Beside Rurikawa Tsubaki, Yukinoshita Haruno was also shocked for a moment by Tohsaka Sakura's act of tormenting her own older sister, and couldn't help gulping. However, her gaze fell more on Tohsaka Touka and Hachiman.
This wasn't her first time seeing Hachiman, but before this it had always been on a big screen, drinking tea and chatting with the others while syncing sensations.
This was the first time she'd observed him up close. She really had to hand it to him, no wonder he was the club president liked by the elf princess, dragon clan chief, mermaid diva, and all the others.
Tonight's serving game had been going on for so long, yet he didn't seem tired at all. In fact, he looked even more energetic. He was practically inhuman.
But she'd already mentally prepared herself for how strong President Hachiman was. What truly startled her tonight was Sakura, who had always kept to herself.
Touka had been working so hard to protect them all, yet now Sakura hadn't only willingly sacrificed herself to President Hachiman, she'd even lured Rin to join in with her.
'Touka, Rin, Sakura... the three Tohsaka sisters...'
Thinking about those close sisters uniting as one, Yukinoshita Haruno's feelings grew a bit complicated.
She wondered if Touka would regret failing to stop Sakura afterward, regret letting Rin and the others get drawn into the Service Club.
But what could be foreseen was that with all three sisters formally joining the Service Club together, the Tohsaka family would no longer be as invisible as before.
Even though the Tohsaka family's numbers and strength still weren't enough, their influence too weak after their decline, and the Tohsaka family would need to ally with the Ichinose family to see real change. Even so, this level already far surpassed their own Yukinoshita family.
Although the Yukinoshita family also had three people who'd joined the Service Club, their mother didn't get involved in their affairs, she was only responsible for contacting allies.
Yukino only ever did club activities in the Service Club at school.
She was still the only one in the Service Club actually putting in effort.
Though, like Touka, she herself didn't want her younger sister Yukino getting involved either.
Maybe, aside from needing to be a bit more proactive herself later on, she'd have to use some other methods in the future. Even if her mother's side gained new allies, if she herself, as vice president, wasn't worthy of the title, those allies naturally wouldn't rally to her.
A mature idol agency was out of the question. Even if some stragglers remained, she couldn't compete with the Rurikawa family and the mermaid princess Meroune, who'd already laid their groundwork well in advance.
But who said they had to look for mature idols? Good looks come first, personality second, excessive talent isn't necessary.
Underground idols were a mixed bag and might be hard to pick from, but school idols systematically trained in idol training schools weren't as much of a concern.
"Big sister... Big sister Touka... what are you... doing here?"
Just as Yukinoshita Haruno was deep in thought about the Yukinoshita family's future, a voice suddenly came from behind her that snapped her back to reality.
A voice that shouldn't have been here.
'Y-Yukino?'
Why would Yukino suddenly show up at the Service Club this late at night? Wasn't she supposed to be at home with Mother?
Hearing that familiar voice behind her, Yukinoshita Haruno's body stiffened. She instinctively wanted to turn around, yet hesitated, afraid to look at her younger sister.
Logically, by the time she joined the Service Club, Yukino had already been vice president of the Service Club for quite a while. She'd spent so much time with Hikigaya-kun that Haruno shouldn't have to worry about much. In fact, Yukino should be the senpai guiding her.
But over this time, she'd also noticed one particularly outrageous problem.
Her younger sister, Yukinoshita Yukino, held a very special position in the Service Club.
To be precise, it wasn't about position, it was about role.
Not only had Yukino not participated in the club's after-school serving activities, she didn't even seem to fully understand how wildly the other members and the president played together, aside from Yukino herself.
Both in the Service Club and the Service Club, this special treatment seemed to belong to Yukino alone.
On the surface, it looked like all the members, led by Hikigaya-kun, were ganging up to bully Yukino in isolation.
But in truth, of course, that wasn't the case. From what she knew, Hikigaya-kun as president had never shown any dislike for Yukino, nor was he excluding her, it was simply that he didn't take the initiative, and didn't like forcing things.
