Ichiji Nijika's heart jumped. She hurriedly waved her hand and slowly moved to the other side of Hachiman, carefully putting a bit of distance before sitting down.
After sitting down awkwardly, Ichiji Nijika stared fixedly at the four girls on the opposite sofa.
Kitagawa Marin, Yuina, Rin, and Minami, who earlier had encouraged her to go to the bathroom and gather information, were now acting as if they'd lost their memories. They completely ignored her awkward situation and even actively swapped her seat, forcing her to sit over here alone to endure Miura Yumiko's jealous aura.
'Forget about Yuina and the others, but Marin, even you're like this?'
'Are we still good friends or not?'
'We're done! I'm totally done with you!'
"Sorry, sorry…"
Seeing Ichiji Nijika using her eyes to accuse her, Kitagawa Marin, stuck between Yuina and Minami with no way to move, could only silently mouth an apology from a distance.
It's not like she intended to set Nijika up. The main issue was that she'd been dragged over by Yuina and the others.
Even though she thought Yuina's reasoning made some sense: she herself was a bit carefree, and sitting so close together on the sofa, if she accidentally touched Hikigaya-kun again, it would easily upset Yumiko.
She didn't even remember exactly how she might have accidentally touched Hikigaya and made Yumiko jealous, but Nijika was indeed smaller in build than her. Even if she sat right next to Hikigaya, it shouldn't make Yumiko jealous.
"???"
Ichiji Nijika looked at Kitagawa Marin on the other side, who was both staring at her chest and apologizing, then glanced at Yuina and the others sitting beside Marin, all with impressive chests, indistinguishable in size. Her fists clenched again.
'What's the meaning of this?'
'This is just bullying!'
Yuina, the main culprit who dealt a critical hit to Ichiji Nijika, almost bordering on bullying, was also winking at Hachiman at this moment, silently giggling.
She, Minami, and Rin had dragged Marin over to leave the seat next to Hikigaya for Nijika, and yes, it was a deliberate move targeting Nijika.
However, they weren't discriminating against Nijika's figure. Rather, they thought Nijika was very nice.
Hikigaya liked Gabriel, and Nijika, in terms of figure, hair color, hairstyle, and personality, was very similar to her. Plus, Yumiko had once "bullied" Hikigaya together with them, and now seemed to care a lot about him. With both sitting next to Hikigaya, they believed Gabriel would definitely feel a sense of crisis.
In comparison, Kitagawa Marin's figure and personality were also great, but she was just an otaku and hadn't even thought about romance. It was better to bring her over here to prevent her from interfering with Hikigaya's love developments.
"Onii-chan, big sisters, dinner's almost ready, you can wash your hands and get ready to eat. Eh? Why is everyone so quiet?"
At this moment, Komachi, who had been helping in the kitchen, bounced out, but as she reached the living room, she immediately sensed something off about the atmosphere.
"Oh, they're practicing sign language," Hachiman glanced at Miura Yumiko beside him, who was silently cursing him for being ungrateful, and smiled.
"Sign language? But none of you are deaf or mute. Shouldn't it be spoken language?", Komachi blinked and looked around at the girls who had changed seats at some point.
Now it was Nijika and Yumiko sitting next to her brother, while Marin and Yuina, who were beside him earlier, had all moved to the other sofa.
Does her brother have that much charm? Even seat time has to be rotated?
———
As the world's best little sister of Hachiman...
Hikigaya Komachi believed her ability to accept things was already very strong. Even if her brother had relationships with multiple girls, she could calmly accept it, even take the initiative to welcome Shion into their home to build a secure harem base for her brother.
But with more and more big sisters around her brother, Komachi had to admit, she was starting to feel overwhelmed.
Just in the time it took to prepare a dish, the seat next to her brother had to be rotated. Then at night... that, that, that...
"Everyone, hurry up and wash your hands to eat. Whoever washes first gets to pick their seat~"
One gets influenced by the company they keep. With her thinking increasingly corrupted by Hachiman and the girls around him, Komachi tried hard to clear her thoughts, took a deep breath, avoided everyone's awkward faces, forced a smile, said a line, and hurried back to the kitchen to serve food.
Though there were many people in the living room and everyone's personalities weren't bad. No one would make a big scene over jealousy, she still chose to retreat. She had originally thought to use this harem war to boost her presence, but thinking more carefully, forget it.
Her social skills were indeed good, but handling this many people at once in a battlefield of love... Let her brother handle it first. If it really doesn't work, she'll jump in.
