Not long after Sebastian finished his exchange with Imamura, Iori came trudging back from outside — head low, defeated — with Nanaka following behind him, still wearing her gentle smile.
The moment Sebastian saw Nanaka walk in, he leapt to his feet with a start.
"Nanaka — I am so sorry about this morning—"
"Hm? Sebastian, did something happen this morning? I don't seem to recall anything."
The words, delivered with Nanaka's warm and sunny expression, washed over Sebastian like a spring breeze.
So Nanaka had calmed down. She wasn't going to hold it against him.
"That's right — nothing happened this morning at all, ahaha...."
Sebastian laughed it off and gratefully took the exit she'd offered him.
"Good — so now that this morning's business is settled...."
But no sooner had Sebastian spoken than Nanaka continued smoothly from where he'd left off.
She looked at Iori, who had already prostrated himself flat on the floor out of sheer guilt, her smile completely unchanged — but her voice going considerably cooler:
"Then perhaps Iori could help me understand — just a moment ago, you were chasing after little Chisa-chan without any clothes on.... what was that about, exactly? Would you like to tell me?"
Oh no. That's done it.
Whatever had happened with Iori outside — it wasn't hard to imagine.
Sebastian looked down at Iori, who was lying very flat and very obediently on the floor, with pity — but since he himself had successfully extricated from the situation, it would be rude not to enjoy the spectacle.
"Iori — why aren't you saying anything? Is there some aspect of it that's difficult to put into words?"
Nanaka's smile stayed in place as she took a few steps forward, her bright face looking down at Iori from above.
"Nanaka's presence is becoming genuinely terrifying." Sebastian observed, watching the proceedings with admiration.
"Ahem — Nanaka, actually there's another reason for all of—"
At that point, in an environment where nobody else had dared to open their mouths, Kotobuki stepped forward as the senior representative.
He cleared his throat, about to speak on Iori's behalf.
"I only want to hear Iori's answer. Ryūjirō — please wait a moment."
Nanaka said this without turning around.
"Well then, nothing to be done...."
Kotobuki scratched his hair with a troubled expression, then turned to Iori — who had been sending him desperate sideways glances — and gave him a look of genuine helplessness.
Even at the peak of her fury, Nanaka was someone neither Kotobuki nor Tokita, gorilla-built as they were, had any power over.
Even Imamura — who currently harbored considerable grievances against Iori — found himself feeling a bit sorry for him.
He nudged Sebastian in the side and murmured:
"Hey Sebastian — is there any way to save this idiot's life?"
"Since when do you have this much compassion?"
Sebastian gave him a surprised look, rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.
"Fine. I'll throw him a line. Let's see if he dares keep calling me a sneaky rat after this."
Decision made, Sebastian surveyed the tense standoff in the room, rose up on his toes, and crept around to position himself behind Nanaka.
Iori, keeping to a parallel line on the other side, caught Sebastian's movement in his peripheral vision.
Once Sebastian had manoeuvred into position, the two of them were at precisely the angle where they could exchange looks over Nanaka's head without her noticing.
"Save me."
That was the first thing Iori mouthed silently at Sebastian.
"Apologize first."
Sebastian mouthed back without making a sound.
"Sebastian, I was wrong — please, just put in a good word for me. I'm genuinely innocent here!"
"Good words won't help — with Nanaka in this state, anyone speaking up for you will only make things worse. Just tell her, honestly, everything that happened in this room. Once she hears the full story she'll understand, at least a little."
Sebastian laid this out for Iori.
"You absolute...."
Having absorbed Sebastian's helpful non-help with genuine gratitude, Iori drew a slow breath, raised his head, and looked up at Nanaka looking down at him.
The smile was still there. Still cold.
"Nanaka — I would like to state my case in my own defense!"
"Oh? That's quite a formal way to put it. Isn't that the sort of thing you'd say after I hand you over to the police station?"
The opening Iori had carefully prepared lodged itself in his throat.
Nanaka was genuinely furious.
Then again, it made sense. Anything involving Chisa seemed to strip away every trace of Nanaka's usual gentleness.
"N-Nanaka! This was all just a misunderstanding."
"Mm. Go on — I'm listening."
The chill in Nanaka's voice made Iori's heart quiver, but with no way out, he braced himself and continued:
"So — the noise Imamura and I were making in the room was too loud, and it was disturbing Chisa's rest, so she came over to tell us to keep it down. It's just that we didn't have much in the way of clothing on at the time, and she misunderstood. Chisa ran off because she was embarrassed, and I rushed after her to explain...."
"I see. Come to think of it, I did hear quite a lot of noise from that room."
For reasons Sebastian couldn't quite identify, Nanaka's expression hadn't changed, yet something in her manner felt marginally less icy.
Nanaka raised a finger to her chin, tilted her head in thought, then continued:
"Your account doesn't have any particularly glaring holes in it. But it does feel like a stretch.... Could you walk me through exactly how you were fighting? How does a fight reduce clothing to fragments? Would you be able to demonstrate, if it's not too much trouble?"
At that, even Imamura's face changed alongside Iori's.
"Well...." Iori's desperate eyes swung toward Imamura.
Before they could even meet, Imamura's head was shaking like a rattle.
"Please, big brother Imamura! Just this once — I'll never ask you for anything else in my life...."
Iori produced some line from an unknown source and pitched it at Imamura in a pleading falsetto.
"Shut your mouth. If those words came from an adorable girl, I might consider it — but from a wretch like you, absolutely not. It's revolting!"
Imamura pointed at him with a furious glare. Then, after a pause, added with some awkwardness:
"Something that embarrassing, in front of this many people, again.... You might as well just admit you're a pervert and be done with it!"
"Oh? You can't even reconstruct what happened? Are you saying you were making it up, Iori?"
In an instant, Nanaka's manner returned to exactly what it had been when she first walked in.
"I really am quite angry now."
At that precise moment, Chisa — who had run off some time ago — quietly poked her head back around the door.
"Sis — stop giving Iori a hard time. Come here, please — there's something I need to tell you privately."
She beckoned carefully, and Nanaka — looking entirely puzzled — followed her out of the room.
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