"I'm going ahead." Hachiman grabbed his bag, "Sorry everyone."
"We don't have a lot of work, sure. But why?" Kaguya asked.
"My sister is coming to visit, so if possible I want to cook her a handmade lunch." Hachiman smiled.
"Huh? Komachi-chan is coming?" Miyuki perked up, "Oh right, I just remembered Kei mentioned that too."
"What about Komachi-chan?" Chika was curious and hurriedly approached them.
"Komachi's hit a dead end in her studies and wants some help, so she'll be here all weekend." Hachiman replied, "She's been really grouchy ever since the start of third year."
"Well, Komachi-chan and I are kindred spirits, so I can understand her frustration." Miyuki winced, "She must be under a lot of pressure right now, not to mention her duties as Council President too."
Kindred spirits? These two?
"Well, it would be nice if you could spoil her instead." Hachiman grinned and then rolled his eyes at Kaguya, "Because Komachi always avoids relying on me. I'm rather worried."
That had to be a deliberate provocation. But Kaguya wasn't weak, she knew that it was nothing but empty words out of him. The cool and distant Miyuki would never-
"Of course! I have a lot of part-time work today, but tomorrow I'm super free." Miyuki pointed a thumb at himself, "I'll be sure to help her and spoil her then."
Hayasaka looked over at Kaguya who was practically frozen in place with a shocked face. Kaguya probably did not expect that Miyuki not only would say that, but to say it so enthusiastically... it was completely unthinkable!
As expected, Hikigaya Komachi ended up being a dangerous pest, after all. What a calamity. Truly this she-devil is the most cunning, I didn't see that coming at all. Kaguya thought grimly. I wonder if there's a way to safely remove her without hurting President...
Oddly enough, Hachiman took the way out properly this time, that is, using the door, though he did so while running.
This made Miko drop the documents in her hands, which unfortunately fell on Ishigami who was sitting on the floor. "What the-"
Indeed, Hikigaya Hachiman was unusually cheerful, by his standards anyway. Normally he'd just go back to Chiba as usual, but this time it was Komachi who was going to be visiting him instead.
All the fun and none of the tiredness.
So he hurriedly rode his bike home at the maximum legal speed possible. The relatively light traffic helped somewhat, and he reached his home in record time.
Time to break ALL the things to make the best food possible. He calculated that he should have about one hour left to prepare before Komachi arrived. Actually, maybe she'd join Kei on the way.
Ah to hell with the measurements!
Hachiman decided that large scale cooking might very well be the best option available and began formulating the best kind of lunch, while also accounting for the climate and weather. Something a little sour was what he decided to go with, he had a jar of umeboshi (pickled plum) in the fridge. Let's go with Asian food this time around.
...
Indeed, just as Hachiman was adding the finishing touches the bell rang.
"Hello, Onii-chan!"
Komachi and Kei were expected, but Hachiman didn't expect a third guest at all. It was a young girl with silvery pink hair, sky blue eyes, and a big set of honkers not fitting for someone her age.
Hachiman had a feeling that he could easily guess who she was from those attributes alone.
"Fujiwara?" He asked.
"Hello, my name is Fujiwara Moeha." She bowed, "Thank you for always taking care of my older sister."
"Ah, so you ARE Secretary's little sister, I've heard a lot about you from her." Hachiman nodded sagely, "Please come in."
"Please excuse us." The girls said as they removed their shoes.
"Have you had lunch yet?" Hachiman asked.
"Not at all. I'm super hungry, even." Komachi said, "I should go on a diet..."
Komachi's eyes showed signs of darkening eyelids, pretty much no different than those of Hachiman. It made their resemblance much more visible than usual. Hachiman thought Komachi definitely looked like pictures of their mother in her youth.
"Have you been getting proper amounts of sleep, Komachi?" He asked in worry as he guided them to the second floor, where the dining room and kitchen were located.
"Today was especially bad, I only slept four hours and only survived today thanks to coffee."
