Hikigaya and the two girls emerged from the wooded grove.
"Air-kun~ you definitely peeked, didn't you?"
Kasukigaoka Utaha grinned playfully, her smile full of mischief. With every glance and elegant movement—especially those legs in black tights—she seemed practically made to make hearts race.
"Hikigaya would never peek!"
Before he could speak, Kawasaki immediately stepped in with a serious tone.
"You're too protective of Air-kun, Saki."
Utaha sighed. "If you keep doting on him like that, he's going to get spoiled, you know."
"I—It's not like I'm protecting him or anything! I'm just… telling the truth!"
Kawasaki blushed and glanced shyly at Hikigaya, who looked rather awkward caught between them.
"Well, whatever~"
Kasukigaoka didn't press further on the topic of what just happened in the woods. Instead, she chuckled and shifted the conversation.
"Today was great—but what about tomorrow? Should we go somewhere fun again? Same place? Hmm… feels a bit repetitive, don't you think?"
"Huh?!"
Hikigaya froze.
"Wha—?!"
Kawasaki's eyes widened in panic.
"T-Tomorrow too?! Again?!"
"Well, of course. We're all human, right? With needs. Didn't today go wonderfully? Hehe, let's continue tomorrow~"
She flicked her hair casually, clearly in an excellent mood.
"No way!"
Kawasaki refused instantly, flustered.
"Hikigaya needs to recover! He… ahem, he should rest properly."
She glanced at him, cheeks burning red.
"Rest, huh?"
Utaha looked at Hikigaya, who was clearly stuck in the middle, then smirked at Kawasaki.
"Didn't someone just now keep calling out to me for help~?"
"Wha—?!"
Kawasaki flushed with embarrassment. "T-That was just a… a little accident! It's not what it sounded like!"
"Accident? Come on, Saki. You do realize Hikigaya isn't your average guy, right? Faced with you and me, he showed quite the… gentlemanly spirit. Instead of worrying about him, maybe worry about yourself~"
Utaha smiled sweetly, clearly enjoying herself.
"I…"
"If you ask me, we should do it again tomorrow~ As for the location, I'll think of something new. Let's spice it up."
Utaha suggested it as if she were planning a picnic.
"This kind of thing isn't okay!"
Kawasaki quickly raised her voice, clearly panicked by Utaha's enthusiasm. "At least I can't… I mean, doing something like this two days in a row is just…"
She trailed off, too embarrassed to continue, hoping her words would dissuade Utaha.
"Wow, that's kinda weak, Saki. And here I thought all your karate training made you tougher."
Utaha looked at her like she'd just lost a sparring match.
"Karate and… this sort of stuff are totally different!" Kawasaki huffed, face red.
"Hmm… well, fine. You don't have to do anything. I can handle it all myself. Though… maybe it'd be better to have a third person? Three's a good number, after all~"
Utaha mused aloud, her tone teasing but clearly scheming.
"W-What?!"
Kawasaki gawked. "A third person? Are you out of your mind?!"
"Oh, excluding Air-kun, of course~"
"He couldn't possibly handle that!"
"Hey, hey—don't underestimate him," Utaha laughed. "This guy might still be hiding his true potential, right~? Right, Air-kun?"
"S-Senpai… you're really pushing it…"
Hikigaya sighed, exhausted.
"Don't deny it. You guys are all the same inside. Deep down, what guy wouldn't want to…"
"Enough!!"
Kawasaki cut her off in exasperation.
"First of all, it's not like there's anyone else besides the two of us who'd even agree to something like this! And second, are you seriously trying to get Hikigaya to overdo it?! That's insane!"
"Don't worry about that," Utaha said casually. "As for a third person, we have options. How about… Yukinoshita herself~?"
Hikigaya: "???"
Kawasaki: "???"
"What's the problem? We've all already gotten close with Air-kun. There's no issue."
Utaha nodded like it was the most logical thing in the world.
"But that would expose everything between us!"
Kawasaki snapped. "You've really lost it. I'm not agreeing to anything that crazy!"
"Come on now, haven't you ever thought about spending time with Air-kun… together with Yukinoshita? It'd be a whole new experience~ You'd probably ascend to another world!"
"Ahhh! S-Stop it! I'd never think of something that outrageous. Doing that with Yukinoshita?! That's just… way too improper!"
"But… kind of tempting, isn't it~?"
"W-Will you please stop?!"
Kawasaki shrieked in a mix of frustration and fluster.
"Senpai, let's dial it down," Hikigaya said, finally stepping in. "This is seriously out of hand."
"Fine, fine. You'll understand one day how beautiful this could be," Utaha said with a theatrical sigh.
And with that, the three of them made their way back to the school building.
Meanwhile…
Yukinoshita stumbled out of the trees in a daze, walking like a ghost toward the school.
The mission was complete, yes…
But she didn't feel even a bit happy.
Her boyfriend would continue spending time with Kawasaki and Utaha, and worse—she'd just received a new mission. One where she had to pick yet another girl to… "accompany" Hachiman.
Sigh. My life is just endless hardship.
"This mission is way too much. I'll deal with it later… I should probably focus on selecting the next candidate…"
Yukinoshita mumbled to herself.
Just then, Isshiki Iroha trotted up with a slightly embarrassed smile.
"Yukino-senpai, um… could I borrow senpai for a bit?"
"…Borrow?"
Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow.
What is with girls these days? Even Iroha is getting bold now?
Well, whatever. Since you came knocking—
Then don't leave, Iroha-chan. You're about to become the next girl helping my boyfriend.