Although now she was already being teased by Yuina and the others to the point her face was flushed red.
"Then I'll go help too, you guys continue chatting with Hachiman," Seeing that Gabriel, who was on the same front line, had left, Vignette also quickly apologized and followed into the semi-open kitchen, turning her back to the others in the living room and helping prepare dinner with Gabriel and Shion.
She had just watched with her own eyes as Gabriel was interrogated by Yuina, Minami, Ichiji Nijika, and Kitagawa Marin; she didn't want it to be her turn later.
After all, she also lived in the apartment next door with Gabriel. In terms of time spent cooking in Hachiman's house, she had definitely been doing it longer and more frequently. She even bought a lot of the ingredients nowadays. Her situation was more awkward than Gabriel's, who had simply used up her living expenses and was now working for food.
If she were in the same class as Kitagawa Marin and the others and had closer relationships with them, she would have been the one targeted just now.
"Are we really that scary? We just pulled them in to ask a few more questions," Minami looked at the three who had fled in panic and chuckled.
"Uh hehe...", Komachi gave an awkward yet polite smile, not knowing how to respond.
Girls loved gossiping when they gathered, and she knew that very well.
The transfer student Gabriel was both her brother's desk neighbor and his neighbor at home. The development of a next-door angel and a gloomy shut-in boy really did feel like a light novel.
Even Shion, the adopted sister, was gossiped about by everyone. How she and her brother met, how close they were.
If it weren't for the undeniable fact that she was Hachiman's real sister, she might have been surrounded and gossiped about as well.
"Um... Hikigaya-kun, I'm really sorry for the sudden visit. It seems like there are too many people today...", Ichinose Honami saw that Gabriel and the others had gone to the kitchen, and Hachiman finally had a moment free. She immediately stood up, bowed slightly, her cheeks slightly red with embarrassment.
She had long wanted to greet Hikigaya, but there were so many girls around him, all so busy, that she couldn't find a chance to interrupt.
"Shion told me on the way back, and Yuina and Minami also greeted me. Besides, your younger sister Ichinose Ayano is a member of our Service Club. We're not that unfamiliar, Honami, you don't need to be so polite," Hachiman looked at the kind-hearted Ichinose Honami, who also had the personality of a little angel, and shook his head with a smile, comforting her.
There were quite a few little angels here today. Gabriel was a genuine little angel, Vignette was a misplaced little angel, and Ichinose Honami and Ichiji Nijika were also extremely kind girls.
However, Ichinose Honami's reason for approaching him wasn't entirely pure.
Given Honami's personality and family background, it was probably because the Ichinose congressman promised her some benefits, and under the torment of her conscience, for her mother and younger sister's sake, she approached him.
Turning Ichinose Honami over should be even easier than Ichinose Ayano; it wouldn't take much effort.
"Ah? Okay...", Hearing the implication in Hachiman's words about his good relationship with Ayano, Ichinose Honami was slightly stunned. She looked at him and slowly nodded.
'Does Ayano really have a good relationship with Hikigaya-kun?'
But she had heard from her uncle that Ayano wasn't making much progress in the Service Club, which was why she was asked to use a roundabout approach and connect with the elf princess through Hikigaya.
'Hmm... maybe it is just a polite thing Hikigaya-kun said so I wouldn't feel awkward.'
"What were you guys talking about just now? Don't tell me you were only teasing Gabriel and Vignette?", Hachiman didn't continue paying attention to Honami's expression and instead looked at Yuina next to him and Ichiji Nijika and Miura Yumiko across from him.
Yuina and the others had been at his house for quite a while. They couldn't have been teasing Gabriel and Shion the whole time, right? That would be too much for them.
"Of course not. We were mainly talking about your dark history, Hikigaya-kun~", Ichiji Nijika took over the conversation, smiling as she looked at Hachiman.
Hachiman, as the absent host and the link that brought everyone together, naturally sparked everyone's curiosity, they all wanted to know more.
"Yeah, everyone is very interested in the little Hachiman before you became handsome, and also about your childhood," Yuina and the others also nodded with smiles.
Grilling Gabriel with questions and occasionally teasing her wasn't their main purpose. They were just looking for other topics to talk about.
Previously, whenever they came to Hachiman's house, it was either to help with training or to play bullying(seggs) games. They had never talked about these things.
It just so happened that Komachi was telling the new ones like Kitagawa Marin about it, so they listened in.
