Hachiman slowly held the slender, soft body of Yukinoshita Yukino in his arms. His chin rested on Yukinoshita Yukino's weak shoulder, his gaze moving slightly along with her breathing before finally landing on Kanase Kanon, who was sitting together with Nishikigi Chisato and Inoue Takina.
"Mhm... lift your skirts and let me see."
"Hachiman-san?"
"Lift our skirts?"
"Nii-chan?"
Nishikigi Chisato and Inoue Takina both froze for a moment when they heard that, but still walked directly in front of Hachiman and lifted their skirts.
Under the hems of their plaid skirts, their pale, long, rounded legs looked especially firm and strong.
Black calf socks wrapped around their slim, well-shaped calves.
Doing this in front of Kaede, Iris, and even so many young ladies made even the usually expressionless Inoue Takina blush slightly. Nishikigi Chisato, who always wore a bright grin and joked around, was even more unable to keep herself together.
Was this some new punishment game?
What was Hachiman-san trying to do?
Even though he was only asking them to lift their skirts, far from the things they had already done with Hachiman-san, this strange feeling was somehow even more embarrassing than openly serving him in front of everyone.
Wait, it did not seem to be only the two of them?
Inoue Takina and Nishikigi Chisato suddenly turned their heads and saw the slender, delicate legs under Kanase Kanon's skirt, tightly wrapped in black pantyhose. Both of them looked shocked.
"??"
"Kanon-chan, why are you also..."
They had not expected Kanase Kanon to lift her skirt together with them.
When they had made tea together earlier, they had already chatted with Kanase Kanon. Although she had good talent and was a gifted spiritual ability user, she was actually a quiet, introverted girl, even somewhat shy.
Even from Kanase Kanon's words, they could hear her admiration for Hachiman. They had no doubt that if Hachiman hugged Kanase Kanon and whispered a few sweet words, he could carry the pure Kanase Kanon straight to bed.
But today was Kanase Kanon's first time meeting Hachiman-san, and she had no other special needs, so how could she boldly obey him and lift her skirt just like them?
"Ah? I... Nii-chan..."
Kanase Kanon was just as confused. She could only watch helplessly as she walked together with Nishikigi Chisato and the others to stand in front of Hachiman and lift her skirt.
Only after Hachiman finished looking did she realize she could control her body again. She quickly lowered her skirt in panic.
"Sorry, I was just joking with you, Kanon. I hope you do not mind. La Folia said you're very obedient and well-behaved. You were lost for many years and only recently brought back."
"Tsubaki and the others arranged things well. Kanon, you'll join Komachi's class from now on. Go to school together with Komachi and the others so nobody bullies you."
"Mhm! Kanon, you can call me brother just like Shion and Komachi do."
After finishing the test, Hachiman quickly apologized to the pure and kind Kanase Kanon while quietly thinking about the range of adaptation for the conceptual ability called "saying no while the body acts honestly."
Kanase Kanon had not lifted her skirt with a disgusted face for him to see. She had done it while blushing shyly.
If that was the case, then this ability was not simply effective against tsunderes.
Because saying one thing while meaning another was normal. Saying different things depending on the person was a basic social skill. But in front of him, the more someone tried to hide themselves, the easier it became to expose themselves. It was practically like a forced command to tell the truth, except instead of speaking honest words, they used actions to "say" their real thoughts.
"Mmm... no, I do not mind... Nii-chan Hachiman, if you... want to see next time... you can tell me first... so I can prepare myself mentally..."
Kanase Kanon looked at Hachiman, who was still holding Yukinoshita Yukino in his arms. Her face turned bright red as both hands helplessly gripped the hem of her clothes. She spoke softly.
Naturally, she did not believe it was just a joke. She had just seen Sister Kaede hugging Sister Yukino and making Sister Yukino sit down facing her.
Still, she was not angry at all about lifting her skirt and being seen. Before coming here, she already knew La Folia and the others' purpose. She had even thought that if she could help, maybe she would also need to offer herself together with La Folia and the others.
