'As long as we sacrifice the others and stall for time... maybe once Hachiman completely forgets about this, it'll be fine.'
At that moment, the angel Raphiel and the nightmare Naruse Maria had surprisingly reached the same conclusion.
"Raphiel... does she not see us as friends?"
Setsuna Ogiso stared at Raphiel's fleeing figure and bit her lip hard.
She wanted to ask clearly what kind of special relationship Raphiel had with Hikigaya-kun, but if Raphiel refused to say anything, there was nothing they could do.
Just now, when she saw Hikigaya-kun walking over, she even had the thought of exposing Raphiel and letting him catch her.
But the moment she remembered how last time Raphiel pushed them onto Hikigaya-kun, causing that extremely awkward incident where they were stuck together for a long time before finally separating, she immediately gave up on that idea.
After lunch break ended, they still had exams. If Raphiel pushed them onto Hikigaya-kun again and they couldn't separate, how were the three of them supposed to take the test?
"Shiraha-san..."
Furuhashi Fumino also looked helplessly at Raphiel's silver hair fluttering as she ran away.
Among the three of them, only Setsuna Ogiso and Tsukimi Chifuyu were close friends with Shiraha Raphiel. Last time, she had simply been passing by and happened to guide Hikigaya-kun, which was why she got dragged into the mess.
Although her relationship with Setsuna and Chifuyu was decent, she had always kept some distance because of the gap in their social standing.
Only after they shared the embarrassing experience of helping Hikigaya-kun wipe his... did their distance become closer.
"Don't worry. As Raphiel's friends, we'll definitely punish her properly and give you an explanation."
Seeing Furuhashi Fumino staring at Raphiel's back, Setsuna Ogiso comforted her softly, then turned to Tsukimi Chifuyu, trying to pull her in to help.
"Chifuyu, right? Not just for Fumino, but for ourselves too."
"Uh... I'll listen to you, Setsuna."
With little opinion of her own, Tsukimi Chifuyu could only nod stiffly under the gaze of Setsuna Ogiso and Furuhashi Fumino, agreeing to join the crusade against Raphiel.
How could she refuse?
She was also a victim who had been pushed onto Hikigaya-kun by Raphiel.
But last time Setsuna provided the handkerchief, Fumino did the actual wiping, and she contributed nothing.
If they failed to catch Raphiel this time, she didn't even know whether it would be her turn to suffer next.
Uh... Fumino and Setsuna asked her to hold onto the handkerchief... that doesn't mean what she thinks it means, right...
"Still, the three of us alone definitely can't discipline Raphiel. We'll have to talk to Hikigaya-kun, the one who even makes Raphiel hide in fear. Let's think of a way together and see if we can find a chance to help Hikigaya-kun catch her."
Seeing Chifuyu agree, Setsuna Ogiso nodded in satisfaction.
"Although Hikigaya-kun's whereabouts are unpredictable and he's often hard to find."
"But I remember he said that Yumiko's good friend Nijika's band is short a lead singer. I can find an excuse to approach Hikigaya-kun through Nijika, but it can't be too direct, or Raphiel might notice."
"Hikigaya-kun also seems to get called to the office by Kirisu-sensei quite often for guidance. Fumino, as the 'Sleeping Beauty of the Literary Forest,' you can also take the chance to talk with him there."
Facing Raphiel, who loved to mess with her good friends, joining all the victims together to punish her was definitely the right move.
But Hikigaya-kun said Raphiel was an angel. Even if she hadn't shown much power in front of them, they were just ordinary people. There was no way they could deal with her themselves.
"Setsuna, don't call me that! I just happen to be a little better at humanities!"
Furuhashi Fumino's ears turned red when she heard that nickname other students had given her.
Her grades in liberal arts were indeed good, but there were so many students who were strong in both arts and sciences, even both brains and sports. She, who was so clearly biased in subjects and often called to the office by Kirisu-sensei for guidance, being called something like the Sleeping Beauty of the Literary Forest, was just too embarrassing.
"As for Chifuyu... how about you join second-year Hayase Saki's Social Anxiety Mutual Support Club? I heard she has a pretty good relationship with Hikigaya-kun."
Setsuna Ogiso slowly shifted her gaze to Tsukimi Chifuyu, who looked quite similar to Hayase Saki, and thoughtfully made the suggestion.
"Huh? I have to approach Hikigaya-kun too? Isn't it enough for you and Fumino to do it? I'm not smart. What if I say something wrong or let something slip?"
Tsukimi Chifuyu froze, then looked pitifully at Setsuna Ogiso and Furuhashi Fumino.
"The three of us will approach Hikigaya-kun separately and discuss three different methods with him. We won't tell each other what those methods are. That way Raphiel probably won't notice. Or even if she does, she won't be able to guard against all three of us at the same time."
