Even though she had to put on the act of a shy maiden with a fluttering heart and fawn over Hachiman, Kushida Kikyo was in an excellent mood, knowing that she was about to resolve a lingering worry and eliminate future trouble.
Since Hachiman did not seem optimistic about her, she decided not to report her progress so quickly. She would wait until there were more people involved and then give Hachiman a surprise.
Maybe by then Hachiman would be especially satisfied with the surprise she prepared, think she was very capable and well suited to replace Maid Shion as the head maid of the Rurikawa household, and be willing to delegate more authority to her.
Now that Kaede and Rurikawa Tsubaki were already standing at the doorway, Hachiman still did not get up or say anything to greet them, continuing to enjoy the service from her and Ebihara Urara as if nothing were happening.
Kushida Kikyo could tell at a glance that becoming Hachiman's exclusive maid had even more prospects than she had imagined.
Still, she had never thought about falling in love before.
Because people who had a lover would undoubtedly lose some of their appeal within the opposite sex, she did not know much about that sort of thing. She even deliberately avoided learning about it, so she would not accidentally say the wrong thing, doing everything she could to maintain her pure and cute persona.
This was her weak point, and she needed to find time to supplement her theoretical knowledge in this area. Otherwise, if she knew nothing at all, how would she climb higher in the future?
Of course, she could not learn the theory too well. It was best to have only a half understanding. If she mastered it too thoroughly and became too practiced, she would instead lose that sense of innocence.
Pretending to never know anything was also quite difficult, but she could have different maids accompany her each time, letting the other maids draw the fire while she herself received Hachiman's rewards.
Already lost in visions of the future, Kushida Kikyo suppressed her excitement while continuing to press close against Hachiman's back, slowly extending her hands.
Only this time, she was not reaching to press on Ebihara Urara's thigh.
"Urara, didn't you just say it'd be over if you didn't get up? You don't feel like getting up now?"
Hachiman did not care about the little schemes of Kushida Kikyo, that two-faced sweetheart. Seeing Kaede and Suzu half supporting and half dragging the oni clan shrine maiden, Origamine Ouka, as they slowly walked over, he let a faint glow appear at his fingertips. While using a cleansing spell to wipe away Ebihara Urara's dark history, he quietly reminded her.
"W-wait… please let me lean on Master's chest for a little while…"
Ebihara Urara lay quietly in Hachiman's arms with no intention of getting up. After hearing his words, she kept her eyes closed and lowered her head, adjusting her posture. Instead of facing Kaede and the others approaching, she turned to face Hachiman, wrapped her arms around his waist, and her lower abdomen occasionally brushed against Kushida Kikyo's tightly clasped hands.
If the door had not already been opened, she would have stood up immediately and fled far away.
But things had already come to this. Everything that should have been seen, and everything that should not have been seen, had already been seen by Rurikawa and Kaede and Suzu and the others. There was no point in avoiding it anymore.
If she stood up, unless she chose to leave outright, she would still have to face their gazes. She might as well continue sitting in Hachiman's arms.
Even knowing she could not be an ostrich forever, right now… no one could stop her from continuing to be one.
"Hachiman, where's Shion?", Kaede and Suzu helped Origamine Ouka, whose legs were shaking more and more violently, skin flushed red all over, breathing heavy and rapid like she had a fever, and who was already on the verge of losing her reason, over to the sofa.
She glanced at Ebihara Urara with her back to them, and at Kushida Kikyo lying against Hachiman's back, black stockings and torn white stockings intertwined. She did not cry out in surprise like Rurikawa Tsubaki, nor did she question their identities. After scanning the area and not seeing Maid Shion's familiar bowing and muttering figure in front of the sofa, she asked in puzzlement.
If it were before, seeing two pretty girls being that intimate with Hachiman, she would definitely have dragged Suzu along to punch him.
But now, forget it. If not for having so many people sharing the hardship together, she felt she would never be able to straighten her back in front of Hachiman. Every night she would only be able to beg for mercy in a servile posture.