"Careful, too much coffee will be bad for your stomach and sleep patterns." Hachiman could hardly believe that HE was the one reminding Komachi of healthy living practices.
"Hua, Onii-chan is giving me a lecture. That's a new one." Komachi mockingly told him.
Rude!
"Komachi-nee looks really stressed." Kei muttered, "Are you sure we should study right away?"
"Yeah, I have the feeling if I can't solve thi, I'll get increasingly shorter sleep. And that's bad." Komachi wheezed.
Hachiman then brought them to the dinner table, where the large amount of food he had already prepared was ready and waiting.
"Don't forget to wash your hands first." Hachiman reminded them soundly.
"Wha, Hachi-nii, did you cook all this?" Kei asked.
"Yes?"
"Uhh..."
Moeha, on the other hand, showed an eerily familiar, starry-eyed, drooling face. One very reminiscent of the one her sister often showed at school too. Guess the Fujiwara sisters have strong glutton genes in them after all.
It was a hearty lunch for them to eat. Sliced pork combined with grated plum on seasoned rice and cabbage salad made their appetites rise twofold!
"Everything is a little sour and savory without being too strong." Komachi commented, "Onii-chan's aptitude for cooking is terrifying."
"Well duh, I plan to become a house husband after all," Hachiman said, only half-jokingly.
"You still insist on that? Sigh." Komachi wondered just how serious Hachiman was. But, still, he being was very shameless about saying it.
"But if that's the case Hachi-nii will be useless!" Kei refused to believe it, even though it had come from his mouth.
"I'm pretty sure if you announced that in public there would be a lot of girls interested." Moeha mischievously grinned, "A lot of Shuchiin girls are very career-oriented, so a husband who excels in the way of the household would be a very hot commodity."
"See, Fujiwara-chan understands it." Hachiman gleefully pointed over at the girl.
Kei had experienced what it was like to have a jobless father whose entire existence could be summed up with the words "Bumbling around." Ironically, Hachiman might be the one who was most responsible for making her father move on. And Kei was very, very thankful for that.
And yet, Hachiman's ambition could be summed up with the world 'jobless'. That was completely unacceptable!
A lazy, unambitious man is natural anti-Kei repellant, it seems. Komachi realized. It seems that Kei isn't the only one in dire need of maturing before they can have any serious relationship.
Or maybe Hachiman was just messing around. After all, he WAS a hard worker, in spite of his words. Hachiman was a liar and full of contradictions, after all.
Suddenly, Hachiman received a call, "Yes, hello. Hachiman here. What? Deliver an important disk? Don't you guys have broadband?"
Hachiman ended the call when he received an explanation.
"Job came in. It was the MLIT*." Hachiman waved his cell, "Their internet is compromised, so they want to send important documents through physical means for safety."
Kei choked on her food and Komachi helpfully offered her a cup of green tea.
"What the HECK are you even doing for a job?" Komachi squinted her eyes in suspicion.
"Don't care, money awaits!" Hachiman said, "You're free to do whatever you want. Just don't break anything. Oh, and leave the dirty dishes in the sink. I'll wash them later."
Honestly, even though it was a decrepit bike, Hachiman missed his Dragstar 250 now. Due to reasons unmentioned, it seems that Momo's father had taken his bike and had a joyride, but ended up crashing. The Yakuza boss' injuries were rather minor, with few broken bones, but the bike suffered far more. It was a complete writeoff.
So they decided to compensate for it with a replacement bike. Seeing that Hachiman effectively had the DragStar 400 with him at all times, though legally speaking it was registered under Momo. So he thought he should pick a different model.
Thus, a former police bike, Suzuki Inazuma, also known as a Suzuki GSR250 or GW250J, was picked. It was a bit faster than the old DragStar, but not to the point of a racing bike, and also a fairly comfortable ride.
Hachiman had painted over the police markings on the solid plastic side cases, and the used bike dealer had already removed the siren and emergency lights, but the color scheme made it very obvious where the bike originally came from. As for why Hachiman picked it, it was because it was perfect for delivery work.
