kscans

Chapter 627 - Girls' Get-Together

The next day—or rather, still the same day.

After all that, I failed to get any real sleep and ended up passing out around five in the morning. Consequently, I blew right through the morning and woke up early in the afternoon.

It's summer break from university, and I have Kanata's training session tonight, so I can justify the temporary and necessary disruption to my sleep schedule. But… for today, of all days, you could say my timing was terrible.

Even if I had been up since morning, the present situation wouldn't have changed, but I would have at least been a little more mentally prepared.

And so, with that said, allow me to describe the somewhat fantastical scene currently unfolding in my humble abode—a room in the Yotsuya Dormitory—at three in the afternoon.

The main stage is the living room, which is furnished with a large table and sofa.

It's not exactly cramped, but spread across the tabletop is an assortment of what look like expensive store-bought sweets, alongside handmade treats of such quality they could be mistaken for them.

And lined up amicably on the sofa are three heads of hair: one white, one black, and one blonde.

I mean, look, I knew you were planning on doing something soon, but…

Could you please spare a thought for the guy who gets ambushed on the day of? The doorbell rang, I opened it, and there was the young lady of the Yotsuya family. To put it mildly, I was dumbfounded.

And more importantly…

"Can a girls' party held in a guy's room truly be called a girls' party?"

"You're in a separate category."

"For a lot of reasons, we'd be in trouble if you weren't here, Haru."

"If we count Haru-chan, we're all girls!"

"Hey, you, the last one. You asking for an extra-bitter espresso?"

Behind the assembled ladies, on the other side of the sofa's back, I was busy preparing drinks in the kitchen. I muttered my complaint, but it seemed all three of them heard me perfectly.

This is random, but I feel like my real-world eyesight has been getting mysteriously better lately.

It's not that far, but being able to clearly read Nia's small words from a distance has to be pretty impressive, right?

I wonder if that gift has some strange magic cast on it besides the disguise effect—

As if to escape reality, I turned my exceptionally sharp eyes toward the window, but the only thing visible through the high, narrow window—likely placed that way for security—was the unchanging sky.

The blinds are usually open, letting in plenty of sunlight, but according to Nagomi-san, it's designed so that no one can see in from the outside, no matter how hard they try.

I try not to think too deeply about how that works. It's probably one of those one-way mirror things. It must be.

It's just Yotsuya Development being Yotsuya Development.

"…Alright—here's your coffee, black."

"Thank you."

"Sora-san, a caffè latte, no sugar."

"Thank you very much."

"And an espresso for the cheeky one."

"Right, right. Thanks for the espresso with two sugars and lots of milk!"

And for me, a caffè latte with two sugars. And with that…

"Well then, ladies, please make yourselves at home…"

I tried to make a swift retreat to my bedroom, but two pairs of arms shot out from the sofa and caught me. At the same moment, Alicia, who had somehow teleported in front of me, snatched the cups from my hands so as not to spill them. It was a display of perfect coordination.

"Why?!"

"More importantly, why did you think you could escape this situation?"

"I told you, we'd be in trouble if you weren't here!"

"You're not getting away that easily!"

And so, that's how things stood at three o'clock snack time.

The siege of the girls' party, which had been set up while I was fast asleep, was perfectly executed. Even if that weren't the case, I was likely cut off from any intel intentionally. There was no escape route left for me.