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“I swear, this is not what it looks like,” Haruki nervously said, positioning herself in front of the bathroom door, but that didn’t block out the sounds of a running shower and quiet humming coming from inside.
Isuke’s expressionless face scared Haruki more than her usual cynical smile. “Can you explain why you are half-naked then?”
Haruki sheepishly laughed and awkwardly gestured to her wet clothes on the floor. “You see, it was raining really heavily, and Banba said she -”
“So it’s Banba inside there then,” Isuke lowly said, her voice perfectly calm.
Haruki knew that this was a redundant statement, Isuke had already seen Banba’s sailor uniform on the floor upon entering the room.
“Look, Isuke-sama,” Haruki tried again, “I offered her to shower here because she lost her keys to her own room, Hanabusa wasn’t going to be back any time soon and she was shaking so badly, I didn’t want her to sit it out in her wet clothes. You know how Banba is during the day. She reminded me of my little sister, and I couldn’t leave her shaking like that – don’t you ever get the urge to wrap up Banba in a blanket and protect her when she is Mahiru?”
Isuke blankly stared at Haruki. “No.”
Haruki suppressed a sigh. She should have known.
“I don’t care which one of her personalities will face me,” Isuke said with pursed lips, her narrowed eyes gazing past Haruki at the bathroom door, “I will kill her.”
“Isuke-sama, no,” Haruki groaned and held up her hands in a defensive manner. “Listen to the whole story, please? I didn’t even see her naked -”
“So you wish you’ve seen her naked?”
“What? No! I never said that! I don’t feel that way about Banba -”
“But about other girls in Black Class?”
“I didn’t say that either -”
“I don’t care, after I’ve finished off Ichinose, one or two more deaths won’t matter -”
“Are you even listening -”
The bathroom door flew open and hot steam poured out, revealing a maniacally cackling Shinya.
“Ah, I thought I heard a lovers’ quarrel,” Shinya said with a wide smirk, her scarred eye twitching.
“Great, her dark side is even less tolerable,” Isuke drily muttered, but then paused when she saw what Shinya was wearing. “Is she wearing your bathrobe, Sagae?”
“Oi, what’s with the last name,” Haruki mumbled and glanced at Shinya. “Yeah, I let her borrow it. Can’t let her wear her wet clothes again, can I?”
Shinya’s smile stretched from ear to ear, completely baring her teeth. She cackled again and roughly patted Haruki’s shoulder, though it felt more like hitting her, and Haruki pulled a grimace.
“She’s a keeper, ain’t she?”
Isuke wondered where she had hid her weapons when a knock on their door distracted her from her thoughts. Somewhat annoyed, she impatiently opened the door and snarled, “What?”
A politely smiling Sumireko nodded in acknowledgement and said in her light, airy voice, “Sagae-san left a note on my door that I would find Banba-san here.”
Though Isuke had never been on good terms with Sumireko, she didn’t feel quite as irritated about her presence as usual. “Good, take her with you, I don’t want that psycho in my room.”
Without reacting to Isuke’s words, Sumireko brushed past her but stopped when she took in the sight before her.
Even with Shinya’s confident side taking over at the moment, her eyes widened in panic and she shared a scared look with Haruki, who looked just as frightened by Sumireko’s plastic smile.
“It’s not what it looks like, we swear!” they both shouted at the same time.
Sumireko turned back to Isuke with a raised eyebrow.
Isuke nodded.
Kouko was just about to do her usual rounds of roll call when she saw Haruki in underwear and Shinya in a bathrobe sprinting out of Room Number 2, followed by an angrily shouting Isuke and a machine gun wielding Sumireko.
Kouko sighed and marked them as present.