A Day as Arisu-chan, the Maid

After studying desperately every day to earn 200,000 points, the midterm exams were finally arriving tomorrow.

After homeroom, Chabashira-sensei left the classroom.

I had to finish my final comprehensive review today.

Just as I was thinking that and getting ready to stand, Kushida, with her neat short hair, stood up at the same time and spoke:

"Could I have everyone's attention before you head home?"

Kushida's clear voice carried throughout the classroom. Everyone who had been preparing to leave, myself included, stopped in their tracks.

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

Stacks of test papers were passed from Kushida to the students at the front of each row.

When one reached me, I couldn't help asking:

"...Are these exam questions? Did you make them yourself, Kushida?"

"Actually, they're midterms from a few years ago. I got them from a senpai last night."

I looked over the contents carefully. They really did cover material we'd studied recently.

"Can we use these?"

"Yeah. They're from the year before last, but I heard the question formats are basically the same. I thought reviewing them might help."

"Whoa! No way! Thanks, Kushida!!"

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

"You should've told us you had something this good sooner. Then we wouldn't have had to study so hard."

Yamauchi, who was also on the verge of failing, muttered that, but relying on past exams was unwise. The question formats might change this year.

"Sudo, make sure you use these to review today, too."

"Yeah, this'll be a huge help."

"Don't tell the other classes! We'll get such high scores it'll scare the hell out of them!"

Ike said that, but hoarding the test papers did seem like it might count as betraying the class.

(But Sakanayanagi, Ichinose, and Hiyori would probably make the top ten in the year even without past exams.)

After nearly two weeks of studying together, the three of them had definitely grown even stronger.

Having reached that conclusion, I decided not to give Sakanayanagi and the others the test papers and left the classroom on my own.

"...Whew. I've finally finished my comprehensive review."

"Yeah, it's already this late. I'll go make dinner."

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

Throughout exam week, Hiyori had made me breakfast and dinner every day, as well as packed lunches. She really was an angel.

Ever since I'd met up with Yukinoshita and the others before the exam break, I'd treasured this friendship even more.

"You've been going to so much trouble for me."

"It's something I want to do."

She said that every time, but I still made a point of thanking her.

"Oh, right... Sorry, I'm almost out of pencil lead and erasers. I need to go buy some."

I had to be fully prepared for tomorrow's exams. It would be ridiculous to run out of eraser halfway through.

"Take care."

With Hiyori watching me off, I took the elevator down to the lobby on the first floor.

Just as I was about to head out—

"Oh, Hikigaya, are you going to get dinner?"

I ran into Sakanayanagi.

This time, though, she had a girl beside her with a side ponytail and a rather forceful expression.

"I'm going to buy pencil lead and erasers. Is this your lackey?"

"How rude. This is my friend, Kamuro Masumi."

"Give me a break. She has 'I'm not here willingly' written all over her face. You probably have something on her, don't you?"

The girl named Kamuro wore an unmistakably displeased expression. However I looked at it, she didn't seem like a friend.

"How about a game? Try to guess what I have on her."

So there was something going on.

But a game?

"What's at stake? What happens if I guess right or wrong?"

"Let's see... If you guess wrong, you'll have to do something for me. If you guess right, you can order Kamuro around for a day."

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

Kamuro finally spoke up. It was a perfectly normal reaction.

Still, I had no interest in ordering some stranger around.

"That's true. Winning would actually be awkward."

"Then what would you like, Hikigaya?"

When Sakanayanagi asked me that, I thought of how she was always getting the better of me. Maybe it was time I took the initiative for once.

So—

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

Sakanayanagi's eyes widened slightly at that, then she giggled.

"So Hikigaya likes maid outfits, does he? All right. If you guess right, I'll be your personal maid for a day."

"You've got some nerve..."

Kamuro looked at me with a mixture of astonishment and trepidation, but after spending so much time around Sakanayanagi, I was already numb to fear.

First things first, I had to figure out Kamuro's weakness.

I took a deep breath and stared at her.

At first, Kamuro had worn an expressionless face, but under my continued gaze, she glared back at me uneasily.

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

Of course not.

