"I… I never said I was his girlfriend," Kushida mumbled. "Love and all that… it's too much for me. I can't say I'm that serious."
At that, Ichinose and Karuizawa both turned to look at Horikita.
"I'm not his girlfriend either," Horikita said, sensing their thoughts.
"Ahaha, so Suzune and Kikyo share the same stance." Ichinose smiled. It seemed there were two tsunderes in the room.
"Honami-chan…" Karuizawa sounded hesitant.
"Do you have something to say too, Kei?" Ichinose turned to the girl who, like her, held the title of "girlfriend."
"Actually… I already knew you were his girlfriend before."Karuizawa struggled for a while, "I know my thoughts are strange... I didn't even think there was anything wrong with it at the time... but... but how could you accept me?"
"Mmm, the answer is the same as before," Ichinose Honami said softly.
"What if he hadn't chosen you, or hadn't chosen me? What would we have done then?"
Karuizawa thought for a moment—it would probably be something akin to the world ending.
"Unfortunately, none of us know who his final choice would be. And right now, the answer he's given is to [Take all]."
Ichinose let out a sigh. "It might be a bad ending, but I'll still stay by his side and see it through."
"It's not that bad, is it?" Karuizawa had absolute faith in Kaoru.
She believed she could just leave the troublesome thinking to him.
"Isn't he a billionaire now?"
In Karuizawa's imagination, she would simply become a full-time housewife after graduation.
"That's not the issue... Kei."
Horikita was somewhat unaccustomed to using first names. "Haven't you noticed the number of people he's involved with is a bit excessive? Even if ninety-nine percent of them yield to him, there's still that one percent who won't agree to something like 'Take all.'"
Karuizawa tilted her head in confusion. "Does it matter if they don't agree?"
"It does. The normal response would be 'I refuse.' And we don't know what he'll do when faced with that answer."
Ichinose Honami added, "Even if no one refuses, with so many people, the exclusive memories each person gets will shorten."
"Maybe we could all try playing together?"
Kushida suddenly suggested.
Ichinose shook her head. "That won't work. Some are very proactive, while others are shy. The shy ones will easily get pushed to the sidelines."
"So, we're discussing how to allocate exclusive time?"
"A little, but that's not the main point. Do all of you have his rings?"
"On me."
"Each one has a different design. No idea where he bought them."
"Though his intentions aren't clear, I feel this ring carries the same meaning as it does in normal people's eyes."
"A wedding ring."
"Some don't have this ring."
"I see. So those without rings are enemies?"
After saying this, Karuizawa noticed the strange looks around her. Had she said something wrong?
"Kei's words… make some sense, but that's not what I meant."
Ichinose pondered for a moment. "I think he should consider our opinions now. He can hand out as many rings as he wants, but only with our approval!"
"Oh, I get it. For peaceful coexistence, he should take our feelings into account."
Karuizawa had an epiphany, then grew eager. "I remember he has many targets. Those are all ene—no, candidates for evaluation!"
At this, Kushida's expression shifted slightly.
"I won't get involved. I don't care about his affairs."
Horikita Suzune remained indifferent.
Ichinose didn't press her, simply nodding. "From what I know, besides us, Sakayanagi and Mako also have rings."
"Mako?"
Karuizawa blinked.
Where did this hussey come from?
"Amikura from your class?"
Kushida looked baffled.
Ichinose had acted faster than her—she hadn't even brought Mei yu Wang into the fold yet.
At the mention, Ichinose seemed a little awkward.
"I'll introduce Mako to you all later. Anyway, she's a good girl too."
Karuizawa muttered something about a hussey under her breath.
Horikita showed no interest, but Kushida narrowed her eyes slightly.
She had a feeling Ichinose was rushing to bind everyone together for something.
Still, it was necessary to rein in Kaoru's activities. That guy was too lustful, as if he wanted to sweep up every pretty girl in the entire grade.
"By the way, Kikyo, did you bring anything?" Ichinose asked.
Kushida hesitated for a moment before timidly pulling something out.
"T-Two were used tonight."
"Turns out you really can bring it in. I thought none of you had brought any. It'd be so troublesome if we accidentally got pregnant, so always remember when doing naughty things."
"Huh?"
Kushida felt her expression must have stiffened as Ichinose Honami stared seriously at her and Karuizawa Kei.
"You and Kei back then—"
"Stop! Don't talk about that, it's too embarrassing!"
"But getting expelled from school over a pregnancy would be even more embarrassing, Kei."
"Urk..."
Karuizawa turned her face away, revealing only her reddened ears.
"Honami-chan."
"Has Kikyo figured it out now?"
"I understand, but there's one thing I don't get."
"What?"
"Aren't you... going to judge me?"
After all this time, Kushida had been waiting for their scolding, but apart from Karuizawa, they didn't seem to care at all.
"Judge?"
Ichinose Honami blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"That she kept him all to herself and did naughty things alone."
Karuizawa pouted. "I wanted to too, originally."
"Isn't that fine?"
Ichinose tilted her head. "Even if Kikyo didn't do naughty things with him, he'd still do them with us. Isn't that just how boys are?"
"That's exactly the point!"
Karuizawa grew more displeased. "Maybe Kaoru originally wanted to do naughty things with us."
"But he wouldn't let us off either, right?"
Ichinose cocked her head sideways.
Horikita Suzune interjected: "From what I understand, adolescent boys have extremely strong desires. They can get aroused anytime, especially when waking up in the morning, and need proper release."
"In other words, Kikyo satisfied Kaoru's desires."
Ichinose nodded sagely.
"No, wait—"
Kushida's mind was spinning.
"If not released in time, boys can feel very uncomfortable, and sometimes it might even leak out."
Horikita patiently explained this knowledge. "Boys at this age are very potent, and his body is even more so than normal boys. One or two people can't satisfy him, which is why he subconsciously seeks more girls."
"Is that so?"
Karuizawa looked half-convinced.
That's definitely not how it works!
Horikita doesn't even know about sexual intercourse—where did she even look this stuff up?
Kushida was utterly shocked.
"That's just how boys are. I secretly looked it up too, so Kei, you don't need to worry too much."
Ichinose smiled gently. "Actually, I've been thinking about how to help Kaoru relieve himself these past few days. With you all here, I feel much better."
Kushida felt she could no longer follow their logic.
What kind of nonsense were these idiots spreading? Did they actually believe the myth that boys would die if they didn't release it?
"No wonder he always gets hard whenever we hug." Karuizawa muttered under her breath.
"Horikita."
Kushida suddenly said, "You should really stop browsing... no, never mind. You're bound to him for life anyway, so look up whatever you want."
Horikita Suzune gave her a puzzled look.
How strange—she hadn't said anything wrong.