Anastasia Receives a Marriage Proposal
"There's nothing wrong with Anastasia's ability to read people; she's simply lacking information."
Kousaka Kyousuke explained to his younger sister: "Although he's become more confident, Hachiman is usually very serious and relatively reserved. But seeing his wife again after a year, Hachiman is naturally going to be exceptionally happy. Even if he tries to suppress it, emotions like that are hard to keep down."
Kousaka Kirino's eyes lit up, and she let out a cheer. As a member of the Anastasia faction, she was more than happy to see Hikigaya Hachiman being all lovey-dovey with Anastasia.
"So that means Hikigaya-senpai doesn't object to reuniting with Sister Anna?"
"Object? He's practically ecstatic," Kyousuke smiled. With a girl as cute as Anastasia, who would object?
"The reason he didn't go to see her for a whole year wasn't because he rejected her. On the contrary, it's because he liked her too much!"
So much that he was afraid he would fall for her all over again; so much that he felt he might be doing a disservice to Rem and Emilia.
But all those worries were instantly crushed by the love for Anastasia inside him during this tangible reunion. To the point where he lost his usual composure and appeared so cheerful and lighthearted.
"Waaa... It's not that I hate Sister Anna, and I do hope she can marry Hikigaya-senpai again, but isn't the speed and intensity of Senpai's 'old flame reigniting' a bit too fast and too big?"
In the Shirogane house, Shirogane Kei grumbled. To this, Shirogane Miyuki sighed and offered a guess that was almost certainly the truth: "When the trials just ended, the memories of different timelines were blurred because the human brain couldn't handle that much memory shock all at once.
But now a year has passed. Do you think those memories from different timelines are becoming clearer and clearer?"
"Which means—" Kei was stunned. "If that's the case, Hikigaya-senpai has specific experiences and feelings of... being in bed with Sister Anna in his mind..."
That would explain everything.
"As expected, Senpai isn't some casual scumbag. If the memories are clear, it's only natural he'd be heavily influenced!"
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「The group hadn't been inside the station for even two minutes when the tiny Mimi came charging out with a shout of joy. Her tail was wagging non-stop as she physically dragged Garfiel along, saying she wanted to take him to see all sorts of great places.」
「Mimi's expression and tone—that sincerity and earnestness—couldn't be faked. Because of that, Garfiel couldn't bring himself to resist, so he was half-pushed, half-pulled away by Mimi.」
「All of this happened with the tacit approval of Hikigaya Hachiman and Anastasia. The two of them watched from a distance, their gazes following Mimi and Garfiel like two worried parents until the pair had run far away and even their backs were out of sight. Only then did they retract their gazes.」
「Hikigaya Hachiman was somewhat surprised. This was the first time he had seen Mimi show romantic inclinations. 'So Mimi likes the type like Garfiel... no, rather than saying she likes the type, should I say she likes Garfiel specifically?'」
「Anastasia, on the other hand, hid all her surprise. She narrowed her eyes and asked in a serious tone, "That child who's leading Mimi away... the one called Garfiel. Is he a proper, reliable, good boy?"」
「"If he weren't a good boy, I wouldn't leave Mimi to him."」
「Hikigaya Hachiman smiled, as if responding to her acting spoiled, his voice very gentle. "Rest assured. Just as Mimi's proactive strength in love is as powerful as yours, Garfiel is an excellent man who is not inferior to me."」
「Anastasia froze... Even as a silver-tongued woman, she didn't know what to say for a moment. What did he mean by 'proactive strength in love is as powerful as yours'? I haven't even been in a relationship yet, right? It's hard to say if I'd be proactive or passive. Even if such things could be inferred from personality, speaking with such absolute certainty is too outrageous.」
「However, if this was intentionally used as a parallel, then it wasn't outrageous at all.」
「Mimi is like her; Garfiel is like him. What was this implying?」
「Anastasia was dazed for a good while. She looked at the oblivious Emilia, then turned her head to look at Hikigaya Hachiman, who was looking at her with a soft expression.」
「"..Speaking of love, I'm also a bit curious. Has Hikigaya decided on a marriage partner yet?"」
「"Not yet. I've been thinking about it constantly, and I'm very conflicted," Hachiman answered honestly. He truly hadn't decided whether to marry Emilia or Rem. But that wasn't important right now; what mattered was whether Mimi and Garfiel could become a couple.」
「His protection and feelings for Mimi were definitely no less than Anastasia's. Precisely because of that, he most hoped Mimi would succeed in winning over Garfiel. If she didn't, Garfiel would be stuck in a one-sided love for Ram for the rest of his life, which would be very pitiful.」
「Treating Mimi like a sister and Garfiel like a brother, Hikigaya Hachiman, who poured a lot of emotion into these two good kids, really wanted to see the moment they tied the knot.」
「Therefore, in his conversation with Anastasia, those words came from the bottom of his heart.」
「"Miss Anastasia, is something wrong?" Seeing Anastasia freeze after hearing Hachiman's reply, Emilia called out curiously.」
「"You're actually asking me what's wrong..." Anastasia looked at this silver-haired girl—who showed not a hint of dissatisfaction—in total shock. "Do you have nothing to say about his thoughts? Aren't you going to stop him?"」
「"Eh? I do," Emilia blinked, her small hand balling into a fist. "I'll do my best! But, for the final decision, I will respect Hachiman's own thoughts. Although, if I lose, I'll definitely be ve~ry disappointed, and might even cry... but I want to respect Hachiman."」
「Anastasia's head buzzed. Her eyes widened as she stared blankly at this generous competitor.」
「Anastasia shook her head, straightening out her chaotic thoughts and sorting them from the beginning.」
「The part about Mimi and Garfiel was a hint, but 'very conflicted' was a clear, direct response. And then there was that aggressive, measuring gaze from earlier... Given that Emilia was in the picture, Rem—regardless of status or anything else—couldn't possibly compete for the position of primary wife, especially since she was still in a coma. So there would be no reason to be conflicted.」
「The person who could snatch the position from Emilia, the one who could make him feel conflicted, would naturally have to be someone qualified. In other words—」
「It was her, Anastasia!」
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