Tragic Party

"Put your shoes wherever you like. I'll sort them out later. There are sandals inside the room in the shoe closet, but it's okay to enter without footwear. The floor should be clean enough."

Taking position in front of the door, a different fragrance from the girls blew past him, and Shinichi greeted enthusiastically.

...But he soon realized something was wrong.

"Wow, he's telling us not to be polite and to treat it like our own home~" Nino said with a strange tone.

"Yes, in that case, we won't be polite to him~" Fumino exclaimed dramatically.

As these two were talking, they didn't even glance at him, but turned to look behind.

"Everyone, come in quickly, the party is about to start~"

Both of them walked into the hallway very naturally, passing through as if he were transparent.

Shinichi's mouth twitched, and his smile became somewhat forced.

"That..."

A force suddenly pushed his shoulder, causing him to lean against the wall unconsciously.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it~" Ichika said with a smile, but there was no smile in her eyes.

"But, Shinichi-kun, you're a bit in the way... Just stand by the wall, okay?"

Shinichi stood upright unconsciously. "No, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yotsuba and Rizu followed suit, and as they walked in with Ichika, they glanced in his direction with complicated expressions and sighed softly.

Shinichi's head was filled with questions: "Wait, you..."

"Shinichi, this is a housewarming party."

Immediately after that, a soft and slow voice sounded, and Miku glanced at him faintly, her tone flat but with hidden warnings within.

"If we want the party to be happy, we must strive not to do anything that makes us unhappy."

Isn't this my party?

Shinichi couldn't say this answer to Miku's somewhat cold eyes.

He asked tremblingly: "Things that make you unhappy? For example..."

"For example, talking." Miku pouted slightly. After saying that, she ignored him and walked away expressionlessly.

Shinichi no longer knew what expression to put on.

"Tell me not to talk? Besides, this is my home. Isn't this kind of..."

No one paid attention to him.

The girls had entered the living room and were happily preparing for the party.

Shinichi looked at Itsuki, who was in the bottom position of the team, with confusion.

There was a breakthrough in their relationship yesterday. Not to mention getting closer, at least Itsuki wouldn't be like them and start hitting on him from nowhere...

Thinking about this, Shinichi was surprised when he saw her appearance clearly.

"Itsuki... Are you this cold and scared?"

The girl wearing a mask, sunglasses, and a scarf, covering her entire head including her neck tightly. Without the ahoge hair on her head, she would be a suspicious standard person, and she helped him close the door.

"..."

Itsuki stared at him silently for a few seconds, then suddenly raised her hand and slightly lowered her scarf.

On that slender white neck, the red marks from sucking were very clear.

Shinichi immediately understood the cause and effect, and his expression became more complicated.

"It's actually because of this..."

Itsuki put scarf back on her head, nodded, then put on her sunglasses.

She stared at him with sadness, hatred, and shame, and muttered, "It's all your fault..."

After that, she put sunglasses back on, angrily took off shoes, and didn't look back. She walked towards the living room.

Shinichi covered his face with one hand and sighed.

It wasn't that he regretted not saying anything last night, but he felt very sorry for Itsuki who was affected by him. There must have been brutal interrogation and trial in the Nakano family last night, right?

"Forget it, it's my own fault. Still hurting Itsuki..."

This bad habit had to be changed another time, he was too emotional and had no manners at all.

While pondering, Itsuki suddenly walked back quickly. Before he could ask, she knelt down and neatly arranged all the messy shoes in front of the entrance.

After making sure there was no problem, she turned around and walked back without looking at him.

Shinichi looked at her back, and the corner of his mouth slowly lifted, showing a helpless smile.

"...Good girl."

Shinichi knew that at today's housewarming party, he might feel very uncomfortable to the point where he wanted to hide in the toilet for a few seconds.

Fumino and the others might have thought of many tricks to tease him, and there would be no shortage of ridicule. If he wanted to protect Itsuki, he even had to take the initiative to draw his weapons and let them vent their hatred towards him.

But think about it from another perspective, isn't this treatment quite good?

It's precisely because so many girls liked him that he was able to pay the price for his impulsive heart.

He had already used it, so what if he felt uncomfortable?

"Let's start the party!"

Shinichi looked towards the end of the corridor, his eyes full of hope and excitement for the future.

The excitement in the living room was a precious treasure he wanted to keep until the end of his life, even if he trampled on laws and morals.

Therefore, even though a terrifying Shuraba awaited him ahead.

Shinichi still took steps without hesitation.

△

At this moment, Shinichi fell into a whirlpool of regretful emotions.

"Why did I have to hold this meaningless stupid party..."

He completely rejected the explanation he had just written in the previous chapter.

"Why do I have to live in such an atmosphere..."

Even though the bachelor apartment was filled with the scent of girls, he still felt uncomfortable and wanted to disappear from here.

The reason was very simple, precisely because a group of girls in the living room were chatting happily while eating and drinking around the hot pot.

He hugged his knees and curled up in the corner, while they occupied the space in the room undisturbed, ignoring him staring at them there.

The most frightening thing was the several additional people in the room.

The first one was Hayasaka Ai, when Shinichi asked her to come here earlier, he promised to introduce her to others and would never let her suffer any complaints.

Even if the current situation was very serious, she had no intention of retracting her words, no matter whether it would worsen the situation or add fuel to the fire, the maid could no longer be allowed to hide behind the shadows.

But Shinichi didn't expect...