Observation was only a tool to aid my analysis.

But the range of possible weaknesses was limited, so I decided to list some possibilities directly.

"Violence... escorting... shoplifting... getting lost..."

With each word I said, Kamuro reacted differently... It was shoplifting.

My reasoning was simple: she showed no reaction to violence, which meant it probably wasn't true.

People tended to react instinctively when their secrets were exposed.

As for the other two, she looked disgusted at both, but her reactions were equally strong.

If either one had been the truth, there should have been a difference.

By process of elimination, I settled on shoplifting.

Also, when I mentioned shoplifting, her eyebrow twitched noticeably. I was probably right.

For now, I would assume it was shoplifting.

But there were two kinds of shoplifting: stealing personal belongings or stealing merchandise from a store.

Stealing personal belongings was unlikely.

The school was covered in security cameras, so getting away with theft would be nearly impossible.

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

That left the most likely possibility: Sakanayanagi had happened to catch her shoplifting. So...

"You've been shoplifting, haven't you?"

Kamuro's eyes widened at that. Her reaction told me I'd guessed correctly.

"Impressive. I expected you to figure it out, but I didn't think you'd see through it without even asking questions."

Sakanayanagi clapped delightedly.

"Thank you. Still, not bad on your part, taking a habitual thief and making her your pawn."

There were certainly fewer cameras in shopping malls than on campus—if anything, the school had an unusual number of them. The fact that Kamuro kept getting away with it meant she was good at what she did.

"So, in accordance with our agreement, when should I come be your personal maid, Hikigaya?"

"Wait, you're really going to do it?"

"Of course. Otherwise, the bet would be meaningless. What do you think, Hikigaya?"

"After the midterm results come out."

It had started as a joking punishment game, but having Sakanayanagi serve me sounded like it could be fun.

I might as well go along with it.

"Understood. I'll serve you to the best of my ability when the time comes."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"...You two sure get along well."

"Yes, we're very comfortable around each other."

"After a month of getting toyed with, I've gotten used to it."

Now, even when Sakanayanagi teased me, I didn't feel all that tired. I could even enjoy it.

"Besides, Sakanayanagi may seem perfect, but she has plenty of weaknesses."

"Other than her poor athletic ability?"

"That's right."

As I spoke, I moved closer to Sakanayanagi.

She seemed to anticipate what I was about to do and tried to step back, but she was too slow—

"Hoo—"

"Ah!"

I blew into her ear.

Just like last time, Sakanayanagi let out an adorable squeal.

"Good luck on your midterms."

I laughed loudly and headed for the entrance, leaving Sakanayanagi with a flushed face.

"Pfft... Hehe..."

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

She'd never expected the girl who'd been so cold and had blackmailed her to make such an adorable expression.

But when she saw Arisu trembling all over, she managed to rein in her laughter.

If she laughed any more, she'd be in trouble herself.

"Heh... Hehehehe. Hikigaya really is bold, isn't he?"

Arisu was laughing.

But unlike her usual cold laugh, this time there was a fire burning in her eyes.

Masumi was surprised to see her show her emotions so openly, which was rare.

"Want to deal with him?"

"Of course not. I'm not so boring that I'd destroy a friendship over a little teasing. I just intend to pay him back with an even more embarrassing experience."

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

Although this was her first time meeting him, everyone at school knew that Arisu spent most of her free time with Hachiman.

Masumi was convinced Arisu had feelings for him.

Arisu shook her head gently. "We do get along as friends, but I've never been interested in anyone romantically."

"That's true... I really can't picture you dating anyone."

"I can't picture it myself. What about you? What do you think of Hikigaya? He's interesting, isn't he?"

"What's interesting about him?! When those dead-fish eyes stare at me, I feel like all my secrets have been exposed. It's terrifying, that's all!"

"True, his powers of observation are extraordinary, and he can spin lies well enough to fool everyone. But once you get used to them, his eyes are kind of cute, aren't they?"

"Not. At. All! So, how are you going to get revenge?"

Arisu pretended to think it over for a moment—

"After the midterms, how about I throw myself into his arms somewhere crowded, like the cafeteria, and give him a kiss on the cheek?"