Because the Service Club had plenty of things and a comfortable environment, and even maids on duty, Hayase Saki and the others had all gone to eat lunch in the central hall of the Service Club.
"What would that guy Hachiman be doing back at the club in broad daylight? Most people are still at school. He's probably being clung to by Iris and those elves."
Kaede curled her lips. She had long guessed why Hachiman had not shown up yet.
That race written as elves but read as succubi. It was normal for them to cling to Hachiman and demand things whenever they had the chance.
"By the way, you two haven't joined the Magical Girl Talent Development Conference yet, right? Is it because there are too many people?"
Kaede walked up to Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana, looking warmly at the two beautiful girls who had always hovered on the edge of the Service Club without taking part in activities.
"How about this noon, I have Hachiman hold a small meeting just for you?"
"A small… magical girl development… meeting just for us?"
When Kaede suddenly approached, Yotsuya Miko already had a bad feeling. But when she truly heard Kaede invite her to join a noon gathering in the student council office, she still could not stop herself from getting nervous and swallowing hard.
She had gone to the Service Club so many times. How could she not know what the so-called Magical Girl Talent Awakening Development Conference was? The fact that she still had not transformed already showed how conflicted she was.
It was impossible not to envy the classmates who had become magical girls. They were magical girls.
On the surface, they studied seriously and were good students in the teachers' eyes. In secret, they were magical girls who eliminated evil forces.
Attending class, shopping and hanging out with friends, then suddenly receiving a message, making up an excuse to leave in a hurry, transforming into a magical girl to fight a demon king, and afterward returning to friends while desperately hiding their identity.
Many children's magical girl shows had plots like that. At her age, she had gone through that chuunibyou phase too.
Now that she had the chance to become a real magical girl, she should have tried her best to seize it.
'But… Hikigaya-kun's version of magical girls is adult-rated!'
'It is completely different from the magical girls in imagination!'
Last night, when she saw Kita Ikuyo appear at the club, she had wanted to chat with her and see how Ikuyo, the only one in Kessoku Band who had not had a deeper relationship with Hikigaya-kun, was thinking about it.
Most people in the club already had that kind of relationship with Hikigaya-kun. Would it not be awkward for them to keep going in and out of the club?
After all, during many service activities, they were not forbidden from entering. If they were not careful, they might stumble into a development conference. In that situation, running away immediately felt awkward, but staying felt even more awkward.
If they realized it as soon as they entered, that was still fine. At least they could choose to run or stay. What troubled her most was that the Service Club's bath and living room were huge.
It was very possible that she simply did not notice. While she was chatting and eating snacks with classmates on one side, Hikigaya-kun might be helping another classmate she knew with magical girl training on the other side.
But she had not expected that before she found a chance to talk to Kita Ikuyo last night, Ikuyo had already disappeared.
When she saw Kita Ikuyo again at school this morning and brought up the magical girl awakening ceremony, there was much more awkwardness on Ikuyo's face. She said that she and the rest of Kessoku Band had already awakened their magical girl powers.
"Um… can I ask something? Why does President Kaede want us to become magical girls?"
Yotsuya Miko glanced at her best friend Yurikawa Hana, who was also looking at her and waiting for her opinion, and could not help asking.
Had not Kita Ikuyo just become a magical girl with Ijichi Nijika, Yamada Ryo, and Gotou Hitori last night?
According to Shion and Haruno, Sobu High would soon be adding many demi-human and human transfer students. The Service Club would also gain new members. They might even open a separate hot spring bath for members' mothers as a kind of benefit.
As Hikigaya-kun's childhood friend and the student council president of Sobu High, Kaede had to deal with exams and receive transfer students. She should be very busy. Why did she still care about whether she and Hana became magical girls?
"Of course it's so you can fight Iris with us. Even if you haven't become magical girls, you know about the situation between us and Iris's demi-humans, right? Your physiques are too weak. If you don't become magical girls, you won't recover more than a few times before you're stuck in bed."
At this point, Kaede rolled her eyes, her tone filled with resentment toward Hachiman.
Logically, when facing so many of them at once, and as their physical fitness and strength kept improving, the one who should not be able to get out of bed should be Hachiman.
But absurdly, the ones who could not get out of bed were them.
New members were fine. They were just easily teased by Hachiman. Normally, he did not take the initiative. So new members only felt shy about the club's situation and occasionally thought about him.
