A newbie's anime life diary

And now, there's one more person to experience his culinary skills.

Yukino Yukinoshita had heard Yukiteru mention that he could cook before, but this was the first time she had seen him cook in person.

It has to be said that in Japan, a country where men rarely cook except in restaurants, Yukiteru's culinary skills alone are enough to attract women, since most women love good food.

I've eaten a lot of Chinese food, some of which are good, and some are modified versions. After tasting Yukiteru's cooking today, if I were to give her opinion, she could definitely open a Chinese restaurant and attract a large number of foodies.

Unsurprisingly, Yukinoshita ate quite a lot, especially since the dishes Yukiteru made weren't too flavorful or oily, which suited her taste quite well.

After a hearty meal, Yukinoshita, carrying the green tea that Yukiteru had brought her, sat down in the living room and disappeared. Yukiteru, after soaking the plate in the sink, dried his hands and sat down on the sofa next to Yukinoshita.

"Alright, now that we've eaten and drunk our fill, we can have a proper chat now."

Half of his body sank into the soft sofa, Yukiteru lazily took a sip of tea, and looked at Yukino Yukinoshita.

"Could you tell me when you found out?"

Yukinoshita pursed her lips, lowered her head and did not look at Yukiteru. After nearly two hours of being here, Yukinoshita's emotions had calmed down from the beginning, and she was no longer as aggressive as before.

"It was Yui's request. I felt something was off at the time, so I asked Shizuka-nee for a little information. Sure enough, something happened on the day we started school. A luxury car almost hit a pet dog that had run into the middle of the road, and a first-year boy ran over to save it, but ended up in the hospital himself. Also, before Golden Week, there was a picture of Yui's pet dog on her phone. You looked a little off after you saw it, and so did Hachiman. Connecting the dots made it all clear."

Based on what he knew and what he had seen recently, Xuehui gave a half-truth and half-lies.

"So what exactly have you been doing these past two days...?"

“Yesterday, didn’t I meet with Hachiman’s sister? We exchanged numbers with her then. I could tell then that Komachi seemed to recognize Yui, so I contacted her that night. I learned that Yui had visited Hachiman when he was hospitalized, but she didn’t meet with him. Then, during our conversation, I found out that Hachiman seemed to have noticed something as well.”

When the topic of visiting came up, Yukiteru noticed that Yukinoshita's expression had frozen, so he smiled and said, "What's wrong? Still blaming yourself? It's been a year, and you weren't the one driving at the time. Neither you nor Yuihama need to blame yourself. Hikigaya, who made that decision back then, wouldn't care about this much."

"But no matter what, it's still my family's car, and it's my responsibility not to visit and apologize." Yukinoshita lowered her head, the scene from a year ago seemingly still vivid in her mind.

“There’s nothing to blame yourself for. I can probably guess what’s going on. It’s just that the Yukinoshita family doesn’t want their young lady to be associated with such rumors, so they’re covering up the ownership of the car. It’s not hard to understand. Actually, you and Yuihama are easy to deal with. The only one who’s difficult to handle is that guy Hachiman.”

"How to say?"

"After chatting with Komachi yesterday, I learned some things about Hachiman's past. I have to say, that guy has quite a few dark histories. Well, we'll talk about that another time. Anyway, because of some of his past experiences, Hachiman has developed personality problems that make him prone to overthinking and even going astray. If he were to discover that Yui Hama was the owner of the dog he raised back then, and considering his time in the Service Club, what would he think?"

After listening to Yukiteru's words, Yukino Yukinoshita thought for a moment and said, "He might wonder if Yuihama's attitude towards him is out of guilt? Probably not."

"Others might not, but the problem is that he's Hachiman Hikigaya, someone who craves gentleness yet hates it. Hmm, that's what Komachi's younger sister said, and it's surprisingly apt. And then, Yui is just too shy. A year has passed and she still hasn't said it, even though they've gotten to know each other quite well, she still hasn't expressed her gratitude. As a result, some things change if left unsaid."

"So, when Hayama Hayato came over today, you sent Yui and Hachiman to the other side?" Yukinoshita looked at Yukiteru with a look of sudden realization. "You and Hachiman's sister had already conspired together?"

Xuehui shrugged and said, "My sister is worried about her brother's rare interpersonal relationships, and I, as a dutiful member of the club, am concerned about the future of the club. Shouldn't we be of the same mind?"

"Why..." Yukinoshita lowered her head, making it impossible to see her expression.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Why go to such lengths? After all, this has nothing to do with you at all."

