Unknowingly, Shiro and the other freshmen had reached their first summer break at Izu University.
They had hoped to create some wonderful memories—but right from the start, they were utterly defeated.
Their dear companion, zombie girl Aina, had gone home to help with farming!
Many of their plans were now impossible.
"..."
Okay, fine—they never actually had any plans.
A week into the summer break, the four of them were basically just rotting on the couch at the dive shop.
Under normal circumstances, Shiro would never be in such a state. He should've been on some tropical island, sunbathing and surrounded by beauties.
But this summer was different.
In the spirit of "sharing both blessings and hardships," Iori and Kohei trapped Shiro here with them.
They even blocked his front door one day to stop him from sneaking off!
Faced with such relentless tactics, Shiro gave up. He completely slacked off.
At least Azusa-nee, Kiyoko, and Sakurako were around, so no rush to go anywhere.
Their week was spent mostly holding casual drinking parties to stave off boredom.
But—
Recently, they started noticing something odd.
Their upperclassmen… weren't acting normal.
There was a strong sense of unease.
For instance, Glasses-senpai, usually energetic, now looked haggard and exhausted.
Anzai-senpai had lost half his body weight!
If not for his signature bald head, Shiro wouldn't have recognized him.
And worst of all Kotobuki-senpai!
Yesterday, he refused to attend a drinking party in the group chat!!!
This was like Tokyo TV suddenly broadcasting a national emergency alert!
Which is why they had to call today's urgent meeting.
That's right—this was the freshman four's emergency strategy meeting!
At the dive shop's dining table, three serious-looking guys and one girl (who thought the other three were just bored out of their minds) sat around.
"I think we need to investigate the cause of this bizarre situation!"
Shiro struck a thinking pose. Everything about this was just too weird.
"Seconded!" ×2
"..."
Iori and Kohei agreed without hesitation—they clearly grasped how serious things had become.
Chisa had no choice but to join. After all, this was her family's dive shop—no escaping.
"I have some preliminary theories!"
A flash of genius appeared in Iori's eyes.
"Based on the symptoms the upperclassmen are showing, I've come up with three possible reasons."
He tapped a blackboard (where did that come from?) where he'd already written:
1. Sick
2. Seriously sick 3. Serious illness 4. STD
"Get smart, Kitahara. These must be the four reasons."
"I think adding a mental disorder would be better!"
"…You guys are basically talking about one reason."
Chisa stared speechlessly at the trio, increasingly convinced they were discussing this because they were too idle.
"It's just missing one drinking party… no need to make a big deal out of it…"
She figured they might've just had something else going on.
Compared to Shirou Kamishiro and the others, Chisa clearly didn't understand these beasts.
"No, this is a *serious* situation!"
"Drinking parties are practically part of their lifestyle."
"Have you ever seen them miss one?"
Chisa shook her head. She hadn't seen the club's Senpai skip a drinking party—they only complained about not drinking *enough*…
"Well, to put it simply, it's like Iori suddenly disliking boobs."
!!!?
"That serious?!"
Shirou's analogy instantly made Chisa grasp the gravity of the situation.
Though it ticked off a certain idiot.
"Have you two considered that I'm *right here*?"
"Oh? So you don't like boobs anymore?"
"I…"
Iori fell silent. No matter what, he couldn't lie about *that*. Those were *boobs*!
"Now I get it, but I don't think it's illness."
Realizing the severity, Chisa dismissed Iori's earlier guesses.
She shared what she'd seen recently.
*Azusa: "You've lost so much weight."*
*Anzai: "Haha, no big deal… ten hours a week will do that."*
"Ten hours?"
Iori and Kohei tilted their heads, baffled. What could someone do for ten hours a week to turn a burly guy into a stick?
"Ten hours…"
"Could it be *that*?!"
Iori's face lit up with shock. He'd thought of a possibility—one that made him so jealous he wanted to kill!
"You figured it out?"
Shirou and the others looked at Iori, curious what this scheming master had deduced.
"It's gotta be *that*! Only *that* could make someone lose so much weight in a week!"
His gritted teeth betrayed his intense envy.
"What's *that*?"
"Damn it! Obviously ??OO!"
"…"
The trio went quiet, suddenly understanding Iori's jealousy.
His mind was full of dirty nonsense… and could Anzai-senpai, looking like *that*, even *get* a girlfriend?
Not that they looked down on Anzai-senpai, but his old appearance wasn't much better than a gang boss.
"No way, Kitahara. Absolutely not!"
Shirou firmly shot down Iori's idea, explaining under their puzzled gazes.
"I've tried ten, even fifteen hours a week. It doesn't make you lose *that* much weight!"
*Pfft!*
The words stabbed Iori's heart like a sword.
He grabbed Shirou's collar like a vengeful spirit. "You're bragging, aren't you? You're *definitely* bragging!"
"I'm just stating facts~"
Shirou spread his hands, wearing an innocent look, as if it were all an accident.
But the mockery and amusement in his eyes gave him away~
"You bastard!!!"
Iori's expression turned tragic, cursing the unfair heavens!
"…"
Chisa and Kohei quietly turned away. One was too pure, the other a shut-in otaku—neither had such worldly desires.
"If you're really worried, why not just ask them directly?"
Recalling Aina's incident, Chisa thought confronting the person was better than wild guesses, which could lead to another misunderstanding.
