"So — this is your excuse for disappearing for two whole days and two whole nights, and not even returning my messages?"
Kazami Kazuki's small, delicate foot hooked the toe of her dangerously loose slipper and swung it back and forth as she fixed a thoroughly unimpressed stare on Jhin — who was sporting a sheepish grin — and Hitori Gotoh, who was hiding directly behind him with imaginary steam pouring from the top of her head, doing her very best impression of an old coal locomotive.
"Think of it as a momentary lapse of judgment on my part."
"J-Jhin's sister — actually, it was my fault. I was the one who wouldn't let Jhin check his phone," Bocchi-chan ventured bravely, attempting to draw at least some of the fire away from her boyfriend. It lasted approximately one second. The moment Kazami Kazuki's gaze swiveled toward her, she folded completely. "Sorry — I didn't say anything. Pretend I'm not here."
"Fine. I'll deal with you about that later." Kazami Kazuki had no intention of playing the villain, so she set the matter aside for now. "The other three girls — from the looks of them, none of them seem to remember a thing from after they got drunk. Are you absolutely sure Ichi-chan was actually drunk?"
"W-well, actually, I didn't eat very many of the fermented sweet rice balls — and I sort of... woke up in the middle of it all..."
"That explains it. I had no idea you all had such a low tolerance..." Kazami Kazuki had been entertaining the idea of organizing a girls-only drinking party with them once they all turned twenty, but it was now painfully clear she would need to do thorough reconnaissance on everyone's limits before that could happen.
Then again, watching other people make absolute fools of themselves while drunk sounds considerably more entertaining... Maybe I'll skip the preliminary research after all.
"New Year's is right around the corner — make sure you get Michiru her birthday present. Don't forget."
"I will." Jhin nodded. With his report to his sister officially concluded, he and Hitori Gotoh headed out of the room.
When the two of them arrived in the base's main hall, they walked straight into a scene: Tamaki Mari — playing the role of an armed robber — was holding Miyake Hinata hostage at toy-gunpoint, while Shiraishi Yuzuki sat calmly at a table adorned with a small red mailbox model and a wooden sign reading "Base Post Office" in blue letters. Her eyelids were at half-mast, and both her expression and her eyebrows were broadcasting pure, unadulterated exasperation.
"Mari..."
"Shut it!" Tamaki Mari roughened her voice into her best movie-villain rasp. "Hand over the money, or this one's not making it out alive!"
"Oh no~! Someone save me! I have a tortoise and a hamster back home who depend on me — I can't die yet! I'm their primary caretaker!"
Miyake Hinata's dramatically overwrought performance was, if anything, even less convincing than Tamaki Mari's.
Shiraishi Yuzuki straightened the script in her hands and delivered her line with the weary resignation of someone who had long since made peace with her circumstances: "I'm terribly sorry. This is a post office. The bank is next door."
"Oh, come on, Yuzuki — can't you just play along and pretend you work at a bank?"
Hitori Gotoh noticed the video camera set up nearby. That was all it took — she immediately decided she had absolutely no desire to stick around and watch the rest. She murmured a quick goodbye to Jhin and made herself scarce.
Shirase Kobuchizawa, who had been diligently checking equipment off to one side, spotted the chaos unfolding mere minutes before the New Year's countdown livestream test was set to begin. Her expression went flat. She marched over to Tamaki Mari, reached around her, and yanked the black balaclava and UV-protective sunglasses clean off her head.
"Do you have any idea what time it is? You're still messing around?"
"...Ah."
The contrast was immediate and striking. Tamaki Mari's small face, bronzed to a deep tan by ultraviolet exposure, formed a jarring patchwork with the pale, untouched skin ringing her eyes in a perfect figure-eight pattern — the unmistakable signature of someone who had, in the name of convenience, been working outdoors wearing only the protective sunglasses and skipping the balaclava entirely.
