Hearing her little sister's pure, joyful laughter, Haruno froze for a mont.
Then her wide eyes curved into crescent moons, squinting until they were nothing more than faint slits.
"Wow, Hojou really is sothing. Just two sentences, and Yukino-chan's already smiling like that. I haven't heard her laugh so happily in years. Ah~ I'm so jealous~~"
At that mont, Kyousuke's legendary "Level 10 Micro-Expression Reading" skill almost failed him—because the woman across from him had effectively shut the windows to her soul: her eyes.
She was blocking any attempt to read her emotions to the greatest degree possible.
"No no no, I'm seriously jealous! That smile—Yukino's radiant, happy smile—wasn't ant for ?
How tragic… It feels like my one and only little sister is being taken away~!"
Haruno pouted, opened her eyes dramatically, and started whining in a childlike voice.
The other girls at the table imdiately tensed, their expressions shifting subtly.
While Kasuko looked around confused, not understanding why her beloved big sister Miki suddenly seed so upset.
Haruno kept rambling nonsense like, "I really shouldn't have brought her here, Mom's going to kill ," and "We need to get Dad ho early tonight," none of which anyone could make sense of.
Forget "reading the atmosphere"—Haruno was like soone tossing an oxygen tank into a bonfire.
The shift in mood only made her more gleeful.
Kyousuke took a quiet sip from the glass of plain water belonging to Utaha, his sharp eyes calmly watching Haruno's antics.
This older sister clearly wasn't thrilled that both he and Sakura had been helping Yukino lately.
Sakura had invited Yukino to the upcoming award ceremony, casually revealing how Yukino had never attended a banquet or even had a casual dinner with friends before.
A sad detail—though perhaps neither sister considered it sad at all. Still, the mont the conversation was about to move on, Haruno struck.
She yanked Yukino right back into the spotlight and dragged her into an even more uncomfortable situation.
And Kyousuke… had played his part.
Pretending to be curious, he asked Haruno if she, as Yukino's older sister, ever attended events like that.
It was a perfectly natural question to continue the conversation—and Haruno had answered without missing a beat.
But hidden in her answer was another subtle jab—one ant to sting Yukino and deepen her awkwardness even further.
It was then that Kyousuke began to suspect sothing deeper: Haruno was deliberately sabotaging anyone who tried to help her sister.
Haruno—like the sun itself—had the power to expose the darkness in people's hearts with her bright, searing presence.
There was no way she was unaware of her sister's flaws.
Yet from the mont she stepped into this house, she made no attempt to shield or support Yukino.
Instead, she effortlessly showcased her dazzling social charm, stole the spotlight, and allowed her sister to slowly fade into the role of a wallflower—like gumi.
Finding this all oddly fascinating, Kyousuke looked at the increasingly dejected Yukino.
He decided to probe a little further.
And then, after his exchange with Haruno, he heard it—that pure, joyful laugh from Yukino. It wasn't just Haruno who found it unbelievable. Kyousuke himself was stunned.
The girl who acted as if happiness was a sin… was laughing that freely?
But then he saw it.
He saw how far Haruno was willing to go to isolate her sister—to ensure she stood alone.
This woman, chattering beside Sakura and airing playful grievances, had never t the other girls at the table.
Yet sohow, she had already spotted the connections between them and Kyousuke.
With just one casual, jealous-sounding remark about "a sister growing up and being stolen away," she flipped the room.
Yukino, once invisible, was now the center of attention—an object of envy and scrutiny.
"Incredible," Utaha whispered, stretching out her hand and naturally taking the water glass from Kyousuke, sipping where his faint lip mark still lingered.
"Yeah… Poor Yukino," Kyousuke replied, unsurprised that Utaha could see everything he had.
In this household, aside from the self-proclaid genius Eriri, senior Utaha was the only one who could stand toe-to-toe with him in both emotional and intellectual insight.
He sotis feared that if he ever left for over a year, he'd co back to find everyone kneeling before Utaha, singing her praises.
(Though, of course, there was always the chance Sakura or Mitsuha would just casually overpower her.)
"She really does have a wicked personality, doesn't she? Yukino's sister," Utaha added.
Naturally, Eriri responded with a dramatic eye roll.
And yes, Kyousuke agreed with every fiber of his being.
This was precisely why he wasn't surprised that Sakura and Haruno already knew each other.
To humiliate Yukino, Haruno would pull everyone down with her—whatever it took to achieve her goal.
And now, with that comnt, Yukino could no longer use the conversational "weapons" Kyousuke had subtly offered her as defense.
'Absolutely despicable!'
Kyousuke was genuinely pissed.
Did she even realize how frustrating this situation was for soone like him, whose ultimate dream was to build a harem?
"You think you can't get drunk? Tonight, I'll show you what drunk really ans!"
"Big sister!"
Seeing her sister begin to tell embarrassing stories about changing her diapers, Yukino imdiately called out with a cold, stern expression.
