Mash-Up: Anything for Money

Hakuto shook his head. Seriously... coming to gather intel without even filling in the gaps in information.

Hakuto stared at the shadow outside the door, still not exposing her. Instead, he continued following the topic she brought up.

"Nino should know that... I'm not the type to just talk big, right..."

"I know..." Nino replied with a gloomy tone from outside the door. But for some reason, Hakuto could hear a hint of a smile in that gloomy voice...

"You know too, Nino... about Miku and the others..." Hakuto trailed off. After all, sometimes saying too much isn't good. Some things are better left to imagination.

"Then... Shiratori, who do you plan to go after first?"

Here it comes. The person outside the door probably had this as her true goal all along. But what a coincidence! That was Hakuto's goal too!

Leaning back in the bathtub, Hakuto gazed at the foggy ceiling and put on a hesitant expression. 

After a long pause, he finally said a name.

"If I really had to say... it'd probably be Ichika..."

Thud!

Just as Hakuto finished speaking, a loud bump came from outside the door—like someone had hit their head on something...

"What happened, Nino? Something going on out there?"

"No... nothing... I'll head back to my room now. Yotsuba might get suspicious..."

"You should go to sleep soon too, Shiratori. Don't soak for too long..."

Watching the shadow leave the doorway, Hakuto couldn't help but let out a laugh from the bathtub.

He obviously knew that the person outside wasn't Nino—it was Ichika. After all, she was the only one who would think of such a method to gather information.

"Ichika, I didn't do anything, you know. I was just chatting with Nino..."

Hakuto spread out his hands, distancing himself from the situation. He really hadn't done anything just now, so even if questioned later, he could play dumb completely.

This is the terror of information gaps!

Wait—an information gap and deception?!

...

Meanwhile, in Nino's room.

The real Nino was sitting face to face with Yotsuba, wearing an interrogative expression.

"Nino... why are you looking at me like that?" Yotsuba scratched her head, clearly confused.

"Yotsuba, tell me honestly—what kind of feelings do you have for Shiratori?"

"Eh? Shiratori-sensei?" Yotsuba raised an eyebrow. "I like him? What's wrong with that?"

Yotsuba originally couldn't bring herself to face her feelings. But because of what Nino did at noon today, she had an emotional breakthrough.

That's why she could now say the word "like" so plainly.

Nino nodded. She already knew the answer. Asking this question was just a formality.

"In that case, hand me your room's spare key..."

"Eh? What does that have to do with the spare key?"

"Ugh, no no, that's not what I meant..." Nino shook her head—she had accidentally said what was on her mind.

"What I meant was—how much do you like Shiratori?"

"Eh? How much?" Yotsuba frowned.

In just a few seconds, Nino's words had already exceeded Yotsuba's processing capacity.

After all, she didn't even know feelings like love could come in degrees...

Since childhood, Yotsuba had only ever liked Hakuto. Not just her—the same went for all five sisters.

So, with her pure heart, Yotsuba had no way to gauge how deep her feelings really were—there was no standard to compare against.

Seeing Yotsuba's dazed face, Nino added:

"Just imagine—if, and I mean if—" Nino gave a disclaimer in advance. "If Shiratori had a girlfriend already, would you still like him?"

"Eh eh eh?! Shiratori-sensei already has a girlfriend?!" Yotsuba jumped to her feet.

"Keep your voice down! I said if!" Nino quickly covered her mouth.

After all, the room next door was Miku's. Even if the soundproofing wasn't bad, something could still be overheard.

"Ohhh~" Hearing the word "if," Yotsuba sighed in relief.

"You're hopeless..." Nino shook her head. She didn't know what kind of magic potion Hakuto had fed her sisters...

"Just answer my question first..."

"But if Shiratori-sensei already has a girlfriend, no matter how much I like him, it's meaningless..." Yotsuba rested her face on her hand. 

She seemed to imagine the situation, and a touch of sadness crossed her face.

"Then what if—Shiratori has a girlfriend, but he can still be your boyfriend too—could you accept that?"

"Eh?" To be honest, Yotsuba was getting dizzy from the logic.

"Girlfriend... boyfriend... accept...?" Yotsuba's brain was smoking, trying to process something too complex for her age.

"Idiot Yotsuba! I'm asking if you'd mind Shiratori having multiple girlfriends!"

"Oh—so you mean, if I became Shiratori-sensei's girlfriend, but he also had other girlfriends..."

"Yeah... pretty much."

That was the gist of it. Nino didn't bother explaining further. Besides, she already said "if." Even if this got out, she could just say she was joking.

"Σ(ﾟдﾟlll)! Wouldn't that mean Shiratori-sensei is cheating?!"

"Why do you have to make it sound so awful?!"

Twisting the knife! Purely twisting the knife! 

Nino admitted she felt a little hurt—but just a little.

After all, Nino liked Hakuto, and Hakuto liked her too. That was enough.

Who cares what society says! Nino didn't care! She just wanted to be with Hakuto!

"Nino, you're acting really weird today. Did Shiratori-sensei say something to you at lunch?"

"Forget it, forget it..." Nino shook her head. Right now, she only wanted the answer to one question.

"Yotsuba, just tell me—would you mind?"

"Eh? Me?" Yotsuba scratched her head. "If Shiratori-sensei asked me to be his girlfriend, it'd be because he likes me, right?"

"Obviously?"

"Then... would he bully me?"

"He wouldn't..."

"Then..." Yotsuba thought about it. It didn't seem so unacceptable after all. 

From the beginning, she hadn't wanted to fight with Miku and the others.

They were sisters who'd lived together for over ten years. Fighting over the same guy was something Yotsuba found hard to do.

Unlike Nino, who believed in boldly pursuing love without hesitation...

Yotsuba had always been worried about one thing—no matter how much they fought, Hakuto could only choose one in the end.

That was the real reason she didn't want to compete. But now, Nino was saying Hakuto's choice wasn't exclusive.

That made the only concern in Yotsuba's heart vanish instantly. So now it didn't seem so unacceptable anymore...

"I don't mind if Shiratori-sensei has other girlfriends... Of course, if those others were you, Nino, and the others, that'd be even better..."

"Mm!" Nino nodded, but the next moment, she snapped: "What's so great about that guy Shiratori?! He's got you falling this hard?"

"Eh? But didn't you ask me all this in the first place?"

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