"Pfft — pfft, pfft, pfft—" With Tamaki's disguise ripped away, Shirase Kobuchizawa couldn't hold it together. She turned her back, covered her mouth with both hands, and shook with barely-suppressed laughter.
Miyake Hinata had no such restraint and dissolved into full, unhinged cackling. Even Shiraishi Yuzuki lifted her script up in front of her face and quivered.
"Tamaki-san, that is... quite a distinctive look you've got there."
"Jhin — not you too." Tamaki Mari's tears began to flow in a torrent. She was absolutely, deeply, sincerely regretting her life choices. She had felt a little stifled wearing the balaclava over the past few days, so she'd been going out to work with just the sunglasses — and only when she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror had she discovered the full, humiliating extent of the damage.
If only I could turn back time...
As the room buzzed with laughter, the television screen behind Tamaki Mari flickered to life. The expedition team had successfully connected to the domestic broadcast feed. On screen, a presenter was running through the preliminary checks: "Hello — can everyone at the base hear us?"
The instant the presenter's voice rang out, Shirase Kobuchizawa jack-knifed forward, bolted out of frame, and threw herself to the side. She was not ready to be on camera. Not even close.
"Hey — Shirase! The test is starting!" Miyake Hinata called out loudly.
"Got it."
"Hahahaha — what happened to your face?! Someone take a photo!"
"Sis, you're not seriously planning to go on the New Year's Eve livestream looking like that, are you?"
Laughter erupted from the television. Tamaki Mari's mother and younger sister were beside themselves, making absolutely no attempt to comfort her and going straight for the jokes instead.
"We haven't seen each other in so long, and the first thing you do is laugh at me..." The thin trickle of tears Tamaki Mari had been shedding instantly transformed into a full-blown flood.
"Miyake-san — some friends of yours heard about the test broadcast and came over to see you."
Miyake Hinata stopped laughing. She walked toward the camera with a puzzled expression. "My... friends?"
Three girls with stiff, uneasy smiles stepped into frame and offered quiet greetings.
"Miyake. It's been a while."
"We haven't been able to reach you since then. We've been really worried."
Something lurched sharply in Miyake Hinata's chest. She threw both hands over the camera lens, then let out a sudden, loud cry: "Ow — ow ow ow! I think I twisted my ankle! Shirase, I'm so sorry — I'm leaving the rest to you!"
"...Wait — Hinata?" Shirase Kobuchizawa had no idea what had just come over Miyake Hinata. She stared, bewildered, as Hinata hobbled away clutching her leg.
Jhin stepped in front of the camera with a mild, easy smile and addressed the presenter: "My apologies — we've had a small incident on our end. Would it be possible to push the test broadcast back just a little?"
"O-oh, of course, no problem at all."
Once the feed was cut, Jhin turned to Shirase Kobuchizawa. "Those three just now — their relationship with Miyake-san is a lot more complicated than just being 'friends.'"
"Jhin — do you know something?" Shirase only knew that Miyake Hinata had dropped out of high school over some kind of incident. Hinata had never once brought it up in any detail.
"You know the shared computer terminal at the base, right?"
"Oh — the one I use to message my family? That one?"
"Shirase... you have a phone. Why on earth are you messaging your family from a computer?"
"Yuzuki, doesn't it just feel so much more Antarctic to do it that way?"
Shirase ignored her two companions and their tangent entirely, pressing Jhin for more: "What about the shared terminal? What does it have to do with Hinata?"
"If I'm not mistaken, there are emails in there from those three — sent to Miyake-san. If you want to understand what's going on, go and take a look. And if she ever asks how you found out, just tell her I told you to."
"Thank you, Jhin. But... why do you help us like this? You don't ask for anything in return."
"Helping problem girls is part of my job, I suppose?" Even Jhin seemed faintly amused by his own answer. "Ha. Just go look at that email first."
"Shirase — let's move. We are absolutely going to figure out what Hinata's been hiding from us!"
"She reacted way too strangely. Something is definitely going on."
____
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