Add to that Yukino's own personality, she could never take the initiative either, and after Hachiman stopped coming to the Service Club, she still stayed there alone. That was what led to the current situation where everyone except Yukino participated in the serving games, forming this isolated bullying.
Well... it was certain that Hikigaya-kun hadn't isolated Yukino, but the others probably had, more or less.
After all, if everyone else was forming their own little groups, why would they deliberately leave Yukino out of being dragged in?
Yukinoshita Haruno instinctively ignored the fact that there was one other person in the Service Club, Yuigahama Yui, who, like her sister Yukino, remained behind at the Service Club.
In her view, unless an ordinary student had a prior relationship or bond with Hikigaya-kun, they'd quickly be surpassed by the Yukinoshita family. Besides, Yuigahama Yui didn't even seem to know about the Service Club.
"Sister..."
Yukinoshita Haruno was still agonizing over why Yukinoshita Yukino had shown up here, but Yukino's light footsteps had already slowly come to a stop behind her. She couldn't pretend not to hear anymore, so she turned around.
"Yukino, why are you here tonight... You already know?"
Haruno was a bit torn over whether to truly integrate Yukino into the Service Club.
True, it was a bit hard for just her in the Yukinoshita family to keep struggling alone, having her sister along wouldn't make things much better. But on the other hand, becoming a magical girl and gaining decent strength was pretty good too. Only by becoming a magical girl could one gain enough ability to protect herself, without worrying about getting caught up in some random incident.
But the price might be something Yukino wouldn't easily accept.
However, all her hesitation and conflict disappeared the moment she turned around and saw the maid, Shion, standing beside Yukino, and the golden bell collar in Yukino's hand.
If she'd gotten that bell collar from the maid Shion, it meant Yukino most likely already knew exactly what kind of game they were playing tonight.
"Lady Rurikawa, President Kaede isn't here right now. We can make our move. Then both the Service Club and the Service Club will have our people, president Kaede will have to watch our expressions too."
Shion, who had guided Yukino there and given her an explanation along the way, noticed that Haruno had immediately spotted the crucial point. Smiling, she returned to Rurikawa Tsubaki's side, leaned close to her ear, and whispered her encouragement.
She was worried sick for her lady.
Forming the Rurikawa Maid Corps, recruiting personal exclusive maids, acquiring idol agencies, rallying allies, sharing a bed, most of the things her lady should be doing herself, she'd ended up doing instead. The only thing her lady had done more of than her was sleeping alongside Hikigaya-sama.
President Kaede truly was her lady's dear friend, but her lady hadn't treated President Kaede badly either. Now not only was the Rurikawa family contributing more, but her lady herself was under immense pressure. How could she let herself be pinned under President Kaede forever?
On the other world's demihuman races and the demihuman alliance side, the elf princess Iris had control, they couldn't get a hand in there. But what about the human side?
In terms of how long they'd known each other, Lady Rurikawa had met Hikigaya-sama before he rose to prominence, and had even been his class representative, she just hadn't shown it. In terms of intimacy, Lady Rurikawa, who stayed by Hikigaya-sama's side day and night, was no weaker than anyone else. The Rurikawa family could absolutely leverage their first-mover advantage to lead all the other families and conglomerates.
With so many conglomerates, families, and demihuman factions flooding into the club now, her lady could no longer be satisfied with just being Hikigaya-sama's moneybag and bedwarmer.
"Shion, don't talk nonsense! Let's just watch for now. We'll discuss the rest after Kaede and the others come back!"
Rurikawa Tsubaki saw Shion discussing such matters openly, as if trying to strong-arm others into joining in, and quickly covered Shion's mouth that seemed to be muttering quietly.
She really had no ambition to climb up. Sometimes getting bullied by Kaede was fine, no matter how smug Kaede got, Hachiman would bully her right back.
If possible, she still preferred being on the bottom. She wasn't like Kaede, who was too stubborn to show an embarrassed expression facing Hachiman.
Being face-to-face with Hachiman was nice, when he kissed her, she could clearly see his face up close.
