Chapter 280: Who Could Make Him the Most Comfortable!

“Alright, let’s talk about Himekoji-kun and my first experience… Ugh, it really hurt back then!”

Kasumigaoka suddenly switched topics, starting something new again.

Eriri finally reached her limit.

“Kasumigaoka, shut up! I don’t want to hear any more of your made-up stories! Please don’t bring your writing delusions into everyday life! Akito, say something too!”

“Huh? Me? Say what…”

His mind was a mess, so Himekoji tripped over his words.

“Huh? That reaction?”

Immediately, Eriri grew suspicious.

“You… you couldn’t have actually done that… that painful thing, could you?”

“N-no! We didn’t… right?”

“And why did that end up sounding like a question?”

Eriri, with her nose as sharp as a dog’s, sniffed something unusual in his answer.

Himekoji realized his mistake and quickly corrected himself, more firmly this time.

“No! We never did anything painful!”

Well, even though there was a lot of… wetness…

It was just water!

Not blood!

“Yes, we did.”

This time, Kasumigaoka didn’t play along. Instead, she nodded and confirmed it.

“I didn’t know that?”

He clearly hadn’t gone that far!

“Because it was my heart that hurt.”

“…”

Kasumigaoka’s words left Himekoji speechless.

“It’s true. It really hurt back then!”

He couldn’t tell if it was a joke or serious. Her words seemed light but forced him to think deeper.

Then, Himekoji felt pain too.

A sharp sting, like fingernails digging in.

Actually—

He really was getting pinched by sharp fingernails.

The person doing it was Akiko.

“Akiko isn’t afraid of pain. Onii-chan, you can totally come at me during our first experience. No need to go easy on me.”

Since when had being pain-proof become a competition point?

Akiko’s bold, crazy, and wrong words sucked the air out of the hospital room.

“Umm… I’m afraid of pain…”

Himekoji hissed, sucking in a pained breath.

Seriously, please let go!

“Okay.”

Akiko nodded but subtly increased the pressure.

“You’re all saying such nonsense!”

Eriri stomped her foot in anger.

Being tsundere, she couldn’t behave like Akiko or Kasumigaoka. She cursed them both as sneaky and felt really annoyed.

“Sigh… Enough! The patient needs rest.”

Yukinoshita finally stepped in.

She moved forward and stopped the chaos.

Himekoji wasn’t actually sick, and didn’t need rest.

She’d misspoken, but her action was right.

So, Himekoji didn’t argue.

He played along instead:

“Yeah, so tired.”

“We’ll say goodbye then. We won’t bother Mihara-kun’s rest.”

Hayama read the mood well.

Following his lead, Totsuka, Tobe, Miura, and others politely said goodbye to Himekoji and left the hospital room.

And then…

Yeah, then it was just the group of girls left in the room, silently staring each other down.

…

“Kasumigaoka-senpai, right? My Onii-chan needs to rest.”

Kasumigaoka had annoyed everyone earlier. It made sense for Akiko to target her first.

“A patient needs care while resting.”

Kasumigaoka didn’t budge.

“If anyone’s looking after him, it should be me, his Imouto.”

That sounded totally fair.

Kasumigaoka paused to think.

“Um… I have an idea.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Huh?”

This suddenly-appeared sister was also playing outside the rules?

This surprise threw Kasumigaoka off. She coughed awkwardly.

“What idea?”

Luckily, Eriri jumped in.

Otherwise, Kasumigaoka wouldn’t know how to save herself—

“Ahem, see? There are so many of us. Why don’t we take turns? Trying to care for and satisfy Hime-chan alone sounds tiring.”

Dragging everyone onto the same boat was Kasumigaoka’s best way to win.

After all, as Himekoji’s “Imouto,” Akiko held all the right reasons. Her actions seemed perfectly fair.

To stand a chance against that—

Kasumigaoka had to win over “the people’s hearts”!

“Wait! Stop using words like ‘serve’ and ‘satisfy’ that could be misunderstood! I’m just resting! I don’t need anyone to take care of me!”

Himekoji couldn’t help but complain loudly because Kasumigaoka’s words sounded just wrong, no matter how you heard them.

“That’s right! Onii-chan only needs me to take care of him!”

Akiko spoke up, like she was defending her privately owned item.

…

Should Akiko be solely responsible for taking care of Himekoji, or should everyone take turns?

Such a simple multiple-choice question—Eriri naturally got it right.

So she immediately switched sides, despite having just been at odds with Kasumigaoka,

“Kasumigaoka is right! Akiko, don’t you worry, we’ll help you take good care of your brother!”

“Don’t worry? How could I not worry about that? This is way more worrying!”

“Akiko, you don’t have to force yourself to do it alone. We can help you.”

Yuigahama cast her vote of approval too.

Not only that, but her words were flawlessly smooth and perfectly reasonable.

Her mind wasn’t her strong point, but at least she knew how to talk.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to hang out in the same circle as Miura and Hayama.

“I’ll go first.”

Mashiro, who hadn’t spoken until now, suddenly spoke up.

What’s more, she unexpectedly announced her turn order to everyone…

“That’s a no. Hime-Hime’s first time is mine.”

Kasumigaoka flatly rejected Mashiro’s fantasy without a second thought.

“How about we draw lots?”

Yuigahama suggested.

“Hold up! Why are you all so quick to start dividing up the spoils, huh? I haven’t agreed yet!”

Akiko yelled indignantly, but no one answered her.

“In that case, let’s compete then! We’ll see who can take care of Akito the best!”

Eriri’s competitive spirit flared up right on the spot.

“Oh, that’s a fun idea!”

Kasumigaoka praised cheerfully, all smiles.

“Trying to decide it this way? So, Eriri, you’re just eager to lose, aren’t you?”

“The result isn’t up to you! Akito will decide who wins!”

“I decide? Fine! You’re all out, then! Because we don’t need such a stupid contest!”

“You shut up!”

Eriri snapped back at Himekoji without even looking.

“Huh? Shut up?”

“Are you serious? Weren’t you the one who said, ‘I’ll decide’?”

What the heck? Himekoji felt utterly helpless.

…

“Alright, let it begin! The contest to see who can serve Hime-Hime the most comfortably!”

Kasumigaoka flung her hand high with a dramatic flourish and passionately proclaimed.

“Wait just a minute. Such a pointless contest—I regretfully decline.”

True to form, Yukinoshita Yukino was the only one who could still stay level-headed amidst this scheming battlefield.

“Hmm? Is it that you lack confidence? Xia~o Yukino.”

Kasumigaoka folded her arms casually, inadvertently deepening the cleavage between them.

She looked sidelong at Yukinoshita, deliberately stretching out the word “small.”

“‘Small’?”

Yukinoshita’s eyebrow arched sharply, her aura turning instantly fierce,

“So—it looks like the one truly itching to lose is you, Senpai Kasumigaoka.”

Just as expected.

Yukinoshita would meet every challenge head-on and crush them with full force.

In other words, reverse psychology had a good two hundred percent effect on her!

Unnoticed by others, a faint smile touched Kasumigaoka’s lips.

……

…