"Then let's wash up and eat first. We can play a bit after dinner. By the way, do any of you live far away? If so, I'll walk you home after dinner."
Seeing Komachi fleeing, Hachiman immediately understood what she misunderstood. But he didn't mind and stood up, smiling at the group still sitting on the sofa.
Although he had the reminder from the romance list and could rush over if anything happened, prevention was always better. Since they came to his home as guests, it was his responsibility to ensure they returned safely, so no bad incident would ruin the good mood.
"My place is on the way to where Marin and I rent, so it's easy by train. But Nijika lives a bit farther. If you're going to escort someone, send Nijika."
Seeing Hachiman, despite how he often made her angry or foolishly accepted bullying, still knew to care and offer to walk them home, Miura Yumiko's tense expression softened. She stood up and pouted at Hachiman.
She didn't care whether she was sent home or not, but Nijika was petite and had thin arms, very easy to get bullied if anything happened.
Originally, they had planned to send Nijika home together if it got late. Since Hachiman offered, let him do it.
"Yeah, we can go home on our own. Hikigaya-kun, you just take Nijika home."
Kitagawa Marin glanced at Miura Yumiko and saw that she wasn't jealous. Grinning, she nodded in agreement.
She didn't mind detouring with Yumiko to send Nijika, but if Nijika could get along better with Hikigaya-kun, then she and Nijika could assist Yumiko better.
Yumiko was actually a good person, just looked a bit fierce.
Recently, she'd also noticed changes in Hikigaya. Though he skipped class a bit more, in other areas, he was improving. If Yumiko and Hikigaya developed nicely, she'd be happy to see it.
The only bad thing was that Yumiko had only secretly paid attention to Hikigaya lately, while he and Gabriel got along super well in class, even better than with Yuina and the others.
But it's okay. If Yumiko really liked Hikigaya, she and Nijika would fully support her.
"Huh? No need, right? There are so many of us. It's too much trouble for Hikigaya-kun to escort us one by one."
Seeing Yumiko and Marin already neatly arranging things for her, Ichiji Nijika quickly waved her hands and shook her head in embarrassment.
Even though Marin and Yumiko could go back together, and Vignette and Gabriel lived next door so didn't need escorting, Honami's house wasn't close. Not everyone lived nearby.
Even if he only sent two or three people, it would still be late.
So many of them had already come to Hikigaya's home today, and now she had to trouble him to take her home? That'd be too much.
It was just going home at night. It wasn't like she'd never gone home alone before. And it wasn't that late yet, definitely no problem.
"Since your house is far, just let little Hiki escort you. Don't worry, we're staying at Yuina's place today, so we don't need Hiki to send us."
Minami walked over smiling and patted Ichiji Nijika on the shoulder, then winked at Rin and Yuina.
"Yeah, yeah. That way he only has to escort you and Honami. Won't take much time."
Rin and Yuina nodded continuously. They didn't need little Hiki to send them, why would they need him to walk them home?
They had already helped him so much today; they hadn't even collected their "bonus" from him yet.
But Gabriel and Vignette had rented rooms next to Shion's place. If they kept staying there, it'd be awkward if someone found out. Looks like they'd need to rent a night room outside tonight...
"Then it's only Honami and Nijika who live far, right?"
Hachiman thought for a moment. If it was just two people, it would be simple. And he had things to discuss with both Nijika and Honami anyway.
Like persuading Ichinose Honami to switch sides, or introducing Bocchi-chan and such.
"What? Why are you all talking about me again?"
Ichinose Honami, who had earlier sensed trouble and fled to the kitchen, walked out with Komachi and Vignette carrying food. Hearing Hikigaya and the others mentioning her name, she asked curiously.
"Because our home is a bit far, after dinner Hikigaya-kun will send both of us home. You won't refuse, right, Honami?"
Ichiji Nijika quickly pulled Ichinose Honami over after she set down the food, pressed both hands on her shoulders, and looked at her seriously.
Since everything was already arranged and she couldn't refuse Hikigaya, she couldn't let Honami refuse either. Otherwise, if she was the only one escorted home by Hikigaya, wouldn't that be too special?
Yumiko might not think much about it now for safety's sake, but if she misunderstood later like with Marin and Yuina, that'd be unfair. She had to drag someone along to be a witness.
And that witness, was naturally Ichinose Honami, the bad girl who ditched her to run to the kitchen while she was in the bathroom.
As for Marin who also abandoned her... she'd find a chance to get even next time.
"Getting escorted home is no big deal. Why are you so worked up, Nijika?"