He wondered if Miyuki had also started his part-time work already, and what kind of job he was doing at the moment. Unlike Hachiman, who was content working in delivery and nothing else, Miyuki switched from one job to another because he considered part-time work to be an important learning experience.
やはり, 彼らが望む告白は間違っている.
As expected, the Confession they want is wrong
Original Story by: Watari Wataru and Akasaka Aka
Written by: ZeroXSEED, Co-Writer/Editor: GoukaRyuu
Chapter 21 - Fujiwara wants to believe...
When Hachiman returned, it was almost sunset. The job today was rather hectic. Hachiman felt a little bad, to be honest, wondering how many people were going to have overtime today. But he, on the other hand, had reaped so much today.
When he returned, the three girls were STILL studying.
So Hachiman decided he'd make some light, low-calorie snacks for them.
"Do you need any help?" He asked.
"No, we're just about done." Moeha said as she received the plate, "Thank you, Hiki-uh-Higaya-san."
Hachiman sometimes was reminded that his family name could be a little hard to remember, Shuchiin students were an exception as most of them could remember and pronounce his family name easily.
Even during first semester of first year when he was still relatively friendless, outside of Miyuki, his high school classmates could remember his surname just fine. In comparison, many of his middle school classmates often get his name wrong.
"Just call me Hachi-nii. Younger girl privileges," Hachiman told her. Hachiman didn't like being too close with girls his age. So far only Momo was brazen enough to use his first name. But for little girls, Hachiman was always willing to be lenient.
He was born and raised a natural big brother; he couldn't help it!
"You can also call me Komachi-nee." Komachi huffed, "A good friend of Kei-chan is my little sister too!"
Look, she's boasting.
"Fujiwara-chan, do you plan to spend the night?" Hachiman asked, "Kei is going to have a sleepover, but what about you?"
"I've tried to ask my father permission to stay over, but it seems that he won't allow me to," Moeha whined.
Fuck.
"He'll be here soon enough."
Double fuck.
"Is that so? Sorry to hear that."
But Hachiman honestly thought that the less he had to deal with the Fujiwara family the better. He felt bad for casting Chika aside like that, but he'd have to be careful if he wanted to survive his second and third years of Shuchiin.
"Yeah, we haven't talked with each other much." Moeha said, "I wanted to get to know more about Komachi-nee, to be honest."
"There'll be more chances in the future." Hachiman tried to cheer her up.
Indeed, a limousine stopped in front of Hachiman's renthouse soon after. Clearly, in a hurry, Minister Fujiwara Daichi opened the door before his driver even got out.
He rang the bell.
Hachiman opened it moments later.
"Good evening, Hikigaya-kun." He smiled, "I have come to fetch my daughter."
"They're taking a break in the living room after finishing their studying, want to come in and wait?" Hachiman offered.
The way he spoke, it was clear that Hachiman had made coming in optional. It was true that Minister Fujiwara was hesitant, but still... Hachiman wasn't at all humble on his own turf.
Actually, it was almost rude.
"That's fine. If I may be straightforward, did you agree with the sleepover?"
"Of course I did. There's a lot of room in this house, and my parents rarely come to visit anyway," Hachiman said, "And I'm glad they're so studious. Kei and Fujiwara-chan would be a good influence on my stupid, little sister."
Did he just insult his own little sister so openly?
"Well, as a father I couldn't help but worry."
Daichi made it perfectly clear that the presence he was worried about was Hachiman's.
"Oh, me? You don't have to be worried. I can spend the night elsewhere just fine." Hachiman smugly said, "I could just spend a night at Miyuki's instead. He'd definitely appreciate the company."
"That's very irresponsible of you." Daichi remarked bluntly, "Leaving three young girls on their own. Can you really call yourself a man?"
"Sure? I mean, you consider me the biggest source of danger in this house. Naturally, getting rid of me would be the best solution. And if that doesn't work, you could always just send another spy to watch over my house instead."
Hachiman was done being polite.
It was one thing being humble as a guest, but Daichi didn't even have a shred of humility in him. Hachiman didn't want to think badly of a friend's parents, but he already felt irritated.
