Ryo felt exhausted. She had originally wanted to discuss with the others what to do about this situation without alerting Hitori.
But her teammates had no sense of discretion—one was blunter than the other.
But now that things had already reached the worst possible outcome, there was no point in hiding it anymore.
She let go of Nijika's mouth and walked over to the motionless Hitori, who looked like a lifeless statue. With a gentle voice, she tried to comfort her.
"It's okay, Bocchi-chan. Maybe what we're seeing isn't as bad as we think. There might be some misunderstanding."
Just as she finished speaking—
Across the street, the short-haired, ash-blonde girl suddenly wrapped her arms around Chisato's and playfully shook it.
She was undoubtedly acting spoiled.
At first, Chisato didn't react, but perhaps he couldn't resist her pestering. In the end, he mimicked her earlier gesture and picked up a spoon, feeding her a bite in return.
"..."
At that moment, Ryo knew there was no salvaging this.
Chisato-kun, I wanted to help you, but you're making it impossible.
"Hah, what a b*tch."
Ikuyo seemed to have entered a darkened state. The usually energetic girl now exuded a dangerous aura.
The way she coldly sneered and spat out those words completely shattered the others' impression of her.
"Bocchi-chan, let's go."
Unexpectedly, Ikuyo was quite aggressive. She grabbed Hitori's hand and started leading her toward the street.
"Wait, hold on!"
Nijika quickly stepped in front of them.
"Ikuyo-chan, what are you trying to do with Bocchi-chan?"
Ikuyo clenched her fists, her expression furious.
"Of course, we're going over there to confront them! A guy who cheats in a relationship is the worst!"
"And a woman who knowingly interferes with someone else's relationship is just as unforgivable!"
"I—I totally get how you feel, but don't you think dragging Bocchi-chan over there like this is a bit reckless?"
"But as a girlfriend, how can she just stand by and do nothing after seeing this? She has to go over there and demand an explanation!"
"That's… true, but Bocchi-chan is literally standing by and doing nothing right now."
Hearing Nijika's words, Ikuyo finally took a closer look at Hitori.
Her eyes were wide, but completely lifeless. She showed no reaction to their argument—her whole being seemed hollow, like an empty shell.
"Snap out of it, Bocchi-chan! This isn't the time for your anxiety to take over! You have to fight for your boyfriend!"
Ikuyo shook her by the shoulders.
But all she got in response was Hitori mumbling incoherently, "Uwah… uwah… uwah…" as her head lolled around.
"There's no helping it. Since Bocchi-chan is too shocked to act, we'll just have to handle this ourselves."
Ikuyo still wasn't giving up on her plan.
She would storm in there and break this scene apart—confront those two to their faces!
She stood at the crosswalk. The red light had about twenty seconds left.
Nijika, realizing she couldn't stop her alone, was just about to ask Ryo for backup when Hitori finally snapped out of her daze.
She looked across the street once more, confirming that the girl sitting beside Chisato was indeed Iroha—the very same girl who had deceived her.
Her teeth clenched, trembling.
She stepped forward and grabbed Ikuyo's sleeve.
When Ikuyo turned around, Hitori stammered, "I-Ikuyo-chan… don't… don't go over there, okay?"
Ikuyo was relieved that she had recovered, but she couldn't accept her cowardly way of handling the situation.
Her expression softened as she held both of Hitori's hands, offering her encouragement.
"It's okay, Bocchi-chan. No matter what happens, we're here for you. You can trust us completely!"
"So there's nothing to be afraid of. Let's go confront them. You need to properly settle things with that girl who interfered in your relationship!"
"N-no... that's not it..."
Hitori was so anxious she was about to cry.
Settle things?
Who was settling things with whom?!
I've done so many terrible things to Iroha. If I go over there, she'll kill me!
"I... I don't mind. So, can we just pretend we didn't see anything? Let's leave here, okay?"
Hitori made a pitiful plea.
But the more she acted like this, the more protective they felt toward her.
Nijika, who had been in the same band and received a lot of help from Chisato, as well as Ryo, who had freeloaded many meals and borrowed money from him without repaying—both of them had initially leaned toward staying calm and confronting Chisato privately later to avoid making a scene.
However, seeing Hitori in this state tugged at a soft spot in their hearts, making them abandon that plan and side with Ikuyo instead, determined to stand up for her.
Bocchi-chan might be a bit clumsy, but that doesn't mean just anyone can bully her!
"That's right, Ikuyo-chan is right. We'll help you, so there's nothing to be afraid of."
Nijika hugged Hitori's shoulder.
"Aah, no, that's not it, you guys..."
"Don't worry. There are four of us, and we even have weapons. Even if a fight breaks out, we won't be at a disadvantage."
The "weapons" Ryo referred to were their basses and guitars.
As a drummer, Nijika couldn't carry her drum kit around, but she did have a pair of drumsticks in her bag, which could hurt quite a bit if used to hit someone.
"No, listen to me..."
Hitori held her head in her hands, trying to make her brain work and come up with something to stop her three bandmates from going through with this plan.
But in such a panicked, fearful, and sudden situation, she couldn't think straight at all.
Ryo looked across the street again.
"There's no need to hesitate anymore, Bocchi-chan. Chisato already saw us."
…
Chisato had indeed noticed them.
With their different hair colors, the four adorable girls standing at the roadside were eye-catching even if they did nothing.
Had it not been for Iroha clinging to him and half-pouting, half-whining to be fed, he probably would have noticed them earlier.
But now, it seems a little too late.
Seeing Ikuyo standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at him from a distance, he got a rough idea of the situation.
They must have seen his interaction with Iroha just now.
Seriously, of all places in Tokyo, how did they end up running into me here?
Chisato turned his head slightly and glanced at Iroha.
Ever since she showed up, the delicate balance he had carefully maintained kept getting shattered over and over again.
What the hell?
Are you some kind of plot-driving character from a novel?
"Wh-what? Why are you looking at me like that? You should feel honored to be feeding such a cute girl like me!"
"Not to brag, but I'm actually pretty popular at school. Since the semester started, at least four or five guys have confessed to me already."
Iroha pouted, clearly dissatisfied with the expression on Chisato's face. It felt like he was looking at her with annoyance.
Chisato sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples in exhaustion.
"Iroha... thanks to you, I'm about to explode."
"Haaah?"
A giant question mark seemed to pop up over Iroha's head.
Chisato subtly gestured with his fingers toward the window.
Iroha turned her gaze outside—and met a few pairs of eyes filled with hostility and discontent.
It was as if they were ready to dump their drinks on her face at any moment.
Iroha's heart sank. She stammered in disbelief,
"Senpai... y-you... no way... but how could this be... this is way too much..."
Given Chisato's natural playboy tendencies, she immediately pieced together a possibility in her mind, but she just couldn't bring herself to accept it.
But Chisato, thinking she had understood, simply nodded.
Iroha was stunned.
Her pupils shrank as if an earthquake had just struck inside them.
Sawamura-san, Kasumigaoka-san, Kazusa-san...
And now, adding the four girls outside who were glaring at her with intense hostility, that made a total of seven...
Suzumiya Chisato, you're absolutely shameless!
Dating so many people at once—doesn't your conscience hurt?
You absolute scumbag! Do you even have enough time for this?!
There were so many things suddenly flooding into Iroha's mind that she could only stare in stunned silence, unable to voice any of them.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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