"Welcome back, you three!" ×3
The moment three muscle-bound men lined up in naked aprons to greet them, Shiro couldn't hold it in anymore, he spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.
My eyes! My poor, innocent eyes!
This scene was forever burned into his brain!
"Huh? What's wrong, Iori, Shiro?"
"Is it a hangover?"
"If you're gonna puke, at least make it to the bathroom."
Noticing the two acting strangely, the three men approached them with concern.
"It's because of what you're wearing!!!"
Kitahara finally lost it and roared at them. What kind of normal person dressed like this in a dive shop?!
Σ_(???」∠) Ughh…
Shiro weakly gave Iori a thumbs-up, he could no longer muster the strength to speak.
The three men looked down at themselves and finally realized the issue. Then, two of them explained, "Oh, this is just because we're getting ready for diving. We're actually wearing swimsuits underneath, so don't worry!"
"Ohhh, I see…"
Shiro and Kitahara sighed in relief. It was still horrifying, but at least it was better than what they originally thought.
Suddenly—
A voice came from inside the shop, Nanaka sounded like she was dealing with something troublesome.
"Can you three come over for a sec?"
Hearing that, the three naked-apron men turned around.
Click!
Shiro's soul shattered; among the three, the only one actually wearing a swimsuit was Kotegawa's uncle!
Kitahara collapsed to his knees and screamed, "You damn liars!"
He was stupid enough to trust the upperclassmen's words again!
Shiro weakly reached out his hand.
"Hey… Kitahara… I think I've permanently lost my naked apron fetish… ( T﹏T )"
"..."
Step, step, step…
As footsteps approached—
"Oh, about today's guest—Ara~, little Chisa, Shiro, Iori, welcome back!"
The moment Shiro heard Nanaka's voice, his head snapped toward her.
There she was, Nanaka, fully dressed in an apron over her clothes, walking toward them.
Shiro slumped like a wilted eggplant.
"Why… Why is Nanaka-nee the only one who's normal?"
(′｀;)?
Nanaka tilted her head in confusion. Uh… was I supposed to do something?
"Anyway, what about the customer?"
Kotegawa, the shop owner, asked; he was more interested in business than whatever nonsense was happening.
"Oh, about that… They suddenly got sick and can't come. They want to reschedule for next week."
Hearing that, the three men's expressions immediately dropped.
"Oh, what a shame."
"So that means today's diving trip is canceled, huh?"
"Well, guess there's no choice… Might as well put on some clothes now."
Tokita and Ryuujirou sulked off to the corner to finally get dressed since they had no more excuse to stay naked.
"Wearing clothes is the norm for normal people!!!"
Shiro finally realized, his college life was shaping up to be wildly chaotic.
"Itadakimasu!" ×n!
Today's lunch was stir-fried noodles with fried eggs.
Since he was here as a guest, Shiro got to mooch a meal, cooked by none other than Nanaka!
Hmm~
Delicious!
Unbelievably good!
This only strengthened his resolve, he had to marry Nanaka!
"Do you senpais always eat lunch here?"
Iori voiced the same question Shiro had in mind. He also wanted to come here more often, the food in the school cafeteria was… better left unspoken.
"Ah, well, we stop by to help out a lot."
"It's kinda like being part-time assistants."
"Man, it sucks that the dive trip got canceled. But I guess getting sick is just bad luck."
Kotegawa sighed—he was more upset about losing a customer than missing the trip itself.
"So that means we've got nothing to do until tonight's drinking party, huh?"
"Ahh, yeah, looks that way."
"Iori, Shiro! What should we do until then?"
The two upperclassmen locked their eyes onto their precious juniors with high expectations.
Shiro immediately looked away, why did their gazes feel so malicious?!
And why did they just casually drop "until tonight's drinking party" into the conversation?!
Wasn't that basically an unspoken confirmation that they were forcing them to go?!
When the hell did I ever agree to join this drinking party?!
I've been hungover for two straight days!!!
"So… why are you even asking us this question?"
As expected, idiot Kitahara hadn't realized the danger yet!
I need to think of a way to escape…
"So, what, do you want to just head to the venue now?"
"I NEVER agreed to any drinking party! And hold on, why the hell are you already standing by the exit, you bastard?!"
At Kitahara's outburst, the two upperclassmen instantly flipped their moods—Ryuujirou even grabbed Shiro, who was seconds away from slipping out the door!
"What do you mean you're not coming to the drinking party?! Do you even know what kind of club you joined, you little shits?!"
"I… I'll go check out the venue!"
"Eh?! Didn't we join the diving club?!"
Shiro immediately gave in to attending the drinking party. It's just a hangover, right?! He believed he had already developed resistance to alcohol, he was the chosen one!
He glanced at Kitahara with a hint of mockery in his eyes. Ah, foolish Kitahara, it seems you still don't realize what kind of club you've joined~
"Iori-kun!"
Just as the seniors were about to teach Kitahara a lesson, Nanaka's voice interrupted them.
"You are strictly forbidden from going out on a night stroll tonight, understand?"
At that moment, both of them fell silent.
Although Kitahara was grateful someone was speaking up for him, Nanaka's serious tone made him curious, why was she suddenly being so strict?
"Um, Nanaka-nee...?"
"Iori-kun, it has been three days since you came to our house, but do you know something?"
"Know what?"
"Do you know where you're actually staying?"
"..."
Boom!
Kitahara Iori looked as if he had been struck by lightning. Even Shiro turned to him in shock.
No way... No way!
He never expected that Kitahara, in order to avoid troubling his host family, hadn't returned home for two nights! How moving!
Haruto couldn't help but shed tears. Kitahara Iori wasn't just an idiot—he... he was a good person!
A man so considerate that he didn't even step into his own home for three days to avoid inconveniencing others!