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[-Continuation-]
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[Hachiman's POV]
Jumping ahead to the next morning.
Or so I thought, except instead of getting some shut-eye, there I was at McDonald's at [5:00], struggling to stay awake while sipping on my second cup of Max coffee.
After the Hotel Royal Okura incident, I went separate ways from Yukimoshita and Yuigahama.
Once I got home immediately, I requested(:begged) Komachi to do something for me…
To which she shot back. "In what way am I obliged to accept your bidding?"
This triggered something in me – She was the one who asked for my assistance, and now she wasn't even willing to lend a hand to her overworked brother.
But that was before explaining the whole situation.
The entire dynamics took a complete U-turn after my explanation. She was more than ready to assist.
This incident once again reminded me of the bitter truth – How uncooperative and stubborn she can be when it matters to me.
Anyway, after this whole drama, I ventured outside of my home to kill some time. I probably should have been sleeping, but I didn't have confidence that I would wake up at five.
That was one reason I stayed awake in that fashion.
Now coming back to McDonald's and my coffee.
"Man, nothing beats a nice cup of Max coffee, certainly not a dry ginger ale." I muttered to myself as I leaned back on the chair, trying to make myself a little more comfortable.
And so… a few more minutes flowed by.
…
.
–fling!
"So you came…" The automated door made a sound as it opened, and Kawasaki Saki appeared, dragging her feet wearily.
"What do you want?" She asked much more irately than usual, possibly because she hadn't gotten much sleep either.
Getting straight to the point, huh…
"Well, sit down." I said, adopting a casual tone. "Everyone will be here soon. So just wait a little longer."
"Everyone?" As a puzzled Kawasaki looked at me, the automated door made a sound as it opened once again, signaling the arrival of Yukinoshita and Yuigahama.
Right after parting ways with those two, I sent Yuigahama a brief text, instructing her to stay the night at Yukinoshita's place, contact her parents, and come to McDonald's with Yukinoshita at five in the morning. That was all - I wrote those three points to convey a simple, pragmatic message.
"You guys again?" Kawasaki sighed deeply in exasperation.
But she wasn't the only irritated individual here. For some reason, with a sulky look on her face, Yuigahama refused to look my way.
"What? Didn't she get enough sleep?" I was curious and asked Yukinoshita.
But she shrugged as well. "Who knows? I thought she had a good sleep… that reminds me, after she got your text message, I felt that her mood took a conspicuous turn for the worse. Did you write something lewd in there?"
This girl. When will she understand that I have my eyes only on her…
Probably, until I don't come out myself.
Or she does actually understand, but is playing the long game?
"Could you, like, stop treating me like a sex criminal? And anyway, I don't know how a text with simple instructions would make her so mad."
As Yukinoshita and I looked at each other, Komachi suddenly butted in. "Yep, that's my dumb brother for you! He has no basic sense of delicacy."
"Oi, Komachi. Can you stop appearing out of thin air just to rib me?"
"Big brother, normally people send instructions in their texts when they're in a working relationship. When you just put instructions in your texts, it really puts a damper on the conversation."
Oh well, she had no issue when she sent a 'work-related' message herself.
And what was there for us to chat about other than 'work-related' massages? Was she expecting something like a good-night massage or what?
"Thank you for your enlightening advice, my dear sister." The words I chose matched the sarcasm in my tone.
"You were called here too, Imouto?" Yukinoshita asked, somewhat taken aback.
Imouto(:Little Sister)? Oh, when did this happen?
Uhm, whatever, it is good, she is close with Yukinoshita.
"Yep, I had an errand to run. I brought him here, y'know?" Komachi said, pointing at Taishi, who grunted in response.
"Taishi… what are you doing here at this hour?" Kawasaki glared at Taishi with a mixture of surprise and anger coloring her face
"Brot-...uah, I mean, Senior Hikigaya told me to come here." Taishi corrected himself as he began to explain.
"Senior Hikigaya, what's that?" Yuigahama's interest piqued completely different from the fuming with anger she had before.
Yeah, I did say Taishi to call me that, didn't I? It's just something I came up with when he called me 'Big Brother', which is an exclusive title only for Komachi, but now that I think about it, I should have thought about a better title.
"You are not bullying him, are you, Hikigaya?" Yukinoshita questioned me warily.
You are the real bully here, Yukinoshita.
I swear, I never would have imagined that a single photograph would permanently stigmatize me in her eyes as a criminal for the duration of my playthrough.
"First of all, let's all get seated." I declared, to which everyone complied.
At a time like this, changing the topic is the best way to deal with it.
But. But. Don't think I will just sit down and take these undeserved accusations in the near future too…
..
.
"*ahem…" Before I started, I gave a small check to see if everyone was paying attention or not.
And after getting a positive sign, I opted to proceed. "Kawasaki, you are good at studying, right?" I said, prompting her to glare at me.
Yukinoshita and Yuigahama turned to me with keen interest, and my tone was rather different than that of someone seeking confirmation. It was like someone already knew the answer.
"What do my academics have to do with this?" Not replying to my answer, she questioned my intention behind it with a not-so-friendly voice.
"As far as I know, you used to be a noble student, so I don't get why you are even doing a part-time job for money instead of studying to get a scholarship." I, too, instead of giving a direct reply to her, questioned her further.
"Again, what do my academics have t-..." As she began to repeat the same phrase said before in a more demanding tone, but realization hit her as my final word, 'scholarship', rang into her mind.
"....what is a scholarship?" She questioned after a small pause.
"Hikki. Why are you talking about your plan for 'how to scheme' from your own parents? Are you suggesting Kawasaki do the same?" Yuigahama butted into the middle with a rather angry tone.
The way she phrased her words earned a few not-so-good glances from Kawasaki, her brother.
...and even my little sister, Komochi.
"Hey, I already said that it isn't fraud, and no, I wasn't suggesting to her that she do something like that either." I tried to defend my non-existent image before she could drag it down even further with her hands.
"Hikki, stop talking nonsense. You are confusing me."
How did she get into Subi High again?
"If you let me, then I will explain, so stop butting in the middle." I gave her a good rant before continuing. "Taishi, did something change when you entered your third year?"
"Er, uh… wasn't that around when I started attending cram school?" Taishi wracked his head for various other memories, but that was revealing enough.
"I get it! It was to pay for her little bro's tuition fees-" Yuigahama chimed in.
But I interrupted her. "Wrong. He started prep school in April. That means any possible tuition problems were already resolved prior to that."
…this chick watches too much drama.
"That sounds about right." Yukinoshita turned her gaze at Kawasaki with complete comprehension and just a small amount of sympathy. "After all, he is not the only kid out there who needs to pay tuition for school."
I added. "Our school is a college prep school. So, most of the students start thinking about college starting second year. That's when they start getting serious about taking summer courses."
"Big sis…."
"…that's why I said you didn't need to know." Kawasaki knocked her brother on the head comfortingly.
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[To be continued…]
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