Adoration and Arrogance

One day during summer break…

"I wonder if my dear brother can be hypnotized, too?" Yuki muttered, sitting on the

bed in her room with a book on hypnosis in hand. The book was titled Hypnosis for Idiots:

Welcome to the Hypnotist Club, and it had an interesting history. Namely, it had been used

that fateful day in the student council room, which had ended in tragedy. Despite promising

her brother that they would seal this book away so that nobody would ever get hurt again,

Yuki couldn't give up something so fascinating simply because they had failed once. She

had purchased this book with her own money, and ever since then, she had been testing

various types of hypnosis on her guinea pig, Ayano. Nevertheless, the samples proved to be

far from adequate, since Ayano's "Loyalty" was already at max level, and she would submit

to and serve Yuki, regardless of what she was ordered to do. I really want to try this out on

someone, but if I tried it on a friend, and it didn't work, then…, she thought. Suddenly, it

hit her: Masachika.

"What do you think?"

"Meow?"

Ayano, who was snuggled up with her head in Yuki's lap, looked up at her with eyes

full of wonder, then sat up and began brushing her bangs to the side with her right hand

curled into a ball.

"Oh…," Yuki muttered. She then raised both hands to clap…but froze. Her eyes were

locked on Ayano, who was sitting femininely on her knees with her legs somewhat spread

open, and she suddenly got the urge to reach out and massage the maid's chest.

"Hmm…? Have you gotten a little bigger since I last checked?"

She tilted her head to the side, ignoring Ayano's curious gaze, and rubbed her maid's

chest with a serious expression.

"O-oh? Oooh! They're so big, you can lift them…," murmured Yuki with admiration as

she lifted Ayano's chest. She continued to enjoy her maid's bosom for a few more minutes

after that before finally clapping with clear satisfaction. Immediately, Ayano froze in place,

slowly blinked a few times, then curiously tilted her head.

"…Did it work?"

"Yep. Mission Kitty-Cat was a success… Do you think it will work on Masachika,

though?"

"Sir Masachika? …I believe it would be difficult."

Ayano tilted her head to the other side, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that she

had been hypnotized to act like a cat.

"Yeah, they say the hypnotists are resistant to hypnosis, too." Yuki shrugged. "Oh, look

at the time. I have to get ready for violin practice."

After Yuki stood up from her bed and began getting ready, Ayano immediately went to

her aid, pressing her lips tightly together as if she had formed some sort of resolution.

A few days later, when Yuki was getting ready to go to the Kuze residence to hang out,

Ayano suddenly approached her.

"Lady Yuki."

"Hmm?"

"It's about the hypnosis… I prepared a few things that may help you."

"Huh? Hypnosis…? Ohhh, right! I was going to hypnotize my brother! You went out

of your way to prepare something for me?"

"It was my pleasure. I figured that you would need some sort of tool to aid you if you

wished to hypnotize Sir Masachika."

"Oh? An enhancement item? I could definitely use one of those."

"I did a lot of research…and came up with this," revealed Ayano, pulling a dark-pink

candle out of her maid uniform's pocket. "It's a scented candle that apparently helps relax

the body and thus makes it easier to hypnotize people."

"It's just like those erotic fan comics."

"In addition…I prepared this."

Ayano went through her cell phone for a few seconds, then handed it to Yuki. Displayed

on the screen was a questionable picture of two giant eyes with squiggly waves radiating

from them.

"…What's this?"

"It's apparently a hypnosis app."

"It's just like those erotic fan comics!" Yuki repeated jokingly, but the next thing Ayano

took out of her pocket…was a massive, rugged collar.

"…What's that?"

"A collar that apparently forces the wearer to obey every command."

"It's just like the ones you see in those another-world fantasy shows! …Wait! Don't tell

me you plan on having Masachika wear that?!"

"No. I thought you could make me wear it…"

"That'd be pointless."

"Oh…"

"Why do you look depressed?!"

