After Yui was shyly teased with those gentle strokes, she quickly noticed something off between Tatsuki and Megumi.
"!!!"
The moment she lowered her head, she saw a scene that froze her on the spot—those two were… helping each other.
Y-You can do it like that?! Yui thought.
She glanced at Megumi and Tatsuki. The crazy part was that both of them looked completely expressionless. How were they even pulling that off?!
Was it… a different feeling than using a hand on it?
Embarrassed but curious, Yui propped her flushed, red-hot face with one hand, and with the other, she lightly touched Tatsuki's palm, guiding it to shift farther in.
"?"
Tatsuki looked at Yui in surprise.
He hadn't expected Yui to be this bold too.
Megumi and he had only dared to mess around like this because they'd built up that kind of tacit understanding over a long time—back when Yui's presence was so low-key it was easy to get away with things.
Meeting Tatsuki's gaze made Yui's face go even redder and then she immediately understood what it meant to invite a wolf into your home.
Tatsuki's big hand turned into a vicious wolf and lunged straight into the room.
"!!!"
Yui's body jolted. She collapsed onto the desk, biting down on her sleeve with her mouth.
This wasn't what she'd imagined.
How the hell had Megumi been holding back?!
But the moment she remembered it was Tatsuki's fingers, she still ended up reaching out her other small hand too.
Tatsuki instantly felt a whole lot better.
Megumi's hand alone really was too small—two small hands, one above and one below, together barely made it comfortable.
Chika calling it a "big bug" really did have a reason.
With her Observation Haki continuously spread out, Yukino saw every bit of the three of them's dirty business clearly.
Seeing that faint, satisfied look on Tatsuki's face made Yukino's irritation spike.
There were only the five of them from the same class in the clubroom right now—so they were really going to be this shameless?
Sure, Megumi and Yui were on their side, but what about Yumiko? Weren't they afraid Yumiko would notice?
Yukino still didn't know the two of them weren't public yet and besides… aren't my sister and I enough to satisfy him?
That was what Yukino truly wanted to say, lips pressed tight—but she was too embarrassed to ask it out loud.
"Yui, are you not feeling well?"
Because she felt guilty toward Yui, Yumiko was unusually attentive.
Yui had suddenly buried her head in her arm, sprawled on the desk, her shoulders trembling.
"Mm… I…"
Yui bit down on her sleeve, her voice shaking so badly she couldn't even get out a full sentence.
Tatsuki, calm as ever, answered for her. "Yumiko, Yui's a little thirsty. Can you help her buy a bottle of water?"
"Thirsty enough to be like that?"
Yumiko perfectly demonstrated what panic from concern looked like—plus, with the trust that came from confirming her relationship with Tatsuki, she didn't think twice about the obvious holes in his excuse. She got up and walked right out.
"You're really nasty," Yukino said quietly.
Tatsuki had a smile at the corner of his mouth, but he sighed as he spoke. "Yeah… I really do feel bad for Yumiko. I'll make it up to her properly next time."
Only he understood just how indecent that make it up was going to be.
Yukino didn't catch the other meaning and went back to reading with her head down.
Pretending not to see their filthy behavior—out of sight, out of mind.
Tatsuki, still rock-hard while feeling completely relaxed, opened the group chat and the moment he looked—his scalp went numb.
It seemed that while he'd been playing around with Haruno and Yukino, new members had joined.
Tatsuki scrolled through the chat log.
There were only join notifications. Neither newbie had said a single word!
[Ding! The legendary sucker has joined the chat group!]
[Ding! Red Hot-Blooded Habanero has joined the chat group!]
Aqua: "Welcome, new members! Axis Cult has a buy-one-get-one-free deal!"
Momonga: "Don't scare the newbies."
Kiana: "Next up is Kiana Time!"
March 7th: "Kiana, what are you about to do?"
Kiana: "Obviously introduce the chat group, hehe. I did my homework—my intro will be super clear."
Exusiai: "Homework? Didn't you say you totally didn't want to study?"
Kiana: "Stuff about the chat group doesn't count as studying!"
Silver Wolf: "Oh, so basically you like everything except studying."
Kiana: "That's right! Besides studying, I'm insanely strong!"
Silver Wolf: "So you're bad at school."
Kiana: "Uh…"
Bronya: "Kiana should still learn more. Knowledge is the fastest way to broaden your horizons."
Tingyun: "I agree with that. If the Sky-Faring Commission weren't so busy, I'd also like to go to the Artisanship Commission's library to read some interesting books."
Chito: "Tatsuki-nii said that before long, Yuu and I can go to school too."
Tatsuki: "Yeah. Winter break's almost here—once school starts again, I can handle your enrollment."
Chito: "Mm-hm! I'm looking forward to it, hehe. And lately, Mama Cocolia has been teaching Yuu and me a lot too."
Bronya: "Cocolia… Mama?"
Tatsuki: "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Bronya—congrats. You've got two little sisters now: Chito and Yuuri. Two very cute girls."
Bronya: "This… I don't really understand. Tatsuki, can you explain what happened in detail?"
Tatsuki: "Sure. It's simple—Cocolia lives together with Chito and Yuuri, really likes the two girls, and took them in as her goddaughters."
Tatsuki: "It's pretty similar to your situation."
Tatsuki: "Chito—Little Chito—this is your big sister. She's also Cocolia's daughter."
Chito: "Ohhh! So Bronya is also Mama Cocolia's daughter—Bronya, big sis!"
Bronya: "This really does make me a little flustered. Suddenly having two younger sisters… it's a feeling I can't quite put into words."
Bronya: "Little Chito, I'm happy to be your sister."
Chito: "Chito is happy too. I'm sure Yuu will be really happy as well."
Shinobu: "My, my… sisterly warmth like this is really enviable."
Tatsuki: "What, missing Kanae?"
Shinobu Kocho: "A little. And Kanao and Mitsuri too."
The way she said it—how could Tatsuki not get it? Was she missing Kanae? No, she was missing him.
Tatsuki: "When I have time, I'll bring Kanae back."
Shinobu Kocho: "Mm. I'm looking forward to it."
Kurumi: "I hate to interrupt the family bonding, but I need to talk to you, Tatsuki-kun."
Tatsuki: "About what?"
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Do you remember what you asked me to do before?"
Tatsuki: "I do. About Shido Itsuka."
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Mm-hm. That's the thing—this person you mentioned doesn't exist. At least, I searched all of Tengu City, and he's nowhere to be found."