"What's there to talk about? Back then, my social circle basically only included family," Hearing they were gossiping about his own affairs, Hachiman began to understand how Gabriel must have felt earlier, and responded speechlessly.
Although in this world he wasn't hit by a car at the start of school, but had an alternate accident after graduating middle school. Falling off a snowy mountain while visiting his countryside hometown and being saved by a snow woman.
Still, before awakening his memories, he had a rather withdrawn personality. Some black history from middle school was unavoidable.
Like how he had no friends except the childhood friends next door, how he disliked kind people, or how he secretly had a crush on a certain girl, his life trajectory was still quite similar to the original story.
But he didn't confess to that blunt and loud-mouthed Orimoto Kaori like in the original. Instead, he had a slight crush on an unnamed country-style deskmate from the original.
Though she dressed plainly, wore thick black-rimmed glasses, had twin tails, and a good figure. When her twin tails were let down, she was a classic black long straight type.
Hmm... Her grades were also good, but apparently, she went on to a private girls' high school and didn't attend Sobu High.
He didn't want Komachi to reveal that black history. Not because it was super embarrassing, since they had only sat together a few times, it was just a naive crush in youth. If he really had to talk about love, the bond with his twin childhood friends Kaede and Suzu was deeper.
Still, having this sort of pure-hearted boy story exposed really clashed with his current scummy image.
"I actually think it's interesting. I heard you liked a classmate but didn't dare confess. Even after getting her email, you only said hi. So lame!", Miura Yumiko curled her lips, really unable to stand this guy. He was clearly bullied back then, and now he's just pretending.
'Hmm... Could it be that because he had little contact with girls in middle school, he now sees Minami and the others' bullying as a sign of closeness?'
'Apparently, some school bullying victims do develop a twisted dependence on their bullies...'
Thinking this, Miura Yumiko somewhat wanted to take back what she just said.
But in front of everyone, she couldn't bring herself to apologize to Hachiman.
'Hmph, at worst, when Minami and Rin later insist on playing bullying games, I'll stop them with Marin and Nijika, no need for Hachiman to beg me on his knees.'
"She was just a classmate, okay? I had childhood friends next door... but, Komachi?", Hachiman didn't mind Miura Yumiko's words, and turned his head with a not-so-friendly look toward his dear sister Komachi.
He had long known Miura Yumiko's personality. Probably similar to Kaede's: prideful but soft-hearted.
But Yumiko aside, he couldn't let Komachi off the hook.
Talking about that kind of black history, should he bring up how Komachi ran away from home when she was little?
"Hehe, Onii-chan, you guys keep chatting. I'm going to help in the kitchen," Sensing danger, Komachi immediately got up and dashed into the kitchen.
She had no choice, her brother's social circle really was small. These were the only stories worth telling from childhood to now.
She couldn't lie or talk about his current overly flirtatious behavior, so naturally, she could only mention some of his old embarrassing stories.
That girl had gone off to an all-girls high school anyway, and with all the girls now around her brother, they wouldn't cross paths again. That little embarrassing story barely counted as one.
She told it to help build her brother's image as a pure-hearted boy, so others would like him more. If he didn't reward her for it, fine, but threatening her? How mean.
———
After Komachi left, only Hachiman was left in the living room to face the visiting guests.
The three gyaru girls, Yuina, Minami, and Rin, exchanged glances. Yuina, already sitting close to Hachiman, leaned in even more. Minami sat in Yuina's lap, and Rin got up and sat on the back of the sofa where Yuina had been. The three of them clung to Hachiman like they were playing Jenga.
Ichiji Nijika, Miura Yumiko, and Ichinose Honami watched Yuina and the others' actions and admired how naturally friendly they were, but didn't follow suit. Kitagawa Marin, still seated, glanced at them and then eagerly asked Hachiman about Iris.
"Hikigaya-kun, sorry if this is sudden, but what's your relationship with the elf princess like? Could you introduce me?"
"You're looking for Iris? Why do you want to find her?", Hachiman looked a bit puzzled at Kitagawa Marin, who had put on pink contacts and now looked rather seductively glamorous.
Marin was an outgoing otaku who loved makeup and cosplay, bold enough to express her interests in public. But with the school's strict moral committee, she wouldn't violate rules, she only dressed up after school.
Of course, Yuina and the others were also gyaru, and he was aware of that. So his focus wasn't on Marin's style but her reason for seeking Iris.
