"Ah?! Ah?! Ah!!!"
Nino and Ichika crouched on the ground, their faces filled with disbelief and despair.
"I lost... I was completely checkmated within seventy moves..." Nino stared at her hands, shaking her head in disbelief.
Originally, after Miku and the others had all lost, Nino had been a little excited!
Even though she had seen three others fall before her, Nino expected to lose as well. But the thought of being able to do whatever she wanted to Hakuto still made her excited!
After Ichika lost, Nino had even prepared her entrance speech!
Not even a second was spared to mourn Ichika's defeat! Next up on the battlefield—the love-crazed runaway train, Nino!!
But... this train was abruptly stopped within minutes.
It was forcibly halted by Hakuto!
Ichika wasn't any better off than Nino. She had also thought she could claim the title of leader.
If Hakuto weren't already heading back to his room to retrieve her share of the test papers, she might have actually believed it!
"Did I... get infected by Yotsuba?" Ichika patted her own face, doubting if her sisters had somehow lowered her IQ.
"So, you all still haven't realized it yet?" Itsuki, who had been watching from the side, shook her head helplessly.
"Itsuki, what do you mean...?"
Hearing this, Itsuki motioned for her sisters to come closer.
With that simple gesture, the four immediately huddled around her.
"Did you not notice..." Itsuki lowered her voice and whispered, "Why was Osaka's Snow White just watching from the sidelines?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the other four simultaneously turned their eyes to Ginko, who was lounging on the sofa.
At this moment, the five sisters had different expressions of frustration, while Ginko looked completely pleased, as if she had just enjoyed an entertaining show.
"See... she's totally enjoying the spectacle."
"I just want to ask, is there something wrong with Ginko watching from the side?"
"Idiot Yotsuba, don't speak."
"Eh?"
Maybe Yotsuba hadn't noticed anything between Hakuto and Ginko, but the other four had picked up on something—at least a little.
"If I had to give an example..." Itsuki pondered for a moment before saying, "It's like, Nino, would you let Shiratori-sensei participate in a bet like this with other girls?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"I mean, a bet where, if he loses, Shiratori-sensei has to become someone else's lackey."
"Of course not! There's no way I'd let him do something like that!"
What a joke. Nino would never allow Hakuto to take part in such a bet.
If the opponent was her, that was one thing—but anyone else was absolutely out of the question.
Didn't she almost break the agreement just now to stop her own sisters? Let alone other girls!
With Itsuki's reminder, everyone suddenly realized.
"Oh~ yeah... there's no reason for Osaka's Snow White to just sit back and watch..."
"When it comes to Shiratori-sensei's shogi skills, we don't have a clear standard, but at the very least, Sora-san knows better than us."
"In other words, someone who fully understands Shiratori-sensei's strength was certain that he would win, and yet, you all still rushed in to throw yourselves at him..."
The more Yotsuba spoke, the more exasperated she became. She was starting to wonder if her sisters were really related to her—how could they be this dumb?
But to be fair, Nino and the others weren't entirely to blame. The temptation had just been too great...
Anyone would be the same. If the person you liked stood before you and said,
"If you win, I'll do whatever you say from now on," then even if you were betting on Team China to win a soccer match against Brazil, you'd still go all-in on China.
Listening to the conversation, Yotsuba scratched her head and stepped back. That's when she suddenly remembered she had forgotten to mention something important.
"Um... I think I forgot to say something..."
"Hm? Yotsuba, what did you forget?"
"Well... Ginko also only lasted about a hundred moves against Shiratori-sensei..."
As soon as Yotsuba spoke, silence fell over the room. The only sound was Ginko sipping her tea in the distance.
Seeing her sisters completely frozen in place because of her words, Yotsuba awkwardly scratched her head and looked away.
"..."
"Yotsuba... are you saying... the strongest female shogi player only lasted around a hundred moves against Hakuto?"
"And you didn't think to tell us something this important...?"
"Yotsuba!! You're eating instant noodles tonight!"
"Yotsuba is an idiot, a total idiot..."
At this moment, everyone wanted to rip Yotsuba apart. How could she sabotage her own sisters like this?!
"Hey, it's not my fault! Ichika told me that Shiratori-sensei winning against me was as hard as Nino beating Itsuki in a meat bun eating contest..." Yotsuba said with an innocent tone.
Because of Ichika's words, Yotsuba had assumed she had no chance of losing.
"This isn't all on Yotsuba..." Itsuki shook her head. "Even if she had told you, you all would've rushed up anyway..."
"But at least we would've been more careful... I could've won, you know..." Nino was still unwilling to accept her loss.
Damn it!! How did this happen?! She had been so close!!
"The last one to go up shouldn't be saying things like that..." Itsuki mercilessly pointed out. "At least Yotsuba fulfilled her role as a scout."
Yes, if Yotsuba hadn't been defeated first, the others would have continued underestimating Hakuto.
At least, in the end, they had fought their hardest. No regrets... hopefully.
"You all should focus on finishing the ten test papers you owe from the bet... Oh, and Yotsuba, yours is a hundred."
"Eh?! No way!" Yotsuba regretted everything now. Why did she have to be so reckless and bet a hundred?!
Yotsuba: I surrender! Have mercy!
Itsuki couldn't help but smile at the thought of her sisters struggling with their extra homework.
Meanwhile, over at Hakuto's place...
"Huh? Where did my old middle school test papers go..."
Hakuto was rummaging under his bed, searching for the test papers from his middle school days.
Thanks to his outstanding (crossed out) unprecedented academic performance, Hakuto had never actually done his middle school homework.
But test papers—those, he always received.
Even if you don't do them, teachers still have to hand them out. It's their duty.
Because of that, Hakuto had accumulated a massive pile of test papers over his three years of middle school—enough to form a mountain!
Originally, he had planned to search online for customized test papers tailored to the five sisters, but a certain idiot Yotsuba owed him a hundred sets.
So, he had no choice but to use his old middle school test papers. He just hoped Yotsuba could at least handle middle school-level questions.
"Found them!"
With that, Hakuto crawled out from under the bed, holding a giant stack of dusty test papers.
He walked to the balcony and shook off the dust.
"A bit dirty, but still usable!"
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