"I'm walking Nanami and Mashiro home, don't wait up for me."
After shouting to her sisters, Ichika left. Back inside, the other four gathered with serious expressions.
Nino: "Do you guys think Ichika has been acting weird lately?" Miku: "She was weird during the holidays. She was always gone, and whenever we went out, she had an excuse not to come." Yotsuba: "Didn't she say she was with friends?" Itsuki: "She doesn't have that many friends. And she looks exhausted every day..."
The four reached a bold conclusion... Is Ichika secretly seeing a boyfriend?
She went out during the break to "date," and now she was using "walking Nanami home" as an excuse to meet him. To date someone and not tell them—they were definitely going to interrogate her when she got back!
Unaware of the impending trial, Ichika arrived at Kaede's house with Nanami and Mashiro. Rin and Rinon were there, but so were Karen and Shion.
"This is Karen, the Student Council President, and her maid, Shion... I told you we had a friend with connections in the film industry. That's her."
"A... maid?" Ichika blinked at the girl in the maid uniform. Her own family was wealthy, but not "old-money-with-maids" wealthy.
"Yes, I am Lady Karen's maid. You may call me Shion, Miss Nakano." Shion bowed gracefully. While she called Karen a "sow" in private, she kept up appearances in front of guests.
"You don't have to call me Miss Nakano. I have five sisters, so 'Nakano' gets confusing. Just call me Ichika."
After some brief introductions, Kaede invited Ichika to sit. Shion served tea and stood behind Karen. However, Ichika was more focused on the dynamic between Kaede, Rinon, and Rin.
The idea of "marrying the same guy" was something she and her sisters joked about as kids... but seeing it actually happen with twins was mind-blowing. She wanted to gossip, but since they weren't that close yet, she held her tongue.
While Ichika was observing the twins, Kaede was observing her.
"Nanami gave me the gist, but could you tell me exactly what happened, Ichika?" Karen asked after a sip of tea.
Ichika explained the day's events. She could handle failure, but she couldn't stand being cheated out of a role because she refused a "casting couch" offer.
"Relax. Just tell me which crew and which director. My family has invested in a lot of films; we might even own the one you auditioned for."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." Karen smiled. "Most of those directors are just hacks wasting our money. I'm an investor. If you want to be the lead actress, I can make it happen with one phone call."
The Hojo family was a massive conglomerate with interests in everything, and film was a great way to launder money. It was highly likely they were backing the project.
It was just like the loan sharks Ryo dealt with. Shion just had to make one call to the boss, and the problem vanished. In fact, if Rin hadn't told Shion to let Ryo learn a lesson, that loan shark would have been forced to apologize to Ryo on his knees.
"No, no, no!" Ichika waved her hands frantically. "I don't need a lead role. I know I'm not ready for that. I just want to play an extra who dies in two shots to experience the atmosphere. Thank you, Miss Karen."
"No problem. A friend of theirs is a friend of mine." Karen glanced at Kaede, and a spark of mischief passed between them. Helping Ichika was easy for Karen. But simply helping her only made them "friends." To go further, they needed something more.
Nanami, seeing their eyes, silently prayed for Ichika's soul.
"However..." Kaede chimed in, furrowing her brow. "It's not good for Karen to show her face directly, right?"
"True. No need for me to step out for such a small matter. I'll just tell my subordinates."
"Even if you teach that director a lesson, what if she meets another one who doesn't recognize her?"
Rin almost laughed at how well Kaede and Karen were playing off each other. Karen had been summoned by Kaede specifically for this. Rin's "system daughters" had already told him about their little scheme. They were creating an "opportunity."
"Surely not everyone is like that..." Ichika muttered.
"Not necessarily. Some people with a tiny bit of power love to trade it for sex," Kaede said with a grin. "If Karen personally warned everyone or took you to a gala, you'd be safe, but that's not convenient. We can't bother Karen every time you have an audition."
"True," Karen nodded.
"Since Karen can't do it... why don't we have him and Shion handle it?" Kaede looked at Rin with a wicked smile. "He can pretend to be your boyfriend, with Shion as his 'attendant' to teach that director a lesson. Soon, word will spread that you're the girlfriend of some powerful young master. No one will dare touch you, and your audition success rate will skyrocket."
"Eh? Have... have him pretend to be my boyfriend?"
Ichika looked at Kaede in disbelief. She wants her own boyfriend to pretend to be mine!?
Ichika took a sharp breath. The plan was logical, but was Kaede really that generous? Wouldn't she be jealous?
Then again, if she wasn't generous, she wouldn't be sharing a man with her twin. She even let Nanami and Mashiro live with him. It was just acting. Am I the one being perverted for thinking there's something wrong with it?
Seeing Ichika waver, Kaede added the final hook.
"Exactly! Ichika, you've never been in a relationship, right? Pretending to be his girlfriend won't just solve your problem—it'll help you practice your acting skills. It's two birds with one stone!"