Yuki turned toward the strangely well-built collar with a hand on her forehead as if she

had a headache. What appeared to be numerous power stones of all colors decorated the

collar, giving it an unusually strong presence, which made it hard to believe this was a gag

gift.

"Where did you even get that sketchy collar?"

"So…when I went shopping the other day, a street vendor wearing a hood called out to

me… And despite not telling them what I was looking for, they gave me this and told me I

didn't need to pay anything for it…"

"Whoa. Sounds less like an another-world fantasy and more like a this-world secret

occult society. You better not even think about using that, okay? I've seen this before.

Whoever usesthat will become a shell of their formerself, and then thatstreet vendor's going

to be like, 'Humans are so foolish,' and laugh."

"Oh…?"

"Wait. Hold up. Don't tell me you got the scented candle from this person, too?"

"I got this at the hundred-yen store."

"Seriously? You really can get anything there."

"It was two hundred yen, though…"

"The hell? That's way too expensive. Lying dirtbag store," joked Yuki. Then she

suddenly noticed that Ayano seemed somewhat depressed.

Oops… Maybe I went a little too far. She went through all that trouble to find this stuff

for me…

After reflecting on her behavior, Yuki softly cleared her throat, shifted her focus back

to the candle, and suggested:

"But, well…why don't we give it a try? The candle and app could work…"

"…! Yes, I completely agree!"

"Thanks for finding this for me, by the way."

"It was nothing."

We'd probably have a better chance of hypnotizing him with a five-yen coin tied to a

string, thought Yuki cynically as she grinned at her attendant's instantly improved mood.

"There was a time when I used to truly believe that, too," muttered Yuki with her eyes

on her brother, who was sitting on the side of the bed with a vacant stare. Last night, she

handed Masachika the scented candle and claimed that it improved sleep; she had him bask

in the smoke for the entire night, then used the hypnosis app when he had just woken up and

was still half asleep…and it actually worked.

"Seriously?"

"Congratulations. It worked."

"Yeah, uh… So… How about we getsome fresh air in here and crack open the window?"

"As you wish."

After maid-mode Ayano did that, she opened the door that led to the living room to air

out the bedroom, allowing the hot air from outside to pass through while simultaneously

diluting the strangely sweet fragrance lingering in the air. And yet Masachika still showed

no signs of returning to normal—he stared idly at the floor with a vacant expression.

"…What should I do now?"

Never in a million years did Yuki think her brother would actually get hypnotized, so

she hadn't considered what she would do if it worked. On top of that, she didn't have the

heart to say, "Well, at least we know it works, so let's call it a day," after all the effort Ayano

put into this, either.

"Hmm…"

Yuki racked her brain for a few moments until she was struck with an epiphany, and she

began looking through her phone. Once she opened the hypnosis app, she pointed the screen

at Masachika and suggested:

"You will become a cool, doting guy who cannot hold back his love any longer."

When she tapped the screen, her phone began to ring eerily, causing Masachika's body

to twitch. His pupils gradually began to focus…until out of nowhere, he looked at Yuki and

smiled sweetly.

"Hey, Yuki… Cute as always, I see."

"Ew! Blech! Gross!" bitterly hissed Yuki, not even pausing between each word, but

Masachika simply shifted his gaze to Ayano without a care in the world.

"You're really cute, too, Ayano."

"Th-thank you?"

"Heh! What's wrong? You look puzzled… Oh?"

He stood from the bed asif he noticed something and gently reached out to touch Ayano's

black hair.

"You have some lint in your hair."

"Ah! P-please accept my sincerest apologies! I'm so embarrassed…"

While the corners of her eyes began to burn and she lowered her head in shame,

Masachika gently placed his right hand on her cheek, kindly lifted her chin, and smiled the

most loving of smiles.

"There's nothing for you to apologize about. This is just proof of how hard you work.

You should relax more, if anything."

"N-no, I couldn't…"

"Really? You're such a hard worker. Thank you for always helping out… I love you,"

he declared as he affectionately caressed her cheek, causing Ayano's eyes to immediately

open wide in shock…

"Fshhh…"

"A-Ayano…!!"

"Uh-oh. ♪"

Ayano's eyes spun, and her knees gave out, but before she hit the ground, Masachika

swiftly grabbed her in his arms, picked her up like a princess, and gently laid her on the bed

before tenderly rubbing her head.

"Ha-ha. You're so cute, Ayano."

He looked back at Yuki as if he was seeking approval, but she immediately got into a

defensive stance and lowered her posture, causing his lips to curl sweetly as he approached

her.

"Wh-what? You want some of this? I hope you don't think you can scare me just by

telling me you love me, because it's not happening. It takes a lot more than that to scare me.

Unlike Ayano, I— Ah! Hey?!"

——Five minutes later.

"I love you. I love you more than anyone else, Yuki."

"Oh-hyo, oh-hyo, oh-hyooo! What is this?! It's…! I'm going to squeal!"

Yuki was sitting in Masachika's lap while he embraced her from behind, whispering

sweet nothings into her ear. Sitting cross-legged, he gently rubbed her head and cheeks,

causing her to shriek and squirm, unable to take it anymore.

At first, something felt wrong about Masachika acting so loving and cool, but seeing

him so confident and unashamed strangely made her more than just okay with it. Once you

start feeling embarrassed, you've already lost the game—there seemed to be some truth to

that saying.

"What's wrong? What are you thrashing about like that for? Aren't you the shy one this

morning?"

"Hff! H-hey, uh… Do you think you could stop whispering into my ear? You're giving

me goose bumps…"

"Really? All right… Then look at me. I want to see that cute face of yours when we talk."

"No, no, no! No way! I probably look so weird right now!"

Yuki stretched her arms and legs and began flailing them about, but that wasn't going to

help her escape Masachika's grasp. Although his touch was gentle, his grip around her was

surprisingly strong, making apparent his unwavering will to never let her go.

"Heh… Ha-ha…! I'm impressed. It takes a lot to make me blush…"

"Heh! It does, huh? You're so cute when you blush, you know? I'll honestly tell you

how much I love you as much as it takes if it means I get to see you like this some more…

because I love you more than anything in the world."

Her lips audaciously curled broadly into a smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest

within her brother's embrace.

"All right, bro! You've asked for it! An eye for an eye! A tooth for a tooth! Hypnosis

for hypnosis! I hope you're ready for this brand-new, new move I learned the other day!"

The redundancy of that sentence was only further proof of how uneasy Yuki felt, but

that didn't stop her from curling into a ball as if she were increasing her chi, until all of a

sudden, she swiftly thrust her right fist straight into the air and shouted, "Let's do this! Angel

mode activ—"

"You don't have to do that, Yuki. You're already an angel in my eyes."

"Blarghffaaa."

Against all odds, Masachika promptly put a stop to her secret transformation. The doting

brother did not even consider waiting for her to finish, and all the chi she had built up

dispersed in vain as she froze. Masachika lovingly tightened his arms around her and placed

his chin on her shoulder.

"My sweet angel who loves her family more than anything else and is always doing

whatever she can for her family… I'm so happy to have a sister like you."

"U-uh-huh…"

Yuki was feeling genuinely bashful—far too embarrassed to joke anymore after such

a relentlessly sweet compliment. But as her face slowly got redder, a faint voice suddenly

started to groan behind her.

"M-mmm…"

"A-Ayano! You're awake?! Help!" cried Yuki. She looked over her brother's shoulder

and realized Ayano was sitting up in the bed. However, the moment Masachika laid eyes on

Ayano, she averted her gaze.

"O-oh, right. I just remembered that I was in the middle of preparing breakfast…," she

sputtered before promptly leaving the room and leaving her master behind as well.

