Chapter 273: Commotion at the School Gate
"Totsuka-kun didn't come today..."
The topic Yuigahama Yui originally wanted to pursue was completely dropped due to the tacit understanding of the other two Service Club members. Bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun and looking at the scattered pedestrians on the street, Yuigahama Yui sighed inexplicably.
"Maybe he was delayed by something?"
To Yukinoshita, Totsuka Saika was merely a gentle-natured client. She had agreed to his request to improve his tennis skills, and if he came, she would wholeheartedly help him. But if he didn't come, she wouldn't presumptuously take it upon herself to urge him to train. However, judging from their previous interactions, Totsuka Saika was probably indeed delayed by something.
"Instead of making wild guesses, why don't we just ask him face-to-face the next time we see him."
Hearing the conversation between the two girls next to him, even after more than a year, Hikigaya Hachiman instantly recalled that warm, gentle smiling face in his mind.
"This is bad..."
Hikigaya Hachiman, startled by the realization that he still remembered what Totsuka Saika looked like, suddenly tensed up, then secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. It had been over a year since he last saw most people, and the faces of everyone except important people like Komachi were already blurry to him. Yet, he still remembered Totsuka Saika, a regular classmate he had only met a few times?
"...That's true."
Hikigaya Hachiman's words successfully dispelled Yuigahama Yui's intention to continue the conversation. After giving a reproachful look at the culprit who had broken the topic she had finally found, Yuigahama Yui enthusiastically moved closer to Yukinoshita as usual and affectionately hooked her arm through hers.
Instantly, the combination of the two beautiful girls, one cool and one warm, became a bright sight on the twilight street...
The orange-red sunset shone on the fair skin of the two girls wearing other schools' uniforms. The girls' unintentional movements of tucking their hair behind their ears attracted the attention of passersby, who stopped to look. Many middle school boys, in the throes of puberty, secretly rejoiced that today was their lucky day to encounter such beautiful girls on the street.
Just as they were hesitant about whether to muster the courage to go over and exchange contact information, they suddenly noticed that a boy was also accompanying the two beautiful girls.
"Who is he?"
This thought involuntarily popped into their minds, and the boys then curiously sized up the male who had the 'good fortune' to be accompanying the beauties. According to their assumptions, the guy should be a handsome, sunny type, or at least someone wearing glasses and looking like a refined elite.
However, when they saw those dead-fish eyes, everyone present fell silent.
For a moment, it was eerily quiet outside the school gate.
What followed was a cacophony of chattering whispers.
"Ah, I knew it would be like this..."
Ignoring the sounds coming from around him, Hikigaya Hachiman looked at Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui standing beside him, his face full of helplessness. The appearance of the two girls was, tentatively, one of the reasons he didn't want to bring them along. After all, middle school boys just entering puberty couldn't possibly resist the appearance of these two, not to mention Yuigahama Yui's great figure...
Standing next to the two of them, Hikigaya Hachiman, who should have been just a passerby, was consequently receiving extra attention.
"Hikki, why is everyone looking at us?"
Suddenly being stared at by so many people, even Yuigahama Yui, who had a big heart, couldn't help but feel a sense of fear. Almost instinctively, to avoid everyone's gaze, Yuigahama Yui pulled Yukinoshita's arm and hid behind Hikigaya Hachiman.
Immediately, Hikigaya Hachiman, who was originally just a side note, became the center of attention.
"Sakura, hasn't she come out yet?"
Ignoring the gazes cast by the crowd directly. Hikigaya Hachiman took out his phone, checked the time, and frowned. Could it be true, as he worried, that Sakura, as a transfer student, was being bullied by her classmates? But Sakura knew some magic herself, and with Illya looking after her, nothing should have gone wrong...
Just as Hikigaya Hachiman was becoming a little anxious because Sakura had not appeared, a group of children walked out from the school building towards the gate, clustering together.
"Onii-chan!"
Sakura, who was miserably surrounded by her classmates, instantly brightened when she spotted Hikigaya Hachiman waiting outside the school gate. She pushed through the crowd, ran towards Hikigaya Hachiman, and then threw herself into his arms.
"How was your first day of school?"
Hikigaya Hachiman smiled faintly. He rubbed Sakura's straight, black hair, completely ignoring the onlookers, then took her hand and turned to introduce her to the two girls.
"This is Sakura, the little sister I mentioned before."
"Sakura, is that right?"
From afar, Yukinoshita had already seen Sakura, who had a cool expression while surrounded by the crowd, but would only show her true feelings in front of specific people.
Perhaps because of their similar personalities, she had felt a certain liking for Sakura from the moment she first saw her. After Hikigaya Hachiman introduced Sakura to her and Yuigahama Yui, Yukinoshita Yukino immediately crouched down and spoke to Sakura in a gentle tone that the two people next to her found hard to believe.
"Yes, and you, Onee-chan?"
"Yukinoshita Yukino, your Onii-chan's classmate. Please take care of me from now on."
"Me too, me too!"
Seeing that Yukinoshita Yukino had already started chatting with the Hikigaya family's newly acquired cute little sister while she herself was standing there foolishly. Yuigahama Yui, unwilling to be ignored, immediately moved closer to the two of them and greeted Sakura.
"My name is Yuigahama Yui, and I'm also your Onii-chan's friend!"
"Hello, Yukinoshita Nee-san, Yuigahama Nee-san!"
Looking at the pair of large mountains in front of Yuigahama Yui, a great sense of crisis arose in Sakura's heart. On the surface, however, she gave a light smile and greeted the two.
"Ooh, she's really cute~"
Looking at Sakura's well-behaved manner, Yuigahama Yui couldn't help but cup her face with both hands, starry-eyed with infatuation.
"Hey, hey, Yuigahama-san, please restrain yourself!"
This was outside the gate of another school! And the onlookers were all elementary and middle school students... Showing an expression like a pervert could cause incalculable damage to their fragile young hearts!
"Although it is a bit exaggerated, she really is cute..."
It wasn't just Yuigahama Yui; even Yukinoshita Yukino felt her heart beat a little faster when she saw the smile on Sakura's face.
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