"Nice to meet you, I'm Yukinoshita Yukino's older sister, Yukinoshita Haruno. You can call me Onee-chan."
"Of course, Hikigaya-kun and I, this isn't our first time."
"Uh, hello, Onee-chan, I'm Ijichi Nijika."
"I'm Kitagawa Marin, Onee-chan can just call me Marin."
Ijichi Nijika and Kitagawa Marin were stunned for quite a while. Only when they saw Yukinoshita Haruno smiling brightly as she greeted them did they finally breathe out in relief, quickly returning the greeting and introducing themselves.
They had not expected Yukinoshita Yukino's older sister to show up at this moment.
If it weren't for the smile all over Haruno's face, they might have thought Yukino's family was strict, and that the sister came to drag Yukino home.
"No need to be so stiff. If you're not used to calling me Onee-chan, you can call me Senpai. I was also a student of Sobu High."
Seeing them at a loss for words, Haruno waved her hand with a dazzling smile.
She naturally knew that her younger sister didn't really have any ties with Ijichi Nijika and the others. The one who truly had ties and frequently met her sister was the Service Club's president, Hachiman.
"Senpai? So Yukinoshita-san's sister also went to Sobu High?"
"Shizuka-chan is still a student guidance counselor, right? After she was sweet-talked by those old guys into becoming a guidance counselor, she's had nothing but headaches with problem students. Sometimes she even comes to me for drinks, complaining not a single one is easy to deal with."
"Shizuka-chan…", Hearing Haruno affectionately call their Japanese teacher and guidance counselor Hiratsuka Shizuka by her first name, Nijika and Marin's smiles turned a little awkward.
Was it really okay to badmouth problem students like that?
Why did it sound like Senpai herself was also a problem student?
Judging by her age, Yukino's sister shouldn't be that much older than them, yet she directly called Hiratsuka-sensei by name.
"Hikigaya-kun doesn't remember me? You're not even talking to me?"
Haruno stopped troubling Nijika and Marin, who weren't close to her, and turned toward Hachiman, who had shown no particular reaction to her arrival, still feeling the heads of Yamada Ryou and Gotou Hitori.
"How could I not remember? I just now reminded Yukinoshita-san that Haruno-senpai, you were here. I was even thinking of having dinner and a chat with you, but since Yukinoshita didn't want to take part in club activities, I couldn't very well trouble you to stay behind alone."
Hachiman let go of Yamada Ryou's and Gotou Hitori's heads, glanced at Yukino's cold face, and smiled meaningfully.
How could he not remember Haruno?
He had seen her once when counseling Sakurase Shino, and later again at the Poiman family banquet with her mother. Even Haruno's best friend, Tohsaka Touka, had triggered the unforgettable Tohsaka family accounting quest.
Although he had been too busy, leaving Yukino to guard the Service Club alone, with no extra time to talk to Haruno about that Tohsaka family matter, he had let Komachi and Shion interact with Tohsaka Sakura at school, bringing her home to play when they had time.
"No trouble, no trouble. I was just thinking of learning about little Yukino's situation at school. Yukino, you can go home later. I'll stay behind and have a drink with Hikigaya-kun," Haruno glanced at Yukino too, then turned her smiling eyes toward Nijika.
"Nijika, right? Would it be okay if I paid for myself and joined your celebration party tonight?"
"No need to pay, adding one Senpai doesn't cost much. But since Senpai is joining the celebration, Yukinoshita-san should stay too. Bocchi-chan is in our Kessoku Band now, but she's also a Service Club member. How about eating together?"
Nijika quickly waved her hands and looked toward Yukino. Her family couldn't be called rich, but they weren't poor either. Treating someone wasn't a problem.
Though she herself had little money, sometimes having to work part-time with her sister when she couldn't afford something, she knew her sister would surely treat everyone.
The real issue was that Yukino's sister was joining, while Yukino herself wasn't. Hachiman and the others weren't particularly close with Haruno.
