Hachiman nodded and added with a smile.
"Furuhashi-san, is your family rich? It doesn't have to be too rich, just enough to keep me fed so I don't have to go out and work."
"Uh… maybe… I guess?", Furuhashi Fumino was dumbfounded by Hikigaya's words, so much so that she didn't even notice the "more" implied in what he'd said.
Her father was a university professor, nowhere near the level of the ultra-rich conglomerate types, but overall, her family was well-off.
Because she had what most people would call a cute face, she'd received her fair share of confessions.
Still, she had never met anyone like Hikigaya before.
He just openly said he wanted to be a househusband. Just like how she wasn't good at science but still wanted to go to a science university, she didn't think there was anything wrong with a guy wanting to be a stay-at-home husband.
But still… wasn't Hikigaya being a little too direct? He didn't even try to hide it, straight-up saying he wanted to find a rich girl to support him, even asking her if she had money the first time they met.
"Hikigaya… do your classmates like Usui-san know about this househusband career goal of yours?", Seeing Hikigaya's "pick-up" approach, Kirisu Mafuyu widened her eyes.
Could it be that this was how Hikigaya had met Usui Makoto and the others?
And they still became friends with him after that?
"Of course they know. They all fully support my dream of being a househusband," Hikigaya nodded.
Well, they had to support him. If they made him go to work, he'd have even less free time.
Instead of forcing him to get a job, it was obviously better for everyone to support him together.
The more rich, beautiful girls he found, the lighter everyone's burden became, meaning less work for him, and more time to go out and find more rich, beautiful girls.
Even without relying on Iris or Tsubaki to back him up, he could still comfortably live as a househusband.
However, in Kirisu Mafuyu's eyes, who had no idea about the situation behind the scenes, Hikigaya's statements were becoming more and more absurd.
But since Usui Makoto and the others had been called back to class, they weren't here to confront him face-to-face.
'What a mistake…'
It looked like today's lecture was going to end in failure again.
Next time she went for a home visit at Hikigaya's house, she'd have to double her effort.
Furuhashi Fumino looked at Kirisu Mafuyu's regretful and unwilling expression, then at Hikigaya's completely confident face. She was just about to excuse herself to go back to class when her expression suddenly changed slightly. She quickly bent down and whispered in Mizuho Kagami's ear, "Mizuho-sensei, that sitting position, people can see."
"Hmm?"
Mizuho Kagami turned to look at the nervous Furuhashi Fumino, her rosy, charming face full of confusion. It seemed she didn't quite understand what Furuhashi meant.
But when she saw Furuhashi gesturing toward her legs, she slowly brought them together, straightened her soft, slender waist, and crossed her long legs, wrapped in black over-the-knee stockings, into a proper seated position.
Seeing that Mizuho Kagami had understood her meaning, Furuhashi let out a sigh of relief.
But before she could excuse herself and leave, she noticed that after Mizuho Kagami crossed her beautiful, well-proportioned legs, the thin, pointed tip of her strappy high heels was slowly inching closer to Hikigaya's leg.
Seeing this, Furuhashi froze.
She had only meant to remind Mizuho-sensei that her previous sitting posture, with her legs apart, was a bit improper, especially when facing Hikigaya.
But now… after the reminder, Mizuho Kagami was deliberately brushing her stocking-clad legs against Hikigaya's calf, as if to let him feel the silky smoothness of her black over-the-knee stockings…
'T-that bold?'
'Or am I just overthinking it?'
But Hikigaya didn't seem to react at all?
Furuhashi's eyes went wide as she stared at Mizuho Kagami, who sat beside Kirisu Mafuyu, and at Hikigaya, whose expression remained perfectly calm and natural.
"Kirisu-sensei, I don't think Hikigaya will respond to your advice about studying like this. You'll need to give him a bit of motivation."
As if unaware of Furuhashi's gaze, Mizuho Kagami spoke softly after a long silence, one leg still crossed, her hand gently brushing her flushed cheek.
"Motivation?", Kirisu blinked.
"Meaning a reward. If we give Hikigaya-kun some sort of reward for studying hard, he won't hate it so much," Mizuho Kagami nodded slightly. Her movements slow and deliberate, she locked eyes with Hikigaya as she continued.
"A reward, huh… fine, forcing you to study when you don't want to does call for some incentive," Kirisu thought about it seriously and nodded.
Hikigaya wasn't lazy, he just put his effort into the wrong places. He skipped class to "make friends," but his motivation was clearly there.
If they gave him proper motivation, maybe his attitude toward studying could change.
That was much better than forcing him.
"But… what kind of reward? Money's definitely not allowed…"
"Hikigaya-kun, what kind of reward would you like?", Ignoring Kirisu's hesitation, Mizuho Kagami's gaze burned as she stared directly at Hikigaya.
"Reward… could you wear a maid outfit and tutor me in housework? I'll even prepare the maid outfits for you," Hikigaya looked at the completely hopeless-at-housework Kirisu Mafuyu and the strangely off Mizuho Kagami. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly remembered the maid outfit he'd earned from completing Rurikawa Tsubaki's character mission.
That maid outfit was actually amazing, anyone wearing it would automatically gain mastery of cooking, tea ceremony, housekeeping, finance, driving, combat, spatial magic, and serving-the-master techniques. Iris had even worn it a few times at night.
Though the spatial magic it granted was only for storage, not combat.
And since he didn't really need a maid following him around daily, the outfit had just been sitting unused.
Now that he thought about it, wasn't this the perfect match for the housework-impaired Kirisu Mafuyu?
"No!"
"Sure!"
Two completely opposite answers rang out at the exact same time.
"Huh? Mizuho-sensei?"
Kirisu turned expressionlessly to look at the teacher sitting beside her, demanding an explanation.
