Chapter 292: This Is Your Wisest Decision
"No, on the contrary, Hikigaya-kun, you've helped me clear my head..."
Had it not been for Hachiman's previous remarks, Miko Yotsuya might have continued to deliberately ignore the existence of Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui until now.
But things were different now.
'Escapism won't solve any problems. If I want to win Hikigaya-kun over, I'll have to declare my presence to those two, won't I?'
Thinking of this, Miko felt a bit troubled. After all, neither of her two rivals fell short of her in terms of looks. Beyond that, one had a figure even better than hers, while the other was incredibly smart and came from a prestigious family.
"But it's not like I don't have my own advantages!"
Miko clenched her fists to pump herself up. Her ability to see evil spirits—something she had originally loathed—had now become a natural advantage she held over the other two!
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"Ah, Onii-chan, you're back already?"
By the time Hachiman returned home after seeing Miko off, Illya and Irisviel were gone. Sakura was also missing along with the mother and daughter.
"Where's Sakura?"
Walking into the living room and seeing only Komachi lying on the sofa, Hachiman didn't panic; he was merely curious about Sakura's whereabouts.
"Sakura was invited by Illya to stay over at her house for the night."
Komachi fiddled with her phone, answering Hachiman's question without looking up.
A while later, once Komachi had finished her game, she looked up and saw Hachiman sitting on the sofa in silence like a stone statue. She couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Onii-chan, what's wrong?"
Under her forceful "persuasion," he had walked Miko-senpai home. Normally, Hachiman's face should be beaming with a blissful, silly grin right now. Why was he wearing such a bitter, resentful expression?
"Hey, Komachi, if three people were all very good to you, who would you choose?"
Hachiman finally turned to Komachi for help.
"And those three people happen to be Yui-san, Yukino-san, and Miko-san, right?"
Hearing Hachiman's question, Komachi helplessly rolled her eyes at him. How could she not know what was going on around her brother? He'd already narrowed the scope down to three people, so why bother with "ifs"...
"That is indeed the case."
Seeing that Komachi had easily guessed the identities of the three, Hachiman slumped his head like a defeated rooster.
"Then, can Komachi ask a few questions?"
Startled by Hachiman's uncharacteristically frank admission, Komachi was slightly surprised. She put down her phone and sat up on the sofa.
"Go ahead."
Hachiman nodded. Since he had decided to seek help from his sister, it was only natural that he provide the necessary information.
"How does Onii-chan view each of the three sisters?"
Komachi's face took on a serious expression. While she could have teased him or laughed it off—which would have made the conversation much lighter—that would clearly be disrespectful to the three girls they were talking about.
"I'm not sure."
Hachiman gave a very blunt description of his current emotional state toward the three of them.
"How can you not be sure?"
The serious-faced Komachi nearly fell off the sofa upon hearing Hachiman's answer. Like is like, dislike is dislike. How could her brother not understand such a simple judgment?
"Perhaps it's because I can't distinguish between friendship and love?"
As Hachiman spoke, his eyes revealed a sense of aimless confusion. What is friendship, and what is love? Where exactly is the boundary between the two, and what are the specific criteria for distinguishing them?
"...Onii-chan, your situation is way too dire."
Hearing Hachiman's words, Komachi immediately realized the severity of the problem. But then, thinking about what Hachiman's school life had been like previously, she could only wear an expression of helplessness. After attending school under those conditions for years, it was perhaps lucky that Hachiman had only become a loner who couldn't distinguish emotions.
However, even if she understood it, it didn't help solve the current dilemma.
"This is too much trouble..."
After thinking for a while, Komachi scratched her head in frustration. She had just tried to put herself in Hachiman's shoes, only to reach the same conclusion he had. All three were great; she wouldn't know how to choose either...
"Why don't you just marry all of them, Onii-chan? Since you're so powerful now, legal clauses shouldn't even apply to you, right?"
Since she couldn't think of a solution, Komachi decided to just "break the jar" (abandon the plan). She flopped back onto the sofa and grumbled a suggestion that he should just take all three.
"They would never agree to that, would they?"
Hearing his own sister inciting him to start a harem, a wry smile appeared on Hachiman's face.
"Which means, as long as they agree, Onii-chan, you really do intend to have all three of them?"
Komachi looked at Hachiman with a horrified expression, her face screaming: "I didn't expect you to be that kind of Hikigaya."
"Wasn't that your suggestion?!"
Several black lines popped up on Hachiman's forehead. The lifelessness on his face caused by the situation with Miko and the others was replaced by a bit of spirit.
"But that was just a suggestion from Komachi. The person who actually gave birth to the thought of a harem upon hearing that suggestion was you, Onii-chan, wasn't it?"
Komachi wore the expression of someone whose plot had succeeded. Ever since the day Hachiman had come home with a heavy heart, she knew something was wrong. Especially after learning about Hachiman's mysterious distancing from the three girls, a specific theory had formed in her mind.
What she had just said seemed like a casual remark, but it was actually a calculated move to confirm whether her guess was correct. And Hachiman's response undoubtedly exposed that he had entertained the thought of a harem, but had simply given up because he believed it was impossible to achieve.
"A harem is indeed very difficult..."
After all, girls in reality aren't like those in novels who suddenly throw themselves at a protagonist just because he exists. Even if such girls existed, Komachi would never accept a shallow girl like that as her sister-in-law.
And the three girls around Hachiman were certainly not that shallow, which was exactly why getting them to accept a harem arrangement would be incredibly difficult.
But! Difficult does not mean there is no chance!
Perhaps in Hachiman's eyes, making the three of them get along harmoniously was an absolute impossibility, but in Komachi's eyes, it was different.
Hachiman coming to seek help from the Great Komachi-sama today was undoubtedly the wisest decision of his life!
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