"Ah-re? Yuu, aren't you a bit too weak? You were totally a step behind us!"
"Tch! If Aina hadn't stopped me, it's not a given who would've won!"
"Who cares! Get your underwear swapped, a bet's a bet!"
In the temporary staff lounge, backed into a corner by two scumbags, Miyazawa Yuu sat cross-legged, gripping his pants tightly with an annoyed expression to avoid being stripped bare.
Since he was technically in the wrong regarding the bet, he couldn't exactly use force against these two relentless jerks who had the moral high ground.
It was a total miscalculation; he'd forgotten to specify the duration for wearing his underwear backward, leaving a loophole for these two scoundrels to exploit. But since it was his own wager, he had to take his medicine.
"Will one of you get the hell over there and close the curtains! Do you even know how to spell 'personal privacy'?"
"What are you talking about? Personal privacy? It's not like we haven't seen it all before."
With his arms crossed, showing off his villainous face to the max, Kitahara Iori spat to the side and gestured for Kohei to hurry up and pull the curtains.
Though it was after-hours, Dolphin wasn't as isolated as Grand Blue. There was a genuine risk of accidental exposure!
Of course, aside from potential passersby losing their eyesight, none of the guys present cared. However, since they didn't own the place, it would be bad if a local reported them for something so trivial.
"Seriously, just you wait until next time, you bastards..."
Grumbling and squinting as he threw out empty threats, Yuu gave a sharp tug, and his shop uniform trousers were flung onto Kohei.
The next second, front and back were swapped. The simple-patterned trunks looked virtually the same on both sides except for the pouch—at least in the eyes of the PaB club!
"What? Lame..."
"Exactly! Next time, shouldn't the penalty be swapping inside-out?"
"That would probably be more perverted than not wearing anything at all. You've got a twisted mind, Kohei! And stop critiquing my panties!"
...Boring! That was the shared verdict between the participant and the spectators after two seconds of observation.
In the outside world, this scene would certainly qualify as bizarre, but for members of the PaB club who were well-adjusted to public nudity, this punishment was no different from no punishment at all.
"Well, whatever. We're heading back to the villa to drink. Yuu, you still have to send Auntie back, right?"
Sitting cross-legged directly in front of Yuu, Kitahara Iori leaned back on his hands and yawned. To be honest, at this hour, it was better to head back, knock back a couple of bottles, and crash.
"Mother-in-law said she needed to settle the accounts, so it might be a bit late—"
Yuu nodded, but halfway through his sentence, the door burst open. The sound of shouting shoved his remaining words right back down his throat.
"Yuu! We have something to... AAAHHH!!! What are you guys doing?!"
Yoshiwara Aina charged into the lounge in a state of frantic anxiety, only to see Yuu standing there in nothing but his trunks. She let out a high-pitched, reactive scream!
She covered her face with her hands, but left a massive gap between her fingers, revealing her eyes completely. Behind her, Kotegawa Chisa poked her small head out, staring at the wide-mouthed Iori. She was so terrified her very hair seemed to be vibrating.
"Um, even if you run out of options, you can't lay a hand on your friends!"
"I don't know what you're thinking, but it's definitely nothing good!"
Having snatched his pants back from Kohei, Yuu watched Aina and Chisa warily. He could sense something was off based on their attitudes alone.
First off, even if he was only in his trunks, that shouldn't normally be such a shock to Aina.
There could only be one reason for that "dolphin-pitch" scream!
Flashing behind Aina, Yuu poked his head out from beside her ear and whispered ominously, "You two... are you hiding something bad from me?"
"N-No! We... we just had something we needed to talk to you about!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
Closing her eyes and cranking up the volume to sound more believable, Aina gestured to Chisa. The latter immediately nodded with a forced smile, "Exactly. What kind of bad intentions could Aina possibly have?"
"Aina has plenty of bad intentions~"
"True."
With "dead-fish" eyes, Iori and Kohei spoke up. Even they could tell these two were up to no good. Were they paid by Auntie Sayaka to lead Yuu to the gallows?
To their surprise, even though they were being undermined so obviously, Aina and Chisa only looked angry for a split second.
When they turned back around, their gazes miraculously didn't meet the boys', but the girls' eyes were undoubtedly filled with pity and a strange "maternal" glow.
"It's okay, Kohei. I'll be back to help you soon!"
"Wait, I'm involved in this too?!"
"Iori..."
