She didn't know if she had fallen in love with Hachiman at first sight, but she really couldn't hold back her growing desire anymore.
If she stayed here any longer, she might not be able to stop herself from making a move on Hachiman in front of everyone, or she might just go weak in the knees and kneel right in front of him.
These past two days when she dreamed, she couldn't help picturing Hachiman forcefully pushing her head down, ignoring everyone around them, and giving her the biggest, thickest humiliation.
But a dream is a dream, and reality is reality.
In reality, Hachiman was gentle and considerate. He wouldn't give her such rough training instructions, and she was too embarrassed to reveal her special taste and ask Hachiman to punish her hard.
But if there's a convention and cosplay, maybe she could find a chance to have Hachiman torment her severely, secretly satisfying that uncontrollable wicked urge of hers.
"Coach Hachiman, we're heading back too. See you on the weekend! Oh right, Hayasaka-san, let's exchange contact info."
Kitamura Kaori's delicate white face was also beautifully flushed. She shyly pushed back her cousin Kitamura Chika, who kept shoving her toward Hachiman, thanked Hachiman again, exchanged contact info with Hayasaka Ai, and then left with the tennis club members.
"Don't be shy, Kaori. It's not something embarrassing to like Coach Hachiman."
Kitamura Chika, who had been pushed away, didn't get discouraged. She blinked, grinned, and chased after Kitamura Kaori as she walked away quickly.
She hadn't brought Kaori into the club before, because the reason she stood out among so many beautiful, talented athletic girls wasn't that she was particularly great. It was purely because of an information gap.
Doing adult activities under the cover of disciplinary committee work, she'd be embarrassed to bring Kaori from the tennis club in to compete for attention.
But now Kaori had officially requested help from Hachiman, the club leader, which meant the tennis club had joined the game.
With so many tennis club members about to receive close personal training from Hachiman, a real tennis club small group had formed.
From now on, she'd be part of two small groups at once, the disciplinary committee and the tennis club.
Among the people leaving from the track and tennis clubs, the gyaru with blonde curly hair, Momioka Risa, looked at Sairenji Haruna, who kept turning back to glance at Hachiman, and felt totally speechless.
Haruna definitely had a secret crush on Hachiman, probably since middle school.
But unfortunately, Haruna was also the type with super thin skin, quiet and repressed. No matter how much she thought or how wild her fantasies were, she wouldn't dare say a word in real life.
During the upcoming group club training, Haruna wouldn't have any chance at all.
Even though Haruna had gotten pretty good because of Hachiman's coaching, she and Haruna were still small players in the tennis club. Everyone knew that was thanks to Hachiman, which only made them want his close guidance more. The competition was intense.
Yeah... good thing she was a gyaru and had more ways than just the tennis club.
Lately, she'd been helping Haruna gather information and was pretty active in the gyaru group chat.
Some of the gyarus who got along especially well with Hachiman, seeing that she'd also had close, friendly contact with him, let her in on some inside news about their gyaru circle.
Hachiman's classmate, Kitagawa Marin, who liked cosplay, was organizing a convention. She was contacting cosplay fans from both inside and outside school, even manga fans who could draw their own doujinshi.
Kita Ikuyo was quieter and kept to herself, just playing in a band with Ijichi Nijika and the others. At most, she'd get a few girl bands to perform at the private convention.
On the other hand, Hachiman's other classmates, like Yuina and a few others, weren't doing anything with the convention, but they were planning a "Bullying Service Showdown Game."
A live-action roleplay game set in a school bullying scenario, with Hachiman as the main character and many gyaru group members playing roles.
Thinking of this, Momioka Risa leaned close to Sairenji Haruna's ear and whispered.
"Haruna, would you be willing to sacrifice your current image to get closer to Hachiman?"
"Get closer to Hachiman? Sacrifice what kind of image?"
Sairenji Haruna was still thinking about the club cosplay training in two days. When she suddenly heard Momioka Risa's words, she looked back at her blankly.
"Anyway, Haruna, just join our gyaru bullying service showdown game. I'll do my best to dress you up as a gyaru."
Seeing Haruna so distracted, Momioka Risa pressed her hand to her forehead, sighed, then clenched her fist and said firmly.
"If that really doesn't work, then just play Hachiman's childhood friend and watch us take turns bullying him."
"Play gyarus and take turns bullying Hachiman? What are you talking about, Risa?"
