"Hahahaha…"
Inoue-sama was in an excellent mood—warm, almost overflowing with enthusiasm.
He practically had an arm slung around Hachiman's shoulders, acting like they were sworn brothers.
It worked.
Hachiman's heart was pounding.
He badly wanted the details.
But Inoue-sama told him not to rush.
The next day.
Hayato stared, dumbstruck, as Inoue-sama stood on the raised platform and made the announcement.
Starting today, Inoue-sama would serve as the chief supervisor of the waste-processing plant.
And Hachiman would be taking over the duties of one of the supervisors.
The news hit Hitomaru Market like a bomb.
Below the platform, Tobe and the others looked so excited they could barely hold it in.
Over on Tamanawa's side, everyone had gone deathly quiet—faces stiff with the kind of terror you saw at a funeral.
This makes no sense…
How did Hachiman even pull this off?
Why does he get to?
I don't know, either…
Komachi—"Zero-Seven-Three"—scratched her head.
She was listening to Haruno, that wicked fairy of a woman, casually appraise her figure with an infuriatingly smug tone.
Haruno seemed to think a "small and round" girl like Komachi shouldn't have much stamina at all.
So why was she the one being chosen?
Had her "future man" suddenly changed his tastes?
Komachi puffed out her cheeks and muttered under her breath.
She'd only been here a short while.
If anything, it was just that Hachiman and Inoue-sama had been lucky.
"Um, Big Sis… what work am I supposed to do here?"
Komachi figured Intake House didn't "train" her for nothing.
She was being prepared to go work for important people.
Work was work. She didn't exactly have the power to refuse.
But could this big cow please stop commenting on Komachi's body?
"Hm? You don't know, Komachi-chan?"
Haruno gave her a teasing little smile.
"Know what?"
Haruno's expression turned playfully suggestive, and she made a gesture with her hands that was… painfully easy to understand.
"Your job is to serve your future man like this, you know?"
Huh?
Komachi froze on the spot.
Wait—no.
I-I'm not ready for that…
This is allowed?
What?
That "sir" doesn't care about anything at all?
Komachi's face went bright red.
She could understand her position.
If she couldn't resist, then what was she supposed to do?
Life was like… that thing. If you can't fight it, you endure it.
Still, there was one thing she wanted to negotiate.
So she slowly raised a hand.
"C-Can we at least… be careful?"
Haruno immediately crossed her arms in a big X.
"Nope~"
Komachi's stomach sank.
But then someone flicked Haruno in the forehead hard enough to make her yelp.
"Stop talking nonsense."
Kangetsu shot Haruno a flat look that could've frozen water.
Was he really that kind of man?
Kangetsu pulled the still-stunned Komachi into his arms with a casual ease, like he was rescuing a kitten.
"It's fine. Don't be scared."
He smiled—gentle, almost too kind.
As if the whole world were something you could get used to, if you just lived in it long enough.
Komachi sat stiffly on his lap, not quite sure where to put her hands.
Her face burned.
Even so… she couldn't bring herself to hate the man in front of her.
That face alone was unfair.
And then Komachi regretted ever thinking it would be simple.
This "weirdo big brother"—as Haruno insisted on calling him—had a habit of keeping her close, refusing to let her slip away, like he wanted to anchor her in place and claim every second of her attention.
The days that followed blurred together into something dizzy and exhausting—too many whispers, too many kisses, too much closeness that left her flustered and overwhelmed.
She felt like she was being treated less like a person and more like something precious you held in your hands just to admire.
It was embarrassing.
And infuriating.
And—if she was honest—more than a little frightening.
Komachi tried to act tough.
Tried to pretend she could "play dead" and coast through it.
But she was out of her depth, and she knew it.
By the time she finally got a quiet moment, her hair was damp with sweat and her voice came out small and hoarse.
"I… I'm gonna melt…"
Kangetsu tilted his head, genuinely puzzled, as if he couldn't understand how something that felt so natural to him could be so intense for her.
Komachi stuck out her tongue, turned her head to the side, and decided to shamelessly pretend she'd fainted.
If this kept going, she really was going to dry out.
Meanwhile, Kangetsu looked utterly satisfied—like a man who'd found a new favorite indulgence and had no intention of giving it up.
And because he was in such a good mood, he tossed Hachiman—his "big brother-in-law," so to speak—a small reward.
To be fair, Kangetsu didn't keep his eyes on Intake House every hour of every day.
So Inoue-sama and Hachiman really had contributed something—big enough to be noticed, not big enough to shake the world.
Because Komachi-chan…
Kangetsu genuinely liked her.
When Komachi heard that, she rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt.
This is "liking"?
She was starting to worry she was the kind of thing people got tired of and threw away.
But Mikoto-san comforted her with a soft, motherly smile.
"Komachi-chan, don't worry. Everyone goes through this."
She pointed as she spoke, like she was giving a tour.
"See Haruno over there? Black stockings, short skirt every day, and she doesn't wear—cough—extra layers. Convenient, she says."
"And Yukine, too. Under the kimono… the same. Also for convenience."
"Only Sae is a little troublesome. She says she has to maintain the 'female teacher' persona."
Komachi went numb.
Not just her cheeks—her whole soul.
Even the bouncing little "pure heart" inside her felt like it had been stomped into the dirt by Tenten's shameless teasing.
And Kangetsu's interest in her still hadn't faded.
Every day he wanted to hold her, kiss her, and "get closer," as he put it.
Komachi shoved his face away when he leaned in again.
"Getting closer is fine… but where are you trying to get closer?"
Haruno pinched Komachi's chin thoughtfully, watching the two of them with narrowed eyes.
So.
Her man really did seem to like Komachi-chan's "little sister" type.
That wouldn't do.
And so Haruno promptly decided to stop watching and start acting.
In a flash, she was on him—bold, fast, and shameless, like a storm rolling in without warning.
The room turned chaotic in an instant.
But Haruno wasn't just indulging herself.
She was going after the one thing that mattered most.
She wanted to break his defenses, force an answer out of him.
Tell me.
Is your "main wife" better?
Or is this "little sister" more to your taste?
Kangetsu looked at Haruno with open irritation.
"Then commit. Don't do things halfway."
And then, like a man evaluating two poisons, he spoke with maddening sincerity.
Haruno's black stockings and short skirt were undeniably lethal.
But Komachi—tense, flustered, too easy to bully—
Somehow felt even more irresistible.
Haruno's expression detonated.
"Oh, really?"
"Earlier, when you had me and Yukine together, you didn't say that!"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]