Setsuna Ogiso shook her head. She had clearly thought this through seriously. From the way Raphiel hid from Hikigaya-kun in advance, she must have some special way of sensing things, but she probably couldn't monitor all three of them at once.
"Don't worry, Chifuyu. I've looked into it. Hayase Saki's personality is pretty similar to yours, and her Social Anxiety Mutual Support Club is currently recruiting. With your temperament and expression, if you go over and say you want to join, Hayase Saki definitely won't suspect a thing."
While listening to Setsuna, Furuhashi Fumino secretly observed her expression. The result made her heart skip a beat.
These ideas clearly weren't something Setsuna had just come up with. She must have quietly gathered information beforehand.
Only now, after realizing Raphiel still refused to explain herself, did she pull them in to contact Hikigaya-kun together.
'Was that a little petty?'
After all, they had only been pushed onto Hikigaya-kun and couldn't separate. The part about helping him wipe his... was just an accident. Embarrassing, yes, but not that serious, right?
But precisely because of that, knowing how reliable Setsuna Ogiso usually was, Furuhashi Fumino felt reassured and immediately comforted the conflicted Tsukimi Chifuyu.
"That's right, Chifuyu. Don't worry. Raphiel will definitely never guess that Setsuna would send you to approach Hikigaya-kun."
"Setsuna and I might be discovered by Raphiel, but you definitely won't."
"O-Okay."
With both good friends saying so, Tsukimi Chifuyu had no choice but to nod stiffly.
She was indeed rather introverted, even lacking her own strong opinions.
Other than cheerful and enthusiastic girls like Setsuna Ogiso and the others, she had no other friends.
Still, what did they mean by saying Raphiel would definitely never suspect her?
Tsukimi Chifuyu looked at the two of them with a faint gaze as they stood united, completely unaware anything was wrong.
She wanted to argue against their prejudice, but sadly, she didn't know how.
Because she also felt that Setsuna and Fumino were right.
———
On the other side, Hachiman had no idea that Raphiel wanted to drag more angels into this mess, nor that the Setsuna Ogiso trio was planning to set a trap around him to catch and punish Raphiel for not treating them as friends.
At this moment, he had already arrived at the student council office with Naruse Mio and Naruse Maria, staring in shock at the people sitting on the sofas inside.
Student council president Kaede and Suzu twins, the noble young lady Rurikawa Tsubaki, the maid Shion, and the shrine maiden Origamine Ouka. All of them were student council members, so it was perfectly normal for them to be there.
Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana coming to find Origamine Ouka to get protective charms was also normal. Nothing surprising about that.
What truly surprised him was the white-haired, red-eyed, dragon-horned bratty little dragon girl Ursula, arrogantly occupying an entire sofa by herself.
"Ursula, you finally dare to come back?"
Hachiman's figure disappeared from the doorway of the student council office and reappeared beside Ursula the next second, excitedly picking up her small and delicate body and pulling her into his arms.
He hadn't seen this little dragon girl who could grow big or small in quite some time. He only knew that she had been running around looking for outside reinforcements.
He didn't expect her to suddenly come back without saying a word.
"Hmph! You missed me, didn't you? Without me around, you'd have been bullied by that elf princess... wait, what do you mean finally dare to come back? I wasn't hiding because I was scared of you!"
Seeing how excited Hachiman was at her appearance, Ursula was just about to raise her chin arrogantly and mock him, but then she suddenly realized something was wrong and immediately glared at him angrily.
She had thought he would say something caring.
Instead, he opened his mouth and belittled her. She hadn't run away because she was afraid of him.
It was just that the elf princess had too many elves on her side. She had gone out to find a few helpers to deal with them.
Though she hadn't expected that the monsters and demi-humans in this world were so scattered. After searching for so long, she had only found a few. It almost felt like staying at Sobu High would have been easier, with demi-humans delivering themselves to her.
"Alright, alright, I missed you. You came back just to satisfy my wish, okay? But Ursula, when did you return?"
Hachiman looked at the stubborn Ursula, who was just like Kaede in that way, and grinned as he played with her dragon horns and tail.
"Just... just now. I was planning to find a few more demi-humans, but who knew you'd create some kind of awakened magic essence... so I brought people back... back..."
The moment Hachiman grabbed her tail and horns without warning, Ursula, still wearing the Servant Collar and unable to resist him, blushed and her voice trembled slightly.
She hadn't seen him for a while and had thought she had overcome her embarrassing reactions to being pressed down and bullied by him. She had planned to take advantage of the low concentration of awakened magic essence around him to regain her dignity as the dragon clan leader.
She knew it would be hard. The moment she returned to Sobu High, she had sensed that Hachiman's life energy was many times stronger than when she left.
But she never expected that just being held in his arms... before he even did anything.
