I sat there for a second watching closely as Shiori ordered her coffee, then sat at the table behind us.
Of course, I'm curious to get one more look at her. I'm not a perv, just a curious child, okay.
I looked over my shoulder where Shiori was now sitting, and well, like she had some sixth sense, she was already staring at me.
Without any hesitation, I turned around, drank my coffee in one gulp, and left.
Outside the coffee shop, just as I stepped off the little porch, I heard them.
Reina's soft voice.
Nao's chaotic energy.
Arisa's ever-teasing tone.
Yuki's quiet, judging silence.
They were coming down the path, all four of them, heading my way.
And judging by their faces, they hadn't cooled down from the earlier announcement either.
I gulped the rest of my coffee.
"Alright. Time to go back to pretending I'm not the main character of a romantic warzone. Let's see how long I survive."
As soon as we locked eyes, Nao was the first to break formation.
"OHHH SOUTA! THERE YOU ARE, YOU SILLY GOOSE!" she shouted, jogging over like she hadn't just ditched me thirty minutes ago.
"…Uhh, you guys left me, remember?" I muttered.
Nao tilted her head like a confused puppy, then glanced back at the girls, then back at me.
"Oh yeah. Hehe~ Oops!"
I'm gonna say something controversial. Hate me if you want, but if Nao wasn't cute, and also if I wasn't contractually bound to be her maid, I would've punted her like a football. But alas, I took the high road and composed myself.
Reina and Arisa strolled up next.
"Heyyy Souta," Arisa said, resting her chin on her knuckles like she was in a shoujo manga. "Did you miss us? Surprisedyou didn't come running after us. I thought you were our little guard dog."
I sighed, already tired. "Nope. This time, I knew you had each other, and I figured leaving four of you alone wouldn't end in a total disaster."
That's when Yuki chimed in, arms crossed and tone ice cold. "Listen. If anything had happened, you'd be the one face-down in a ditch. We'd be just fine without your overprotective dad mode."
No eye contact. Just verbal stab wounds.
"Right. Yeah. My bad," I mumbled.
Then Nao perked up like she'd just remembered something. "Oh yeah! We decided, we're gonna help you out!"
My mind went straight to a fantasy of being granted paid time off, maybe a back massage, a break from the chaos.
"Please be a vacation. Please be paid leave. Please let Wilhelm have adopted me out of this hell-"
"We're gonna audition to be the Princess!" Nao beamed.
My face contorted.
Huh?
Didn't they all just argue for hours about how they didn't want to kiss me? And now we were flipping the script?
Typical. Absolutely typical.
"Well… uh, that's great and all, but I think there's already someone who applied," I said, half-hoping they wouldn't ask.
They did.
All four heads turned toward me, eyes wide like they'd just spotted a rat in the food court.
"WHO?!" they said in horrifying unison.
I flinched so hard my soul almost left my body.
"I… I think her name was… uh… Shiota? Shirota? Shakira?"
"It's Shiori."
The café bell chimed.
All of us turned.
Standing there like she was in her own dramatic anime entrance was Shiori herself, dark hair swaying slightly from the breeze, glasses glinting under the light, her arms crossed with commanding elegance.
She didn't smile. She didn't blink.
She simply stepped forward.
"It's Shiori," she said, voice crisp. "And I will be the Princess."
We stood frozen.
She continued, gaze locked directly on me like a hawk spotting prey.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I have no feelings for you. This is not about romance. This is about achievement. I will become the greatest actress this world has ever seen. This play? It is merely step one."
She had the voice of a noblewoman in a war council. Somehow, it was also kind of hot.
Arisa blinked. "W-Wait, hold on… what about the kissing scene? You're seriously okay with kissing him?"
Shiori raised an eyebrow. "A kissing scene won't derail me. If it's required, so be it. I'll kiss a cactus if I must."
Pause.
She pointed at me like she was about to issue a duel challenge.
"But! You will have a mint. I refuse to let mediocre breath sabotage my career."
Her words echoed through the air like gunfire.
Silence.
Even the cicadas stopped chirping.
She coughed, realizing no one had replied, and tried to smooth her skirt with mock dignity.
"…A-Anyway, it's pointless for any of you to audition. I've already won. Save yourselves the embarrassment." With that, she turned and left, as if she'd just dropped a nuke.
The girls stared in slack-jawed horror.
Yuki muttered under her breath. "There's… actually a crazy girl willing to kiss Souta? For acting?"
Fair criticism.
"Welp," I said, clapping my hands. "There we go! No need to embarrass yourselves, ladies. Crisis averted."
I laughed nervously.
But inside?
I was terrified.
Sure, Shiori was gorgeous, but that intensity? That ambition? That laser focus?
It was giving Yuki energy. And I wasn't ready for a second, Yuki.
The café door swung closed behind Shiori with a dramatic clink, like the end of a boss battle cutscene. No one moved. Noone said a word. As we watched her walk away.
Then.
"…Did she just call your breath 'shitty'?" Reina blinked at me like that was the most concerning thing.
"That's what you're focusing on!?" I choked.
"Just saying," Reina shrugged. "You do chew gum like it's medicine."
Arisa slammed her hands on the nearby table, shaking the sugar packets.
"Okay. That's it. Gloves are off."
She turned to the group, fire in her eyes.
"We fight her."
"…What," Yuki said flatly.
"Yeah, 4 versus 1! Strength in numbers. We rush her, steal her glasses, tie her up with microphone wire, and then one of us takes the princess role while she's stuck in the janitor closet."
