When Sumireko Sanshokuin saw Yukinoshita Yukino's face flush red with a mix of anger and embarrassment, her chest rising and falling with each sharp breath, a mischievous glint flickered in her eyes.
"Yukinoshita, you really are adorable."
"I don't want to hear such an insincere compliment from you right now," Yukino scoffed, crossing her arms. Her gaze flickered toward Sumireko's, well, overwhelming assets, and she sighed internally.
It was bad enough that she lost to her older sister in terms of figure.
But now… now there was someone who put even Haruno to shame.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed aside those distracting thoughts. "Alright, enough with the nonsense. Sanshokuin-san, that pervert actually brought you here. I assume you at least have an idea of what the Service Club does?"
Sumireko tilted her head slightly, her expression unreadable. "Well, I have a guess. From what I've seen, it looks like an activity centered around serving the only guy in the club. Let me guess—Yukinoshita wants to compete with me to see who can please Hozuki-kun the most?"
"Nonsense!" Yukino snapped, fists clenching as an ominous aura seemed to rise from her. "My Service Club is not that kind of service! What kind of garbage has he been feeding you?!"
Sumireko chuckled, amused by her reaction. "He actually didn't say much. I was just curious about what kind of club this was. So, tell me, Yukinoshita-san, what exactly does your Service Club do?"
Regaining her composure, Yukino raised her chin slightly and assumed her usual authoritative demeanor.
"Rather than giving a man a fish, it is better to teach him how to fish. The purpose of the Service Club is to assist those who seek self-improvement, providing guidance and solutions for those facing difficulties."
"Of course, we don't accept just any request. It depends on the person."
She narrowed her eyes. "And when Hozuki comes back, make sure he doesn't spread any strange rumors."
Sumireko blinked before letting out a small laugh. "I see, so Yukinoshita-san created this club to help others. Though… don't you think 'Service Club' is a bit of a misleading name?"
"The only reason it sounds misleading is because people have impure thoughts!" Yukino huffed.
Sumireko leaned in slightly, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Ah, so you're saying Hozuki-kun has impure thoughts?"
Yukino flinched before quickly shaking her head. "That's not what I meant!"
Sumireko couldn't help but giggle.
After a moment, she placed a hand on her chin, her expression growing a little more serious. "Well then, Yukinoshita-san, would you be willing to hear my request?"
Yukino nodded. "Go ahead. Though, I have to ask—why does someone as beautiful as you go out of your way to disguise yourself as an ordinary, bookish girl?"
Sumireko sighed. "Because being too beautiful and too popular isn't always a good thing."
She glanced down, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the edge of her sleeve. "I became a librarian because I love books—stories, literature, the worlds created by words. But… well, let me tell you a little story from my junior high school days."
Yukino listened intently as Sumireko spoke, her voice carrying a weight that wasn't present before.
"Back in junior high, I developed a little faster than my peers, and I was considered attractive. Naturally, that drew a lot of attention from boys."
She exhaled slowly. "There were always confessions. Boys trying to impress me, showing up outside my class, giving me letters. I just wanted to read quietly, but they never left me alone."
Her voice turned colder. "And when I rejected them, the girls who liked those boys started targeting me out of jealousy."
Yukino frowned, already sensing where this was going.
"Some even spread rumors—vile things. They claimed I…" Sumireko hesitated before forcing the words out, "—that I only looked the way I do because I was a compensated dating girl."
Yukino scoffed, her arms tightening across her chest. "Pathetic. Some people would rather tear others down than improve themselves. Instead of putting in effort, they cling to jealousy and spread malicious lies."
Sumireko looked at her in mild surprise before nodding with a small smile. "It seems like you've had your own experiences with this sort of thing."
Yukino glanced away. "…Go on."
"Alright." Sumireko took a breath and continued, her voice steady. "At the time, I was just a middle schooler. How was I supposed to fight against so many people? Things got worse. Eventually, some girls even tried to 'teach me a lesson.'"
She clenched her fist slightly. "At that moment, a senior—Sakurahara Momo—stepped in and saved me. She was the student council president, popular and respected. She decided to be my friend and took me into her social circle."
Yukino narrowed her eyes. "And this student council president—she was trustworthy?"