Having more people had its advantages. When she got tired, she could just go to sleep without worrying that Hachiman would pull her up to continue. There would be plenty of girls willing to help her take the heat for him.
Still, being willing to let everyone help her endure did not mean she could accept others having a higher place in Hachiman's heart.
Komachi was Hachiman's sister, and had spent more time with him than she had. She could accept that. But she could not tolerate anyone else.
As for Iris, that elf princess, she would stop at nothing to please Hachiman, turning the Hachiman household, the Service Club, and Sobu High into what they were now.
"There was originally another maid named Sayo, but something happened at her home. Her parents were arrested over unpaid debts, so I had Maid Shion go deal with it first. We'll talk after her parents are safely back."
Hachiman said with a smile, enjoying the sensation of being pressed from both front and back by Kushida Kikyo and Ebihara Urara, while looking at his increasingly sensible childhood friend, Kaede.
Sometimes he really missed the old Kaede who often fought him on the bed. Every time he teased her and got punched, he would lie there watching her, panting as she pinned him down and declared with a tsundere face that she had won again.
But now it was no longer possible. Kaede, all talk but honest in body, could not even muster her tsundere act anymore.
Because of the side effects of the Service Halo, Kaede's resistance to him was in the negatives.
This side effect, where the more she liked him the more sensitive she became, made it impossible for her to keep up the tsundere act.
After all… just hugging and kissing a little was enough to make the desire in her body almost break loose. No matter how much she said she hated it, she would only be humiliating herself and becoming a joke to the sisters around her who felt the same.
Now Kaede could only talk big in front of others during the day. At night, she was obedient.
"Why is it debts again? So many girls are throwing themselves at you and it's still not enough? Why do you have to find girls drowning in debt and help them pay it off?", Hearing his explanation, Kaede frowned. Glancing at Ebihara Urara's back, she could not help lowering her voice.
Ebihara Urara, who had almost been dragged into a cult, was one thing. Showing mercy once in a while was fine.
But why another girl who owed money and had to sell herself? After becoming rich, was Hachiman planning to squander it recklessly?
She knew a little about Sayo's situation. Her family background was quite good. For such a well-off family to suddenly fall into hardship, even to the point of selling herself, it would surely take a huge sum of money to get her through it.
"It's fine. We're not short on this bit of money. If Sayo can't scrape it together, her parents' organs will be sold. If you think it's a loss, just raise the interest a little, Kaede."
Seeing that Kaede was not jealous, just worried that he was wasting money, Hachiman felt a little helpless.
He was not someone who dispensed kindness indiscriminately. But when a problem appeared right in front of him that he could solve with a wave of his hand, he would also feel bad turning a blind eye.
"Forget it. It's all Rurikawa family money anyway. If Tsubaki isn't saying anything, I won't meddle either."
Hearing that it was emergency life-saving money again, Kaede sighed, feeling somewhat speechless, and waved her hand, unwilling to dwell on it.
She was still not used to this overly affluent life. Thinking of the money she might only be able to save after years of working being casually spent by Hachiman to chase women made it hard for her to swallow.
There were so many girls at school who cost nothing, who might even pay Hachiman instead, and even a bunch of young ladies eagerly waiting to enroll. She really felt it was a loss.
Still, since it involved the lives of the other party's parents, she could not say much.
Thinking about it carefully, that money was not even hers. Why was she worrying so much?
"Kaede, I…"
Rurikawa Tsubaki, who had gone ahead to open the door at first and then fallen behind to close and lock it, heard her good friend Kaede sounding like she had an issue with her again. Her expression tightened and she opened her mouth to speak.
"Tsubaki, don't worry. That's not what I mean. It's just that since Hachiman found another woman and spent so much money, you need to make him compensate you properly."
Seeing that Rurikawa Tsubaki seemed to be misunderstanding her again, Kaede did not elaborate. She directly pushed Rurikawa Tsubaki onto Hachiman, pressing her against Ebihara Urara's back, and even reached out to help undo the tie at Rurikawa Tsubaki's neck.