Although Shion kept wanting her to take the initiative in dealing with Kaede, so much so that she sometimes felt guilty facing Kaede, afraid Kaede or the others might misunderstand Shion's attempts to help her rise.
As for telling Kaede about Shion's actions or punishing Shion harshly, she'd never considered that.
Shion's relationship with her was like her relationship with Kaede, they weren't sisters but were better than sisters. Even when the Rurikawa family had fallen into extreme poverty, Shion hadn't chosen to leave. Now, she was scheming for her lady's own good. It was really hard for her to scold Shion for her "well-intentioned suggestions."
At most, if she wasn't completely exhausted, she'd have Shion come take her place a few extra times, that was Hachiman's way of punishing Shion for her.
"Ah..."
Seeing her lady's unambitious attitude, Shion sighed helplessly and dropped the subject.
Her lady was just too soft-hearted. She looked very stubborn but latched onto her principles. Back then, she'd almost sacrificed herself for the Rurikawa family, a family with only a name.
But maybe that was exactly why, when her lady ended up in Hikigaya-sama's lap by accident, clearly betraying her dear friend, she'd been so easily accepted by President Kaede.
Oh well. Since her lady wasn't ambitious, she'd just work hard herself.
Her lady had given her authority to manage the Rurikawa family, she'd use that influence to find even more beautiful girls to pair up with her lady.
This second daughter of the Yukinoshita family right here wasn't bad at all.
The Yukinoshita, Tohsaka, Ichinose families, together with the Rurikawa family, they could form a grand family alliance.
Shion looked at the girl whose elegant and sharp temperament matched Rurikawa Tsubaki's, who was also a long-haired black beauty, Yukinoshita Yukino, a type Hikigaya-sama liked very much, and silently resolved to make sure her lady sat the steadiest and ate the fullest in Hikigaya-sama's lap.
"I've always stayed in the Service Club and rarely come to the Service Club. But it's not like I know nothing about their relationship with President Hikigaya. I just never expected that even you, sister, and you, Touka-san..."
Yukinoshita Yukino had no idea that Shion was even targeting her in her plan to keep her lady firmly in the "career advancement seat."
Her expression complex, she looked at her sister Haruno standing together with Rurikawa Tsubaki and the others, and then at the three Tohsaka sisters lying on the dining table or crouched beneath it behind them. She bit her lip hard and spoke slowly, her voice strained.
Along the way, she'd heard plenty from Shion's explanations. She now understood the situation in the Service Club that she hadn't known before.
In simple terms, the Service Club wasn't really different from the Service Club. The main change was shifting from serving students to serving members of society.
Additionally, late at night, the Service Club occasionally held Late-Night Serving Games and Magical Girl Talent Awakening & Development Games. Any member could join these activities.
From start to finish, Hachiman hadn't deliberately avoided her. It was just that after finishing his daily aiding duties and returning to the club, it was usually late at night.
If he came back earlier, she could easily see everyone acting strangely, because at this hour, their clothes and appearance were completely different from daily wear.
Yes, that's right. Aside from a few people wearing magical girl outfits, everyone else was basically wearing white lace camisoles, black thigh-highs, bunny girl fishnets, golden bell collars, and the like. Hardly anyone wore normal clothes.
"Yukino... I haven't become a magical girl like Touka yet, though I'm already prepared. I was planning to take part in the magical girl development ceremony tonight."
Yukinoshita Haruno saw Yukino's gaze lingering on her, or perhaps pondering something, and instinctively looked down. For the first time in her life, she felt so awkward, so at a loss.
In the past, she always teased and messed with Yukino. But at a time like this, how could she tease her now?
Was she supposed to invite Yukino to join Touka, Rin, and Sakura in serving Hikigaya-kun together?
That would be the best option, but she could never bring herself to decide.
"No need to explain, sister. I understand your situation. Right now, I just want to know why Sakura and Rin are here too. How could Touka-san have dragged Sakura and Rin into this."
