Yamamoto Residence
"Yo!"
"We brought beer!"
"And snacks to go with it."
Today was a special day!
It was the 30-day anniversary of the Exam Cheaters' Friendship Group!
Over these past 30 days, they had come to accept each other, feeling that they were a group of people worth building deep friendships with!
Of course... their opinions that each other were trash and idiots hadn't changed in the slightest!
Still, thinking about it, occasionally hanging out with trashy idiots was kind of fun~
Shiro and the other two had just returned from Miyako Island when they received an invitation from Yamamoto.
Iori and the others thought it would be fun, so they came. As for Shiro...
He refused. He had a date with Kiyoko that day!
But some things are just out of your control...
Iori and Kohei directly stormed the Tora-Tora Love Hotel!
Coincidentally, the terrifying owner that Shiro was familiar with wasn't there. Instead, a 143cm tall loli manager was in charge!
Don't be fooled by her petite figure—she was even more dangerous than the boss.
If the boss was the "intimidation" rep, the boss lady was the muscle!
Taking into account the power gap, the two of them thought of another method—they told her all about Shiro's "glorious" exploits.
The boss lady, who hated scumbags, was successfully convinced by Iori and Kohei!
That evening, the moment Shiro stepped into the hotel with Kiyoko, he was ambushed!
With Kiyoko looking utterly confused, Shiro vanished before her eyes…
（?`~′?）
Kiyoko puffed up her cheeks in frustration.
Damn it, the duck was already in my mouth and it flew away!
...
Gulp gulp gulp—
Phew—
After chugging a whole bottle of beer, Shiro finally looked normal again.
He came to the conclusion that this failure was completely the fault of the Tora-Tora Love Hotel's owner!
He was a super member, damn it!
They used to cooperate so well—how could they fail him this time? He was definitely going to complain!
As for blaming Iori and Kohei?
Forget it!
He never expected anything from those two anyway!
(￣～￣)
Shiro angrily bit into a duck neck, treating it like those two idiots.
After a few rounds of drinks—
"Guys, I often wonder about something!"
Yamamoto suddenly spoke up, troubled by a long-standing question.
"Why can't I get a girlfriend?"
"Because you're ugly."
"Because your personality sucks."
"Because your lifestyle is trash."
"Because you're a pervert."
"You should just give up."
The five others didn't even hesitate and blurted out their answers so fast that Yamamoto didn't have time to react.
"You guys really don't hold back at all!" Yamamoto roared.
He couldn't believe they came up with so many insults so quickly—and why did they look like they weren't even done yet?!
"C'mon, don't take it too hard, Yamamoto."
"At our age, it's perfectly normal not to have a girlfriend."
"Haha, right?"
The Yamamoto Trio (Yamamoto, Nojima, and Fujiwara) laughed heartily. Then, somehow, they pulled out shovels from who knows where!
WHAM!
"You guys agree with us, right? Shiro, Kitahara?"
{{(°△°;")}}!
Shiro and Iori jumped in fright. Iori even dropped into a formal kneel!
"I swear I haven't even touched Chisa's finger!"
Hearing that, the trio finally shifted their attention away. Now all the pressure was on Shiro.
(;?＿?)
"Uh… well… I don't have a girlfriend."
WHAM!
Yamamoto's eyes flashed red. "Then what's up with that Kiyoko girl?! And what about the stuff on the school forum about you and that upperclassman sneaking around?!"
"That's just jealousy talking, okay? You guys have all been to my place—you know how things really are."
Looking into Shiro's (fake) sincere eyes, the trio felt convinced and silently put down their shovels.
True, they'd been to his place. Everything seemed normal.
As for the love hotel?
They'd double-check next time!
Shiro let out a silent breath—his heart dropped along with the shovels. Who would've thought… this had been a Hongmen Banquet all along.
If not for his stellar acting, he might've been buried right here!
No, he needed to change the subject fast!
Shiro glanced around and suddenly realized something was off—where was his substitute bro?!
"Hey, aren't we missing someone?"
"Yeah, where's Mitarai?"
"Haven't seen him in a while. Wasn't he invited?"
Shiro's trio looked at the others in confusion. Weren't these guys always tight like they wore the same underwear?
"He was invited, but… for some reason, he just left early," Yamamoto explained. He and Mitarai were best friends.
"Haha, maybe he got a girlfriend."
"Hahaha, yeah right."
Everyone chuckled. No way a dummy like him had a girlfriend.
"But with that face of his, it wouldn't be that surprising."
The honest guy Fujiwara sighed. Mitarai was one of those pretty-boy types. It made him jealous.
"Heh, well, we're both narrow-eyed dudes. He's got maybe one-twelfth of my power," Shiro said smugly.
"You damn scumbag, shut up already!"
"But what if he really did get a girlfriend?"
"Impossible! I believe in Mitarai!"
Yamamoto argued seriously. He recalled the start of the school year—how lost he'd been in a new environment.
It was Mitarai who had come to him and made friends!
"Thanks to him, I got to know Nojima and the others, and now we're here drinking together!"
"Yamamoto…"
Nojima and the others were touched. They hadn't realized Yamamoto was actually such a sentimental guy!
"So I believe Mitarai must have something really important going on!"
Ring ring ring—
Just as Yamamoto finished speaking, a ringtone grabbed everyone's attention.
Turning to look—they saw Shiro making a call.
'Hello? Who is this?'
The voice on the other end was clearly Mitarai.
"Mitarai, it's me—Shiro. We're drinking at Yamamoto's place. If you're free…"
'Sorry, give me like… 15 minutes—no, 30 minutes! I'll call you back!'
Originally speaking casually, Shiro's expression turned serious.
That tone—hurried and trying to hide something, and the timing…
It really sounded like he was "using his own two hands"… But something like that shouldn't take this long.
Then… there was only one possibility!
'What is it, Yu-kun?'
Sure enough, the next second, a sweet female voice came through the phone.
Because Shiro had it on speaker, everyone in the room heard it.
In an instant, their eyes went cold and dark, like assassins awakening from sleep.
"Alright then, 30 minutes…" Shiro hung up, already buying life insurance for Mitarai in his heart.
This guy… actually dared to answer the phone in the middle of that—and even let the girl talk?!
Lacking stimulation, are we?!
If he was lacking excitement, then they'd be happy to help!
"So yeah, that guy's with a girl. Said he'll call us back in 30 minutes~"
"Haha, is that so?"
"No wonder he hasn't been hanging out lately."
"Found a girl, huh."
"She sounded pretty cute, too."
They all chuckled, as if happy their friend had found love.
But the next second—
They pulled out shovels, gasoline, cement, and other tools from the room!
Then, very coolly, they threw on their jackets and headed out!
"Let's go, my dear comrades. One of our brothers is out of line!"
"Bring the fire and gasoline—let's burn him!"
"Who knows where he lives?!"
"Leave it to me!"
"Attaboy!"
"You'll be rewarded by the organization later!"
With a vicious grin, Shiro led the charge. If he couldn't get lucky tonight, no one could!!!
He was always the one being interrupted. This time, it was his turn to interrupt!
"Listen up! We can't let that guy succeed tonight!"
"Absolutely!"
"We're comrades!"
"How can we miss out on a comrade's moment of happiness?!"
...
Meanwhile, Mitarai had no idea—
Because of one phone call, a storm of blood and fire was heading straight for him!