A person like her probably wouldn't have any value even if she became Hachiman's s!ave.
From start to finish, Hachiman never asked her for anything, but instead gave her everything she asked for.
However, that wasn't what troubled her most.
Hachiman, who seemed so dependable, had been turned into "Father" by her younger sister Sakura, who had been withdrawn for many years.
Originally, she had wanted Hachiman-kun to help cure Sakura's withdrawal. Now the withdrawal was gone, but the symptom of randomly calling someone "Father" seemed to be getting worse.
If their mother found out about this, it would be a problem.
Sakura hadn't fallen into withdrawal for no reason. After their father left, their mother had always believed he was still alive, just away on a long trip and hadn't returned yet.
It was hard to imagine what their mother would think if she saw her little sister Sakura calling Hachiman-kun "Father", witnessing such a scene of betrayal against "Dad".
This was also why, ever since she learned Sakura called Hachiman "Father," she had kept it hidden and absolutely dared not tell their mother.
She was afraid of shocking their mother, and if she ended up falling into complete withdrawal just like Sakura had back then, that would be terrible.
She wouldn't even know how to comfort her mother then.
As the eldest daughter of the Tohsaka family, Tohsaka Touka was weighed down by worries. The anguish in her heart had nowhere to go. Even her best friend, Yukinoshita Haruno, couldn't truly understand. She could only get sufficient solace when she was being enveloped by Hachiman.
And yet, at that moment, Touka felt a weight settle on her body. It seemed another new girl had piled on top of her and Kiriya Fujino.
'Huh? A new girl?'
Just now, when she was dazed, no one else had come over, right?
A faintly familiar voice reached Touka's ears. Her whole body jolted. Her eyes widened as she stared at Kiriya Fujino, who was lying on top of her, and the slender figure with short black hair sitting on Fujino's back, facing away from her and clinging tightly to Hachiman.
Sakura hadn't left just now; she'd been watching the whole time... And right now, Hachiman-kun wasn't kissing anyone, neither her nor Fujino.
That meant... the sensations being transmitted through sympathy right now were Sakura's.
"Touka-san, congratulations."
Kiriya Fujino winked at Tohsaka Touka, actively hugged Touka, and leaned back with a slight push from her waist, pressing tightly against Touka as they merged together, waiting for Hachiman to continue bestowing his favor.
Now there were already two Touka-sans. Among the ghouls on Kirishima Eto's side, there was a Kirishima Touka, and here there was a human young lady, Tohsaka Touka.
But that wasn't the point. The point was that she had discovered Master's particular interest.
Perhaps their initial thinking had been wrong from the start. The Kiriya family should have sent several sisters together, letting their shy and innocent sisterly affection be freely exposed before their master. That way, their master would like them even more.
"Sakura..."
Tohsaka Touka didn't respond to Kiriya Fujino. While gazing at Tohsaka Sakura's slender figure clinging tightly to Hachiman, she raised her pale, slender fingers and gently touched her own lips. An unreadable expression flickered in her eyes.
Actually, she had long guessed that Sakura, in her state of extreme attachment to Hachiman, would hardly avoid being dragged into this. But she hadn't expected the day to come so quickly.
And Sakura had even made the first move herself. Hachiman-kun hadn't actively approached Sakura at all. It was all Sakura trying every way to get close to Hachiman-kun. Today, she had even sneaked into the Service Club's late-night activity, insisting on joining the Service Game.
'Thank goodness, thank goodness Rin isn't as clingy with Hachiman-kun as Sakura is.'
If it was Hachiman, then sacrificing her and Sakura to protect Rin and their mother together, to protect their Tohsaka family together, wasn't completely unacceptable.
———
"Sakura? Was it you who tied me up?"
"Hey! Sakura, you're there, right? Don't just not answer!"
"I won't tell Sister... I won't stop you from looking for Hachiman-nii anymore..."
[Hachiman's Room]
Tohsaka Rin lay on her back on the soft bed. Her glossy black twin tails were tied with ribbons, her slender, round, long legs wrapped in black thigh-high socks. She had an exquisite, cute face and smooth, fair skin. With her wrists and ankles chained and unable to move freely, she could only keep opening her small, moist lips to call out Tohsaka Sakura's name, begging Sakura to stop playing tricks on her.
Yet, in the empty room, she was all alone. No matter how much she shouted, her young, clear voice just lingered in the room, with no one paying her any attention.
