After Sakayanagi Arisu's petite silhouette slipped out of the cabin, Sakura Airi's gaze drifted back to Shikime Natsu. Those clear, lake-blue eyes of hers were brimming with a mingled light — warmth and mischief braided together — and the corners of her lips curved into a faint, barely-there arc, carrying just a hint of self-satisfaction.
"Natsu… do you think I was too presumptuous just now?"
Sakura Airi stepped over to Shikime Natsu's side and looped her arm through his in the most natural way imaginable, leaning her body slightly forward as she explained herself in a gentle, unhurried tone.
"Actually… I could tell, you know. Sakayanagi-san has feelings for Natsu too, doesn't she? She always has those teasing words on her lips, but that kind of look in her eyes — she can't hide it. And besides… Natsu wants to bring Sakayanagi-san into the harem too, right?"
Shikime Natsu had mentioned wanting to build a harem, but he had never specified exactly who he intended to bring into it. As far as Sakura Airi could tell, practically everyone who spent any significant time with him was going to end up pulled in eventually.
Even within Class D — Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyou, the gyaru trio, Mei-Yu Wang — all of them would sooner or later find their way into Shikime Natsu's harem. Oh, and Sakura Airi had also been quietly working on Hasebe Haruka.
Whenever she talked with Hasebe Haruka, she made a point of saying good things about Shikime Natsu. And the last time Haruka had actually interacted with Natsu directly, Haruka hadn't come away with any negative impression of him — quite the opposite, her feelings toward him seemed rather pleasant.
It was just a shame… if she wanted to push Hasebe Haruka's favorability toward Shikime Natsu any further, it would require Natsu to take action himself. But right now, Natsu's schedule was packed to the brim, with so many adorable girls orbiting around him that he was probably already struggling to keep up.
She would just have to keep working harder on her end. This was her alliance, after all.
Sakura Airi continued, her tone carrying a note of genuine sincerity.
"With a personality like Sakayanagi-san's — so proud, and so stubborn about her own feelings — waiting for her to realize it on her own and admit it would be incredibly difficult. She might just keep playing that intellectual game of hers all the way to graduation without ever taking the final step. So… I thought I'd give her a little nudge from behind. Create a situation where she has no choice but to face what's in her own heart."
As she spoke, Sakura Airi tilted her head back slightly, those eyes full of affection fixed squarely on Shikime Natsu. The brilliant blue of her irises carried a faint, dewy sheen that made them look strikingly beautiful.
"I just wanted to help Natsu. And to help that stubborn girl too… Natsu, you're not going to scold me for meddling, are you?"
Listening to Sakura Airi's words, the corners of Shikime Natsu's mouth curved into a soft arc. He reached out and gently pinched Airi's round, adorable little cheek, savoring the delicate texture beneath his fingertips — then he shook his head and laughed softly.
"How could I? Airi, the fact that you think about me like this — I'm nothing but happy."
Before long, accompanied by the soft sound of approaching footsteps, Shiina Hiyori and Kamuro Masumi appeared together in the cabin doorway.
Both of them had gone to collect their things and now returned to the little cabin, each carrying her own belongings. They came in one after the other. Kamuro Masumi held two bags — one containing her own clothes, and the other… when those violet eyes of hers met Shikime Natsu's gaze, a faint flush of shyness passed through them. It was obvious: the second bag contained Shikime Natsu's clothes.
"Here, Natsu — these are your clothes… I brought them over while I was at it."
Kamuro Masumi's voice came out soft and quiet as she set Shikime Natsu's clothes down in one corner of the cabin. She had already gone and retrieved his things — it was hardly as if he could sleep somewhere else tonight now, was it?
Besides, she had just walked off in front of numerous Class A students carrying all of Shikime Natsu's belongings in plain sight. Everyone had long since accepted the intimacy between the two of them, but doing something like that under so many watchful eyes — even so, it had left Kamuro Masumi feeling rather embarrassed.
