082. President, Shut Up

Late at night.

A luxurious mansion.

One male, two females.

Two kneeling, one standing.

"So, why am I the one kneeling here?!" Natsukawa Kanade exclaimed, his voice rising in frustration as he raised his shackled hands for emphasis. His tone carried the weariness of a man who had been dragged into chaos against his will.

"President, shut up!" Fujiwara Chika barked, her glare sharp enough to slice through steel. She pointed an accusing finger at him, her expression full of exaggerated indignation. "If you didn't want to, you should have resisted! How could you let Moeha do something so disgraceful? She's the one who's clearly guilty!"

"...!"

Kanade's jaw dropped. "Then teach me how to resist!" he wanted to shout but held back, biting his tongue. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him, the events of the night spiraling far beyond his ability to comprehend. Not only had he been ambushed in the dead of night, but now he was being blamed for it?

Chika, however, wasn't finished. Turning her ire toward her younger sister, she scolded, "And Moeha! How could you stoop so low? As a member of the Fujiwara family, you should have some dignity!"

"...!"

You're the last person qualified to say that!

"It's all your fault, Sister Chika," Moeha retorted, puffing her cheeks in defiance. "You keep talking about how great Senpai's abs are at home—"

"Moeha, shut up!" Chika shrieked, lunging at her sister. Her hand clamped over Moeha's mouth in a desperate bid to silence her.

"Don't spout nonsense!" Chika shot a frantic glare at Kanade, who was now watching the spectacle with a mix of disbelief and mortification. "President, cover your ears! Don't listen to her!"

"..."

Kanade raised his handcuffed wrists as if to say, How exactly am I supposed to do that?

Clearing her throat with an exaggerated ahem, Chika quickly regained her composure. She pushed Moeha toward the hallway, her voice dripping with feigned authority. "Alright, Moeha, it's time for bed. Kids need plenty of sleep to grow!"

"I keep telling you, I'm not a kid anymore!" Moeha protested, pouting like a sulking child.

"If you don't listen, I'll call our parents and tell them everything," Chika threatened, her tone unyielding.

Moeha hesitated, glaring at her older sister before reluctantly giving in. However, before leaving, she turned back to Kanade, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Goodnight, Senpai. Let's continue this next time."

"..."

There is no 'next time'! Let's never meet again! Kanade screamed internally, his face a mask of barely contained despair.

He was starting to realize that every single member of the Fujiwara family was an anomaly. Chika, the supposed "normal one," wasn't any less eccentric. The eldest sister's habit of lounging around in just her underwear suddenly seemed tame by comparison. As for Moeha… her actions tonight made her the most dangerous of them all.

If anything, this confirmed one thing: Kanade would need to maintain a safe distance from the Fujiwara sisters in the future. No exceptions.

Still, he couldn't help but stew over the situation. All of this chaos stemmed from something as innocuous as Chika's obsession with his abs. What if this escalated further? What if their father caught wind of this and decided to demand Kanade marry into the Fujiwara family?

Sure, marrying into a wife's family wasn't the worst fate, but being forced into it? That was an affront to his dignity as a man!

...Not that marrying into the Fujiwara family would leave much dignity intact, anyway.

"President, why are you still kneeling? Get up already," Chika called out as she returned to the living room. Her gaze fell on Kanade, who was still kneeling awkwardly on the floor.

"…My legs are numb," Kanade muttered, turning his head away in embarrassment.

Chika's laughter rang out, light and teasing. "Hahaha! Oh, President, you're so hopeless!" she said, feigning exasperation. "I didn't expect the usually serious and stoic President to be so entertaining in private."

"Whose fault do you think that is?!" Kanade snapped, glaring at her as he used her shoulder to pull himself to his feet.

To think, all of this could have been avoided if he hadn't gone out of his way to rescue her earlier. The sheer irony of being punished for his good deed wasn't lost on him.

If anything, tonight's ordeal had taught him one valuable lesson: he had been far too lenient with Fujiwara Chika in the past. In the future, he would make it a point to rein her in, no matter how much she protested.