If Yukino didn't act as a buffer between them, the atmosphere could get awkward.
"If your sister gets drunk with the manager and the others, Yukinoshita, you can take her home."
Hachiman added from the side. Since Yukino's family hadn't set up a teleport anchor, taking a drunk woman back to Yukino's place would be troublesome.
He couldn't just take the shortcut of bringing Haruno to his own home, right? He was busy tonight. After eating with Nijika and the others, he had to continue helping the elves.
This afternoon, during cosplay with Marin present, he had only done some simple private shoots with the new big-sisterly elves like Leticia, letting them savor his life energy up close.
The real grand scene was scheduled for tonight at home, with Gabriel and Vignette, the angel-devil duo, watching and learning.
"I'll supervise her, won't let her drink," Yukino looked coldly at the silent mutual understanding between Hachiman and Haruno. She pressed her lips together, not directly responding to everyone's hints that she should stay.
She already saw it. Her sister Haruno's real target here was Hachiman. Or rather, the elf princess Iris behind him.
Perhaps their mother thought she wasn't doing enough to build ties with Hachiman, so she sent her sister instead.
She disliked such tactics from her mother, but couldn't chase her sister away, so she could only stay too.
Now with the daughters of the Rurikawa family and the Ichinose family both keeping close ties with Hachiman, her sister appearing at his side, even without offering her body, already signaled the Yukinoshita family's stance.
Hachiman himself maintained close relations with so many girls. She really worried that one day, he'd suddenly become her brother-in-law.
Not that she thought his character was bad. Someone who founded the Service Club, who, like her, believed in teaching people to fish, in helping those in trouble solve their problems, couldn't have bad character.
But with so many close relationships with girls, and even the elf princess liking him, he really wasn't a good match.
Not only would he not marry into their family to help out, he might not even marry her sister at all.
"Then let's go watch some other bands perform. Once the show's over, we'll head to the Izakaya for food. My sister and Haruno-senpai should get along well."
Nijika, seeing Yukino's thin skin, pretending to stay only because of her sister, couldn't help but smile, pulling both sisters out of the lounge to avoid awkwardness with Yumiko, Marin, and the others.
Her own sister was also a tsundere. In the Yukinoshita family, it was the reverse of hers: the younger sister was cold, the older sister warm.
But she had plenty of experience dealing with tsundere sisters. Yukino's half-hearted cold act was no challenge!
"Nijika, you guessed right. I just had a long talk with your sister earlier."
Haruno, before leaving, glanced at Hachiman and the girls around him, said nothing more, and walked out with Nijika.
There would be time to deepen ties later at dinner. Now, with so many people, it wasn't appropriate.
But still, a boy favored by the elf princess wasn't just lucky. Seeing firsthand how many girls, intentionally or not, kept glancing at Hachiman, how much attention gathered on him, Haruno immediately understood why her sister Yukino hadn't managed to get close to him.
In looks, her sister wasn't inferior. As for figure, no comment.
But in attitude, she lagged far behind the other girls.
Not that she needed to flatter him, but at least say something pleasant, right?
Clearly Yukino was the Service Club's vice-president, yet her relationship and distance with Hachiman was the coldest and most distant in the whole club.
With the Rurikawa and Ichinose daughters on good terms with Hachiman, only the Yukinoshita family remained silent, making people wonder if Yukino had offended him somehow.
"Uhmm…", Watching her pillar of support Yukino being dragged away, Yuigahama Yui stood there, at a loss, not knowing whether she should follow.
She had tried to get closer by calling Yukino "Yukinon," but Yukino's attitude had always been cold.
Now that her sister was here, barging in wouldn't help, she wouldn't know what to say.
"They're going to talk sisters' stuff, Yui. You go with Marin and Yumiko to watch the show. I still have things to discuss with Saki, Bocchi-chan, and the others," Hachiman, noticing Yui's hesitation, casually arranged it.
Maybe because of spending time with Marin and Nijika, Yumiko's temper was no longer as violent and self-centered as in the original story. Instead, she'd become more like a fussy, caring "mom friend."
Even after "bullying" him with Yuina and the others, she would try to make it up to him, wanting to help him out of the "bullying."
Having Yui and Yumiko as good friends should prevent Yui from feeling as crushed as she did in the original.
Though being around Yukino was pressure enough already.
"Uh… is that okay?", Hearing him, Yui hesitantly looked at Yumiko and Marin.
They seemed easier to get along with than the cold-faced vice-president Yukino, but she wasn't sure of their temperaments.
Hmm… though she really wanted to ask why only Saki and the others stayed. Was it because, like Bocchi-chan, they were introverted and socially anxious, needing regular guidance?
"Fine, I'll take her. But just now, did you really not do anything to Nijika? You didn't force her into your weird preferences, did you?", Yumiko, seeing him trying to hand Yui over, dragged him to a corner of the lounge, glaring at him with a hushed, fierce voice.
The lounge wasn't big. Only seconds to cross. Earlier, Nijika and Hachiman had taken a while before opening the door, making her wait. She couldn't help but suspect what they had been doing inside.
She hadn't asked in front of Nijika, but she had to ask now.
"Does Nijika look like I forced her? Worry about yourself. You promised weekly rewards. If you go back on it, I'll go to Nijika and Marin. I'm sure they'd be willing to make it up to me."
Hachiman rolled his eyes. Yumiko was naturally a good friend, protective, but sometimes her over-enthusiasm pressured people.
Still, with the sweet gyaru Marin and angel Nijika, a positive cycle had formed: friends protecting friends.
Friends for me, me for friends.
Win-win-win.
"Don't you dare go to Nijika or Marin!"
"It's not like they'd refuse. You all rewarded me together before, didn't you?"
"Still no! You're not allowed to secretly ask them!"
Hearing Hachiman's greedy threat, Yumiko gritted her teeth and shouted to Marin, "Marin! You all go watch the band. I've got something to talk about with this guy!"
"Eh? Oh, okay…", Marin, seeing Yumiko rushing them out, quickly pulled Yui, Hitori, Saki, Miki, and Ryou away, leaving the lounge.
'Th-this eager?'
Was it because seeing Yukino and so many others today, she felt competition and finally took initiative?
Marin had thought about teaming up with Nijika to push Yumiko toward Hachiman, but it seemed Yumiko finally got it, taking the first step herself.
Yui and Ryou, not knowing what was going on, were fine. Hitori too could handle being away from Hachiman for a bit.
But Saki and Miki, knowing what was about to happen, were dragged out extremely unwillingly.
So close. Just a little more.
The president had almost let them stay. Then they could have enjoyed his affection.
But Yumiko wanted to hog him alone. Even Princess Iris wasn't that overbearing.
Still… Yumiko was only one person. Surely she'd have to open the door soon.
Saki and Miki exchanged a heavy glance, nodding. They would wait right outside.
They didn't dare snatch him, but they could at least camp the door.
Marin, closing the lounge door, realized the serious problem too.
This afternoon, with all the elves helping, her throat was already sore.
Now Yumiko was alone. Should she call Nijika back to help?
But even with herself, Yumiko, and Nijika, that was only three.
"???"
Yui, stepping out with the others, then seeing Marin, Saki, Miki, Hitori, and Ryou all stop at the lounge door without leaving, was completely confused.
'Yumiko and the president alone inside, could it be...'
'No, impossible! They aren't even dating, how could they be that bold!'
'What was going on? Why does it feel like everyone understands except me?'
———
"Show's over, closing time."
"Nijika, clean tomorrow. It's late, let's go eat first."
There weren't many bands performing at Livehouse STARRY today. The whole show wrapped up by nine. Considering the time, manager Ijichi Seika stopped Nijika, who was about to clean up, and headed out with everyone for the celebration.
Actually, this wasn't very late at all. If Hachiman and the others were working adults, after this round they'd probably head to another izakaya for more.
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