"Ah~ Yukino-chan is mad now~"
Haruno giggled mischievously and winked at Yamauchi Sakura, as if to say, I'll finish the story later, just for you.
Sakura grinned and responded with an "OK" gesture, her slender, fair fingers looking extra cute as she did.
Of course, all that cuteness and playfulness—was purely from Kyousuke's perspective.
For Yukino, even one of those won appearing alone was exhausting. The two of them together? That was the end of the world.
And in this apocalypse, not even she could sit quietly by the window, calmly reading the last page of her novel.
Yukino's mind was a swirling storm of emotions.
Her sister had suddenly barged into her house, insisting they watch Kyousuke's award ceremony together.
Sure, she had planned to go anyway at Sakura's request—but the mont her sister took charge, the entire experience beca irritating.
And because of that, even when she looked at Kyousuke on the TV screen, her expression grew colder.
His speech, as always, was smooth and persuasive.
And, as always, it was filled with beautiful lies.
Just like her sister.
But the truth was, the world loved people like them—people who wasted their brilliance while feeding the masses comforting illusions.
Selling dreams.
Preaching hard work.
Deceiving the average.
She rembered sothing the chauffeur once told her:
Even just by drawing manga, Kyousuke had inspired naïve middle schoolers into doing reckless, irrational things in the na of "heroism."
And now?
Yukino could only imagine how many people would watch that award show, listen to his passionate speech, feel their hearts stirred… and then charge down the wrong path chasing a childish dream.
Of course, that wasn't her concern.
Unless she one day beca Minister of Culture and could actually regulate such things, Yukinoshita Yukino had neither the position nor the right to pass judgnt.
From start to finish, Yukinoshita Yukino watched Hojou Kyousuke with calm, composed eyes.
That pale blue gaze of hers was as cold and unshakable as a deity's.
Spotlights, applause, idol status… all of it dissolved into nothingness in her view, leaving only the pure essence of Hojou Kyousuke himself.
When the award ceremony's live broadcast ended, Yukino—now more adept at detecting lies and reading people's hearts—ignored her sister, who was gleefully shouting about how good the alcohol was.
Instead, she turned and quietly returned to her room.
She picked up a pencil and laid out a familiar exam paper.
It was a math test—one brought in by Katou gumi.
The sa one Kyousuke had glanced at only once and effortlessly rattled off all the correct answers.
Yukino gritted her teeth.
Her eyes sharpened with resolve.
She had always known that geniuses existed. No one understood that truth more than she did.
But she would never accept that there was soone in the world she couldn't catch up to.
If Kyousuke's intelligence was a perfect 10, and his effort was also a 10, then the product was the ultimate genius—a score of 100.
Then she, a "genius" with only 1 point of raw intelligence, would simply put in 1,000 tis the effort.
Since that humiliating defeat, she had worked through this sa math test ten tis.
In the first four rounds, she used a different thod to solve each problem.
By the fifth round, she had morized every question and answer.
Every concept was etched into her mind.
There were no more alternate solutions to be found—and even if there were, they would only be inefficient burdens.
So she began analyzing how to explain the problems instead. She tried to shift her mindset, imagining herself as a confused, average person like Kato gumi.
Again and again, she rehearsed how to break down the concepts.
Now, on her eleventh run-through, she knew she was still nowhere near even one percent of Hojou Kyousuke's brilliance.
But her eyes glead with stunning clarity.
As long as she could move forward, as long as she could improve—no genius would remain out of reach.
Failure had never defeated her.
Even if she was montarily behind in this "Teach Katou gumi" competition, she would never give up.
If Hojou could do it, so could she. No, she could do it even better.
Because this was her Service Club.
And if she, the president, couldn't be stronger than her mbers, then what right did she have to lead them?
What right did she have to call this club her personal proving ground?
Righteousness. Pride. Harsh self-discipline. An unrelenting pursuit of perfection.
That was the justice of Yukinoshita Yukino.
"Hey hey, Yukino! Let's go out for a big fancy dinner!"
The door suddenly burst open, slamming against the stopper with a loud bang.
'Snap.'
The tip of Yukino's pencil broke on the test sheet. A dark vein popped on her forehead.
"How many tis do I have to tell you to knock?"
She knew it was pointless to say it—but if she didn't say anything, it would be like condoning her sister's barbaric behavior.
And so, once again, she found herself dragged into it—into this, Hojou Kyousuke's celebration party.
Seeing Sakura, seeing Yukari-sensei, Eriri—even seeing Kyousuke himself—it all sparked a faint sense of warmth in her.
But why were there so many people here!?
And where was Shouko?
Why wasn't she here?
Where did she go?
Setting that aside, the mont she heard her sister's cheerful and ever-affable laughter, that familiar wave of dread returned.
After two previous dinner gatherings at Kyousuke's house, Yukino had believed she was getting used to social events like this.
But now, watching her sister—who had never even t these people, yet was already blending seamlessly with the Ruyi dorm girls and even Kyousuke's mother—Yukino realized just how wrong she had been.