"A-Ayano! You traitor!!"

"Hey, now. Don't say that. We're family, right?"

"Stop whispering into my ear!"

She thrashed about like an unruly kitten until she looked like she was struck with an

epiphany.

"Oh! B-bathroom! I need to go to the bathroom!" she claimed out of desperation.

"Hmm? Really? All right. Off you go."

And Masachika simply let her go. After immediately hopping to her feet, she rushed to

the bathroom, slammed the door, and began doing everything she could to catch her breath.

"Oh god… That was intense… Huff… Huff…"

Even Yuki couldn't hide how flustered she was after experiencing her brother's

shameless, sweet love. It wasn't like those videos that talent agencies put out to introduce

their models, where the handsome guy just whispers something sweet into the camera.

Because what Masachika did was…real. Furthermore, Yuki knew that he spoke from the

heart because she herself had hypnotized him so that he wouldn't be able to control the

boundless love inside him any longer.

"W-wow… Seriously? My brother loves me waaay too much," she joked, covering both

her cheeks and twisting her body back and forth…because if she didn't do that, the

embarrassment was going to light her on fire as the butterflies burst out of her stomach.

"Dammit… Damn it all… My brother is too damn cute."

After squirming in the bathroom for a good bit until somewhat calming down, Yuki

returned to the living room… She returned…to the living room…and…

"I love watching you cook, Ayano. Your skills are captivating."

"Ahn…"

"What is this?! Some kind of newlywed role-play?!" jeered Yuki the moment she saw

that her brother was holding Ayano from behind in the kitchen as he whispered sweet

nothings into her ear. Nevertheless, the moment she realized that her brother might target

her again, she lost the courage to take another step forward into the kitchen, grinding her

teeth where she stood in the doorway. Meanwhile, Ayano, who was in the middle of being

showered in Masachika's love, was completely frozen in place with an uncracked egg in

hand. Hints of crimson began to illuminate her cheeks, and her eyes spun on her blank face.

"A-ahhhhhh…"

Her voice trembled like never before, and the egg shook in her violently trembling hand.

"S-S-Sir Masachika! You mustn't! The egg…! The egg…!!" she suddenly shrieked offkey, her voice unbelievably shaky, as if she was worried the egg was about to fall straight

onto the floor.

"Hmm? Oh, we can't have that. Here, you need to be careful when you hold eggs."

With his left hand still wrapped around Ayano's stomach from behind, he gently cupped

his right hand around the hand Ayano was using to hold the egg, immediately causing her to

jump, and her body began to tremble even more intensely.

"We mustn't! The egg…! My eggs—!!"

"Stop trying to get my brother to fertilize them!"

Unable to take it anymore, Yuki rushed into the kitchen and ripped Ayano out of

Masachika's arms.

"Masachika, go watch TV or something and stop bothering Ayano! She needs to cook!"

After forcing her brother out of the kitchen, she turned around and faced Ayano, who

was crouched in place with only her egg-holding hand on the kitchen table.

"…So? Do you have the energy to cook still?"

"Y-yes, of course…"

"Stop rubbing your stomach like there's a baby in there," snapped Yuki, glaring

reproachfully at Ayano, who was rubbing her abdomen and blushing.

"Hmm…"

Yuki glanced at her brother, who was casually watching TV after eating breakfast, and

cocked her head in puzzlement.

"What's up? Something wrong, Yuki?"

"All right, I'm sick of this," she replied with a wry grimace to her sweetly smiling

brother, who had his head curiously tilted.

"…?"

At least an hour and a half had gone by since she hypnotized Masachika into being a

cool, doting brother, and she had finally gotten used to it. In fact, she was genuinely getting

annoyed. Even when they were eating, he kept trying to feed her and wipe her mouth, which

was more than enough sweetness for a lifetime.

The hypnosis isn't wearing off at all… Maybe I should have done a better job airing

out his room?