If she could contribute even a little to protecting peace and protecting the world.
It was just too sudden. She had no idea how she should react.
She also did not know whether the underwear she wore today was cute or not, or whether Nii-chan Hachiman would think she looked childish.
Kanase Kanon secretly glanced at Inoue Takina and Nishikigi Chisato beside her, both wearing lace and ribbons. Her pink cheeks grew redder and redder, and even her glossy earlobes turned completely red.
'Maybe I need to become more mature...'
"I didn't expect President Hachiman to understand Kanon so well. Actually, Kanon likes you quite a bit too. She knows many stories about how you sacrificed yourself to help others without asking for anything in return, and she really admires you, President Hachiman."
Things had moved too quickly, and most people still had not fully reacted. Only now did La Folia belatedly realize that Kanase Kanon and Hachiman seemed to "like each other." She immediately stood up smiling brightly, walked behind Kanase Kanon, and directly pushed her onto Hachiman's lap, pressing her tightly against the trembling Yukinoshita Yukino.
Although she did not know why Kanon had caught President Hachiman's attention, Kanon was not the only one with good talent, nor the only one with good temperament. But since President Hachiman liked her and Kanon did not dislike him, naturally she had to help things along.
Even though Aunt Kanon calling President Hachiman "Nii-chan" lowered her own generation, making it seem like she should call President Hachiman "uncle-in-law," was that not even more exciting? Maybe President Hachiman would like it.
Maybe she could even find a new path amid the competition between all the factions.
"La Folia, this is too..."
After just going through the unforgettable magical girl talent awakening ceremony and becoming magical girls under overflowing life energy, Saegusa Mayumi and Shiba Miyuki both looked at La Folia in surprise as she pushed Kanase Kanon onto Hachiman. They exchanged looks with complicated expressions.
Because although they were close in age, and Kanase Kanon was even younger than La Folia, by seniority Kanase Kanon was La Folia's aunt.
The relationship was somewhat similar to the one between the Yotsuba family head Yotsuba Maya and Shiba Miyuki. One was aunt and niece, the other was aunt and niece from the maternal side.
Could this have been the true goal of the Silver Princess La Folia all along? Since she knew her own competitiveness was not enough, she wanted to pull Kanase Kanon into serving together with her?
Otherwise why had she specifically brought Kanase Kanon over instead of leaving her at Komachi's school?
'So annoying... I'm so jealous...'
Shinomiya Kaguya looked at the flock of girls gathered around Hachiman. She pulled back her gaze and looked toward Saegusa Mayumi and Shiba Miyuki beside her, who had finished the magical girl awakening ceremony and were now pulling their skirts back down, putting on stockings, holding tea cups, and whispering together with La Folia and her aunt. Kaguya felt completely helpless inside.
Leaving aside La Folia's aunt Kanase Kanon, the Lion King Organization guard Kirasaka Sayaka, and DA's Nishikigi Chisato and Inoue Takina, who had already become magical girls, among all the young ladies who came today, she was the only one left who had not become a magical girl.
Actually, there was no need to limit it to young ladies. Other than Kirasaka Sayaka, among everyone in the office who represented their own factions, she was now the only one who had not gone up to serve President Hachiman.
Aoe Akane, Kijou Suzuka, Senga Seira, Saegusa Mayumi, Shiba Miyuki, and the others had all already served President Hachiman.
Although the area around the office desk earlier had been packed and she could not squeeze in above, and she also could not kneel below.
Mhm... it was not that she was too proud to kneel. It was that she could not serve Hachiman while kneeling like Charlotte and La Folia. If she forced herself in, she would only humiliate herself. Otherwise she would not have cared so much.
"Kaguya, if I remember correctly, Ai is your maid, right?"
Hachiman rubbed Kanase Kanon's smooth silver hair and reluctantly pushed her toward Rurikawa Tsubaki's side. He also sent La Folia and the others to chat with Lala before finally looking toward Shinomiya Kaguya, the only remaining black-haired long-haired girl among the many present today.