Her sister was right.
The illusion that she had learned to navigate social settings wasn't due to her own growth.
It was thanks to Hojou Kyousuke, Yamauchi Sakura, Nishimiya Shouko… because they had been helping her.
Whether consciously or not, their kindness had shielded her from slipping back into her old self…
That self who, when faced with the Yukinoshita family's business guests and forced to attend for the sake of appearances, sat silently like a scarecrow—useless, inert, and empty enough for birds to nest on her hat.
She rembered sitting there, listening to fake complints, watching her parents and sister put on insincere smiles, hearing the group laugh at things that weren't funny, talking about things that weren't interesting or true.
Her rational side told her not to speak—not to blurt out her thoughts. But her body always betrayed her, expressing every feeling clearly on her face.
Because that was who she was.
She was Yukinoshita Yukino.
Silent. Cold. Isolated in her own mind.
Sotis so deep in her thoughts, she couldn't even hear when people called her na.
Those monts always ended the sa way: her father giving her a concerned look, her mother saying the sa old line—
"Yukino, are you feeling unwell?"
She'd simply nod and return to her room.
On the stairs, she would overhear guests praising her sister, while her mother responded with humble deflection.
'How nice… to not have to stay in such a suffocating place…'
That's what the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family—Yukino—would always think.
But now…
Now, sitting among people who looked at her with genuine concern—Sakura's warm gaze, Eriri's awkward but honest attempts to express worry (even though her sister's teasing had left her wanting to crawl under the table), and…
Hojou Kyousuke.
A liar like her sister, yet soone who, unlike her sister, was trying to help her escape her sister's shadow.
Yukino straightened her back, sitting in her usual, upright formal posture.
She took a deep breath and looked up at her sister. Her pale blue eyes shimred with a clear, moonlit light.
"You're right, Sister. I haven't had much experience attending parties.
If it weren't for Aunt Mikiko's presence, I probably would've just eaten everything in front of and sat there like a scarecrow."
Her voice was calm and fluid—like a quiet stream in the cold of winter, crisp and clear. It drew people in and compelled them to listen.
Haruno squinted again, resting her chin on her clasped hands, smiling as she watched her sister speak—appearing to listen intently.
But Kyousuke knew better.
This was just how she operated.
She had a talent for making everyone feel welco, for making them want to talk to her.
Whether or not she actually listened—only Haruno herself knew the answer.
Still, Kyousuke couldn't help but feel pleased.
At last, Yukino was starting to fight back against the queen of chaos.
"Even so," Yukino continued, "for various reasons, I've now found myself able to appear at gatherings like this. Maybe it still seems insignificant to you, Sister… but to …"
Her voice trembled slightly as she swallowed and took a deep breath.
"To , this is already a huge step forward."
Coming from soone as proud as Yukinoshita Yukino, these words were no small thing.
But that's exactly why they held so much weight—her pride wasn't just empty bravado. It had foundation. It had truth.
Haruno remained as she was—smiling, serene, hiding her true feelings deep beneath the surface.
"And going forward… if Hojou is willing to invite to the Mystery Writers' Association Awards ceremony, I would gladly accept."
Yukino let out a slow breath, lifted her glass of water, took a sip, and ended her statent.
Although Yukinoshita Yukino didn't boldly declare sothing like "I'll do even better next ti," anyone who even slightly understood her
—anyone who knew how strict she was with herself and how desperately she pursued perfection—would imdiately recognize the weight behind her words.
By simply saying what she did, she had already made a decision. She would give everything to live up to it.
Righteous. Proud. Demanding. Unyielding in her pursuit of perfection.
That was the justice of Yukinoshita Yukino.
Like a white lotus blooming alone in a frozen midnight pond—
Like an alpine flower standing tall in the fiercest of storms—
She was stunning in her solitude.
"YES!!"
Eriri clenched her right fist and grabbed tightly onto Hojou Kyousuke's leg with her left hand, trembling with excitent.
Amazing, Yukinoshita! That's what I'm talking about!
You better bring that sa fire the next ti you go up against that seductress Kasumigaoka!
No—go beyond it!
Work harder!
When you face her again, you need to be ten tis stronger than you are now!
To the blonde princess, it felt like drinking an ice-cold Coke straight from the fridge in the middle of a sweltering 40-degree sumr day—a chilling wave of exhilaration running from the top of her head down to the tip of her left big toe.
Yamauchi Sakura's face was also beaming with joy—like a proud spectator who had just watched a hero defeat a dragon and claim a treasure trove hidden deep within a mountain cave.
'That's it. That's the Yukinoshita I believed in.'
'The girl who could keep reading a novel with total composure, even if the world was ending around her.'
And just as the group was about to break out in celebration for their hero, a slow, deliberate sound interrupted them.
'Clap.'
'Clap.'
'Clap…'
Haruno finally lifted her delicate face from her resting hands.
Her eyes—tinted faintly with violet—held no readable emotion.
She wore a mild, polite smile on her lips.
———————————————————————
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