"It's not enough. I want more."
After enjoying the food from her "boss," Yukinoshita Haruno was still a little unsatisfied. She continued to look at Hikigaya Hachiman with expectant eyes, her upper body leaning slightly forward, as if waiting for the next feeding.
"Senior... please stop acting like a spoiled brat," Hachiman sighed, picking up another small tomato and feeding it to her. "If you have anything else to say, just tell me. If not, eat quickly."
"Based on the current situation, the sales of Disintegration of Various Causes are unexpectedly good, right?" he asked. In his mind, the book was just a collection of short stories to serve as a transition, and he hadn't really intended to make a lot of money from it. But now it seemed the book would have no trouble selling.
"That's right, Hikigaya-kun," Haruno replied. "Sakuraba Publishing's distribution plan for Disintegration of Various Causes has now changed to focusing entirely on paperback sales. For this kind of short story collection, paperback sales are much better than single-volume editions." Now that Haruno was treating Hachiman's career as part of her job, she had taken the initiative to research such information to better understand the situation.
"June will be relatively calm, since I also have to take the academic test, so there won't be much to do," Hachiman said, wiping his mouth with a napkin as he gave a general description of his work priorities for the next few months. "But after July, things will get busier and busier: the release of The Clockwork Museum Incident, the movie tie-in edition of Confessions, the NHK TV drama script, and the third reprint of Malice. These things will all be happening in a relatively tight period, and that's when you'll really have to work hard."
"Understood, Hikigaya-kun. July and August are my summer vacation, so I can put my studies aside for now. I'll focus all my work on the studio and ensure that nothing goes wrong," Haruno replied. She always seemed very reliable at times like this. Although she had some devilish attributes and loved to tease Hachiman, she was never vague when it came to work.
"Senior, you've spent so much time and effort on me... Is your family okay with that? I remember you were interning at the company last summer, right?" Hachiman asked, a little worried. After all, Haruno was the primary heir of the Yukinoshita family and should be spending more time familiarizing herself with the family business.
"Don't worry about that, Hikigaya-kun," she said happily. "I've already told my mother about this, and guess what she said? She's very happy. She said this is the best way to train my abilities. If I were to intern at our own company, many of the leaders would be afraid of my status and wouldn't dare assign me any difficult tasks, so it wouldn't be of any use at all." She also felt that working for her junior was a very happy thing. As for the reason for her happiness, she couldn't quite say. She just felt very excited whenever she saw his career flourishing.
"Since you say so, I won't be polite," Hachiman admitted. "To be honest, since setting up the studio, I've realized how comfortable it is to have someone assisting me. So, Senior, don't be too serious about your work. I'm afraid that one day, I'll truly be unable to leave you. After all, I can only feel at ease when I hand over financial management to the people closest to me."
He felt that he was slowly becoming dependent on Haruno. He had thought about it countless times: when she graduated from university and officially became the heir of the Yukinoshita family, what would happen to his studio's finances? Would she be the head of the Yukinoshita family and his accountant? The thought was too magical to comprehend.
"There will always be a way, Hikigaya-kun. At least for now, I am still your most trusted and closest senior, right?" Haruno certainly understood what he was worried about, but she couldn't give him a definite answer. How could she not want to just marry him directly after graduation and be his financial director for life?
If she were Yukino, it would be that simple. Unfortunately, she was Yukinoshita Haruno, and she had to consider the interests of her family first at all times. This was a seed that had been planted in her heart by nineteen years of education, and it had now grown into a towering tree.
Thinking of this, Haruno's expression unconsciously dimmed. The breakfast meeting, which had started so happily, became a little dull in the end.
"You're right, Senior. We have to live in the present," Hachiman said, raising his head and looking at her with a firm gaze. She seemed to have lost the courage to meet his eyes. "I believe that four years can change a lot of things. There's no need to fall into doubt about the future right now, right?"
"Okay, Senior, eat quickly," he urged, suddenly remembering what someone had said to him in a cafe last week. He was now using it to comfort her, and for some reason, he found it a little ironic. "If you don't eat now, the milk and everything else will get cold, and eating cold food isn't good for your stomach."
"You're so old-fashioned, Hikigaya-kun," Haruno said, seemingly amused. Her expression quickly returned to its original cheerful and generous state. "Bad for the stomach... or something like that. We're far from the age where we need to worry about our stomachs. Shouldn't we be drinking something cool in the summer?" This was also one of her strengths: she had a strong ability to self-regulate and wouldn't fall into a low mood for long, which could affect her study and work.
"As expected, you're still most beautiful like this, Senior," Hachiman teased. "You must always stay this way in the future. Otherwise, it might affect the income of Hachiman Studio, and then I'll be unhappy."
Haha, Hikigaya-kun, you must have been a succubus in your previous life. Otherwise, how could you fascinate me so much... Haruno buried the thought deep in her heart. She had gotten over her confusion, and every time she cheered up, she seemed to burst forth with even more powerful motivation.
Therefore, when Yukino saw her sister walk out of Hachiman's room a long time later, her face rosy, her own expression became very complicated.
She had felt this same complicated feeling before, when she had just returned to Japan and discovered the truth that her sister had monopolized Hikigaya Hachiman for a whole year.
"This feeling... is so annoying..." Yukinoshita Yukino hugged her shoulders and talked to herself.
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