For second-dimensional heroines like Saegusa Mayumi and Shiba Miyuki, who were relatively proud in personality, if they delivered themselves to him, he would first take the chance to eat them up and slowly educate them afterward.
For obedient and well-behaved heroines like Kanase Kanon, he was instead not in a hurry.
Once Kanase Kanon entered Komachi's class and became her classmate, she could then come to the house as Komachi's friend and play together with Shion and the others later.
Right now, he was more interested in Shinomiya Kaguya, who had not come over to serve him earlier. Thinking of Shinomiya Kaguya naturally made him think of her friend Fujiwara Chika, known as the "Cancer of Earth," and also her personal maid, the double-agent operative Hayasaka Ai.
"Ah? Ai? Right, right, Hayasaka is my personal maid. We've grown up together since childhood."
The frustrated Shinomiya Kaguya froze when she heard that. Her gaze landed on Yukinoshita Yukino's back, where Yukino was lying against Hachiman's shoulder with both arms tightly around him, her slender body twitching slightly. Kaguya hesitated before speaking.
"But Fujiwara is not feeling well today, so Hayasaka is taking care of her and didn't come. President Hachiman, do you want Hayasaka to come serve you?"
The atmosphere in the Shinomiya family was different from the Hachiman side. Even though Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Ai had lived together since childhood and were practically closer than sisters, because of their master-servant relationship, Shinomiya Kaguya usually called her "Hayasaka." So when Hachiman suddenly called Hayasaka Ai by the nickname "Ai," Shinomiya Kaguya did not react immediately.
Still, those were just small details.
The real reason she hesitated was because she did not understand why Hachiman suddenly brought up her personal maid.
Could it be that Hachiman wanted a change of taste?
Otherwise why specifically bring up Hayasaka, who already had an owner and whose figure was not especially impressive, instead of other maids with better bodies?
For example, Saegusa Mayumi and Shiba Miyuki, who had just undergone the magical girl awakening ceremony, both had decent figures, but compared to the others they were not particularly outstanding. Yukinoshita Yukino was even below average.
Mhm... she was not mocking Yukinoshita Yukino. She just thought that if Hachiman really liked flat... scarce resources, then perhaps she did not need to keep waiting and could instead take the initiative herself.
As representatives of major financial groups, Shinomiya Kaguya only seemed to lose slightly in terms of body shape. But as an illegitimate daughter with no inheritance rights and little importance within the Shinomiya family, she basically had no resources supporting her.
Aside from her personal maid and close friends, she also had no allies. She could only wait until official class assignments after enrollment before pulling ordinary classmates to her side and forming her own small group to compete with the other factions.
"Usually Tsubaki's maid Shion handles various school matters, but now Shion is busy managing the affairs of the Rurikawa family and can't keep up anymore. So I wanted to borrow Ai from you for a while to temporarily take over Shion's work, like recruiting exclusive personal maids."
Seeing that Shinomiya Kaguya was confused about why he cared about Hayasaka Ai, Hachiman smiled. The hand stroking Yukinoshita Yukino's back slid all the way down while he gently soothed the Yukino going through the awakening ceremony and explained things to Shinomiya Kaguya.
There were quite a lot of matters in the Rurikawa family. Having Shion alone handle them as a maid really was not ideal.
But those family matters could not simply be ignored. He could hardly have the young lady Tsubaki deal with family affairs while personal maid Shion stayed here receiving his affection.
Right now Shion was also extremely busy, spending most of the daytime outside and rarely coming to school.
Though this did not affect the daily service sessions, because many people only had time to participate in the service games at night anyway. During the day, not many people could consistently stay with him and eat together.
Still, many maid duties in school were currently being handled by Tsubaki, such as serving tea in the office earlier.
Tsubaki herself had no complaints about this amount of work, but he felt perhaps this was a good chance to add another maid.
"Th-this... President Hachiman, are you serious? You want Hayasaka to come serve you?"
