Chapter 12: Dummy meeting

(Yukinoshita Haruno POV)

After taking a bait gamblingly, I arrived to Angel Ladder together with Meguri, Ichi-chan and her assistant bodyguard.

Now you might wonder why I dragged Meguri here, right?

Well, the more the merrier, right? Also, if it's a miss, this way I wouldn't be the only one who suffered, right?

And when we entered the Café, the answer became obvious, yet unexpected.

"Ara, it's senpai. Fancy meeting you here." said Ichi-chan.

I hope Nobunaga-kun would show up but he didn't, which meant I'm tricked.

However, three people I have no idea that they would show up here of all places, show up here.

It's Hikigaya-kun and his cousins, Miki-kun and Sanshin-kun.

Although what I got is clearly not what I hoped it to turn out to be, this situation is somehow interesting in its own way.

Heh. Looks like it's more or less worth gambling after all.

"There's nothing fancy here. I'm here because your brother summoned me here." retorted Miki-kun.

What? Nobunaga summoned him here? Did he know how to contact him or something?

That's Nobunaga-kun for you. To be able to call people who are interesting as those three out to wherever he wants. I'm so jealous.

I mean, Hikigaya-kun and his cousins, who definitely not someone who would come to this kind of place, not to mention under someone's order, actually obeyed someone willingly isn't something you could see everyday.

"Onii-sama did that? That's so unexpected." said Ichi-chan.

"That sounds really unconvincing coming from you. You should know how much mischievous he can get more than anyone else, am I wrong?" retorted Miki-kun.

Yeah. That's my Nobunaga-kun. I couldn't argue with that.

"Even if I knew that, it's a tall order to make me guess his moves accurately, isn't it? You dummy senpai." said Ichi-chan, pouting.

"Pouting won't get you anywhere, little girl." said Miki-kun, irritated.

Before I knew it, my laughter broke from just listening to their bantering.

"Ahaha… I didn't know both of you have this side of you. Right, Megu—huh?" I said.

Once I turned around, Meguri was nowhere to be found.

If possible I would prefer having more of these two's interesting banter but I think I will give up on it for now. I have already dragged her here so I couldn't bring myself to leave her alone.

I dashed out of the Café and finally caught up to Meguri.

However, what's on Meguri's face when I catch up to her is nothing but a painful expression.

What's going on here?

(Yukinoshita Haruno POV Ended)

(Back to Lunch Break, Hikigaya Hachiman POV)

"Wow. What a luxurious lunch box you have there, Hachiman." said Hassen.

"Whoever makes it is definitely in a good mood, I guess." said Hachiju.

"What a forceful farce optimism." I retorted.

Now before you criticize me for my prick statement, let me voice out the explanation.

It's as Hachiju said, today I got one hell of a heavy-looking handmade lunch box from Komachi, which a whole lot of delicious things were packed in there.

By 'a whole lot', I mean by estimation, all of this probably 120% of my stomach volume. Not to mention that the creator of this lunch box left me a message that says 'please filming the video of Onii-chan's enjoy this lunch box to the fullest' together with a mini-video recorder in it.

Translation: I'll make sure you'll get hell if you don't finish up this lunch box on your own, also don't forget to film it as evidence.

Although it looks delicious, I could feel her rage from yesterday through the lunch box.

In other words, because it looks like my distance between her and me increased lately while mine and my currently-cousins big brothers decreased in her eyes, so she has to use every technique at her disposal to close the gap back, even if it's through my poor stomach.

I can't believe that there'll be a day that eating Komachi's lunch box would be this terrifying.

And it's all because of yesterday's event in my house.

I quickly stuffed my lunch and filmed it while trying my best to forget her intention and just enjoyed the taste of her nikujaga and everything else.

"Congratulations." said Hachiju.

"Good work, Hachiman." said Hassen.

"It's too early to celebrate. Judging from her rage level, this treatment probably goes on at least a week." I replied.

Sorry stomach-chan. Please deal with it.

"For crying out loud, why this has to always happen when these three met each other?" I muttered loudly.

