While Kamishiro and Aunt Kotegawa were having their heartfelt conversation—
Back at the shop, Aina and Chisa were discussing the "life and death" crisis of their three male companions!
Let's rewind to when Aina had just run to Chisa—
Seeing Aina so panicked, Chisa's first reaction was: Did those two idiots get into a fight with a customer?
That would be a major incident!
But Aina's next words made Chisa realize—it wasn't major, it was even worse…
"Iori, Kouhei, and Kamishiro… they might actually die!"
Chisa: (′｀;)?
"What the heck did you guys do while saying goodbye to the customers?!"
Did they throw hands or something?!
Wait, didn't Kamishiro just go out with her mom?
Outside?
About to die?
Chisa quickly asked, "Wait, was it a car accident?"
That seemed like the only explanation!
She was about to dial 120 when Aina quickly stopped her.
"No, no! That's not it!"
"They said it was because their crotches might explode and kill them!"
Chisa: {{(°△°; "}}!
"There's such a thing?!"
That sounded just as absurd as when she learned the boys didn't strip during the drinking party!
She didn't really believe it, but seeing Aina's expression, she moved in closer.
"…Okay, let's hear your explanation."
Seeing that Chisa was at least willing to listen, Aina quickly spilled everything she had heard.
"I don't know that much about men either, but… I heard that if guys don't do that, they'll die in two weeks!"
"What?!"
Chisa still didn't quite believe it. "You're talking nonsense."
She had never heard of such a bizarre male-specific rule—not even in kindergarten!
Seeing Chisa growing skeptical, Aina got more worked up. "I know it sounds crazy! But… but think about their usual behavior!"
"Their usual behavior?"
"You know, the stuff we girls can't understand!"
Images flashed through Chisa's mind.
Iori was unreasonably obsessed with lewd books and adult videos, and his gaze when looking at women was downright dangerous.
Kouhei was a little better—at least his gaze wasn't as creepy (except when it came to Shiori).
But his room had even more lewd books than Iori's!
He even drew his own!
As for Kamishiro…
No need to even say it. A total scumbag. A notorious womanizer with a triple-digit body count.
And logically speaking, no matter how much someone liked that stuff, if they overdid it, their desire should eventually fade.
But Kamishiro showed no signs of fading—if anything, it was getting worse!
With all that in mind, Chisa started to think… maybe this was actually real.
"When you put it that way… yeah, it makes sense…
I always thought it was some emotion I couldn't understand, but if it's literally a matter of life and death, then it all adds up!"
"Right?! It makes total sense!"
Chisa and Aina looked at each other with sudden clarity.
If there were a "Fools of the Year" list, this conversation would have definitely earned them a top spot.
"Wait a sec!"
Chisa suddenly interrupted Aina, remembering something. "But when we went to Okinawa, nothing like that happened!"
"That was only five days! Didn't you notice? When Kamishiro slept in Azusa senpai's room, he always came out disheveled, and Azusa senpai would say some flirty stuff!"
Azusa senpai saying flirty stuff to Kamishiro is totally normal though～
Recalling that scene, Aina grew even more certain of her theory!
"I bet it was Azusa senpai or Nanaka san who secretly helped 'treat' Kamishiro!"
"Is that what really happened?!"
Chisa was stunned, struggling to accept it. She finally understood why Kamishiro kept calling her mom "Mother-in-law."
So it was because he and her sister were…
Unforgivable! They'd kept this from her the whole time!
This revelation shook Chisa's worldview. She instinctively tried to find flaws in it.
"But… I've never heard of anyone dying from this…"
After all, Japan's annual death rate isn't low, and there are all kinds of causes.
Some people even throw themselves in front of cement trucks out of despair.
But in all her twenty years of life, she'd never once heard of someone dying from not doing it!
Though… karoshi (death from overwork) does happen…
Faced with Chisa's skepticism, Aina immediately fired back—
"That may be true, but maybe we just don't know about it!"
Just moments ago, while the two of them were trying to make sense of all the incomprehensible situations involving the three Kamishiro boys, Aina had already become a firm believer!
Not only had she fully believed it, she could even come up with concrete reasons to convince Chisa!
At that moment, Chisa couldn't stop thinking about what her mom had said to her just before leaving.
"You should learn more about the differences between men and women that aren't covered in health education…"
This must be what Mom was referring to—the part that health classes don't cover.
