Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
Earlier on the same morning.
"You intend to follow them, don't you, Kagursan?"
Mai turned around to look behind her after Seiji and Natsuya left.
Shika appeared out of a shadow and nodded at the maid.
"It's best if you don't do such a thing." Something flashed in Mai's eyes.
"…Are you attempting to stop me?" Shika asked calmly.
"No, I'm simply trying to convince you not to do so." The maid walked up to Shika. "Following them won't have any benefits. There will only be downsides."
"I know."
"No, you don't know… You don't know just how bad it will be for yourself."
Shika fell silent upon hearing this.
"I'd like to do a major cleaning of the mansion today. It will be quite difficult to do by myself. I'd like to have a helper." Mai smiled. "I'd be quite happy if Kagursan is willing to help me."
Something flashed in Shika's eyes.
She could reject Mai and simply leave, following Seiji and Natsuya as she originally intended.
But as she looked at the sincere maid and thought about the way the two looked as they left, she felt unsure about what she wanted to do.
Her selfish desire was interrupted and became unclear.
"After we finish cleaning, how about we have some tea and desserts together?" Mai asked gently.
Desserts… Shika blinked as she recalled her first meeting with Mai.
"Will there be red bean cake?" Shika asked in a soft voice.
"Of course. That's the dessert I'm the most confident about making."
"…I'll be looking forward to it."
Mai smiled happily when she saw that Shika chose to stay behind.
Yukari was astonished.
She was out walking by herself to the bookstore to buy the newest light novels and manga. That was when she saw an unexpected scene...
Seiji and Natsuya Yoruhana were walking together in an intimate fashion!
The student council president was hanging on to the handsome boy's arm as they laughed and chatted with such a sweet atmosphere.
Even an idiot would be able to tell that they were a couple!
'They… they're already in such a relationship!?'
The purple-haired girl stood still on the streetside and dazedly watched them walk off before she barely regained her senses.
The fact that Natsuya gave Seigo Harano love chocolate on Valentine's Day was a major incident that shook the entire school. Naturally, Yukari knew of this matter as well.
Although Yukari knew that Natsuya was romantically interested in Seiji, she never expected that the student council president would choose the same method as herself, displaying her love in front of everyone to see!
Yukari felt tremendously pressured by this.
Due to this pressure, she really minded the progress of the relationship between Seiji and Natsuya. But, she didn't dare ask about it, and she was even somewhat intentionally avoiding Seiji recently.
But if she didn't do anything, that would be no good… but what could she possibly do?
She wouldn't be in such a quandary if it was only that she had a powerful love rival. But, Seiji's classmates who witnessed Natsuya's confession of love all said that Seiji had a special reaction to her love chocolate!
'The winner's already decided…' Yukari had such a feeling.
She wanted to do something. She knew that she had to do something. But, she didn't know what she could do. She faintly sensed that… the competition for Seiji's heart was already over.
And now, she knew with absolute certainty that it was over.
When she finally regained her senses, she noticed that she was crying.
Her chest felt heavy and her eyes felt sore. She was in such pain that she felt like she would instantly start crying out loud at any moment.
Yukari covered her mouth and tears silently streaked down her cheeks as she returned home instead of going to the bookstore.
At first, she walked slowly. She then gradually increased her pace, until she was finally sprinting!
She sprinted all the way home and ran to her own room. She locked the door, jumped onto her bed, and cried muffled sounds into her pillow.
"Wahhh…"
After she finished crying, Yukari let her mind go completely blank for quite a while.
Some time later, she thought about Mika Uehara and Chiaki Wakaba.
Did these two girls already know about the situation?
They probably knew and accepted this situation already.
What did they think about this situation?
Yukari wanted to know how these two girls who were the closest to Seiji managed to convince themselves to accept reality.
But if she asked them now, it would seem like… No, it would be the same as herself looking to be reassured after taking a huge impact. Yukari felt that would be too embarrassing.
…No, wait.
Did they really know about and accept this? Yukari suddenly had her suspicions.
Even if they accepted the fact that the boy they liked now had a girlfriend, it would be quite difficult for them to behave the same as before… especially right after the fact.
Forget about Chiaki, it would be absolutely impossible for a girl like Mika to be so flexible with her feelings!
The more Yukari thought about it, the stranger she felt that the situation was.
She was certain about what she saw just now. It was quite obvious that Seiji was behaving intimately with President Yoruhana, that they were a romantic couple.
But, ever since Valentine's Day, there had been no obvious change with how Seiji, Mika, and Chiaki acted around each other.
Perhaps there was something hidden behind all this!
Yukari didn't hesitate any longer after coming to this realization. She immediately picked up her cell phone and dialed a number.
Mika soon picked up the call.
"Good morning, Ueharsan."
"Good morning, Asamiysan."
"I just witnessed Seiji walking together with Natsuya Yoruhana. They seemed like a couple out on a date." Yukari took the direct approach. "Do you know anything about this?"
Mika fell silent for a moment.
"I know that they're going out with each other," she replied.
Yukari felt a twinge in her chest upon hearing confirmation of this fact.
"You… you've already accepted this?"
"Yeah."
'Why are you so calm then!?' The purple-haired girl almost wanted to shout that out loud.
"You've accepted it but can still act the same around Seiji…"
"It's not the same," Mika spoke in a soft voice. "I'm going out with Seiji as well."
'What?'
Yukari paused in surprise.
She wasn't sure if she just heard correctly.
"You… what did you say just now? Could you please say it again?"
"I'm going out with Seiji as well," Mika repeated herself. "President Yoruhana and myself are both Seiji's girlfriends."
Yukari was rendered speechless.
She was now in a state of complete shock.
She guessed that something was hidden behind the scenes, but never expected it to be something like this!!
"You and the president are both his girlfriends?" Yukari couldn't help but repeat these words.
"That's right. Also, Chiaki is his girlfriend as well."
'Even Chiaki Wakaba…'
Yukari felt her grip loosening on her cell phone, as strength was rapidly leaving her body.
'What the hell! What exactly is going on here!? How did things become like this!!?'
Her mind was filled with question marks.
"This must be quite difficult to accept for you, Asamiysan. But, that's just how things are… please don't tell anyone else about this," Mika requested.
The purple-haired girl instantly regained her senses.
"Why did things become like this?" She truly wanted to know the answer.
Was this some strange competition agreement between them? The three of them would simultaneously be Seiji's girlfriends and pursue a romantic relationship with him, with a final victor to be decided in the end!?
Why did things become like this?
…Mika felt that this was quite difficult to answer.
She, Chiaki, and Natsuya were all partly responsible. But, the main cause was Shika Kagura, while the source of everything was Seiji's fetish.
This entire matter couldn't be explained using a few simple sentences. If she had to summarize, she could only say that it was because of everyone's combined feelings.
In the end, it was still because of Seiji himself.
After remaining silent for a while, Mika answered with many complex feelings inside her heart...
"It's because Seiji purchased many harem topic adult doujinshis."
Eh?
Harem topic adult doujinshis?
Yukari was stunned for the umpteenth time today.
She'd never dreamed that she would hear such an answer!