei also spoke up to explain.
"Haven't a lot of your Tachibana family members come to Chiba recently? Pretty much all the students of the right age are joining Sobu High. Most of them came here for the master."
"Hina-nee, think about how many Tachibana sisters you're close to. You can serve the master with them then."
She wasn't very clear on the details of those zaibatsu affairs, but the elf princess Eirys and student council president Hoshizuki Kaede never hid anything from the club members.
Information about those outside who wanted to join, or were about to join, was also screened by vice president Yukinoshita Haruno and made public. Members could raise objections and decide whether to reject someone.
The Tachibana family was one she had heard about in the club.
Besides Tachibana Hina, Tachibana Rui, and Tachibana Miya, who were already at school, there were quite a few Tachibana members about to join.
Tachibana Marika, from Kyushu, with deep family connections;
Tachibana Mikari, a model like Kitagawa Marin;
Tachibana Alice, working under the mermaid princess Mero's talent agency;
Tachibana Kyoka, Tachibana Yukka, Tachibana Koharu, invited to join by Yukinoshita Kiyuki as allies of the Yukinoshita family.
Even though she herself was helping the master scout new people, seeing so many beautiful and cute potential members still made her want to complain.
How could the Tachibana family have so many pretty sisters? It was enviable. At this rate, there'd be another Ichinose-style big family trying to win the master's favor.
Luckily, she had a master who treated everyone equally. Even though she couldn't do anything, he still doted on her so much.
"Huh? Join together with everyone else later?"
Karuizawa Kei's explanation was very straightforward, but Tachibana Hina was still confused. She slowly opened her mouth and stared blankly at Karuizawa Kei and Kushida Kikyo.
According to Karuizawa Kei's words, all those younger sisters in her family had come here to throw themselves at Hikigaya-kun?
And she would also be serving Hikigaya-kun along with everyone else?
How come she didn't know about this herself?
"Hina-nee, don't overthink it. Just ask your Aunt Kyoka properly when you get home."
Karuizawa Kei smiled slightly and didn't explain further.
"For now, just learn a bit about the master. Maybe they'll be the ones asking you for advice later."
"Mm... the master is busy right now. When he has time, he'll probably give you access to the Service Club. Once you're in the club, you'll understand everything."
She wasn't in a hurry to bring Tachibana Hina in.
Tachibana Hina was part of the Tachibana family group, or at worst, part of Hiratsuka Shizuka's group. She couldn't win Tachibana Hina over anyway.
Since Tachibana Hina was already at Sobu High, and so many Tachibana family members wanted to come over, even if she didn't take the initiative, someone else would do it for her.
"Th-this... Aunt Kyoka and the others are going to ask me for advice?"
Listening to Karuizawa Kei's vague explanations, Tachibana Hina was still in a fog. Her gaze kept drifting toward the bright bedroom, listening to the sounds coming from inside, and she swallowed hard.
Surely... it wasn't what she was thinking.
But if it wasn't that, then how else could you explain all the Tachibana family members suddenly gathering in Chiba, gathering at Sobu High?
Tachibana Hina couldn't help thinking about tonight's Tachibana family gathering.
Her Aunt Kyoka, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, had been especially concerned about her and her younger sister Rui's current situation, especially their love lives.
Aunt Kyoka was now working in Chiba, and her daughters Yukka and Koharu had transferred to Sobu High, so Aunt Kyoka had also asked her to look after Yukka and Koharu.
These were all small matters. Even if Aunt Kyoka hadn't said anything, she would have tried to take care of their Tachibana family members anyway.
After all, her younger sisters Rui and Miya were also at Sobu High. Taking care of two was the same as taking care of four, especially since she got along well with all of them.
She had thought Aunt Kyoka's words were just the usual concern from an elder to the younger generation. Now it seemed that beneath that warmth, there was a hidden secret she didn't know about.
Aunt Kyoka had raised Yukka and Koharu alone for so many years, it made sense that she'd want to find someone reliable for her daughters.
Even though Hachiman was unfaithful in a way that wasn't ordinary, he was indeed dependable.
But what about Tachibana Marika, who came from Kyushu and whose family included a police chief... was she also at Sobu High for the same reason?
Or maybe Tachibana Marika was here for someone else at Sobu High?
Everyone knew that Hachiman had a particularly good relationship with demihumans, especially the elf princess. It was possible to approach him under the pretext of getting close to the elf princess.
Tachibana Hina was still pondering her family's motives when Takamine Ayako, watching Matsubara Miria's unfocused eyes and uncontrollable sounds as she lay sprawled on the floor, couldn't hold back anymore.
"Can you stop now? Miria can't take any more."
Matsubara Miria did indeed have a poor reputation among students. She looked down on poor students and considered them bad kids.
She had a relative who grew up abroad, Takamine Yuko, who was very similar to Matsubara Miria, always arrogant and condescending, looking down on both colleagues and students.
But Matsubara Miria wasn't like the janitor who had been taken away today, who also had student complaints outside of work.
Miria only took disciplinary measures against clearly disobedient students, and those were physical punishments based on teaching needs.
Even if they made Matsubara Miria take a leave of absence for a while or dock her pay, that would be fine. But doing this to her was going too far.
"Takamine-san, you might be misunderstanding. Matsubara-san isn't being tormented to the point of breaking down—she's just enjoying it too much."
Seeing that Takamine Ayako was only concerned and sympathetic toward Matsubara Miria, rather than feeling ashamed or angry, Karuizawa Kei explained with a smile.
If they really wanted to punish or torment someone, they wouldn't make them wear sync collars, they would have already dragged them out.
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