She could not explain something like that. The only thing she could do was avoid Kashima Risako's persistent questioning.
But she never expected Kashima Risako to secretly keep an eye on her. If Hachiman had not either taken them into another space or activated invisibility magic whenever they were playing together, Kashima Risako might have already discovered her relationship with him.
"Then just tell her I threatened you. Say you had no choice but to let me do this and that to you. See how she reacts."
Hachiman pulled his hand back from Iris and gave Hanamori Kotomi's round, puffed-up cheek a light squeeze, teasing her.
"All you ever do is bully me… Just wait till I get my chance…"
Hearing him suggest she go and confess that she was being bullied, Hanamori Kotomi rolled her eyes. Still, she did not slap away the hand kneading her cheek. She only pouted and muttered under her breath.
There was a teachers' gathering tomorrow night. If she blurted out such embarrassing things about being bullied by Hachiman, how would she have the face to attend?
Hm? Starting tomorrow night, there was going to be a weekend gathering of many dignified, strict female teachers who made students tremble?
The biggest gathering Hanamori Kotomi had experienced so far was the current Service Teachers' Guidance Meeting.
She had never truly understood Hachiman's strength. Deep down, she still held onto the thought that he could only bully her, and that other teachers would surely be able to keep him in line.
So far, quite a few comrades had already fallen here, but she felt there were reasons for that. Suzune Rione was not even human. Hiratsuka-senpai was desperate to get married. Ebihara Urara had been deceived by her fiance into joining a cult.
Aside from Kirisu Mafuyu, there were still other cold and strict teachers at Sobu High who were harsh on students. Matsubara Miria, Takamine Ayako, Kisaragi Miyuki, and the newly joined Chabashira Sae, she was not sure whether those people could discipline Hachiman, but if they all gathered together—
At the very least… at the very least… she would not always be bullied like this.
Hanamori Kotomi secretly glanced at Hiratsuka Shizuka beside her.
If Hiratsuka-senpai had not already said she would bring in female teachers with debts, Kotomi would have wanted to ask her to recruit stricter teachers instead. Since they were hiring anyway, they might as well hire more strict ones to maintain discipline and suppress Hachiman's arrogant attitude.
Maybe she could even try to find some herself.
But first, she still had to deal with Kashima Risako's relentless questioning and explain that she was not being threatened and did not need to be followed around every day.
But how could she explain her relationship with Hachiman? She was not that kind of casual girl. Yet saying she liked him felt a little unwilling. He was always bullying her.
"Alright, I'm going to Kaede's place to check on the transfer students. Hm? Kotomi, you still want more?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka stood up to tidy the guidance room. Seeing Hanamori Kotomi still sitting blankly in his lap, Hachiman patted her plump, rounded thigh and smiled.
"No more! No more!"
Kotomi froze, then quickly got up from his lap.
She had almost gone weak in the legs and waist just now. If it continued, she would not even be able to go home this afternoon.
"If you want more, just come to the Service Club tonight. Or you could secretly use the empathy collar at home by yourself."
Hachiman looked at Kotomi, who had run off in a fluster, and smiled.
"I would never secretly use it alone!"
Kotomi instinctively touched the black collar around her neck and retorted with a red face.
"Then remember to come to the Service Club tonight."
"I didn't say I was going to use that thing!"
Seeing him deliberately twisting her meaning, she could only widen her eyes and glare at him, trying to show her anger through her gaze.
But in Hachiman's eyes, that only made him want to properly guide her again.
Student guidance room, maybe it should be renamed teacher guidance room in the future.
Hachiman decided to leave Kotomi alone for now. He kissed Iris and Lala beside him, then stood up and said goodbye to Ebihara Urara, Suzune Rione, and the elves who had already rested up, such as Aegis, Lumilia, and Leticia, before leaving.
"Iris, Lala, I'm heading to Kaede's place."
"Mm, go ahead. Kaede and the others have probably been waiting for you for a while. If you can't make it in time for the afternoon exams, just tell me. I can have Sheila and the others use magic to change their appearances and take the exams for them."
"No need to worry. If there's not enough time, I can just carry them to the exam."