And this was exactly the knowledge she lacked!
With a heavy feeling in her chest, Chisa spun on her heel and headed straight for the shop entrance.
"I'm going to confirm it!"
"Confirm what?"
Kamishiro walked back in through the door, yawning, and looked at Chisa and Aina with a puzzled expression. Why were these two acting so serious?
"Kamishiro?!"
"You... why are you here?!"
The sudden appearance of Kamishiro startled the girls so much their voices even trembled.
Surely, he hadn't overheard their conversation just now, right?!
"I finished talking with Aunt and came back. What's up with you two?"
Kamishiro scratched his head, wondering if Chisa had been struck dumb by her mother.
Looks like he had to speed up his plan to get the mother and daughter to open up. If they kept going like this, one of them might actually lose it.
Across from him—
Chisa and Aina, completely unaware of what Kamishiro was thinking, were now debating whether to just go ahead and ask him directly.
Though they could easily verify the truth just by asking Kamishiro, this kind of topic… was just too awkward to bring up!
Whether it was true or not, even mentioning something like this was mortifying!
The two girls exchanged a glance, then nodded in silent agreement—they'd probe subtly first.
"Um… we just wanted to see if Iori and the others were finished cleaning up."
Aina waved her hand awkwardly as she answered Kamishiro's earlier question, clearly uneasy.
"I see…"
Kamishiro, who was still busy thinking of ways to make Chisa and her mom drop their pride and have an honest talk, didn't notice Aina's awkward tone and nodded casually.
Meanwhile, Chisa figured since they were going to ask anyway, she might as well check on Kamishiro's condition first.
"Um, Kamishiro, how are you feeling right now?"
She looked at him with an inquisitive gaze. Honestly, she didn't want to believe this whole thing.
Please—just say you're feeling great!
"My condition…?"
Kamishiro touched the bump on his head—courtesy of her mother's strike.
It still hurt!
"Ugh, I don't feel that great."
Boom!
At that moment, Chisa felt like her entire worldview was about to collapse.
Even Kamishiro wasn't feeling well!
Just now he touched his head—wait, does it start with a headache?
Top down?!
And on the last day… does it really end with a exploding crotch?!
Chisa felt like she was beginning to understand what her mom meant. There really was a lot that health class never taught!
"Anyway, let's go check on how Iori and the others are doing with the cleanup!"
Despite her shock, Chisa was still the type to think things through rationally.
She kept trying to reason with herself:
"It's just Kamishiro."
"Maybe it's just a coincidence—like a headache."
"He might've just fallen earlier…"
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Okay, fine—she was just in denial. She still couldn't accept it. Unless Iori and the others had the same symptoms, she just couldn't believe it!
With that, she headed straight outside. Iori and the others should be about done by now.
Watching Chisa's awkward, synchronized-arm-and-leg walk, Kamishiro tilted his head, confused.
Was he really that terrifying?
He pulled out his pocket mirror and checked himself.
Yup—still as handsome as ever!
Chisa must've finally been overwhelmed by his good looks.
It had taken six months, but she finally realized how handsome he was~
With that thought, Kamishiro's mood visibly improved. Humming a tune, he followed the two girls.
As for getting the mother and daughter to open up? He'd think about that tonight before bed.
Nighttime was when inspiration struck!
Up ahead—
As Chisa reached the doorway, she patted her cheeks and put on a smile.
Can't let Iori and Kohei catch on too soon!
She exchanged a glance with Aina, and together they stepped out of the shop.
"You guys worked hard~"
"Have you finished cleaning up——yet?"
Chisa's smile froze.
The scene before her made it impossible to keep smiling.
There, right in front of them, Kohei was kneeling on the ground, clutching his crotch in pain.
And Iori was crouched next to him, looking on with deep concern and gently comforting him.
This touching display of affection was something they had never seen before!
Behind them, Kamishiro noticed the girls' strange expressions and quickly stepped forward.
"What's wrong?"
Chisa didn't respond. She just pointed ahead.
Following her finger, Kamishiro looked—
—and instantly felt a tightness below his waist.
There are some pains that you can feel just by watching someone else suffer.
He hurried over to Kohei's side and asked, "You okay? Still functional?"
"Ughhh…" Kohei trembled and replied weakly, "Sorry, could you… rub my back a bit?"
"Sure!"
"Don't push yourself. If it's too much, you should go."
"I-I just need a minute… I'll be fine."
Go where?!
Chisa and Aina's minds conjured up the image of Kabukicho…
So it was true after all!
What was once a tender scene of two people had now become a scene of three.
At that moment—
They realized they no longer needed proof from these three.
It was all real.
If a boy goes two weeks without that, it really is a health risk!
And judging by what they'd seen so far, Kohei's case was even worse than Kamishiro's.
It had already reached his lower half!
Neither Chisa nor Aina could remember how they even got back to the shop. All they could think about was Kamishiro's headache… and Kohei clutching his groin.
Looking at things now, Iori actually seemed to have the mildest symptoms. At least he wasn't showing any visible distress.
"It really is true…"
"It's unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable…"
The facts were right in front of them—there was no denying it anymore.
"I've never seen Kamishiro and Iori care about Kohei like that."
In their memories, the three were always goofing off, roughhousing, even laughing while bleeding from the head sometimes.
But this time…
They'd seen with their own eyes how truly worried those two looked.
That meant—it really was serious.
"Men's bodies are so hard to understand…"
Aina sighed. This was way more outrageous than girls' periods.
"Mhm. I never knew either," Chisa agreed.
She had made up her mind—once they got home, she was going to buy a bunch of books.
She was going to fully study and understand the male body!
"But…" Aina still had one lingering question. "They must've thought about this possibility before they came, right?"
After all, they'd known it would be two weeks. There's no way they didn't make any preparations.
Now that she mentioned it, Chisa frowned slightly.
"True… it's like they weren't prepared at all… wait!"
"What is it?"
"They did prepare…"
Chisa suddenly remembered—on their way here, the three boys had a bunch of games and dirty magazines confiscated!
"No way… they were all taken."
"Well, I guess it's not exactly stuff you can bring overseas…"
That must have been their gear—their emergency supplies.
Back then, they didn't understand why the boys were sobbing like that over a pile of magazines and games.
But now?
Those weren't just magazines and games—those were their lifelines!
"It really was two weeks, wasn't it…?"
Chisa's voice trembled as she turned to Aina for confirmation.
"Yeah, that's what I heard too…"
Aina covered her mouth. In their shock earlier, they had completely overlooked a critical detail.
And only now were they remembering it.
Today marked the tenth day of their part-time job...
Which also meant—Kamishiro and the others only had three days left...
A heavy sense of sadness lingered in the hearts of the two girls.
Outside the shop
The trio that the girls were thinking about—those who supposedly only had three days left—were slowly making their way toward the store.
Kamishiro and Iori were supporting Kohei, one on each side. Kohei was shuffling forward with his legs tightly pressed together.
Iori: "Feeling a bit better now?"
Kohei: "A little..."
"What even happened? How did you end up getting hurt there all of a sudden?"
Kamishiro raised an eyebrow. Had these two gone off claiming to clean the stove, only to flirt with some married woman or something?
"I just didn't see the pillar in the middle of the walkway while carrying stuff…"
{{(°△°; "}}!
At those words, Kamishiro instinctively clenched his legs tighter.
Even stubbing your pinky toe is enough to make anyone scream in pain—so injuring that place...
Kamishiro gave Kohei a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I really, truly sympathize with your pain."
But that's all—just sympathy!
No way was he ever going to experience something like that in this lifetime!
"Well, it's just my luck, I guess. At least the shift's finally over." Kohei sighed. Only a cold beer could soothe his battered body and soul now.
"Hurry up already. Once we get back, we can drink to our heart's content."
At that, a smile crept onto Kamishiro's face too.
Drinking sounds good. Maybe a few sips would spark a brilliant idea or two~
Just as the three stepped inside the shop to check on the final cleanup…
At that moment—
They locked eyes with Chisa and Aina.
And what kind of eyes were those?
Eyes filled with pity. Sadness. Helplessness. Like bystanders watching a cow about to be slaughtered—gazing upon the doomed with compassion.
And they... were the cows.
Why?!
Why were they looking at them like that?
What had happened while they were gone?!
Iori and Kohei instinctively turned their gaze toward Kamishiro.
This guy definitely knew something.
He was the only one who hadn't been with them earlier!
Kamishiro: {{(°△°; "}}!
But he really didn't know anything!!!