Same tree-lined path. Same trio: a handsome guy, a pretty girl… and a dumbass.
But this time, their expressions were different.
Kohei looked like he was about to sell a kidney—he didn't have enough money to buy Kaya Mizuki's wetsuit.
"Guess I'll have to sell a kidney…"
"Sorry, that wetsuit belongs to my uncle," Iori broke the news bluntly, killing Kohei's kidney-selling plan at the root.
Thud!
Kohei dropped to his knees in despair, frozen like a statue pounding the pavement.
Not gonna lie—it looked surprisingly artistic.
Meanwhile, Kamishiro was humming a little tune. He was in a great mood after scoring several rare ryona doujins at bargain prices.
Judging by the dust on those things, Kohei really was a hardcore "pure love" type.
Iori and Chisa, on the other hand, were seriously considering their next move.
None of them really had anything valuable to sell at auction.
That included Kamishiro too—he had plenty of weird, shameful collectibles, but not much with real monetary value.
So now it was time to shift strategies.
"If we can't increase income, then reducing expenses will work just as well," Kamishiro suggested. He remembered this from an old man's lecture.
That sparked something in Iori's mind.
"Meaning we just need to eliminate our biggest living expense!"
"Our biggest expense…"
"Rent!" ×3
All three shouted in unison.
Clearly, they were thinking the same thing. One of the main reasons Iori could survive even while being blackmailed by Kamashiro was because he didn't have to pay rent.
In Japan, rent was often more expensive than food.
Food could be skipped here and there—like underground idols, who reportedly only ate two meager meals a day. Mostly just rice with egg.
Aina wasn't that bad off. When it came to food, she could just go to Pab for meals.
Kamishiro freeloaded there often anyway. Adding Aina wouldn't make a difference—they could just charge it to Kamishiro later.
"If it's just about rent, that's an easy fix," Kamishiro said confidently. "She can just move in with me."
Whoosh!
Iori and Chisa immediately shot him a look like he was some kind of pervert. Chisa even pulled out her phone, ready to call the cops.
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"Wait, wait! It's not what you think!"
Kamishiro quickly explained himself. Clearly, they had misunderstood his intention.
"I meant, the zombie girl can move into my place—and I'll live somewhere else."
That cleared things up. Their expressions returned to normal.
They had thought—no matter how much of a scumbag he was—he wouldn't actually prey on people around him.
But… there was still one more problem.
"If Aina's going to stay at your place, then where are you going to live?"
Faced with Chisa's question, Shiro Kamishiro didn't answer. He simply flashed a smile full of hidden meaning.
Was he ever worried about having nowhere to go?
Kiyoko, Sakurako, Azusa-nee, the Dragon Tiger Love Hotel—
What he was struggling with was probably which place to go!
"..."
Seeing that pervy smile, Chisa knew she had worried for nothing. It felt like losing his room was actually the ultimate liberation for Shiro.
But this was indeed a good solution. As long as there was no rent to pay, a huge portion of expenses could be cut!
"That's decided then!"
"Right? Right? It's the best way."
Shiro nodded with a grin, already weighing which one of his consorts he would stay with tonight.
"There's still a room at the dive shop. Aina can stay there."
"Right, right, the dive shop... the dive shop?!"
Shiro's dreams shattered as he stared at Chisa in disbelief. "Why the dive shop? And since when is there a room available there?"
They'd already taken in one idiot; did they really have to keep squeezing their living space like this?
"There is a room. It was originally prepped for Iori. But…"
Chisa trailed off. Everyone there remembered what happened during that incident.
(;¬＿¬)
"Could you not say it so directly?"
Iori looked a little embarrassed. He really hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in that room.
"But… but…"
"It's definitely easier for Aina to accept staying at the dive shop than at Shiro's place."
Shiro had wanted to argue, but Chisa cut him off completely.
He had no rebuttal.
Looks like he'd be snuggling his beloved little bed again tonight.
"Let's go! Time to go retrieve the zombie girl!"
With the problem solved, smiles lit up the group's faces again. They grabbed Kohei—who at some point had collapsed on the ground—and began the journey back.
Iori's Room
The four-man team sat in silence.
Moments ago, they had failed—spectacularly!
After Iori returned, he had asked Aina directly and confirmed there really was a personal reason she couldn't speak openly about, and that she had to go back home.
After confirming that, they moved to Plan B.
Iori showed Aina the newly set-up room they had prepared for her. It had all the "tools" they had gathered.
Including but not limited to: lacy see-through panties, life-sized body pillows, erotic anime, erotic games, and the like.
And yet—
Aina rejected it!
She even asked in horror if this was some kind of punishment game!
Thinking about a girl living in a room full of porn paraphernalia... yeah, it did kinda seem like a punishment game.
But it wasn't supposed to go like this! Things had reached this point—wasn't she supposed to be too desperate to be picky about the environment?!
"So why exactly did she reject it?"
"Life-wise, it should have been fully functional."
"And mentally, very stimulating."
"..."
The four of them rested their chins on their hands, deep in thought.
The zombie girl didn't seem like someone who couldn't survive in harsh conditions.
Shouldn't she have been moved to tears and accepted immediately?
As they were pondering with no answers in sight, the voices of their seniors called out for them to come over.
They went to the main hall and found Aina there too. From the looks of it, some announcement was about to be made.
And it didn't seem to be anything bad—everyone's smiles looked genuine.
So… the zombie girl leaving actually made them happy?!
The four quickly tossed that idea—no way. Their upperclassmen valued every club member far more than they did.
Luckily, they weren't kept waiting for long. The upperclassmen went straight to the point.
Blah blah blah…
"In short, Aina has to go back home for a while to help with farm work!"
BOOM!
They didn't catch most of the stuff said before, but they heard the final summary loud and clear.
The four stood frozen like they'd been hit by lightning.
Then:
"FARM WORK?!" ×4
Shiro, Kohei, and the chisa glared murderously at Iori. Wasn't it this guy who'd said it was a financial issue?!
{{(°△°; ")}}!
Sensing their hostility, Iori quickly stepped back and cried toward Azusa-san, "Didn't you say it was about money before?!"
Azusa twirled her hair playfully, "Well~ Aina's parents did say that if she didn't go home, they wouldn't pay her tuition. That's a financial issue, right~?"
She smiled meaningfully after that. Judging from their reactions, she knew her little scheme had succeeded—and overachieved.
"Don't scare us like that!!"
"Yeah! We were worried for nothing!"
"I'm going to get my collection back!"
Now that the truth was out, the trio stomped off toward Iori's room to retrieve their precious items.
Shiro hadn't even gotten a chance to read those "dark" doujins yet!
Watching them leave, Aina finally understood—their odd behavior earlier had all been because of her.
A bright, heartfelt smile bloomed on her face. "Ehehe~ so you guys were worried about me all along~"
"No one was worried about you!"
"Huh? What the hell are you babbling about?!"
"Just a dumb zombie girl, why would we care?!"
The three of them exploded like powder kegs, but this time, even with their hostile attitude, Aina continued smiling radiantly.
It was the first time she realized she actually meant something to them.
"But I really do have to leave for a while. While I'm gone, don't go making too many good memories without me, okay~?"
"Who cares?!" ×3
The trio shouted as they went to retrieve their "treasures," while elsewhere, Chisa had been mentally checked out from the start.
Her cheeks were red as she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide from the embarrassment.