"So you were still afraid of me, huh?"
Hearing her explanation, Hachiman smiled and lowered his head to plant a firm kiss on Ursula.
"W-Wait... not here. Let me introduce the demi-humans I brought back... Miime! Hurry and introduce yourself to this guy!"
Feeling her body gradually heating up, Ursula sensed something bad and quickly shouted to stop him. In private, she wouldn't mind a long-awaited, blood-spilling battle with him, but not with so many people watching.
"The demi-humans you brought back?"
Only then did Hachiman look at the demi-humans who had been standing behind Ursula's sofa and were now stepping forward.
Following Ursula's command, a silver-haired, purple-eyed girl with a serious and composed expression stepped out from the group and bowed respectfully to him.
"Greetings, Lord Hikigaya. My name is Miime Favnir, daughter of the Favnir family. My race is the Human-Dragon clan." [T/N: From "Mama×Holic ~Miwaku no Mama to Ama Ama Kankei~"]
"Human-Dragon clan? Miime?"
Looking at the noble and elegant silver-haired, purple-eyed girl Miime Favnir before him, Hachiman, who had long since grown used to ignoring character card prompts, finally realized that Miime was a demi-human character related to awakened magic essence.
Aoe Kuon, Kijou Suzuka, and Senga Seira were the main heroines of the first part. Their mothers, Aoe Mai, Kijou Yasha, and Senga Sally, were the main heroines of the second part. [T/N: Same as Favnir]
And Miime's storyline also appeared in the second part, making her debut as Sally's sister-in-law from the Human-Dragon clan.
He truly hadn't expected that. He thought Ursula would drag Sally into this, but instead she even brought Miime along.
"Yes, Lord Hikigaya. This time I have accompanied Lady Ursula to Japan as her attendant. If Lady Ursula is ever absent, you may give me any instructions you require. I will do my utmost to handle them for you."
As Hachiman looked at her, for some reason, even though it was only a few glances, Miime's heartbeat suddenly quickened and her cheeks warmed slightly. Still, she was no ordinary Human-Dragon. She managed to keep her expression serious and calm.
"Our dragon clan is the strongest race in our world in terms of individual strength. Naturally, in this world, the Human-Dragon clan is also the strongest among the demi-humans. It's just that they're on another continent. I searched for a long time before finally finding them."
After finally freeing her tail and horns from Hachiman's grasp, Ursula took a breath and spoke.
"Miime is the daughter of the Favnir family, which holds the highest authority among the Human-Dragon clan. She should also have some standing in the demi-human alliance here. If you need anything done, just order her to do it. If she doesn't listen, tell me."
Since this world had demi-humans, her first thought had been to find the physically powerful dragon clan as reinforcements.
But this world didn't have dragons. Or rather, the surviving dragons had become Human-Dragons.
Though also called demi-humans, Human-Dragons born from dragons and humans were far weaker than true dragons. Their influence and reputation were also far inferior. It was only after meeting many other demi-humans that she learned their territory wasn't here.
"Actually, there are Human-Dragons here... Miss Sally of the Senga family, who is engaged to my brother, and her mother both live here..."
Seeing that Ursula seemed to blame them, Miime hesitated before explaining softly.
Could she say that Lady Ursula simply ran around randomly and couldn't find them?
If she had asked a few well-connected demi-humans, she would have known about their situation.
For example, one of the four council leaders of the Demi-Human Alliance, the snow woman Aoe Mai of the Aoe family, was quite famous among demi-humans.
"Then you'd better serve Hachiman well. Otherwise I'll make them come here and serve Hachiman too!"
Ursula glared angrily at Miime for daring to talk back and directly ordered her to serve Hachiman properly.
"Yes. I will strive to satisfy Lord Hikigaya."
Miime wanted to say something, but after biting her lip, she lowered her head.
The Human-Dragon clan had rather special rules. From birth, marriages were arranged, and once they reached the proper age, they would marry.
The one engaged to her brother was Sally of the Senga family, who lived in Japan.
But before they could officially fulfill the engagement, the dragon clan leader had appeared to interfere.
Well... to be precise, Lady Ursula did not insist on breaking her brother's engagement. She only learned there was a Human-Dragon in Japan and wanted that Human-Dragon to serve Lord Hikigaya.
To prevent Lady Ursula from ruining her brother's engagement, she had come along specifically to serve Lord Hikigaya in place of her future sister-in-law.
"Ursula, you've been out traveling and you're still this willful."
Watching Ursula act like a proper villain, Hachiman reached out and pinched her cheeks hard, sounding helpless.
He knew this bratty dragon clan leader was willful, but forcing someone's not-yet-married sister-in-law to serve him right in front of her own sister was too much.
"How is that willful? There's no love between them anyway. Just cancel the engagement and arrange another one."
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