Of course, the main issue was still on Hachiman's side.
Minami and Rin were hard to read, but Yuina was definitely a gentle and considerate person. Among the three gyaru girls, Yuina was the center. For Yuina to do such a thing to Hachiman, it was probably because Hachiman himself was too much of a pervert, to the point of treating such things as rewards.
Maybe it was all just Hachiman asking for it himself.
However, before Miura Yumiko could sit down next to Nijika, she noticed that Gabriel, supported by Yuina and the others, appeared beside her and pulled her over to Hachiman, pressing her down into the seat next to him.
"Yumiko-san, you sit here. I'll sit with Vignette in the back later."
Gabriel gently placed both hands on Miura Yumiko's shoulders, her bright violet eyes staring intently at the stunned Miura Yumiko, a warm and radiant angelic smile on her delicate face.
"..."
Miura Yumiko looked at Gabriel's contagious smile beside her and couldn't help but catch her breath. Then she realized even Gabriel misunderstood her.
'What the hell?'
All she wanted was to stop Hachiman from being bullied and take him as her errand boy.
Why did it turn into her liking this guy and wanting to be his girlfriend?
Even Yuina and the others were a little stunned by this scene.
'What's going on?'
Wasn't Gabriel on good terms with little Hiki? She even moved to the apartment next door and frequently came over to cook for him?
We were working so hard to help and were even confronting Nijika, Marin, and Honami. Why did Gabriel herself surrender first?
———
Gabriel wasn't surrendering, of course. She never intended to become Hachiman's girlfriend.
Her "pretending to fall" plan hadn't even officially started yet. The goal was to make Hachiman transfer his feelings and find a girl better suited to him than her.
Originally she was conflicted. Iris was quite good in many aspects, but she was too harsh on Hachiman. Even though his body didn't show signs of collapse, this intensity that even demons couldn't endure was really worrying, he might suddenly break down someday.
Especially now that Iris had roped in Hachiman's childhood friends Kaede and Suzu next door, even their close girlfriends, and now even people from the elf tribe were showing up.
Gabriel thought someone had to step in to restrain them a little.
At this moment, Miura Yumiko happened to catch her attention.
Hachiman was dragged into the bathroom by Miura Yumiko. She and Vignette, in the kitchen, thought Hachiman was about to get squeezed again, but upon closer listening, they realized Miura Yumiko was actually stopping Hachiman.
Although the reason was a bit surprising. Miura Yumiko believed Yuina and the others were bullying Hachiman. As someone who had once joined them, Miura Yumiko felt it couldn't go on like this and decided to stop Hachiman from accepting Yuina and the others' "bullying."
'Hmm... something feels off, but overall, it is a good thing.'
That Hachiman could make a girl who once bullied him repent, and now care for his well-being and oppose the bullying, it was amazing just thinking about it.
Even if Hachiman had fallen, the fallen Hachiman was still saving others.
She had always been thinking of suitable matches around him. Now, this Yumiko who admitted her mistake and was willing to sacrifice herself seemed like the best choice.
Now she'd match Miura Yumiko and Hachiman, let them save and redeem each other. If Miura Yumiko could stop Iris and the others from overworking Hachiman, maybe Gabriel wouldn't have to pretend to fall anymore.
If possible, she still didn't want to deceive Hachiman.
After all, they were good friends now. If she pretended to fall, Hachiman would definitely feel sad.
Gabriel walked over to Minami and the others to sit down but was suddenly pulled back by Komachi and Asougi Shion, just like she had done with Miura Yumiko earlier. They pulled her to the seat across from Miura Yumiko, on Hachiman's other side.
"Gabriel-oneechan, what are you all being modest about? Shion and I cook with Onii-chan every day at home. Now that you're guests, it's your turn to cook with Onii-chan," Komachi tightly held Gabriel's slender hands, and Shion gently pushed her from behind. While pressing Gabriel into the seat, the two smiled.
She finally understood. Even though there were many girls here today, most of them were part of the support group.
The support group was divided into two main factions. One supporting Miura Yumiko and the other supporting Gabriel.
If this were a full-scale battle with over ten people, she would definitely drag Shion into a room and hide, absolutely not getting involved.
But now with only two people, as a social butterfly and everyone's favorite little helper, she could easily handle it.
"Ugh...", Gabriel looked at Komachi and Shion's cute, charming smiles, then at Miura Yumiko across from her, her expression awkward and helpless.
Was this self-inflicted? She just wanted to match Miura Yumiko with Hachiman.
But Komachi and Shion had said all this in front of everyone. It's not like she was asked to be Hachiman's lover, just sit next to him. Could she really refuse? That would be too rude and embarrassing...
"Hmph~", Miura Yumiko, seeing Gabriel, this busybody who tried to tie her and Hachiman together, being misunderstood by Komachi and the others too, suddenly felt a lot better.
