"Whoa!"
"Is this really our dorm?!"
Looking at what seemed like a mini-villa, Shiro reevaluated the meaning of "dorm."
Aunt Kotegawa was loaded!
Even Chisa looked surprised.
Were they sure this was for work and not a vacation?
"Haha, housing here is cheap. And since the store's new, the real dorms aren't ready yet. So this is your temporary place."
John kimura explained in broken Japanese.
Palau was a tiny country—its population wasn't even the size of a Japanese city.
Real estate wasn't exactly expensive.
In fact, tourism was the only reason it had any value at all.
"For real?!"
"That's amazing!"
Shiro and the others didn't overthink it. After thanking Uncle John kimura, they rushed into the house to explore.
This was their home for the next couple of weeks!
At the entrance, there was a huge living room.
Just looking at the layout, Shiro had a rough idea of the structure.
"Aside from being big, it looks like a regular shared house. Like the villa we stayed at in Okinawa."
"That makes sense. In that case…"
Thinking of Okinawa, Iori and Kohei both grinned.
"It might even have a pool!"
"Or a full-blown home theater!"
Like two unleashed huskies, they bolted to explore every corner.
"..."
Shiro's mouth twitched.
No way Aunt Kotegawa would give them that kind of luxury.
They were here to work, after all!
No matter how nice a boss she was, she wouldn't throw in a pool and a cinema.
Then again… her daughter was here…
Shiro glanced at Chisa and noticed she looked… dazed?
Maybe even a little nervous?
Thinking of Aunt Kotegawa's cold demeanor, Shiro nodded in understanding.
It was natural to be nervous.
He'd also heard their mother-daughter relationship wasn't the best.
As for how Shiro knew Chisa's mom?
Well, Aunt Kotegawa used to be part of the Kitahara family.
She'd visit now and then when Shiro was a kid.
Most memorably—when he was 10…
He and Nanaka were in the bath together…
And Aunt Kotegawa walked in on them!!!
That moment, Shiro seriously thought he was going to get isekai'd.
Her face was terrifying!
Later, Nanaka explained that Aunt Kotegawa just looked cold because she was nervous.
But Shiro swore she looked like she wanted to murder someone.
Thankfully, being 10 years old had its perks—he didn't get beaten.
# Blind Confidence Is Strength!
Shivering at the memory, Shiro snapped out of it.
He'd already made up his mind—when he saw Aunt Kotegawa tomorrow, he was going into full obedient mode.
He'd trained that mode for years!
But for now…
Shiro looked at the dazed Chisa, then at Aina who was rummaging for snacks.
He suddenly pulled out a black backpack.
BANG!
Bottles of alcohol and piles of snacks spilled out.
The sudden noise drew the girls' attention.
Seeing the contents, they stared at Shiro in disbelief.
"How did you get this stuff?!"
"Didn't customs ban alcohol?!"
"Heh! Of course I bought it after landing!"
Shiro lifted his chin, looking a bit proud—buying booze right after getting off a plane had already become muscle memory!
The other two remembered that after getting off the plane, Shiro had indeed slipped away for a bit under the excuse of going to the bathroom.
This habit was really...
Absolutely wonderful!
For some reason, just seeing the alcohol made them visibly relax, and that awkward feeling of being somewhere unfamiliar vanished.
"If Iori and Kohei knew about this, they'd probably die of happiness."
Aina chuckled, already imagining their expressions.
As soon as she finished speaking, Iori and Kohei came back, both looking extremely disappointed.
It seemed Shiro's guess was correct—there was no pool or home theater here.
But their disappointed expressions didn't last long. The moment they saw the booze, they dashed over like dogs spotting... well, you know.
Gulp gulp!
Half a bottle of beer down, the two instantly revived on the spot!
"Well done!"
"Of course, getting off the plane calls for a drink!"
They smiled like blooming flowers. So that's why they'd felt off after landing—it was because they hadn't had a drink yet!
"Party time, party time!"
"Let's drink up properly!"
With a sip of alcohol, they were totally uninhibited, instantly transforming the space into a full-on drinking party—stripped to their underwear!
"You idiots!"
Aina shouted. These two used to only strip when drunk, but now they were going straight for it…
"Well, Cakey, you've got to understand. Some things are just... forces of nature."
Shiro tried to reason, "Drinking's all about relaxing, right~?"
(???)
"So that's why you're naked too?!"
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"Since when?!"
Shiro touched himself in shock—without even noticing, he had stripped down too.
Damn, what kind of black magic is this?!
Whatever. Naked's fine. His "basketball" was big enough—no reason to feel insecure!
Slap—
Aina covered her eyes in anguish. These people were hopeless!
"Before the party, shouldn't we assign rooms first?"
"Let's drink first!"
"That stuff doesn't matter anymore!"
"We can sleep wherever~"
The three of them waved her off—they really didn't care about sleeping arrangements. If worst came to worst, they'd just crash anywhere.
"Don't drink too much—we have to be at the new store by 6 a.m. tomorrow."
Chisa reminded them. She'd gotten the info from Uncle John. If they were left to handle it, they'd probably be late before anything even started.
"Six in the morning?!"
All four exclaimed. Usually, the earliest they woke up was 8 a.m.—this was basically death.
Shiro was even worse—he usually woke up at ten…
"Is it far?"
Shiro asked weakly. Back in Izu, he was still falling asleep at 6 a.m.
"It's only a five-minute walk."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Five minutes? That was manageable with enough effort.
"Still a little worried though... what if we can't wake up?"
"Yeah, I might not make it."
"Same here."
"All that travel really wore me out."
Seeing everyone a bit anxious, Shiro looked at the booze on the table and suggested, "Let's just have one round and head to bed."
No need to finish all the booze tonight.
"Agreed!" ×4
The four nodded, raised their bottles—
"Well then... cheers!"
Clink!
Gulp gulp~
Smiles spread across their faces. A strange island, familiar friends, a simple little drinking party—it was all so wonderful.
They were actually starting to look forward to tomorrow.
Early the next morning—
Before 6 a.m., Aina was already awake. Seeing her perfect figure in the mirror, a shy smile crept across her face.
"Iori…"
"They probably headed to the store already..."
Looking at the empty dorm room, Aina muttered.
Checking the time—almost 6 a.m. She had definitely spent too much time perfecting her look for that figure!
They had agreed yesterday to meet at the new shop.
No time to dawdle—Aina sped up. She was going to stun everyone today!
However...
When she arrived at the store, what she saw was—
Utter chaos.
Beer bottles, snack bags, and four people sprawled out on the floor.
Three of them were just in their underwear—at least they left their underwear on, she noted.
The fourth wasn't to be outdone—fully dressed, but using a random puppy as a pillow.
Judging from the dog's innocent expression, it was clearly in desperate need of a beautiful girl to rescue it.
Aina's mouth twitched.
This...
Was not the scene she had imagined at all!!!
Why were these four lying around in such weird positions?!
Weren't they supposed to stop drinking after one round?
From the looks of things, they hadn't just finished the booze—they'd gone out and bought more!
How did they even manage to find a convenience store in an unfamiliar town late at night…?
"Hnn..."
Maybe it was the bright seaside sun, but Iori and the others slowly woke up.
First thing they saw—Aina, all dressed up, youthful and vibrant.
Iori blinked a few times, then rolled over and went back to sleep. "Woke up too fast. I'm hallucinating, Cakey actually has boobs."
!!!
"Get up!! I'm still a girl you know! Having boobs is perfectly normal!!"
Blushing furiously, Aina tugged Iori's ear. This was not the stunning entrance she'd planned!
"Ow ow... wait!"
The pain snapped Iori fully awake. Realizing it wasn't a dream, his eyes flew open.
Breaking free from her grip, he stared at her chest in disbelief.
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"What the hell?!"
Did he just travel to another dimension?
Weren't they just drinking last night?
Why did it feel like they hadn't seen each other in ten years?
Could Cakey even grow this much in ten years?!
Right now, her figure compared to yesterday was night and day.
The lemon had turned into a big apple?!
Unable to accept this alone, Iori shook the others awake.
"What the hell?! Cakey, were you possessed by darkness?!"
Kohei immediately went full fantasy-mode. This looked exactly like those magical girl anime scenes.
Wish granted—now you're a magical girl!
He even started checking around Aina, looking for the cute little summoning creature that should've appeared.
"Weirdos! This is just natural development!"
"..."
Chisa, also a girl, couldn't help twitching at the corner of her mouth. Since when could girls "develop" three cup sizes overnight?
Seriously, was this just... genetics?!
"Ugh... what are you all yelling about?"
The commotion finally woke Shiro. Grumpy from being woken too early, he really wanted to throw all four of them out!
"You're up, Shiro—come look at God!"
"A god who can change boob sizes at will!"
Huh?