"It's all Hachiman's fault anyway. Hurry up and transform into a magical girl and let him help you increase your magic power."
"..."
Pushed over, Rurikawa Tsubaki instinctively hugged Hachiman tightly. But when she saw Ebihara Urara, who was lying on Hachiman's shoulder and had turned her head to stare straight at her with eyes full of surprise and shock, a tempting blush instantly flooded her delicate, beautiful face.
It was good that Kaede was not angry or jealous.
But, but that was not what she meant either.
Wasn't Kaede planning to have Origamine Ouka join them? Why was she making her go first again?
Now in the student council office, aside from the four student council members, adding Kushida Kikyo and Ebihara Urara made only six people in total.
Such a small scene… for Rurikawa Tsubaki, who often experienced bloodshed on a grand scale at the Hachiman household, it was nothing. Lunch break was not long, but even if they went all out on Hachiman, they could hold on. What was more, they could now transform into magical girls.
If ordinary bodies could not take it, then let the extraordinary fight the extraordinary.
The only thing Rurikawa Tsubaki was not quite used to was Ebihara Urara's identity.
Suzune Rione was at least a goddess angel, essentially disguised as an ordinary human. Thinking that way made it easier to accept.
But Ebihara Urara really was… and she even had a fiance.
"Didn't I tell you last time? Urara's fiance might have joined a cult. We only found out today that her fiance died on the spot during the operation to wipe out the cult."
Rurikawa Tsubaki had just separated slightly from Hachiman, breathing lightly, when she suddenly heard his explanation and felt even more confused.
That was a fiance, not a boyfriend. It was not something you could just break off immediately, was it?
And she had just learned her fiance was dead, yet she immediately threw herself into Hachiman's arms?
When did Ebihara Urara and Hachiman become that close?
Hachiman, explain it more clearly. Hearing it like this just makes it sound weird.
Even though she really wanted to know why Ebihara Urara suddenly threw herself into Hachiman's arms, when it had been agreed before that she would only join the Rurikawa household as a maid, Rurikawa Tsubaki quickly realized that neither Ebihara Urara nor Hachiman had time to answer her.
"Tsubaki, we'll talk about this later."
Hachiman gave a brief reminder. Freeing one hand from Ebihara Urara's embrace, he gently pressed a hidden button somewhere on the pink wrist guard on Rurikawa Tsubaki's slender wrist.
"Mm… okay."
Putting herself in Ebihara Urara's shoes, Rurikawa Tsubaki immediately stopped talking. She simply hugged Ebihara Urara tightly from behind, letting her fully feel the warmth Hachiman brought, no longer sinking into sadness over her fiance's death.
Still kneeling behind Hachiman, Kushida Kikyo was doing little more than helping him gently with the sofa's rebound, occasionally assisting with her hands. Seeing this scene, she could not help but stare in astonishment, deeply shaken.
She suddenly felt the pressure multiply.
Hachiman was more assertive and composed in front of the student council members than she had imagined. And Rurikawa Tsubaki, a noble young lady and the current head of the Rurikawa household, was also far more proactive than she had thought.
Rurikawa Tsubaki looked like she had been pushed onto Hachiman by Kaede, but after pushing her over, Kaede did not help out the way she did, pressing Ebihara Urara and pushing things along.
Still, the more obedient and compliant Rurikawa Tsubaki acted in front of Hachiman, the more it strengthened Kushida Kikyo's resolve to work hard to please him.
No big deal. Rurikawa Tsubaki's noble aura was great, and her status added to it.
She really did not know how Hachiman had made Rurikawa Tsubaki so docile, even pulling in her childhood friends, the Kaede and Suzu sisters, without Rurikawa Tsubaki having any objections.
But no matter what, a noble young lady like Rurikawa Tsubaki and childhood friends like the Kaede and Suzu sisters could not possibly outnumber her, or be more uninhibited than her group.
The overall looks of the girls in her class were very high. If she could get all the girls in her class to become Hachiman's exclusive maids, serving him anytime and anywhere, that would be an advantage no one else could reach.