"By the way, uncuff me already," Kanade said, his voice tinged with irritation. "I need to use the bathroom."

It would have been fine if Natsukawa Kanade could have just endured until dawn. But now, after everything, his physiological needs were becoming unbearable.

"Uh…" Fujiwara Chika froze for a moment, her face shifting between surprise and guilt before she gave him an awkward smile. "Oh, I forgot about that. Let me go wake Moeha! President, please hang in there a little longer!"

"Hurry up," Kanade replied, his tone laced with the desperation of someone teetering on the edge.

But the minutes dragged on endlessly, and just as Kanade thought he might burst, Chika returned, shuffling into the room without a trace of urgency.

Her hands were empty.

"No way… Did you—?"

"Ahahaha…" Chika scratched the back of her head, laughing sheepishly. "Moeha's already asleep, and I… I couldn't wake her up…"

"Hiss…" Kanade drew in a sharp breath, the frustration and panic combining into a headache so intense it felt like his skull might crack. "Then what am I supposed to do?!"

"Uh…" Chika flinched at his tone, her hands fidgeting nervously. "President, can't you… you know… figure something out on your own?"

"Then teach me how!" Kanade snapped, glaring at her with exasperation. His wrists throbbed in protest from the cuffs, forcing him to keep his hands in the most awkward, uncomfortable position imaginable. He couldn't move them even if he wanted to.

Chika seemed to realize this too late. "Oh… oh no! What should we do?!" She paced back and forth, her usual carefree demeanor replaced by frantic indecision.

Kanade rolled his eyes, his patience wearing thinner by the second. "Don't worry about it. I'll just hold it until I suffocate and die. Problem solved."

"..."

For a long moment, Chika stood there, her face shifting through emotions like a kaleidoscope. Finally, her cheeks turned bright red, and she stammered, "W-Well… if it's that bad, maybe… I can… help?"

Kanade gave her a deadpan stare, raising a shackled hand in mock applause. "Wow, as expected of you. Truly the great Fujiwara Chika, the ultimate problem-solver."

"Th-That's not what I meant!" Chika shouted, her blush deepening as she grabbed his sleeve. "J-Just come with me!"

Without waiting for a response, she dragged him toward the bathroom.

Kanade stumbled behind her, bewildered. "Oi, what are you planning?!"

When they reached the bathroom, Chika pushed him toward the toilet but froze awkwardly in place, her eyes darting between him and the floor.

"...Do you think staring at the toilet will magically solve my problem?" Kanade asked dryly. "Or do you want me to just ruin my clothes?"

Chika fidgeted, her blush intensifying as she finally muttered under her breath, "I'll… I'll help you take them off."

Kanade flinched, his eyes wide with horror. "You—what are you even saying?!"

"This isn't the time to argue!" Chika barked, her face red enough to rival a tomato. "If you end up ruining your pajamas, I'll never forgive you! Now stop squirming and let me help!"

Kanade was struck speechless. On one hand, her reasoning made a strange sort of sense. On the other hand… was there any dignity left in this scenario? Asking a girl to do something like this—how had his life come to this?

Yet, as the seconds ticked by and the pressure mounted, Kanade realized he had no other choice. His hands were cuffed, his options nonexistent.

"...Fine. But make it quick."

Chika took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for battle. Don't panic, Chika. Think of it as helping a baby. A very helpless, very annoying baby. It's not like you haven't seen this kind of thing before… right?

Her trembling hands moved toward his waistband, and—

"Wait!" Kanade flinched away, his panic resurfacing. "Do you even know what you're doing?!"

"I don't have time to think about that!" Chika snapped, her voice cracking under the pressure. "If you don't let me do this, I swear we're both doomed!"

Kanade sighed in defeat, muttering under his breath, "This is the worst day of my life…"

But as Chika's hands hesitantly began their work, her thoughts took an unexpected turn.

This… is definitely not baby-sized. I can't keep this hand anymore…

Both froze, their faces burning with mutual embarrassment.

The silence stretched on, thick and unbearable.

"..."

"..."