"Hachiman, wait a second. What about the power you mentioned? What do you mean you're just leaving like this?"
Watching Hachiman and Iris openly discuss exam substitution in front of her, Hiratsuka Shizuka called out to him, speechless.
"Can't you feel the power in your body? You should have awakened the magical girl talent too."
Hachiman turned around and looked at her strangely.
Developing magical girl talent was a bit troublesome. He had to continuously infuse his aura to stimulate both their body and mind. Even with the empathy bracelets, he could usually only develop two people at a time.
But with just Hiratsuka Shizuka alone, it was easy. He had already helped her awaken her magical girl talent and power.
"That's magical girl power. Can't it be something more hot-blooded? Something where fists hit flesh?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka gritted her teeth and glared at him, feeling like he was setting her up.
Magical girl power was still power, sure. But transforming into a magical girl? What was that supposed to be.
She was already that old. If word got out, she would be laughed to death.
"Then I'll try again and see what kind of power I can develop for you."
Seeing her reaction, he turned and walked toward her.
"Stop! Forget it! I'll figure it out myself!"
Seeing how readily he agreed, Shizuka immediately stepped back. She knew exactly what he was thinking.
He definitely wanted to mess her up so badly she would never dare have such thoughts again.
The embarrassing part was that she really could not beat him.
"Actually, magical girls can be very hot-blooded too, with real close combat. You just need to come train physical techniques with me more often," Hachiman explained helplessly, "As for the outfit, you can modify it with magic. The initial form doesn't mean you have to dress like that normally."
"Pfft! Train physical techniques with you? Enough. Just go to the student council. I'll research it myself."
Shizuka let out a dry laugh, completely unconvinced.
"Come to the Service Club tonight and you'll see."
Seeing her distrust, Hachiman felt a little speechless, but he did not bother explaining further. Once the magical girl development meeting was held tonight at the Service Club, she would understand.
It sounded ridiculous, but he truly was not lying.
Not only was magical girl talent awakened that way, but magical power and coordination were trained that way too. Naturally, physical combat skills were developed the same way.
Especially under the influence of his teaching aura, veteran magical girls could pass on their rich experience to newcomers. Even without much real combat experience, they could quickly gain solid practical ability.
———
[Lunch Break, Student Council Office]
The student council members were eating together in the office.
The oni princess shrine maiden and vice president, Origamine Ouka, sat on the sofa in her shrine maiden outfit, her legs tightly pressed together in an unnatural way. Beneath the hem of her outfit, her fair feet wrapped in white tabi would curl up from time to time.
Seeing that Hachiman, who was supposed to come eat at the student council office, had yet to appear, Origamine Ouka, already so hungry she could barely endure it, looked toward Kaede, who was still reviewing transfer student lists and teacher resumes, seemingly unconcerned whether Hachiman came or not.
"Um… President, where is Hikigaya-kun? Isn't he coming here for lunch?"
"Ouka, can't you hold it in? Hachiman should have satisfied you properly before, right? If you really can't stand it, use the empathy collar to ease it a bit. He should be here soon."
Kaede glanced at Origamine Ouka's dissatisfied expression and felt speechless.
The dignified head of the Origamine oni clan, the strongest shrine maiden, and she looked like this after not seeing a man for a day? Had she chosen the wrong teammate?
The more someone liked Hachiman, the more trustworthy they were. The more they relied on him, the more obedient they would be. But in the Service War, if someone liked him too much, their combat power would drop sharply.
She had originally planned to let Ouka gradually fall for him. But now it seemed she did not even need to make a move. She might even have to slow down Ouka's growing affection.
"N-no… If I use that, it'll only get worse…"
Origamine Ouka tried her best to suppress the emotions she could barely contain. Her face flushed red and her breathing grew more rapid. Hearing Kaede suggest using the empathy collar, she shook her head slowly.
Could she say she had already tried? The more she used it, the worse it felt, like a lump of pent-up energy stuck in her chest.
She needed Hikigaya to properly guide her and infuse a large amount of aura to neutralize the rampaging impurity energy inside her.
