082. Shut Up, President

Deep into the night.

A luxurious mansion.

One boy, two girls.

Two kneeling, one standing…

"Why am I being punished here? I'm the victim!" Kanade Natsukawa exclaimed, raising his cuffed hands to show his predicament. "How am I the guilty party here?!"

"Shut up, President!" Chika Fujiwara shot him a sharp glare. "If you didn't like it, you should've resisted! Letting Moeha do such terrible things makes you complicit!"

"..."

Resist?! You tell me how to resist when I'm handcuffed!

Kanade was utterly drained. Not only had he been ambushed in the dead of night, but now he was being wrongly accused. He felt more wronged than a tragic folk tale heroine.

"And you, Moeha!" Chika turned to her younger sister. "How could you do something so shameless?! You're a Fujiwara! You've brought disgrace to our family name!"

"..."

Pot, meet kettle.

"It's all your fault, Chika-nee!" Moeha pouted. "You're always going on about Senpai's abs at home—"

"Wha—stop spouting nonsense!" Chika interrupted, clamping her hand over Moeha's mouth. She shot a panicked glance at Kanade, barking, "President, cover your ears! Don't listen to her!"

"..."

Kanade raised his shackled hands with an exasperated expression, silently reminding her of his current situation.

"Ahem!" Chika cleared her throat and quickly ushered Moeha away, pushing her toward the hallway. "Alright, Moeha, it's late. Go to bed! Kids need lots of sleep to grow up healthy."

"I'm not a kid anymore!"

"If you don't listen, I'll send you back to live with Mom and Dad."

Reluctantly, Moeha pouted and gave in. As she shuffled off, she glanced back at Kanade, giving him a sly wink that seemed to say, Next time, Senpai.

There's no next time! Kanade screamed internally.

At this point, he'd realized that every Fujiwara sister had a peculiar streak. Toyomi, at least, seemed harmless despite her casual lack of clothing. But Chika and Moeha? They were walking disasters with dangerously questionable hobbies.

And judging by their conversation, it was Chika who had planted the seed of Moeha's mischief. Kanade vowed to be more vigilant around her in the future—he couldn't let this idiot drag him into more chaos.

Sure, letting her poke at his abs was harmless enough, but she always escalated. If things went any further, he might genuinely end up being coerced into marrying into the Fujiwara family.

Marrying in might not be the worst thing, but it had to be on his terms! A man's dignity was at stake!

…Though, would there even be dignity left after that?

"President, why are you still kneeling there? Get up already," Chika said, returning to the living room. She found Kanade still kneeling where she'd left him.

"…My legs are asleep," Kanade muttered, averting his gaze in embarrassment.

"Pfft! Hahaha!" Chika laughed gleefully, her teasing smile adding insult to injury. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you! Mr. Serious Student Council President, reduced to this!"

"And whose fault do you think that is?!" Kanade snapped as he leaned on her to get up, glaring at her with all the frustration he'd accumulated that day.

He hadn't asked for any of this. If it weren't for saving her earlier in the storage room, none of this would've happened.

Honestly, he was beginning to suspect he'd been too lenient with Chika in the past. Whenever she made a request, he almost always gave in as long as it wasn't unreasonable. And this was how she repaid him?

He vowed to find a way to properly punish her for this someday.

"By the way, can you take these handcuffs off now? I need to use the bathroom," Kanade said bluntly, his physical needs finally catching up with him.

"Uh…" Chika froze, then let out an awkward laugh. "Oh, right! I forgot about that. I'll go wake up Moeha. Just hold it for a bit!"

"Make it quick," Kanade grumbled.

But no matter how long he waited, Chika didn't return. He was starting to reach his limit when she finally reappeared, empty-handed.

"Wait, where's the key?!"

"Ahaha… Moeha seems to be sound asleep. I couldn't wake her," Chika admitted sheepishly.

"Huh?! Then what am I supposed to do?!"

"Uhh… maybe try managing on your own?"

"Then teach me how, genius!" Kanade snapped, glaring at her. His arms were stiff from being stuck in an awkward position, and moving them was a surefire way to hurt his wrists.

"W-well, um…" Chika stammered, clearly out of ideas.

"Forget it! I'll just hold it until I die!" Kanade groaned, rolling his eyes in defeat.

After a long pause, Chika finally blurted out, her face glowing red, "M-maybe I could… help you?"

Kanade raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you're going to help me out? Bravo, Chika Fujiwara. Truly, you're a saint."

"Not like that!" Chika shrieked, waving her hands in a panic. "I just meant—come with me!"

Dragging him by the sleeve, she led him to the bathroom and unceremoniously pushed him in front of the toilet.

"Okay, here you go," she said, stepping back.

Kanade blinked at her. "What, am I supposed to stare at it until my imagination does the work? Or are you hoping I just wet myself?"

"This is so embarrassing…" Chika muttered under her breath, her face a fiery red. After taking a deep breath, she tentatively reached for his waistband.

"W-what are you doing?!" Kanade yelped, stepping back in alarm.

"I'm trying to help you take your pants off!" Chika shot back, her voice high-pitched from embarrassment. "Stop moving around! If you wet your pajamas, I'll never forgive you!"

Kanade stared at her, utterly mortified. Sure, he'd misunderstood her intentions at first, but this wasn't any better. Was he really going to let her do this?!

"Guh…"

Chika, on the other hand, was psyching herself up. It's no big deal. Just think of it like helping a baby. Yeah, nothing weird about it. Not at all!

But when her hands actually made contact, she froze.

"…This isn't baby-sized at all!" Chika wailed internally, withdrawing her hands in horror. I'm contaminated! This hand is ruined forever!

"…"

"…"