"Who said it's unrelated?" She took out her phone, opened a photo taken during Totsuka Saika's special training, and waved it in front of Yukinoshita, saying, "This matter has nothing to do with me, but the people in this picture are related to me. And as I've said before, I'm someone who hates trouble. Rather than you all remaining silent and letting things get awkward later, it's better for me, an outsider, to step in and resolve this sooner."

"Really... I can never win an argument with you, you always seem to know everything." Shaking her head helplessly, Yukinoshita asked, "So, how did things go over there today?"

"After discussing Kawasaki Saki's matter, the Hachiman siblings and Yui Hama laid it all out together, and Yui Hama thanked them. Judging from Komachi's report, Hachiman's expression at the time was quite interesting... Ah, why wasn't I there...?"

"Don't just stand there thinking about it. What will be the outcome?"

Yukinoshita abruptly interrupted Yukiteru's recollection, making him quite embarrassed: "Hmm, don't worry, as long as things are explained clearly and the other party doesn't misunderstand, everything will be fine. Besides, there's a younger sister with much higher emotional intelligence than her brother here, how could anything go wrong? Now, you just need to think carefully about what to say tomorrow. Then we can focus on dealing with Kawasaki Saki's matter."

What do you want to say?

Seeing the encouragement in Yukiteru's eyes, Yukinoshita nodded, not wanting to let him down.

"I understand. These things should have been done by me. It's already a great deal for me to let you handle them. It's not my style to not have a good ending."

Standing up, Yukinoshita looked at Yukiteru and said, "It's getting late, I should go back."

Following Yukinoshita to the door, watching her change her shoes and gather her belongings, Yukiteru said, "Since you live across the street, I won't see you off. See you tomorrow."

Nodding to indicate that it was alright, Yukinoshita looked at Yukiteru and said, "See you tomorrow, and... thank you, Yukiteru-kun."

Watching the figure disappear around the corner, Xuehui paused for a moment, then smiled and closed the door.

"What's this? Is it going to trigger a 'friendliness boost' event?"

After a while, I saw from the balcony that Yukinoshita opened the door and went into the house. Yukiteru then left the living room and went back to his bedroom to start working.

I finished watching the new episode of Eromanga 5 late at night. To be honest, if it weren't for Sagiri, Fairy Tale would be a sure thing. It's a pity that she encountered a sister-complex with extremely strong self-control.

The fairy had a huge advantage; the fairy attacked, and it was game over.

P.S.: Fairy is only 14 years old, girls these days are so precocious!

PS2: Damn, Sagiri is only 12 years old! That's incredible!

PS3: I check every time, but why are there still typos? Thanks for pointing them out!

Chapter 49 Oh, brother-in-law~

The next day, after arriving at school, Yukiteru felt that Hikigaya's gaze towards him carried a hint of scrutiny.

However, after glancing at Yui Yuigahama not far away and receiving a thank-you text message from her, Yukiteru didn't take it to heart.

At noon, after having lunch and chatting for a while with Shizuka Hiratsuka, Yukiteru headed towards the clubroom when it was almost time.

My phone rang while I was still on the stairs.

Machidaenko?

"Hey, Sister Yuanzi, what's up?"

"Hey, Mr. Kong, are you having such a good time that you've forgotten your own book is about to be released?"

"Huh? Oh right, I forgot. The date is this Saturday, right?" To be honest, Xuehui had really forgotten that his novel was going to be released.

"Actually, I don't mind if you forget, that way we can save some royalties from paying you," Machida Sonoko said with a laugh on the other end of the phone, of course, just joking.

Xuehui didn't take it seriously and asked, "I've been busy with some school matters these past few days, so I really didn't think of it at first. By the way, how are the pre-sales going?"

"The 10 copies released online have already sold out. To avoid hindering offline sales, we haven't opened a second batch. Our offline stores have already stocked 10 copies. For a newcomer, this isn't just a good start, it's a phenomenal success! Your payment will be deposited into your account today, so remember to check your messages then!"

Looks like I've finally made my first fortune, that wasn't easy!

Oh wait, I think the first pot of gold was provided by those petty thugs?

Shaking her head, Xuehui said, "I understand. So, Sister Yuanzi, is there anything else?"

"There's one more thing. Back when we were in the editorial department, we discussed holding a book signing event on the release date. We even asked you to prepare an illustration as a bonus for the event. With the pre-sales going so well, online fans are really looking forward to the signing event."

After thinking for a while, Xuehui finally remembered that he had indeed promised to do so. Since he was still a student, the contract only stated that he would assist with the promotion and publicity of the novel in his spare time.

"A book signing event? That sounds good, but I wonder how many people will come."