Marin was an otaku. Otaku were full of fantasy about beings like elf princesses, once only seen in isekai novels and manga. Was she coming to him for help because she wanted to fangirl?
He could understand that, but if that was really it, he wasn't planning to help.
Being friends was fine, but once it became a fan-idol relationship, things could get complicated. What if Marin found out about his private relationship with her idol and everything crumbled?
"You read manga too, right, Hikigaya-kun? You must know that lately, demi-human girls like elves, mermaids, and succubi are really popular. I want to create a cosplay of an elf girl from an isekai hero party, but I'm not really familiar with authentic elf fashion, so I wanted to ask a real elf," Marin twirled a strand of golden hair by her ear with her index finger, her face slightly red as she spoke shyly.
"Of course, it'd be great if you could introduce me. If not, it's okay."
She knew her request wasn't entirely proper. Asking a noble elf princess for help just because of cosplay was a bit much.
She'd heard the elf princess was very busy, often absent from class. It was normal if she didn't have time to deal with such a bothersome request.
But Marin thought cosplay should be done perfectly. A good cosplayer shouldn't just imitate but add personal flair. Since there was a chance to ask a real elf, she definitely wanted to try.
"Oh, so that's it... That shouldn't be a problem. I'll mention it to Iris tonight," Hachiman nodded in realization.
It turned out Marin really was a genuine otaku, she was seeking Iris just for cosplay. That fit her personality well.
Cosplay was the ultimate expression of love for a favorite character. Marin saw it that way.
Though he understood, thinking about Marin. A character from a 2D world herself, cosplaying another 2D character, left him feeling a little... weird.
Maybe when they got closer, he could ask her to cosplay some other blonde 2D character?
If he had her cosplay Miura Yumiko and imitate her lines, Yumiko might chase him down in rage.
Marin had a great figure, she could really bring out a character's charm.
But Iris probably wouldn't work. Her petite, cute build didn't match Marin's tall frame.
"Tonight? Isn't it already almost evening? Is the elf princess coming later? Or are you going out, Hikigaya-kun?", Ichiji Nijika and Marin exchanged glances, both catching the implication in Hikigaya's words.
'Hikigaya-kun always calls the elf princess by name...'
'Could it be... their relationship is even closer than we imagine?'
"Hehe, Iris isn't coming to dinner with us today. She's busy settling the elves who just arrived from the other world. Tomorrow, you'll probably see new elf transfer students at Sobu High. One of them is apparently Iris's little sister," Hachiman gently shook his head, sealing away the wild thoughts of sister-swapping and double sister flowers in his mind, and smiled at Marin and the others.
Strictly speaking, Iris was supposed to join them for dinner tonight. She wouldn't miss such a great chance to get close to him, especially now that she had come clean with Kaede and the others and didn't need to hold back anymore.
However, this afternoon in the student council office, Iris told him that the elven royalty had brought people over, so she had to go meet them, settle the elf girls who came along first, and then bring them to meet him.
Mm… the so-called elven royalty referred to Iris's younger sister Lumeria, said to be the youngest and most doted-upon elven princess, over a hundred years old.
It wasn't like there were no elder elf princesses who were in their breeding period, but most of them had things to be busy with. Only the youngest Lumeria had nothing to do in the Elven Forest, so after receiving the news Iris sent back, she voluntarily asked to dedicate her meager strength to the revival of the royal family.
"More elf girls coming to Sobu High?"
"The elven princess's sister… that's also an elven princess, right?"
"Looks like the popularity of the elf theme is going to rise even more…"
Ijichi Nijika, Yuina, Kitagawa Marin and the others all coincidentally let out their respective surprises and sighs.
However, most of them didn't have any special opinions on this matter. After all, Sobu High already had an elven princess, a mermaid idol, and a dragon clan leader. Adding one or two more elf princesses wasn't a big deal.
Only Kitagawa Marin had some subtle feelings about the addition of another elf princess.
Elf-themed manga and novels had always been pretty popular, but it really exploded thanks to the elven princess Iris. Now it was dominating other themes, with only the mermaid genre being able to hold on.
Now with another elf princess coming, even mermaids might not be able to hold out.
Though she also liked elegant and noble characters like the elven princess, if the elf theme became oversaturated, the living space for other themes would be squeezed out. Works with poor performance would have their follow-ups cut by editors, forcing authors to rush to an ending.
Originally she still wanted to release a succubus cosplay… who knows if she'd still get the chance then.
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