Chapter 70: The Cunning Fox, Ebina!
One vermilion torii after another stood packed closely together, forming a long tunnel leading up Mount Inari.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps, cutting the path into alternating bands of brightness and shadow. As people moved beneath them, their expressions blurred beneath the constantly shifting light.
Saku and Yukino walked side by side, casually chatting as they went.
Most of the time, Saku asked questions and Yukino answered.
Thanks to her habit of reading constantly, Yukino possessed an astonishing amount of knowledge. No matter what Saku asked, she could give him an accurate answer.
She was particularly good at explaining things through the lens of historical change.
Saku was convinced that even a professional tour guide might not be able to explain everything in as much detail as she did.
「That knowledge base is terrifying. Being the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family really puts pressure on a guy. No wonder the original series called you 'Yukipedia.'」
Yukino paused for a moment.
A faint blush appeared on her face, though Saku couldn't tell whether it came from embarrassment or pride.
It didn't take them long to catch up with Hikigaya's group.
They simply stayed some distance behind rather than approaching immediately.
By the time Hayama and the others reached the ema area, Saku and Yukino arrived as well.
「The process is a little different, but the result is pretty much the same.」
Saku's gaze casually swept toward the group ahead.
「Looking at her from this distance, Miura Yumiko really is pretty. Her figure is well-proportioned too. She looks like the aggressive, hot-tempered gyaru type, though.」
「But she's actually extremely protective of her friends. She's basically got a mother-hen personality.」
「At first, when she kept making Yui run little errands, she genuinely thought asking friends to grab things for each other was normal.」
「Especially since Yui was always so nervous around everyone. If Yumiko hadn't casually ordered her around like that, Yui might've found it even harder to blend into the group.」
「Then Yukino tore into her, and after she talked things over with Yui, she stopped bossing Yui around anyway.」
「Overall, she's unexpectedly a pretty good person.」
[Valid roast detected. Roast Points +30. Current total: 4,850.]
While Saku was performing a complete character analysis of Miura Yumiko in his head, Yukino finally couldn't resist giving him a sideways glare.
Yukino had never gotten along with Yumiko, largely because of their terrible first impressions of each other.
Of course, Yumiko deliberately confronting her whenever they met probably hadn't helped.
Either way, Yukino personally didn't like her very much.
Hearing Saku praise Yumiko so enthusiastically naturally irritated her.
"Aren't we supposed to be writing ema?"
Yukino couldn't exactly grab him and drag him along, so she settled for speaking in an ominously cold tone.
"Why are you standing here?"
"Huh? Oh, right."
Saku started walking, then suddenly remembered something.
'Wait. When did I ever say I wanted to write an ema?'
Whatever.
They were already here.
He didn't care enough to argue.
Before they could get very far, Yui came over to meet them.
She hadn't noticed them at first.
Unfortunately, Saku's inner voice had already announced their presence.
Yui only needed to glance around before spotting Saku and Yukino standing nearby, so she immediately headed over.
"Yahallo! Jinnai-kun, Yukino-chan! You guys came here too?"
"Yahallo!"
Saku lied without blinking.
"Yeah, yeah! What an amazing coincidence!"
Yui nearly burst out laughing.
Yukino could only sigh helplessly.
She genuinely had no idea what to do with this walking comedian.
"Then this works out perfectly!"
Yui circled around Saku and immediately linked arms with Yukino.
"Let's all explore together."
Mai-senpai had personally entrusted Yui with a mission during this school trip: keep an eye on Saku and stop him from flirting with girls everywhere he went.
As Mai's friend, Yui had naturally accepted the responsibility.
And now that she'd encountered him, it was time to do her duty.
Even if the girl Saku was getting too close to happened to be Yukino, that still wasn't allowed.
Neither Saku nor Yukino noticed anything unusual about Yui's intentions.
Since she'd invited them, they simply went along with it.
"Uh... you guys came too?"
Hikigaya turned around and immediately saw the three of them approaching.
He had no idea what was going on, but something about the situation felt suspicious.
「Hikigaya, this school trip marks the beginning of your suffering. A moment of silence for you.」
「Speaking of which... I feel like I'm forgetting something.」
「Oh, right. How did I forget this part?」
「The person who really pushed Hikigaya into the abyss wasn't only Tobe. Ebina played a huge role too.」
「Tobe's request was ridiculous, sure, but Ebina's was arguably even worse.」
「That girl hides behind her fujoshi persona, but she's actually incredibly sharp. She'd already seen through everything, yet she used the Service Club's rules to give Hikigaya a request completely opposite to Tobe's.」
「And the clever part is that Ebina never directly rejected Tobe or clearly explained what she wanted. She simply asked them 'not to ruin the group's relationships.'」
「That vague request ended up becoming one of the deadliest blows Hikigaya received.」
「Just like Tobe, she shifted her own risk onto the Service Club. What a cunning fox.」
Yui: 'So the real trigger that pushes Hikki into that extreme self-destruct... is Hina?'
Yukino: 'I thought Hikigaya simply went too far because of his personality. So there was another reason behind it?'
Saku's previous inner commentary had never explained the details.
Because of that, both Yukino and Yui had assumed Hikigaya's extreme personality was the main reason everything eventually went wrong.
Now they finally understood there was more to it.
Hikigaya was trapped between two directly conflicting requests.
That left him backed into a corner, which was why he'd eventually resort to the most extreme solution available.
Seen from that perspective, his choice suddenly made much more sense.
「Then again, if I remember correctly, Hikigaya never told Yukino or the others about Ebina's request in the original story. So he definitely shares responsibility too.」
「And seriously, just because someone gives you a request, why do you automatically have to accept it?」
「You could've easily said Yukino is the Service Club president and she's the one who makes the final call, not you.」
「Or even more directly, what does the harmony of their friend group have to do with you?」
「You preserve the appearance of peace, but what does that actually change?」
「Ebina already knows how Tobe feels, and Tobe already understands how Ebina feels about him. Even if neither of them says it aloud, the crack already exists. It'll still be awkward whenever they meet.」
「So their relationship only looks unchanged. Once something has shifted, pretending otherwise doesn't erase the result.」
「Why make yourself the target of everyone just to preserve an outcome that was already impossible to fully repair?」
「This problem is way too difficult. I genuinely don't understand it.」
[Precise roast detected. Roast Points +70. Current total: 4,920.]
Saku was delighted by another easy batch of Roast Points.
Meanwhile, his hands had already received an ema just like Yukino and Yui.
Once someone handed him a pen, he immediately started sketching.
Within moments, the unmistakable figure of Yae Miko appeared on the wooden plaque.
Beside her, he wrote his wish:
May Honkai: Star Rail successfully make its debut under my direction! And may everyone at HoYoMix walk together toward a brand-new future!
Yui and Yukino, however, were still distracted by what they'd just heard from Saku's inner voice.
They absentmindedly wrote down a few simple wishes of their own without putting much thought into them.
When Yui finally glanced over at Saku's ema, her eyes widened.
"Jinnai-kun, that's amazing!"
She leaned closer to inspect the drawing.
"Is she another character from Honkai: Star Rail?"
"No."
Saku gave her a mysterious smile.
"She's from Genshin Impact."
Then, deliberately imitating Yae Miko's tone, he recited one of her familiar lines.
"Come, repeat after me."
"One, two, three..."
"Three, two, one."
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