Since today was a hot day, Yuki closed all the windows and turned on the air conditioner

after airing out Masachika's room, but it appeared she wasn't able to completely get rid of the

scented candle's hypnotic smell. There was absolutely no sign of him ever snapping out of it.

"Hmm… It looks like I need to hypnotize him again," she muttered to herself, pulling

out her smartphone. She then walked around to the other side of the table and wrapped her

arms around him.

"What are you doing? Is this some sort of new game?"

"Yeeeah, exactly. It's a cool new game. Here, check it out."

"Hmm? Check…what…out…?"

While Yukishowed him her phone over hisshoulder, Masachika's voice gradually began

to fade as his unblinking eyes locked on the screen. Once he was ready to be hypnotized

again, Yuki commanded:

"You are a cool guy with an attitude. You're always super confident and as rude as could

be, but it's okay because everyone around you loves you," she almost randomly demanded,

without giving it much thought, then tapped her phone's screen, causing it to ring eerily.

Masachika's arms began to twitch as his wavering eyes gradually focused… All of a sudden,

he lifted his chin with an audacious smirk and looked at Yuki.

"Yo, seriously? You've got your arms wrapped around me, but you still can't take your

eyes off that phone? Bold move…"

"Ew! No," uttered Yuki sincerely with a straight face. She glared back at her smug

brother. She wasfine with the doting brother from earlier, but this wastoo much. She couldn't

even force a smile. In fact, just looking at him kind of irritated her.

"What's wrong? Are you jealous that I spend so much time with Ayano?"

"Oh god."

As she held out her phone and began taking a video of her arrogant sibling, he stood

from his chair, turned around, and combed his bangs back while confidently leaning back.

"Hey, yooo. What's going on? I get that you want to save every moment you spend with

me, but could you at least wait until I get dressed?"

And yet he undid the top button of his shirt, casually plopped back down in his seat, and

faced the smartphone camera with a saucy, sideways glance.

"Oh god… Is it just me, or is the cocky bro inside my bro having trouble finding who he

wants to be? I wonder how Masachika's going to feel when he snaps out of it and sees this."

Yuki smirked maliciously because the only thing on her mind was getting revenge for

what her "doting" brother did to her earlier, despite Yuki herself being 100 percent

responsible for it. It was unjustified resentmentsimply because he made her hot and bothered,

but she was able to effortlessly look away from that inconvenient truth. For the next ten

minutes, she continued to record her brother doing various narcissistic poses that only

someone really good-looking could get away with… Just then, the intercom rang softly. Yuki

looked up and immediately felt as if something was off, since Ayano wasn't moving, despite

always being quick to act.

"…? Ayano?"

When she glanced to her side, Ayano was sitting at the table in a daze. Yuki figured the

silence was due to Ayano turning into air like she always did, but it appeared that she still

hadn't recovered from Masachika's assertiveness in the kitchen earlier. Therefore, Yuki had

no choice but to place her phone down and answer the intercom herself.

"Yes? Who could it…be…?"

Assuming it was a delivery, she peeked at the intercom camera…and discovered there

was a silver-haired maiden standing outside.

"…What?"

She froze. Masachika never told her that Alisa was coming over. Did he forget to? That

wasn't like him. Plus, Alisa already came over the day before to study, and they purposely

waited until she went home so that Yuki could come over unnoticed and stay the night.

Therefore, there was no way Masachika would forgetsomething asimportant as Alisa visiting

two days in a row…which meant that Alisa came over unannounced—a surprise visit. But

that said, it was still ten thirty in the morning, which was a little too early to be going to a

friend's house.

…?! Alya? Wh-what is she doing here?

Yuki froze in front of the intercom camera, completely overcome with surprise…

Masachika suddenly popped up behind her, reached out over her shoulder, and pressed the

answer button before Yuki could even process what was going on.

"Alya? What's up?"