Even though her situation hadn't changed, at least she wasn't the only one feeling awkward.
"Vignette-oneechan, do you want to sit with Gabriel-oneechan and Onii-chan? Or with us?", Seeing Gabriel not resisting their arrangement, Komachi and Shion returned happily to the other side of the table and smiled at Vignette, who was still standing frozen in place.
Although Shion noticed Vignette might also have feelings for their brother, unfortunately, the seats there were full. Squeezing in another person would be too difficult no matter what.
But Vignette had a good temper, cheerful and generous. She probably wouldn't mind too much. Plus, she lived next door, unlike Miura Yumiko and the others who lived far away, there'd be plenty of chances in the future, no need to rush today.
"No, no need! I'll sit over here!", Vignette snapped back to her senses and quickly shook her head to reject Komachi's well-meaning offer.
She understood their intent, but for her, that wasn't help, it was torture.
She already felt awkward about Hachiman slacking off in school and running around. Now sitting next to him was even more impossible.
But anyway, since Tenma was an angel trying to save Hachiman, she probably wouldn't mind sitting with him.
After all, they were always together at school. This was nothing new, just a slightly weird atmosphere and some misunderstandings about her relationship with Hachiman.
Vignette, harboring an incredibly selfish and guilty thought, looked apologetically at Gabriel, whose eyes seemed to be pleading for her to come and take her place next to Hachiman, and sat with Komachi and Shion at the far corner of the table.
As a demon, being selfish was supposed to be normal. But Vignette wasn't a normal demon, in fact, she was more angelic than an angel.
If she hadn't seen so many absurd things lately, and felt too awkward to sit next to Hachiman, she probably would've chosen to sacrifice herself and help Gabriel out.
But now...
This meal was pure torture for Vignette. Even though she kept her head down and ate quietly, she could still feel the resentment radiating from Gabriel.
As if blaming her for watching her suffer without helping, or perhaps upset about everyone's misunderstandings, which would make it even harder for her to find someone for Hachiman among the group later.
However, Yuina and the others were unaffected.
Even though Gabriel had "switched sides," she still ended up sitting next to little Hiki. In this situation, they were even more excited, convinced that little Hiki and Gabriel were fated soulmates, no matter how Gabriel denied it, she couldn't resist fate.
Kitagawa Marin and Ichiji Nijika were just supporting their good friend Miura Yumiko. They didn't want to ruin the atmosphere and worked to liven up the table, helping Ichinose Honami and Yuina make up again.
The only ones with poor progress were Hachiman, Miura Yumiko, and naive Gabriel.
Gabriel tried to match Miura Yumiko and Hachiman, steering the conversation to their impressions of each other now and in the past.
But Miura Yumiko wasn't someone to mess with. She didn't want Hachiman to keep getting bullied, but she never intended to become his girlfriend. She counterattacked Gabriel by talking about little anecdotes in class where Gabriel and Hachiman passed notes and got caught by the teacher.
Hmm... the verbal sparring between these two went beyond what their respective support groups had expected.
They both wanted their friends to win, but it turned out both of them wanted the other to win?
Miura Yumiko and Gabriel both had unusually close relationships with Hachiman.
They were his desk neighbors. One could openly drag Hachiman into the bathroom for private time, and the other had moved in next door and "suspiciously" came over to cook for him.
No matter how they analyzed it, they couldn't understand what the two were thinking. Even Yuina, who once roped Yumiko into "bullying games" with Hachiman, was confused by the current situation.
Faced with this bizarre scenario, both support groups could only stare in silence and tacitly stop interfering with Miura Yumiko and Gabriel, all returning to cheerful chatter as good friends.
Otherwise, if they stepped in and helped, and got turned on by their own chosen side, it would be super awkward.
However, the main character caught in this love triangle, Hachiman, wasn't affected at all. He calmly kept eating.
And when he saw that Gabriel and Miura Yumiko were too busy talking and not eating much, he picked up food for each of them and placed it in their bowls.
"Vignette's ginger pork is pretty good, eat more. By the way, Vignette, have you decided what you want for tomorrow's bento?"
"Uh... isn't there a physical test at school tomorrow? Plus, I saw wild eel at a good price today, so I bought a lot. Eating eel rice after the test should help recover from fatigue. But lately, I heard from Tenma that you often skip lunch, should I still make your portion?", Vignette, who had been eating quietly with her head down, didn't expect to get pulled into the conversation again. The moment Hachiman said her name, she felt everyone's gaze land on her, but she couldn't pretend not to hear. She had to look up and respond as calmly as possible.
Wild eel isn't seasonal, but summer is when it's most commonly eaten, and slightly cheaper.
She noticed Hachiman seemed to like eel rice, so she bought some.
