73: The Evolution of Nanako Shichijo, the Hidden Childhood Friend

Still not taking the bait?

Nanako Shichijo felt she had underestimated Akira's willpower.

So, she decided to ramp up her seduction efforts.

"I've realized that my biggest advantage over the others is my lack of shame," Nanako declared confidently. "That's my strength. Besides, Sayaka is a professional in this area."

Akira Sawamura couldn't help but twitch at the mention of Sayaka, the maid with a terrible personality and an even worse past. The thought alone made his face contort involuntarily.

"If you think Sayaka isn't enough, I can bring Satsuki into this too," Nanako added nonchalantly.

"Nanako, your sense of shame is plummeting at an alarming rate!" Akira exclaimed. "Does Satsuki even know you're selling her out like this?"

"Satsuki's a total pervert too," Nanako replied, unfazed. "If you stare at her for more than three seconds, she'll start fantasizing. Her imagination is on par with Eriko's. I'm sure she's already imagined countless beep—censored—scenarios with you in her head."

Akira noticed the dangerous glint in the eyes of his childhood friends and quickly tried to intervene. "Nanako, don't you think—"

"Nanako, don't you realize everyone's eavesdropping on us right now?!" Akira wanted to scream.

"Forget what you think. I'm giving you one chance," Nanako said, her face flushed as she jumped out of Akira's arms. Ignoring the audience, she pressed on aggressively, "Well? Do you dare? Will you do it? I'll even convince Satsuki for you. You won't have to lift a finger."

"If you're not interested, fine. Forget I said anything. But just so you know, Satsuki's even more popular at school than I am. Once this chance is gone, it's gone for good."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Nanako realized she was surrounded by a mob of her childhood friends.

"Nanako, we're all curious," one of them began, her voice dripping with menace. "What kind of 'chance' are you offering Akira? And what do you mean by 'once this chance is gone, it's gone for good'? Also, who is this Satsuki you're talking about? Someone more popular than you, the noble lady of the Shichijo family? And judging by your confidence, is she as much of a pervert as you are?"

The group's expressions darkened, their eyes glaring at Nanako like a pack of hungry wolves.

"Akira, save me!" Nanako cried out.

"How am I supposed to save you? Take them all down? Chisato and Takina are already blocking me," Akira replied, exasperated.

He suddenly realized that having childhood friends with high combat skills like Chisato and Takina had its downsides. Whether it was running away or saving someone, it was always a challenge.

"Nanako Shichijo, you shameless, perverted idiot!" one of the girls shouted. "Can't you see there are already more than ten of us vying for Akira's attention? And now you want to bring in an outsider to steal what little time we have left? Not to mention Akira's other affairs."

"I don't have any affairs!" Akira protested.

"You liar, Akira Sawamura!" Arisu Sakayanagi suddenly interjected, her voice icy. "Dare to swear on the Taia sword that we're your only childhood friends?"

"Haha, why would I make such a pointless oath?" Akira laughed nervously, mentally cursing his past self for showing off with the Taia sword. Now, lying had become infinitely harder.

"You jerk, Akira! You really do have more childhood friends!" The group erupted in anger, their heads practically steaming.

Even Yumi Suou and Tsubaki Midorikawa exchanged exasperated glances. "There's more?"

At this point, Nanako, unable to withstand the pressure, decided to throw all shame to the wind. "Well, if Garuda can bring her mom into this, why can't I bring my friends? Alice and Leonora can join too!"

"Wait, when did I agree to this?" Alice protested. "My mom's already gone and done it. What am I supposed to do, disown her?"

"Why is it okay for you to bring in your friends but not me?" Nanako shot back. "Besides, Masha and Ellie are sisters. And I've noticed the way Sakurako-sama looks at Akira. It's… suspicious. Call it a pervert's intuition. It's the same way Shion and Akemi look at Akira's body. It's the Kuzuryu family, after all. They're closely related to the imperial family, so they've inherited some of their… eccentricities. Why do you think there are so many idiots in the royal family?"

"Nanako, shut up!" Kaguya Shinomiya snapped, coughing violently. Her sisters, Chika and Toyomi, were equally exasperated. One spoke without thinking, and the other acted without thinking. It was a nightmare.

"Mom! Sakurako Kuzuryu, how could you?!" Yumi and Tsubaki shouted in unison, though their tones were different—one was pure anger, while the other had a hint of… excitement?

"Oh, come on. You're really going to believe a kid's baseless accusations?" Sakurako Kuzuryu replied, trying to maintain her composure. "Do I really seem like a pervert to you? Or are you just hoping something happens between me and Akira?"

"Sakurako, I'll be keeping an eye on you," Yumi warned. "Akira, stay away from your Aunt Sakurako from now on."

"Yes, Mother," Akira replied obediently, though he knew it was impossible. Masha and Ellie were his sisters, and Masha was also his childhood friend. How could he avoid them?

"Tsubaki, I'll leave this to you," Yumi said.

"Of course," Tsubaki replied, her expression serious but her heart secretly delighted.

"Mom, we'll be watching you too," Masha and Ellie chimed in, their childhood memories of their mother's eccentric behavior in Russia still fresh in their minds. She'd always been obsessed with heavy weaponry, often driving tanks around for fun.

