"Hey? Yuigahama? Are you home tomorrow, or do you have other plans?"
On the couch, Yukinoshita Yukino called Yuigahama Yui to ask if she was free the next day, with two large dogs, one black and one white, lying at her feet.
"Yukinon? Uh, yeah, I should be home."
When Yuigahama Yui saw that Yukinoshita Yukino was calling, she hesitated for a while before answering, feeling a bit nervous.
"That's good. Tomorrow's your birthday, right? Hikigaya and I are planning to come over to celebrate. Is that okay with you?"
"Eh!?"
Yuigahama Yui froze for a second. After she realized, she immediately exclaimed, "Yukinon and... Hikki are coming to my house!?"
"Yeah, is that a problem?" Yukinoshita Yukino asked.
"Well..."
After struggling for a while, Yuigahama Yui finally spoke up again. "I understand. I'll wait for you guys at home."
"Great, we'll be there before 5 PM tomorrow."
After hanging up the phone, Yukinoshita Yukino let out a sigh of relief as she looked at the address Yuigahama Yui had sent through Line.
She had considered the possibility of Yuigahama refusing. If that had happened, she would have had to wait until Monday at school to personally give her the gift. But that would have meant missing her birthday, and the meaning of the gift would have been different.
Thankfully, Yuigahama didn't refuse.
Yukinoshita Yukino had already bought the ingredients to make a cake and was planning to bake a birthday cake for Yuigahama Yui tomorrow.
---
...
The next afternoon, Yukinoshita Yukino, carrying the gift and cake she had prepared for Yuigahama Yui, met up with Hikigaya Hachiman at the station before heading to Yuigahama's house together.
Half an hour later, the two of them stood at the front door of Yuigahama's house.
"Are you nervous?" Yukinoshita Yukino glanced at Hikigaya Hachiman beside her.
"Of course! This is my first time going to a girl's house," the boy with dead fish eyes muttered, holding a gift bag with a present he had picked out for Yuigahama Yui. "Let me at least prepare myself..."
However, Yukinoshita Yukino completely ignored him and pressed the doorbell under Hikigaya Hachiman's stiff gaze.
"Coming, coming!"
Soon, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, a pink-haired girl wearing casual home clothes opened the door. She peeked her head out and said, "Yuki-chan, Hikki, you guys are here..."
When she saw Hikigaya Hachiman, who was pretending to look at the street but was secretly glancing at the door with his peripheral vision, Yuigahama Yui froze for a moment too.
See, I knew it would be like this! Hikigaya Hachiman wailed inwardly.
"Well, um, come on in!"
Yuigahama Yui quickly smiled and opened the door wider, inviting the two of them inside. "The slippers are here."
Yukinoshita Yukino took two pairs of guest slippers from the shoe cabinet near the entrance for the two of them to change into.
As they entered, Yukinoshita Yukino and Hikigaya Hachiman saw a young woman in the entrance who looked very similar to Yuigahama, smiling gently at them.
"Welcome to our home! Yui has talked a lot about the two of you, her friends from the club," Yuigahama's mother said.
"Mom!"
Yuigahama Yui's face turned slightly red.
"Hello, Auntie."
"Hello, Auntie. I'm sorry for the trouble today."
Unlike Hikigaya, who was casual, Yukinoshita Yukino formally bowed slightly to Yuigahama's mother.
"Oh, you're too polite! Please, come in."
The young woman smiled, patting her cheek.
At that moment, a dachshund happily ran out from the living room and leaped into Hikigaya Hachiman's arms.
Yukinoshita Yukino remained calm. After the desensitization training last night, she was no longer as afraid of dogs as before and could understand the cuteness of such a cheerful pet.
"It looks like Sabure really likes you," Yuigahama's mother laughed.
Petting the dog's head, Hikigaya Hachiman smiled more naturally. "I guess animals tend to like me."
Of course, that was a lie.
His fat cat at home didn't like him much.
Once they reached the living room, before Yuigahama's mother could ask about her daughter's school life, Yuigahama Yui quickly pulled them into her room. Even Sabure, who wanted to follow, was left outside and could only whine, "Woo woo."
"Sorry, my mom just said it like that."
After bringing over some chairs, the girl with the bun sat on her bed, looking a bit embarrassed.
This was Hikigaya Hachiman's first time entering a girl's room, and he was trying hard to control his gaze, not wanting to appear rude.
However, from his limited view, he could see that the room was neat. Cute stickers were on the desk, and it was tidily organized. The bed was neatly made, and a few teddy bears were placed by the wall near the bed.
It was a room full of girly charm.
"Auntie is very warm."
Yukinoshita Yukino smiled and then handed a gift bag to Yuigahama Yui. "Here, this is your birthday gift."
"Wow! A gift! Can I open it now?"
The girl with the bun took the bag excitedly, and after getting Yukinoshita Yukino's permission, she opened it, pulling out an apron and a dog doll.
"Thank you! Yukinon!"
She jumped toward the black-haired girl, grabbing her hands.
"This is my thank you to you."
Yukinoshita Yukino smiled softly and gently rubbed Yuigahama Yui's head.
Then she realized something, and her hand froze.
After getting used to petting two little dogs last night, when Yuigahama rushed towards her, she instinctively placed her hand on her head.
Thankfully, Yuigahama didn't seem to mind.
"I didn't just prepare a gift, you know."
"Huh? Did Hikki also..."
Yuigahama Yui looked at the boy with dead fish eyes in surprise.
He took a gift box out of the bag and placed it on the table.
After clearing his throat a couple of times, Hikigaya Hachiman said awkwardly, "Well, happy birthday. I know I messed up before, and I hope you don't take my words to heart."
A gleam of light flashed in the girl's dazed eyes. After snapping out of it, she pouted. "Right, right! It's all Hikki's fault! Suddenly saying things like sympathy and charity... I didn't understand a thing! It was just nonsense!"
"Mm-hmm, you're right."
Hikigaya Hachiman could only nod and admit his mistake.
"Alright, I brought the cake I baked. Let's go outside and eat it with Auntie."
Yukinoshita Yukino took out the cake she brought.
"But it's almost dinner time. Mom said you should stay and have dinner with us."
Yuigahama Yui said.
"Okay, we'll have it after dinner then."
Yukinoshita Yukino stood up and left the room. "I'll go help with dinner."
"I'll go too!"
Yuigahama Yui said excitedly.
"No, Yuigahama, just stay here. Please don't go into the kitchen."
Yukinoshita Yukino warned seriously.
...
...
Monday, Servant Club Activity Room.
"Yaho～! Yukinon, I'm here!"
The familiar greeting echoed in the activity room, and the Service Club returned to its usual routine.
The workplace tour, delayed by a week due to school renovations, was scheduled for this week. In the end, Hikigaya Hachiman was still unable to have the workplace tour at his own home and was worried about the group assignments.
Meanwhile, above a juvenile detention center in West Tokyo, called Eiji, a floating embryo appeared in mid-air.
...
...
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