"Haah~ So, ignoring her is really fine?"
Shiro asked absentmindedly while scooping goldfish from the water.
"She did look kinda pitiful."
"Spare me. That type of girl is impossible for me to deal with!"
Kouhei scooped up a goldfish as he spoke. Romance in the real world meant nothing to him.
"Well, that's true. That girl might just be another idiot like Kitahara."
Shiro handed his caught goldfish to the stall owner. This shop let people trade goldfish for prize marbles, just like in Magical Girl Lalako.
"Who are you calling an idiot, you piece of trash?!"
"You seriously have no self-awareness, Kitahara."
Kouhei also handed over his goldfish. The Lalako marbles here were really nice!
"Damn it! Of all people, I don't want to be insulted by you two!"
...
"Ahh~ What a peaceful moment~"
After finishing the goldfish scooping, the three of them played with their prizes as they made their way back.
They'd been out for quite a while, so it was probably time to take over the shift and let the others rest.
"Since the seniors aren't around."
"Honestly, it's nice to have a laid-back day like this once in a while."
"Wait, isn't this kind of life supposed to be normal for us?"
"..."
Shiro's words brought the conversation to an abrupt end.
This… was a tragic story.
From the moment they set foot into PaB, peaceful days like this no longer belonged to them!
BAM!
Suddenly, they felt a terrifying force surge behind them!
"Oh? If it isn't our rookie trio."
"You guys came at just the right time!"
"..."
The three of them fell silent, covering their faces.
Just how bad was their luck? They had just mentioned how there were no seniors around only for two of them to pop up out of nowhere!
And what did they mean by "right time"?!
"Why?!"
"Don't tell me… the drinking party has already started?"
"Isn't it still the school festival?"
Looking at the three of them, Tokita and Kotobuki smiled with satisfaction.
Very good. It seemed the trio had successfully integrated into the club. The fact that their first thought was about a drinking party was commendable!
But this wasn't about the drinking party.
"No, no. It's something else."
"The Male Category event is coming up soon, and it'd be troublesome if you guys got wasted before that."
"What the hell is that?"
Shiro asked, utterly baffled.
Forgive him, but when it came to these two seniors, his mind could only associate them with drinking parties…
"Well, you see, there's a social gathering with another club tonight."
"You guys are the only freshmen, but you still have to go and introduce yourselves."
!!!
Hearing this, Iori instantly perked up.
"A social gathering?! That means… girls?!"
He hadn't forgotten about the legendary joint party with Oumi Women's University that the seniors had mentioned during the room incident.
Speaking of which…
Why the hell hadn't that joint party happened yet?!
Kouhei was equally shocked.
He never expected that a club would actually be willing to socialize with PaB!
Only Shiro felt something was off.
If this involved girls, these two seniors wouldn't be looking so excited.
Women weren't enough to move them!
There was definitely something shady going on!
"Hahaha, just take a look for yourself."
Hearing Iori's words, Tokita pointed next to them.
Coincidentally, their stall was right there.
The three rookies turned their heads—
And saw three towering men, just as muscular as their two seniors, standing behind the teppan grill, grinning at them!
The stall's name?
"Rugby Club's Delicious Okonomiyaki!"
The moment he saw their smiles, Shiro suddenly felt like maybe the Makeup Corpse Beast wasn't so bad after all.
Iori, on the other hand, was so overwhelmed that he looked up toward the sky and let out silent tears.
This place…
There was no way a single girl had ever stepped foot here!!!
Shiro swallowed hard and muttered,
"Wait, weren't TB and us the only ones selling okonomiyaki? Why do they have a stall too?"
He clearly remembered Azusa telling him there were only supposed to be two stalls.
!!!
Kouhei stared at Shiro in shock.
How could this guy still be worrying about such trivial things when they were on the brink of doom?!
Shouldn't they be thinking about how to escape right now?!
"Ah, about that... it's actually kind of weird. For some reason, no one ever buys their okonomiyaki, so when Azusa did the calculations, she didn't include them."
"Yeah, it's really strange. But they still set up a stall every year—very persistent. Oh, and they're also really good at drinking."
The two seniors explained, also puzzled by the lack of customers.
"..."
Shiro silently glanced at the stall again.
The same three muscular men were staring at him.
And their grins looked even more menacing.
He… had a pretty good idea why no one was buying their okonomiyaki.
If they could still make sales despite that, then their food must be insanely good!
"By the way, another club is joining the gathering too~"
"A little hint—it starts with 'Karate' and ends with 'Do'. Sounds exciting, right?"
The two seniors continued, their words sending chills down the trio's spines, despite the 37-degree heat.
"If you're gonna be that obvious, just say it outright!"
"Not even letting us hold onto a sliver of hope, huh?!"
"Are you sure you're going to drink and not attend some kind of macho-fest?!"
The three couldn't take it anymore. They bolted toward their own stall!
If they didn't run now, they'd be dragged into the brotherhood event!
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The two seniors didn't give them a chance.
Lifting all three onto their shoulders, they carried them straight into the abyss of despair!
"Let's go, everyone!"
"You can't just skip the welcome toast!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" ×3