One-Day Maid Arisu-chan

Having studied desperately every day to earn those 200,000 points, the midterm exams were finally arriving tomorrow.

After the homeroom session ended, Chabashira walked out of the classroom.

I had to finish my final comprehensive review today.

Just as I thought this and prepared to stand up, Kushida, with her refreshing short hair, stood up at the same time and spoke:

"Everyone, could you listen to me for a moment before you head home?"

Kushida's clear voice echoed throughout the classroom, and everyone who was preparing to leave, including me, stopped in their tracks.

"I'm sure you've all done plenty of verbal review for tomorrow. I have something here that might come in handy, so I'm going to pass it out now."

Stacks of test papers were distributed from Kushida's hands to the front of each row.

When one reached my hands, I couldn't help but ask:

"...These questions? Did you write them yourself, Kushida?"

"Actually, these are the actual midterm papers from the past few years. I got them from a senior last night."

Examining the content closely, they were indeed all the topics we had just learned.

"Is this going to be useful?"

"Yes, although they are from the year before last, I heard the question formats are basically the same. So, I thought reviewing these would be helpful."

"Whoa! For real? Thank you, Kushida!"

Ike, one of the students in danger of failing, excitedly crumpled the test paper into a ball.

"If you'd told us you had something this good earlier, we wouldn't have had to study so desperately."

Yamauchi, who was also on the verge of failing, muttered this, but relying solely on past papers was risky; the question formats might change this year.

"Sudo, you should use this to review today, too."

"Oh, that's a huge help."

"Don't tell the other classes about this! We're going to get high scores and shock them!"

Although Ike said that, hoarding the test papers was suspicious and could be seen as betraying the class.

(Though Sakanayanagi, Ichinose, and Hiyori would probably secure a spot in the top ten of the grade even without the past papers.)

After nearly two weeks of studying together, the three of them were definitely capable of reaching even greater heights.

Having judged it this way, I decided not to provide the past papers to Sakanayanagi and the others, and left the classroom on my own.

"...Hah. Finally finished the comprehensive review."

"Yes, it's already this late. I'll go prepare dinner."

At six in the evening, while I was reviewing alone with Hiyori in my dorm room, she stood up and headed toward the kitchen.

Throughout this exam week, Hiyori had insisted on preparing my breakfast, dinner, and bento every day; she really was an angel.

Ever since I met Yukinoshita and the others before the exam break, I had come to cherish this friendship even more.

"I'm always troubling you."

"It's something I want to do."

Although she said that every time, I still insisted on thanking her.

"By the way... sorry, my pencil lead and eraser are running out, I need to go buy some."

I had to be foolproof for tomorrow's exam; it would be a joke if I ran out of erasers halfway through.

"Take care on your way."

With Hiyori seeing me off, I took the elevator down to the first-floor lobby.

Just as I was about to head out—

"Oh my, is Hikigaya heading out for dinner?"

I happened to run into Sakanayanagi.

However, this time she was accompanied by a girl with a side ponytail and an aggressive expression.

"Going to buy pencil lead and an eraser. Is this your lackey?"

"Pardon me, this is Kamuro Masumi, my friend."

"Don't give me that. Looking at her face, it's written all over it that she's reluctant; you've probably got something on her, right?"

The girl named Kamuro clearly wore an unhappy expression; she didn't look like a friend at all.

"Shall we play a game? Want to guess what kind of leverage I have on her?"

There was definitely a story behind this.

But a game?

"What's the wager? What happens if I guess right or wrong?"

"Hmm... if you guess wrong, you have to grant me one request. If you guess right, I'll let you boss Kamuro around for a day."

"Hey Sakanayanagi, don't use people as stakes."

Kamuro finally spoke up; her reaction was only natural.

However, I had no interest in bossing a stranger around.

"Indeed, winning would only make things awkward."

"Then what would you like, Hikigaya-kun?"

Asked by Sakanayanagi, I thought about how I was always being suppressed by her and decided that I should occasionally take the initiative.

And so—

"If I guess right, you have to wear a maid outfit and serve me for a day."

Sakanayanagi's eyes widened slightly at these words, and then she began to chuckle.

"So Hikigaya-kun likes maid outfits, huh? Very well. If you guess correctly, I will be your exclusive maid for a day."

"You've got some nerve..."

Kamuro looked at me with an expression mixed with shock and trembling, but having spent so much time with Sakanayanagi, I had long since become numb to the sensation of fear.

The top priority was to find Kamuro's weakness.

I took a deep breath and stared at her.

Kamuro, who had been expressionless at first, glared back uncomfortably under my sustained gaze.

