T.n; Happy New Year
________________
On the Other Side
Back in the room grabbing snacks, Iori trembled as he held a scratch-off lottery ticket.
Just now, he had casually scratched it.
And the result—
300,000!!!
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
This is bad!
________________
"What do I do, what do I do, what do I DO!!!"
Staring at the 300,000 yen he hadn't yet redeemed, Iori was in full-blown panic.
He had just said he had no money, and now 300,000 yen suddenly appeared!
A whole 300,000!!
Wait, was this lottery ticket actually legit?!
His luck was so absurdly good, Iori felt like he might drop dead at any second.
No—!
If he didn't hide this properly, he really might die!
He didn't believe for a second that the drunken beasts partying outside would let either him or his 300,000 yen go so easily!
Normally, he wouldn't have cared that much—Iori wasn't exactly the type to cling to money.
You could tell from how often Kamishiro conned him out of cash.
But this time was different.
He had plans for this money.
So…
He absolutely couldn't let those beasts outside catch wind of it.
Maybe he should just go to bed and sleep it off?
Just as Iori was contemplating how to stash the money away, the door to his room was suddenly thrown open.
A drunk burst in.
"Hey hey hey, Kitahara, hiding in here with your stash? Get out here and drink!"
"I'm not! I don't have any money!!"
"Hm?" Kamishiro narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the flustered Iori. "What's with you? Why are you so jumpy?"
"Ah…"
Iori realized he hadn't given himself away yet. He awkwardly chuckled while stuffing the lottery ticket into his underwear.
"It's nothing… I'm just not used to people barging in like that. Next time, try knocking."
"Knocking?"
Kamishiro looked at him as if he'd just spoken an alien language. "When have I ever knocked before coming into your room?"
(°Д°)
"You bastard, don't say that so proudly!!"
It was because of people like Kamishiro that he never had any privacy!
"Whatever, whatever. Come on! Let's drink!"
Even though Iori was acting a bit weird, Kamishiro was already tipsy and didn't care. He grabbed Iori and dragged him toward the living room.
Tonight!
We don't stop till we drop!
Because… tomorrow, they might all be dead. (っ╥╯﹏╰╥c)
Iori: "Hey! Wait, I didn't agree to this yet!"
Kamishiro: "Since when do we need your agreement to drink?"
Iori: "..."
What did this guy even think he was to him?!
…
Struggling in vain, Iori was forcibly dragged into the living room by Kamishiro.
At that moment—
The scene in the living room could only be described as complete chaos.
Even without the presence of their other senpai, just Tokita and the rest were already more than enough.
With a stash of money now in hand, Iori was incredibly calm. The last time he felt this composed… must've been his first trip to Izu.
Staring at the wild scene before him, he almost felt like he'd walked into some kind of mercenary bar.
Of course—
It'd feel more authentic if these guys were actually wearing clothes.
"Oi! Iori! Get over here and drink!"
"Tonight we party till we drop!"
"Strip rock-paper-scissors! Strip rock-paper-scissors!"
Seeing their drunken, manic grins, a hint of panic flashed in Iori's eyes.
He absolutely could not drink!
If he drank, he might blurt out the truth.
And besides, drinking meant stripping!
His lottery ticket was still tucked in his underwear. He could not let this pack of beasts see it!
No. He had to act aloof.
With that thought, Iori's expression immediately flattened. It was as if he had entered "sage mode."
He couldn't help feeling smug. Putting on a poker face was easy for someone like him—it was practically second nature!
Just then, Kohei handed him a bottle of beer.
"Here, your beer."
It was right within reach, and Iori was feeling a little thirsty…
But when he thought of the ticket stashed next to his "little buddy," he waved it off.
"No thanks. I'm not drinking tonight."
He turned to leave the room. If Kamishiro hadn't dragged him out earlier, he never would've come out at all.
He was going to sleep straight through till tomorrow!
As he walked back to his room, Iori couldn't help but smirk at how naturally he had refused the drink.
Not bad, me!
His acting was flawless!
However—
Just as he was about to exit the living room, three ghostly arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind.
Ominous voices echoed from all directions.
BANG!
Poor, helpless Iori was pinned to the wall by the Four Demons.
"Hehehe, what the hell are you up to, huh?"
"I smell secrets~"
"Come clean and we'll go easy on you!"