Sairenji Haruna stared blankly at Momioka Risa, who was speaking so boldly, completely unable to understand what her friend was planning.
Bullying?
Service?
Showdown?
Game?
She understood each word separately, but put together, she couldn't make sense of it.
Was this really a game or actual bullying?
Risa wasn't that kind of person, so it was probably just a game.
But why couldn't she play a gyaru and would have to be the childhood friend just watching..
'Watch Hachiman get... get...'
———
All the track and tennis club girls left, leaving the once crowded hallway completely empty.
Only Yukinoshita Yukino, Yuigahama Yui, Hachiman, and Hayasaka Ai remained outside the service club room.
"Leader, let's go inside. There's something I want to ask you for help with."
Looking at Hachiman, who hadn't even finished the tennis club request yet but had already taken on the track club request, without any worry about exhausting himself, Yukinoshita Yukino took a deep breath. She didn't know how to complain, so she simply called him "Leader" respectfully.
Even though she wanted to question whether Hachiman was too confident, helping so many people every day from morning to night, how could he have the energy to train the track club girls too.
The track club girls would certainly improve because of it, but since everyone was getting Hachiman's training, they'd still have to compete for tournament spots.
But she couldn't mount any effective resistance against Hachiman, so she didn't have the right to question him now.
She probably didn't need to worry about it. If it really would wear down his body, the elf princess and the others would be the first to worry.
Maybe... this was the real reason Hachiman was so flirtatious yet still loved by so many girls.
He never treated anyone differently because of their status, position, or ability. Whenever someone had trouble and asked for his help, he sacrificed himself as much as he could, never asking anything from the other service club members.
Hachiman was the true leader of the service club.
"L-Leader, are we having club activities today?"
Yuigahama Yui saw Yukinoshita Yukino take the initiative to ask the leader for help and immediately guessed she wanted to talk about something of her own. But seeing Hachiman still standing at the door without moving, she felt a bit nervous and asked carefully.
It made sense that the leader disliked her.
She didn't have good grades, wasn't athletic, and still had no friends. She was a complete failure of a high school girl.
But she couldn't help it. She'd already tried every idea she had. It just wasn't working, so she had no choice but to secretly use the leader's name to make friends.
"Of course. Since I'm here for once, waiting for requests to come in with you counts as a club activity."
Hachiman nodded with a smile, then turned his head to look down the end of the hallway.
"But it's too empty with just us. There are still other regular members who haven't come yet."
"Saki, Miki, how long are you going to keep peeking over there?"
As Hachiman finished speaking, several heads quietly popped out from the corner at the end of the hall.
The two in front were none other than Hayase Saki, the ace of the girls' swim team, and Narahashi Miki, the ace of the girls' volleyball team.
"Leader, since when did you notice?"
"S-Sorry, we didn't mean to hide. There were just too many people here earlier..."
Hayase Saki and Narahashi Miki jogged over, their full, firm bodies creating a jiggling breeze as they arrived before Hachiman. Both of their faces were red as they looked at him and quickly apologized.
They had wanted to come over at first, but there were too many people from the track and tennis clubs. They couldn't get through the hallway, and neither of them wanted to come out and draw everyone's attention.
So they waited until the tennis and track club members left before coming out. But before they could even step out, the leader had already noticed.
"I'm not mad at you. I know you started a support group. I just wanted to introduce Yuki from the track club to you. I didn't expect you wouldn't even dare speak in front of a crowd. How are you going to run a support group like that?"
Looking at the two who immediately bowed their heads to apologize, afraid that their dumb hiding move had upset him, Hachiman smiled helplessly.
Under his guidance, the two socially anxious, introverted athletic ace girls had changed a bit. They weren't as stiff in private, but they were still the quiet type around strangers.
Of course, he didn't mind that.
He didn't need them to do anything out in the world. As long as it didn't interfere with basic communication, there was no reason to force them to become outgoing and sociable.
But by calling them out just now when they didn't come on their own, to make friends with Houjou Yuki from the track club, who was also shy, that came off as a bit forceful.
Even though Houjou Yuki wasn't particularly outstanding in the track club, the sense of inferiority, timidity, and lack of confidence she gave off reminded him a lot of Saki and Miki. He thought Houjou Yuki could become good friends with them.
"Houjou Yuki from the track club? The short-haired girl with tan skin and a nice figure? I know her."
