"Yah Hello, Yukino-chan Eh? Shinra is here too." Haruno sat on the sofa in the living room. Hearing the door open, she turned around, leaned on the back of the sofa, and waved to greet the entryway.
Seeing Shinra following Yukino, and the shopping bag in his hand, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. Did these two go shopping together after school?
But soon Haruno saw clearly the items in the shopping bag. Oh, it's groceries.
"Nee-san? Why are you here again?" Yukino frowned. Her sister had only gone back for a few days; why did she run to her place again?
At the beginning of this semester, Haruno had stayed at Yukino's place for a few days. As a result, less than a week later, she came over from home again.
Yukino wasn't unwelcoming to Haruno... well, maybe just a little bit, but she disliked her sister's surprise attacks even more.
Shinra came to her house for dinner today. What if one day he came to her house... no wait, there's nothing shameful about her and Shinra.
Um... a-anyway, regardless of whether Shinra comes or not, Nee-san should have notified me in advance instead of coming uninvited.
"Eh—so sad. Is Yukino not welcoming Big Sister?" Haruno pretended to be hurt but immediately returned to normal. Then she pointed to the shopping bag in their hands and asked curiously, "What did you buy?"
"Groceries." Yukino was concise. After changing into slippers, she went to the kitchen area and put the bought fruits, vegetables, and meat on the island counter.
Shinra followed closely. Just as he put down the things in his hand, he found Haruno had come to his side at some point. She pushed open the shopping bag with her hand, looked at the groceries inside, and found that besides basic meat and vegetables, there were also fresh sashimi and a huge watermelon.
Big spending, so to speak.
"So lavish?!"
Haruno felt today's meal standard was a bit too lavish. Fortunately I came, otherwise wouldn't I have missed a big meal?
"It's rare for Yukino to agree to cook, so naturally, we should give her ample room to perform."
"Oh my, did Yukino-chan lose a bet again?"
Hearing Shinra's words, Haruno subconsciously thought Yukino lost a competition with Shinra again and then had to cook for him.
Last time, wasn't it because of a bet that Yukino made bento for Shinra for a week? Haruno knew about this.
"That's not it. Speaking of which, I lost the bet last time." Shinra replied.
"Lost? So what did Yukino ask you to do?"
Hearing that Shinra lost to Yukino, Haruno immediately became interested. She knew the two usually bet on asking the other party to do one thing as a condition.
Since Shinra lost to Yukino, did that mean Shinra now owed Yukino a condition?
"She hasn't said yet." Shinra spread his hands, indicating that if Haruno was interested, she could ask Yukino. He also wanted to know what Yukino planned to do with that condition.
"Is that so~ Hey, Yukino, have you thought about what you want Shinra to do?" Haruno didn't wait at all and directly turned to ask Yukino, who was washing vegetables nearby.
"It has nothing to do with Nee-san." Yukino said without turning her head.
"Ehh—" Haruno dragged out her tone, seemingly wanting to use this method to change Yukino's mind.
But unfortunately, Yukino didn't buy Haruno's act at all. As if she didn't hear, she continued washing vegetables.
Seeing Yukino's lack of reaction, Haruno didn't continue to pester Yukino. Instead, she turned back to Shinra and said, "Don't worry. Based on my understanding of Yukino, she definitely won't make things too difficult for you."
"After all, our Yukino is famous for having a sharp tongue but a soft heart."
"Nee-san! If you have nothing to do, come over and help me cook." Yukino put the selected vegetable leaves into the basket, then dried her hands with a cloth and pulled Haruno away from Shinra.
"Eh? Aren't I a guest?"
"I've never heard of an uninvited guest!"
"A bad guest, then."
"To slack off, Nee-san can actually go to this extent? However, the adjective 'bad guest' is quite fitting."
"Then..."
"The lobster is yours to handle." Yukino gave orders unceremoniously. Her house didn't tolerate freeloaders.
"Then why doesn't he have to work!"
