Anyway, Soubu itself already had strict discipline, and with the large number of transfer students who had recently joined all coming for him, they wouldn't deliberately cause trouble, so he might as well mix them in and find them something to do.
"Yes, President."
Yukinoshita Haruno watched her best friend Tohsaka Touka tuck her hair behind her ear, feeding Hachiman bite by small bite with a blush on her face, while she herself waited for the chance to wipe the corner of Hachiman's mouth, and gave a light nod. But in her heart, she still decided she really couldn't act on her own authority.
At the very least, she needed to find an opportunity to bring her allies to see Hachiman and see which ones he preferred.
She couldn't help but be cautious about this. As Soubu and the Service Club allowed more newcomers in, their competitive infighting had gradually spread to the leading families of all industries.
Usually, if something was beneficial, every major family would try to monopolize it. But since they couldn't monopolize it, and one of the rules required bringing in people to expand the group, each family naturally used their own connections and influence.
Saegusa Mayumi from National Magic University Affiliated First High School, Shinomiya Kaguya from Shuchiin Academy, Tenryuji Koto from Shoukousha Gakuen High School, Shinjo Hinaki from Outome Girls' Academy, Shiramine from Angel Academy, Excellent Girls' Academy...
Not to mention the true heiresses of financial conglomerates, even the more prominent illegitimate daughter like Shinomiya Kaguya, or even their subordinate families, the Yukinoshita family might not be able to compare.
If it weren't for the Yukinoshita family's good fortune, with both sisters becoming vice-presidents beside Hachiman, how could so many allies have come to them? The Yukinoshita name would probably have been buried in the long list of applicants just like other ordinary minor families.
Hachiman could tell what they were thinking just from the subtle expressions on Yukinoshita Haruno and Tohsaka Touka's faces. But he didn't say anything more, his arms around their slender waists tightening slightly, pulling their soft, full bodies close against him back to back.
"By the way, where's Kikyou? Haruno, do you know what I asked her to handle?"
Hachiman gently squeezed Yukinoshita Haruno and Tohsaka Touka's fair, lovely cheeks, occasionally opening his mouth to take turns enjoying their intimate service. Then he suddenly realized he hadn't seen his personal maid Kushida Kikyou in the Service Club all day.
Yukinoshita Haruno and the others were all children of political families, highly skilled at handling affairs. Coupled with the prevailing competitive atmosphere, their various small groups could be said to keep each other in check, so he didn't need to worry at all about their work.
But that wasn't necessarily the case with the two-faced beauty Kushida Kikyou. She'd suddenly been given authority and had gone outside, he needed to keep an eye on her.
"I-I know... Kikyou should have taken people to... the yakuza organization, the Innan-gumi... first thing this morning..."
Yukinoshita Haruno's plump, fair cheeks were pinched red by Hachiman. Feeling the warmth radiating from his body at such close range made her feel hot, and beads of sweat formed on the tip of her nose. But she had already gone through the magical girl development ceremony, so she could endure this much. She just pressed both hands against Hachiman's strong, solid arms while explaining in a broken, quiet voice.
The yakuza organization Kushida Kikyou went to negotiate with was to collect debts for Hiratsuka Shizuka's friend.
Hiratsuka Shizuka also knew she served as vice-president of the Service Club, but she just didn't come to the Service Club very often. Hiratsuka Shizuka would definitely tell her about this sort of thing and ask her to help out.
Though she hadn't even realized at first that Hiratsuka Shizuka would do this sort of thing.
Mmm... She thought Hiratsuka Shizuka's moral standards in this regard were probably still quite good, otherwise she wouldn't have stayed unmarried for so many years.
Who knew that now Hiratsuka Shizuka would have to rely on connections to drag people she knew down... ashore.
A close friend bearing a huge debt that ordinary people couldn't handle, introducing her to a President she knew well, when you thought about it carefully, there was really no problem.
It was just that she hadn't seen Hiratsuka Shizuka's current embarrassing state with her own eyes, so it was hard to imagine the scene of that hot-blooded manga-loving fist-fighting teacher doing something like this. If this close friend were also invited to work at Soubu, how would Hiratsuka Shizuka face her?
"First thing in the morning? Kikyou's pretty proactive. So who did she take with her?"
Sensing Yukinoshita Haruno's inner unease, Hachiman patted Tohsaka Touka and unclasped the silver empathy bracelet from her wrist, telling her to rest for a while and not keep serving him lunch.