Hearing that Hachiman wasn't mad but instead wanted to expand her support group, Hayase Saki immediately stopped feeling nervous. She lifted her head, looked at Hachiman, and moved closer, telling him she already had plans.
"Miki and I thought about bringing her into the support group before, but we never found the right time. Since you said so, we'll go invite her right away."
"You noticed Yuki already?"
Hachiman was a bit surprised. Their support group hadn't made much progress for a while, so he thought they were just messing around.
"Yes, yes! How could we lie to you, Leader?"
Narahashi Miki eagerly nodded her head, looking so serious and sincere that she might as well have sworn an oath.
They really had noticed Houjou Yuki a long time ago. But since Yuki was in the track club and usually practiced on the field while they were indoors, they didn't cross paths much and hadn't found a good chance to approach her.
She and Saki had been secretly thinking about this shy, socially anxious support group for a long time. They had their eyes not only on Houjou Yuki but also on other quiet girls.
Nonohara Yuzaka, who didn't seem to have many friends;
Sakura Airi, who wore glasses, kept her hair long and tied back, and didn't care about fashion;
Tsukishima Hanako, who was always shrinking back like Gotou Hitori, seeming to secretly draw manga.
Well... Sakura Airi had apparently already been targeted by Hachiman's pet, Karuizawa Kei, so they didn't try to compete.
Of course, they wouldn't have won anyway. Even though they had many ideas, they weren't very good at acting on them.
The support group still wasn't that big. Aside from the art teacher, Hanamori Kotomi whom they'd half-persuaded, and Sakurai Rihoko and Uenohara Ayano from the girls' swim team, there were only one or two new members who had heard about the group and worked up the courage to ask to join.
"Saki, Saki, what about Shion and Chifuyu?"
Narahashi Miki tugged on Hayase Saki, who was practically plastered against Hachiman, and pointed behind them, quietly reminding Saki not to forget the new support group members now that she was with the leader.
"Oh right! Leader, um... let me introduce our new members, Sasaki Kotone and Tsukimi Chifuyu."
Reminded by Narahashi Miki, Hayase Saki snapped out of it. She quickly hugged Hachiman and waved over the two girls who had come with her and Miki but hadn't spoken yet.
Once the slender, tall girl with platinum blonde hair and frameless glasses, and the full-figured, long-haired girl with a tense expression, slowly stepped forward, Hayase Saki continued introducing them.
"Kotone was brought into the support group by Kotomi-sensei a little while ago. She's actually a magical girl, but we never told you, Leader."
"As for Chifuyu, she just joined yesterday. She really admires you."
Originally, she wanted to properly train the newcomers and then surprise the leader all at once when the group got a bit bigger.
But there would be a lot of transfer students coming next Monday, and with the convention on the weekend and people organizing it, many were using this chance to get close to the leader.
She couldn't wait any longer, so she brought the new members to meet him.
"Nice to meet you, Kotone and Chifuyu. I'm sure Saki has already told you plenty about me, so I won't say much now. Welcome to the service club."
Hachiman glanced at Sasaki Kotone, who radiated magical energy, but didn't immediately ask about her. Instead, he looked at the long-haired, large-chested beauty Tsukimi Chifuyu.
"But Chifuyu, you really admire me? Is that true? Why didn't you tell me in the library at lunch?"
"Chifuyu, you secretly met the Leader in the library?"
Before Tsukimi Chifuyu could answer, Hayase Saki, hearing what Hachiman said, immediately realized something and looked at the tense Chifuyu in disbelief.
Hadn't Chifuyu just joined the support group? How was she already so close to the leader?
She hadn't even been to the library with him.
Projecting her own thoughts, she felt that if Chifuyu was with the leader, she'd definitely want to do something with him. Especially in a place like the library, an invisibility spell would be enough to start having some exciting fun.
But Tsukimi Chifuyu clearly wasn't a magical girl. She had no magical energy and no sign of the leader's rich life force.
Had she been using a calming spell on the leader in the library?
That was... so infuriating.
"No wonder we couldn't find you at lunch, Chifuyu..."
Narahashi Miki also covered her mouth in surprise, growing wary of Tsukimi Chifuyu, who looked timid and easy to push around.
The thing they feared most had happened.
They weren't starting this small group to hand out benefits. They mainly wanted to use the newcomers to get more of the leader's attention. But before they'd even gotten any advantage, the new girl was already sneaking bites behind their backs.