"Over there, I was pushed by Minami and the others… uh, anyway, we had a little conflict, and I got really mad."
Miura Yumiko had just wanted to explain how her initial conflict with Hachiman started, but then she remembered being suddenly pushed by Yuina and the others into Hachiman's arms when the door opened, and getting taken advantage of. That part she had always forgotten, only remembering the more deeply imprinted bullying.
Her face flushed slightly, so she skipped over how she got angry and continued speaking.
"Yuina said they were going to Hachiman's house to train him, and when that guy couldn't complete the training, they would give him punishments."
"But I just happened to have a bit of a conflict with Hachiman. I was really mad but couldn't catch up to him, and I had no way to deal with him. So they gave me the opportunity to punish him instead."
"Just like that… in Hachiman's room, I trampled on Hachiman's dignity..."
"I was very angry at the time. My head got hot, so I bullied that guy. Later, I felt a bit regretful and wanted to make it up to him, so I planned to make him our little underling and protect him, and also asked Yuina and the others to stop bullying him..."
"I didn't expect that guy to completely ignore me. What I thought was punishment was actually a reward to him..."
"And then you all misunderstood my relationship with Hachiman..."
Miura Yumiko reviewed what had happened, slowly recounting how her relationship with Hachiman developed. Her face couldn't help but heat up again.
Back then, she actually believed that it was punishment. Thinking about it now, it wasn't punishment at all. It was a reward for that guy.
Maybe Yuina and Minami had deliberately tricked her, calling it punishment when it was actually a reward, luring her into rewarding Hachiman together.
But how could she admit to something like that? Wouldn't that make her look really dumb?
Anyway, this kind of thing was clearly bad for the body. She had to properly correct Hachiman.
"..."
After hearing Miura Yumiko's story, the two were silent for a long while. They looked at each other. After quite some time, Kitagawa Marin hesitantly voiced her doubt, "Yumiko? Are you sure you weren't tricked by Yuina and the others? No matter how you look at it, it just doesn't make sense that three girls would go to Hachiman's house to bully him, right?"
"And, especially… this kind of bullying...", Kitagawa Marin's cheeks flushed slightly as she spoke.
She was an otaku, really into anime, manga, and games, and of course, that included adult ones.
What Yumiko described sounded way too much like the plot of those doujin books. Popular gyaru girls bullying the gloomy boy in class together… even bullying him at his own home… Was the next step going to be bullying him into bed?
Kitagawa Marin hadn't expected doujin-level plot to be happening right next to her, let alone that Yumiko would be so cooperative.
Even though she cared more about story and characters and didn't go looking for those types of books on purpose, she still understood plenty about how those stories went.
Good thing Hachiman and Yuina's group only had Yumiko step on him a bit. Otherwise, with Yumiko's ditzy personality, she'd probably be tricked into helping count the money after being scammed.
"Yeah, yeah, maybe it's just a misunderstanding. Maybe Yuina and the others were trying to matchmake you and Hachiman, so they called it punishment but actually meant it as flirting."
Ijichi Nijika nodded in agreement. While she didn't have Marin's doujin-trained instinct, she also found it hard to believe Yumiko got tricked into bullying Hachiman.
Besides, how come Yumiko was blushing while talking about how she was tricked into bullying Hachiman?
"Three people taking turns, plus me makes four. Each person two or three times, don't you think this guy's going to be ruined? Isn't that bullying?"
Miura Yumiko shook her head. Even though now she understood that Hachiman considered this a reward, she still insisted on her view that this kind of thing was bullying.
School bullying had many forms. Even if Hachiman liked it, if it harmed his body and caused irreversible damage, it was unquestionably a form of bullying.
"Uh… I guess that's true…", Hearing Miura Yumiko's firm tone, Ijichi Nijika hesitated but nodded.
True enough, thinking about it seriously, this really was bullying.
Although the bullying method was a bit strange.
According to some rumors, there were gyaru girls in other classes who used similar methods to bully students. But those were the type who wore shoes and stomped on others with the soles. No one actually did it for real.