Since they usually ate together, sometimes she even made bento for Komachi and Shion too. But in the kitchen, Tenma mentioned that Hachiman had been so busy lately that he didn't even go home to eat with her, so she had been wondering what to do.
After all, she didn't buy the cheap farmed eel, but the more expensive, larger wild ones. They had small bones and chewy meat, Hachiman would probably enjoy it.
"Wild river eel? Then make it. I'll be eating in the classroom tomorrow. Next time you buy stuff like that, get the money from Shion or Komachi. Don't keep paying out of pocket, your allowance isn't always enough. How can you cover food expenses for all of us?"
Hachiman instantly saw through Vignette's intent. She felt she troubled him too much and wanted to make up by buying good ingredients. But he wasn't going to let her get away with that, immediately reminding her she was going too far, and once you eat his food, there's no giving back.
"You and Gabriel are already helping with meals and I'm not even paying you. If this keeps up, I'll have to start giving you a salary."
Gabriel hadn't truly fallen yet, and though she had some issues in interactions, she wasn't a guaranteed win. But Vignette was easier to handle.
As long as he treated Vignette better than she treated him, someone like her, who hated owing favors, wouldn't be able to just leave him.
But just material help wasn't enough. Right now, he had only made Vignette used to his presence.
Once Vignette realized he wasn't just investing materially, but emotionally too, she would never be able to leave him.
"This... okay, fine... Then eat more tomorrow...", Seeing Hachiman's expression that brooked no argument, Vignette wanted to say more, but feeling everyone's heated stares, she could only sigh and nod, dropping the topic.
Hachiman was a really good person. Knowing she came here all alone to study, he took care of her. When Tenma lost her allowance after moving in, he also let her eat at his place.
But he was just... too good...
Such selfless kindness, she didn't know how to repay him.
Whenever she tried to compensate him, he would double it in return. Now she was used to cooking at his place and eating together with everyone happily, but each time she thought about it, she felt embarrassed again.
Maybe the reason so many girls liked Hachiman was because he always gave his all to help those in trouble, without expecting anything back...
Vignette had not yet realized that Hachiman had long known she was a demon and was deliberately treating her well by targeting her weaknesses. She was still thinking that after her three-year training, she would return to the underworld and might not be able to see Hachiman again in the future.
However, now looking at everyone at the dining table who had slowly withdrawn their gazes and pretended nothing had happened, Vignette suddenly thought of a very serious problem.
Among the many girls present, aside from Komachi and Shion, as well as herself, it seemed that including Gabriel, the rest of the girls were all Hachiman's classmates.
If Hachiman were to eat in the classroom in the future, wouldn't he face this kind of scene every day?
Kitagawa Marin, Ijichi Nijika, and Ichinose Honami were supporting Miura Yumiko, while Yuina, Minami, and Rin were supporting Gabriel.
The support teams on both sides chatted noisily while eating delicious lunch, surrounding Hachiman with seven mouths and eight tongues, exerting all their strength, using every possible means to help their good friends gain Hachiman's favor.
Just thinking of that kind of scene, Vignette couldn't help but shake her head in fear.
Fortunately, she wasn't in the same class as Hachiman, otherwise being dragged into that love battlefield vortex and facing that kind of thing every day would be too terrifying.
However, for Hachiman, it should be considered a good thing. If he were entangled by Yuina and the others in the classroom, he wouldn't have to be dragged by Iris and the others to the student guidance room or the student council office to be squeezed dry.
———
Dinner at the Hikigaya house ended in an atmosphere of laughter and joy.
As for whether everyone was truly that happy inside, only they themselves knew.
Komachi and Shion, while cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, looked at Hachiman who was once again surrounded on the sofa by Yuina and the others, and secretly admired him.
They didn't know whether it was their brother's dead-fish nature of not wanting to fight back exploding, or if he had the confidence to handle multiple relationships, but he looked completely unaffected by the love battlefield atmosphere, always doing as he pleased and staying very calm.
However, although in many people's eyes Hachiman seemed like a playboy, and they thought his involvement with multiple girls was very outrageous, on reality, the number of times he took initiative was very few. He was almost only a bit more proactive with Kaede, that prideful childhood friend, joining forces with Suzu, that little traitor, to mercilessly torment Kaede.
As for girls like Gabriel and Miura Yumiko, he did not actively pursue them. No matter how others saw it, he didn't have to worry about it.
"Hikigaya-kun, when are you going to see the elf princess?"
While everyone was resting in the living room and sipping some digestion-aiding tea, Kitagawa Marin brought up the old topic again, hoping to greet the elf princess before leaving.
[T/N: 'Classroom of the Elite' cast entering in 20 Chapters. Stay tuned and leave a review for the effort I put in everyday.]
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