"I'm not sure what you mean by that?"
Hachiman showed the picture of the captured detective on his cellphone screen. "Does this face ring a bell or two?"
Daichi decided to stay quiet, neither confirming nor denying involvement.
"In any case, feel free to go inside and fetch her. The living room is on the second floor." Hachiman opened the door, sarcastically welcoming him in.
Daichi entered and quietly muttered, "Please excuse me."
Inside, he found the girls were playing a game together... with a big pile of textbooks left on the diningtable. Some were open alongside handwritten notes. It seemed that earlier they indeed had been studying seriously.
"Ah, father!" Moeha greeted him, seemingly scared. After all, Daichi heavily restrict videogames at home, if not outright banned it.
"Don't worry about me, just continue."
Daichi strictly curated the entertainment media his daughters' enjoyed, but this was one of the safer ones, so he'd let it slide.
"Hello, my name is Hikigaya Komachi. I'm a third-year middle school student from Chiba." Komachi politely bowed her head, "And a good friend of Kei-chan here."
Strange, Hachiman once boasted that he had the cutest little sister in the world, but Komachi looked boorish and tired; pretty much like her older brother. Or was that because of her sleep-deprived eyes?
Third-year subjects must have taken a bad toll on her.
"I see. I'm Fujiwara Daichi, please be a good friend to Moeha too."
It was a girl after all, so Daichi had no problem letting her get close to his daughters.
"Fujiwara-san is the Minister of the Left of Japan." Kei introduced him.
"Ahh, sorry. I didn't know about that." Komachi smiled ambiguously, "Want to join us and play?"
Daichi sharpened his eyes.
It seemed that this girl was as sharp and dangerous as her brother. Still, he didn't want to be too authoritative.
The reason Komachi offered a controller for the fourth player was to make Daichi fit in, removing his social position as a high ranking Minister of Japan, and instead put him in the position of Moeha's father.
In a sense, it was a good approach. But, the fact that Komachi wasn't intimidated in the slightest, made him uneasy.
"Sure, I'm not very good at this game, however."
Not like Daichi had a lot of spare time to play with his daughters in the first place.
"Speaking of which, I'm sorry Moeha-chan can't join your sleepover today."
"It's fine."
"But if you don't mind, you can come with us to the Fujiwara household instead." Daichi boldly offered, "Along with Shirogane Kei-san too. I'm very sure my daughter Chika-san would be happy if you do."
Komachi looked at him grimly. Ah, she really resembles her older brother a lot now.
Who is this imbecile trying to intrude on my time with my beloved older brother like this.
Komachi thought. After all, the time they spent together could be very limited. Komachi didn't care enough about Moeha to leave, in the first place she was never a part of her weekend plans.
"Just go with him, Komachi." Hachiman commented, "It'll be a more effective way to study. Tomorrow we can go out and play together. Just the two of us."
"What really?!" Komachi looked really happy, and for a moment her dead-fish eyes seemed to disappear.
"My oath as an older brother," Hachiman said with an OK sign, "Miyuki will come and sleep here tonight, so us high school students can study properly too."
"Hmm... Alright then, if you insist." Komachi grinned, she was super giddy now.
"Hmm, why? You and Miyuki-kun can come too, Hikigaya-kun." Daichi taunted him.
Daichi had absolutely no reason to be worried about Hachiman in his household. The boy wouldn't dare to do anything rash after all.
"No, thanks." Hachiman rejected openly as he turned and headed downstairs again.
Kei didn't know why, but it seemed that there was open hostility between the Minister and Hachiman, and it worried her a lot.
"It's fine Kei-chan." Komachi patted her, "Everything will be fine."
Komachi's words didn't give her assurance in the slightest.
...
In the end, Hachiman escorted the three girls to the front. And then, suddenly Daichi said. "You girls can go ahead and have dinner without me. I have some things to talk about with Hikigaya-san."
"Eh?"
