After washing up.
Amamiya Natsuki got dressed and picked up his phone to send a message to the girls:
"Tonight, we're going into the Theater to play mahjong with Sadako. Do you want to come?"
They had just cleared the dungeon yesterday, and everyone was mentally exhausted, so they hadn't entered the Midnight Theater. They absolutely had to go in today—if they didn't, Mrs. Shimizu might really put on a show of crying, making a fuss, and hanging herself.
Fujiwara Chika: "Of course I'm going."
Marin: "Count me in."
Yukinoshita Haruno: "I'm also very interested."
"..."
The girls all agreed; no one refused.
Soon after, there was a knock on the door. The first to arrive were Chika and Kaguya.
"Natsuki, good evening." Fujiwara Chika smiled brightly, carrying a white shopping bag in each hand, full of things. "These are snacks I bought for Shimizu-nee."
Mrs. Shimizu was exceptionally happy and went to hug Chika, rubbing against her:
"Thank you, Little Chika. I'll be responsible for eating all of them."
Shinomiya Kaguya gently pressed her forehead, reminding her:
"Mom, don't eat so many snacks at once."
"What does it matter?" Mrs. Shimizu lifted her chin, hands on her hips. "I'm a ghost now, I don't even have a body. Am I not allowed to indulge and enjoy myself?"
Shinomiya Kaguya: "..."
After Kaguya entered the room, the knocking on the door immediately sounded again.
"Natsuki-kun, good evening." The Senpai smiled and greeted him.
"Good evening." Amamiya Natsuki lowered his voice and said, "Senpai hasn't forgotten what you promised me in the dungeon, have you?"
"Eh?" Koyasu Tsubame's pretty face flushed slightly. She blinked innocently, feigning confusion, and said, "Did I promise Natsuki-kun anything?"
Amamiya Natsuki said seriously, "When we were climbing the cliff in the dungeon, Senpai personally promised me that you would be my body pillow for one night."
"Pfft~"
Tsubame couldn't help but lightly spit, her bright eyes rolled over, and she bit her silver teeth, saying, "I never promised to be your body pillow!"
Amamiya Natsuki said without changing his expression, "Since Senpai has forgotten what you promised, then you are a body pillow."
"No, I'm not." Tsubame turned her pretty face away, her ear tips slightly red. "...We'll talk about it when I'm free."
Amamiya Natsuki looked down the corridor and asked, "Isn't Hanamori staying in the same room as Senpai? Why isn't she here?"
Koyasu Tsubame raised her hand to tuck the strands of hair behind her ear and casually said, "Hanamori is on the phone. She said she has some things to do and will be over later."
"..."
As they spoke, the knocking on the door sounded again.
Amamiya Natsuki opened the door, and in the corridor stood a junior high loli and a fidgety the the timid girl. He couldn't help but smile and say, "Juju, Shoko, good evening."
"Hmph."
Juju crossed her arms over her chest, tilted her small face, ignored Amamiya Natsuki, and stepped into the room.
She said he wasn't allowed to touch Shoko, but secretly he had already touched her countless times. Every time she thought about it, she got super angry and didn't want to give him a good look.
Komi lowered her head, following Juju with small steps, about to enter the room.
"Shoko, change your slippers."
Amamiya Natsuki reminded her.
"S-sorry..."
The the timid girl quickly bowed in apology, then looked up, her gaze only meeting his for an instant before her pretty face uncontrollably flushed quickly.
"Don't worry." Amamiya Natsuki extended his right hand, stroked the the timid girl's small head, and said gently, "I won't take advantage of you today, I promise."
"Mmm..." The the timid girl clutched her chest, secretly exhaled a sigh of relief, and whispered, "Thank you."
After thanking him, Komi only then realized that she had actually thanked him for not being taken advantage of. Too, too weak!
No!
Juju was right during the day, she couldn't keep being weak, or she would always be taken advantage of.
Thinking of this, the the timid girl clutched her chest, gathered her courage, and whispered, "Y-you can't take advantage of me in the future either."
"Hmm? What did Shoko just say?" Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow, his face stern, and said, "I didn't hear clearly, say it again."
"W-woo..."
The the timid girl's courage was like a balloon pricked by a needle, quickly deflating. She quickly shook her head.
