Checking in on Cremea and Fio.

"What exactly do you want with me this time?" Kazuma asked Kyouya.

"...I know you beat me, even if it was by despicable means... But I must speak with Cremea and Fi- Argh!?" he yelped as the two proceeded to dog pile him and start stomping on him, producing a dust cloud.

"Saw that coming," Kazuma remarked casually, sipping his coffee.

"Make him suffer you two!" Darkness cackled.

"...I think I liked you better when you were just a masochist," Megumin remarked to Darkness.

"Please, you wanted to blow him up the first time you met him!" Aqua pointed out, also cheering on the beatdown.

"...kick his ass you two!" Megumin joined in.

"How! Dare! You! Bet! Us! And! Stick! Us! With! These! Lunatics!" Cremea roared, punctuating each word with another stomp.

"What! Were! You! Thinking!?" Fio also punctuated her words with stomps.

They finally stopped, Kyouya laying dazed on the floor with swirls in his eyes. "...like I thought, total simp," Kazuma remarked. "If it was me, I totally would have been hitting back. Gender equality and all that, I'm a firm believer in it."

"Urgh... I'm sorry... I just wanted to help get those other innocent women away from that man..." Kyouya groaned as he sat up.

"You never took our opinions into consideration," Megumin pointed out. "For better or for worse, we're in Kazuma's party..."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" Kazuma demanded. "Besides, of anything, I'm the one who needs to be saved from this lot!"

"He's not wrong," Fio remarked.

"How could you say that! They're all clearly amazing women at high levels! He's lucky to have them!" Kyouya protested.

Kazuma's eye twitched. "...how about this then?" he suggested. "I can go on a quest today with just Cremea and Fio, and you can take these three. Walk a mile in my shoes for a change," Kazuma suggested.

"H-hey! Don't we get a say in this?" Megumin protested.

"...if you don't want him off our backs about this, then yes, you do have a say in it," Kazuma remarked.

"...I'm in," Aqua said. "Might be a nice change of pace to tortu- er, work with, someone new."

"Done!" Kyouya replied. "And when they choose to join my party instead, I don't want to hear any complaints!"

"Keep telling yourself that pal," Kazuma dug his pinkie in his ear.

(Mwahahaha! Suffer Kyouya, suffer! Plus, a bit of alone time with just Kazuma and the newbies!)