A teacher wearing a maid outfit in front of a student, how was that remotely appropriate?
And Mizuho-sensei agreed without hesitation?
"Uh… it's just a reward involving wearing a maid outfit to teach housework skills, right? That's not too much. Of course, we can raise the bar, like, if he gets first place in the grade?"
"The new term's been going for almost two months, right? There's an exam this week before our home visits. We'll know the results after that."
Seeing Kirisu's glare, Mizuho Kagami awkwardly retracted her black-stockinged leg and smiled weakly.
"If Hikigaya-kun gets first place in Japanese history, I'll wear the maid outfit as his reward."
"And if he gets first in world history, you, Kirisu-sensei, wear the maid outfit."
"First place in the whole grade… Hikigaya, are you sure you'll actually try? If you fail, you'll have to accept my study guidance from now on."
Hearing Mizuho Kagami's suggestion, Kirisu hesitated, bit her lip, and looked at Hikigaya, her face slightly red.
She'd reviewed his entrance scores several times, his liberal arts grades were indeed excellent, and his world history results were solid. But Soubu High had no shortage of talented students.
With a little effort, he could definitely do well, but getting first in the entire grade would be hard. She could always make the test a bit more difficult to avoid too many perfect scores.
Still, even knowing that, the thought of having to wear a maid outfit if he somehow did get first made her flush with embarrassment.
"Then can I add one more condition? If I do get first in the grade, Kirisu-sensei, you have to stop hounding me about studying."
Seeing that Kirisu had mentioned a punishment for failure, Hikigaya immediately added his own demand.
It wasn't that he disliked Kirisu, actually, if not for other circumstances, the hopeless-at-housework Kirisu and his own stay-at-home-husband dream would've made them a perfect match.
But her constant pestering about studying seriously interfered with his plans.
He'd gone out to bother Raphiel today, but she'd ended up bothering him first.
"Then not just world and Japanese history,.you'll have to get first place in the entire school on every exam."
Kirisu raised the bar without hesitation. If Hikigaya were really that capable, she wouldn't need to worry about him anymore.
But as if that would ever happen.
"Sure, let's go with that."
Hikigaya smiled and nodded. Getting first in the school was nothing for him, he just didn't like wasting time in class, not that he couldn't do it.
And knowing Kirisu, even if he didn't get first but still scored really high, she'd probably stop breathing down his neck anyway.
Though that still wouldn't stop her from preventing him from flirting with Gabriel in class.
"You and Furuhashi should go back to class now. And don't let me catch you spacing out again. Furuhashi, you too, stop falling asleep in class."
Seeing Hikigaya's confident expression, Kirisu didn't want to crush his spirit. Letting them go back was fine, as long as he was motivated to study, that was good enough. Even if he didn't achieve it, she could always buy him a small gift as encouragement.
"Don't worry. Unless I want you to catch me, you won't."
"Uh-heh-heh… I'll head back too then! Bye-bye, teachers~"
Before leaving, Furuhashi gave Mizuho Kagami a few lingering glances before hurrying to catch up with Hikigaya.
She was so curious. Did Hikigaya really not feel anything after what Mizuho-sensei just did?
Mizuho Kagami, who had been stared at for a while, didn't seem to notice at all. She just sat there dazed, her gaze fixed on the spot where Hikigaya had disappeared, until suddenly her face turned bright red.
'Just now?'
'What on earth have I been doing just now?'
'Sitting beside Kirisu-sensei, I actually used the blind spot of our viewing angle to… to let Hikigaya see…'
And after Furuhashi reminded her, she'd gotten even more excited, calmly crossing her legs and pretending not to notice as her black over-the-knee stockings brushed against Hikigaya's leg.
'I just acted like some kind of perve*ted woman! What must Hikigaya-kun think of me now? That isn't like me at all!'
'I'll have to apologize to him properly later, explain my behavior before he completely misunderstands me.'
The more Mizuho Kagami thought about it, the redder her face became. She had no idea why she'd acted that way.
It was like, after visiting Sato-sensei earlier, her mind had suddenly gone hot, and before she knew it, she'd done all that. It wasn't until Hikigaya left that her strange state finally faded.
———
At the office doorway—
After washing her face with cold water for a long while to calm down, Sato Sakie quietly peeked into the teacher's office, cautiously checking for anyone inside.
Seeing no sign of Hikigaya, the tension and restless anticipation in her chest vanished all at once.
'What was that feeling just now? It was so bizarre.'
The moment she saw that boy, no, even before that, the moment he walked into the office, while he was still far away, something in her body had gone completely out of control.
Her whole body burned with excitement.
Images kept flashing through her mind, wild fantasies starring her and that boy, until her brain overheated, and she couldn't stop herself.
That feeling… it was like when a succubus accidentally charms someone and makes them obsessed or lose all reason.
'But I am the succubus!'
'How could that boy possibly charm me, a succubus?'
———
In the empty hallway, the classrooms on both sides echoed with the voices of teachers lecturing.
As Hachiman walked, he thought about the flushed face and burning eyes of Mizuho Kagami sitting beside Kirisu. Eyes that seemed completely overtaken by lust.
Mizuho Kagami hadn't fallen for him at first sight. It wasn't because of his looks, or some dependent personality seeking safety from him.
Which left only one explanation, his succubus-attracting physique.
But that didn't make sense either. That trait was supposed to affect succubi, and if Mizuho Kagami really was one, her reaction should've been far stronger. It wasn't even close to the charm ability a succubus normally exuded.
Thinking carefully, he realized, the one who'd panicked earlier, the one who'd run out of the office in a rush, Sato Sakie, she was the real succubus.
'Sato Sakie… the succubus teacher from Interviews with Monster Girls, huh!'