But veteran members were different. The longer they had close contact with him, the more they liked him and the more easily they were influenced.
The most deeply affected were naturally she and Suzu, who were his childhood friends, as well as Iris and Elio and the other demi-humans who spent the most time with him.
Their strength increased day by day, yet their resistance to him grew weaker.
The more they liked him, the easier they were stirred. The easier they were stirred, the more they liked him. After a few cycles, even without him moving, they would cling to him tightly. It was a vicious cycle.
She could have avoided him to escape this situation. But she could not help itm Being in tune with Suzu and Tsubaki, having their whole selves grasped and seen through by Hachiman, that feeling was intoxicating.
She did not know what to say about him. He made people love and hate him at the same time. Even so many magical girls could not extinguish his desire.
If she had not become a magical girl and greatly enhanced her recovery ability, and if their magical girl battle outfits did not absorb the energy he poured onto them to slowly strengthen them and ease their predicament, she, Kaede, and Tsubaki would probably all be stuck in bed and unable to attend school.
"Uh…"
Yotsuya Miko stared blankly at Kaede, who was gritting her teeth at Hachiman yet could not hide the blush on her cheeks. Her mouth slowly opened, not knowing what to say.
She had never expected that the student council president's reason for wanting her and Hana to become magical girls would be this.
At the Service Club, she had seen scenes of many people lying beside Hikigaya-kun, unsure whether they were unconscious or asleep. She knew he was strong, but she had not known he was that strong.
Without personal experience, and without even having a first experience, she could not imagine that after only a few seconds of stubborn talk, Kaede would end up biting Hachiman's shoulder, telling him to wait, to slow down, to dote on Tsubaki, Suzu, Shion, and the others first.
"Still, this kind of thing should be voluntary. If you don't want to, I won't force you."
Seeing Miko's shocked expression, Kaede calmed her embarrassed and annoyed feelings and continued.
"I'm not sure about Yurikawa-san, but as for you, Yotsuya-san…"
"I think Hachiman probably likes you. He invited you to stay at his house before, and later had Ouka give you protective amulets."
"You can think about it carefully. Or you can try using the empathy bracelet to feel how amazing he is and get used to it a bit."
The Service Club did not lack people who coveted power and wanted to join. What it lacked were trustworthy members.
Yotsuya Miko had been in the club so long without being tempted by power. That alone showed she was reliable. There was no need to worry she would cause trouble after becoming a magical girl and disturb the harmonious atmosphere of the Hikigaya household and the club.
Her rivalry with Iris was only about gaining more influence and preventing the other side from dominating around Hachiman. It was not truly about life and death.
The reason things had escalated into a so-called Service War was partly because Hachiman was too strong, and partly because neither side wanted the other to be too comfortable.
Now that Yotsuya Miko was indeed facing difficulties, Kaede thought it was perfectly fine to include her in something that would benefit everyone and benefit Hachiman even more.
If Miko refused, it did not matter. There were plenty of families and corporations recommending beautiful girls. They just needed to screen them. Unlike Miko, who was ready-made and only needed Hachiman's development training before she could stand at the front lines when fighting Iris.
"Mm… Hikigaya-kun likes me… really?"
Kaede had said a lot, but Miko only caught the part about him liking her. Her fair, flawless face immediately flushed slightly as she asked in disbelief.
In truth, she did have quite a bit of affection for Hikigaya-kun. Not only because he had helped her, but also because of a shared embarrassing memory only the two of them knew. Every time she thought of him or saw him, she felt a faint sense of shyness.
But the reason she had been conflicted for so long was mainly because the magical girl development training scenes had shocked her too much.
Compared to her own embarrassing moment of being so scared she ran to his house to change clothes and even stayed the night, the magical girl development scenes were the real black history.
Though if everyone joined, then maybe it would not count as black history anymore.
"Actually, I can teach you onmyoji techniques and spells for self-defense, as long as you have the patience. But those powers aren't easy to master quickly. Hikigaya-kun's ability to turn people into magical girls is the most effective, strongest, and safest way to become stronger that I've ever seen."
The oni princess shrine maiden, Origamine Ouka, saw that Kaede was trying to recruit Miko and spoke up after thinking for a moment.
"With so many capable transfer students at Sobu High now, you won't encounter vengeful spirits around school. If you don't want to become magical girls, that's fine too."
