In the early morning, Haru had just woken up and was about to walk around the inn, but he saw something strange on the courtyard of the inn. He saw something similar to a rabbit ears accessory stuck on the ground with a message "please pull me!" beside it.
"Should I pull it?"
---
Houki hadn't gotten a wink of sleep thinking about the gift which had been given by both Ichika and Haru. Their gifts were the same, but when she wore them, she wasn't sure whether she should wear what was given by Haru or Ichika.
Houki knew that Haru would support her relationship with Ichika, but somehow she wasn't sure anymore after last night. She wanted to get fresh air walking around the inn, but suddenly he saw Haru standing in the courtyard. She suddenly got nervous when she looked at him, but she hurriedly calmed herself.
'Calm down! Calm down!'
Both of them were friends, and there was nothing wrong with friends giving each other gifts during a birthday.
Houki took a deep breath and said, "H, Haru."
"Hmm? Houki? Good morning?" Haru greeted Houki with a smile.
"...."
Houki took a deep breath again and wondered why it was so hard to act normal beside him. "W, what are you doing here?"
"This... Do you know anything about this?"
Haru pointed his finger at the rabbit ears accessory on the ground.
"........"
Houki's expression turned gloomy when she saw this thing. "I don't have an idea."
Hearing Houki's answer, Haru knew that this might be Houki's big sister and said, "Then, I'll pull it out." He didn't wait for Houki's answer and pulled the rabbit ears directly from the ground.
"Eh?!" Houki was startled, but it was too late. She looked around and said, "I've got to go now!" She ran away from her spot since she didn't want to meet the person who was about to come.
Haru looked at Houki and looked at the sky. He could hear something coming in his direction. He took a few steps back to the corridor and something similar to a large carrot dropped right on the spot where he pulled the rabbit ears accessory earlier.
*BAAAAM!!!*
Haru dodged the mud which was thrown towards him since he had just taken a bath.
"Hahahahahaha...!!!!"
Loud laughter was heard from this large carrot before it was opened spreading a large amount of smoke to the surroundings.
Hearing this familiar laugh, Haru said, "Shinonono Tabane?"
"Yay! It is our first time meeting each other, but you know me right away, Haru!"
Tabane is a young woman with purple eyes and long purple-pink hair that extends to her hips. She usually has a sleepy but cheerful expression as opposed to Houki's serious expression. Like her younger sister, Tabane has a slim curvaceous figure and large breasts, thus hers are even bigger. She wears a lab-coat and a pair of robotic rabbit ears and wears a frilly maid-like blue and white dress that reveals a great deal of her cleavage.
Haru nodded and said, "I like that maid uniform."
"Hehehe, thank you! Thank you! I don't know if you have a maid fetish!" Tabane said with a smile. She walked toward him and started to observe him from up close. "Hmm...! Hmm...! Hmm...! So this is the real you?"
*Sniff!* *Sniff!*
Haru was speechless when Tabane sniffed his body.
"You smell really good." Tabane nodded and said, "Nice to meet you, Kasugano Haruka-kun."
"Nice to meet you too, Shinono Tabane-chan," Haru said.
"Hehehe, I like it! You can call me Tabane-chan!" Tabane said with a smile.
"If you're looking for Houki, then she is over there," Haru said and pointed his finger in the opposite direction where Houki ran away.
"Okey Dokey! Let's talk again later, Haru-kun!" Tabane laughed and ran toward Houki's direction. "Houki-chan, I'm coming!"
"....."
Haru shook his head and wondered whether he really should invite her to the "group chat" considering her personality.
---
During the study session, Chifuyu gathered everyone who owned a personal IS together for training.
They were gathered on the waterfall near the hotel with their suits on.
"Wait, why are there both Ichika and Houki here?" Rin asked.
Ichika and Houki felt awkward at that moment.
"Orimura might or might not have his IS soon, and I want him to learn so he won't do something stupid later such as thing which he has done on Inter-Class Tournament," Chifuyu said while looking sternly at Ichika.
"......" Ichika was depressed.
"For Shinonono..."
"YAHOOOOOO!!!!!"
Suddenly everyone heard a loud voice, they turned and saw someone came down from the hill before jumping very high.
"Chi-Chan!!!!"
Chifuyu raised his hand and stopped this thing from falling into her.
"Ah, I really miss you, Chi-chan! Let's hug each other!" Tabane raised both of her hands and wanted to hug Chifuyu.
Houki quietly hid behind Haru's back.
Haru was very tall and the tallest among everyone in this place which was the perfect location to hide.
"Shut up, Tabane!" Chifuyu said.
Everyone was focussed on Tabane and didn't even look at Houki who was hiding behind Haru while holding his suit.
"Hehehe, as expected, you don't have mercy on me!" Tabane escaped from Chifuyu's iron claw and walked toward Houki who was hiding behind Haru. "Yay! Houki-chan!"
"........"
Houki was quite awkward and nodded. "Hey there."
"Hehehe, long time no see!" Tabane smiled looking at Houki who was hiding behind Haru. She looked at Haru and said, "We have met again, Haru!"
"Yeah." Haru nodded.
Tabane walked toward Houki with perverted hands and said, "Hehehe, let big sister check your improvement!"
Houki was annoyed and smashed Tabane's head with a wooden sword.
*Bang!*
"I will hit you!"
"You've hit me!" Tabane cried and complained. "Haru, Haru, Houki has hit me!"
Haru was speechless and caressed Tabane's head. "Pain, pain, go away."
Tabane was surprised and said, "Hey! The pain really has gone away!"
"........."
Chifuyu was quite surprised at how Haru could handle Tabane.
"Haru, you don't need to care about this woman," Houki said.
Laura, Cecilia, and Charlotte squinted their eyes looking at both big sister and a little sister who seemed very close to their crush.
"Hahaha... Tabane-san has never changed." Ichika laughed awkwardly.
"Tabane? Is that Shinono Tabane?" Rin was surprised.
"Shinonomo Tabane?" Hearing that name, Laura, Cecilia, and Charlotte seemed very surprised.
"Tabane, introduce yourself," Chifuyu said.
"Ehh... That's a hassle!" Tabane sighed, but turned into cheerful again and introduced herself in a cute way.
"I'm Tabane the Genius! Bonjour. That's it."
"........"
No one believed it for a moment.
Looking at everyone's reaction, Tabane didn't care and pointed toward the sky.
"Now, behold the great sky!"
Everyone looked at the sky and suddenly something dropped from the sky landed on the ground with a loud "bang".
*BANG!*
Everyone looked at the diamond-shaped metal which dropped from the sky.
"Hehehe, this is Houki's personal IS, Akatsubaki!"
The diamond-shaped metal opened automatically showing a red IS inside.
"I handcrafted this IS, and it's superior in all respects to every current IS. That's what I want to say, but..." Tabane looked at Haru and said, "Haru's IS is also 4th Generation IS and it is also being built by himself."
"........"
That news caused everyone in shock.
"4, 4th Generation?!"
They were shocked by Houki's IS, but they were even more shocked when they learned that Haru also owned 4th Generation IS and it was being developed by himself.
"........"
Chifuyu squinted her eyes and asked, "Is that true, Haru?"
Haru shrugged his shoulders and said, "There's nothing to hide."
"Hehehe, I want to build 5th Generation IS to defeat you, but it might need a lot of time, but this IS should be enough for you, Houki," Tabane said, but her eyes were looking at Haru with a challenge's expression since it might be her first time to meet with someone who was as smart as her.
Looking at Houki's new IS, Haru looked at Tabane and thought that she might be suitable to join the "group chat".
Both geniuses met each other, and a spark of electricity appeared between them.