"Didn't we do a similar thing back then when you brought up the story where you have your eyes on that classmate of yours during your middle school day?" said Hachiju.

"Not to mention that she is also the latest one who rejected you." said Hassen.

"You sadist duo… how lucky for you guys to not have any rejected love life to be made fun of." I said.

The moment I finished that line, Hachiju and Hassen sighed.

"If that's the case then we're the unlucky ones." said Hachiju.

"Just because you didn't know doesn't mean we don't have any, y'know?" said Hassen.

"Huh?" I said with genuine confusion.

Are they serious? I can't imagine these two of all people would involve themselves with romance related situations with their hatred for people.

"Was she the reason why you allow yourselves to?" I asked.

And as expected from two of them, they knew who I referred to.

"Nope. Sumireko isn't responsible for that. At least she didn't even have that kind of intention to begin with." explained Hassen.

"Really? If I recalled right you two were able to move on from being empty, passionless void thanks to her, right?" I asked.

"Well yes. At first when we just moved into Sanshokuin Household and being introduced to her as her new brother, she wasn't on our radar at all. However, when we were absent-mindedly boiling the water and clumsily spilled it over our hands, she innocently rushed to us and blew our scalded hands, saying that she was taught that doing so will make the pain go away." explained Hachiju.

"Although it's not helping much, her doing that was so lovely enough that we felt our hearts being fully resurrected

just from that." added Hassen.

"O-oh…" I dumbfounded.

Right, at that time they're both still have their hearts as fragile as tofu so that genuine care was enough to bring their liveliness back to fullest. No, even more than that to be exact.

"Exactly. And that's why if it's for her, we will definitely do anything for her happiness." exclaimed Hassen.

"Yeah, you ESPer. I'm not surprised at all." I added.

Well, if it was me at that period and getting the same treatment, I would make the same vow as him.

"However, that doesn't mean she has anything to do with us allowing ourselves to get involved with romance. In fact, Sumireko herself is already so much of a hardcore ESPer loner herself too, at least until she met her prince." said Hachiju.

"I see." I replied.

The 'loner' part said it all that she doesn't have anything to do with it.

"I guess we're really the triplets after all. I should have figured out that you two might've been through it when I also get myself involved with despite having a certain level of hatred for people myself." I said.

But half of it was also because of Komachi that I still allowed myself to involve myself with it until Orimoto's rejection makes me stop hoping altogether.

"Maybe it's because you're raised in a different environment than us that makes you much slower than us in mind-guessing, Hachiman." analyzed Hachiju.

"I guess I couldn't argue with that." I replied.

Especially if it's true Sanshokuin Sumireko is that much of an ESPer like they've mentioned before.

"But that also makes things complicated. Someone who's as beautiful as Sumireko, not to mention that she's responsible for saving you two from an empty, passionless void, isn't the one you fell in love. I couldn't imagine there's any girl who could surpass her in your eyes." I said.

I mean, these two and Sumireko aren't blood-related siblings so there's no problem for them to develop such feelings for her.

Unless she wasn't their type.

"How rude. Who wouldn't fall for such cute girl like th—"

"Shut up Hassen. Your wording itself needs to be fixed."

Wording?

"Of course we do love her, in a familial way to be more precisely." explained Hachiju.

"That's so like you two." I said.

I almost forgot that after developing hatred for people we valued familial relationships above all, but that might have faltered a bit after the ones who were our family separated me and these two.

"Alright. I give up guessing. Who were they really? It's not fair if I don't know yours when you guys knew mine." I said.

After hearing that, a couple of long inhales were being made followed by a couple of long exhales.

"In my case, it happened during the time I was enrolled into the Takizono Private Academy. There I met her, Kazami Kazuki." said Hachiju.

Why do I feel like your pet parrot's name was inspired by your crush's name?

"As for mine, it happened during the middle school day, I met her. Kiryuu Mizuha." said Hassen.

That's short!

"Go on." I said.