Yuki rolled her eyes so hard they almost exited her skull. "You're not fighting her, you maniac."
"But she's scary! I'm not kissing Souta, but I'm also not letting her kiss him either!"
Reina, unusually vocal, added in a quiet murmur, "She was kind of... intense."
"I think she's a robot," Nao whispered dramatically.
"She's not a robot," Yuki snapped, rubbing her temple. "She's just... ambitious. And dramatic. Like you but less dumb."
"Thank you," Arisa said. "Wait. Hey!"
Yuki straightened up, arms still folded. "Look, I'm not auditioning. That was never in my plan. But I'm also not gonna let some outside girl steal the spotlight and put her lips on our maid."
Arisa perked up. "Wait, 'our' maid?"
Reina tilted her head. "Does this mean you want one of us to play the Princess?"
Yuki looked away, but her ears went a little red. "Tch. It's logical. If anyone has to do it, better it be someone we know, like you, Nao, or Reina. Who won't… make it weird."
Nao stood on the booth seat like a war general.
"Alright, troops, new mission! Beat the scary actress girl, win the princess role, keep the kiss in the family!"
"That phrasing…" I whispered, horrified.
"FOR SOUTA!" Nao shouted.
"FOR DIGNITY!" Arisa echoed.
"For… not letting strangers kiss people they don't like," Reina mumbled.
Yuki stayed quiet for a moment, then finally muttered:
"…Just make sure you brush your teeth before rehearsal."
I didn't know what was worse, that they were actually forming a defensive unit...
Or that Shiori had just become their common enemy.
And I? I was the battlefield...
*
The sun had dipped behind the trees, casting long shadows across the stone pathways as we made our way back to the inn. Nao was walking in deep thought, Arisa was texting at least five people at once, and Yuki looked like she wanted to dissolve into mist just to avoid the small talk.
Even Reina, quiet as ever, had that thoughtful frown like she was running simulations in her head.
We pushed through the hotel's doors just as our homeroom teacher clapped their hands together near the lobby desk.
"Everyone! Quick announcement before you all disappear into your futons!"
Everyone groaned in unison.
"This is about the cultural performance we're doing here at the end of the trip. The auditions for the play will take place tomorrow, early afternoon, so after breakfast, please take a moment to sign your name on the sheet here at the front desk if you want to try out for the role of the Princess."
There were no cheers, a few snickers, and a very audible "Not me, no way" from some poor guy at the back.
"But!" the teacher added, raising a finger, "try to decide tonight. No last-minute changes tomorrow. We want this to go smoothly."
I nodded, even though I had no idea how I was gonna "go smoothly" through a potential stage kiss. Or survive if someone from my room won the role. Either way, I was screwed.
The girls stepped forward almost immediately.
Nao ran up first, nearly tripping over her own slippers.
"ME!" she announced as she scribbled her name with determination.
Arisa followed, casually blowing on her nails before writing her name like it was a signature on a modeling contract."This Princess is gonna be royalty."
Then came Reina, silent, steady. She hesitated for only a second… before putting her name down in small, careful letters.
We all turned toward Yuki.
She didn't even glance at the sign-up sheet.
"Pass," she said, already walking toward the stairs.
"Oh?" Arisa teased. "Scared of sharing the stage?"
"I just don't want to be involved in something so... stupid," Yuki replied with a shrug. "Besides, none of you are winning against Shiori anyway."
That shut everyone up fast.
Yuki might have meant it as a jab, but the truth in her tone left a quiet tension in the air.
*
The night had come, and now all the girls were asleep.
Arisa was softly snoring on one side. Reina had mumbled herself to sleep next to me, her breath steady and warm. Naohad curled up under her blanket like a sleeping cat. And Yuki, of course, had planted herself all the way at the far end of the futons, back turned, silent as a ghost.
The moonlight filtering through the paper-thin windows cast everything in silver and shadow. The hum of cicadas outside had finally dulled into a distant buzz.
I should've been asleep by now.
But I wasn't.
My eyes were wide open, fixed on the ceiling, thoughts spinning around that stupid audition tomorrow.
And Shiori.
And the weird way the girls were acting.
And maybe the way my heart wouldn't shut the hell up.
I turned onto my side and shut my eyes. Just sleep. Just rest. Don't overthink it.
Then...
Creeeaaaak.
My eyes snapped open again.
The sliding door to the hallway. A faint sound, so faint it could've just been the wood settling, or wind brushing the frame.
Or someone is leaving.
I held my breath.
I listened.
Silence.
No footsteps.
No sound.
I slowly sat up, careful not to wake the others. My eyes were adjusting now, but even still, the hallway beyond the door was pitch black. Deeper than night.
Was that real?
I crawled over to the door, heart thudding now, not loudly, but with that slow, tight pressure that builds when you feel like you're being watched.
The hallway was empty. No movement. Just the faint scent of old wood and tatami.
But I swore I'd heard something.
A slipper?
The rustle of cloth?
No way someone could've gotten that far without a single footstep.
I looked back over my shoulder at the futons.
Still full.
All four girls were right there, sleeping peacefully, or at least pretending to.
Maybe it was nothing.
Maybe it was a dream.
But when I slid the door shut again, that weird, cold feeling stayed in my chest.
A whisper of doubt.
A tickle of suspicion.
It must have been my brain playing tricks on me.
Must be.