Chapter 27: Oh no, got ganked.
"Can I still come to you guys for feedback?"
As he was leaving, Zaimokuza hesitated and turned back.
"Are you a masochist?"
Yuigahama Yui wondered if he had some special hobby.
"After being criticized like that, you still have the courage to come back."
Hikigaya Hachiman admired his courage.
This time, Zaimokuza didn't say anything dramatic. He shyly rubbed his nose and said,
"Although I did get a lot of negative feedback, how should I put it..."
The aspiring light novel writer chuckled,
"It's nice to have something I wrote out of interest read by others and to hear their thoughts."
Hearing this, Hikigaya Hachiman, who was also often left without a partner in gym class, couldn't help but smile faintly,
"I understand. I'll read it again."
"Much appreciated."
He turned around with relief, leaving the three with a broad back. There was no wind in the hallway, so he tugged at the hem of his coat to make it flutter,
"Well then, goodbye for now. I'll bring my new work once it's finished!"
Zaimokuza Yoshiteru left, thinking he looked cool, and Yukinoshita Yukino and the other two prepared to go home.
The three of them arrived at the school gate and were about to go their separate ways when they encountered a troublesome person.
"Yuki-chan, your big sister is here to pick you up from school. Are you touched?"
Yukinoshita Haruno crossed her arms and leaned against the black luxury car, smiling. The familiar car logo caught Hikigaya Hachiman's attention.
"Sister..."
Yukinoshita Yukino was very surprised to see Haruno. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes showed unease and guilt.
"What are you doing here?"
"I told you, I'm here to pick you up from school. Why are you acting so dumb, Yuki-chan?"
Haruno lowered her arms and walked up to Yukino, reaching out to poke her forehead. Yukino instinctively stepped back, avoiding her.
Haruno didn't mind and casually withdrew her hand. She then turned to Hikigaya Hachiman, who was pushing his bike, and greeted him with a smile,
"Hello, Hikigaya-kun. We meet again."
"You got your bike back, huh?"
This simple greeting made all three of them change their expressions.
[Oh no.]
When Hayashizaki took the two of them and ran away the day before yesterday, they didn't think much about it and left Hikigaya Hachiman's bike behind. Hikigaya had gone back to get it after school yesterday. When he saw the bike was still there, he sighed with relief,
"It's great it wasn't stolen."
Unexpectedly, this carelessness caught Yukinoshita Haruno's attention.
[Don't panic. Even if your sister knows something's up, she won't think you were the one who messed up the office building. Keep your face relaxed, don't let her see anything suspicious.]
[It was totally your fault!]
[Just admit it was 'Yukinoshita Yukino' who did it!]
After arguing with Hayashizaki in his mind for a bit, Yukinoshita Yukino managed to calm down and kept her expression neutral, not letting Haruno notice anything.
Hikigaya Hachiman was also good at playing dumb. Although Yukinoshita Haruno subtly pointed out the bike issue, he only panicked for a moment before quickly adjusting his expression. He scratched his head and tried to act cute like Komachi.
"Oh, I left my bike there, and it wasn't stolen. What a relief, eh-heh~☆!"
This fake cute expression, combined with his always gloomy dead fish eyes, was quite effective. Even Yukinoshita Haruno found it hard to handle. Although she kept her perfect smile, she was starting to crack and had to look away.
Meanwhile, a orange-haired girl with a bun, who had been ignored by everyone, watched Yukinoshita and Hikigaya chatting with the pretty lady and felt a bit angry, like a hamster with its cheeks stuffed with food.
Of course, it was mainly because of Hikigaya.
"Um..."
She spoke weakly,
"Do you all know each other?"
"Oh, sorry, sorry."
Yukinoshita Haruno stared at Yuigahama for a moment, then quickly smiled and greeted her,
"I'm Yuki-chan's sister, Yukinoshita Haruno. And you are?"
"I... I'm Yuigahama Yui, Yukinon's friend!"
Although Haruno was smiling, her gaze was very intimidating, making Yuigahama raise her voice to boost her confidence.
"Oh~ is that so."
Haruno dragged out her words, making it hard to tell what she was thinking,
"Thank you for being friends with Yuki-chan. I hope you can keep it up."
"Keep it up? What do you mean..."
Yuigahama was puzzled and a bit annoyed by her strange words, but before she could say more, Haruno interrupted her.
"Get in the car, Yuki-chan. Let the driver take us home."
Yukinoshita Haruno said to her sister Yukino.
"Home?"
Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes flickered. Was she being taken back to the family home?
"Don't be so nervous, we're going to your apartment."
Haruno smiled and pinched her cheek. This time, Yukino didn't dodge,
"I'll stay at your place tonight. You don't mind, right?"
[What should I do? Now I can't go look for the special grade curse spirit.]
Yukinoshita Yukino asked in her mind.
[Just go home, I'm not in a hurry.]
Hayashizaki didn't care.
I'm in a hurry! It's not your body being taken over!
[Even if you're in a hurry, it won't help. Just go home with your sister, kid.]
Hayashizaki said cheerfully, as if he read her mind.
Yukinoshita Yukino brushed off the mischievous hand on her face and sighed,
"…Do as you like."
She turned to Hikigaya and Yuigahama to say goodbye,
"That's it for today. See you."
"See you."
Hikigaya Hachiman quickly turned and left with his bike. He didn't want to stay any longer; Yukinoshita's sister was too scary.
"Ah, um, see you tomorrow, Yukinon!"
Yuigahama Yui wanted to say more, but her eyes kept shifting between Yukinoshita Yukino and the departing Hikigaya Hachiman. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to chase after him,
"Hikki! Wait for me!"
Hikki seems to know that woman well!
A faint sense of crisis arose in the bun-haired girl's heart.
"Hey, Hikki, do you know Miss Haruno?"
Yuigahama Yui jogged to Hikigaya Hachiman's side, pretending to be curious but actually probing.
"We ran into each other on the road before."
Hikigaya said casually.
Ran into Yukinoshita's sister on the road... So Hikki was walking with Yuki-chan!?
Unaware of the storm in Yuigahama's mind, he hesitated for a moment and continued uncertainly,
"But I think we met before that."
"Huh?"
"That car... When I had an accident at the start of school and was in the hospital for two days, the car Yukinoshita and her family were in seemed to be the same one that hit me."
"Ah..."
Yuigahama Yui was stunned, her eyes widening slightly.
Noticing the girl beside him seemed to want to say something but didn't, Hikigaya Hachiman asked,
"What's wrong?"
"No... nothing! Ahaha..."
The bun-haired girl laughed awkwardly and shook her head.
...
...
...........................................................................
—————— ----
You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu