"Another one from Sobu High? I heard the Service Club is an off-campus club of the Service Department, and both were founded by Hikigaya-kun. Are there a lot of Sobu High students in the Service Club?"
Maijima Yuuri blinked. She was busy every day with studying and matters related to the Goddess Angels. Even though quite a few people around her often discussed rumors about Hachiman and gossiped about the Service Club, she still was not very clear about the Service Club's actual influence within Sobu High.
Hachiman had been put on the disciplinary committee's blacklist, the only male student in the entire school to be on it. But since it was only a blacklist, and not a direct warning, punishment, or expulsion, that meant the disciplinary committee had not actually caught Hachiman violating school discipline.
Of course, that did not mean Hachiman had no problems at all, but she had no interaction with him in her daily life. She did not want to spread baseless rumors behind his back with others, such as the claim that Hachiman and Yukinoshita Yukino and the other Service Club members were engaging in improper mixed-gender relationships after school every day.
"Yeah, the Service Department is a Sobu High club, but the Service Club itself doesn't belong exclusively to Sobu High, so the Service Department members should all be members of the Service Club."
"We were only able to join the Service Club because of Komachi and Shion. Oh, I forgot to tell you, Komachi and Shion are our good friends. They're both Hachiman-nii's sisters, but Shion isn't his biological sister. Something happened at home, she ran away, and now Hachiman-nii took her in."
"Shion lives at Hachiman-nii's place now. I heard from Komachi that sometimes Hachiman-nii treats Shion even better than he treats her, his real sister. And then there's the Tohsaka family where Sakura is, her older sister..."
Seeing that Maijima Yuuri, a Sobu High student, knew even less about the Service Club than they did, Hanabishi Haruka and Mizukami Sayo took the initiative to speak well of Hachiman, helping Maijima Yuuri develop a more favorable impression of the Service Club he had founded.
They were not making things up. In the past, Shion did not really like talking. When others spoke to her, she always seemed cold and aloof, rarely responding.
But ever since Shion was taken in by Hachiman-nii, they often saw Komachi and Shion huddled together whispering during breaks, blushing as they laughed and played around.
That kind of happiness overflowing on their faces was impossible to fake.
"Taking in Shion, whose family situation fell apart and who had no choice but to run away from home…"
"Helping Touka-onee get free from the shackles of an engagement, so she wouldn't have her family assets taken over…"
"I see… I often hear at Sobu High about your Hachiman-nii providing free sexual assistance and solving the problems of many troubled girls. But there are also people who say he uses his relationship with his childhood friend, the student council president, to force girls into joining the Service Club and then bully the members. Looks like the first version is the truth."
Maijima Yuuri nodded as she listened, gaining a new understanding of the campus celebrity Hachiman.
Compared to the baseless talk of the boys at school, she naturally trusted Hanabishi Haruka and the others more. After all, they were classmates of Hachiman's sister.
If Hikigaya was just putting on a good-guy act at Sobu High, that would be one thing. But if he were really faking it, he would not go so far as to do the same at his sister's school, especially not by taking in a classmate of hers with whom he did not have a close relationship, just for the sake of a good reputation.
Hikigaya-kun's family was just an ordinary family. Before he caught the favor of the Elf Princess, hardly anyone even noticed him.
Maijima Yuuri and the four girls chatted and laughed all the way about the Service Club and Hachiman, quickly returning to the Service Club next door to the Hikigaya house.
In Maijima Yuuri's eyes, she could only see a not very large, old apartment building. She could not sense anything unusual about it at all.
But after being pulled inside by Hanabishi Haruka and the others, she discovered how strange it was inside.
Although the Service Club did not look big from the outside, its interior space was enormous. Just the large bath she saw upon entering was bigger than the entire footprint of the old apartment building from the outside.
"Komachi and Utena should have finished bathing and gone to the living room to eat. Let's head out too."
"Shion and Komachi said this bath is hot twenty-four hours a day. Later they'll add a lot of things that are good for the body, and we can teleport over to soak anytime."
Hanabishi Haruka looked at the empty large bath, with only misty steam rising, and together with Mizukami Sayo and Tenkawa Kaoruko flew out of the bath. Only after leaving the room did they undo their transformations. Seeing this, Maijima Yuuri followed suit and reversed her transformation as well.
Normally, when they teleported in, they would fall straight into the water. But since they could fly while transformed, they had not fallen into the bath just now.
Even after reversing their transformations, their clothes were not affected and were not sent off to be cleaned by the automatic system of the club's bath.
Even so, Hanabishi Haruka, Mizukami Sayo, and Tenkawa Kaoruko all stared at Maijima Yuuri after she returned to her original form.
Unlike them, who were under a cognition-blocking effect and would not be noticed by outsiders or evil forces, and who in reality only differed from their usual selves in clothing and appearance, the transformation of a Goddess Angel was truly like having two completely different bodies.
Maijima Yuuri had a cute face and a voluptuous figure, giving her a very pure impression.
The Goddess Angel Angeltear, on the other hand, looked far more heroic and sharp, every movement carrying an inviolable aura of holiness.
