"Pfft..."
Watching the comical sight of the three girls playing cards, Rin Ito burst into laughter. Cards, mahjong, PC games—they played everything.
There were no rewards for winning, only punishments for losing. After playing for a long time, it inevitably turned into a mutually destructive situation where everyone got hurt. But then again... none of the three were the type to admit defeat.
Utaha, Eriri, and Sumi had never really gotten along. When everyone else was around, they kept their pranks within reasonable limits. But now that most people had left, and after countless parties where they'd explored every kind of "play" imaginable, their boundaries for pranks had dropped significantly.
Yet, for the sake of their pride, they had to keep playing...
The penalties ranged from clothespins to barking like a dog or rubbing against the corner of a table. Every time someone showed a shameful expression during a punishment, the others would take pictures and send them to Rin. Eriri's photos were the most frequent, while Bocchi had the fewest—only once. Being someone who didn't know how to say no, she had been dragged into playing once and never touched it again. Megumi Kato used work as an excuse and only played occasionally.
In this kind of game, as long as there's an instigator, no one wants to back out first. Rin suspected Eriri had started it herself just to satisfy her masochistic kinks.
However, seeing it in person was entirely different from seeing it in photos.
Utaha and Sumi were doing okay; they were still fully dressed, just with a few clips on their faces.
Eriri, on the other hand, was in bad shape. While she hadn't reached the point where her "top and bottom lips" were completely covered in clips, she was getting close. Her tiny breasts—each small enough to be cupped in a single hand—already had clips attached to them, with thin chains dangling down. If she lost again, she would truly be covered in clips, top and bottom.
And once the limits were reached... the rule was to wrap the chains around a hand and give them a sharp tug.
These toys had been bought by Shion for Karen. Though they caused enough pain to make one roll on the floor, they didn't cause permanent bodily harm.
"You guys sure play rough," Rin whispered, glancing at a blushing Sakurako. Noticing his gaze, Sakurako understood the cue.
"I won't disturb you then."
With that, Sakurako backed away with her head down, turned, and left, thoughtfully closing the door behind her. Once out of Rin's sight, she pressed her hand to her racing heart and took a deep breath.
As the maid assigned by Shion to serve them, while the girls didn't drag Sakurako into their games, she had cleaned up after them plenty of times.
Normal classmates with Karen? Normal friends with him? Sakurako didn't believe a word of it. But... some things were better left unknown.
Although she was a bit scared, Sakurako was also happy. Karen-sama used to play on this island, too; she must have played similar games. This place was originally managed by Big Sister-sama, but Big Sister-sama had entrusted it to her. That must mean she was highly trusted! To repay that trust, she had to do her job perfectly. Don't ask questions; Big Sister-sama would tell her everything one day!
With that thought, Sakurako felt even more motivated.
Inside the room, seeing Rin's arrival, Sumi—dressed in a pink and white dress—immediately tossed her cards and ran over. Five clips were attached to her slightly pointed ears, jingling as she ran across the tatami mats.
"You arrived just in time! Eriri lost, and you can handle her punishment this time~"
"No way!!! Sumi, are you too scared to keep playing?" Eriri, who had two clips attached even to her flat chest, didn't want to stop now. If they kept going, she might turn the tables... and even if she didn't, having more clips to be pulled off later felt quite "satisfying" to her.
It was no secret that Eriri was a hardcore masochist. Utaha actually hated this game. Losing meant a punishment, and winning meant rewarding Eriri. Once, Utaha had lost and had to bark like a dog while pretending to pee on the sand. For Eriri, that was a reward, but for Utaha, it was genuine humiliation.
But she couldn't lose face in front of Eriri. She had to grit her teeth and play. Now that Rin was here, she had a perfect excuse to quit.
"Playing games? Are games more important than our visual novel? President, after the punishment, come check our progress~"
Utaha stood up and walked over, hinting to Rin with her eyes. She had the fewest clips—only one on each earlobe. She was desperate to end the game.
"Utaha is right. Let me see the progress first." Rin's hands reached out and grabbed the chains hanging from the clips. As he applied slight pressure, the chains tightened, slightly stretching Eriri's red, swollen nipples.
Fortunately, though the clips were metal, the tension wasn't massive, and they were padded with velvet to prevent injury. Though Shion had mentioned these clips could be electrified... they hadn't tried that play yet.
Rin loosened the chains slightly, then...
3... 2... 1...
After counting down in his head, he gave a sharp yank.
"Hiss!!" "Ah..." "Eeeeee!!!! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!!!!" Eriri collapsed onto the tatami, rolling around while rubbing her slightly swollen breasts. Although she looked like she was in pain, Rin noticed that her crotch seemed to be getting wet.
Tsk, tsk... as expected of a perverted masochist manga artist.
As for Utaha and Sumi, they were just rubbing their reddened ears.
Ignoring the clearly aroused Eriri, Rin walked over to Megumi Kato at the computer. Eriri and Utaha's work was winding down; Megumi's job now was to integrate the script and the CG.
"How's the progress?"
"Don't worry about me," Megumi glanced at Utaha and Sumi. "I'm not like them; I don't wait until the deadline to start working."
"Ohhh, as expected of Megumi~" Rin rubbed her head. "So, how is it?"
"Almost done. The BGM side with Nijika and the others isn't ready yet, and we don't have the voice acting."
"BGM and voice acting aren't urgent. Nanami is still in her training class. I expect she won't be free until the semester starts, and Winter Comiket is still a long way off."
Even though Megumi said she was almost done, Rin checked everything personally. This was the most important lesson he'd learned from his seniors: Never trust a manga artist's word! Many claim they're "almost finished" when they've only just created a new folder. After checking, he confirmed Megumi really was nearly done.
Voice acting could wait for Nanami, but for the BGM... even if there was time, it wouldn't hurt to give them a nudge. Rin took out his phone and asked for an update in the group chat with Nijika, Ryo, and Bocchi.
Hmm? Why is there an extra person? In his memories of his past life, their band had four members. He opened the member list. Sure enough, there was a new member with the nickname [Kita-chan]. It seemed the order of joining the band was different from what he remembered.
Rin Ito: [How's the BGM coming along?] Nijika: [We're still reading Utaha-senpai's script. Is it urgent?] Rin Ito: [No, just checking. No rush.] Nijika: [By the way~ Kessoku Band has a new member! @Kita-chan] Ikuyo Kita: [Hello, President!!! I'm the new band member, Ikuyo Kita! Please take care of me!]
After some brief chatting, Rin turned his attention back to Megumi, but his phone vibrated again. It was Nijika, not in the group, but a private DM.
Nijika: [Um... has Ryo asked you for money lately?]