"As you may have heard, the MILT suffered a Cyberattack today, and, nominally perhaps, Hikigaya-kun was involved in the recovery effort and I wanted to hear his opinion as an outside contractor."
Hachiman had delivered a lot of documents and physical backups today in the effort of containing the attack and resulting damage. His efforts, though rather minor, were somewhat helpful, ensuring the function of the Ministry could be kept running normally with minimal problems.
Naturally, Hachiman was rewarded handsomely for that. He don't need the recognition at all.
"Ah, speaking of that, Komachi, come here a moment," Hachiman said and Komachi followed him away so they couldn't be heard.
"Did you bring your special charm?"
"Of course."
Good luck charms for the success of studying and exams were very common among third years like Komachi. So it wasn't strange for her to have one, even if she wasn't exceptionally religious.
"Then put this inside." Hachiman handed her a silver coin.
It was a rare 1000 yen silver coin. They were printed for the celebration of something. In this particular case, the coin was minted in celebration of Tokyo 2020 olympic, weighing 31 grams and made of pure silver.
"Whoa, a legendary silver coin!" Komachi's eyes widened.
"This is a gift from MILT. There were only 100,000 of them released last year." Hachiman proudly smiled, "I hope it can bring you good luck and prosperity as well."
"But what about you, Onii-chan?"
"I have one for me as well." Hachiman showed the shiny coin held in a transparent sleeve in his wallet, "With this, we're connected."
"Thank you!" Komachi hugged him happily.
"Now go."
The limo departed, leaving a thin cloud of smoke behind. Daichi looked after it and then at Hachiman, "I hope you don't mind me intruding."
"Suit yourself," Hachiman said as they went back inside.
Hachiman went to wash the dirty dishes as Daichi sat facing the dinner table quietly.
"Have you always lived alone like this?" He asked suddenly.
"Since I've entered Shuchiin, yes," Hachiman replied.
"How often do your parents come to visit?"
"Back when I first started they came three or four times a week. Nowadays, it's maybe half that. Once or twice a week."
"I see."
It made sense. After all, they had a daughter to worry about in Chiba.
"What about your little sister?" Daichi asked again.
"She doesn't normally come to visit, I normally go back to Chiba pretty much every weekend so we can spend time together."
Daichi had just wrecked their weekend plans, so Hachiman had little incentive of thanking him for anything.
"Forgive me for being so anal about it." Daichi said coldly, but earnestly, "I'm just worried about my daughters. But especially Chika-san."
"Why are you so worried?"
"If I'm not being strict, she might go astray," Daichi said gravely.
"She wouldn't." Hachiman scoffed, "Secretary Fujiwara might take her sweet time, but she's always been a goal-oriented person for as long as I've known her."
"How can you be so certain?" Daichi eyed him.
"I could ask you the same, why do you have so little faith in your daughter?" Hachiman eyed him back.
That question pierced Daichi hard, right in the depths of his cold, steely heart, like an arrow through its target. No matter how heartless a parent can be, that ought to hurt. Hachiman was more than well aware, and he intended to make him suffer.
"If I was Secretary Fujiwara, my heart would bleed."
Those who wield immense power in this world, at the end of the day they are still human beings. Fujiwara Daichi was a loving and attentive father before he was a minister. As Hachiman started cooking dinner, it seemed that Daichi had sunk even lower into depression.
That realization felt like he had gotten a hard kick in the balls.
Hachiman wasn't sure if he felt a little guilty or simply empathize with him, but Hachiman handed him a bowl containing an unfamiliar dish, "It's certainly not a multi-course, French dinner, but you ought to eat. This country would suffer if you got sick."
It seemed to be made of shredded cabbage, though underneath it was also filled with all sorts of vegetables in a hot, savory soup.
"What is this?"
"Shchi. Russian cabbage soup." Hachiman said as he began eating his own, "I've added potatoes, chicken, and pork to it too, so it should be rather filling."
Minister Fujiwara dubiously looked at it and then had a tenative taste. It was fairly delicious for something so generic and made by a sixteen year old boy.
"Would you like any drink with it?"