Ichinose Honami looked at Ichiji Nijika, who was staring nervously and expectantly, in confusion and nodded.
Just being sent home, why was she so nervous? Could Hikigaya possibly do anything to them?
She had been half-pushed by Yuina and the others to come visit Hikigaya's house, wasn't it to build a better relationship with him? Now she had the chance to chat while being walked home, a good opportunity to understand the Elf Princess stuff.
As for Ayano's progress, she still didn't know whether it was going smoothly or not, but whether it was or wasn't, her uncle Ichinose had spent a lot to get her here to help. As long as she didn't do bad things, she had to do her best.
"No worries, no worries. As long as you agree, we're good. Let's wash our hands, we can play a bit more after dinner."
Ichiji Nijika saw that Ichinose Honami agreed without suspicion and let out a breath of relief. While kneading her shoulders, she smiled and pushed her to go wash up.
"???"
Ichinose Honami saw Ichiji Nijika's smile and suddenly had a bad feeling.
It seemed like she was being set up by Ichiji Nijika, but she couldn't see how. Nijika was being escorted too, surely they weren't teaming up to trick her?
She hadn't been here long and hadn't made any enemies.
The only slightly bad thing was yesterday in swimming class when she, Yuina, Minami, and Rin cornered the innocent Gabriel and made her go test things out with Hikigaya herself.
But that was Gabriel's issue. Nijika shouldn't be setting her up like this.
Even if Yumiko had some unspoken thing with Hikigaya, even with a grudge Nijika shouldn't drag her into it this way.
Even after washing up, Ichinose Honami still couldn't figure it out.
But just as she gave up thinking and was about to eat, she noticed something strange about the mood in the kitchen again.
Kitagawa Marin and Yuina's group had sat down, but none of them sat next to Hachiman. Marin was facing off across the table from Yuina's group.
No talking, no smiles, both sides just glared, with all the previous harmony completely gone.
"Don't rush, Honami. Look at who's going to sit beside Hikigaya-kun," Ichiji Nijika saw Honami in a daze, so she pulled her to sit next to Kitagawa Marin and whispered in her ear.
Ichinose Honami, reminded by Nijika, looked over and saw Hikigaya, now seated at the head of the table, with empty seats on both sides. Realization dawned.
Yuina's trio obviously stood with Gabriel. They'd always tried to matchmake Gabriel and Hikigaya.
And Kitagawa Marin clearly wouldn't let down her good friend Yumiko. Even knowing Hikigaya had recently grown close to transfer student Gabriel, they'd still support Yumiko.
Now there were two empty seats on either side of Hikigaya, but he still had a younger sister. If both sides fought to sit beside him, where would Komachi sit?
Scary... she never expected even a simple seat arrangement could turn into a faction standoff.
Although she had once yearned for romantic love, right now she still wanted to prioritize her studies. When her family situation improved in the future, it wouldn't be too late to think about her own matters.
Just as Ichinose Honami was feeling a bit relieved in her heart, she suddenly realized that Rin and Minami on the opposite side were glaring at her with eyes that looked at a traitor, full of resentment.
"Nijika-san…", Ichinose Honami stiffly turned her head to look at Ijichi Nijika beside her, who had pulled her over to sit on this side.
She never expected that just after she had a bad premonition, this cute-looking, gentle and generous Nijika would pit her like this.
She had trusted Nijika-san so much.
"Hehe~ Don't worry, I just had you sit over here, it's not like seats represent anything."
Ijichi Nijika blinked at Ichinose Honami and showed a cute smile.
There were three people on Yuina's side, and three people on their side too.
'Three versus three, this way it's fair, right~'
"..."
Ichinose Honami was practically on the verge of tears. It was just having a meal, was this really necessary?
"It's not like there's anything between me and that guy, what are you all worrying about!", Miura Yumiko came out after washing her hands and saw the subtle atmosphere between Kitagawa Marin and Ijichi Nijika's group and Yuina's group. Naturally, she also understood why they were acting this way. She immediately gave another fierce glare at Hachiman, who was sitting at the main seat with complete indifference, and prepared to sit next to Nijika, far away from Hachiman.
She had long known that Nijika and the others had misunderstood her relationship with Hachiman, and of course she understood that they were acting like this for her sake.
But she couldn't bring up that bullying matter at this moment either.
Her relationship with Minami and Rin wasn't good, but with Yuina, it was still decent. Since she herself had gotten involved in that situation, it wouldn't be good to fall out openly.
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