"Kazami Kazuki was a genius whose intelligence surpassed almost everybody she contacted or met. Due to this, Kazuki is capable of being a leader during dire times, keeping her calm and level-headed composure in many situations. For those whom she did not care, she is seen as a pragmatic, sharp and blunt individual, and she used those traits to her end by smoothly manipulating people around her, bending them to her will. But for ones she does really care, she is shown to be a bit feminine, like blushing and acting a bit high-strung sometimes. She also said she did not want to be a "know-it-all" genius, sometimes she just wanted to be a normal girl like anyone else, mostly for her little brother's sake. That's what I love about her." said Hachiju.

Are you sure you're not a stalker?

"Kiryuu Mizuha is a kind and cheerful girl who acts somewhat airheaded and cute at times. She appears to be a normal girl who gets along well with her brother to the point that she doesn't mind pampering him even in public. That's what I love about her." said Hassen.

Is it just me who has a feeling that the Sanshokuin family was raising their children to be stalkers?

Also, now I'm so jealous of those mentioned 'brothers' so much. What a heavenly life they got.

Hmm… wait a sec… could it be…

"Yes. Both of them are so in love with their brothers so our first loves were unrequited from the very beginning." said both of them.

Are you guys idiots? That's probably what the majority of you are about to say to them, right?

I couldn't say I disagree but I understood the hidden reason, well, that's still making them a pair of idiots anyway.

"Even though you're getting out of that empty, passionless void. You guys still bothered by it that much, huh?" I said which they nodded.

Yeah right. They're still so much broken from that day.

As I have mentioned before, my current mother was the former Sanshokuin, that means she's a daughter of the two out of four people who are responsible for creating such a marriage contract Komachi mentioned yesterday.

You can say that it's because those four didn't approve of my current parents marrying each other. They were the parents of my current father and the parents of my current mother.

During a week before I got separated from Hachiju and Hassen, three of us coincidentally heard of all that when my parents were drunk and spilled all the details we wished we weren't there hearing any of it. The only good thing is that Komachi was already asleep so she didn't see or hear any of that.

It started from the parents of my current mother really dislike my current father but really love their daughter-in-law who was Sumireko's mother so much.

But Sumireko's mother was said to have a body that was more fragile to give birth compared to other women.

How bad was her mother's body? According to the doctor, she couldn't give birth more than once.

As for my current mother's parents, that was quite bad news to them since they wanted the grandsons under their family name so much.

That's why they gave my current parents a condition: In case that their son and their daughter-in-law failed to give birth a son while my current parents succeed, my current parents must hand over one of their sons to Sanshokuin family. Not accepting the condition meant no marriage.

And it's just as you knew, uncle and auntie gave birth to Sumireko which resulted in one of us three destined to be handed over to Sanshokuin family.

However, the condition has a mistake that the time limit isn't being made so my current parents postponed it as long as possible.

But the luck wouldn't last long as my current father was so careless as he accidentally overdrafted his credit card ever since he bought the house and then the debt increased to the point he and his wife couldn't pay it on their own.

So what will they do? Other than asking Sanshokuin family for help, do you think they have any other options?

And because of that, in order to get their help, my current parents have to fulfill that condition without any bargaining.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the reason for them to choose me as a son they would hand over to Sanshokuin family is really the worst, at least in Hachiju and Hassen's opinions.

The reason is because I'm a talentless one, unlike Hachiju and Hassen who are worth being looked up to by Komachi and their favorite children.

Even though I have made up my mind to go with them so that no one would be hurt, Hachiju and Hassen didn't let me go.

Komachi was sick that day so she didn't know about it, but that was the day Hachiju and Hassen had a big fight with my current parents over me.

Hachiju and Hassen, after a long heated debate with my current parents, ended up deciding to offer themselves to Sanshokuin family in my place in front of uncle and auntie, not to mention that they also went as far as to explain how good their talents were in order to get the approval.

Uncle and auntie, they weren't exactly serious about who will become their son, but agreed with the deal anyway since they were moved by Hachiju and Hassen's determination and protectiveness.

At that time, our sadness overflowed, and so was our desire to have a happier family.

That's why we're so overprotective about our siblings even more.