The trio remembered Aina…
So embarrassing.
As for asking the Senpai face-to-face…
"We'd love to."
"The problem is finding them."
"I haven't seen Kotobuki-senpai in days."
*Creak~*
"Excuse us…"
Right as they spoke, the diving shop's door swung open, revealing none other than Kotobuki-senpai leading the eerie trio!
"Kotobuki-senpai?!"
"You're still alive?!"
Shirou and the others gaped at the three at the door. Talk about speak of the devil— it was like a movie scene.
But seeing them together, the sense of wrongness intensified. They barely resembled the vibrant trio from before.
Shirou noticed something that might not be a coincidence.
Kotobuki-senpai and the others… were all in the mechanical engineering department, their direct Senpai…
*Gulp*
Shirou swallowed, hoping it was just a happy coincidence.
"What's with you guys?"
"That's how you greet your Senpai?"
The frail trio chuckled. Though teasing, they looked like they could collapse any moment.
Chisa was already poised to dial 120.
"Senpai, what've you been up to lately…?"
Seeing their weakened state, Shirou asked directly. Things were worse than they'd imagined.
"Oh, just busy with special lectures for an elective."
Kotobuki-senpai gave a weak smile, his voice faint, as if drained by a succubus.
"Special lectures?"
"This."
Anzai-senpai approached with a box labeled "Mechanical Engineering."
They'd returned to retrieve it, having left it at the diving shop during a drinking party.
"Summer break, and you're still going to school?"
Chisa was puzzled, suddenly feeling the Senpai had it rough.
"Haha, it's just helping professors with odd jobs under the guise of 'lab experience.'"
Kotobuki patiently explained to the juniors. It was about boosting their value and preparing for thesis papers.
A high evaluation from a professor could help land jobs later.
As third-years, they couldn't play freely like before, with future paths looming.
"Laboratory…"
"I heard fourth-years get assigned to labs…"
"You two don't need to worry about that. With your brains, passing second year will be tough."
Shirou shot Iori and Kohei a mocking glance, sparing no mercy.
"Huh? What're you acting superior about?"
"Our grades are the same as yours, and you've got a 'Fail' too!"
"That's the teacher's fault!"
Shirou fumed at the mention. That idiot associate professor with the Tsukiyama hairstyle, Ushironomiya, gave nearly everyone a "Fail"!
Only Chisa and a few others escaped.
Shirou strongly suspected the fool graded based on personal bias!
"…"
Chisa stared speechlessly at the three idiots, convinced they'd never graduate.
The three Senpai, watching the heated debate, suddenly realized something.
"Speaking of, you guys are in the same major as us, right?"
"Yeah, all mechanical engineering."
"Nice, nice."
The trio exchanged glances, satisfied. Then, out of sight, they transformed into Titans, showing no trace of their earlier frailty!
{{(°△°; "}}!
Cursing Ushironomiya, Shirou suddenly felt a chilling dread behind him.
He turned to the Senpai.
"What's up, senpai?"
"Haha, nothing, nothing."
Sadly, the senpai had reverted to their harmless facades, ready to "recommend" something to their juniors.
"How about visiting the laboratory?"
"If the professors get to know you early, it'll help when you're assigned to a lab later."
"And if your credits are short, the professors might even pull some strings~"
!!!
Iori and Kohei, unmoved by the first two sentences, snapped to attention at the word "credits," standing up without hesitation.
"Let's go!" ×2
"…"
Shirou Kamishiro's lips twitched. These idiots didn't even think it through?!
Sure, "credits" were tempting, but he had a bad feeling about this.
He decided to trust his gut for now. As for credits… he'd recently made some connections with the principal's secretary. Maybe he could work something out?
With that thought, Shirou made up his mind!
"Ahem, I'll pass. I just remembered Kiyoko was looking for me."
He headed for the door. He'd rather spend the time flirting with girls.
"Oh, that's a shame."
"We were gonna introduce you to a fourth-year senpai—short-haired, super cool type."
"And pretty much all the mechanical engineering Senpai girls are in that lab."
*Whoosh!*
As the senpai finished speaking, Shirou, now inexplicably in a sharper outfit with a rose in his mouth, turned to them.
"No time to waste—let's head out! Can't let the Senpai girls slave away in the lab!"
"…"
Everyone was speechless at Shirou's lightning-fast turnaround. Chisa gave the senpai a thumbs-up—talk about a precision strike.
As for Chisa, she was swayed too, but her motive was pure curiosity, unlike the trio chasing credits and girls!
Still…
"Won't we be a bother if we just show up like this?"
Chisa worried, knowing they were clueless and might slow the Senpai down.
"Haha, we don't mind."
"In fact, you're very welcome!"
Anzai-senpai and Glasses-senpai smiled warmly.
But beneath their friendly grins lurked a wilder glee—they'd found a way to share their burden~
As the leader, Kotobuki gave the quartet a heads-up.
"But you'll need to help with some tasks!"
"No problem!"
"Count us in!"
"Happy to help!"
Shirou, Iori, and Kohei agreed without hesitation. This was a golden chance for credits (and senpai girls' favor)—no way they'd pass it up!
Little did they know, they'd soon pay a steep price for their words.
They still didn't grasp what "ten hours a week" meant.
To make someone so haggard in a week? That meant only ten hours of *sleep* per week!
Hell awaited them!!