"You stay at school and the Service Club most of the time. Your protective amulets don't get used up quickly. Just come to me if you need more."
"Hana, what do you think?"
Seeing that Ouka was not forcing her either, Miko turned helplessly to her best friend.
"I don't have much of an opinion. It depends on you, Miko. If you want to become a magical girl, I'll become one with you."
Yurikawa Hana, who had a much better figure than Miko, kept licking her lips at the smell of food drifting from the office, swallowing from time to time. Seeing Miko look at her, she shook her head.
"If you don't want to become one, I won't either. I can't see vengeful spirits anyway. With the protective amulets Vice President Mafune gives us, there shouldn't be any safety issues."
She did not dislike Hachiman. As Miko's good friend, she knew how conflicted and afraid Miko was. If Miko wanted to become a magical girl, she would go with her.
But this kind of decision had to be made by Miko herself. She did not want to influence her. Whatever Miko chose, she would follow.
Compared to that, the food in the student council office felt more important at the moment.
It smelled so good. Even though she had eaten before coming, the aroma of the dishes made her want to eat again.
"… "
Hearing Hana's words, Miko felt helpless.
Normally, people would not encounter vengeful spirits so often. But whenever she and Hana walked around outside, it felt like wandering spirits would be drawn to them.
Kaede and Ouka both said she would be safe as long as she did not wander around too much, even without becoming a magical girl.
Their considerate words instead left her unsure what to do.
If they had forced her, she might have half-reluctantly agreed. After all, she did not dislike Hikigaya-kun. They already had that embarrassing history of her wetting herself in his arms. Developing their relationship further did not seem impossible.
Hana could not see vengeful spirits, but if spirits followed her outside, she would not know. That was dangerous.
If she accepted Hikigaya-kun's development and became a magical girl, fully integrating into the Service Club, their problem would be solved. She could truly relax, and if anything happened, she could ask the club sisters for help.
But since everyone respected her opinion so much, if she chose to join, it would feel strange and embarrassing.
Gulp!
Hana swallowed again, glancing at the dishes on the table inside the office.
"Why don't you both come in and eat first? Hachiman should be here soon. When he arrives, Yotsuya-san, you can talk it over with him before making a decision. How about that?"
Rurikawa Tsubaki glanced at Hana, then at the still-hesitating Miko, and suddenly smiled gently.
"Talk with Hikigaya-kun and then decide?"
Miko froze, staring at Tsubaki in shock.
'Isn't that a bit too much?'
'It is one thing for his childhood friend to say this. How can I discuss something like this with Hikigaya-kun himself?'
'Wouldn't that be like asking him directly whether he wants to do that kind of thing with me?'
"It's fine. Shion had the maids prepare plenty of dishes. We can't finish them all even if you two join."
"No! That's not what I meant!"
"Then what do you mean? Yurikawa-san, you should come in too."
"Um… I actually already ate…"
Seeing Miko stammering, Tsubaki simply grabbed her and led her inside.
"Is that really okay? Then I won't hold back~"
Seeing Miko being pulled in, Hana quickly followed.
"Come in and eat first to replenish your strength. Hachiman should arrive soon. Suzu, serve Yotsuya-san some good food."
Feeling that Miko's resistance was weak, Tsubaki pulled her straight to the middle of the sofa and had Suzu help sandwich her so she could not leave.
In fact, Miko had been hesitating instead of refusing outright in the face of such an embarrassing matter. That already revealed her feelings for Hachiman.
Others might not notice, but Tsubaki could.
She understood that very well. After all, she had been half-forced into joining too.
The first time, she had been forced by Ursula, with Iris watching.
The second time, she had been forced by Iris, with Kaede watching.
After that, there was no need to mention it. She was often pushed to the front by Kaede and Suzu to take the brunt. Even Shion sometimes watched as Hachiman bullied her.
When it came to going along passively and needing someone to push her from behind, she was very experienced.
"Tsubaki, nicely done~"
Seeing that Tsubaki had really pulled Miko inside and even brought along her best friend Hana, Kaede happily made a gesture at her.
'Later, have Hachiman reward you properly.'
"… "
Understanding Kaede's gesture, Tsubaki's elegant and gentle smile turned slightly helpless and shy.
If possible, she did not want that reward.
She had already tasted that kind of reward more than enough.
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