But as for Hachiju and Hassen's case, they were bothered by it even more than me, to the point that they'll gladly give up their feelings for the girls they love if it meant those girls' relationship won't be faltered by their affection toward them. They both valued the importance of siblings relationship that much.

"It's not like we're giving up gladly, but because we have no right to be with them to begin with." said Hassen.

"Eh?" I asked.

The atmosphere around me turned into more dramatic than before for some reasons.

"There's no way we can compete with their beloved brothers, could we?" said Hachiju.

Ah right. Come to think of it, this is probably the type of love rival they could never defeat.

Because they're blaming themselves so much for making me sad and labeling themselves as the worst siblings ever, that's why 'good siblings' is definitely the type of love rival they won't dream about defeating, except if it's for their own siblings' sake.

"Well, sorry for selfishly asking then." I apologized.

And with that, today's lunch break ended.

(Service Club Room)

I, Hikigaya Hachiman, am currently being interrogated by two bad mood girls.

"I have told you guys twice that it's just a slip of my tongue!" I said.

"What kind of tongue slip is that!? Hikki, you playboy!" whined Yuigahama.

"There's no way a mere refusal without any solid proof going to fly, isn't it? Hikicasanova-kun?" said Yukinoshita with an icy tone.

I can't help but curse that Oosomething for telling Yuigahama about that unintentional tongue slip line to Kawasomething during the cultural festival that I have to be in this state.

After Yuigahama brought that story up, Yukinoshita teamed up with her and cornered me to the wall.

If you're asking where Hachiju and Hassen, well, Hachiju received a phone call and he wanted to have a private chat with the one who called him and let Hassen tag along to prevent any eavesdropping. How inconvenient timing! Now I have to deal with two pairs of Conquering Haki glares all alone.

Then the door swung open.

Took you long enough to get back here.

With straight faces but mischievous eyes, Hassen and Hachiju walked toward us.

"What's this? Two rabbits in heat or something?" asked Hassen.

"It's too early to say that, Hassen. Maybe today is their period or something." said Hachiju.

I could feel the chill, no, a lot of lightning struck into my back after seeing my female clubmates went Super Saiyan Berserkers while turning their attention toward their provokers.

Yuigahama and Yukinoshita completely turned red and let me off the hook.

However, both of them are now targeting Hachiju and Hassen.

Yuigahama prepared to slap some sense into them while Yukinoshita prepared to kill them both with her martial art skill.

Hey! No violence, please.

Hassen, as if he understood my thought, carrying Hachiju on his left like how Oota carrying Tanaka, sliding the door behind him opened and dodged the both girls.

The ones that showed up behind the door were Hiratsuka-sensei and Totsuka.

Why is my angel coming here? Is he getting bullied? Tell me who is it, I will break their bones for y—

Wait. He's a partner in crime with Komachi so is he coming here to force me or something? Please don't, my angel.

Wait! Isn't he in danger right now?

"Wha—?!" x4

Oh no!

"Phew… that's dangerous, Yukinoshita." said Hiratsuka-sensei.

"T-That's right. I apologized." apologized Yukinoshita.

"Sorry Sai-chan! I didn't mean to hit you." apologized Yuigahama.

"U-um. Never mind, Yuigahama-san." replied Totsuka.

After Hassen dodged, Yukinoshita's attack is about to land on Hiratsuka-sensei while Yuigahama is about to hit Totsuka.

Thankfully Hiratsuka-sensei is a martial artist herself that she's able to defend herself while Totsuka can defend himself with the tennis racket he took with him.

After holding a misunderstanding clearing up meeting for around ten minutes, everyone goes back to the position they were supposed to be.

It seems like Totsuka has a request to the Service Club which is why he showed up here.

"Um… actually, I've come here on behalf of my classmates… the thing is… they want some love advice." said Totsuka.

Hachiju and Hassen deadpanned while Yuigahama… averted her eyes away.

Hachiju and Hassen were understandable but Yuigahama wasn't.

Maybe what Hassen did during the Kyoto Trip left a bitter taste into her heart, huh?

"Why didn't they come themselves, I wonder?" asked Yukinoshita.

