Everyone took their seats. The Hikigaya siblings naturally sat together, while Mori Shinra and Kawasaki Taishi sat across from them.
"So you met at cram school?" Mori Shinra asked with great interest, gathering information about Kawasaki Taishi and Komachi.
At the side, Hikigaya was already trying to figure out how to persuade his parents to switch his little sister to a safer cram school.
Preferably an all-girls one!
"By the way, are you two having a study session at this family restaurant?" Shinra asked.
Hikigaya also stopped his various dangerous fantasies and pricked up his ears to listen carefully.
"Um..." Komachi hesitated, looking at Kawasaki Taishi as if seeking his opinion.
It would have been better if she hadn't looked. That one look was enough to make Hikigaya Hachiman's composure explode.
Seeing the turbulent emotions around him gradually turn pitch black, on the verge of losing control, Shinra, in order to prevent a tragedy, quickly said to Kawasaki Taishi, "Is it inconvenient to talk about?"
"It's not that it's inconvenient, it's just some family matters," Kawasaki Taishi said, hesitating for a moment. He seemed to have sensed the danger and decided to answer.
"Family matters, huh? By the way, Kawasaki Taishi, do you happen to have an older sister?"
The surname Kawasaki wasn't exactly rare, but his light blue hair couldn't help but remind Shinra of a classmate.
"Yes, my sister is a second-year at Sobu High. In fact, what I wanted to talk to Komachi about is also related to her," Kawasaki Taishi said with a nod.
Hearing this, Shinra suddenly said a name: "Kawasaki Saki?"
A look of surprise appeared on Kawasaki Taishi's face. "Senpai, you know my sister?"
"We're classmates," Shinra replied.
"Who?" Hikigaya Hachiman clearly had no impression at all. In fact, besides Mori Shinra, Yuigahama, and the high-presence normie group that he couldn't help but notice, he knew almost nothing about the other students in his class.
Hikigaya Komachi was clearly aware of her brother's personality and was not surprised by this at all.
Compared to that, the fact that her brother could make a normal friend like Mori Shinra was a bigger surprise to her.
"If it's convenient, could you tell us about it? Hikigaya and I are both in the school's [Service Club]. We might be able to help," Shinra said with great enthusiasm.
If you were to ask where this enthusiasm came from... it was naturally because he saw the gray exclamation mark above Kawasaki Taishi's head.
Although it was only a gray Wish Request and would only give one Wish Point, the low difficulty made it worth a shot. It couldn't hurt to listen, right? You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Besides, the other party's sister was his own classmate. It was nothing to help out a bit.
Kawasaki Taishi hesitated for a moment. Seeing that Shinra didn't seem like a bad person, was his sister's classmate, and was also Komachi's brother's friend, he began to speak. "My sister... she might have become a delinquent."
So it was that kind of development?
Shinra didn't say much, but instead asked seriously, "Could you tell me the basis for your judgment?"
"W-well... lately, my sister has been coming home very late, and she doesn't listen to our parents at all. No matter what I say to her, she just gets angry and says it's none of my business..." Kawasaki Taishi said slowly, his head lowered.
Looking at the boy's turbulent emotions, Shinra knew he was telling the truth and had run out of ideas.
At the side, Komachi, seeing this, couldn't help but nudge her brother with her elbow and whisper, "What's the Service Club?"
"A club that helps people solve their problems," Hikigaya Hachiman replied in the same low voice.
"Are you a member too?"
"Yes."
For some reason, when he answered 'yes,' Hikigaya Hachiman felt a strange sense of pride, as if he were telling Komachi, See? Your brother has joined a club too.
"Then since that's the case, you should help Kawasaki-san, shouldn't you?"
Hikigaya Hachiman wanted to quit the club.
He had thought that his little sister might one day come to him for help because of another man, but he never expected that day to come so soon!
"I understand. I'll keep an eye out for you," Shinra said with a nod, indicating that he understood the situation. He then offered some comfort. "It's not necessarily that she's turned bad. Maybe your sister is just busy with her own things. After all, I see Kawasaki-san is quite serious in class. What kind of delinquent is serious in class?"
In reality, Shinra had never paid any attention to Kawasaki Saki. He was just saying this to reassure Kawasaki Taishi.
Sure enough, after hearing his words, Kawasaki Taishi's expression brightened considerably, and his gaze towards Shinra became exceptionally friendly, even... a little admiring?
"Hikigaya and I came to this family restaurant for a study session. Would you two like to join us? If you have any questions, you can ask either me or him," Shinra said.
"Although I'd love to stay for the study session, unfortunately, I have to go to my cram school now."
"I see. Then you should get going. Don't be late."
Hikigaya Komachi and Kawasaki Taishi left the family restaurant.
"What do you think?" Hikigaya asked. "Coming home late at night, not getting along with her parents, and getting angry even when her own brother asks her about it. One or two of these might be okay, but when they're all put together, it really looks like she's become a delinquent, doesn't it?"
"You can't have a say without investigation. By the way, aren't we running into a few too many acquaintances today?"
As he spoke, Shinra stood up and waved towards the entrance.
Two beautiful girls pushed open the door of the restaurant. One of them, a pink-haired girl, noticed Shinra's gesture and quickly pulled on the black-haired girl beside her, seeming to say something. Then, the black-haired girl also looked in their direction.
Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui didn't expect to run into Mori Shinra here, and it seemed he wasn't alone.
"Hikki is here too?" Yuigahama Yui said, coming over to them with a surprised expression on her face. It seemed she was genuinely surprised to see him there.
"Hello," Hikigaya greeted both of them.
Seeing the books on the table, Yuigahama asked curiously, "Are you guys here to study too?"
"Obviously."
"Since that's the case, let's study together. What do you say, Yukino-chan?"
Yukinoshita looked at Mori Shinra and saw that he had already quickly cleared a space, sitting next to Hikigaya.
"I don't mind. It's all studying anyway."
And so, the number of people at the table became four again. The club activity, which had been canceled due to the school's schedule, had unexpectedly resumed in a family restaurant.
Of course, today's club activity was still 'studying'.