Haruno felt her sister was being a bit double-standard.
"He bought all these."
Yukino pointed to the wide variety of ingredients on the island counter. Haruno was speechless.
If he's the sponsor, then indeed he doesn't have to work.
But soon Haruno ran back to the living room with a pitter-patter, took out a women's wallet from the bag hanging on the rack, and revealed a thick stack of ten-thousand-yen bills, saying, "I can pay too."
Who isn't a rich lady? I can be a sponsor too; I want to not work too.
I worked hard to earn so much money; can't I enjoy it?
In terms of disposable funds, Haruno, as the family heir, had much more than Yukino. Not to mention that although Haruno was still in university, she had actually begun to initially contact the family business and had a salary.
In some ways, Haruno was quite similar to Shinra, both learning to take over the family business while studying.
Of course, the volume of the Yukinoshita family definitely couldn't compare with the Mori family.
After all, just the scale of the enterprises Shinra currently contacted and could influence far exceeded the sum of all the industries of the entire Yukinoshita family combined.
The Yukinoshita family belonged to local gentry, while the Mori family belonged to international chaebols. Strictly speaking, in front of the Mori family, the Yukinoshita family was no different from ordinary people.
Yukino didn't even glance at the money. She just pointed to the lobsters in the kitchen, signaling her to hurry up and handle those few big lobsters.
"Sigh, truly a grown daughter can't be kept."
Life is hard, Haruno sighs.
This big sister returned to the kitchen dejectedly, put on thick kitchen gloves, picked up the Boston lobster already in the sink, stabbed the tail with a chopstick, waited for the liquid to drain, then held the head with one hand and the tail with the other, twisting forcefully to separate the lobster's head and body instantly.
Her movements were so nimble, comparable to professional chefs, completely unlike the impression of a young lady who never did housework.
While processing the ingredients, Haruno glanced at Shinra, who was sitting in the living room playing on his phone obediently, then walked to Yukino and said, "Hey~ Yukino, why don't you use that condition to make Shinra accompany you home for a trip?"
Yukino's movements froze, then she frowned at her sister. She completely didn't understand what her sister was thinking.
Make Shinra accompany her home?
How is such a thing possible!
Setting aside what reason to use to invite Shinra back, just her mother's side wasn't something she could handle.
Yukino knew very well that her mother had always had considerable objections to her living alone. Even now, there was no intention of compromising, always looking for various opportunities to make her go back.
In this situation, if she invited a male classmate to visit her home, what would her mother think?
Even her father, who had always supported her, would probably defect at the last minute because of Shinra's existence!
Regarding this, Haruno had a completely different view from Yukino. Admittedly, there might be a small problem on Father's side, but as long as Mother was handled, was there a need to worry about Father?
Yukino might not know what Shinra's identity meant, but Haruno had an incredibly clear understanding of it.
Although the Yukinoshita family never had a tradition of 'selling daughters', mutual affection was another matter. If Mother knew of Shinra's existence, understood his ability and the behemoth behind him, it was impossible for her to block it. She might even turn around to help Yukino plan and strive to 'capture' Shinra sooner.
And once Yukino confirmed her relationship with Shinra, the shackles of the Yukinoshita family would never fall on her head...
"How about it? Want to consider it?" Haruno asked with a smile.
"Not considering. I already have a plan for that condition. Nee-san, please don't say strange things anymore!"
Yukino was completely unaware of her sister's good intentions and rejected the proposal almost without thinking.
Haruno wasn't surprised by Yukino's refusal. Agreeing would naturally be best, but refusing was actually within her expectations.
Hearing this, Haruno smiled and didn't mention the suggestion just now again. Instead, she asked with great interest: "Plan? What plan?"
"This matter has nothing to do with Nee-san, right?"
"Eh? Can't even ask? Could it be..."
"There is no 'could it be'."
"I haven't even said it yet!"
"Even if you don't say it, I can guess it's nothing good!"