"Well, it's Tobe-kun, Ooka-kun and Yamato-kun's request but somehow they said they're scared of Hachiman so they begged me to." said Totsuka.

Seriously, what did Hassen do back then?!

And then Yuigahama and Yukinoshita gazed at me with the eyes of scaredy-cats.

Give me a freaking break already… I'm not that scary!

Oh wait, love advice, huh? I guess I will make a scary face just to shun them away after all so their decision is justified.

Wow, they actually were smarter than I thought they were.

But this time, Yukinoshita commanded me not to handle this request this time.

Normally I wouldn't accept her tyrant but this time I obediently shut my mouth and let them handle it.

While discussing love advice we should give to those three, Totsuka also purposely asked Yuigahama if she has someone she likes so that he could support her as a way to thank her personally.

So they're still at it, huh?

"Oh, there's one more thing." said Totsuka.

"What is it?" I asked.

"There's one of our kouhai who also wants some love advice as well but she didn't want to come here herself because of some personal reasons so…" said Totsuka.

Good grief. What day is today? Valentines?

"She said she has a crush on a certain senpai who is foul mouth, meanie, usually stays aloof whenever he's not with his brother, hard to interact with." said Totsuka.

Is that girl a masochist or something? That guy totally did not have any room for her at all, right? I don't know who she is and why she fall for that guy but she better—

"Just tell her to give up on him already." said Hachiju.

That's also what I thought.

After that, women in this room are all scolding him for being cold-hearted which he spat them away with 'I'm just doing club activity like always' line.

However, this time I detected something after reading between the lines.

When Hachiju said that, I could feel like he really wished that girl would give up for real instead of being indifferent like usual.

That's strange.

(Parking lots)

"Curious, aren't you?" asked Hachiju.

I averted my eyes.

Yeah. You're damn right.

"Then why don't we go somewhere else? And I'll tell you there if you go." said Hachiju.

"Is it that necessary, Hachiju?" asked Hassen.

"As long as he is curious, it's necessary. In fact, it would be easier to explain that way." replied Hachiju.

Now I really regret being curious all of sudden.

It's not like I hate hanging around with them but because of that my time to laze around at home is decreasing.

Also, if Komachi knew it her mood would be even worse.

(Sigh) But going home with an unanswered curiosity expression on my face would produce the same result anyway.

"Alright. Where will we go then?" I asked.

"Angel Ladder Café." replied Hachiju.

"Eh?" I said.

Did I just misheard it?

"So you have been there before, huh? Then that saved us a lot of trouble." said Hachiju.

"You're not knowing how to go there yet you decided to go?!" I asked.

"That's completely wrong. I also have been there as well when I was doing a part-time job. However, letting Hassen carry both you and me there would probably not be appropriate, so you could go there to relieve Hassen's duty, right?" replied Hachiju.

"So carrying you and me to my house was the appropriate thing to do, huh?" I muttered.

Also, what was Hassen exactly? Your personal taxi, perhaps? Just because his name could be a pun of eight boats (八船: Hassen) doesn't mean you should treat him like that.

Some minutes have passed as we finally arrived at Angel Ladder Café.

"I thought the customers are only permitted to enter with a valid dress code. Is it gonna be okay?" I asked.

"Who cares?" said Hachiju.

"Screw that stupid rule" said Hassen.

"You guys…" I muttered.

And then I heard a ruckus happened in the Royal Okura Hotel.

I see two parrots messing with all the staff there which made our existence completely being ignored.

So that's how it is…

"My first time being here was when I was scouted by my employer who caught the wind of my cyber rebellion." said Hachiju.

"Cyber rebellion?" I asked.

"Bullying exists now and then. And you could say that Hassen was one of their victims. As Hassen was known to be physically strong so it's easy for him to be framed if being set up a trap for violence report, not to mention that it would be much easier if the culprit possessed a connection with the teachers or even headmaster. So in order to teach them a lesson or two, I secretly gather all their dirty secrets, such as the culprit has been bribing the teachers and headmaster for their convenient, and silently spread them through the entire school network and then spread them to nearby schools as well, not to mention that I'm also not forget to giving my opinion about why don't everyone just screwed the school rules when they couldn't be any help and just favored the bad guys, of course I'm doing it under anonymous accounts and making sure I'm not found out." said Hachiju.