"I'll make sure you're signing in so many times your hands are sore! Don't you know? The Twitter account I had you register for, you only posted one self-introduction and one novel recommendation and then never used it again. Don't you have any idea how many followers you have?"

"Hmm? Twitter? I think there is such a thing. I don't use it much. I'll take a look later." Xuehui replied somewhat awkwardly, suddenly feeling that he was being a rather irresponsible author.

"It's good that you know. These days, it's still important for fans to know and understand you. One last thing, the autograph session will be held in Tokyo. Come a day early, and we've arranged a hotel for you."

After discussing a meeting time with Machida Sonoko on Friday, Yukiteru hung up the phone.

As he walked, he opened Twitter, which he hadn't used in a long time.

"Holy crap, 35?"

Xuehui, who had never seen so many followers before, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. At the beginning, her account only had about 1 followers, but now it has grown to so many.

After thinking about it, Xuehui edited a message and posted it after a long time.

[Hi everyone, this is Sora. I've been so busy lately that I almost forgot my novel was going to be released (laughs)~ I'm so happy to see how well the pre-orders are going. By the way, there will also be a signing event in a few days, with a limited number of illustrations I drew as bonus items. I think you all already know that. I'll be there waiting for you all. See you this weekend!]

After editing and publishing, Xuehui looked at the backlog of private messages. They were all asking about the plot and characters, which was fine. He simply ignored some of the messages, such as "boy next door?"

There's no way around it; we used the gimmick of "high school student light novel author" when we were promoting it, so it's normal for some people to be curious.

Everyone has their own ambitions, and he couldn't say anything; he could just pretend he didn't see it.

Looking up, Yukiteru realized they had arrived at the Service Club. He put his phone back and opened the classroom door.

All three were present, and the atmosphere seemed quite pleasant.

Upon meeting Yukinoshita's gaze, Yukiteru knew she had resolved the matter and finally felt relieved. He walked in, sat down, and said, "Didn't keep you waiting long?"

The two girls shook their heads, and Yui said to Yukiteru, "Um, Yukiteru-kun, Hiki needs to talk to you about something."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Startled, Yukiteru looked at Hachiman, who had remained silent.

"Hey, Hiratsuka, this seems to be something you and Komachi planned together?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Nodding, Yukiteru suddenly realized what was going on when he saw Hachiman's expression.

Oh, I see. No wonder she'd been giving me the cold shoulder all morning. But I should have told Komachi not to tell anyone.

My eyes darted around and I noticed that Yukinoshita had turned her gaze away.

Damn it, you actually betrayed me! I've put in so much effort and thought, and I never expected you to be like this, Yukinoshita!

"What's wrong? You still have the nerve to say what's wrong?" Hachiman leaned close to Yukiteru, grabbing his shoulder with a grim expression, and said, "What did you promise me? Huh? You said you wouldn't lay a hand on Komachi!"

"Why are you so excited? It takes two to tango." Scratching his cheek, Yukiteru ignored Hachiman's expression and said with an "Oh," "Does that mean Komachi has a good impression of me? Oh dear, that's so embarrassing. Don't worry, brother-in-law, I'll treat Komachi well!"

"Don't make assumptions about me!!!" Mr. Hachiman was about to collapse. Although he asked Komachi about her impression of Yukiteru last night, Komachi didn't have much to say, only that he seemed like a nice person.

But today I heard something completely different from what Yukinoshita said, and when I called Komachi to ask, it turned out that the girl had covered it up very well! This made Mr. Hikigaya feel a sense of crisis again.

"Tch, you siscon!" Yukiteru glanced at Hachiman with disdain and clicked his tongue.

"So what if you're a siscon? Komachi is the cutest girl in the world! I won't let you have a thing with her!"

"But even without me, who knows when she might suddenly be snatched away by some guy~"

"Don't say that to me! Komachi is only 15! Don't make me think about this so soon!!!" Mr. Hachiman covered his ears, looking like he was saying, "I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it."

Dude, your persona has been ruined!

"Alright, stop playing around." Seeing that the commotion had gone on long enough, Yukinoshita directly stopped the farce that was proving quite amusing. "Now we should talk properly about Kawasaki Saki. Do you have any clues about her recent activities?"

“Yes, Daishi-kun said he overheard his sister on the phone, talking about something like Angel and the store manager.” Yui Yuigahama took out a small notebook and started talking. “According to our analysis, it should be the store where Saki works. Then we checked and found that there are only two stores in Chiba that mentioned Angel.”

Listening to Yuihama's report, Yukinoshita nodded: "Then, let's go to those two stores after school and find out what's going on. It's almost lunchtime, time to go back to class."

"Let's go, brother-in-law!"