"Oh, Masachika? Sorry for coming over out of the blue like this. I think I forgot my

phone at your place yesterday…"

It all finally made sense to Yuki… It made sense, but at the very same time…

She's really dressed-up for someone who just stopped by to grab her phone.

Being a woman herself, she could tell that Alisa clearly came dressed to kill. Now, if

Alisa claimed that she normally dolled up whenever she went out, then that would be the end

of the conversation, but Yuki had a gut feeling that wasn't the case.

"No prob. Come on up."

"…? Okay."

"…?!"

While Yuki was busy staring with suspicion at Alisa on the monitor, Masachika suddenly

unlocked the entrance and invited her in. Although puzzled by the way he was speaking,

Alisa didn't say another word as she stepped inside.

"Oh god. This is bad," muttered Yuki with a blank face as she began rapidly racking

her brain for a solution. There were multiple things bad about this. First off, Masachika was

still hypnotized. Next, there was the fact that Yuki and Ayano were hanging out at the Kuze

residence this early in the morning. And last but not least, Ayano was dressed as a maid,

while Yuki was wearing straight-up loungewear.

Yeah! I can't let her see me dressed like this!

After almost instantaneously coming to that decision, she took a step toward the

bedroom… But she noticed Masachika was already heading toward the front door, and she

froze.

"…! I need to dehypnotize him first!"

Once she came to that split-second decision, Yuki leaped toward her phone.

"Ayano! Slow Masachika down! Wait, no! Hide our shoes!"

"…As you wish."

Yuki unlocked her phone as Ayano headed toward the front door.

First, I need to make sure our shoes are hidden, and I need to make sure Masachika is

himself when he answers the door, too…

Rapidly mapping out a plan in her head, Yuki opened the hypnosis app… She opened

the hypnosis app… She…

"…Where's the dehypnotize function?!" she shouted shrilly, unable to find the one thing

she needed. She was left with no other choice. She had to rely on the only way she knew how

to dehypnotize someone…but before she could even take another step, the doorbell rang,

and she froze.

"Yo, you're here."

And it was almost immediately followed by the sound of a door opening and Masachika

greeting Alisa. Yuki clenched her teeth tightly, for she was now facing the worst possible

scenario.

I've got to change!!

She dashed to her room while undoing her ponytail, then fast-forwarded into something

more formal and appropriate for visitors. After making sure she was wearing a ladylike smile,

she headed to the entrance to greet Alisa…and completely froze yet again. Because

Masachika had one hand against the closed front door with his other hand lifting Alisa's chin.

Ayano was staring in awe, putting no effort toward hiding.

"Wait, wait, wait…"

After Yuki passed by Ayano, who was standing upright and stock-still for some reason,

she immediately tried to cut in between Masachika and Alisa… At that moment, Masachika

grinned at Alisa like a savage beast and exclaimed, "I want you to bear my child."

"Seriously? You're just repeating a line you saw in a lewd video game ad online!"

"…Okay."

"Bffft?! Am I hearing things?!"

Hearing Alisa agree almost made Yuki lose consciousness. But when she turned her

wide eyes to her schoolmate and noticed the vacant look on her face, it all made sense.

"Ack! I completely forgot how easily susceptible she is to hypnosis!"

The lingering fragrance of the hypnosis candle must have gotten her the moment she

walked through the door. Yuki found it hard to believe that any of the candle's scent made

it all the way over there…so Alisa must be more vulnerable to hypnosis than she thought.

Either that, or Alisa had become addicted to being hypnotized by Masachika.

While Yuki was considering all the possibilities, Masachika wrapped his arm around

Alisa's waist and began walking toward the living room. Alisa simply wore a vacant stare

and surrendered herself to him.

"Huh? No, hold up."

But right as he was passing Yuki, she grabbed his shoulder and stopped him with a

serious expression.