"With the level of gullibility those people are, they don't think twice before they commit a coup d'état, especially those who were their ex-victims that they're doing their job very well in ending those culprits and their compromisers' social lives." said Hassen.

That's waaaaay too scary. Are you perhaps male version of Yukinoshita Haruno?

But then again, how can this even relate to my curiosity anyway?

"However, what Hachiju didn't expect is that someone was actually sending him an invitation message a few days afterward." said Hassen.

"Eh?" I said.

"Furthermore, he's mentioned that he knew me from those anonymous accounts I've created. So I came here for the first time because of that." said Hachiju.

So that's how it is… but what for?

"I'm being hired to be his temporary worker for the security system as a substitution for the one he's previously hired since the latter got hit by the truck." said Hachiju.

My eyes widen. If I'm recalled right, they did mention that he's being hired until the previous one recovered. How could someone even survive that? Oh wait, I'm also survived after being hit by a limousine as well, aren't I?

"So you're accepting his offer because he found you from those fake accounts and you happen to need money at the same time?" I asked.

"Do I look like someone who was as easy as that?" retorted Hachiju.

"Figured." I said.

"Thinking a bit more. Even if he found out my talent, do you think I'm at the age to be entrusted with such a position back then, not to mention that this employer has never asked for my background and any necessary stuff to be qualified." said Hachiju.

"Come to think of it, that's really weird." I replied.

Then Hachiju made such a big sigh.

"His reason for hiring me despite my age is that the one who was originally entrusted with the position has his talent equal or even higher than me despite him only one or two years above me, not to mention that his sense in hiring people is somewhat exceptional." said Hachiju.

"So basically, you're tiring of his crappy reasons and don't have any proper reason to deny him so you accept the offer." I said which he nodded.

Who would think that Oichi-san's big brother would be such a weirdo.

Yeah, I know that I'm not the one to talk.

"At least he's paid well and taking care of his workers well so I don't think I should mind much." said Hachiju.

"Okay, and? Wait. Is he the one who called you today?" I asked which he nodded.

"Why? He wanted you to work for him again?" I asked.

"Rather than 'work' for him, he's just wanted me to 'do something' for him." replied Hachiju.

"And you're accepting that easily?" I asked.

I couldn't imagine him being that easy to deal with.

"Of course I'm not that easy. I've even offered the unreasonable condition to him so that he would give up, unfortunately for me that he said he could fulfill that condition so I have to keep my promise." replied Hachiju.

"Promise, huh?" I muttered.

"I know it sounds weird to just believe him right away, but if it means that there's a possibility that that condition could be fulfilled then it's worth risking." said Hachiju.

"Then what kind of deal did you make with him?" I asked.

"Hachiju. Is it really alright to tell him that?" asked Hassen.

Is it really something that serious?

"Knowing how kind he is, he probably thinks of me as a bad guy afterward. However, it's not like I have never been a bad brother to him so it won't hurt him much." said Hachiju.

Again with self-degradation. However, I'm still not the one to talk though.

"That kid's big brother asked me to become his substitute for him during his business meeting with his little sister. As in return, well, let's say I'll reveal it once the meeting with her ended." said Hachiju.

Damn that cliffhanger.

(Hikigaya Hachiman POV Ended)

(Back to present time, Yukinoshita Haruno POV)

After I comforted Meguri, I invited her to the nearby Café.

"Don't worry Meguri, it's my treat." I said.

"T-Thank you, Haruno-san." said Meguri.

"Oh well, don't hold back. As an apology for dragging you all the way here, I will help you with the trouble that you're bothered with so cheer up." I said.

"Um… no… I'm not troubled or anything…" said Meguri.

Mode change!

"I'm serious here, Meguri. There's no way what happened before I invited you here would convince anyone that you're not troubled by anything. And I'm not talking about my meddling, y'know?" I asked with a stern and serious yet caring voice.

Meguri nodded and started talking.

