Confinement King

[Asuka Nitani POV]

Bang! the door closes, and there is a moment of silence. Doremi, who was lying on the bed, looked at the door after Ichida had left, her mouth distorted into a grin.

「It's a man, right? Right? The caller!」

「It might be a family member, maybe.」

When I told her so, Doremi sat up and shook her head.

「No! It's definitely a man!」

「Hey, why are you so frantic?」

「I'm not frantic.」

It's not the first time, but Doremi always wants to associate anything and everything with love.

**a

She has a strong desire for romance even though she's a black-hearted person. She is dreaming of a strong romance like a harlequin romance. I have been thinking that her preference for frilly sweet-loli fashion might be a result of her straying from her desire to be popular with the opposite sex. (Note: Harlequin romance: any of a series of romantic novels with simple stories about romantic relationships between men and women)

（In fact, I think she would attract boys more if she dressed normally and emphasized her breasts...）

I honestly didn't care whether the caller was Ichida's boyfriend or not. I had something more important to talk about, which I could only do when she was not around.

「By the way, Doremi. I heard that Ichida used to be a model before. Did you know that?」

「Really? Uh... but I guess so. She's been absent from school rather abruptly. Today's shoot, she was very skilled at posing too.」

To tell the truth, I'm pretty pissed off.

When I passed the audition for KKO, I was so excited that I bragged about it to Ichida.

Thinking that she might have been making fun of me inside, even though she said "Wow" and "You're good" with her mouth, I feel my blood rush.

I think she might have been laughing at me even at the airport when she said that it was the first time for her to shoot.

As I make a bitter face, Doremi opens her mouth.

「Look, there was a magazine editor at the daytime shoot, right? He was a young guy. And that guy. He asked Ichida if she'd like to be in the next issue's gravure as a solo model.」

「What...?」

「He said she'll be in the center of the page. I heard that he called Ponpoko-san and talked to the President about it... How amazing... I wonder if she's going to become a celebrity. So, I think that when she said "man," she might be talking about settling the relationship while it's still possible.」

Doremi smiles happily at me, but I turn my face away from her and grit my teeth on my lips.

**b

My mind was in turmoil. That's right. I thought that Ichida and Doremi were just a complement or an extra, but in fact, they were the main attraction and I was treated like a side dish.

（If the side dish is the main thing, aren't I a Shokugan (small toy sold with food)? Or aren't I just a piece of chewing gum in a box? If the situation turns out like this, I have no choice but to move to Tokyo and work a full-time job. I'll tell the President directly!）

At about the same time I made up my mind to do so, an electronic Beep! sounded in the hallway, and I heard the sound of the key being unlocked. Without realizing it, I stare at the door. And the door opened before I could think back on my mistake.

But the next moment...

「Eh?」

What escaped my mouth was such a stupid voice.

It was not Ichida.

It was a strange man.

He was wearing a red shirt and jeans. A suspicious-looking man wearing a baseball cap of a big-league team and a black mask covering his mouth steps into the room.

「Eeek!? Wh-Wh-Who are you!?」

Doremi's face twitches as she backs up on the bed, and the door slams shut behind the man. The man then glanced at Doremi, then immediately turned to me.

「W-Wait! C-Call someone!」

Just as I was about to reach out my shaking hand for the extension phone, the man came rushing toward me without saying a word, pulling a knife from the butt pocket of his jeans.

「Kyaaaaaaaah!」

The knife is raised in front of my eyes. Then, in my time-lapse vision, I saw the deadly blade glinting dully in the reflection of the room light, and the man's bloodshot eyes. At the edge of my field of vision, Nanae is frozen in a state of shock. I don't know what to do, so I pick up a pillow and throw it at him.

**c

As soon as the pillow is cut open, feathers fly out of the pillow and fly in the air, and the pillow falls on Doremi's bed when it hits the wall.

「No, stop, don'ttt...」

In a complete panic, I just backed up, shaking my head, and helplessly pressed my back against the headboard of the bed. Around me, white feathers scatter. There was nowhere to run.

Still, the man looked at me and swung his knife sideways.

「Eeeekk!」

My face twitches. My voice is hoarse. Still, the knife comes toward me.

But at that moment, the man's face is suddenly smashed.

「Huh!?」

At the same time, I saw pink hair swaying, and a maid's dress in my eye. The girl appears as if slipping through the wall and hits the man in the face from the side.

「Guboa!」

A muffled grunt is heard, delayed by the dull thud of the blow. The man was thrown into the air and slammed into the wall right next to Doremi, who was frozen in a state of shock. Then he slipped off the wall in a contorted position, as if he were a piece of modern art.

「K-Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!」

Doremi, who had come to her senses, let out a piercing scream.

「Please be quiet!」

The pink-haired maid stares at Doremi as she stands on the bed. Instantly, she closed her mouth as if she had been shot.

（...Wh-Wh-Who is this man? And, why is a maid? Wh-Where did she come from?）

As for me, my mouth was so dry that I couldn't speak. In retrospect, it is a shameful thing, but at that time, I was so shocked. I had no idea what was going on.

「Oh, um...」

But just as I was about to ask the maid somehow...

**a

「Did you kill him?」

A voice came from somewhere, and Doremi and I looked around in a panic. Then, a small girl suddenly crawled out from under the bed.

「L-Lolisla-san!? Wh-Why are you...?」

「Ah, don't worry about it.」

She dismisses Doremi's question with a wave of her hand and asks the maid again.

「So, how is it?」

「No, I went easy on him. I think he's still breathing.」

「Oh, I see. Okay, take care of the rest. You protect them.」

「Yes, understood.」

The maid bows lightly and turns to me.

「Well then... please move to the next room as soon as possible. I'll tell you the details there.」

「Eh, what? J-Just explain it here...!」

I exclaimed, and the maid narrowed her eyes at me irritably.

「Please move to the next room first. I don't want to be rough with you.」

Sorry for the delay in updating, as Masai is currently affected by corona virus.

Fortunately, he is not seriously ill and is in the process of recuperating.

And here's, Rin Fukuda's Illustration -> here

Kishijo-san (Centipede) Illustration -> here

Saito-san (Cockroach) Illustration -> here

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Thanks for reading.