However, Tohsaka Touka, already drenched in sweat, shook her head panting and chose not to rest. A glow of cleaning magic lit up at her fingertips.
After Hachiman had pulled Yukinoshita Haruno into his arms and everything was clean and refreshed again, Tohsaka Touka, whose skin was still slightly flushed, put the silver empathy bracelet back on and sat on Hachiman's lap, pressed close to Yukinoshita Haruno. She quietly listened to her best friend report to Hachiman-kun while biting into fresh fruit and bringing it to Hachiman's lips.
"Yoshimura Eto, Kirishima Touka, Yasuhisa Nashiro, Yasuhisa Kurona... and Kanzaki Sayaka and Kanzaki Moe... the two... two sisters..."
Yukinoshita Haruno felt a weight on her shoulder and saw Tohsaka Touka was serving Hachiman food again. She instinctively held her breath. After a moment, she let out a gentle sigh, resting her dizzy head on Hachiman's shoulder and pressing her lips to his ear to continue explaining.
"Kikyou actually brought that many people."
Hachiman toyed with Tohsaka Touka's black, smooth hair, which was soon damp with sweat again. He paused at Yukinoshita Haruno's answer and lowered his head to give her a light, firm bite.
Although yakuza members were basically not good people, the lineup of Kirishima Touka and the others didn't look like they were going to negotiate, it looked more like they were going to pick a fight.
Yoshimura Eto and Kirishima Touka were themselves ghouls, a vampire subspecies. Though he hadn't aided them many times, aside from Fueguchi Hinami, basically all of them had accepted his thorough aid and had grown much stronger.
With Kushida Kikyou leading this group to negotiate, they probably weren't planning to solve things with money.
"Never mind, I'll leave Kikyou and them alone for now. But what about Kanzaki Sayaka? Isn't she just an ordinary maid? How did she go with Kikyou too?"
After a long moment, Hachiman looked back at Yukinoshita Haruno and Tohsaka Touka, whose faces were burning hot and red, and continued asking.
Anyway, there were hardly any good people in the yakuza, and Yoshimura Eto, Kirishima Touka, and the others were no pushovers either. He could just wait for them to finish handling things and come back to report.
What really surprised him was the name Kanzaki Sayaka.
Kirishima Touka and the others had pledged their loyalty to him, so it was normal for them to go help show their worth. Even Kanzaki Moe volunteering to join in was normal.
After all, Kanzaki Moe had sat on the tea table with Fueguchi Hinami before and given him a little performance of just how tender and delicious they were. But he remembered that the older sister, Kanzaki Sayaka, had chosen to be an ordinary maid, and her position as exclusive personal maid had already been taken over by her younger sister Kanzaki Moe.
"Y-yes... but at Moe-chan's request, Sayaka was brought along to help handle the newbie's debt."
Yukinoshita Haruno's round, fair face was already completely flushed, and the tips of her shoulder-length black hair dripped water droplets as she shook her head. But no matter how hard she bit her lower lip, she still couldn't control her steadily accelerating heartbeat, which sounded like it was echoing in her ears.
"Also... there's Kanzaki Ranko from the idol agency... and Kanzaki Aoi from the exchange student list... they all share the same surname..."
"W-what do you think, President..."
She didn't know what was wrong with her.
Clearly, it was only because of her mother, because of Yukino, that she had given herself to Hachiman...
Clearly, Hachiman had only lightly kissed her a few times, and hadn't even taken the initiative, it was all her and Touka who made the moves.
And yet...
Yukinoshita Haruno wrapped her arms around Hachiman's neck, her chin resting on his shoulder. After resting for a while, her vision still somewhat dazed, she labored to turn her head and look behind her at Tohsaka Touka. She realized that Tohsaka Touka had somehow become a half-magical girl.
'Mm, half, long gloves, skirt, boots...'
Clearly, she was the one actually moving, but Touka seemed to be sweating even more than she was.
Touka practiced kendo every day and was now a magical girl too, how could she be even worse off than her? Just watching was enough to make her transform into a magical girl.
"The Kanzaki sisters can wait for Kikyou to explain. For now, you two should focus on serving me well."
Seeing that Yukinoshita Haruno had finally noticed her best friend Tohsaka Touka's unusual state, Hachiman tilted Yukinoshita Haruno's chin up, lifted Tohsaka Touka's drooping head, and drew them both closer to him again.