She had thought one round of assistance from him would be enough. But after going back, she could not help thinking about him before bed. The impurity she had been able to control started to stir restlessly again.
"How pitiful…"
Rurikawa Tsubaki looked at the suffering Ouka with sympathy in her eyes.
Being a magical girl was better. Even though the way their strength improved was a bit embarrassing, and without Hachiman training them it was hard to grow stronger on their own, and they often found themselves recalling scenes from magical girl training. Still, recalling was just recalling. They only longed to be closer to Hachiman and be doted on by him. They would never end up unable to function normally like Ouka if they were not properly guided.
Suzu stared at Ouka's oni horns and blinked occasionally.
'Oni clan… shrine maiden…'
'Ouka's oni clan is native, not like the elves from another world.'
"Kaede, the oni clan should also have girls whose bloodlines haven't awakened."
Suzu suddenly leaned close to Kaede and whispered.
"Suzu, you mean…"
Kaede's eyes lit up immediately.
There were oni in other worlds too, but the native oni would not side with Iris and the others. Instead, they would be closer to the human faction on their side.
And now that Hachiman had awakened magic essence, recruiting oni girls whose bloodlines had not awakened would be easy.
The strongest oni princess shrine maiden was already on their side. There was no way she would go help Iris.
Iris had recruited the snow woman clan and the vampire clan. Recruiting some oni should be fair. Besides transfer students and teachers, she also needed to expand their demi-human forces.
After all, Hachiman's awakened magic essence was too powerful. They could not let Iris monopolize it.
Whether demi-human or human, all could receive immense benefits through serving Hachiman. Their rivalry with Iris could no longer be divided simply between human and demi-human camps.
The oni transfer student Kijou Suzuka, who had arrived earlier, seemed to be from a prestigious family. Her mother, Kijou Yasha, was the head of the Kijou Group.
The Kijou Group, centered on tourism, owned many hot spring inns. They could consider setting up a private hot spring inn as one of the club's member benefits.
The maid, Shion, stood quietly to the side. Seeing that it was about time, she walked to the storage cabinet, took out dishes that were best eaten warm from insulated containers, and placed them on the table in the middle of the sofa area.
Knock! Knock!
Whoosh!
"Hikigaya-kun, you finally came—"
Hearing the knock, Origamine Ouka instantly appeared at the office door and opened it. But her excited greeting cut off halfway.
"Uh… um… sorry to bother you, Vice President Origamine. We came to pick up the amulets…"
Outside the door, Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana were startled by how quickly it opened. Hearing Ouka's unfinished words, they realized they had been mistaken for Hachiman and felt awkward.
It was not that Ouka did not welcome them, but being greeted so enthusiastically for the wrong reason made the thin-skinned girls want to escape.
Still, they only thought about it. Afraid of encountering vengeful spirits, they needed to get protective amulets from Ouka that could eliminate them.
Though they could now teleport to the Service Club at any time, they still had homes to return to, and their families needed protection too. So they still had to come occasionally to replenish their protective amulets before going home with peace of mind.
"Sorry, I thought Hikigaya-kun was here. I forgot your amulets should be running out soon too. I'll get them for you right away."
Realizing the visitor was not Hachiman, Ouka felt embarrassed and hurriedly took out amulets for them to cover up her loss of composure.
She could normally sense Hikigaya-kun's overwhelmingly strong life aura, like the sun. But in her current state, how could she dare activate her perception?
What if she sensed his aura and he was busy and had no time for her?
"Thank you, Vice President Origamine."
Yotsuya Miko and her friend Yurikawa Hana quickly thanked her after receiving the protective amulets.
However, they did not leave immediately. They exchanged glances and hesitated as they looked at Ouka and Kaede inside.
"Vice President Origamine, are you and the president waiting for Hikigaya-kun?"
"Yeah. The president said he agreed to come for lunch, but he hasn't shown up yet."
Ouka sighed helplessly. She had just used a tiny bit of power again. If he still did not come soon, she would really have to go find him.
"He hasn't come to eat yet? Could Hikigaya-kun have gone back to the club to rest?"
Yotsuya Miko froze for a moment, puzzled.
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