"Cough! Cough! The important point isn't us, but these girls beside us. Like us, they just joined the Servant Club tonight, but they were brought here by their mothers, and they don't know Hikigaya-kun very well, so they wanted to learn more about you."
Furuhashi Fumino's expression stiffened. She didn't explain why the three of them had been dragged into this and hurriedly introduced Tsubakihara Nina and the other sisters.
"This is Ichiji Nijika… They are classmates with Hikigaya-kun, while the others are in a band. Hachiman helped them hold their first concert at a live house, so they're very close too."
As she spoke, Furuhashi Fumino's cheeks gradually turned red. She looked at Ichiji Nijika and the others, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.
If she happened to run into Ichiji Nijika and the others outside school, she probably wouldn't think much of it even if she saw Hachiman shopping and going on dates with Ichiji Nijika and the others. After all, Hachiman was now an extremely popular handsome guy at school. In many girls' eyes, he was a fantastic boyfriend candidate, so it was perfectly normal for girls to surround him and go out with him after school.
But the hot-spring inn they were at now belonged to the Servant Club. It wasn't an ordinary public place.
Yuina, Minami, and Rin, the three gyaru who were also in Hachiman's class, were extremely close to him. Among the gyaru at Sobu High, they made no attempt to hide their special relationship with Hachiman, which went beyond that of ordinary classmates or ordinary friends.
And Miura Yumiko, Ichiji Nijika, and Kitagawa Marin, the three girls sitting near Hachiman, were also rumored to have ambiguous relationships with him.
Clearly, the rumors had greatly underestimated their relationship with Hachiman.
The Ichiji Nijika trio, and even the Kessoku Band that Ichiji Nijika had formed, had entered the Servant Club long ago. Who knew how many after-school club activities they had already held here!
Furuhashi Fumino even felt that Hachiman's so-called habit of skipping class every day was very likely because he was escaping to the Servant Club, randomly pulling a few girls he was close to from Sobu High and skipping class together with them at the Servant Club…
"Classmates?"
"Very close?"
Unlike Furuhashi Fumino, who had immediately thought of all sorts of Hachiman's "bad deeds," Tsubakihara Nina and the others hadn't even joined Sobu High yet. When they heard that Ichiji Nijika and the others were Hachiman's classmates, they all stepped forward at the same time and stared straight at Ichiji Nijika and the others.
"Uh, what's wrong?"
Ichiji Nijika and Kitagawa Marin hadn't expected them to react so strongly, while Miura Yumiko instinctively frowned.
Gotou Hitori, who was most afraid of strangers, instinctively shrank behind Kita Ikuyo. Yamada Ryo, expressionless, examined Tsubakihara Yuna and the others' hands, but after looking for a while, she seemed somewhat disappointed. Her gaze finally landed on the black-haired girl beside them.
Unlike the other girls who wanted to ask about Hachiman, the black-haired girl Kazusa crossed her arms over her chest and silently watched them with a cold expression.
"Cough! We're just trying to learn a little about Vice President Hikigaya's personality, so that we don't do something rude or say something offensive to Vice President Hikigaya when we meet him. We don't mean anything else."
Seeing that they seemed to have been too abrupt, Tsubakihara Nina took the initiative to explain.
"That's right. Please help us, Ichiji-san."
"For example, could you tell us how Ha… how Vice President Hikigaya met the Elf Princess?"
Kaede and Aoi hurriedly nodded and chimed in.
Yuna and Nina, Fumino and Kaede, Suiren and Aoi.
The older sisters of the three pairs of sisters didn't say anything. They simply stood behind their younger sisters and watched Ichiji Nijika.
Tsubakihara Yuna looked somewhat nervous and shy. Fumino was also somewhat shy, but she had a gentle smile on her face. There was a trace of unconcealed melancholy between Suiren's brows and eyes.
The older sisters had different personalities, while their younger sisters seemed more lively at this moment, all taking the initiative to ask about Hachiman.
"You just want to know about Hachiman… You can call me Nijika. Everyone in the club calls each other by their first names. Unless there's a special situation, there's no need to deliberately use surnames."
Ichiji Nijika looked at the several cute and beautiful sisters in front of her, all with striking figures, and felt that they weren't simply trying to learn about Hachiman.
What had Furuhashi Fumino just said? They had been brought here by their mothers?
No, no way… She hadn't even made up her mind about her own older sister yet, so how could there be someone bringing her daughters here, and they were all sisters whom Hachiman really liked.
Unable to stop herself from thinking of some questionable things, Ichiji Nijika, who felt that Hachiman had gradually corrupted her and made her less and less proper, took a light breath and tried to remain calm.
"If you really want to know about Hachiman, let's find somewhere to sit down and I'll tell you about him. Marin, do you want to go soak in the hot spring first?"
"No problem! Thanks, Nijika!"
"There's no rush to soak in the hot spring. We want to hear how much Nijika knows about Hachiman-kun too!"
"…"
Seeing that Tsubakihara Nina and the others as well as Kitagawa Marin and the others all agreed, Ichiji Nijika led everyone to a pavilion in the garden of the hot-spring inn. Everyone sat on the benches along the four sides.
The maids at the hot-spring inn who were busy with their work saw them come over and sit there chatting, so they hurried over to serve them some tea and snacks.
"Actually, I haven't been in the Servant Club for very long either. But Hachiman doesn't really care about these things, and he doesn't have any intention of keeping them secret. Anyone who wants to ask can find out, so quite a few people know a lot about what Hachiman is usually like."
"Since you're all interested in this, let's start with the Servant Club Hachiman founded, from the Servant Club at school to the Servant Club outside school."
Ichiji Nijika pondered for a moment before slowly speaking to everyone, who was staring intently at her.
Everything Hachiman had experienced from the start of the school year until now, including the Servant Club's current development, wasn't some secret that couldn't be talked about.
Not only the new prospective members, but every member who had joined the Servant Club before had been very interested in Hachiman.
And as Hachiman's classmate and good friend, even though Hachiman often skipped class, she was also one of the people relatively close to him. She had actually been asked quite a few times to explain what Hachiman was like.
Mm… relatively close…
"Gyaru Training Request? Counseling a Socially Anxious Girl?"
"Pregnancy Request? The dignified Elf Princess actually doesn't… doesn't care about other people's opinions that much…"
"Fallen Noble Lady? Is that the good friend beside Student Council President Kaede?"
"Temporary Manager for the Sports Club? Temporary Coach?"
"Alien Princess Lala… Awakening Magic Element that can awaken the bloodline of demi-humans…"
"…"
From gyaru training to counseling a socially anxious and withdrawn girl, the fallen noble lady Ruritsuki Tsubaki, then the sudden arrival of Lala and love at first sight, the awakened magic-element constitution, magical girl training, and so on.
As they listened to Ichiji Nijika explain one by one the connections between Hachiman and the various heiresses of conglomerates and beautiful demi-human girls, the shock on everyone's faces was hard to conceal. Tsukimi Chifuyu and Furuhashi Fumino felt as though they normally lived in two completely different worlds from Hachiman. How could anyone attend school while doing so many things at the same time?
The socially anxious Gotou Hitori noticed everyone's shock. She secretly straightened up with a sense of pride, becoming more and more proud the more she listened. This was her first friend in life! A super good friend who said he would support her for the rest of her life so she wouldn't have to go out and work!
Among Ichiji Nijika's group, only Miura Yumiko stared at Ichiji Nijika in disbelief.
Weren't they hanging out together? How did Nijika know so much more than they did?
How many things had Nijika been doing behind her back? She actually knew Hikigaya that well!
Ichiji Nijika noticed Kitagawa Marin giving her a meaningful, radiant smile, as well as the look in Miura Yumiko's eyes that clearly said, "You'd better explain everything to me later." She immediately felt that something was wrong, but at this moment she could only force a smile and pretend she hadn't noticed the problem with what she had said.
At first, she naturally hadn't paid that much attention to Hachiman. She and Marin had both gotten on Hachiman's ship for Yumiko's sake, okay? Who could have imagined at the beginning that her relationship with Hachiman would become so absurd?
But wasn't she thinking about what would happen if her sister didn't like Hachiman and refused to let her continue being together with Hachiman?
And on top of that, Ryo had given her the plan of keeping the sisters together for life. What if her sister was also won over by Hachiman? The more she understood Hachiman, the more she could persuade her sister.
Although after seriously getting to know him, aside from the fact that there really were a lot of girls around Hachiman, she hadn't found any particularly bad flaws in him. If her sister joined them, they could be together for the rest of their lives. Her sister wouldn't have to leave her, and she wouldn't have to worry about her sister being unable to take care of herself.
Ryo had even used the slogan of letting her sister also be her best friend for life as an excuse to set her sights on PA-san at the shop… Getting her sister's junior, Hiroi Kikuri, to sign a contract selling herself was also based on the same excuse…
"Wait, Nijika, you just mentioned that Yukiri of the Snow Woman clan recognized Vice President Hikigaya as her big brother. What about the other snow women?"
"Yeah, there were several snow women who came together, right? How come only she recognized Hachiman as her big brother? Is it because she's especially beautiful?"
When the topic reached the Snow Woman clan being introduced to Hachiman through the Aoe family and him helping the Snow Woman clan, someone suddenly asked a question.
After listening all the way to this point, they had also learned that there were quite a few younger sisters from outside the Hikigaya family: Komachi's classmate Shion, who couldn't return home after her family suffered a major upheaval; the Demon Lord candidate Naruse Mio, who was on the run; and Naruse Maria.
But these cases were all relatively special. They happened to be in unusual circumstances, and it would be difficult to replicate the same circumstances with another girl in the future and have her become Hachiman's adopted younger sister.
What was special about this Snow Woman, Yukiri? If it was because she was particularly beautiful, just how beautiful was she? There were already so many beautiful girls in the Servant Club whom one would rarely encounter under normal circumstances…
"Um… Yukiri is beautiful, but that's not the reason. Yukiri actually knew Hachiman before this."
Hearing that they had noticed the blind spot, Ichiji Nijika hesitated. She didn't tell them the truth she had witnessed with her own eyes, instead stammering out another reason that could barely explain it.
"Maybe 'knew' isn't quite the right word. It's just… before school started, Hachiman climbed a snowy mountain in the countryside with his childhood friend. He accidentally fell off a cliff and was rescued by a Snow Woman."
"And the Snow Woman who rescued Hachiman at the time was Yukiri."
He had nearly fallen off a cliff while climbing a snowy mountain and been rescued by a Snow Woman. The Snow Woman who had saved Hachiman back then had not only joined the Servant Club but had also entered the Hikigaya household and recognized Hachiman as her big brother.
Although it sounded surprising, compared with Hachiman's other unusual experiences, it didn't seem magical at all.
"Hikigaya-kun has a childhood friend in the countryside too? I thought Student Council President Kaede and her sisters were Hikigaya-kun's childhood friends."
After coming back to her senses, Ogiso Setsuna slowly spoke. Furuhashi Fumino and Tsukimi Chifuyu both looked somewhat surprised at Ogiso Setsuna, who had spoken up at this moment.
"Mm… They're all Hachiman's childhood friends, but the ones who have spent the most time with Hachiman are still Kaede and Suzu."
Ichiji Nijika felt somewhat awkward when she heard that. She instinctively glanced to both sides, and only after confirming that she couldn't see Kaede or Suzu around the pavilion did she continue.
"I remember Hachiman and Kaede mentioning it occasionally. They wanted to bring their childhood friends from the countryside here to attend school together."
"But I heard their mother is relatively strict about this. She might not be willing to let her daughters come here alone to attend school, so Student Council President Kaede and Vice President Tsubaki are still thinking of a way."
Although Kaede had already been willing to accept Hachiman's childhood friends from the countryside, and had even thought about bringing them over to compete with them and expand the childhood-friend group, ultimately, the childhood-friend sisters who had known Hachiman the longest really were the pair from the countryside, and Kaede had always been hung up on that.
If she accidentally heard that Nijika was talking "badly" about her behind her back, that would be bad. Next time she played with Hachiman, she might drag Nijika over alone to use as a target.
At that point, refusing wouldn't be right, but neither would agreeing.
"So that's how it is… That's such a relief… Right, Sis?"
After hearing Ichiji Nijika's explanation, Aoi, who had been listening with complete concentration, suddenly relaxed and immediately looked at her older sister, Suiren.
Suiren, who had been staring intently at Ichiji Nijika all this time, also seemed to have put down a heavy burden. Her perpetually melancholy face slowly revealed a smile.
"Suiren, Aoi… You two sisters wouldn't happen to be… Hachiman's childhood friends from his hometown, would you?"
Everyone noticed Suiren and Aoi's reactions, but before Ichiji Nijika could say anything, Kitagawa Marin immediately asked.
Although they often spent plenty of time doing that while being serious about serious matters or doing improper things at proper times, they had talked about quite a few things with Hachiman.
However, matters concerning his childhood friends in the countryside had nothing to do with them, so they never brought them up. The only person who really cared about this sort of thing was basically their tsundere childhood-friend Student Council President at Sobu High, Kaede.
She vaguely remembered that when she was lying off to the side resting, Kaede and Hachiman had mentioned a pair of childhood-friend sisters from the countryside while chatting. Wasn't one of them called Suiren?
"Mm… Hachiman was playing in the snowy mountains with us at the time. He fell off the cliff… because he was trying to save us…"
Seeing that everyone had already discovered her identity, Suiren slowly nodded and lowered her eyes as she explained softly.
"We also knew that Hachiman had been rescued by a Snow Woman, but we didn't see the Snow Woman with our own eyes, so we didn't believe that Hachiman had really encountered one. We only thought Hachiman was trying to comfort us."
"I didn't expect the Snow Woman to be real… and now she's even become Hachiman's younger sister…"
She had never intended to hide it from everyone. She simply wanted to hear about Hachiman's true situation from everyone, which was why she hadn't taken the initiative to explain.
Hearing Suiren's confirmation, Tsubakihara Nina and the others' expressions changed.
How could there be a sudden-arrival childhood friend at a time like this?
Wouldn't that put everyone who came in at the same time as them at a huge disadvantage?
"Mm… Because she almost made it impossible for Hachiman to return, my sister has always felt guilty and blamed herself. She didn't dare contact Hachiman on her own. Fortunately, Hachiman didn't take the matter to heart."
Seeing that the atmosphere was a little strange, Aoi hurriedly added from the side.
Although nothing serious had ultimately happened, and Hachiman had never complained to them, Hachiman had still ended up in the hospital because of them, and he had even returned to the city to attend school before he had fully recovered.
During this period, Hachiman hadn't contacted them, and her sister had been worried that perhaps he hated them. She was even more afraid to contact Hachiman herself.
Now that they had learned Hachiman's true thoughts from the others, both she and her sister felt greatly relieved.
Although neither she nor her sister really understood how Hachiman had managed to get involved with so many girls during this period.
It had only been two months since the start of the school year, right? In the past, Hachiman's social circle in the city had only consisted of the twin sisters who lived next door. He might have known a few more people in the countryside.
There were few boys and many girls in their countryside, and Hachiman was very handsome when he was serious, but the only girls he was really close to were her and her sister. No one else had a relationship with Hachiman as close as theirs.
They had originally thought that Hachiman wouldn't be that popular in the city and might perhaps return to the village and marry her sister in the future. Yet suddenly so many heiresses had taken a liking to Hachiman? They really couldn't understand it.
Still, fortunately, Hachiman didn't hate them. He even wanted to bring them to the big city to attend school together. He just might not have known how to face them, which was why he hadn't contacted them first.
After all, if it had been them, they probably would have been like Kaede and Suzu, at the time and refused to let Hachiman open a harem.
Now that they had learned about Hachiman's situation in the city and knew that Hachiman's childhood-friend sisters in the city, Kaede and Suzu, had both accepted his dream of opening a harem and living off women, they could only accept it too.
Unless her sister was willing to marry someone else, but how could her sister possibly be willing to do that? She didn't want her sister to become like that either.
Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, they would soon be able to attend school with Hachiman again. They couldn't help worrying about their mother, Touka.
Although after Kaede and Suzu found them and explained the situation, they had gone through a struggle in their hearts and decided to accept the Hachiman who had changed so much. Otherwise, they wouldn't have appeared here.
But their mother wouldn't accept it so easily, especially after seeing that Hachiman had now opened a club here that was full of girls…
Thinking of this, Aoi and Suiren looked at each other, both silently praying in their hearts.
On one side was Hachiman, whom they had loved very much since childhood and whom they could say they would marry and no one else; on the other was their dignified mother whom they deeply respected and loved.
All they could hope for was that the two of them could remain calm and that their conversation would go smoothly.