Hachiman looked at the puzzled Vignette and smiled without explaining why he was in Shion's room. Instead, he started talking about the gyaru girls at home.
"You know there are a lot of girls at home... Hachiman, can't you invite people in groups? Now there's not even enough room to sit. If Kaede and the others also come to eat, there won't be space in the living room," Hearing this, Vignette let go of her doubts and couldn't help but complain to Hachiman.
They had just experienced a love polygon situation yesterday, and yet today Hachiman hadn't learned his lesson and even made it worse.
It wasn't a problem for her to cook more; Gabriel and Shion could both cook and would help proactively without needing her to say anything.
But the awkward atmosphere at the dinner table yesterday, she didn't want to go through that again.
She'd rather hear the noise of Hachiman and Iris cooking in the kitchen than sit through awkward silence at the dining table.
After all, she could pretend not to know about certain things, but she couldn't act clueless like Satania when it came to this kind of love triangle.
"Don't worry, Kaede won't be coming today. She's tired and will probably just eat, shower, and chat with Tsubaki at home. She won't come to my place," Hachiman shook his head with a smile.
They had stayed in the student council office for so long and skipped a whole afternoon of classes. Kaede would probably need a night to recover.
It wasn't a physical problem, Kaede's body was full of life energy and vitality, so she could recover quickly without worry.
She just didn't know how to face Iris.
Yesterday, she nearly argued with Iris in front of Komachi, Shion, Gabriel, and Vignette. And now today, they'd act like sisters and have a harmonious dinner together?
She couldn't do that.
But she also couldn't glare at or speak harshly to Iris, someone she had once joined forces with against the scumbag Hachiman. So she chose to avoid the situation and come back in a couple of days to eat together.
In these two days, Kaede had to seriously think about how to face Iris and Rurikawa Tsubaki.
From love rivals and close friends, they suddenly became her co-mistresses expected to help raise her and Hikigaya's children. Her experience as student council president wasn't enough to handle such emotional drama, she needed to think it through carefully.
"...She's not coming? Then nothing should happen today," Vignette looked at Hachiman's confident smile, and her cheeks suddenly blushed like Asougi Shion's. Her lips moved, and her voice dropped.
It wasn't because she suddenly realized she liked Hachiman and got shy.
It was because she realized why Hachiman was so confident that Kaede and Suzu, who lived next door, wouldn't come for dinner.
Gabriel could keep an eye on the student council room from the classroom, how could she possibly ignore it?
Even if she didn't stare like Gabriel, glancing occasionally when she was tired was enough to jolt her awake.
Vignette really wanted to criticize Hachiman for wasting study time and indulging in girls this afternoon, not only skipping class himself but also dragging Kaede and the others with him.
But when the words reached her lips, she held back.
She couldn't explain how she knew what Hachiman was up to. Was she supposed to admit that she and Gabriel had been peeking at Hachiman with Iris and Kaede?
Thinking of that, Vignette suddenly had an epiphany.
Could this be why her living expenses skyrocketed?!
She had been condoning Hachiman's corruption with Gabriel the angel and peeking at Hachiman herself?
"Alright, let's go buy some drinks. After we're back, we can snack and chat for a bit before cooking dinner," Hachiman checked the time, if they delayed any longer, it would be too late. He closed Shion's room door and pulled both Shion and Vignette away.
"Uh, that, um...", Vignette snapped out of it and realized she was holding Hachiman's hand. She was about to say something, but seeing that Hachiman was looking straight ahead and seemingly unaware of her reaction, she swallowed her words.
Maybe she'd seen too much of that kind of scene recently. Normally, bumping shoulders or arms in the kitchen didn't bother her, but now, even holding hands felt weird.
She felt like she was wearing invisible tinted glasses, seeing her relationship with Hachiman in a distorted way. If she didn't stop herself, things might develop like they had with Iris and the others.
If she became like Iris and got stared at by Gabriel and Raphiel... she definitely didn't want that.
It had to be her imagination.
Hachiman was holding Shion's hand too, so it wasn't like he was taking advantage of her.
Just that brief hand-hold was enough to make Vignette's heart a mess. She almost couldn't resist the urge to pull away.
Fortunately, before she could dwell on it, after pulling her to the stairs, Hachiman naturally let go and let her and Shion walk ahead while he followed behind.
The three of them went to a nearby convenience store and bought some drinks and snacks.