As time passed, Rin's slender, delicate feet in black stockings fidgeted restlessly against the sheets. Her rounded, long legs instinctively tried to press together, only to be stopped by the shackles connected to the bed frame.
'Sakura... she didn't forget I am here, did she?'
Or had Sakura never intended to let her go?
If she were only tied to the bed, Rin certainly wouldn't be this scared.
What's the big deal about being tied up? It's not like she's in some dangerous or unfamiliar place.
This was the room of Hachiman, whom Sakura saw as "Father." Sleeping here for a while didn't matter. Even if Sakura forgot to untie her, once Hachiman found her, she'd be safely freed from the shackles.
True, her sister's relationship with Hachiman was pretty ambiguous and seemed a bit improper. But Haruno, who had known Hachiman-nii for a long time, was also very beautiful. And even Yukino was the vice president of the club at Hachiman-nii's school.
Neither Haruno nor Yukino had a special relationship with Hachiman, let alone one as close as her sister's with him. This was enough to prove that Hachiman wasn't like the Takamine family, those scoundrels who would use any means, leveraging favors to force her sister into an engagement.
Of course, from a more realistic perspective, any girl Hachiman took a liking to would have to be well-developed, like Shion.
But all of this depended on her only being tied up by her little sister Sakura.
Right now, not only were her hands and feet chained to the bed, but her eyes were also covered by a black blindfold, leaving her unable to see. On top of that, Sakura had tied a very special red ribbon around her neck.
It wasn't like in those risque things Sakura had secretly stashed away. No weird stuff being fed to her, no water being poured in. It was just wearing this red ribbon.
Every half hour, she had five minutes of torment.
She couldn't quite explain what kind of torment.
All she could say was that she had never experienced anything like it.
According to Sakura, this black-tech red ribbon was even a nerfed version, a "youth model" made specifically for the girls around Komachi.
Compared to this nerfed youth version, the black choker Shion usually wore around her neck had no power limit at all, perfectly replicating the immersive feeling one-to-one.
Rin didn't know how terrifying that empathy choker, which seemed like you'd need to become a magical girl to withstand, really was.
But having personally experienced the youth version of the empathy ribbon, she could only be grateful that Sakura hadn't been cruel enough to crank up the difficulty.
Even this nerfed youth version had made her sweat soak the bedding. If she were wearing the empathy choker from Shion's neck, she'd probably be dehydrated by now.
"Hah... hah..."
Rin smelled the scent wafting from the blankets. Suddenly, her body tensed. She realized the break time seemed to be over again, and she instinctively held her breath.
'Damn it, damn it... Sakura... just how long am I going to get tormented here?'
Right now, she was panicking. She was terrified someone might see her like this, but also afraid no one would find her.
If Hachiman saw her in this state, she felt like she'd never be able to face him again.
But if she had to endure this for an entire night... she, she didn't even know if she could hold up.
"Sakura?"
Rin suddenly felt something was wrong. This time was different from before.
Even though it was still immersive, the feelings from the person experiencing it toward Hachiman felt somehow... subtle.
It didn't seem like obsession with Hachiman, nor did it seem like dislike. Instead, it was a special kind of dependence on him.
Not simply like, not simply desire.
Normally, this feeling was actually only subtly different. It would only become intense for a single moment, lasting just a few seconds at most.
But this feeling was somehow familiar, allowing her to distinguish it immediately. It made her instinctively think of the culprit responsible for her being tied up here, undergoing this "torment."
Sakura hadn't already succeeded, had she?
"Father", this is the person Sister likes, you know?
Tohsaka Rin didn't know what she was supposed to feel anymore.
Her little sister, Tohsaka Sakura, was doing something bad, betraying their sister. But what about her, who was experiencing and feeling everything alongside Sakura?
Was she betraying her sister too?
Just thinking about it made Rin's heart itch like a cat scratching it, and her already uncomfortable body felt even worse.
She hadn't even done anything yet! So why was she already burdened with the crime of betraying her sister?
———
[Somewhere in Space]
"Momo, can you even do this? Why's it taking you so long?"
"Don't disturb me. I'm cracking the security program Sister left behind. She's not paying attention to this area right now. If nothing goes wrong, I should break through in a little while."
Two small figures with pink hair were whispering. One sat at a desk, focused intently on a laptop, typing away nonstop. The other stood beside her, pointing and criticizing.