"What? You think you can figure it out just by looking?"

Of course that was impossible.

Observation was merely a tool to assist in analysis.

However, since the range of potential weaknesses was limited, I decided to list the possibilities directly.

"Violence... compensated dating... theft... obsession..."

As I said each word, Kamuro reacted differently... it was theft.

My basis for judgment was: when I mentioned violence, she had no reaction, meaning it wasn't the truth.

Humans usually have an instinctive reaction when a secret is exposed.

As for the other two, she showed an expression of disgust for both, but to the same degree.

If one of them were the truth, the reactions should have differed.

Through the process of elimination, I locked onto theft.

Furthermore, her eyebrows twitched noticeably when I mentioned theft, so it was almost certainly correct.

I would assume it was theft for the time being.

But theft comes in two forms: stealing personal property or stealing store merchandise.

However, the possibility of stealing personal items was low.

The school was covered in surveillance cameras, making theft almost impossible to pull off.

Breaking into someone else's dorm to steal wasn't realistic either, especially with Sakanayanagi, a third party, being present.

So, it was most likely that Sakanayanagi had accidentally caught her shoplifting. Therefore...

"It's shoplifting, isn't it?"

Kamuro's eyes widened at my words. This reaction confirmed I had guessed correctly.

"Brilliant. Although I expected to be found out, I didn't expect you to see through it without even asking a question."

Sakanayanagi clapped her hands happily.

"I'm flattered. But being able to turn a habitual thief into a pawn—that's not a bad move on your part."

Compared to the school grounds, the shopping mall had fewer surveillance cameras (or rather, the number of cameras in the school was abnormally high). Being able to succeed repeatedly meant her skills were top-notch.

"So, according to our agreement, when shall I go to be Hikigaya-kun's exclusive maid?"

"Wait, are you actually going to do it?"

"Of course. Otherwise, the bet would lose its meaning. What do you think, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Let's wait until the midterm exam results are posted."

It was originally just a joke of a punishment game, but having Sakanayanagi serve me seemed quite interesting.

I might as well go with the flow.

"Understood. I will serve you with the utmost dedication when the time comes."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"...You two really have a good relationship."

"Yes, we get along quite well."

"After all, I've been played for a month, so I'm used to it."

Now, even if Sakanayanagi teases me, I don't feel too exhausted; I can even find some enjoyment in it.

"Besides, Sakanayanagi may seem perfect, but she actually has many weaknesses."

"Other than her poor athletic ability?"

"Exactly."

As I said this, I leaned in close to Sakanayanagi.

She seemed to anticipate my intention and tried to step back, but she was a beat too slow—

"Hoo—"

"Eek!"

I blew a breath into her ear.

Sakanayanagi immediately let out a cute shriek, just like last time.

"Good luck with the midterms."

I laughed loudly and walked toward the entrance, leaving a blushing Sakanayanagi behind.

********************************

"Pfft... hehe..."

After Hikigaya Hachiman left, Masumi's shoulders shook as she held back her laughter.

She never expected that the girl who was as cold as frost and had coerced her would actually show such a cute reaction.

But seeing Arisu trembling all over, she managed to restrain her laughter.

After all, if she kept laughing, she would be the one to suffer.

"Heh... hehehehe, Hikigaya-kun is truly daring."

Arisu was smiling.

But unlike her usual cold sneer, this time it was a smile with flames of anger burning in her eyes.

Masumi was surprised by this rare display of emotion.

"Should we deal with him?"

"How could we? I'm not so boring as to destroy a friend over such a little prank; I'll just return the favor with an even more embarrassing experience."

"Revenge, huh... by the way, you actually like him, don't you?"

Although today was their first meeting, the whole school knew that Arisu spent most of her free time with Hachiman.

Masumi was convinced that Arisu had feelings for him.

Arisu shook her head gently: "We are indeed compatible as friends, but in terms of romance, I have never felt anything for anyone."

"That's true... I really can't imagine you in a relationship."

"I can't imagine it myself either. By the way, what do you think of Hikigaya-kun? He's interesting, right?"

"How is he interesting! When being stared at by those dead fish eyes, it feels like all my secrets are being seen through; it's nothing but terrifying!"

"Indeed, his insight is extraordinary, and the lies he weaves are enough to deceive everyone. But once you get used to it, those eyes are actually quite cute, aren't they?"

"I, do, not, think, so! So, how are you going to get revenge?"

Arisu pretended to think for a moment—

"How about, after the midterms are over, I throw myself into his arms in a crowded place like the cafeteria and kiss him on the cheek?"