"Anything is fine, Hikigaya-kun."
"Oh good, because I just made something." Hachiman picked out a bottle of kvass from his fridge and poured it into two glasses.
"...is that beer?"
"No."
Minister Fujiwara tasted it, and it was quite sweet and refreshing. "Honey?"
"It's kvass mixed with a bit of honey and lemon," Hachiman said, "Homemade."
"I see."
Even though it was bare bones, even though it was so simple, Fujiwara Daichi couldn't help but feel the warmth and heartiness in this quiet dinner.
"Do you cook every day like this?"
"Almost every day, unless someone has cooked or bought something for me." Hachiman said, "I grew sick of konbini food in the first month of living alone."
"I see."
Daichi wondered if Chika was to live alone like Hachiman did, would she grow more mature? Would she grow to be more independent, or more immature and spoiled instead?
"Chika-san has an older sister." Daichi suddenly said, "Her name is Toyomi."
"I've heard." Hachiman nodded.
"I don't know where I went wrong." Daichi sighed and then drunk half the glass of his drink, "But Toyomi got increasingly sloppy and undisciplined. And the current her in college, she's nothing but an embarrassment to the family."
"But Secretary Fujiwara isn't her older sister."
"How can you tell? You haven't even met my eldest daughter."
"Fujiwara Chika is a very ambitious girl. She will do absolutely everything she can to make sure her reputation remains clear until she graduates and then enter politics."
"To surpass her own father, to step on the road that her ancestors traveled, Fujiwara Chika will do absolutely anything you say. If you told her to jump, she would only ask how high. Even if you tell her to quit the Student Council and the Tabletop Game Club, she would comply. And she would never leave the Fujiwara household should you imprison her inside."
Because, that was Chika. At the end of the day, Fujiwara Chika was both a self-serving person and also a good girl.
"Imprisoning her... that..."
Even for Daichi, that was completely unthinkable.
Compared to Hachiman's neglectful and detached parents, was he really that much better? Daichi still remembered vividly when Chika decided to quit her piano lessons.
"Chika-chan, what do you want to do in the future?" Her instructor asked.
"I want to be Prime Minister!"
And whether it was for a personal agenda or just plain honesty, it seemed that Hikigaya Hachiman understood his daughter more than Daichi himself did.
Daichi truly felt ashamed.
"Could I ask for a second round?" Daichi raised his glass after he had emptied it.
"If you plan to get drunk, you physically can't. You'd probably have to drink this by the gallon." Hachiman said as he poured the bottle, "But I'm glad you enjoy it, Minister Fujiwara."
As a matter of fact, Daichi did like the flavor. Enough for him to even ask for thirds!
The limousine came back, later on, to pick up Daichi himself.
"I know its a bit late to say this..." Daichi told Hachiman and lowered his head a bit. "But I shall apologize for the incident that happened before, and what happened today as well."
"In this day and age, what kind of father wouldn't be worried about their daughter?" Hachiman incredulously responded, "Rich people have it hard too. That was something I've learned since I entered Shuchiin. Sometimes I envy those kids. They're loaded with money, but more so than that, parents who really care about them."
Daichi raised his eyebrows when Hachiman gave him a cold bottle of unopened kvass.
"Don't let this sit too long at room temperature. And share a glass or two with your daughters too. It might be hard to do sometimes, but most kids are happy just seeing their parents sitting in front of them at the same table."
Ah.
Daichi understood what he meant.
"If by any chance you're passing by." Daichi told him, "You should come for dinner too, Hikigaya-kun."
Hachiman wordlessly turned and went back into his house, but Daichi was sure that Hachiman got his message. As Minister Fujiwara sat inside his limo, he began to understand why Chika was so interested in this boy.
Someone with so few words, yet always speaking with clarity. Someone who, despite his bitter upbringing and poor attitude, had faith in people and understood them.
All the more reason why Daichi would have to always keep on guard. But maybe, just a little, he could be a little more lenient with him.
...
The result of today's battle: Not as Planned.
* Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism