"So this thing is the entry ticket?"
On the way to GB, Shiro kept examining the ticket in his hand—"Oumi Women's University School Festival Entry Ticket."
Sakurako had given it to him when he was leaving after their meal. She told him to come find her at that place.
Wait a minute… does this count as a date invitation?
Lately, he had been so busy with his new novel that he didn't even realize Oumi had a school festival going on.
"It even allows up to four guests?"
Shiro looked a bit puzzled. Why did this feel like something out of ancient times, where a nobleman could bring along his retinue to a gathering?
Well, not like he needed that. There wasn't really anyone he wanted to bring along.
Iori?
Kouhei?
Or maybe Yamamoto and the others?
Yeah right, give me a break!
He still wanted to enjoy a normal school festival, thank you very much!
This was Oumi's school festival! If that group of animals came along, it'd be total chaos!
But still… maybe he'd get to meet a bunch of new friends?
Praise be to Sakurako~
As the scumbag Shiro thought about the girls' school, he completely forgot about the person who actually gave him the ticket.
Meanwhile, Busujima Sakurako was lifelessly cleaning up the shop.
If she had a choice, she wouldn't have given Shiro that ticket at all.
She knew her group of friends were all absolute suckers for good looks—and good-looking themselves too.
She didn't think they'd hold back once they met him…
Those girls didn't even know what the word "restraint" meant!
But…
She had a gut feeling—Shiro would definitely show up at the festival!
And rather than let him wander around unsupervised, it was much safer to keep him within her line of sight!
She had already told Shiro exactly where she would be. As long as nothing unexpected happened, he should stay by her side the whole time!
Yes!
After some intense inner conflict, Sakurako had successfully decided to give things another shot with Shiro!
But this time, she wasn't going to get emotionally involved.
She was a gyaru, okay?!
Shiro would just be a tool she brought along to look cool!
A tool who was sleeping on the floor that night!
Hmph!
Who told that guy to bully the great Busujima back then anyway?! It's time for payback—let him experience how humiliating that move really was!
The more she thought about it, the redder her face became. She was kind of looking forward to what might happen next.
At the counter
The store manager stood nearby, trembling.
He had witnessed the entire shift in Sakurako's expression—worse still, he heard the table she was cleaning whimpering in pain.
If he went over to say something now… would he be instantly wiped from existence…?
(╥_╥）
What a failure of a store manager he was…
——
At GB
"Hey, you bastard auntie—"
"Oh, it's you, Shiro. Welcome back. Wait a second… isn't something a little off here?!"
The manager, Toshio, looked at him strangely. Since when had this place become Shiro's home?
"C'mon, don't sweat the small stuff, Uncle. It's bound to happen eventually anyway. By the way, where's Kitahara?"
Shiro glanced around—besides the manager, the first floor was empty…
That didn't seem right. He knew there was a girls' gathering today, but why wasn't that idiot Kitahara around either?
Unable to make sense of it, the manager just pointed upstairs and smiled. "They're all upstairs."
"Upstairs? I thought it was a girls-only gathering?"
"Ah, yeah. It is. But I sent Iori up to deliver food. No idea why he's taking so long though."
"Got it… I'll go check on him!"
Without hesitation, Shiro stepped onto the stairs toward the second floor. His instincts told him—there was fun to be had ahead!
He even pulled out his prized camera. Time to find a moment to auction off the pics inside this baby later.
Bang!
He hadn't even fully reached the second floor when he already heard some commotion!
He crouched down and tried to stay hidden, the voices coming through in choppy fragments.
"Don't move! Just listen to me!"
Mmm… that was Chisa's voice~
"Ah… mm…"
Was that… Kitahara?
Because of how broken up it was, Shiro couldn't hear everything clearly.
So he peeked up a little. No way they'd notice him, right?
He looked up—
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
What he saw nearly shattered his worldview!
Chisa…
Chisa was pressing Kitahara against the wall with both hands in a classic kabedon move!
And he even caught fragments like "underwear," "lewd," and "Nanaka…"
He had no idea what they were talking about. Were they discussing Nanaka's underwear?
Whoa!
So bold? So shameless?
He wanted in too!
Shiro crept closer—their voices became clearer.
"Don't worry. I won't come to your room again."
"It's okay! You can come to my room anytime!"
?=????(??? ????)
Shiro couldn't believe his ears. Chisa actually told Iori he could come to her room anytime?!
Damn it! They'd only been apart one day! What the hell happened during that day?!
How did their relationship evolve into the "you can come over anytime" level?!
Click!
Almost on reflex, Shiro turned on his beloved camera and snapped the scene, preserving this legendary moment!
That angle, that lighting—
Absolutely flawless!
Anyone who saw the photo would think it was a girl leaning in to kiss the beast in front of her.
Shiro would proudly name it:
"Why Has This Girl Given Up on Life.jpg"
Unfortunately…
He forgot to turn off the flash—and was immediately exposed…
(lll￢_￢)
The strange atmosphere from a moment ago vanished as both Chisa and Iori locked eyes on Shiro!
Iori looked indifferent, but… Shiro was pretty sure he saw murderous intent in Chisa's eyes!
No no no!!
He swore—it was the camera's fault!
"Ahem… looks like I interrupted something. Why don't you two just carry on? Don't worry, Kitahara, I definitely didn't hear anything like 'you can come to Chisa's room anytime,' and I definitely won't tell Yamamoto and the others about it!
Also, I'll totally not upload the photo to the campus forums!"
"..."
Iori's calm expression darkened in an instant after hearing Shiro's words.
Gee, thanks a lot!
He'd actually forgotten until Shiro reminded him!
And trusting Shiro not to spill the beans?
Might as well believe a golden retriever could suddenly talk and call you "Master."
Iori and Chisa exchanged a glance, then nodded, slowly advancing toward Shiro.
{{(°△°; "}}!
"Uhh… I just remembered there was this one girl who said she wanted to treat me to dinner, so how about I head over there first?
Tell Kohei and the senpai that I won't be joining the drinking party tonight, okay?
Wait!
What are you two doing?!
That's my precious camera!
No, don't!!"
(*≧Д≦)