Of course, everyone already knew and accepted what Shikime Natsu intended to get up to with Masumi and the others tonight. But back then, the others had already left — they hadn't been seen, hadn't overheard any comments, so it hadn't stirred up any particular feelings. Doing it in front of a crowd, on the other hand… she could easily imagine what their classmates must be thinking about her and Shikime Natsu right now.
Still — the moment Kamuro Masumi stepped back into this cabin that belonged to just the few of them, and her eyes landed on Shikime Natsu again, all that lingering tension dissolved without a trace. The weight lifted off her entirely, and she looked visibly more at ease.
Sakura Airi greeted them with a smile and gave them a quick rundown of what had just happened — how she had invited Sakayanagi Arisu to spend the night with them.
Upon hearing it, both Shiina Hiyori and Kamuro Masumi reacted with relative calm. Neither of them raised any objections to what Sakura Airi had done. As far as they were concerned, as long as they were by Shikime Natsu's side, adding one Sakayanagi Arisu to the picture was hardly something they couldn't accept.
Besides — it wasn't as though there would only ever be the three of them around Natsu anyway. The three of them were simply the ones who had gotten a head start. Or rather — they were the ones who had been informally confirmed first.
"Well then — I'll go ahead and… get dinner started."
Shikime Natsu clapped his hands together and turned to the gathered beauties with a warm smile.
The moment they heard those words, all three girls' eyes lit up virtually in unison, and they nodded eagerly, bobbing their heads like little birds.
"Yes! We get to eat Natsu's cooking again!"
"Mm. Then I'll leave it to you, Natsu."
Shiina Hiyori gave a small nod, her violet eyes shining with anticipation. It hadn't been long at all since Shikime Natsu had grilled that fish and brought it especially for her — a fish prepared just for her, in fact. But that time, he had done it back at the Class A base camp, in front of everyone from Class A. This time, he would be grilling it right here beside her. Both were lovingly prepared by Shikime Natsu, of course — but whether she could watch the entire process of him cooking with her own eyes made it an entirely different thing. Yes, that was what it meant to have the possessiveness of a girlfriend: she didn't just want the result. She wanted the process too.
As the last sliver of the setting sun sank beneath the horizon, a small campfire was kindled once more on the open ground in front of the cabin.
Shikime Natsu made ready to head back to the stream to catch some fish and shrimp. It was already quite late, but for him that was no issue whatsoever — his vision was completely unaffected by the absence of light.
"We'll come with you."
The others moved to pitch in as well, unwilling to let him go alone.
"Don't worry, I'll be right back."
With that single reassurance, Shikime Natsu walked straight toward the nearest stream — and returned a few minutes later carrying an astonishing haul of fish and shrimp. The three girls were left utterly dumbfounded.
That much — in just a few minutes?
It was simply unbelievable.
Next came the preparation stage. Kamuro Masumi and the others crouched down beside him, rolling up their sleeves, and diligently helped clean and prepare the catch Shikime Natsu had brought back. Having learned cooking alongside Natsu, they made quick, practiced work of gutting and cleaning the fish and shrimp.
Originally, Shiina Hiyori had proposed that she would prepare the food for Shikime Natsu — but the moment those words were out, everyone else wanted to as well. Every girl naturally wanted her beloved to eat something she had made with her own hands. In the end, it reversed entirely, and Shikime Natsu was the one preparing the meal for all of them.
"Natsu, these shrimp are so big! Make sure you grill them nice and crispy later, okay~?"
Sakura Airi wrapped her arms lightly around Shikime Natsu's waist from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder like an affectionate little cat, breathing in the familiar, uniquely calming scent of him.
Shikime Natsu turned the fish on the grill with one hand, then tilted his head to the side and tapped the tip of Sakura Airi's nose lightly.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure you get exactly what you asked for."
Nearby, Shiina Hiyori sat watching the busy Shikime Natsu in the flickering firelight, a gentle smile resting at the corners of her lips. Simply looking at him — she could somehow never grow tired of it.
Then her gaze drifted to Sakura Airi. The only available spot had already been claimed. With Sakura Airi there, it seemed there was no pulling her away from Shikime Natsu anytime soon.