The two sisters bickered back and forth. Soon, the aroma of food drifted from the kitchen.
Shinra finally didn't need to play deaf anymore. The two sisters might think Shinra in the living room couldn't hear them talking in the kitchen, but in fact, it wasn't so. Shinra heard every word of the sisters' conversation just now.
After all, with the enhancement of physique, Shinra's five senses were correspondingly strengthened. Not to mention the living room and kitchen area were only a few meters away, even if the Yukinoshita sisters ran into the room and closed the door now, as long as Shinra wanted, he could still hear their conversation.
Even more detailed, he could hear the subtle sounds made by the friction between the sisters' close-fitting fabrics and delicate skin, and could derive another function from this, that is, judging the corresponding measurements just by hearing...
Even blindfolded, he could distinguish who was the older sister and who was the younger sister.
As for the sisters mentioning inviting him to their home as a guest, Shinra didn't care. In fact, he also wanted to meet Yukinoshita Mother, who had forced the two sisters into this state, to see if he could find a breakthrough to accept a golden commission from her.
Whether it was Haruno's golden wish-power commission or Yukino's golden wish-power commission, as long as it was a golden wish-power commission, it was fine!
This golden commission has been dangling in front of him for almost half a year. Even Shinra is a bit anxious.
And now, the purple series wish-power commission on Haruno also seems to have hit a bottleneck. They've met so many times, yet the task status is still 'in progress', with no intention of settling.
Is it because his performance with Yukino didn't meet expectations, or is there some other reason... Anyway, let's eat first!
...
After dinner, Haruno asked about matters regarding the school festival.
According to Shinra's understanding of her, this matter was probably the purpose of her surprise attack here tonight.
"I heard from Meguri-chan that you are soliciting volunteer performance groups?" Haruno asked.
"Yes." Yukino nodded, then looked at her sister suspiciously and said, "You want to participate?"
"Of course. What's with that look? Is it strange for me to sign up for a performance?"
Yukino shook her head and pointed out the problem sharply: "Strange, but not strange in that way. Rather, why is Nee-san telling me this?"
Judging from her sister's past performance, if she wanted to participate in any activity, she wouldn't ask for her opinion. She would most likely act first and report later, forcing her to agree.
Now that the other party notified her in advance, Yukino found it incredible.
"Of course, it's because I heard that you have the final say in the executive committee. Although not the chairman, you have power comparable to the chairman..."
Speaking of this, Haruno gave a meaningful look at Shinra beside her. She understood her sister; such means were definitely not something she could use. It wasn't due to lack of ability, but purely due to personality.
With Yukino's pride, even if she undertook all the work herself, she couldn't master the entire executive committee in this way.
"Baseless rumors, Nee-san should listen less to them." Yukino interrupted.
"True. After all, the Yukino in my impression isn't some sinister and cunning guy~"
Shinra: ...
Since Yukino isn't the sinister and cunning guy, then who is the truly sinister and cunning person?
So hard to guess.
Wait, Yukino, what do you mean by looking over too?
Seemingly sensing Shinra's unkind gaze, Yukino withdrew her gaze, coughed lightly, and said, "If Nee-san wants to participate in the school festival performance, just come to the school later to submit an application."
Yukino didn't refuse Haruno because she knew very well that once Haruno decided on something, few people could force her to change.
If she didn't agree, there would probably be more trouble later. In that case, she might as well agree directly to Haruno. Doing so at least ensured the situation was controllable.
"OK~ For Yukino, I will prepare for this year's performance seriously. I wonder if the school will let me come often to practice..."
Looking at Haruno's meaning, she actually plans to be stationed at Sobu High!
"Nee-san, don't you have other things to do usually? Are university students so free?" Yukino couldn't imagine the scene of Haruno stationed at school at all. Besides, didn't she have to attend classes in university?
Running to her school every day, what about her studies?
"Nothing is more important than my cute sister Yukino. And... university really doesn't have much to do."