May: "Judge, please look at this!"
May-san said this as she presented Judge Ichika-san with a photograph.
In the photo was only the plaintiff, Nino-san, wrapped in a single towel after bathing… and at the same time, the defendant, Son Gohan, who had come to retrieve something he had forgotten, was also in the frame.
Incidentally, Yotsuba-san was still helping out with the basketball club and hadn't returned yet.
May: "The defendant, being a home tutor, yet harboring desires before a youthful high school girl… This photograph is indisputable proof of his crime, isn't it, Defendant Son?"
All I did was come back to pick up what I had left behind, so how did things end up like this…?
Nino: "Your Honor."
Ichika: "Yes, Plaintiff Nino-kun."
Nino: "This man pretended to leave the apartment but was actually waiting for me to finish my bath and come out. This is an extremely vile criminal act! We demand that this man be prohibited from ever entering the apartment again!"
Eh!? If that happens, then I won't be able to continue being their tutor!?
But if I really am banned… then I'll have no choice but to support Uesugi-kun from the shadows…
Ichika: "This is just too outrageous…"
Gohan: "Um, Ichika-san… I only came back to pick up what I'd forgotten…"
Ichika: "..." (whistling)
...…What should I do…
Miku: "I object."
The one who suddenly spoke up was Miku-san.
Come to think of it, it was Miku-san who unlocked the downstairs door for me earlier…
Miku: "Gohan is serious and wouldn't do something like that. He's innocent. I was the one who let him in, and I also have a recording. So this was just an unfortunate accident."
Gohan: "Miku-san…"
If it weren't for Miku-san, I definitely would have already been thrown out… I must properly thank her later…
Nino: "Hey, are you covering for that guy? He clearly said himself, 'I came to take a picture!!'"
Miku: "He said, 'I came to take back (retrieve) what I forgot,' didn't he? Don't go twisting his words for your own convenience."
Nino: "Hah? And you think you're in a position to say that? Your Honor—! Miku is just protecting the defendant out of her personal feelings—!"
Miku: "T-that's not it…!"
May: "…Miku did indeed let Son-kun in, right? Considering that, maybe it's more natural to treat this as just an accident."
Ichika: "Yes, that's true… If it had been something like pushing her down, then that would be very suspicious… but could the earnest Gohan-kun really do something like that? I don't think so."
Nino: "Hey!? You can't just decide that on your own! Stop saying such nonsense!"
Ichika: "Alright, alright, don't be so mad… 'Back then,' weren't we five sisters who got along so well?"
Nino: "Back then… I…!"
Bang!
Nino-san stormed out of the house…
Gohan: "Um… Nino-san just ran out, is that really okay…?"
Miku: "Just leave her be."
Gohan: "B-but…"
May: "It's fine. Once she gets hungry, she'll come back."
Ichika: "That sounds more like Itsuki herself, doesn't it…"
Miku: "That's definitely more like May."
May: "Hey!? What's that supposed to mean!?"
Gohan: "..."
No, this isn't right. Letting a girl go off alone at this hour and just saying to leave her be…
Nino: "…So, why are you still following me? I told you I don't want to see your face anymore, don't you get it?"
Gohan: "C-come on, don't say that…"
(It turns out, when I opened the apartment's automatic door to leave earlier, Nino-san had been about to come back in. But because the door closed in front of her, she never managed to enter. At that time, she also muttered, 'Useless'… She probably didn't bring her key when she went out…)
Nino: "What, so you really were after me then?"
Gohan: "No, it's just… it's not right for you to be outside alone at this hour."
Nino: "Trying to use words like that to win points with me won't work, you know."
Gohan: "No, I honestly didn't mean it that way…"
Nino: "Seriously… Why do they let some suspicious guy like you into the house anyway? They're all such idiots, I hate it."
Gohan: "When you say 'they'… that includes your sisters too?"
Nino: "Yes, exactly! What, is that a problem?"
Gohan: "…I don't think that's what you really feel."
Nino: "Hah!? And what makes you think you know me so well…"
Gohan: "Didn't you once say, 'This house of the five of us has no place for anyone else'? And that was when you even mistook me for Miku-san…"
Nino: "..."
Gohan: "In truth, leaving aside me and Uesugi-kun for the moment… deep down, you still care about your other four sisters, don't you? That's why you felt so resistant to letting someone from the outside suddenly come in… isn't that right?"
Nino: "What the heck, that's totally wrong. Don't act like you understand me. There's no way that's true. Gross. …So what, is that not allowed?"
Gohan: "No, it's not that it's not allowed…"
Nino: "Exactly! So I'm not wrong. You're just being stupid… Why should I have to feel down about it!?"
Gohan: "Ah, huh?"
Nino: "That's it, I've decided. I'll never acknowledge you… no, not just you, but all of you. I don't care if those girls end up hating me…"
Gohan: "…So, you really do love your four sisters after all…"
Nino: "That's right!! What's wrong with that!?"
Just as we were speaking, the apartment's automatic door opened.
The one who stepped out was… Miku-san.
Miku: "Nino, how long are you planning on staying outside? Come back in… Ah, Gohan, you're here too. Perfect. About tomorrow's matter—"
Nino: "Miku! Let's go back!"
Miku: "But I still haven't finished talking—"
Ahaha… It feels like the situation has gotten even worse… Nino-san really isn't easy to deal with…
(End of Chapter)
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