Mash-Up: Anything for Money

"Hello…"

"Nino, it's me…"

"Mm, I know… I know."

After months of not hearing that familiar voice, Nino felt like she was breaking into a sweat.

She didn't know why, but even though it was the person she was most familiar with in the world, she still felt a bit nervous at this moment.

"Are you at school or home right now?"

"I'm at home. The others are here too, they'll probably be downstairs soon."

"I see..."

"You sound really tired, Hakuto…"

"I'm okay. I'm living like a regular office drone now—going to work every day. But hey, as soon as I had a moment, I thought of calling you."

On the other end of the phone, Hakuto frowned slightly. He had tried hard to sound normal, but Nino still immediately heard the fatigue in his voice.

Just like when a kid sleeps until noon and tries to fake being awake—no matter how well they hide it, parents can always tell.

"Hakuto-sensei! Hakuto-sensei! I'm here!"

Yotsuba had already called out and now threw herself in front of Nino, staring excitedly at the phone in her hand.

At the same time, the remaining three sisters came down from upstairs. One of them leaned a hand on the back of the sofa, her eyes fixed on the phone.

"Mm… Did I just hear Yotsuba's voice?"

"It's me! Hakuto-sensei, I'm here!"

It had been months since she'd heard Hakuto's voice, and Yotsuba was absolutely thrilled—like a child seeing their father return from working far away.

"If Yotsuba's there, then Miku and the others must be there too, right?"

Hearing that, Miku, who had been leaning on the sofa back, replied quietly.

"Hakuto… I'm here."

"Hakuto-sensei, we're all here."

"Why didn't Hakuto mention me? Did he forget about me?"

At that, a soft chuckle came from Hakuto on the other end of the line.

"Sorry. Time's tight, so I won't be able to chit-chat with you all. I'll try to keep this short."

"I'm in Turkey right now. I've been doing alright these past few months—just tired."

"You guys don't need to worry about me. I can still see some of the messages you send me, though it's on and off."

"Maybe it's because of certain keywords or formatting. Anyway, foreign systems have a lot of rules."

"Bottom line is—I'm doing fine. Once everything's resolved, I'll come back."

The five sisters had so much they wanted to say, but at this moment, no words came out.

They looked at each other. All of them wore a quiet, slightly heavy expression. They had many things to say—but in the end, it all condensed into a simple sentence.

"Hakuto… we'll be waiting for you to come back."

"Alright."

There were no lengthy goodbyes. Nino ended the call, and the others silently refrained from saying more.

"Hakuto-sensei thinks he's hiding it well…" Itsuki looked dazed, even the star-shaped clip in her hair seemed to lose its shine.

"Hakuto's tone is off… he really does sound tired."

"Wasn't this the first call he's made in months…?" Ichika shook her head. "Seriously… didn't he say he'd keep in regular contact…?"

Although Ichika had more or less expected this outcome, she still couldn't help but complain.

"At least Hakuto-sensei's okay. If he's tired, then a good sleep should help!" Yotsuba nodded firmly.

Because of Hakuto's call, her mood had lifted considerably.

Yeah, just being able to make that call proves that Hakuto is okay. No matter how much else there is, as long as we know he's safe, that's enough.

"Right, but why is it that every time I try to call Hakuto-sensei, I get a message saying I'm out of service area...?"

"That's because, Yotsuba, you haven't enabled international calling..."

"Eh? That's a thing?"

…

After hanging up, Hakuto immediately got ready to make another call. With so many girlfriends, there were a lot of calls he needed to make.

Fortunately, gathering them all at once had worked—he only had to make two or three calls now.

"I'm sorry, your account has insufficient balance..."

"Son of a…!"

Seeing the message pop up on his phone, Hakuto nearly crushed the device out of sheer frustration.

He casually tossed the phone aside. At that moment, he didn't even want to move, let alone go outside to find a store to recharge.

Wait—shouldn't he be able to top up online?

Thinking that, Hakuto picked up the phone again.

"I'm sorry, you are currently not within service..."

"Screw you!"

He flung the phone away again, already calculating when he could snatch another phone to make his calls.

Lying in bed, clutching a pillow, Hakuto stared out the window.

"Why didn't I just knock Otosaka Yuu out and go get some sleep when I had the chance…?"

That thought crossed his mind—but the very next moment, he remembered why that wouldn't have worked.

Boom! BOOM BOOM!!

A deafening noise rang out, followed by a tremor. Just as Hakuto closed his eyes, he was jolted wide awake.

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

Annoyed, Hakuto picked up the piece of a window he had taken off earlier and stepped out onto the balcony.

But the moment he reached the balcony, something felt wrong.

The place where Otosaka Yuu's inn had been was now a pile of rubble.

"I swear to God, I really will knock you out next time!"

Hakuto had barely rested—what, not even half an hour?

Even someone with a good temper wouldn't be able to tolerate this. And Hakuto's temper was far from good.

He casually hurled the window piece toward the collapsed ruins.

Clang! Boom!

The dust that had just begun to settle was kicked up again into a thick cloud.

The surrounding onlookers, seeing the glass flying through the air, screamed and scattered in panic.

As for Otosaka Yuu, he lay beneath the rubble, using his psychic powers to hold up the debris so it wouldn't crush him.

"I seriously want to know—how damn hard is it to let me get a proper nap?"

Hakuto's figure appeared in front of Otosaka Yuu, brushing aside the fallen walls with one hand and lifting him out effortlessly.

But in the very next second, Hakuto noticed something was wrong. For some reason, Otosaka Yuu's eyes were glowing red, and even his entire aura seemed different.

Before Hakuto could think further, Otosaka Yuu suddenly conjured a flame in his hand and slammed it directly into him.

Instinctively, Hakuto let go and staggered back a few steps.

Looking into Otosaka Yuu's crimson eyes, Hakuto patted out the flames on his clothes, furrowed his brow, and hesitated before cautiously asking:

"Yuu? Or… Misa…?"