If one were to talk about beauty, Angeltear in her Goddess Angel form was definitely more beautiful. But Maijima Yuuri in her human form felt much more approachable.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with my face or my body?"
After reversing her transformation, Maijima Yuuri wanted to follow Hanabishi Haruka and the others to meet the owner of the Service Club, Hikigaya, and to meet the Elf Princess. But when she noticed them all staring at her, she thought something strange had appeared on her, and hurriedly looked down to check.
"No, no, we just think you're really pretty, Yuuri."
"Huh? You're all really pretty too."
Hanabishi Haruka smiled and shook her head, then pulled the still-confused Maijima Yuuri along as they left the area and headed for the central living room.
Mizukami Sayo and Tenkawa Kaoruko followed behind, and the four of them walked together into the living room.
The living room looked the same as when they had left. The huge screen on the front wall was pitch-black, and the Service Club members were scattered across the sofas, sitting together in their own small groups.
Only now, the atmosphere felt a bit strange, lacking the earlier liveliness.
The moment Hanabishi Haruka and Maijima Yuuri stepped into the living room, many gazes turned toward them.
Most of the girls who were not looking at them were lying back on the sofas, breathing heavily and staring up at the ceiling, each of them looking as if they had just come out of a steam sauna. Their skin was flushed red, fine beads of sweat still un-wiped from their foreheads, their fair arms with pink wristbands hanging limply over the edges of the sofas.
"Come sit over here."
Iris smiled warmly at the four magical girls who seemed to have noticed the odd atmosphere, and waved at them.
In the elf group nearby, Lumilia and Leticia drank two small bottles of ordinary elf spring water. The redness on their faces slowly faded, and they quietly began casting cleaning magic.
The club had an automatic ventilation system. Whenever the air became stale or unclean, it would immediately vent and purify it.
But time was tight right now, so they needed to help speed things up with cleaning magic.
"Uh… Iris-onee… we brought the Goddess Angel back."
Hanabishi Haruka exchanged glances with Mizukami Sayo and Tenkawa Kaoruko, swallowed, and together with the emotionally affected, inexplicably nervous Maijima Yuuri, came forward to greet the Elf Princess Iris.
In terms of height, Hanabishi Haruka and the others might even have been a bit taller than Iris. But in terms of presence, as ordinary people, they simply could not compare to her.
"No need to be so nervous. We're inviting Maijima-san to join the Service Club, not forcing her to join."
Seeing Hanabishi Haruka and the others, who had strong perception but no relevant experience and thus did not know what had happened here, Iris's smile deepened as she gently reassured the equally nervous and flustered Maijima Yuuri.
"Maijima-san, are you willing to join the Service Club?"
"I'm willing to join the Service Club!"
Upon hearing Iris's question, Maijima Yuuri immediately straightened her back and answered seriously, like an exemplary student responding to a teacher.
"Good. There aren't many rules in the Service Club. Just listen to the club president. It's fine whether you come often or not. Everyone just needs to maintain a friendly, cooperative, harmonious atmosphere. If you run into any difficulties in life, you can tell us, and we'll do our best to help you solve them."
As Iris explained the Service Club's principles, she smiled and took out a pink wristband.
"Here, this is a benefit of joining the Service Club. I'll put it on for you. It used to only have basic networking and automatic charging functions. Now we've added a support-call function. If you can't handle things, you can call nearby members to come help."
"Don't worry about the wristband getting damaged. It's not hard to make."
"Thank you, Princess."
Maijima Yuuri had not expected to receive benefits right after joining the Service Club. She dazedly extended her wrist and watched as Iris personally put on the pink wristband that symbolized a Service Club member.
This pink wristband that could call for support in battle looked very advanced, she would study it more when she got back.
After Iris finished putting the wristband on her, Maijima Yuuri touched the inconspicuous button on it and looked at Hanabishi Haruka and the others beside her, who were also putting on pink wristbands.
As new members who had joined the Service Club today, Hanabishi Haruka and the others naturally received this benefit as well.
They had already seen this pink wristband on Shion's wrist before. They knew that Hachiman-nii treated both his capable, clever sister Shion and his beloved biological sister Komachi equally. Whatever Komachi had, Shion would have too. He would never hold back just because Shion was not his real sister.
However, as Hanabishi Haruka and Mizukami Sayo watched Shion and Komachi putting on their pink wristbands, then looked at Tenkawa Kaoruko beside them, who was having her wristband put on by Lumilia, Iris's younger sister and also an Elf Princess, they suddenly noticed something odd.
"Huh? Komachi, where's Utena? Why isn't she here?"
"Yeah, where did Utena go?"
There was no one in the large bath. They thought Hiiragi Utena had finished bathing with Komachi and come out, but now only Komachi was here. Hiiragi Utena was nowhere to be seen.
———
What was Hiiragi Utena doing, you ask?
When she saw that Hachiman, who should have been in the Service Club, had actually appeared on the other side of a dark teleportation gate, she froze on the spot.
"Hachiman-nii?"
'Why is Komachi's brother here?'
'And together with a Goddess Angel, deep in this gloomy forest?'
Hiiragi Utena, who had only transformed a few times and was not yet used to her change in identity, panicked the instant she saw someone she knew, desperately worried that her role as a female executive of an evil organization would be exposed.
She wanted to seek help from Venalita, who had forced her to become a female executive of the evil organization and fight magical girls, and ask her to hurry and get them out of here.
But when she turned around, she discovered that Venalita, who should have teleported over with her, was nowhere to be found. Even the dark teleportation gate had vanished.
However, while the inexperienced Hiiragi Utena lost her composure, Suzune Rione, who saw her, did not freeze.
Sensing a girl radiating evil energy appearing before her, Suzune Rione, as a Goddess Angel with abundant experience in eliminating evil forces, instinctively moved to destroy this girl.
But the moment she moved, she realized she was in an extremely awkward situation, unable to pull away.
This was her first time experiencing the collection of desire energy. She could barely stand on one leg, let alone protect Hikigaya-kun and deal with this suddenly appearing evil girl.
"Hi-Hikigaya-kun, stop for a moment. Th-there's an enemy!"
Suzune Rione could not care about what she had said to Hachiman before they started, about not needing to look at each other's faces and how she was not used to close contact with men. She hurriedly turned her head toward Hachiman, who was still holding her and had not let go.
Although she really wanted to hurry up and collect enough desire energy so that the one she had sealed away could summon a demon to make an antidote and save the helper whose brain had been contaminated, with an enemy appearing now, no matter how urgent it was, she could not possibly collect desire energy defenselessly right in front of an enemy.
"Don't worry, Rione, it's fine. She's very weak. She's not our opponent and wouldn't dare attack us recklessly."
Looking at the increasingly nervous Suzune Rione, who kept urging him, Hachiman kissed her smooth, flawless forehead and calmly reassured her.
He was not someone who failed to understand priorities. If there were real danger, he would absolutely let go of Suzune Rione at once and call Iris, Gabriel, and the others over to help.
But the cognition-blocking ability of the evil female executive had no effect on him. He was immune to mental control abilities, and cognition blocking counted as a type of mental control.
Even if he could be affected by that ability, the moment Hiiragi Utena appeared, he had already discovered through a system-triggered quest that this girl, wearing a midriff-baring outfit, holding a short black whip, with two yellow stars stuck on her chest, was Komachi's classmate, Hiiragi Utena.
["Ding~"]
["Character quest triggered: Longing to Become a Magical Girl."]
["Hiiragi Utena originally longed to become a magical girl, but through a twist of fate was persuaded by the mysterious creature Venalita to become a female executive of the evil organization 'Enormeeta.'"]
["Under Venalita's threats, the kind-hearted but extremely withdrawn Hiiragi Utena, who has no friends, was forced to oppose the magical girl 'Tres Magia.'"]
["Please choose to help the magical girl 'Tres Magia,' or choose to help the evil organization 'Enormeeta.'"]
["Quest reward: Eternal Evil (evil organization victories 0/100)"]
["Quest reward: Justice Will Prevail (magical girl victories 0/100)"]
When he saw this quest, Hachiman already knew what he should choose.
Whether magical girls or evil organization female executives, he wanted them all.
Although he could only see the names of the rewards and not their specific effects, Eternal Evil and Justice Will Prevail both sounded extremely powerful.
They did not need to be that strong. As long as they were on par with something like Continuous Improvement, he would be satisfied.
"Utena, come here."
Hachiman lowered his head, looking at Suzune Rione, who did not understand his intention and was growing more flustered the more she tried to pull away. He took a deep breath, freed one hand, and beckoned to Hiiragi Utena, who was dressed like a female executive of an evil organization.
Hearing Hachiman's commanding tone, Hiiragi Utena timidly shrank her little head and subconsciously obeyed, walking over.
But halfway there, she looked at Suzune Rione's current Goddess Angel outfit, which was not much better than her own evil executive attire, then looked down at herself, and suddenly realized something.
"N-no, wait. Hachiman-nii, how do you know my real identity?"
"Don't I have cognition-blocking magic on me?"
In that instant, Hiiragi Utena truly wanted to strangle Venalita, who had deceived and threatened her into joining the evil organization.
'Venalita lied to me!'
'What about the cognition blocking that is supposed to hide my identity so no one would discover who I really am? How did Hachiman-nii recognize me at a glance?'
'If cognition blocking does not work, wouldn't the magical girls come knocking any time soon?'
Seeing that Hachiman could accurately call out the other party's name, and that the girl was in a complete panic, nothing like a qualified villain of an evil force, Suzune Rione finally relaxed her tense body.
She was probably just an ordinary person who had been tempted by evil power but not completely corrupted. When she had time later, she would help purify the evil power on this girl.
But the moment she relaxed, feeling her whole body seem to boil with desire, Suzune Rione immediately covered her face with both hands so she would not expose her unsightly state in front of the enemy.
She had clearly wanted to collect desire energy to summon a demon race, yet for some reason she herself was instead drawn to the overwhelming, powerful life energy radiating from Hachiman.
'If this continues… I will have no way to collect desire energy.'
'Unless I can first... first fill myself up.'
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