"Wait, how did we even get here?" the group suddenly realized. Their original goal was to interrogate Akira and teach him a lesson, not get sidetracked by Nanako's antics.

"That doesn't matter anymore," Ellie said, her face pale. "What's important now is stopping Nanako's perverted ideas."

"Nanako, aren't you ashamed of yourself?" Yukino added, her voice sharp.

"Not at all," Nanako replied without hesitation. "Satsuki's just like me—a total pervert. If Akira stares at her for more than three seconds, she'll start fantasizing. He's the only man who can do that to her. In her mind, Akira's special. She's probably defiled him in her imagination countless times already."

The group collectively shuddered. Why were all the perverts in the world gravitating toward Akira?

"Akira, why do you always attract such weird women?!" they shouted in unison.

"Are you guys insulting yourselves?" Akira shot back. "If you hadn't ganged up on Nanako and embarrassed her, she wouldn't have dropped all pretense and evolved into her final form. You're the ones to blame for her complete lack of shame now. At least before, she tried to hide it. Now? She's not even trying anymore. And you say I'm the one losing my sense of shame? I'm nowhere near Nanako's level."

The group fell silent. He had a point. None of them had expected Nanako to abandon all sense of shame so completely.

"Nanako, we'll be keeping an eye on you too," they finally said, though their threats lacked conviction.

"Go ahead. Feel free to move into my house and follow me 24/7. Oh, and by the way, my maid's a pervert too. You sure you want to live with us?" Nanako retorted, standing tall with tears still in her eyes. Her expression was a mix of pride and defiance, a stark contrast to her earlier breakdown.

The group was at a loss. How could they deal with someone who had no shame left?

"Sayaka's the only maid I'm not interested in," Akira muttered, covering his face. "Underneath her beautiful appearance, she's even worse than Nanako."

"How bad are we talking?" someone asked.

"Let's just say her habit of sniffing Nanako's discarded clothes is the least disturbing thing about her."

The girls collectively shuddered. They vowed never to set foot in the Shichijo household.

"Is this what they call 'like attracts like'? A bunch of perverts sticking together?" one of them muttered.

"Exactly," Nanako said, hands on her hips, ready to take on the world. "We're all perverts here. No one's judging anyone."

Unable to deal with Nanako, the group turned their attention back to Akira.

"Akira, you playboy! How many more childhood friends do you have?" they demanded.

"What childhood friends? I don't know what you're talking about," Akira replied, playing dumb.

"If you don't tell us, we'll follow you 24/7. Let's see who lasts longer."

Akira sighed. "Fine. You already know her. She's the world-renowned artist from the Shiina family next door—Mashiro Shiina."

The group was stunned. Why did all the girls Akira knew have to be so exceptional?

"Akira, this is great!" Yumi suddenly exclaimed. "When are you bringing her home? A child born from a world-class artist and your genius would surely shake the world."

"Yumi!" the group shouted in unison, their eyes narrowing.

"I didn't mean you're not good enough! I just really admire Mashiro's talent," Yumi quickly explained.

"Well, Mashiro's in Britain right now. You'll meet her soon enough," Akira said with a nervous laugh. "Just don't regret it later. You know how geniuses can be a little… eccentric."

Yumi's smile faltered. The others, however, felt a sense of relief. At least Mashiro had her quirks. A perfect rival would've been a nightmare.

"Let's go check out your private hospital," someone suggested. "You're helping Moko's sister transfer, right? And Yumi and the others need check-ups."

The group agreed, eager to see the hospital Akira had secretly built and meet the women who served him.

"You're all coming?" Akira asked, looking at the massive group of childhood friends.

"Is that a problem?"

"Don't you think we'll attract too much attention? With all of us together, we'll cause a traffic jam. I really don't want to make headlines tomorrow."

"Akira, you jerk! Finally realizing you have too many childhood friends? You didn't seem to care when you were flirting with all of us!"

"Even without me, aren't you all still childhood friends? Honestly, if you all became lesbians, I wouldn't mind," Akira said with a shrug.

"Akira, you shameless jerk!" the group shouted, their faces red with anger. They saw right through his plan—if they became lesbians, he could have them all to himself.

"Enough arguing," Ryouko Yakushiji interjected, taking charge as the group's de facto leader. "Most of you have your own cars. Just ride separately. It's not like this little rascal is worth the trouble."

"Moko and I will go ahead to help with the transfer. I'll send you the address," Akira said, pulling out his phone to share the location. He then made a call.

"Hello, Tachibana? It's me. I'm back from China."

"Young Master, you're back?!" a cool, excited voice replied.

"I got back a couple of days ago. Sorry, I've been busy and forgot to let you know."

The group rolled their eyes. Busy? More like busy in bed.

"It's fine, Young Master. We're just glad you remembered us."

The group nearly choked. Did this playboy really deserve such loyalty? Was Tachibana another devoted servant like Secretary-chan?

Akira sighed. "Is the hospital busy today?"

"No, we're closed for the day. There's been an unexpected visit—Mrs. Nishikino and the Ryuuzu group leader are here."