The fire swayed and danced. Embers crackled with a sharp pop. The rich, savory aroma of grilling fish spread through the air.
Once she judged the fish to be nearly done, Kamuro Masumi slipped closer to Shikime Natsu while the other two weren't looking — and pressed a feather-light kiss to the side of his face. His cheek was just as nice to the touch as she remembered, something she found herself thoroughly captivated by.
Caught off guard by the sudden ambush, Shikime Natsu only smiled — and then kissed her back.
When every last piece of grilled fish was finally done, Shikime Natsu reached out his arms toward the three gathered beauties. They all gravitated toward him at once, and he pulled them into a single embrace. With these girls close beside him, Shikime Natsu felt genuinely, contentedly happy.
Dinner concluded in an atmosphere of warmth and easy harmony. When they had wiped their mouths and were just about to head back inside the cabin to rest, that familiar silver silhouette appeared once more in everyone's line of sight.
Sakayanagi Arisu stepped through the shadows between the trees with her usual elegant gait and emerged before them.
She took in the scene — everyone seated together around the campfire, relaxed and at ease — and the corner of her mouth curved into a faint smile. That smile held something that looked vaguely like an apology, and something that looked very much like blithe, unapologetic amusement.
"My, my. I'm sorry — it seems I've returned just a little bit late."
Sakayanagi Arisu gave a small, graceful bow of her head, her voice light and carefree.
"I got held up dealing with a few miscellaneous matters on the class side of things. But as for me right now… I trust I'm still allowed to join you?"
One look at those violet eyes of hers — sharp with cunning even as they gleamed with amusement — made it perfectly clear that this was deliberate. Every bit of it.
She had timed her arrival on purpose. She had wanted Shikime Natsu and the girls to spend the whole evening thinking that even if she'd agreed, she probably wouldn't actually show up — and then, in the moment their guard was at its lowest, she would swoop in with this perfectly "unexpected" ambush.
Her greatest hope was to interrupt some planned moment of intimacy in progress. That, to this self-appointed third wheel, was the supreme pleasure of the whole enterprise.
Sakayanagi Arisu studied the expressions around her with a carefully casual eye.
And yet — to her mild and somewhat pointed frustration — not one of them, not Sakura Airi, not Shiina Hiyori, not Kamuro Masumi, not Shikime Natsu himself, showed even a flicker of the irritation that comes from having a good mood ruined. If anything, all of them appeared perfectly calm.
It was rather clear: her "surprise attack" had produced no real emotional ripple in any of these girls whatsoever.
Sakura Airi was the first to rise, turning toward Sakayanagi Arisu with a smile as warm and open as a spring breeze — a smile so genuinely welcoming that Sakayanagi Arisu found it almost disarming.
"Of course you can. Sakayanagi-san, have you eaten dinner yet?"
"I have."
Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help but think back on that dinner. Her verdict: edible. But having had Shikime Natsu's cooking at lunch, she had found the evening meal rather difficult to enjoy by comparison.
"Then come on in."
Sakura Airi gave her a small smile, pushed open the wooden door, and ushered Sakayanagi Arisu inside.
The floor wasn't covered in soft bedding, naturally — this was a deserted island; blankets were never going to be a given. If they wanted something to lie on, they would have to spread out their clothes. That said, the temperature swing between day and night here was minimal, so even through the night the air stayed roughly the same warmth. There was no risk of catching a chill without any covers.
The moment Sakayanagi Arisu stepped inside, she made a beeline for Sakura Airi.
In the moonlight, those violet eyes of hers seemed to take on a particular depth. She tilted her head slightly and got straight to the point.
"Now then, Sakura-san — when you invited me earlier, you mentioned you had something you wanted to talk to me about. Now that we have some privacy… might I ask what it is, exactly?"
As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu let her eyes drift sideways to where Shikime Natsu sat, a quiet sense of triumph stirring within her.