"Hmm?"
Raising an eyebrow, Kitahara Iori looked at Chisa as if facing a great enemy. He scrambled back to the wall, but found Chisa following him closely—though her position was very strange!
She bent over, lower and lower! Until she reached the limit of her flexibility, he could finally see her pupils.
He looked down. His "little brother" was right there!
"Hiss... Chisa, what are you trying to do! No! What are you trying to do to Yuu?"
"Don't worry. Even if nobody else is willing, I'll help you! Iori!"
"Nobody else is willing to help me? Is my reputation that bad?!"
His eyes went wide. Even for a group nap, there were plenty of people willing to join. Iori couldn't fathom what kind of task everyone would refuse to do with him!
But Kotegawa Chisa wasn't willing to say more. She only gave him a firm "Wait for me!" look before pushing the reluctant Miyazawa Yuu out of the room.
"...Kohei, do you have any clue?"
"Regrettably, none at all. But I told Yuu to tell me if anything happens. He wouldn't throw us under the bus, right?"
Meanwhile, pushed by Chisa and Aina, Miyazawa Yuu reluctantly moved his feet until he was shoved into a small room used as the girls' nap area.
"Nanaka-san?"
"Yuu?"
After opening the door, the two girls bowed and gestured for him to enter in a way that brooked no refusal. Yuu had no choice but to walk in.
Then he saw Nanaka, who was supposed to be helping her mother with the accounts, sitting in the room. Her expression was equally "pure and stupid"—at a glance, she was clearly a fellow victim.
Despite this, sitting down across from her, he asked, "Were you dragged here by force too, Nanaka-san?"
"I don't know? Aina told me they found an old photo album of Chisa from when she was a kid, so I came!"
"Ah~ like a college student being lured away by the promise of a signed certificate... So, Chisa?"
Turning to the door where the two girls were still shoving each other and whispering over something in their hands, Yuu sat cross-legged and asked seriously: "Having Nanaka-san and me come here... is there some kind of relationship problem?"
"Eek!"
Hearing her name, Chisa flinched. Seeing her chance, Aina's eyes lit up. She shoved the object in her hand into Chisa's and bolted!
"I'll leave it to you, Chisa! I'm going to go handle Kohei..."
"Aina!"
Clutching the object, Chisa was so embarrassed that tears welled up. Her face was bright red as she finally understood the meaning of a "plastic sisterhood."
The next second, hands were placed on her shoulders. She turned in terror to see Yuu and her sister standing on either side of her, waiting for an explanation with helpless smiles.
"A-A-Actually!"
Taking a deep breath to suppress the urge to run, Chisa slowly turned. After a long struggle, she gave a 95-degree bow and thrust the item hidden in her palm forward.
"PLEASE! Do what you want to do without restraint! Don't let Mother's evil plan succeed!"
"So what have you been mumbling about this whole time? Is this..."
Chisa's fingers were wrapping the little object too tightly. Yuu found it hard to explain her mother's "good intentions" to her, so he just sighed and tried to pull the serrated plastic wrapper out.
It came out easily; it seemed Chisa was desperate to get rid of this hot potato.
When the pink plastic wrapper was revealed—its square shape and the eerie ring visible in the center—Yuu and Nanaka's world went dark as they fell into silence.
Firstly, this definitely wasn't a piece of whistle-candy. Secondly, what the hell did Chisa want them to do with this?
"Sister! For the sake of Yuu's life, please... do not hold back!"
"Hmm? Uh... okay."
"Then I won't disturb you! Please, go ahead!"
Her face was so red it was painful to look at. After getting her sister's response, Chisa's eyes turned into swirls as she slammed the door shut. Then came the triple-threat: deadbolt, lock, and running away!
Staring at the door that had just blasted wind in his face, Yuu saw a note taped to it—the final insurance: [The Room You Can't Leave Unless You XX!]
"Ah~ I think I understand now!"
"Eh? Understand what?"
"Nothing~"
Looking at the little item in his hand, Yuu gave a wicked smile under Nanaka's bashful gaze. Reaching out to turn off the light, he unhesitatingly tossed the pink square aside.
Chisa really was cute, but she probably didn't know that as long as the dates were calculated correctly, this kind of thing wasn't necessary at all!
[Yuu, what are Aina and the others trying to do?]
[Nothing much, just some of that 'doing what we love to do' stuff everyone likes to see~]
After replying to the last message, the phone was switched off!