"So that's it then — the whole thing's off?"
In Sebastian's small prefab room, Sebastian, Iori, and the two seniors sat cross-legged on the floor, expressions uniformly gloomy, trying to work out what to do next.
"Off? It's nowhere near off — and this is entirely your fault, Sebastian! If you hadn't opened your mouth at breakfast without reading the room, Nanaka wouldn't have gotten upset in the first place!"
Iori pointed at Sebastian and let him have it.
"It already happened. Is there any point relitigating it now?"
Sebastian, the one being blamed, wasn't looking particularly cheerful either.
"So, seniors — since Sebastian has clearly got no chance of getting out of this, why not just take me? Leave him here to keep Nanaka company."
Iori promptly turned and tugged on Kotobuki's arm.
"Iori — is it really appropriate to say that in front of me? If you actually have the nerve to go without me, I will be reporting you to Nanaka."
Sebastian smiled coldly. "If I'm not going, neither are you."
"Why are you dragging me into this?! You started it — why should I have to suffer for it?!"
Iori's temper snapped and the two of them were immediately entangled again.
"Alright, you two. The way things stand, if you can't get past Nanaka, we can't take either of you anywhere."
Tokita rubbed his head, then made a suggestion.
"Honestly, you might both want to just accept today is a wash — before Nanaka throws you both out of the house."
"No — this is too rare an opportunity to give up right in front of us."
The two of them stopped fighting, turned their heads in unison, and said this in perfect synchrony.
"You really are a pair of troublesome creatures." Kotobuki clicked his tongue and got to his feet.
"Since you two refuse to drop it, and Nanaka won't let you go — why not think about how to get on her good side? Make her happy, and she might just relent."
"Right.... But what does Nanaka actually like?"
Sebastian released his grip on Iori's collar and dropped back onto the floor, sinking into thought.
"You could pool your money and buy her something — women generally like nice clothes, shoes, bags. Or if nothing else, some high-turnover diving consumables — Nanaka would probably be happy with that too."
Tokita pitched in from his side with a few ideas.
"Hmm...." Iori thought for a moment, then turned to Sebastian.
"Sebastian, do you have any money?"
"Not a single yen." Sebastian patted his flat, empty pockets.
"What?"
"No money." Sebastian's expression darkened.
Having no money was currently his biggest liability, and there was nothing to be done about it. That infuriating little goddess Angel had dropped him here with nothing — not even basic provisions. He'd been surviving hand to mouth from the moment he arrived. Where would money have come from?
"Could have just said that like a normal person. Completely broke...." Iori muttered, then turned to the two seniors and spread his hands:
"As you can see — the man is completely broke. That plan's dead on arrival."
"Can't you just cover it for now? Sebastian gets a salary working here — he can pay you back when he gets paid." Kotobuki suggested.
Iori paused — then sat back down on the floor without a word.
"My living allowance from home barely covers the basics. I'm broke too."
"Then what gave you the nerve to call me a broke loser just now?!" Sebastian grabbed Iori's cheek and gave it a vicious pinch.
"You two — with those finances, what business do you have even thinking about a mixer? Go home and go to sleep."
Even Kotobuki, looking at the sorry state of the pair, had clearly had enough. He got up and made to pull Tokita out with him.
"Please, senior — I've never been to a mixer in my life. Just this once, please!"
Iori, voice cracking, launched himself off the floor and threw both arms around Kotobuki's leg.
"You two have no money, your faces are passable but not exceptional.... I don't see any woman taking pity on you based on looks alone — you haven't quite reached that level. Have a little self-awareness."
Kotobuki's merciless assessment sent a chill straight through Sebastian. But this wasn't the time to dwell on that. He gritted his teeth and rose to his feet, deploying the tactic that had never once failed him:
"Is this really all you two can do? Is this the full extent of your abilities as seniors? Abandoning your juniors over something as small as having no money — what kind of seniors does that make you?!"
Kotobuki and Tokita, in the middle of heading for the door, stopped dead.
"What did you just say? What do you mean, the full extent of our abilities?"
Kotobuki turned around, and something in his eyes went deep.
"Kotobuki — this guy just said something rather remarkable."
Tokita turned as well, showing his teeth in a wide, unsettling grin. He tilted his neck to one side, and it cracked like a string of snapping beans.
Sebastian swallowed, his confidence quietly deflating as the pressure radiating from the two seniors in front of him continued to build.
Even Iori, still clutching Kotobuki's leg, felt the atmosphere shift and quickly released him, moving to stand beside Sebastian.
"Actually, Sebastian does have a point. Come to think of it — since we've known these two, we haven't really shown them what seniors are actually capable of."
Tokita's eyes looked like they were about to start throwing sparks, burning a hole through Sebastian and Iori.
"You're right, Tokita! This is actually the perfect opportunity. Let these two overconfident juniors see exactly what kind of seniors they've got!"
"Sebastian — is everything going to be okay? Something feels off about those two right now." Iori murmured nervously into Sebastian's ear.
"Nothing to be done about it now. We've come this far — let's see what these two can actually pull off."
Sebastian kept his tone steady. He was considerably less certain on the inside.
"What are you two whispering about? Get over here — as your seniors, we are going to solve this problem for you today, no matter what it takes!"
Kotobuki and Tokita, aura still climbing toward its peak, looked at the two of them still muttering to each other, reached out, and looped an arm around each of their necks.
"You said what you said — no taking it back now. Watch closely. This is where your seniors show you how it's done."