In her mind, as long as she monopolized Sakura Airi and launched this "girl talk" campaign, she could perfectly disrupt any plans Shikime Natsu might have had for the evening. With a conspicuous outsider of her magnitude present, the very idea of him getting up to anything improper was nothing short of a fantasy.
At that, both Kamuro Masumi and Shiina Hiyori paused what they were doing and quietly listened in.
The night had grown deep, though it was still far too early to sleep. The cabin windows hadn't yet been fitted with any kind of screen, and clear, cool moonlight poured in like water, illuminating every expression in sharp, unambiguous detail.
Upon hearing the question, Sakura Airi turned her head slightly to look at Sakayanagi Arisu.
Those brilliant blue eyes came to rest on Sakayanagi Arisu, and Sakura Airi asked softly.
"Sakayanagi-san… do you like Natsu?"
"...?!"
Sakayanagi Arisu had prepared herself for a thousand different conversations — about class dynamics, about exams, about fashion and makeup — and in that instant, her mind went entirely, utterly blank.
That genius brain of hers, which never stopped running at top speed, seemed to crash outright — unable to process an opening salvo this blunt, this mercilessly direct, this completely devoid of any warm-up.
The teasing smile on Sakayanagi Arisu's face froze for a split second. Then she rather stiffly pulled up a faint smile of her own and fired back a counter-question.
"My, my. And why would Sakura-san suddenly… ask something as strange as that?"
Sakura Airi smiled lightly, her gaze passing briefly over Sakayanagi Arisu's fingertips — just the faintest fidget betraying a subtle unease.
"Because when I came back, I could see that Natsu and Sakayanagi-san were getting along… very well together. And Sakayanagi-san has known Natsu for quite a long time now. Not to mention, Natsu is so charming — there's hardly a girl alive who wouldn't end up liking him. So I thought… Sakayanagi-san must be the same."
Sakura Airi paused, and her tone grew more meaningfully weighted.
"Besides — when I invited Sakayanagi-san to come stay with us, you agreed without a moment's hesitation."
Sakayanagi Arisu's heart gave a small lurch. She opened her mouth, ready to explain that she had agreed out of curiosity, that it was only because Sakura Airi had said she wanted to talk—
But Sakura Airi was one step ahead of her. She met Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes directly, and something in those deep-blue irises seemed to take on a quiet, pressing weight.
"Sakayanagi-san understands better than anyone that Natsu and the three of us are already in an established relationship — a real boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationship. Right? Given that — why would a perfectly normal girl, one who had absolutely no interest in the person at the center of all this, willingly join our little gathering in the middle of the night?"
Sakura Airi's smile grew brighter still, and it took on a faint — just the faintest — edge of aggression.
"The only explanation is… that Sakayanagi-san really does find Natsu quite interesting. That's why you want to be near him. Even as a third wheel — you still want to be close to him. Isn't that right?"
Sakayanagi Arisu had never, not in her wildest estimations, anticipated that Sakura Airi would rip the fig leaf away this cleanly, this completely, and at a moment like this.
She had indeed come here to play third wheel — but not because she wanted to be closer to Shikime Natsu.
Her real intention was to cause trouble. To stop Shikime Natsu from getting up to anything indecent.
But… how on earth could she say that out loud? Was she supposed to announce, "I'm here to make sure you all behave yourselves"? In a situation like this? Those words simply could not leave her mouth.
Sakayanagi Arisu was rendered speechless. The eloquence she had always prided herself on failed her completely in this moment.
She looked at Sakura Airi. The woman in front of her — absurdly well-endowed as she was — was absolutely not the scatter-brained pushover that figure might imply.
She was dragging Sakayanagi Arisu into the water by force, pressuring her to admit her feelings for Shikime Natsu.
Just moments ago, Sakayanagi Arisu had been scheming about Shiraishi Asuka — thinking through how to lure that girl into this particular fire. And yet, somehow, against all her calculations, Sakura Airi had gotten there first and turned the tables on her.
Sakayanagi Arisu bit her lip, a wave of vexation washing over her.
She… had genuinely let her guard down. She had been outmaneuvered — by this woman right in front of her.
____
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