Seeing her sister seemingly accepting reality and sacrificing herself for the family, Yukinoshita Yukino took a few deep breaths, trying to suppress the strange feelings rising inside her. She looked toward Hachiman, who seemed not to have noticed her arrival as he enjoyed being served by the three Tohsaka sisters, Touka, Rin, and Sakura.
She'd sensed something off as early as when Yuina and the other two gyarus took on the "handsome guy training" request. And when Hayase Saki and Sakurase Shino's relationships changed and they started grouping together, it was impossible not to notice.
But she couldn't stop it, so she hadn't looked deeper into their relationships.
When her sister Haruno later joined the Service Club as vice president, she'd been worried about that too. But Haruno had done it for the family's sake, and she couldn't stop that either.
Until tonight, when she saw that Mother and her sister had both gotten a bunch of special bracelets, same design as Hayase Saki and the others', but different colors, she finally felt an urgent pressure, so she'd come to the Service Club in the middle of the night to check the situation.
But she'd thought she was mentally prepared. Yet when she actually saw with her own eyes Touka, who had always been so kind to her, clinging tightly to Hachiman; lively, cute Tohsaka Rin completely silent; quiet Sakura kneeling on the floor, she found that instead of anger or rage, she felt mostly confusion.
How could this be?
She didn't believe Hachiman would force Touka-san and the others.
After all, compared to Sakura and Rin, even if her figure wasn't much better than theirs, she was unquestionably cuter. If Hachiman were to persuade anyone, it should be her.
After he persuaded her, the whole Service Club would belong to him, then he could do whatever he wanted in the Service Club anytime.
But if the possibility of persuasion was ruled out, what else was left?
She liked even less the idea that Touka had willingly offered Rin and Sakura to Hachiman.
"...", Yukinoshita Haruno pressed her lips together and silently returned Yukino's intense stare.
It was true, Touka would never betray Rin and Sakura.
Earlier, she'd said that Touka and Yukino were more like sisters. Maybe their body types were different, but their temperament and personality were very similar, like elegant, noble snow lotuses, warm on the inside despite a cool exterior.
When it came to family, they were fragile and weak, yet for family, they'd give everything.
You could say both Yukino and Touka were girls who were both weak and strong, preferring to sacrifice themselves rather than their family.
But could she tell Yukino that it wasn't actually Touka's doing, but Sakura's?
Not only had Sakura tied up Rin herself, waiting for Hachiman to enjoy, but she'd also used her position as the younger sister to leave Touka with no counter, she'd simply surrendered, accepting the outcome of all three sisters serving Hachiman together, protecting the Tohsaka family together.
That sounded even more absurd, didn't it?
Of course, the real issue wasn't telling Yukino who the culprit was, it was getting Yukino to accept the fact that everyone had given themselves to Hachiman.
Because she and Mother had protected Yukino quite well, Yukino's world, though not without its difficulties, was still relatively innocent. She didn't really understand the darkness of high society.
Compared to those horrifying, nauseating evils, Hikigaya-kun just liked a few more girls and had a bit more stamina. He'd always aided girls and never forced anyone, he waited for them to make the first move.
Even if she had to serve Hachiman together with Rin and Sakura, all three sisters, Touka would still be very happy.
If her younger sister weren't as difficult as Yukino, where rushing things might cause Yukino to dwell on them and do something unwise, she might even have proactively urged Yukino to accept Hachiman alongside her. The two of them together would still be better than Yukino living out her days alone.
Families as powerful as the Shinomiya, the Shiba, the Yotsuba, and many demihuman families all trusted Hachiman's character and ability, continuously sending suitable beautiful girls from their families to curry favor with him. Even both Yukinoshita sisters combined wouldn't be enough, they'd need allies.
But before Yukinoshita Haruno could gather her thoughts and explain the situation to Yukino, letting Yukino decide for herself whether to join forces as sisters.
Sakura, who'd been kneeling on the floor helping Hachiman tease her own two sisters, licked her lips, suddenly crawled out from under the table, approached Yukinoshita Yukino, wrapped her arms around her thighs, and looked up pitifully.
"Yukino-nee... Touka-nee is almost at her limit..."
"Could you take my sister's place and let her rest a little?"
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