"Then I'll assume you didn't say anything." Amamiya Natsuki patted Shoko's head. "Go into the room first."
"Mhm, mhm."
The the timid girl sighed in relief and quickly slipped into the room.
As they spoke, the two Yukinoshita sisters walked over.
"Natsuki-kun, good evening~"
Yukinoshita Haruno smiled sweetly and waved as she called out.
Beside Haruno, Miss Hirano was expressionless, evidently having witnessed Amamiya Natsuki bullying Shoko just now.
Amamiya Natsuki said as if nothing had happened, "Haruno-nee, and Yukino, good evening."
The two girls walked closer. Haruno entered the room first, while Yukinoshita Yukino lagged half a step behind, an expression of wanting to speak but hesitating flashing across her face. Finally, she sighed lightly and couldn't help but say, "Shoko is so well-behaved, how can you bear to take advantage of her?"
"It's precisely because she's too well-behaved that people can't help but take advantage of her." Amamiya Natsuki said shamelessly, "Lest she be taken advantage of by others later, I might as well be the one to take advantage of her."
Yukinoshita Yukino crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him with the gaze one would give kitchen waste, and finally uttered two words through her lips:
"Shameless!"
Amamiya Natsuki said without changing his expression, "Thank you for the compliment."
"..."
Yukinoshita Yukino sighed helplessly and walked into the room.
As long as a person is shameless enough, no one can defeat him.
The last to arrive were Marin and Sayu. Because of their previous trip to Hokkaido, Marin and Sayu had a very good relationship, and when rooms were assigned, the two of them stayed together.
"Natsuki-sama, we're here!"
Sayu's voice was clear and she called out happily.
"Good evening."
Amamiya Natsuki nodded, his gaze falling on Marin.
Although they hadn't been apart for long, he still missed her terribly.
Kitagawa Marin's pretty face flushed slightly, and she whispered, "Don't stand in the doorway talking, hurry inside~"
"Stare—"
Sayu blinked, her gaze sweeping across their faces. Her female intuition told her that something secret she didn't know about must have happened between them.
Ahhh, I want to know so badly!
And... count me in!
The hotel room had been fairly spacious, but with so many people packed inside it quickly felt cramped; still, midnight was only moments away and the Midnight Theater would open soon, so no one minded.
Amamiya Natsuki glanced at his phone and said, "I'm going to buy something."
He pushed the door open and left the room, walked down the corridor, stopped outside another door and knocked.
Knock, knock.
The door cracked open at once, revealing half of the spy-maid's pretty face.
"Good day, President." Hayasaka Ai kept her face blank and started to close the door. "Good-bye, President."
Amamiya Natsuki shot out a hand and braced the door before it could shut.
"Stare—"
Hayasaka Ai looked at him expressionlessly. "Is there something else, President?"
Amamiya Natsuki said, "Open the door and let me in; I'll tell you inside."
Hayasaka Ai refused to open up. "No need. Whatever you have to say, say it out here in the corridor."
Amamiya Natsuki lowered his voice. "Talking here will disturb the others."
Hayasaka Ai gave him a look of disgust. "Then don't say it."
Amamiya Natsuki: "…"
Girls sometimes mean the opposite of what they say; right now Hayasaka was a textbook example.
If he actually obeyed and walked away, she'd only get angrier!
So Amamiya Natsuki simply shoved harder, forced the door open and squeezed into the room.
Bang.
He shut the door behind him, looked down at the maid and said from on high, "Ai-chan seems to have the wrong idea about me; I guess we need to talk."
"Hello, police?" Hayasaka Ai took half a step back, lifted her right hand to her ear and said with a straight face, "Someone's broken into my room. Please come and take him away for tea."
Amamiya Natsuki likewise raised his phone to his ear and said solemnly, "Sorry, miss; a boy entering his girlfriend's room isn't illegal."
"Tch!" Hayasaka Ai's icy mask finally cracked; she couldn't help spitting, "Who's your girlfriend? Isn't Haimu-chan your girlfriend?"
Amamiya Natsuki kept a straight face. "Kouhai Hanamori, maid Hayasaka, classmate Ai—they're all my girlfriends."
"Sorry, don't know any of them." Hayasaka Ai folded her arms and said coldly, "The pervert senpai has only one girlfriend—Marin. You've got the wrong person."
"I didn't get the wrong person."
Amamiya Natsuki reached out with his right arm, preparing to hug Hayasaka.
Smack.
Hayasaka Ai slapped his arm away. "President, please respect yourself. Don't touch me; your girlfriend might see and get the wrong idea."
"…"
Though rejected again and again, Amamiya Natsuki wasn't angry.
Everyone—male or female—has a possessive streak; only perverts with special kinks don't.
If she hadn't watched him leave with Marin this morning, and if they hadn't been through so much together already, bonds impossible to sever, Hayasaka would have cut him off completely and not said another word.
Her cold attitude now was actually pretty tolerant.
And at times like this… of course you coax!
Amamiya Natsuki said gently, "I like Ai-chan."
"Hmph."
Hayasaka Ai folded her arms, face blank.
Amamiya Natsuki continued, "I like Ai-chan the most."
"Like I'd believe you!" Hayasaka Ai bit her lip and snapped, "Get out, I'm changing!"
Amamiya Natsuki said, "Let me hug you and I'll leave."
Hayasaka Ai's brows shot up. "Try it!"
He'd just done that with someone else and now wanted to hug her? Did he think she had no pride!
Even the sweetest-tempered Shōko wouldn't let him have his way!
Amamiya Natsuki said nothing; instead he reached toward his waist.
"Pervert President, what are you doing?!" Hayasaka Ai's eyes widened in disbelief.
Not only did he refuse to coax her, he actually planned to do that? Did he think she was that easy!
Did he want her to snap it off?!
"Don't get the wrong idea." While speaking, Amamiya Natsuki pulled a pad of sticky notes from his pocket and handed it to Hayasaka. "Here."
"What's this?"
Hayasaka Ai accepted it warily.
Amamiya Natsuki explained, "They're Universal Coupon—ten of them. Whatever Ai-chan tells me to do, I'll do."
"Tch, how childish." Hayasaka Ai relaxed, though she still sounded disdainful. "You think I'll forgive you just because of this?"
Amamiya Natsuki held out his hand. "If you don't want them, give them back…"
"Who says I don't want them?" Hayasaka Ai dodged backward, stuffed the Universal Coupon into her pocket and waved him off. "Hurry up and leave, pervert President, don't interrupt my changing."
"Then I'm going."
Seeing that Hayasaka had accepted the cards, Amamiya Natsuki finally relaxed, turned and left the room.
Bang.
Watching the door close gently, Hayasaka Ai took out the Universal Coupon and let out a small sigh.
Life was never perfect… but she was still furious!
Midnight came in the blink of an eye.
Amamiya Natsuki took out the jack-o'-lantern and opened the Theater.
This time the Theater was just for fun and relaxation, so the rules were kept simple—no need for lengthy explanations.
"Master~"
Once inside the Midnight Theater a soft cry rang out; the match-selling little girl was always the first to run over and greet him.
"Good evening."
Amamiya Natsuki patted the child on the head and handed her a candy apple.
Usually the more obedient a child seems, the less secure they feel; this little girl was always afraid of being abandoned, which was why she was so exceptionally well-behaved.
There was nothing Natsuki could do except try to take care of her.
"Yukino-chan, who's she?"
Watching the little girl in the Theater, Yukinoshita Haruno asked curiously in a low voice.
During the previous instance Natsuki hadn't let the child appear; only the yandere young lady, Miss Sadako and the human-faced dog had helped.
"We once cleared an instance called Bedtime Fairy-Tale; she's the match-selling girl from the story," Yukinoshita Yukino answered softly.
"Ehh?" Haruna's eyes widened and she covered her mouth. "A character from a fairy-tale world?"
Yukinoshita Yukino folded her arms calmly. "In the last instance you even met a god; no need to act surprised."
"That's why I'm a newbie," Haruna said breezily. "I'll have to ask Natsuki for extra lessons later."
"…"
Yukinoshita Yukino bit her lip and held back the retort on her tongue.
Who wants to study? You clearly want to seduce a high-school boy!
"Mah-jong…"
A faint voice drifted into Amamiya Natsuki's ear.
