On this day, dinner at Mihama Academy was delayed by a full hour because the two cooks in charge spent quite a bit of time showering in the bathroom, while Chef Jhin was tidying up the room.
"Big Brother, is the food ready yet?" Irisu Makina sat on the chair, swinging her tender legs clad in mismatched over-the-knee socks, her small tummy rumbling. "I'm about to die of hunger."
"You guys wait a little longer, the food will be ready soon!"
"Why did you buy fewer things!"
"Because Sachi didn't come along this time, I missed some things on the list."
"Hmph, then I punish Big Brother to hold me while eating today!" No sooner had Irisu Makina finished speaking than she was bonked on the head by Kazami Kazuki. "Woo~ Kazuki-nee, why did you hit my head?"
"If you take all the benefits, what are the rest of us supposed to do? Watch from the sidelines?"
"Th-Then I'll let you be held by Big Brother while eating first this time." Irisu Makina clutched her head, aggrievedly yielding the priority.
Kazami Kazuki nodded with satisfaction. "That's more like it. However, I don't need my little brother to hold me while eating, so I'll give the opportunity to you."
"Yay! Long live Kazuki-nee!" Irisu Makina raised both hands high, cheering.
Kato Megumi watched the three busy people in the kitchen. She had clearly seen Jhin and Suou Amane enter the bedroom together, followed by Komine Sachi. Close to dinner time, the two girls had walked out of the bedroom in a rush, their faces flushed and cheeks radiating a moving, moist luster as if they had been nourished.
They definitely had a party in the room...
Unlike Kato Megumi's eyewitness account, Kasumigaoka Utaha deduced what Jhin had done with them through Komine Sachi and Suou Amane's movements and demeanor, which were starkly different from usual.
Their most abnormal behavior was delaying dinner due to showering. If it were just Suou Amane, it wouldn't feel so strange, as she sometimes got lazy like Jhin and didn't want to cook.
But Komine Sachi was different; her brain seemed to contain an incomparably precise alarm clock. No matter what she did, she executed it in an orderly manner according to plan, never allowing the slightest error.
Adding in various other signs and their radiant spirits, Kasumigaoka Utaha concluded that they had a wild party with Jhin in the room.
As expected of Scum-kun, he had already successfully captured Komine-san and Suou-san.
Kasumigaoka Utaha spat on this behavior in her heart and glanced lightly at Yumiko, whom she had always regarded as the female lead. The latter was still in her old composed manner, flipping through the novel in her hands.
Could it be... Sakaki-san knows about the relationship between Scum-kun and the other girls?
A fleeting, absurd thought crossed Kasumigaoka Utaha's mind, and she felt amused by her own notion.
How could there possibly be someone in the world willing to share their lover? I must have been influenced by the harem anime Sawamura-san and Scum-kun were discussing.
Kasumigaoka Utaha never imagined that this absurd thought was the actual truth.
After dinner, Jhin clapped his hands to attract all the girls' attention. "I have something to tell everyone."
"What is it, being so solemn?"
"Heh heh, it's a good thing, of course."
"Don't laugh strangely like that; I'm scared." Eriri rubbed her arms, which were covered in goosebumps.
"I won't keep you in suspense. To celebrate everyone passing the mock exams, I have specially prepared a luxury trip to Antarctica for you all around December!"
"Antarctica!?"
"That's right. Chizuru has already agreed to this matter. Currently, the default is that everyone will participate. If anyone doesn't want to go or has matters requiring them to opt out, you can tell me."
"Jhin-san," currently only Kasumigaoka Utaha addressed Jhin this way in school. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs. "May I ask for the specific plan? After all, it sounds a bit... too unrealistic."
"No problem. Which details of this travel plan do you want to know?" Jhin could understand; after all, he and Kasumigaoka Utaha were at most familiar classmates. It was normal not to believe him when he suddenly dragged her along for some Antarctic tour.
"Let's talk about how we're going first."
"Sure. This time, we are going to Antarctica with a civilian Antarctic scientific expedition team. They have been to Antarctica once before, so their experience can be considered quite rich. Regarding safety, I have also found an expert responsible for teaching the safety knowledge needed in Antarctica."
"Could it be that civilian expedition team where someone went missing?"
"Yes, but rest assured, I will absolutely guarantee your personal safety. This is also a trip for our company to test new technology."
"Wait." Kasumigaoka Utaha seemed to hear an incredible word. She leaned forward slightly, turning her ear to ask, "Did you say 'our company'?"
"Correct. To be precise, it is my company."
"You actually opened a company!?"
"Otherwise? You didn't think a trip to Antarctica wouldn't cost money, did you?"
"No... it's just that you aren't eighteen yet, right? How did you establish a company?" Kasumigaoka Utaha felt Jhin was making less and less sense, starting to suspect this was also part of his prank setup.
"Nominally, it's left to Kazuki to manage. I'm just the one providing the money."
"Kazami-san... that makes sense." Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at Kazami Kazuki's youthful appearance. She froze for a moment before reacting; the other party was a bona fide adult over eighteen, an existence even older than herself.
"Brother, can I go to the company to play?" Irisu Makina was more interested in Jhin's company.
"Let's talk about it when there's a chance."
"Speaking of money, could it be that Jhin-san is actually the son of some conglomerate? To be able to produce the capital to start a company so easily."
Jhin shook his head in denial. "I'm not. If you really want to say it, Makina is the one who counts as a daughter of a conglomerate, right?"
"I don't recognize that kind of thing!" Irisu Makina waved her small hand angrily, then threw herself into Jhin's arms. "I'm not a child of the Irisu family. I'm Dad... Brother's child! From now on, I'm called Jhin Makina!"
"Don't go changing your name randomly." Jhin hugged Irisu Makina, half-laughing and half-crying, trying to calm her down.
"Hmph, I'm not joking." Irisu Makina grunted like a piglet and complained quietly a few times, then lay in Jhin's arms without making another sound.
"Later, I will send everyone a detailed Antarctica travel itinerary. If you still have questions, you can find me. After you agree, the school will send a consent form to your parents. Only after they sign it can you officially join the Antarctica trip."
"If you want to go but your parents don't agree, you can seek out Kazuki and me. We will try our best to get your parents to agree to this trip."
"Brother, then what about me?"
Jhin dotingly pinched Irisu Makina's baby-fat cheek. "Your situation is special; it's fine as long as I agree."
"I love Brother the most!"
____
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