With the appearance of Hikaru and Kotonoha, the atmosphere in the entire hall became slightly strange, awkward yet with a bit of tension ready to explode.
Hayasaka, who was beside them, gave Hikaru a 'good luck' look, then quietly retreated. She didn't want to become a victim in this situation. A shuraba like this wasn't something she could interfere with using her small body. Enemies have heads, debts have owners. She could only pray that Young Master Kanzaki would 'survive'.
And, right after Hayasaka retreated.
"Kaguya-sama, Shirayuki-sama, Kuroyukihime-sama, and Asuna-sama, nice to meet you, I'm Katsura Kotonoha!"
Perhaps out of politeness, or for other reasons, Kotonoha bravely withstood the pressure from Kaguya and Shirayuki Hime, and greeted them.
Because Kotonoha broke the deadlock, everyone's gazes in the hall shifted to her. Instantly, the courage that had just emerged in Kotonoha's already weak heart quickly receded, and she unconsciously leaned against Hikaru behind her.
This scene made Kaguya's and Shirayuki Hime's gazes even sharper.
"Kotonoha is my junior at high school. You two, relax a bit."
Hikaru looked at Shirayuki Hime and Kaguya, and said irritably.
"Junior!"
"Junior, senior... I didn't expect someone has changed their tastes."
Hikaru's explanation was completely not believed by Kaguya and Shirayuki Hime; instead, it had a tendency to worsen the situation.
Especially Kaguya; previously their relationship was slightly stiff because of the engagement. Now, her fiancé not only cheated with this Shirayuki Hime woman, but also dared to openly bring another woman to appear before her. In Kaguya's eyes, this was completely a provocation against her.
No matter what happened, Hikaru was her fiancé. This point could not be changed.
Kotonoha's face slightly flushed, not knowing whether it was because of Kaguya's and Shirayuki Hime's words, or for other reasons.
(Seems like another innocent girl who knows it's a fire pit but still jumps into it.)
Asuna sighed inwardly. At the same time, she placed the red tea in her hand down, seemingly a bit reluctant to see this seemingly obedient girl being intimidated between two women with bad personalities, Shirayuki Hime and Kaguya.
"Kotonoha, don't be too polite. Just call us by our names directly. I think Kaguya, Shirayuki, you two don't mind, right? After all, we need to 'live peacefully together' here for some time to come."
As soon as these words came out, Asuna indirectly helped Kotonoha out of the difficulty.
And, since Asuna had already said so, Kaguya and Shirayuki Hime fell silent without speaking, which meant they agreed with Asuna's words.
"Interesting!"
Hikaru pulled Kotonoha's hand, walked to an empty sofa and sat down, his eyes showing a bit of surprise as he looked at Asuna.
Hikaru's gaze was precisely caught by Asuna.
"Young Master Kanzaki, playboys are not included in my partner category. I hope there won't be any futile efforts in the future." Asuna said lightly.
Clearly, she thought Hikaru was interested in her, and making her the next target in his romantic path. Although Asuna didn't hate Hikaru inwardly, she had set boundaries for herself. She absolutely must not get involved in any relationship with this mysterious man, especially such an extremely ambiguous relationship; that was absolutely impossible.
"Oh, Hikaru, are you interested in Asuna? Your scumbag nature is exposed so quickly."
Shirayuki Hime covered her small mouth and mocked. Her eyes showed a bit of wariness as she looked at Asuna. A woman who was gentle and intellectual like this seemed to also be the type this playboy liked.
"Scumbag!"
Kaguya spat out two words with an unhappy face.
Even Kotonoha's eyes beside her showed a bit of sadness again, and her small fist clenched quietly.
"Whether I'm a scumbag or not, don't you all know clearly? I just have some additional emotional experiences."
Hikaru shook his head helplessly and said.
"Hikaru, that's what a scumbag shows. Generally, scumbags avoid important matters this way. Romance novels also write it like this. Flirting with a junior in front of your fiancée and ex-girlfriend, and also looking at Asuna with flirtatious eyes. Saying you're a scumbag is not wrong at all, Hikaru."
Kuroyukihime, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, her tone slightly accusatory. And, as Kotonoha just entered, she compared herself to Kotonoha.
"Hikaru, if you want to get back together, I have no objection at all."
Shirayuki Hime stood up and smiled, her eyes even showing a bit of anticipation.
As soon as these words came out, not only was Kotonoha shocked, even her younger sister Kuroyukihime and Kaguya raised their eyebrows.
"I hope you dare to say these bold words in front of Mio."
Hikaru glanced at Shirayuki Hime and said.
Shirayuki Hime fell silent. She truly didn't dare to say words like that in front of that terrifying woman.
And, Kaguya also became curious.
Mio, Hikaru's current girlfriend, ranked third on the Eternal Beauty List—what kind of person was she actually that could make Shirayuki Hime so wary.
"Kuroyukihime, reduce reading those useless romance novels. I looked at Asuna more because of something that slipped from my hands before. I didn't expect that thing to be nesting in her body, which surprised me a bit."
"Something nesting in my body?!"
Asuna was shocked, not understanding what was happening.
"Just a Sacred Gear that keeps nesting among humans and causing trouble."
Hikaru waved his hand and said indifferently.
If it were his past self, he indeed needed this Sacred Gear to increase his power. Unfortunately, not anymore. With his current power, obtaining it couldn't even be considered a sweetener. After all, he had the Sacred Gear, Azure Slaughter Sword (Seiriku Ken), specially made for him by Sei; that was more than enough.
"You mean, Asuna has a Sacred Gear in her body? She's a Sacred Gear holder!!!"
Both Shirayuki Hime, Kuroyukihime, and Kaguya were shocked.
The existence of Sacred Gear holders.
They had also only recently learned about it. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Sacred Gear holders had the potential to become strong people. Although there were differences in power among Sacred Gears, but thinking of the Sacred Gear targeted by Hikaru, it must be an existence that couldn't be underestimated.
Kaguya and Shirayuki Hime, Kuroyukihime looked at Asuna with a bit of envy.
"Sacred Gear! I really have a Sacred Gear nesting in my body!"
Asuna looked at her hand in disbelief, still a bit unable to regain her senses.
"Having a Sacred Gear is one thing, whether it awakens is another matter. Whether it can be developed to Balance Breaker level or higher is full of uncertainty."
Hikaru's words were truly like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the joy that had just ignited in Asuna's heart.
"Over the top—"
Kuroyukihime said in a low voice.
"A man who's extremely stingy in certain aspects."
Kaguya also shook her head. As Hikaru's childhood friend, she understood very well some of his bad personality traits.
"Although, I know some awakening methods, especially for this Sacred Gear. Since it was my previous target, I have very complete development experience..."
Hikaru smiled cynically, looked at Asuna and continued, "Unfortunately, someone is not my girlfriend, right Asuna-san."
"...You!"
Asuna became angry. Her beautiful eyes glared at Hikaru.
(Is this man still a man? So calculating—)
"Besides, the cause and effect on this Sacred Gear is not light. You need to prepare."
"What preparation?!"
For some reason, a bad premonition arose in Asuna's heart.
Hikaru smiled thinly at the corner of his mouth, and said very lightly, "Preparation for an arch-nemesis with Devil King level power. Of course, that's on the condition that you can awaken this Sacred Gear."
Asuna's heart felt cold.
She had no idea what happened at all. How could she get an arch-nemesis as strong as Devil King level? Doesn't this mean that as long as she awakens the Sacred Gear, that arch-nemesis will come looking for her? Conversely, if she continues not to awaken it, she would be safe.