Yukinoshita Haruno normally wouldn't have been so flustered, but who could blame the deep bond between Tohsaka Touka and her?
Tohsaka Touka was the older sister of Tohsaka Rin and Tohsaka Sakura. She was a love-struck maiden who, when feelings ran deep, would involuntarily call him "daddy" out of love.
He had let Tohsaka Touka take off the empathy bracelet, but she hadn't left. Instead, she'd kept wearing it out of sisterly affection, so he couldn't be blamed for that.
Although right now Yukinoshita Haruno was either with Yukinoshita Yukino or with Tohsaka Touka, whether it was sisterly unity or best-friend unity, it was pretty much the same.
"Look, it's Hachiman-niichan!"
"Master!"
"?"
Yukinoshita Haruno was about to sink back into indulgence when she suddenly heard a startled cry nearby. Opening her eyes, she saw a familiar face appearing beside her, shoving her aside to hug Hachiman. Her muddled mind instantly cleared, her whole body jolted, and she instinctively looked at Tohsaka Touka, who was hugging her from behind.
"?"
Tohsaka Touka stared blankly at the black-haired classical beauty who had flung herself onto Hachiman with such agitation. Her gaze dazed between the woman and Hachiman, completely stunned.
W-was she dreaming?
What did she just call him? Master? Husband? Darling?
How could she call him Master?
Tohsaka Touka and Yukinoshita Haruno, both on Hachiman's lap, were frozen stiff by the unexpected turn of events, their lips pressed tightly together, wondering if they'd misheard. But Sawamura Sayuri, Kuraki Yuriko, and Kamishiro Saya, who had come with Tohsaka Aoi, had all heard it clearly.
They just stood not far away, watching with complex expressions as the beautiful, gentle, graceful black-haired classical beauty Tohsaka Aoi, like a yamato nadeshiko, threw herself at Hachiman, her arms tightly around his neck.
Their daughters weren't here today, only Tohsaka Aoi's three daughters were.
Or rather, so far, among the Service Club's mothers' group, only Tohsaka Aoi had so many daughters so close to Hachiman.
They had thought that Tohsaka Aoi, who had some minor mental issues, was just lucky to have gotten an early advantage. But Tohsaka Aoi had always been discreet and never had any ambition for power, so there was nothing to worry about.
But they never expected that Tohsaka Aoi wasn't sending her daughters into the fray at all, she was stepping up herself, making her daughters recognize Hachiman as their father... That was way too cunning.
Her eldest daughter Tohsaka Touka was even older than Hachiman. How could she have the nerve?
No, that wasn't even the issue at all.
The atmosphere on the scene had turned awkward because of Tohsaka Aoi's cry of "Master." Kamishiro Saya, Kuraki Yuriko, and Sawamura Sayuri couldn't help but doubt the rumors about Tohsaka Aoi's mental illness.
Tohsaka Aoi might not have any mental problems at all!
What "mentally unstable after her husband disappeared," what "single-handedly raising three daughters while waiting for her husband's return."
Now, the moment she saw Hachiman, she threw herself into his arms, where was the image of a chaste wife remaining faithful to her husband.
Kuraki Yuriko and the other two, who didn't know much about Tohsaka Aoi, were shocked and uncertain. Only Asou Miyuri and Irisviel watched Tohsaka Aoi, Tohsaka Touka, and Yukinoshita Haruno with great interest, staring without blinking at Hachiman held tightly in their midst.
"Ma'am, you... ahem, Touka, do you know what's going on?"
Feeling the plump, soft, lovely body in his arms trembling slightly, as if she thought she was dreaming and afraid he might disappear, and seeing Tohsaka Aoi still holding him tightly with no sign of letting go or speaking, Hachiman looked at the stunned Tohsaka Touka.
Seeing the familiar face of this gentle, beautiful yamato nadeshiko, so similar to the Tohsaka sisters, he didn't need to guess who she was.
Still, he didn't understand why Tohsaka Aoi had hugged him so tightly the moment they met.
His dependent affinity ability wasn't a "friend to all women", it only worked on girls with dependent personalities, right?
Tohsaka Aoi didn't seem like a socially anxious introvert either, so why would she throw herself at him like that? Even Bocchi-chan wouldn't be that forward.
"W-wait, let me get dressed first!"
Tohsaka Touka snapped back to her senses, ignoring the fact that she and her best friend Yukinoshita Haruno had just been doing something, and quickly stood up to use cleaning magic.