"Out with it already!"
!!!
Even with his flawless poker face, how did these guys still see through him?!
Pressed up against the wall, tears of despair welled in Iori's eyes. Still, he stubbornly insisted, "There's nothing going on… (っ╥╯﹏╰╥c)"
"Well, if you confess now, at least you get to choose a less painful death."
Kamishiro swirled the beer in his wine glass with the poise of a refined gentleman.
Yes—beer in a wine glass. A naked gentleman!
He had felt something was off about Kitahara earlier, but hadn't had concrete proof.
Now it was clear. For a member of PAB to refuse alcohol?
There was definitely a secret.
"Hey hey hey, at least give me a chance to live!"
Iori wailed. Weren't you supposed to live if you confessed?
This was too cruel!
"Well, can't be helped," Kamishiro sighed. "Since you won't talk, we'll just have to send you to the bottom of the sea."
He casually pulled out cement and other tools from behind him.
Essentials.
"Wait, wait, wait! You're totally drunk, aren't you?!"
Could people stop threatening to dump him in the sea already?!
Like this squinty-eyed bastard didn't have any secrets of his own!
"Well, it's just bad luck on your part, Kitahara. I'm really in the mood to drown someone right now to let off some steam."
Kamishiro took out a rope, and—oddly enough for the aggressor—there was a flicker of fear in his eyes.
Based on past experience, Hanabi-chan would probably be storming Izu soon.
To ensure he'd still have someone to bully after she arrived, Kamishiro decided to send Kitahara down ahead of him!
A true brother!
An eternal bro!
Iori: "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!!!"
Just as Iori thought he was done for—
A hero appeared!
"WAIT A SECOND!"
________________
Tokita-senpai stopped Kamishiro.
Looking into the resolute eyes of his senpai, Kamishiro glanced down at the cement in his hands. After struggling internally for a while, he sighed quietly and stepped back.
Seeing this—
Iori's eyes sparkled as he looked at the senpai!
At that moment, all the previous menacing expressions had completely disappeared from the senpai's faces. Their entire beings seemed to radiate a warm, gentle glow.
Tokita-senpai patted Iori on the shoulder and said gently,
"Iori, we know you might be carrying one or two hundred worries you haven't told anyone about."
"Isn't that a bit too many…?"
Ignoring Iori, Kotobuki-senpai continued,
"We treat you like our adorable underclassman."
"No matter what you're worried about, just tell us."
"We only want what's best for you, we'd never hurt you."
Looking at the gentle light radiating from the senpai, and then at Kamishiro and Kohei who were now too intimidated to even come close—Iori was genuinely moved for a moment, and he also felt guilty toward the senpai.
Driven by that guilt, Iori confessed.
"Actually… I won a prize. Just now, from the raffle ticket Nanaka-nee gave me."
Upon hearing this—
The two senpai nodded kindly.
"Oh, so that's what it was."
"You won something."
"Yup, you won something."
Seeing their expressions were just like usual, Iori finally let out a breath of relief. Scratching his head, he smiled sheepishly.
The senpai are just too kind!
However, the next second, he realized how naive he'd been!
Because—
Behind those warm smiles, the senpais subtly stepped aside.
Revealing…
Two beasts holding ropes!!!
…
"AAAAAHHHH!!! I knew it would be like this!"
(っ╥╯﹏╰╥c)
Suspended in midair, Iori swayed in despair.
He knew it—there was no such thing as "trust" in this club!
Everything just now had been a setup by the senpais!
A scam for suckers!
Kamishiro and Kohei were just playing the bad-cop accomplices!
Kamishiro walked up to Iori with a smile and patted his cheek.
"What a pity. Our club doesn't tolerate things like secrets~"
"Bastard! Like hell you don't have any secrets!"
"I don't~"
"You son of—mmpf!"
Just as Iori was about to curse, his mouth was suddenly stuffed with a wad of paper.
"No cursing~" Kamishiro said with a wicked grin. Then he shouted toward the senpais,
"Senpai! Kitahara says he'll never talk. Let's go straight to torture!"
"Oh! Let's just use the pab-method cold water treatment then!"
The senpais immediately brought over the giant jar they used for drinking—still full of high-proof alcohol.
The evaporating fumes alone made Iori's eyes red as he struggled like mad.
"MMPH! MMMPH!!!"
What kind of hellish torture is this?!
Unable to speak, he frantically nodded, trying to plead with his eyes for someone to give him a chance.
In the end, it was kindhearted Kohei who removed the paper from his mouth, grinning menacingly.
"So, how much did you win?"
"Why the hell should I tell you?!"
"In that case—"
"Wait wait wait!"
Just as Kohei was about to shove the paper back, Iori quickly shouted,
"Senpai! Didn't we always settle things with games in this club?!"
"Huh? That's true."
Tokita-senpai paused mid-pour. If that was the case, torture would go against the club's usual rules.
"In that case, let's just use this!"
Kamishiro pulled out a familiar device from his coat—
A lie detector (plus)!
"Why the hell do you still have that thing, you bastard?!"
That's no lie detector—it's a torture device disguised as one!
As someone who'd experienced it multiple times, Kohei knew all too well.
Kohei immediately set Iori free, grabbed his hand, and pressed it against the device without giving him any chance to resist.
BAM!
"So, did you win 100,000 yen this time~?"
Kamishiro's voice dripped with malice. He was already dreaming about how much he could take, maybe even pay off all his debts in one go.
"Ugh… mmph!"
Iori's whole body tensed, he was fully braced for the shock.
But…
Ten seconds passed.
Nothing happened?
Huh?
Kamishiro looked at the device and Iori with confusion.
Anyone with eyes could see that Iori was nervous as hell.
Why didn't the lie detector react?
Was it broken?
Kamishiro picked up the device and inspected it carefully. Sure enough, there was a crack in one section.
Most likely from the last time…
When they had that one-guy-three-girls wrestling match…
"So what now? Dump him in the ocean?"
If they dumped him, it probably wouldn't count as violence or fighting, right?
"Can you not always think about dumping people in the ocean?!"
Iori was on the verge of tears. Did this guy have an ocean-dumping fetish or what?!
What is this, some gang initiation rite for the Tokyo Group or something?!
"Let me take a look?"
Kotobuki-senpai didn't agree. He simply took the device from Kamishiro's hands.
Though he'd never seen it before…
A few minutes later—
"Fixed!"
"Huh?!"
Kamishiro stared blankly at the lie detector now returned to his hands.
Not only was it more stylish than before, but it now had a few external wires added on.
"Didn't expect what I learned in the Engineering Department to be useful here."
Spinning a screwdriver in his hand, Kotobuki gave off serious pro vibes.
"Masterful craftsmanship!"
Kamishiro and Kohei gave him a thumbs up.
As expected, the senpai were truly reliable!
"Hey hey hey! This isn't the kind of skill you should be using for stuff like this! And what are these new wires even for?!"
Iori looked nervously at the wires Kamishiro had just hooked up to him. He had a really bad feeling.
Sure enough—
The next second, that feeling came true.
"Oh, those? They automatically cut the power right before you pass out. Super smart tech."
Kotobuki-senpai explained. It was pretty high-end.
Unfortunately—
The victim didn't quite see it that way.
"You're a freaking devil, you know that?!"
At least the old one let him faint and get some rest—this thing just kept torturing him while he was still conscious.
It was a damn torture device!
"Alright, enough chatter. Let's begin."
Kamishiro said impatiently. If he just handed over the ticket, none of this would've happened!
"Wait wait wait, Chisa! You understand me, right?!"
Seeing that the pack of beasts were ready to strike, Iori turned desperately to Chisa at the counter.
"Understand what?"
Chisa asked while holding a book in front of her mouth. She really didn't want to get involved in this idiotic mess.
"I mean… I don't have any secrets I'm hiding from anyone—AHHHHH!!!"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Iori let out a blood-curdling scream—his hair literally standing on end.
"Oh dear, looks like it's already started~"
Seeing this—
The four of them grinned wickedly as they propped Iori back up and continued their interrogation!
________________
"Is your raffle ticket in the room?"
"I don't… AAAHHH!!!"
"On you?"
"Well… AAAHHH!!!"
"In the shop?"
"I—?!"
"AAAHHH!!!"
For the next ten minutes, the dive shop echoed with Iori's screams.
And Kamishiro's maniacal laughter!
He was growing addicted to the thrill of shocking others!
Until—that woman appeared!
*Creak~*
"Excuse me, is that pigeon Kamishiro here?"
Beauty—Hanabi-chan!