"Yuki, read the room," he warned with a somewhat bitter smirk, glancing back at her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she shouted in almost a shriek, then

promptly swung her fist in an attempt to knock him unconscious. However, right as her punch

was about to connect, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Whoa. Nobody likes a disobedient brat, ya know?"

"Shut up and get a hold of yourself, ya filthy cheater! Ayano, grab my br—grab

Masachika for me! …Ayano?"

She saw Ayano take a step in front of her brother, so she asked for help… But she

suddenly noticed the look in her maid's eyes, and it gave her a terrible sense of foreboding.

"Sir Masachika… Very well. I will bear…your child…"

"You too?!"

Yuki finally understood why Ayano had been idly standing there for so long. The

lingering aroma of the scented candle must have hypnotized her as well, and there was only

one person to blame.

This is all my fault!

Ayano had been used as a guinea pig to practice hypnosis until she became unbelievably

susceptible…by none other than Yuki. Although she was distressed, she saw Ayano trying

to throw herself on Masachika and immediately gave a flustered command.

"Ayano! Sit!"

"..."

"Dammit! It didn't work! Is the difference in power between us just that great?!" she

desperately shouted, pulling her wrist free. She then stood before her brother, blocking his

path with her arms spread wide as she bravely looked up at him; his arms were wrapped

around Alisa and Ayano.

"When I touch your shoulders, you will wake up from your trance! Got it? Three, two,

one… Wake up!" she clearly stated, desperately placing both hands on his shoulders and

shaking him. However…

"Yuki, what's wrong with you today? Are you jealous? Don't worry. I'll always be your

bro."

"It's not working! Ugh! What should I…?"

Before she could get another word out, Yuki felt her right wrist being grabbed, and her

body suddenly felt like it was floating in the air. But by the time she finally realized what

was happening, she was already staring at the hallway ceiling.

"…Huh?"

Because she unconsciously broke her own fall and Masachika's sweep was gentle, she

didn't really feel any pain, but the fact that she was caught off guard and didn't even see it

coming horrified her. Nevertheless, the instant she caught a glimpse of her brother taking two

girlsinto hisroom,she immediately got up and desperately went after him in full-panic mode.

"M-Masachika, let's calm down and think this through! Having your way with two

hypnotized women is something that's only supposed to happen in fanfics! Wait… I guess

this is kind of unique, since the man's also hypnotized… Ack! What am I thinking? Your

first time isn't supposed to be a threesome! That's only something you're supposed to see as

a bonus harem ending after clearing all the routes! So could you at least start with beating

the individual routes?!"

She clung to his shoulders from behind, desperately trying to stop him, but Yuki's petite

body was fruitlessly being dragged across the floor as he walked.

"…! Ugh! That's it!" she desperately screamed after realizing that they were now inside

the living room, only steps away from his bedroom…

"Hmm? Huh?! Ow! Ouch! What the…?! Did I sleep wrong? My neck is killing me,"

Masachika grunted painfully as he woke up with an aching neck.

"Damn, that hurts… Hmm?"

He sat up with a hand on his neck, then realized that he had been sleeping not in his

pajamas but in plain, everyday clothes. Masachika curiously began surveying his room

when…

"Why am I—? Whoa?!"

…he spotted Ayano on all fours bowing to him, and he jumped.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

"I am truly sorry…"

"For what? I have no idea what's going on."

"The scented candle I gave you last night…was actually a hypnosis candle…and thanks

to its effects, Lady Yuki had you hypnotized all morning."

"What? Hypnotized?"

An image of Alisa, half naked in the student council room, suddenly came to mind…

which he quickly tried to erase from his head while simultaneously remembering that Alisa

had no recollection of what had happened that time.

"O-oh, so that's what happened? I was hypnotized…which is why I don't remember

anything?"

"Yes… That is most likely what happened."

"Uh-huh…," he replied without emotion, genuinely still unable to process what was

going on. There wasn't much he could do, though, since even if he had been hypnotized,

there was no way he would be able to remember.