Momo Belia and Nana Aster.
Pink hair, purple eyes. One had shoulder-length short hair, the other had pink twin tails.
Momo and Nana were twin sisters. They looked very similar, with slight differences in build and personality.
Both shared a distinct feature: a slender, long tail like a devil's, ending in a spade shape, the same physical racial trait as Lala.
Actually, they had arrived on Earth not long ago, but they hadn't planned on revealing themselves directly. They wanted to play around on Earth first, observing the Earthling who had suddenly become their sister's fiance as they played.
The three sisters, Lala, Momo, and Nana, had grown up living in the palace. Though they argued and fought sometimes, they were very close.
Momo and Nana especially admired and looked up to their big sister Lala, a genius scientist who was strong, smart, flawless in figure and looks, truly the best in the universe.
Big sister Lala's personality could be a bit unreliable sometimes, and she seemed quite flaky, but she was very protective of them.
That was why they had run away from home the moment they learned Lala had a fiance, rushing straight to Earth.
How could they keep studying in the palace when their big sister was about to get married?
They had thought that the person who made their big sister, who had always resisted blind dates and didn't want to marry or inherit the throne, fall in love at first sight and become her fiance, even if he wasn't the best in the universe, would at least be excellent and completely devoted to their sister.
But after observing for this period, they found reality was completely different from what they imagined.
Their sister's fiance, Hachiman, had more than just their sister around him. It wasn't just one or two girls, nor was it just a matter of being a bit flirtatious.
Childhood friends Kaede and Suzu, Shion, Naruse Mio, Naruse Maria, the other world elf Iris, the dragon Ursula, the mermaid Elio, a whole pile of them.
Just the household alone had this many people, not to mention members of the Service Club, Girls' Competitive Swim Club, Track and Field Club, Tennis Club, and other clubs at school.
The group of transfer students who enrolled alongside them at Komachi's school were also basically girls trying to get close to Hachiman.
What had happened to their sister?
What had Hachiman fed their sister?
Originally, tonight they had planned to create a special electronic 3D virtual game, throw everyone in tonight's Service Club into the game for an experience, and also see how Hachiman reacted to unexpected situations.
If Hachiman performed poorly, maybe it could make their sister disillusioned with him.
They hadn't expected that, though they had good ideas, problems popped up everywhere.
Momo and Nana, as Lala's younger sisters, naturally both possessed considerable combat ability and their own special talents.
Each had inherited the special charm of their mother's race, the Charmians. Nana could communicate with animal life, Momo could communicate with plant life. Besides that, Momo's technical skills were second only to Lala's.
Given Earth's technological level, aside from Lala, no one should be able to rival Momo.
But that Service Club space, which was an apartment converted, was strange. Members with permission could teleport directly in, and those without could enter through the front door if accompanied by a member. But if they tried to bypass normal means, they couldn't find the administrator permissions at all.
In short, without authorization, they couldn't get in. They couldn't even secretly observe the situation inside that space.
In contrast, the place where their sister's fiance lived had slightly weaker defenses. Though the measures against peeping were also strong, at least Momo could slowly crack the security program their sister had set up, based on her knowledge of Lala's habits.
"Hmph! Sister didn't even notice we came to Earth, and you're still taking this long."
Hearing Momo's reply, which sounded like she'd already won, Nana rolled her eyes, utterly speechless at Momo's overconfidence.
Weren't they supposed to play a virtual 3D electronic game? How had it turned into cracking a program?
At this rate, by the time dawn came, they still wouldn't have figured it out.
They had snuck out, after all. If they got caught, they'd definitely be dragged back to the palace and confined for a long time, not allowed out.
They also had no idea when Mother would come to Earth to see their sister and her fiance. What if she did the same as them, came to Earth secretly first, observed their bad behavior, and then punished them? That would be a problem.
Even their sister had to bow her head before their dignified mother; otherwise, she wouldn't have been forced to run away from home and come to Earth, where she met Hachiman, that incredibly unfaithful super jerk.
"I'm already trying my best. This situation isn't what I wanted either. If we really can't do it, we could just come clean to Sister and ask her to help hide our whereabouts from Mom. Anyway, with so many people already in our brother-in-law's house, he probably wouldn't mind two more of us."
Momo, one hand typing on the laptop keyboard and the other twirling a strand of her hair, pondered how to break through the Hikigaya family's security program.
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