"Six bottles should be enough, right? Do you want any particular flavors? A big bag of snacks should be enough too, since we'll have dinner later," Hachiman picked some snacks girls might like and grabbed several large bottles of different-flavored drinks. He turned to Vignette and Asougi Shion to ask for their opinions.
They had plenty of fresh vegetables and meat at home since he often asked Shion and Komachi to buy them, and Vignette had also been buying groceries daily.
But they didn't stock that many drinks. With ten or so people at dinner, one big bottle wasn't even enough for one cup each.
"These flavors are fine. Honestly, this already feels like a lot. With soup and so many dishes later, if we eat too many snacks and drink too much, we won't be able to finish dinner," Vignette nodded helplessly, reaching out to take the drinks from Hachiman and hand them to the cashier.
But when she took the last bottle, her fingers accidentally touched his. Vignette bit her lip, suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, and silently took out her wallet to pay.
But in the next moment, her hand and wallet were both caught by Hachiman.
"Vignette, I invited the guests to our house. How could I let you pay? Put it away."
"Mm... okay... I understand...", Vignette, for once, didn't insist on paying. She lowered her head and quietly responded, staring blankly at her hand still held by Hachiman.
Lately... she probably shouldn't keep watching Hachiman and Iris anymore... if she kept watching, things would go wrong.
Better to let Gabriel keep watch alone. At the very least, they should take turns, not have both of them watch all the time.
"That's better. I already trouble you often to help cook at home. I can't let you spend your own money to entertain my guests."
Hachiman let go of Vignette's hand so she could put her money away, while he handed his own money to the cashier. Then he turned to the always quiet and obedient Asougi Shion.
"What about you, Shion? Is there anything you want? If not, we'll head back."
Maybe it was due to her upbringing, Shion lacked a sense of security.
Even though he treated her well now, gave her plenty of spending money, and never let her go without, Shion still didn't spend extravagantly. Unless it was for him or Komachi, she was always frugal and rarely made requests.
Luckily, she lived next door and usually stayed at his place. Otherwise, her personality would make him worry constantly that she'd get upset if he didn't take care of her enough.
"Hachiman-oniichan, don't worry. Komachi already bought a lot of things I like. Let's go back quickly," Asougi Shion smiled and shook her head at Hachiman's concern, stealing a quick glance at Vignette, whose ears were completely red and who kept trying to speak but held back.
Actually, Hachiman was overthinking it. She didn't have a habit of spending carelessly. There was so much delicious food at home now, she couldn't even finish it all. She didn't need to buy anything more.
As for other things, she ate, rested, and bathed at Hachiman's house. The apartment was just for sleeping. She didn't want to decorate it too nicely.
Where Hachiman and Komachi were, that was home. There was no need to make her own place too fancy.
But that didn't mean she had no worries.
She didn't doubt Hachiman would treat her well or that Komachi sincerely saw her as family.
The only tricky part was Hachiman's childhood friends from Chiba, twin sisters Kaede and Suzu.
Kaede's attitude toward Iris yesterday, with no regard for saving face, made her worry that if her relationship with Hachiman got exposed, Kaede might treat her coldly.
But if Vignette was with her, she wouldn't have to worry about being isolated. And if Gabriel joined too...
Since everyone lived in the same apartment complex, it'd be much more convenient for Hachiman to sleep over at night.
———
Hachiman returned home with Vignette and Shion, and as soon as he opened the door and stepped into the entrance, he could hear bursts of laughter coming from the living room.
"I'm back. Sorry, club activities delayed me a bit. Sorry to keep everyone waiting," Vignette and Shion went in first. Hachiman followed behind, put down the cold drinks, and quickly apologized to Kitagawa Marin, Yuina, Gabriel, and the others who were all squeezed on the sofa chatting happily.
Although Gabriel and Komachi were with them and he felt at ease, as the host, having them over to play and making them wait this long, he indeed had to express some apology.
"Did you happen to meet while buying drinks? Anyway, good that you're back," Seeing Hachiman return, Gabriel, who was under pressure being surrounded by Kitagawa Marin and Yuina, immediately let out a sigh of relief. She quickly stood up and pushed Hachiman to her seat to sit down, then went to pour drinks for everyone.
"Huh? Gabriel, you're not sitting?", Hachiman was stunned, and looked at Gabriel, who was acting a bit strangely, with confusion.
Honestly, as a guy, squeezing in among them like this didn't feel very appropriate.