He turned to see Miss Sadako had appeared behind him at some point; beneath her thick black hair she fixed him with an expectant gaze, repeating, "Mah-jong… play mah-jong… you promised…"
"All right, stop your broken-record act." Natsuki raised a hand. "Tonight you'll get your wish—we can play till dawn."
Fujiwara Chika raised her right hand and said crisply, "I want to play mah-jong too."
Senpai smiled. "Count me in."
Miss Sadako was addicted to mah-jong and didn't care who played as long as the table was full.
There were exactly four staff members in the Midnight Theater—Miss Sadako, the yandere young lady, the human-faced dog and Alice—but the dog had a dog's body and couldn't join the game.
With so many girls eager to play, a table was soon made up.
Those who didn't want to play could rest or amuse themselves; one advantage of the Midnight Theater was that no evil spirits could intrude, so you could sleep peacefully till morning.
"Natsuki…" The black-dress yandere young lady appeared silently, her hair loose down her back. She looked exactly like Kaguya yet exuded an indifference toward life, ignoring everyone else as she walked straight up to Amamiya Natsuki. "Cleared it?"
"Cleared it," Natsuki answered gently. "Thanks for your help back then."
The yandere young lady folded her arms, calm. "Then you should honor your promise."
Amamiya Natsuki asked curiously, "What would you like me to do?"
The yandere young lady was silent for two seconds, then parted her lips.
"Do…"
Amamiya Natsuki stared blankly.
Wait, wait.
What exactly did you say just now that it was erased from memory like a censored word?
"Ahhh, what are you talking about?!" Shinomiya Kaguya, who was eavesdropping nearby, widened her eyes in disbelief, her pretty face flushed, and she couldn't help but jump out and shout, "Don't talk nonsense!"
"I'm not talking nonsense," Yandere Kaguya tilted her head and looked over. "I'm very serious."
Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't help but shout:
"Aren't you ashamed?!"
"You are you, and I am I," Yandere Kaguya said calmly. "Why should I be ashamed?"
"You..."
Shinomiya Kaguya bit her silver teeth, speechless.
"Natsuki-kun, shall we go to my room?"
Yandere Kaguya invited directly.
"You can't go!" Shinomiya Kaguya immediately stopped him. "It's just not allowed!"
Amamiya Natsuki lightly coughed twice and said:
"I'm not planning to go."
"Hmm?" Yandere Kaguya's eyebrows slightly raised, and she conjured a cleaver out of thin air, her voice turning dark. "Is Natsuki-kun planning to go back on his word?"
A drop of cold sweat appeared on Amamiya Natsuki's forehead, and he quickly said:
"I'm not lying, please put away your knife first."
You pull out a knife at the slightest disagreement, who would dare to lie in front of you!
"Why do you know about that?"
Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly noticed a blind spot and couldn't help but ask suspiciously.
When this the yandere girl was copied from the mirror, she was still operating under the worldview that kissing would lead to pregnancy, and she had no idea how to have children. Why does she want to do that now?
The more Shinomiya Kaguya thought about it, the more suspicious she became, and she couldn't help but turn to look at Amamiya Natsuki, saying faintly:
"President, what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything at all," Amamiya Natsuki's forehead was sweating. "It has nothing to do with me."
Yandere Kaguya said calmly:
"It's Yuuko."
"The Human Faced Dog?" Shinomiya Kaguya frowned slightly and turned to call over the Human-Faced Dog who was eating.
The Human-Faced Dog was very unhappy about being disturbed while eating, but upon sensing the dangerous expression on Shinomiya Kaguya's face, she quickly settled down.
Amamiya Natsuki sternly said:
"Yuuko, what inappropriate things did you tell Kaguya?"
"I didn't," The Human-Faced Dog understood the cause and effect and was quite wronged. "One day I was reading manga, and she found me and just snatched all my manga away."
Amamiya Natsuki already had a bad feeling and said:
"Those manga you were reading... are they appropriate?"
"Cough cough..." The Human Faced Dog looked away guiltily. "I'm an otaku, isn't it normal to read manga I'm interested in?"
Shinomiya Kaguya bit her silver teeth lightly and suddenly said:
"You can't leave the Theater, so why do you have that kind of manga?"
"I know the truth now," Amamiya Natsuki complained. "It's not Sayu... who else could it be."