Shinomiya Kaguya stared blankly at Hachiman, doubting her own ears.
Was he trying to poach her personal maid?
Did he like Hayasaka that much?
Even though he said it was temporary, since President Hachiman had already brought it up himself, after poaching her over, she would probably become permanent before long.
"I just think Ai is pretty good. If Kaguya-san is unwilling, that's fine too. I'll go look for someone else suitable."
Hachiman noticed Yukinoshita Yukino rolling her eyes at him. He lowered his head and bit the fragrant tongue she had slightly stuck out before looking back at Shinomiya Kaguya with a smile.
"No, it's not that I'm unwilling. I was just surprised President Hachiman thinks so highly of Hayasaka. I'll tell Hayasaka this good news after I return and have her come serve you as soon as possible."
Watching Yukinoshita Yukino's limbs stiffen while her slender legs wrapped in black thigh-high socks tightly clamped around Hachiman's waist, seemingly close to completing the magical girl awakening ceremony, Shinomiya Kaguya swallowed and quickly denied it while making her promise.
Although it only sounded like Hayasaka Ai would handle school matters, making it seem less powerful than Shion, who handled family affairs, the truth was the exact opposite.
Right now, there were many high-status students at Sobu High, and the hidden resources there far exceeded Shuchiin Academy.
Even if President Hachiman was not making Hayasaka fully responsible for school-related matters, simply managing the personal maid section alone would already bring huge benefits.
For example, deciding who could become President Hachiman's personal maid.
Among the many people in the Service Club, only a small portion could regularly stay by the President's side. Although the position of personal maid sounded like that of a servant who waited on others, they could constantly serve President Hachiman and receive his favor. Without question, it was a position everyone coveted.
As for whether she worried President Hachiman would steal Hayasaka away... rather, she hoped Hayasaka could gain President Hachiman's favor and be fully poached over.
After all, every faction understood that President Hachiman had a good temper, little desire for control, and not much ambition. As long as the people around him were obedient, well-behaved, and did not cause trouble, that was enough.
As long as Hayasaka truly became President Hachiman's person, there would be no issue with him openly giving some special care to the Shinomiya family as Hayasaka's "maiden home." Other factions would even become more polite toward the Shinomiya family.
As fellow personal maids, nobody would care if Hayasaka remained her maid. But if she became President Hachiman's personal maid, everyone would have to pay attention to her.
Though when she thought about it carefully, it was hard not to complain a little. Her own charm was actually lower than Hayasaka's. Wasn't it said President Hachiman liked girls with long black hair? She had even purposely left her hair untied and let her long black hair fall over her shoulders directly, so why did President Hachiman prefer the expressionless blonde maid Hayasaka.
Or maybe during last night's service game, Hayasaka, while acting as a guide maid, had served President Hachiman especially well?
Looks like she needed to ask Hayasaka for tips on how to serve President Hachiman after returning.
"Then it's settled. Have Ai come report this afternoon. I'll also check whether Shion has time and have her return to hand over the school duties to Ai."
Seeing Shinomiya Kaguya agree to his poaching without the slightest complaint, Hachiman smiled and nodded reassuringly.
"Of course, there isn't much maid work at school. Student Ai only needs to come serve me during the daytime. At night, she can still return and stay in the dormitory together with you, Kaguya."
Actually, the people around him were not especially busy or lacking staff. For example, the two-faced sweetheart Kushida Kikyo could easily take over Shion's role as head maid. In terms of social interaction, Kushida Kikyo might even be more capable than Hayasaka Ai and Shion.
But he did not want Kushida Kikyo rising so easily. He preferred seeing Kushida Kikyo grit her teeth while helplessly continuing to serve him.
Coincidentally, Kushida Kikyo could now represent the commoner faction trying to climb upward, while Hayasaka Ai could represent the financial groups wanting to continue their monopoly. And Shion could return at any time to continue being head maid.
[🎉 Shoutout to Aethergray and what_iz for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]