Too Many Losing Heroines! - Volume 7 - Chapter SS1

Bookwalker Special

Intermission: S-san Looks Like She Wants to Join in

*This contains spoilers, so please read it after finishing Vol.7.

One day after school. At the Nukumizu residence in a certain part of the city.

Three Tsuwabuki High School girls gathered in a room on the second floor.

"Uh, are we allowed to be here? This is Prez's room, right?"

The hesitant voice belonged to the new club member, Riko Shiratama. As she cautiously looked around the room, the veteran member Anna Yanami crossed her arms and responded.

"The president is supposed to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Literature Club in exchange for his power. And since the president isn't here, the VP holds the highest authority. Komari-chan, if you would."

Komari, now under Yanami's watchful gaze, steeled her expression and declared with determination.

"F-From this moment on, this room shall be the Literature Club's second club room!"

…Kazuhiko Nukumizu's room has turned into the Literature Club's room from this second onward.

No one can stop them since the room's owner isn't home yet.

Yanami clapped her hands together with a loud smack.

"Alright, let's get started. First, we need to check out Nukumizu-kun's collection of unusual manga and light novels."

"L-Let's end him for good."

The two senpais began rummaging through the room while Shiratama watched nervously from the sidelines.

"B-But I heard that the President keeps anything he doesn't want at home in the clubroom."

Yanami and Komari, who had been opening CD cases, froze at Shiratama's words.

"True. He keeps the little sister-themed light novels he doesn't want his family to see in the clubroom."

"T-Trash…"

"Then what exactly are we looking for…?"

Shiratama asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"If he keeps it in the clubroom, it means he's okay with the possibility of us finding it. So for Nukumizu-kun, his sister complex isn't something he hides from others."

Shiratama nodded slightly, still unsure. Yanami then leaned in with a smug look on her face.

"But what do you think he does with the things he doesn't want even us to see?"

"...So, he has hidden them somewhere in this room?"

Komari nodded and approached the bookshelf with a long ruler in hand.

"B-Behind here, for example-"

She slid the ruler behind the bookshelf and began moving it up and down. 

Suddenly, a manga volume tumbled out from the back.

With a sly grin, Komari picked up the volume while Yanami and Shiratama leaned in to see the cover.

"Huh, so Nukumizu-kun is into this kind of stuff."

"Wow, this is quite lewd."

"T-That guy should r-really go die."

Komari muttered, then plopped down on the study chair and started flipping through the manga.

"...Komari-senpai, you're actually going to read that?"

"M-Manga isn't g-guilty of anything!"

Indeed, there's nothing wrong with manga. It doesn't have any adult content markers, so it's perfectly fine for a high school student to read it.

Having finished going through the CD and game cases, Yanami crossed her arms and looked around the room.

"Hmm, so it's not here."

"Are you still looking for something?"

"Nukumizu-kun definitely has some hidden treasure- media with valuable images. There's no way he wouldn't."

"If it's images, wouldn't they be on his computer or phone?"

"Oh, is that where you keep yours, Shiratama-chan?"

Shiratama kept her smile but averted her gaze, clearly dodging the question.

Yanami, picking up on the shift in the atmosphere, but chose to let it slide.

"Nukumizu-kun is such an otaku that he's obsessed with having the 'real thing'. Just the other day, he was hiding an SD card under the carpet. I'm sure he has something like that stashed somewhere."

Hearing this, Shiratama's interest seemed piqued. She put her index fingers to her temples, thinking hard.

"...Well, I've heard that people often hide things under the bed mattress or inside the desk drawers."

"Nah, those spots are off-limits. Imouto-chan does regular inspections there, so it's unlikely."

"Eh?"

For a brief moment, Riko Shiratama's face turned serious.

But it seemed she decided not to delve deeper into that matter, returning to her usual cheerful expression as she stared intently at the study desk.

"What's wrong, Shiratama-chan?"

"That clock over there. It's stopped, right?"

Shiratama pointed at an alarm clock featuring a blue-haired anime character holding a sword. The clock's hands aren't moving.

Yanami shrugged casually at the sight.

"It's broken, but Nukumizu-kun keeps it because he likes the character."

Shiratama silently picked up the clock and removed the battery cover on the back.

Inside, nestled in the compartment, is a single USB stick, gleaming darkly under the light.

"...!" (x2)

Yanami and Komari gasped in unison.

"Hehe, looks like I've found Prez's little secret."

Shiratama said, holding up the USB stick next to her face with a flawless smile-

*

"-Alright, everyone, here we go."

"D-Do it."

"I'm so ready."

With Komari and Shiratama watching intently, Yanami inserted the USB stick into the laptop she had "conveniently" brought along for just such an occasion.

<Please enter your password:>

The words appeared in the center of the screen, and the three of them exchanged glances.

"This thing is encrypted."

"L-Look at that s-sneaky Nukumizu getting a-all high and mighty."

Shiratama, meanwhile, maintained her usual cheerful demeanor, listening to their complaints with a smile.

After a moment of hesitation, Yanami began typing on the keyboard.

NU-KU-MI-ZU.

She hit the Enter key with a decisive tap.

The message "incorrect password" flashed across the screen instantly.

Yanami tried again, inputting "KA ZU HI KO" and "TSU WA BU KI", testing words that came to mind, but none of them worked. The lock remained secure.

-3 attempts remaining.

The warning message appeared on the screen, and Yanami's fingers froze.

"...We've only got three tries left. Any ideas on what the password could be?"

"T-That guy always u-uses the name of a v-voice actor he likes."

