"You lot finally made it back. You took so long, the ones who've been waiting to drink are practically in tears."
Sebastian's group had barely marched Iori and Imamura back before the Peek-a-Boo members who had been waiting started grumbling.
"Easy, everyone. These two disobedient new members still need to be dealt with first."
Kotobuki tossed Iori to the ground, pressed his palms down to signal for quiet.
"Exactly — I've been looking forward to watching these two suffer for a while now." Sebastian chimed in.
"Are you serious, Sebastian? We're supposed to be comrades. Could you try showing a little restraint?"
Iori picked himself up in a sorry state and fixed Sebastian — standing to one side watching with undisguised enjoyment — with a look of deep resentment.
"Did you consider we were comrades when you two snuck off and left me behind?"
Sebastian patted Iori's shoulder with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Be mentally prepared to make amends."
"Now hold on! I was tricked by you two shameless people — running away was completely justified on my part! Iori's the one who deserves the heavier sentence!"
Imamura, released by Tokita, struggled to his feet and pointed accusingly at Sebastian and Iori, visibly on the verge of throwing punches.
"Alright, none of you are exactly innocent here. Just wait and see what the seniors decide to do with you — we're fairly democratic about these things."
Kotobuki clapped his hands to get the attention of the upperclassmen watching the spectacle.
"Everyone — regarding these unruly new members, any thoughts? I think the reason they ran is partly because of the generational gap between us. So how about each of us makes them drink one bottle each — think of it as a belated introduction to the club."
Iori and Imamura looked up and counted the members present. Nearly thirty or forty people. They nearly fainted on the spot.
"I object! Nobody alive could survive that!"
Imamura's head shook like a rattle, his otherwise decent-looking face twisted into something unrecognizable.
"I agree — and for the record, I only ran because Imamura ran first. So really, Imamura alone should represent us both and take the full punishment."
"You absolute—!!"
Imamura's eyes went red. He spun around and launched himself at Iori. The two of them collapsed into a heap and started brawling on the ground.
"Men — it's just a little drinking. Is there any need to make such an ugly scene?"
Sebastian watched the two rolling around on the ground with great contentment, privately wishing he had a beer in hand to complete the experience.
"Sebastian, you're really enjoying this, aren't you! Senior Kotobuki — I have a report! When Sebastian and I were together earlier, he kept saying you look like the male lead from some NTR adult game!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Kotobuki's gaze snapped onto Sebastian with predatory focus.
Sebastian stood there completely dumbfounded. When had he ever said that to Iori?
Wait — no. Iori clearly thought Kotobuki looked that way too, and in a moment of desperation had thrown Sebastian under the cart to save himself. Even though Sebastian had in fact said it.
This guy — were they really that much on the same wavelength?
Sebastian blinked back to reality after two or three seconds, his face flushing red as he shouted at Iori, now being hauled up by several upperclassmen:
"Don't go making things up! I never brought that up to anyone!"
The words left his mouth — and Sebastian's face immediately went pale.
Was there something slightly off about what he'd just said?
"So that's what you think too, is it?"
Sebastian felt a hand close firmly around his shoulder. He turned — Kotobuki was standing directly behind him, perfectly composed, that hand clamped down in a grip Sebastian couldn't break no matter how he tried.
"You new members really are a handful, every single one of you." Kotobuki sighed, then turned back to the assembled upperclassmen.
"Add this one to the count. Has everyone decided on a punishment?"
"Hey — when did I get included? That's completely unilateral!" Sebastian protested.
He'd been enjoying himself a little too freely. It seemed things had gotten out of hand.
What neither Sebastian nor Iori nor Imamura had anticipated, however, was that the Peek-a-Boo upperclassmen simply looked at one another — and burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha...!"
"Wh — what?"
Sebastian couldn't make sense of the scene. Iori and Imamura looked over in equal bewilderment.
"Hahaha, Kotobuki, look how scared you've got these new members! I haven't had this much fun in ages, hahaha...!"
"Exactly — we're all proper men here at Peek-a-Boo. Nobody's going to make a fuss over something this small."
"They're... you're saying...?" Iori seemed to be catching on. He looked at Tokita uncertainly.
"Just as you see it. How could Peek-a-Boo make a big production out of punishing new members over a minor misstep? What kind of seniors would that make us? Hahaha."
Tokita looked at Iori and broke into a full, warm laugh.
"That's right. Can you all feel what Peek-a-Boo is about now? We want you to get to know us properly." Kotobuki said with a grin.
"You guys...." The color rose in Iori's and Imamura's faces. Thinking back on all the little schemes they'd pulled, they felt a creeping, wordless shame.
Even Sebastian looked genuinely surprised at the crowd around him, laughing freely. At the earlier party they'd thrown for him, he'd begun to suspect these people weren't simply deviants. But their first impression had been so spectacularly deranged that he'd maintained a healthy skepticism ever since.
Only now did he truly believe it — the people of Peek-a-Boo were, it seemed, not actually bad people.
Once the laughter had run its course, Tokita — as club president — stepped forward to stand before Sebastian, Iori, and Imamura.
"Right. The so-called punishment was a joke all along. The welcome party we're throwing for you is still happening. The only question is — are you willing to drink with us?"
Tokita raised three cups and held them out.
Sebastian hesitated, swept his gaze around the upperclassmen watching with expressions of quiet anticipation — and sighed. He took the cup.
Iori looked at Tokita's open, easy smile, shot one more glare at Sebastian for good measure, and grabbed his cup with clean decisiveness.
As for Imamura — he held out the longest. He watched Tokita's steady smile in silence, then finally spoke.
"When you took me earlier, you said there were pretty girls in the club. Where are they?"
"Over in the other grove. Their father said girls shouldn't drink so much, so they have their own separate table."
Snap.
Without a moment's hesitation, Imamura snatched the cup out of Tokita's hand, and a bright, sunny smile spread across his face.
"I look forward to being with you all, senior."
In an instant, Sebastian's and Iori's eyes fixed on Imamura with dangerous intensity, as though they were ready to consume him where he stood.