If it were just Yuina and the others, it'd be fine, but Kitagawa Marin, Ijichi Nijika, Miura Yumiko, and Ichinose Honami were also here, people he wasn't especially close with. Getting too close out of nowhere didn't seem good.
"I've already sat for a long time. Later, I have to go to the kitchen with Vignette to cook, so don't worry about me, Hachiman," Gabriel didn't even look back as she twisted open the bottle cap and poured drinks into disposable cups for everyone. From the back, those sitting on the sofa could only see the tips of her delicate little earlobes turning slightly red.
A dignified angel, sitting for a while is naturally nothing, even after several days.
Of course, it's not that she wanted to indulge Hachiman's descent by letting him take her seat, ending up between Kitagawa Marin and Yuina.
The main reason was, it was just too awkward for her to sit there.
When she agreed to help bring them back and host Yuina and the others, she never expected that simply hosting them would be so awkward.
Clearly, she was just the next-door neighbor who came by a bit more often to help cook, yet Yuina and Kitagawa Marin treated her like she was the hostess. They even skipped asking Komachi and went straight to asking her about things.
And the worst part was, she actually knew the answers.
Every time she responded, they looked at her with ambiguous eyes...
If Vignette weren't unfamiliar with Yuina and Kitagawa Marin, she'd have already run out with Shion to buy drinks earlier.
"Gabriel-chan is so diligent and virtuous. You'll definitely be a good wife in the future," Yuina covered her mouth and winked at Hachiman, nearly bursting into laughter.
You never know until you come, once you do, it's shocking. No wonder they found Hachiman at school never in a rush, skipping class every day and not eating with Gabriel anymore.
Turns out, without anyone noticing, Hachiman had almost won Gabriel over. Now, Gabriel knew his home even better than they did.
Since they could already eat together at home, it's natural they wouldn't care much about those moments at school when they couldn't really interact deeply in public.
"Hikigaya-kun and Tenma-san really hid it well. But the school's disciplinary committee is pretty strict. In our class, Kotegawa is the strictest, so being careful is probably wise," Ijichi Nijika also showed a mischievous smile. She thought that Tenma Gabriel transferring to sit next to Hachiman was prearranged, and the two of them had likely known each other for a long time. Otherwise, their relationship wouldn't be so good, despite only being desk neighbors, she moved next door to live, and even often came to his home to cook.
But whatever the details were, it didn't matter now. As long as it was true that Hikigaya and Tenma got along well, that was enough.
This wasn't school, and they weren't disciplinary committee members. No need to probe into the reasons behind it.
"Uh...", Hachiman immediately understood who was making Gabriel look so flustered and shy.
Gabriel definitely wouldn't leave such misunderstandings unexplained. But with Yuina thinking he liked Gabriel, even if she didn't know Gabriel's actual relationship with him, even if she did, she'd still happily play dumb and try to push him and Gabriel together.
In this kind of situation where someone was deliberately muddying the waters, it was impossible for Gabriel to explain clearly.
"Yuina-san... Please have a drink... If you have time later, come check out my rental too. Vignette and I live next door, it's really close," Gabriel walked over with drinks, wanting to put on a stern face, but realized she couldn't scare Yuina and the others at all. She could only once again emphasize that she didn't live here.
Better that Yuina and the others didn't go around spreading rumors at school that she and Hachiman were living together.
If Kaede found out about that, it'd be really awkward.
"Hehe~ I know, I know. It's right next to Shion-chan's room. We've played in Shion-chan's room before," Yuina giggled as she took the drink. They had already figured it out, Gabriel's rental was right next to Shion's and Vignette's.
Since everyone lived so close, it'd be super convenient for them to come over to hang out. Even if they couldn't find little Hiki, they could come see Gabriel and the others.
But since Gabriel's place was so close, they probably couldn't stay over in Shion's room anymore.
Unless Gabriel and Shion joined them, otherwise playing like that would risk ruining little Hiki's romantic prospects.
"Um... Gabriel-oneechan, let's go to the kitchen and prep the ingredients? We've got a lot to handle for tonight's meal too," Noticing the subtle implications in Yuina's words, Asougi Shion pursed her lips, blushing as she tugged on Gabriel and led her to the kitchen.
Naturally, Gabriel wouldn't refuse to leave this awkward situation. Now that Iris wasn't here, she wasn't worried Hachiman would do anything in the living room that would make everyone blush.
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