Yukinoshita Haruno was also flustered, but looking down at her own messy state that she couldn't fix quickly, she had no choice but to transform into a magical girl.
After the flash of light faded and all her hard training results turned into magical power, her whole body was clean and refreshed, with only lingering traces of aftermath still present. Yukinoshita Haruno finally let out a breath and hurriedly looked at Tohsaka Aoi, who was still tightly holding Hachiman, gazing at him without speaking.
The Service Club had already held many themed service games, and all major factions had sent so many beautiful girls to join. Yukinoshita Haruno had long been mentally prepared for any sudden situation she might encounter in the future.
But Tohsaka Aoi was still a bit different.
She and Touka were close, and Tohsaka Aoi and Yukinoshita Kiyuki were also close.
At this moment, Tohsaka Aoi walking in on Touka and her was equivalent to Yukinoshita Kiyuki walking in on her and Touka.
Either way, both she and Touka would be mortified and want to flee the scene.
It was just that Hiratsuka Shizuka rarely came to the Service Club, let alone Yukinoshita Kiyuki, Tohsaka Aoi, and the others. So Yukinoshita Haruno had subconsciously assumed that all the members appearing in the Service Club were from the same generation, and hadn't prepared for this kind of emergency.
"Aoi, what's your relationship with Hachiman-kun? Why did you suddenly call him Master?"
Seeing Yukinoshita Haruno in Hachiman's arms and Tohsaka Touka stand up and transform into a magical girl, Asou Miyuri really wanted to say "keep going, don't stop." But at this point, if the silence continued, the atmosphere would become awkward, so she had to be the one to break it.
"Master is naturally my beloved, the head of our Tohsaka family. But I never expected that Master would be the one Touka, Rin, and the others mentioned could guide Sakura. If Sakura had told me sooner, I would have come earlier."
Tohsaka Aoi slowly released Hachiman upon hearing this, though she still kept one hand on his arm and the other tightly gripping his hand. Her gaze swept around with a complex expression at everyone watching her, pausing briefly on Tohsaka Touka, then she suddenly turned and gently kissed Hachiman on the cheek.
"Head of the family? Ma'am... er, Aoi, you mean Sakura already told you about me?"
Looking at the love practically overflowing from Tohsaka Aoi's eyes, as if she had grabbed him without even asking right from wrong, Hachiman paused for a moment and spoke with some uncertainty.
He and Touka were already that close, so of course he knew about Tohsaka Aoi's situation. That was precisely why he had always been so close to the Tohsaka three sisters without ever thinking of visiting the Tohsaka house.
Now, from what Tohsaka Aoi was saying, it was Sakura who had told her about him, and that was why she had come to see him? That didn't seem quite right, but the logic seemed to follow.
"Touka, Rin, Sakura, haven't you all met Master before? Why are you all so quiet now?"
As if she hadn't noticed the strange look on Hachiman's face, Tohsaka Aoi gave a light nod, then turned to look at Tohsaka Touka in her magical girl outfit, as well as Tohsaka Rin and Tohsaka Sakura, who were standing together.
"Father!"
Tohsaka Sakura called out without hesitation, her little face full of excitement.
"..."
Tohsaka Touka and Tohsaka Rin looked at their mother sitting beside Hachiman, serving him, with complicated expressions. They couldn't bring themselves to say the words "Father."
Was this for real?
They were starting to wonder if their mother had been faking her illness all alone, how could she suddenly recognize Hachiman as her master?
Hachiman was just as surprised as they were.
Even though there were so many obsessive women in the Service Club who were crazy about him, and he was used to handling such situations, he had been completely calm when Tohsaka Aoi lunged at him, his "Ultimate Instinct" countermeasure hadn't even triggered.
Now, with Tohsaka Aoi hugging and kissing him right in front of Tohsaka Touka and the others, he still felt no urge to push her away.
However, hearing Tohsaka Aoi actually tell the Tohsaka sisters to call him "Father," he suddenly remembered the quest reward he'd received not long ago when he helped Tohsaka Touka protect the Tohsaka family and completed the "Tohsaka Family Household Affairs" quest.
[Head of the Family: The head of the household, with all important decisions made by you. When more than half of the family members support you, the entire family will sincerely comply with your decisions.]
(PS: An intimate relationship with the family is required; merely joining the family in name will not activate the effect.)