Friday afternoon, at a café near Sobu High School.
The place wasn't particularly luxurious, but it did have private booths, which offered a reasonable amount of privacy.
Yukinoshita Haruno was already waiting outside for Saku and the others.
This meeting had been inevitable.
If they were discussing an investment, naturally the two sides needed to meet face-to-face.
What Saku hadn't expected was for Hikigaya and Yui to come along too.
Yukino didn't object, and considering how much Saku already owed her, he certainly wasn't going to complain.
Besides, today's discussion only concerned the amount of investment. They wouldn't be revealing any confidential project details.
"Yukino-chan, over here!"
Bright, cheerful, and outgoing.
Haruno had facial features remarkably similar to Yukino's, yet she looked more mature. Her smile was infectious enough to make strangers instinctively lower their guard.
Her shoulder-length hair only strengthened that approachable impression.
Even her clothes were perfectly chosen.
Understated yet expensive, combining the youthful energy of a university student with the polished sophistication of someone who understood fashion.
At first glance, anyone would've assumed she was simply a young woman who hadn't been out of university for long.
Who would've guessed she was the heir to a powerful conglomerate?
「No matter how I look at her, she's basically a larger, more mature version of Yukino.」
「She's incredibly easy to like at first sight too. The kind of woman who could make you start imagining what dating her would be like.」
「And yet, who would guess she's actually scheming as hell and has a severe sister complex?」
[Valid roast detected. Roast Points +60. Current total: 1,260.]
Yukino glanced at Saku.
'His understanding of Onee-san really is disturbingly accurate.'
Unfortunately, she strongly disliked the first half of his description.
'What exactly does he mean by a "larger version of Yukino"?'
'She's only a little bigger! Does he seriously need to keep bringing that up?'
"Yui-chan, Hikigaya-kun, it's been a while too."
After greeting the people she already knew, Haruno finally turned her attention toward Saku.
Her first impression: handsome.
Her second: composed.
Her third: dangerous.
Of course, that last judgment referred specifically to the danger he posed to Yukino.
The longer Haruno looked at Saku standing beside her sister, the more annoyingly well-matched the two seemed.
Previously, the boy she'd worried about around Yukino had been the dead-eyed Hikigaya.
Now, it was Saku.
After all, Saku was the first boy Yukino had ever gone this far out of her way to help.
"So you're Jinnai Saku-kun?"
Haruno smiled brightly.
"Onee-san has heard quite a lot about you from Yukino-chan."
As she spoke, she circled around Saku once before casually draping an arm over his shoulders like an overly friendly older sister.
Saku had no idea what Haruno was trying to accomplish.
But the soft pressure against him was certainly difficult to ignore.
「So this is the mature allure of an older woman? As expected... very impressive.」
「That softness is a gap Yukino probably won't be able to close in her entire lifetime.」
Yukino's smile froze.
Her gaze gradually became dangerous.
'Jinnai Saku... can you PLEASE stop talking about this?!'
'Does a girl's value really come down to how much chest she has?'
If exposing her ability to hear his thoughts weren't a concern, Yukino genuinely wanted to punch him.
Mai: 'Looks like Saku-kun has been suppressing himself for too long lately.'
Utaha: 'Well, well. So that's your type. You like being the passive one, huh?'
Michiru: 'Um... I'm not exactly lacking either. Want to try sometime?'
Saki: 'Vixens! Every single one of them is a vixen! Damn it, I can't defend against any of them! I need reinforcements!'
"So..."
Haruno leaned slightly closer.
"What exactly is your relationship with Yukino-chan?"
Her grin widened.
"Come on, tell Onee-san. Are you two dating?"
"Onee-san."
Yukino finally couldn't tolerate it anymore.
"That's enough."
"Eh? Onee-san is only curious!"
「So that's how it is. She's testing me the same way she tested Hikigaya?」
「Sorry, but I'm not him.」
Hikigaya tended to shrink back when dealing with forceful personalities.
Saku didn't.
Rather than retreat, he immediately counterattacked.
"There's nothing special between Yukino and me."
He smiled directly at Haruno.
"But if we're talking about you, Haruno-san, I'd be perfectly happy to become your partner."
"How about it? Interested?"
"..."
Everyone froze.
Hikigaya and Yui were stunned by Saku's sheer boldness.
Even Haruno hadn't expected him to reverse the pressure so effortlessly.
Yukino, however, suddenly laughed.
At last, someone had managed to leave her sister speechless.
Haruno had probably assumed she could manipulate anyone with that usual teasing routine.
Unfortunately for her, Saku wasn't the type to quietly accept a disadvantage.
If any other boy had acted like this, Yukino probably would've distanced herself immediately and concluded he'd been seduced by Haruno's beauty.
But coming from Saku?
It felt entirely natural.
"Onee-san."
Yukino unexpectedly decided to fan the flames.
"He already said he's interested."
"Would you like your little sister to help set the two of you up?"
Haruno glanced at the unusually aggressive Yukino before laughing as well.
"My, my. I didn't realize Onee-san was still this popular."
She turned back to Saku.
"But I'm afraid I'm not interested in younger men. Sorry, Jinnai-kun."
"Really?"
Saku didn't back down.
"That's unfortunate. I have a serious weakness for older women."
With Saku continuing his offensive and Yukino happily assisting from the side, Haruno finally realized that dragging this conversation out would only make things increasingly embarrassing for her.
So she decisively ended it.
"All right, all right. We can discuss that another time."
Her smile remained, but her tone shifted.
"I asked you here today because we have serious business to discuss."
"You wouldn't want flirting to interfere with the important matter, would you, Jinnai-kun?"
Saku paused briefly before accepting the offered escape route.
He certainly wouldn't object to finding himself a wealthy older woman, but this clearly wasn't the appropriate time.
"Of course."
He gestured toward the café.
"Then let's head inside, Haruno-san."
...
Only after everyone entered the café and took their seats did the tense Hikigaya and Yui finally relax.
Today, the two of them felt as though they'd discovered an entirely new side of Saku.
To them, Haruno was unpredictable and extremely dangerous.
They'd never imagined someone like her could actually be pushed onto the defensive.
Even more surprisingly, the person who managed it was one of their own classmates.
After everyone ordered coffee, Haruno spoke before the drinks had even arrived.
"I've read your proposal."
Her playful demeanor disappeared almost completely.
"It's very mature."
"But the proposal alone also makes one thing painfully obvious: actually realizing this project will be extremely difficult."
She looked directly at Saku.
"So I'll ask you plainly."
"Do you truly believe your current team can complete a project of this scale?"
Saku remained silent.
Haruno continued.
"And how much investment are you asking for?"
"I made a rough estimate myself."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Even the bare minimum would require somewhere around one to two hundred million US dollars."
She leaned back slightly.
"Do you believe you're worth that much?"
At that moment, the university-student Haruno vanished.
The woman speaking now was Yukinoshita Haruno, heir to the Yukinoshita family.
Every sentence was strictly business, aimed directly at the core weaknesses of Saku's plan.
Her presence seemed to surge across the table like an incoming tide.
Hikigaya and Yui immediately straightened.
Neither dared make a sound, sitting there like two ostriches desperately trying not to attract attention.
Even Yukino trembled slightly when faced with her sister's serious side.
Beneath the table, her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.
And Saku...
His heart started pounding.
For a brief moment, he felt exactly like a student who had suddenly been called on by a teacher in the middle of class.
The pressure hit all at once.
…