And from a casual chat with Hoshinomiya Chie, she had learned an especially interesting piece of news. After exams this week, there would be a private party for young female teachers at the apartment over the weekend.
Besides Hoshinomiya Chie, Hiratsuka Shizuka, and Kirisu Mafuyu, who lived in the apartment with them, many others would be coming.
Mizuho Kagami, Hanamori Kotomi, Kashima Risako, Matsubara Miria, Kisaragi Miyuki, Tachibana Haruna...
If she invited Hachiman over to the apartment to hang out and then "coincidentally" ran into these teachers.
Hachiman did not pay attention to how much more attentive Kushida Kikyo's massage on his back had become. He was focused on sensing the extreme tension of Ebihara Urara in his arms, letting her, dressed in a white-stocking maid outfit, clamp her tense legs tightly around him. His hands leisurely played with the jet-black hair of Ebihara Urara and Rurikawa Tsubaki, intertwined together.
Watching the two of them kissing his cheeks from left and right, yet averting their eyes shyly and not daring to meet each other's gaze, Hachiman chose to make them take turns looking straight at him while kissing him, clearly feeling the scorching gaze of the other at such close range.
Sometimes, he did not need to take the initiative.
Just by making them face their companion's gaze and fall into a state of nervous shyness on their own, he could clearly feel their softness and bashfulness without moving at all.
After a while, his younger sister Suzu transformed into a magical girl resembling White Seele from Honkai Impact 3rd, climbed onto the sofa, and knelt beside Hachiman. She took his hand and pressed it against the chain on her chest, inviting him to give her magical power training.
"Kaede, what's going on with Ouka? Do you need to keep an eye on her the whole time?"
Hachiman glanced at his older sister Kaede, who was still watching Origamine Ouka off to the side. He let Ebihara Urara, Rurikawa Tsubaki, and Kushida Kikyo rest a bit. Hugging Suzu, whose face was expressionless but already flushed red, he kissed her hard and asked Kaede, who still had not come over.
He might understand now why Kaede and Suzu's magical girl outfits were styled after Black Seele and White Seele.
Suzu did not talk much, not out of shyness, but in how she acted, she fit White Seele very well. Usually shy and gentle, yet bold and proactive at critical moments.
Kaede, on the other hand, matched Black Seele's strong yet tsundere demeanor.
On top of that, whether Kaede and Suzu or Black Seele and White Seele, they all had blue-toned short hair, with Black Seele and White Seele having dyed tips at the ends.
Too bad there was no Honkai in this world, so he probably would not get to experience two pairs of Black and White Seele at once.
Still, just Kaede and Suzu were enough. A pair of twins, a double experience.
"I'm not sure either. We came back together, and when we reached the door, Ouka suddenly became like this."
Kaede withdrew her gaze from Origamine Ouka, whose whole body was flushed and burning hot, as if her consciousness were already hazy and she could not hear what was being said to her. She spoke helplessly.
"I suspect Ouka's issue is some kind of rare demi-human syndrome again, similar to what Elio and the others in the merfolk tribe have."
As she spoke, she looked at Ebihara Urara, who had just been overwhelmed on her very first time by Rurikawa Tsubaki and Kushida Kikyo working together, her tone full of apology.
"Um… Miss Ebihara, you've been through a lot. Tsubaki and the others have all been led astray by Hachiman. She's not usually like this."
Tsubaki had already been completely molded by Hachiman. Even though she had many doubts about Ebihara Urara's actions, she would not oppose Hachiman's decisions. Even if they were wrong, or she did not agree with them, she would still obediently listen.
This kind of blind trust without reservation was something Tsubaki could not even give to her good friend.
Kaede felt a headache coming on.
Someone who did not know any better might think she was Hachiman's lover.
But she could not really say anything. After all, Tsubaki had only become Hachiman's lover with her consent.
When the two of them were together, Tsubaki always listened to her. If she was not present, Tsubaki would report to her afterward.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.