"But he used a VA's name last time, remember? Knowing how paranoid Nukumizu-kun is, he probably changed it."

"T-That criminal."

Yanami and Komari started talking shit about their absent president.

Shiratama, who had been quietly watching the screen, tilted her head cutely.

"Oh, there's a password hint button. Let's try pressing that."

With a tap on the touchpad, the hint appeared: "Name".

Yanami and Komari exchanged puzzled glances.

Nukumizu has set someone's name as the password.

They had already tried his own surname, so whose could it be?

While her two senpais were frozen in thought, Shiratama quickly typed on the keyboard.

SHI-RA-TA-MA.

The Enter key was pressed, and the screen flashed a message: "Two attempts remaining."

Shiratama tapped her head playfully with a smile, looking at her astonished senpais.

"Too bad it wasn't my name."

Yanami, snapping out of her daze, reached for the keyboard again, only for Komari to grab her hand.

"W-Wait! There are only t-two tries left!"

"Come on, one for me and one for you, right? Let's get this over with."

As the two bickered, Shiratama chimed in with a seemingly innocent suggestion.

"But it could be someone else's name. Maybe someone he's interested in from his class?"

Yanami shrugged dumbfoundedly.

"Nukumizu-kun doesn't even have that many friends. It's got to be one of our club members."

Subtly insulting the other two, Yanami's gaze drifted towards the 'Y' key.

"Let's just try my name and then Komari-chan's-"

"Aren't you going to try Yakishio-senpai's name?"

Yanami shook her head slowly, almost as if in resignation.

"Uh, let's not try Remon-chan's name…"

Shiratama's eyes widened in curiosity.

"If her name is indeed the password, it would just be…too real. It would be creepy."

"Y-Yeah, t-that would be g-gross."

"...Definitely feels like we would be seeing something we weren't supposed to."

Shiratama agreed with a firm nod.

It's not about logic. It's about a gut feeling, a sense of unease that they can't quite shake.

As the three girls fell into an uneasy silence, they suddenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching in the hallway.

The lively, almost noisy way of walking is unmistakable.

With a bang, the door swung open, and Yakishio entered the room, towel-drying her hair as she stepped inside.

"Oh, everyone's here. What are you girls doing in Nukkun's room?"

She asked, tossing the towel aside and plopping down energetically onto the bed.

Yanami turned the laptop screen towards Yakishio, showing her the USB interface.

"We're exposing Nukumizu-kun's evil schemes."

"That sounds so fun!"

"Right? It's outrageous that the president would keep secrets from us."

"Yeah, that's why I don't like this part of Nukkun."

As the two continued chatting about Nukumizu, Komari, seizing the opportunity, quickly typed something into the password field.

KO-MA-RI.

The message "1 attempt remaining" appeared on the screen.

Komari, startled by Yanami's sharp glance, quickly retreated to a corner of the room.

"Eh, Komari-chan, did you just put in your own name?"

"I-I just thought I w-would give it a t-try…"

Komari stammered, turning her back to the others and staring intently at her smartphone.

Yakishio, watching this scene unfold, tilted her head in confusion.

"What's going on? You can't figure out the password?"

"Yeah, we figured out it's someone's name, but we haven't been able to guess which one."

With only one attempt left, Yanami steeled herself and moved her finger toward the 'Y' key-

"Oh, so you put a name here?"

Yakishio stood up and walked over to the laptop before letting her slender, tanned fingers fly across the keyboard.

She typed in NU-KU-MI-ZU.

"Huh!? Remon-chan, we've tried that already-"

-The device is now fully locked. Formatting required.

"It says it's fully locked. What does that mean?"

Yakishio tilted her head innocently.

Panic set in as Yanami hastily unplugged and replugged the USB stick.

"Uh, did we mess up? Can we unlock it?"

"I-I don't think w-we can…"

Komari shook her head after checking her phone.

The senpais, now enveloped in an uneasy silence, were met with Shiratama's unwavering smile.

"Well, it can't be helped. Let's just go ahead and format it."

Yanami seemed alarmed by the lack of doubt in Shiratama's voice.

"But we're not supposed to break something, right? Even if that something belongs to Nukumizu-kun."

"We can't unlock it, anyway. As compensation-"

Shiratama pulled out her phone and snapped a quick selfie.

"Why don't we replace the data with our photos?"

Her unexpected proposal left the other three exchanging puzzled glances.

Yanami nodded helplessly.

"...I guess that works. Honestly, Nukumizu-kun should be thanking us for this."

"I don't really get it, but it sounds like fun! Hey, Komari-chan, strike a pose!"

"U-Uh, how s-should I…?"

"Just do a peace sign with both hands- yep, that's perfect! So cute!"

Yakishio said as she happily snapped away while Yanami was busy changing filters and taking selfie after selfie.

…They saved their photos in the formatted USB drive after the photoshoot was over.

Double peace signs from Komari, a handstand from Yakishio, and Yanami's carefully filtered selfies-

As Yanami reviewed the photos on the laptop, she suddenly noticed something odd and blinked in surprise.

"Wait, Shiratama-chan, your photo is password protected."

"I played a little prank. I wonder if Prez can figure out the password."

Shiratama smiled after that.

Yanami jumped up.

"Hold up, you didn't take a weird photo, did you!? We're talking about Nukumizu-kun, you know!?"

"Wow, risky photos? Tama-chan, you're so bold!"

'W-What did you take!?"

Shiratama, faced with her senpais' anxious questioning, simply smiled and brought her index finger to her lips.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see."