"Then Yumiko, what do you want to do now? Stop Yuina and the others from bullying Hachiman anymore?", Kitagawa Marin saw that Miura Yumiko had finished her story but hadn't reached the main point yet, so she couldn't help asking.
"No, I want you two to join me in bullying Hachiman! Make that guy truly repent!", Miura Yumiko shook her head and gritted her teeth, thinking about Hachiman's infuriating behavior in the last class.
She'd realized it already: if Hachiman himself didn't give up, then even if they stopped Yuina and the others from bullying him, it wouldn't matter. He might even go looking for someone else to bully him.
"???", Ijichi Nijika stared at Miura Yumiko in shock.
She thought Yumiko told them all this to stop the bullying, but now she wanted them to join in?
Kitagawa Marin even suspected she had dozed off reading doujins and was now dreaming a doujin plot.
It was already ridiculous that Yumiko bullied Hachiman along with Yuina and the others, but now she felt that wasn't enough and wanted to rope them in too?
'Yumiko, you clearly like Hachiman! And yet you say you hate him?'
———
[Classroom of First-Year F Class]
"Little Hiki, was the one who used invisibility magic last class Iris? Why did the sympathy wristband stop working right at the critical moment?"
"Is it the bracelet's fault, or were you afraid we couldn't take it and would cry out? It's okay, we can endure!"
Yuina's gyaru trio immediately got up from their seats and surrounded Hachiman after Miura Yumiko's popular trio left the classroom, lowering their voices to ask.
They also wore sympathy wristband. In fact, the one Miura Yumiko wore had been pushed onto her by them, so naturally they knew what she experienced. They had gone through the exact same thing last class.
From Yumiko's expression, it seemed like she didn't yet know that you could turn off the sync feature on the bracelet.
However, before discussing Yumiko's situation, Minami and Rin were really curious why the sympathy wristband was different from the empathy bracelet. Was it because the sympathy wristband had a function that allowed the user to cancel the sync at will, so it disconnected itself during class?
Besides that thing Yumiko called bullying, they'd only felt some hugging and light touching throughout the whole class. At the critical moment, it cut out completely like losing connection, leaving them waiting for nothing.
"Of course it's not the bracelet's fault. You two are used to it and mentally prepared, so you can endure. How could Yumiko endure it?"
Seeing Minami and Nijou Rin nearly pressing their faces to his, Hachiman reached out to hold their heads and gently patted their long hair, smiling helplessly.
"Besides, my relationship with her hasn't reached that level. Experiencing something like that without knowing anything first would be awful."
This wasn't like dealing with Asai Saki and Sakurai Hana from the Disciplinary Committee.
Those girls had come to punish him with "custom activities" and were already mentally prepared.
He'd just taken the initiative and used another method to make them experience it.
Same with Kaede's close friend Usui Makoto, it was a different case from Miura Yumiko's.
"…Fine, I guess we didn't think it through…"
Minami looked a bit disappointed but could understand.
They thought Yumiko had a good impression of little Hiki, so she'd be easy to draw in. But they hadn't controlled the pacing well, something they were still bad at.
"Then little Hiki, we should just tell Miura about the bracelet. She can't take it off anyway, so let her choose whether to enable the sync," Nijou Rin pouted and suggested.
They couldn't keep suffering just for Miura Yumiko's sake. Yumiko probably only felt strange physically because she hadn't fully experienced it yet.
But they were already used to little Hiki. Their bodies were ready. If the sync suddenly cut out on Hiki's end, they'd be stuck halfway and feel super uncomfortable.
"Agreed!", Minami immediately nodded.
They just wanted to experience the thrill of doing it during class in the classroom, no need to rush pulling Yumiko in.
If they really wanted to let Yumiko feel the power of the sympathy wristband, they could invite her to little Hiki's house after school. Then it'd be fine to sync all they wanted.
"Mm, whatever works. She probably already suspects the bracelet, since it acted up right after I gave it to her today."
Hachiman nodded with a smile. Miura Yumiko couldn't be that dumb, could she? She'd already experienced such a strange sensation and still hadn't suspected the bracelet?