"It's actually my personal problem. By the way, Haruno-san. Did you know the guy Tenma-san talked with in the Angel Ladder Café?" asked Meguri.

"The guy Ichi-chan talked with… oh right. Miki-kun, was it?" I replied.

Sanshokuin Hachiju, or Miki as short. Hikigaya-kun's cousin and another interesting fellow to me.

Hm? How does her problem even relate to him anyway?

I sipped the tea while analyzing the situation.

"He's… my fiancé…" said Meguri.

*Cough cough*

Nice way to die, Haruno. Dying upon choking on your favorite tea.

Also, there must be a limit to how interesting someone could be, Miki-kun. As expected from Hikigaya-kun's cousin.

"However, as you can see, I'm not willing to engage with him." said Meguri with a sad tone.

Then let me have him inst— no wait. Haruno, this isn't the time for you to fool around over your kouhai's sadness.

Really, engagement, huh? No wonder why she's that troubled. However, …

"But what about Miki-kun? It could hurt your feelings to say this but I don't think that Miki-kun is the type of person who would accept such things as engagement either, not to mention that you're definitely the type he hates." I said.

It's a painful truth. Because she asked me to give her a hand during the cultural festival and I ended up messing with them, increasing Miki-kun's work and definitely making him develop hatred toward her and me.

"I know that. Even during our first met, he didn't even see me as his fiancée, not to mention that he's not hesitated to brush off my very existence as if I was a mere pebble." explained Meguri.

"Isn't that good for you when you already wish to not engage with him?" I asked.

"I wish things could have turned out like that, Haruno-san. But that's not it. Both our parents are already well aware of Miki-kun's horrible attitude and not allowing any of us to cancel it, saying that we're not knowing each other long enough to voice our denial." said Meguri.

"That must be tough, yes." I agreed.

"But the main problem lies in how Miki-kun will handle the engagement." said Meguri with a shaky voice as she trembled in fear.

"Eh?" I asked.

"When I was about to get my wallet which I left in the restroom, I overheard Miki-kun talking with his little brother in the corridor about the engagement." said Meguri with an even shakier voice.

I don't have a good feeling about this.

"He said, 'If it's come down to where the engagement eventually turned into marriage, I think I'll have this special made amnesia drug injected into her parents' while pulling out the syringe filled with the said drug." replied Meguri.

"Then again, despite the fact the method is weird, it benefits both of you, isn't it?" I asked.

"It looked that way until he nonchalantly blurted out 'Although it's obvious that there's no way the target won't die, it can't be helped, I guess' and left." said Meguri who trembled badly.

I couldn't help but let my sweat roll rapidly from my head.

I wish I misheard it but that wouldn't be the case, otherwise her fear wouldn't match the story at all.

Is she serious? Miki-kun planned to kill her parents just because of that?

"Have you discussed this with your parents?!" I asked, panicked.

"They didn't believe me as they assumed I was just trying to come up with lame excuses to avoid engaging with him, especially when the evidence itself was nowhere to be found no matter how much I checked on him and his brother." said Meguri.

No way. If that's the truth then won't Yukino-chan's safety be at risk?

"That's why, Haruno-san. If I have the right to ask for your help then PLEASE HELP ME PUT AN END TO THIS ENGAGEMENT!" said Meguri as she bowed to me.

I can only accept her request whilst having no idea what to do about it.

(Yukinoshita Haruno POV Ended)

(Hikigaya Hachiman POV)

Once I arrived at the place, all three of us had a seat where Hachiju's employer asked him to.

A few minutes later, people whom I was familiar with showed up.

It's normal for Oichi-san and a guy whom I assumed was her bodyguard to be one of them but why are Haruno-san and Shiromeguri-senpai also tagging along.

However, the one with the weirdest expression plastered on the face was Shiromeguri-senpai.

Her expression is more like she has seen the ghost once her sight landed on three of us.

Um… senpai. You're hurting my feelings, y'know?

And when everyone's attention is glued to Hachiju and Oichi-san's conversation, Shiromeguri-senpai quickly leaves the Café.

