"I'm back~"
Amidst their desperate anticipation, Azusa returned with a beaming smile!
Seeing her, Iori and Kohei immediately tensed up.
After all… she held their fate in her hands!
"H-hello!"
"W-welcome back!"
The two of them looked like nervous elementary schoolers on their first day.
Meanwhile, Shiro was still lazily looking for a universal hangover cure from Kotobuki-senpai—this had nothing to do with his survival, after all~
"Uh, Azusa-san…"
"Did you bring your friend?"
The two nervously asked, eyes full of expectation!
"Yup, I did~"
Azusa smiled mischievously and gestured toward the door.
"You can come in now~"
Under Iori and Kohei's intense gaze, a slim, blue-haired beauty with a gentle demeanor stepped into view.
"U-uhm… hello…"
She shyly greeted them, her expression delicate and reserved.
"OH OH OH OH OH!!!"
Iori and Kohei were shocked into titan-mode!
"S-SHE'S… NORMAL?!"
They had already mentally prepared themselves for the worst!
"Seriously, thank you so much!"
"You've saved our lives!!"
Iori and Kohei turned around excitedly and thanked Azusa, their eyes filled with tears.
After so long, they were finally talking to a normal person again!
Wait, what? They ran into some classmates from school this afternoon?
Those delinquents from that notorious school nearly buried them alive! And you're calling them normal people?!
Do you even understand how rare true normalcy is?!
The two turned toward the newcomer, ready to properly greet their savior.
And then they saw...
That bastard Shiro holding a cup of oolong tea with a smug smile, about to offer it to someone!!!
"Come, have a taste of PaB's special oolong tea. It has a unique flavor~"
With a gentle, spring-breeze-like voice and his handsome face, Shiro handed a cup of "special" oolong tea to the newcomer.
The already slightly shy girl blushed, completely ignoring the alcoholic scent wafting from the mysterious drink in her hands.
"YOU ABSOLUTE SCUMBAG!!!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
Just as the girl was about to take a sip, Iori and Kohei suddenly burst in.
Iori snatched the cup away and aggressively poured it down Shiro's throat, while Kohei rummaged through the cabinets and pulled out an expired bottle of normal oolong tea, shoving it into her hands.
"Here, drink this!"
The girl stared in horror at Iori and Kamishiro wrestling on the ground, then looked at Kohei, who was grinning, and the expired oolong tea in her hands.
At that moment, she suddenly wanted to escape from this place.
She already knew these people weren't normal...
But this was too abnormal!!!
Who welcomes someone with expired oolong tea?! And what the hell was in that first cup?!
There were too many absurd things happening at once—she didn't even know where to start complaining!
Two upperclassmen standing nearby looked at the new girl and asked Azusa, "So, does this mean she wants to join our club?"
"In times like these, I'm impressed you managed to bring someone in."
With one glance, they could tell she wasn't one of Azusa's usual friends. After all, they knew most of them.
And judging by the clear, naive foolishness in her eyes, she was obviously a freshman—still in the phase of idealizing college life!
"Well, actually, I didn't recruit her," Azusa said, sipping her beer. She didn't really know many freshmen, anyway.
"(´・ω・`)? Then who did?"
The two looked at Azusa in confusion. Among the PaB members at Seijo University, she was the only one.
"This, huh~"
Azusa glanced over at the trio still fooling around. "It was Shiro and the others~"
"(´・ω・`)?×3"
The three who had been fighting immediately stopped and stared at her in confusion.
We recruited her? How come we don't remember that?
Seeing their reaction, the girl knew it was time for her to step up. Closing her eyes, she introduced herself.
"I'm Yoshiwara Aina, a freshman from Oumi Women University! I am officially withdrawing from TB and joining PaB!"
Hearing Aina's words, the trio froze in place, staring blankly at her.
"Yoshiwara..."
"Aina..."
"TB..."
The combination of those three words immediately reminded them of a certain heavily made-up, booze-chugging weirdo!
"THE MAKEUP CORPSE BEAST?!!!" ×3
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!!!"
Aina shouted in frustration. If they remembered her name, why couldn't they just call her by it?! Who even still uses delinquent-style nicknames these days?!
"But how the hell did that turn into this?!"
"You completely shed your old skin, didn't you?!"
"Forget your face, what happened to your hair?! Where's your Kohei-colored twin tails?!"
"Those were fake! FAKE! And what the hell do you mean by 'Kohei-colored'? That was blonde!"
Shiro refused to accept this—he absolutely refused!
He had suspected before that the "Makeup Corpse Beast" might actually be a delicate beauty, but this was beyond what he imagined! She looked even better than he had expected!
He... He actually served tea to the Makeup Corpse Beast just now?!
BAM!
A cup of PaB's special oolong tea was slammed down in front of Aina. Shiro's narrowed eyes locked onto her.
"Drink it."
"...Why is your attitude changing so drastically?! And what even IS this?!"
Looking at Kamishiro's sudden change in demeanor and the overwhelming scent of alcohol after regaining her sense of smell, Aina clutched her face in despair.
Was this really a normal club?!
"Alright, Iori! Don't forget our deal!"
Seeing how well the four were getting along, Azusa gave them a big thumbs-up. She knew they'd get along perfectly!
"Hey, you... this is basically a scam, isn't it?!"
"That's just a Makeup Corpse Beast that shed its old skin!"
"And what kind of deal did you guys make behind my back?!"
Iori was on the verge of losing it. This wasn't the version he had imagined at all! In the end, they still recruited another weirdo!
"You guys are seriously being so rude!!!"
Aina yelled. Could they stop bringing up the "Makeup Corpse Beast" thing already?!
After calming down, Aina looked around the clubroom. Then, she spotted Chisa behind the counter...
At that moment, she felt like a misbehaving grade schooler who just got caught red-handed and hung her head low.
"Anyway, I'll be in your care from now on!"
She bowed deeply. At this point, there was no turning back. No matter how ridiculous these three were, she was already part of PaB!
The trio silently watched as the upperclassmen surrounded Aina, cold sweat forming on their foreheads.
"Hey, you two..."
"Could it be..."
"Are we seriously going to have to go to a mixer with that person?!"
In an instant, their expectations for the upcoming mixer plummeted to rock bottom...
Good news: PaB got a new member! And she's a delicate beauty!
Bad news: That 'beauty' is the Makeup Corpse Beast.
(???)