Yukino stopped mid-step.
If Makoto hadn't said anything, she could have walked away clean. But now that he'd called her out, ignoring the situation wasn't an option.
She'd always positioned herself as the embodiment of absolute justice. At the opening ceremony, she'd told Makoto to his face that the strong had a duty to protect the weak.
Now Miura Yumiko, Yuigahama Yui, and the others were stranded with nowhere to go. If she turned her back, she'd be slapping herself across the face with her own principles.
Her teeth caught her lower lip. She wrestled with it for a moment, then turned.
"Would you... like to stay at my place for now?"
Before the words had fully left her mouth, Mrs. Yukinoshita's gaze cut through the crowd like a blade.
And when exactly did I agree to this?
Back in the real world, the Yukinoshita family's resources could have absorbed a few houseguests without blinking.
But this wasn't the real world.
Minutes later, eight people were crammed into a tiny two-bedroom apartment that barely qualified as cozy for four.
Yuigahama Yui, Miura Yumiko, and the others kept their heads down, not daring to speak. The pressure radiating off Mrs. Yukinoshita was suffocating.
"Yukino." Her voice could have frosted glass. "Do you know what your father and I do for a living in this world?"
"N-no."
The girl who carried herself like royalty at school had shriveled into a kitten too scared to breathe.
"I'm a waitress." Each word landed colder than the last. "Your father is a construction worker. Tell me, do you think we can feed six children on that?"
Yukino went silent.
She'd been so busy living up to her creed that she'd forgotten to check whether she could actually back it up.
Or rather, until that very moment, some part of her still believed she could do anything, forgetting this wasn't the real world.
She wasn't a real estate mogul's daughter here. She was just another ordinary civilian's kid.
"Everything you've ever had came from me." Mrs. Yukinoshita's tone was calm to the point of cruelty. "Your school. Your clothes. Your food. Your apartment. I know you've always wanted out from under my thumb, and I've let that childish fantasy slide, because Haruno was already set as the heir. But this isn't the real world. If you do something foolish here, there's no family fortune to clean up after you."
Yukino, whose sharp tongue could tear apart the protagonist of any crossover fanfic, stood there and took it, scolded into total submission.
It wasn't just bloodline suppression. It was that she knew, deep down, every single word was true.
"Um... ma'am?" Ichinose Chizuru mustered her courage. "Maybe we should go..."
Yui and the others seized on it like a pardon. The whole situation felt like visiting a friend's house and walking straight into a parent dressing their kid down. Staying felt wrong. Leaving felt worse.
Mr. Yukinoshita stepped in with an awkward laugh. "No, no, no. You're already here. Stay for dinner. Spend the night."
Everyone snuck a glance at the intimidating woman. She didn't object.
That was enough. They stayed for a tense, quiet meal.
Afterward, Mrs. Yukinoshita relented. The four girls could stay one night.
She wasn't so cold as to deny them that much.
Yui and Yumiko took one room. Chizuru and Ebina Hina took the other. The Yukinoshita family of four spread futons across the cramped living room floor.
The apartment was packed to bursting. Letting four extra girls live here long-term was out of the question.
Late that night, in the dark, Yukino gathered her nerve. "Mom... please don't get too close to Makoto Nishikado. He's not a good person."
Mrs. Yukinoshita, lying beside her, arched an eyebrow. A faint, unreadable smile crossed her lips. "Oh? Speaking of which, I hear you've gained some new abilities in this world too."
Yukino nodded eagerly.
Interest flickered in her mother's eyes. If her daughter truly had talent, she wouldn't mind positioning the girl as the family's pillar. Relying on your own child beat relying on an outsider every time.
Then Yukino demonstrated the Transformation Technique, shifting her appearance into an exact copy of her mother.
Mrs. Yukinoshita offered her youngest something rare: a genuine smile. Anticipation colored her voice. "And? What else?"
Yukino blinked. "That... that's it."
"That's it?" One eyebrow climbed higher. "Nothing combat-oriented? Something like, say, condensing an energy ball that could blast through a wall?"
Yukino shook her head, expression blank.
The Transformation Technique was all she had. She'd only been in the third-year class for a few days. Formal ninjutsu training had barely begun.
Mrs. Yukinoshita let out a derisive scoff, lay back down, and turned her back to her daughter. "It seems I expected too much from you."
If she'd never witnessed Makoto's power, she might have praised the girl. But comparison was a merciless thing. Stacked against what he could do, her daughter's little party trick was a joke.
Yukino stared at her mother's back, deflated.
She didn't understand. Iruka-sensei praised her constantly at school, called her exceptional. So why, in front of her mother, did none of it matter?
"It's alright, Yukino. Just keep working at it." Her father's voice came soft and warm from beside her.
"Exactly. Your big sister here can't even do that much." Haruno leaned in with a teasing grin.
But inwardly, she sighed. It's not that you're not talented, sis. It's that that guy is an absolute freak.
Neither her father's comfort nor her sister's humor made a dent. For the first time, the truth hit Yukino with full, unforgiving clarity: everything she'd ever been proud of had never truly been hers. It had all been given to her by the family.
The next morning, well before school, Yui, Yumiko, Ebina, and Chizuru slipped out of the Yukinoshita apartment. They left a note.
None of them had slept well.
It was obvious Mrs. Yukinoshita didn't want them there. They weren't angry. Put yourself in her shoes, and anyone would feel the same.
"So... back to living with the boys?" Ebina scratched her head as they walked to school. She loved her boys' love fiction, but sharing actual living space with real boys was a different matter entirely.
The four arrived at the academy with their dilemma unresolved, stomachs knotted.
The campus was still and empty at this hour.
Passing the teachers' office, all four stopped. Their homeroom teacher, Iruka-sensei's voice carried through the door.
"Makoto, you really want to apply for early graduation?"
Four pairs of ears perked up instantly.
Then Makoto's voice: "Yes, Iruka-sensei. You know my situation. I'm living with Airi and Marina, and Auntie Kayoko is working alone to support all three of us. I want to graduate and start earning as soon as possible, then move them all into a bigger place."
A bigger place.
All four girls' eyes lit up at once.
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*The Bonus Chapter*