Yuina didn't join in the discussion with Minami and Rin. She didn't mind either way, little Hiki would figure it out. They'd just enjoy it together with Yumiko when the time came.
Now that everyone had sympathy wristband, they didn't need to stick to little Hiki too tightly. Occasionally going to his house for a party was good too, bothering his sisters every day wouldn't be great.
She was sneakily glancing at Gabriel, who was reading a book nearby.
Actually, Gabriel reading wasn't anything special. When she had first transferred, she was always studying to catch up.
But now she shouldn't be that busy anymore. When little Hiki wasn't around, she'd chat with them. Now that he was here, she wasn't even glancing at them?
Thinking about how Gabriel had firmly refused the sympathy wristband, Yuina seemed thoughtful.
Forget it, don't worry about Gabriel for now. Once they got Yumiko on board, Gabriel might sense danger and proactively try to get closer to little Hiki.
"Huh? Honami, why do you look so out of it today?"
Just as Yuina was about to stop watching Gabriel, she noticed Ichinose Honami slumped over her desk on the other side, looking listless.
"It's nothing… I just couldn't sleep last night, so I'm a bit tired," Hearing Yuina's voice, Ichinose Honami slowly raised her head and shook her head at her.
"You look pretty unwell. Should we have little Hiki take you to the nurse's office?", Seeing that Honami had lost her usual cheerful energy, Yuina couldn't help showing concern.
"No need, I'll be fine after resting a bit," Upon hearing that Hachiman might escort her, Ichinose Honami quickly shook her head.
She didn't want to trouble him again.
"…Alright then."
Yuina could only nod and watch as Honami lay back down. Then she walked over to Hachiman and leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"Little Hiki, Honami doesn't seem well. Is it the same symptoms Ayano had last time? Should we take her to the nurse together?"
Last time, Ichinose Ayano had been feeling unwell and was taken to the nurse by Hachiman, Honami, and Horigome China. Now Honami wasn't feeling well, so Yuina instinctively thought it must be for the same reason.
"Ayano? Uh, their situations are probably different. Honami just didn't sleep well. Don't worry. If she's still not better by next period, I'll take her to the nurse."
Hachiman, still being pinned between Minami and Rin with his hands locked down, was momentarily surprised, then shook his head to reassure Yuina not to worry.
Ichinose Ayano had overexerted her body all night and only recovered after drinking loads of tonics. Honami wasn't that bad, just needed a good rest.
But Honami's real issue wasn't physical, it was mental. He'd have to address the root of the problem to really help her.
"Mm, I'll trust you."
Yuina nodded, then glanced toward the front of the class where Ichinose Ayano was chatting with her good friend Horigome China.
Horigome China didn't look too cheerful either, and Ayano seemed to be comforting her.
But wasn't Ayano supposed to be closer with Honami? Last time, Honami had even gone to the nurse's office with little Hiki to take care of her.
So why hadn't Ayano come check on Honami this time?
Now that she thought about it, even though they were step-sisters living under the same roof, she'd hardly ever seen them talking in class. Ayano had never come over to hang out near little Hiki's side.
It seemed like the sisters didn't get along very well.
Should she try helping them improve their sibling relationship.
Ayano didn't seem to have many friends in class besides Horigome China.
Yuina glanced from Ichinose Ayano next to China to the slumped Ichinose Honami, looking at the two equally pretty and similar-faced sisters. Many thoughts of mutual gain and helping others welled up in her mind.
The break time wasn't long. Yuina still hadn't figured out how to get Ayano, Honami, and China to join their after-school dessert gathering when Miura Yumiko and her group returned.
Miura Yumiko walked straight up to Hachiman, held out her hand, and pointed to the pink sympathy wristband on her wrist with the other.
"You got more of these bracelets? Give one to Nijika and Marin too."
"Huh? For Nijika and Marin?"
Hachiman froze for a moment, not quite understanding.
"Don't think I don't know this bracelet is your doing. I saw a few more in your backpack, hurry up and hand them over."
Seeing Hachiman still playing dumb, Miura Yumiko glared at him impatiently.
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