Sumireko nodded. "She was. And through her, I met Kusami Runa, another classmate in my grade, and the incredibly popular student council secretary, Hazuki Yasuo."
She glanced at Yukino, noting her reaction. "Yes, they're the representatives from Toshobu High School for this event."
Sumireko proceeded to recount the suffocating life she had endured within that three-person dynamic. When she mentioned Hazuki Yasuo's personality, Yukino's expression twisted slightly.
"How can someone be that oblivious? Is he really that pure, or just an idiot?"
Sumireko chuckled, though her smile was tinged with bitterness. "You're not the only one who finds it unbelievable."
She leaned back in her chair. "Honestly, I consider myself lucky. I left that situation the moment I graduated middle school. But Momo and Kusami Runa… they're still trapped in that cycle, hoping against hope that Hazuki Yasuo will one day choose one of them."
A pause.
"But he won't. No matter how much effort they put in, one of them will end up losing."
Yukino sighed. "That's… cruel."
Sumireko nodded. "It is. And the worst part? Hazuki Yasuo isn't a bad guy. He's just… too loyal. Too oblivious. He doesn't have the courage or the mindset to choose between them."
She let out a soft laugh. "Not every man is like Hozuki Nozomi."
Yukinoshita Yukino found herself in a complicated mood. She had never been one to actively seek out friendships, but that didn't mean she was oblivious to social cues and unspoken emotions. The idea that Hazuki Yasuo was truly just a pure-hearted good guy... it was almost absurd.
She still found it hard to believe that someone could be so dense.
As she mulled over this, she glanced at Sanshokuin Sumireko with a rare flicker of sympathy. "Three years in that kind of suffocating environment... that must have been rough for you."
Sanshokuin Sumireko shrugged, offering a wry smile. "What else could I do? I didn't exactly have the option to transfer schools at the time. If it were you, Yukinoshita, what would you have done?"
"Me?" Yukinoshita raised an elegant eyebrow, a glint of steel flashing in her sharp blue eyes. "I'd track down whoever started the rumors and eliminate them at the root."
She clenched her fist, exuding an aura of absolute confidence.
Sanshokuin Sumireko blinked, momentarily taken aback before bursting into a small chuckle. "You haven't actually done that before, have you?"
"Oh, I have."
"Yukinoshita, you're amazing."
It wasn't an exaggeration. Yukinoshita Yukino had the backing of the powerful Yukinoshita Zaibatsu. Though people might isolate her, outright bullying was out of the question. No one would dare to cross her directly. And with the Hayama family's legal expertise supporting her, any rumors or smear campaigns could easily be dismantled before they gained traction.
Sanshokuin Sumireko now understood why Yukinoshita had no real friends.
If she had such influence, she might have confronted Hazuki Yasuo and the upperclassmen directly.
...Okay, maybe not. That was a joke.
Although she had a bit of a scheming side, at her core, she was still a kind person. She wasn't someone who would betray those who had helped her. That's why she had chosen to quietly leave and start anew at another school.
Yukinoshita Yukino regarded Sumireko with an assessing gaze. She found the girl's situation frustrating—Sumireko was a quiet bookworm, uninterested in romance, yet she had been unwillingly caught between two girls obsessed with Hazuki Yasuo. Those two had constantly pushed her into situations with him, all while watching her with unreadable expressions, trapped in their own desperate affections.
That kind of environment…
Yukinoshita shuddered. She wouldn't have lasted a single second in such a suffocating atmosphere.
Yet Sumireko had endured it, out of gratitude to Sakurahara Momo and Kusami Runa. She couldn't bring herself to reveal their feelings to Yasuo, nor did she have any romantic interest in him herself. So she had chosen the only option left to her—she ran away, hoping that time would erase it all.
But fate had a cruel sense of humor.
A high school cultural exchange had dragged her right back into the tangled mess she thought she'd escaped.
Resting her chin on her hand, Yukinoshita Yukino studied the beautiful girl before her, her expression turning serious.
"So, Sanshokuin-san," she said smoothly. "What kind of assistance are you hoping to receive from our Service Club? I can see that you're quite troubled over Hazuki-san's situation."