Haruno-san, after realizing her absence, went and chased after her.

"Now the clown has gone, no need to put up such acts." said Hachiju.

"Mou! I'm not acting and isn't it a bit rude to describe your elder as a clown, senpai?" whined Oichi-san.

Oichi-san then gave out a long sigh.

"Well, since she's gone I guess we can finally have a proper discu—"

*You've got mail*

Oichi-san's phone gave out that sound.

After she read the contents, she let out a chuckle.

"Onii-sama, you teaser." said Oichi-san.

"What's this about, really?" said Hassen.

"Calm down." commanded Hachiju.

Oichi-san handed her phone to Hachiju, after skimming it for a short while, he returned her phone back.

"Basically, he does have some business in Japan but doesn't want someone to accidentally find his existence so he planned this dummy meeting. How annoying." said Hachiju, irritated.

"That's right. In other words, we're all acting according to Onii-sama's plan." said Oichi-san.

Eh? What?

"Come to think of it, I also wonder why Onii-sama needed to arrange a meeting just to transfer the information when he could just mail them to me. So this was all it was about." said Oichi-san.

"Um… I'm not sure if I understand that." I voiced out my curiosity.

"The thing is her brother did come back from oversea to Japan but spotted that the older Yukinoshita is around Sobu High School so he arranged this dummy meeting just to distract her from finding him. And it appeared that even Oichi doesn't realize this for real this time." explained Hachiju, earned a quiet mutter about 'what do you mean by this time?' from Oichi-san.

"Why? Did he have a problem with her or something?" I asked.

"In Onii-sama's opinion, it's a whole lot. Because Yukinoshita-san likes Onii-sama, no, in fact, she's been in love with him since high school." explained Oichi-san.

I froze.

What?

"But to Onii-sama, she's too much of a bother to deal with so…" said Oichi-san.

"So he arranged this dummy meeting, that makes sense." said Hachiju.

"How can it? If Oichi-san won't bring Haruno-san here and you won't accept the deal then none of this would happen." I said.

"Well, you could say that's how amazing Onii-sama is. He even knows that I would invite her here for sure even without him ordering me to do that." said Oichi-san, smiling brightly.

That's mean he trusts that you would betray him and drag that demoness here?

Aren't siblings supposed to help each other out instead of selling each other out like this with a bright smile?

Just as I thought she's a real life Shiba Miyuki, she managed to shatter my thoughts beautifully.

"You really are your brother's little sister." said Hachiju.

"But just as Hikigaya-senpai said, senpai, if you don't take Onii-sama's bait, his plan definitely will not succeed." said Oichi-san.

However, her playful aura just disappeared altogether.

"Tell me, senpai. What kind of deal did you have with Onii-sama?" asked Oichi-san.

Yeah. I also want to know.

"Before that I wonder why he's not just asking Yuzaki to take care of this role instead of me. That guy should be a better choice than me in sociability, isn't it?" said Hachiju.

Hey, don't change the topic! And who's Yuzaki?

"Oh, you meant Yuzaki Nasa-san whose role was taken care of by you after he got hospitalized that time? Well, I heard from Onii-sama that he's on his way to Nara to introduce his wife to his parents there today so it's natural that Onii-sama couldn't get his help. Now no more avoiding the topic, Miki-senpai. Please spill the beans." said Oichi-san.

Why are your brother's coworkers filled with weirdos, Oichi-san?

"Tch. Alright, it's not like I have enough time to loiter around here for long." said Hachiju in defeat.

However, I, for one, knew that he's on point, not just to sound cool.

If the staff returned here, three of us might be immediately thrown out of here.

After giving out a long sigh, the answer that added even more confusion to my poor brain cells (and probably Oichi-san's) coming out of Hachiju's mouth.

"It's more like a condition. I'll be his substitute for the upcoming meeting, which just ended recently, as in return, he's going to help me put an end to my engagement with Shiromeguri Meguri."

(Hikigaya Hachiman POV Ended)

A/N: Chapter 12 for you readers, please enjoy reading.

P.S. Hachiju still has more things to say in the next chapter so please stay tuned for next chapter.