"…So why does my neck hurt?"

"That's… Well… I only remember bits and pieces of what happened as well, so I am

not exactly sure…but I believe Lady Yuki had to choke you out from behind to stop you."

"What?"

Her explanation only made him more confused.

"…Eh. Whatever. Where's Yuki? And stand up. It's not your fault. You don't need to

apologize."

"I do. I was the one who brought the scented candle and found the hypnosis app…"

"…The what app?"

"This…"

Displayed on the smartphone in Ayano's hand was a giant closed eye accompanied by

a faint, fishy vibrating sound.

"…What's this? And what's that noise?"

"Oh, this is apparently a sound wave that is supposed to wake you up from hypnosis. I

was playing it for you while you were asleep… Oh! Right, you wanted to know where Lady

Yuki was. Lady Yuki has…already returned to the Suou residence…"

"Huh? Why?"

"Um… She wanted me to give this to you…"

With extreme reluctance, Ayano slipped a folded piece of loose-leaf paper out of her

pocket, but when he unfolded it, all that was written was "I'm sorry" in absurdly large letters

in Yuki's handwriting.

"…What's this all about? …Wait. You said she had to 'stop' me? Like, was I doing

something so bad that I needed to be choked out?"

"It's probably better for you to see for yourself…"

Ayano glanced at Masachika's smartphone by his bedside. In spite of the bad feeling

in his gut, he turned it on and immediately saw notifications from the second-year students

in the student council.

> Kuze, what's wrong? If something's bothering you, let me

know.

> Are you okay, Kuze? Were you possessed when investigating

the school's seven mysteries?

> Well, I think you're cool. Yep.

While Touya and Maria seemed concerned about him, Chisaki appeared to be trying

to make him feel better about something. However, all these messages could be traced to a

single source: a video file that Yuki had uploaded. Masachika tapped the screen, opening

the file…

"Hey, yooo. What's going on? I get that you want to save

every moment you spend with me, but could you at least wait

until I get dressed?"

"Huh?!"

Masachika was rendered speechless the moment he witnessed the man in the video—

he was having a hard time believing it was him. The guy in the video was posing like a

narcissist. He promptly locked the screen, unable to take it any longer, but that didn't change

the fact that the upperclassmen in the student council had all seen the video. His entire body

felt like it was on fire.

"Y-Yukiiiiii! What… What have you done?!"

He clenched his jaw, furiously grinding his teeth as he sat on the bed, and desperately

fought against the overwhelming embarrassment…until it suddenly hit him. He still hadn't

receive a text from Alisa.

Which means Alya probably hasn't—… Oh, wait! She left her phone at my house

yesterday, so there's no way she could have seen it! So if I delete it before she spotsit, then…!

The person he was worried about watching the video most still hadn't seen it yet. That

sudden glimmer of hope was enough to make him forget that Yuki had already gone home,

and he dashed out of his room.

"Hey! Yuki—"

Right as he rushed into the living room…he discovered Alisa slumped over the table

and faintly trembling, and he froze.

"…! Pfft! Hfff…!"

Alisa had her face buried into her left arm, her back softly bouncing as she inhaled with

each faint laugh, and in her right hand…was her phone, which was supposed to be on the

table in Masachika's room.

"Hey, when did I tell you to stop shooting? Oh, I get it.

You're tired of looking at me from the other side of the lens.

You want to see me up close with your own two eyes. Heh! Fine…"

"…!!"

Masachika heard what was clearly his own voice coming from the phone and collapsed

to his knees.

"Y-Yuki… Yukiiiiiiiii!" he growled from the depths of his heart while on all fours.

"What did I doooooo?!"

"Pfft!! Hff!!"

Alisa's almost silent cackling as she inhaled with each laugh meshed with the cries of

Masachika's soul. That was when the phone in his hand began to vibrate, so he looked down

at the screen and saw it was a message from Yuki:

> It's your fault for being so popular.