"Then what about Yuigahama-senpai? How is her relationship with you, Onii-chan?"
"Huh? Just normal classmates, I guess."
Hikigaya Hachiman didn't know why his little sister was asking this, but he answered truthfully.
Seeing that her brother's expression didn't seem fake, Komachi sighed. She knew there was no getting through to her idiot brother.
"Anyway, let's get back to the main topic, shall we, Kawasaki-san?" Komachi didn't dwell on her brother's high school friend circle any longer and brought the conversation back on track.
"Yes!" Upon hearing her voice, Kawasaki Taishi, like a soldier receiving an order, began to mechanically recount his sister's situation.
"My sister is a second-year at Sobu High. Her name is Kawasaki Saki. Recently, she's started going down the wrong path, or you could say she's become a delinquent..."
"Kawasaki Saki? Is that the Kawasaki Saki from our class?" Yuigahama hadn't been briefed on the request before coming, but she reacted quickly upon hearing the name.
Yukinoshita had already heard the name from Mori Shinra, so she didn't have much of a reaction, simply asking Yuigahama:
"Are you friends with her?"
Yuigahama belonged to Class F's normie group and had a wide circle of friends. Plus, since Kawasaki Saki was also a girl, it wouldn't be surprising if they were friends.
However, Yuigahama shook her head and said with some difficulty, "We've talked before, but I don't think we're friends... Anyway, the situation is very complicated. You'd better not ask, Yukino-chan."
Under the table, Shinra nudged Yukinoshita with his leg and explained in a low voice, "Girls' social circles might seem like one big group, but they're actually subdivided into various small groups, cliques, factions, and camps. The internal politics are quite complex and hard to explain to an outsider in a short time."
"I see." Yukinoshita pinched her chin in thought, then suddenly realized, how does he know this so clearly? I'm the girl here, right?
Yuigahama continued, "But I've never seen Kawasaki-san being particularly close with anyone... Every time I see her, she's almost always just sitting at her desk, staring out the window."
"That does seem to be the case," Hikigaya said, chiming in as if a memory had been jogged.
"When did your sister start to change?" Yukinoshita asked.
"Yes!"
Kawasaki Taishi was startled by her sudden question. It had to be said that the cool aura around Yukinoshita was indeed quite intimidating. Coupled with her extreme beauty, being questioned by an older girl like her was a bit much for a middle school boy.
In fact, forget middle schoolers. Some people, even as high schoolers, or even after graduating from university, would still stammer and be unable to speak coherently when talking to a pretty girl. We won't name any names here.
"Um... my sister studied very hard in middle school, which is how she got into Sobu High. She was very nice to me back then and often cooked for me. Nothing changed until her first year of high school. It was only recently that..."
"So she became like that in her second year?"
Yukinoshita lowered her head in thought for a moment, then continued to ask, "After she entered her second year, were there any suspicious changes?"
"Probably the class reassignment? After she was assigned to Class F."
"Did your sister come into contact with any particular classmates after the reassignment?"
"I haven't heard her mention anyone."
Hearing this, Yukinoshita looked at Mori Shinra. "Have you heard if Kawasaki Saki is close with any of the boys or girls in your class?"
"Nope. As you know, in Class F, my social standing is on the same level as Hikigaya's. I can't possibly find out that kind of information. Didn't Yuigahama just say it? She's never seen her being close with anyone either," Shinra said with a shrug.
"Hey! Sorry for being unpopular!" Hikigaya retorted.
"In that case, we can basically rule out problems with classmates at school," Inspector Yukinoshita concluded.
Deputy Inspector Yuigahama raised a question. "You said your sister comes home very late. How late, exactly? Take me, for example. I often come home late too. After entering high school, that shouldn't be too strange, right?"
"Um, y-yes, that's true..." Kawasaki Taishi stammered, seeming to hesitate on whether he should tell the whole truth.
After all, if he told them, it could very well affect his sister's reputation.
Honestly, if he hadn't been completely out of options, he would never have sought help in this way.
Shinra saw his concern and, after a thought, said to the group, "For the sake of his sister's reputation, let's keep this matter strictly between us until we get a result. No one here is to tell anyone else. Is that okay?"
No one present was a fool. Hearing him say this, they quickly understood Taishi's concern and immediately agreed.
Kawasaki Taishi gave him a grateful look, then, as if having made up his mind, he spoke. "Sh-she often comes back after five in the morning."
Hearing this, everyone present exchanged a look. Five in the morning? That's basically when the sun is up.
This was more than just coming home late; it could basically be considered not coming home at all, right?
"Your sister comes home in the early morning, and your parents don't say anything?" Shinra asked.
"Uh... my parents are both working, and we have younger siblings at home, so they don't really manage her. Plus, since she comes home at that time, she hardly ever runs into them... Anyway, when there are a lot of kids in the family, a lot of problems arise."
Taishi's answer once again made everyone present aware of the weight of reality. Among them, Yukinoshita seemed to be the most affected, the gloom on her face visibly deepening.
"Every family has its own troubles..."
Conversely, the most relaxed person here was Mori Shinra. Family? What an unfamiliar word.
However, after sensing the negative emotions practically overflowing from the girl beside him, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes, as if he had grasped something.
Could Yukinoshita's golden Wish Request be related to 'family'?
Not sure, need to observe more...
Yukinoshita's self-regulation ability was excellent. The gloom only lasted for a moment before she recovered, her face returning to its usual cool expression.
"Not only that... recently, I've also been getting calls from a strange place, asking for my sister," Kawasaki Taishi dropped another bombshell.
"A strange place?"
"Yeah, I think it was called 'Angel' something. I don't remember clearly, but it should be a shop... and it was the manager who called."
"Is that strange?" Yuigahama was surprisingly innocent in this regard.
Hikigaya sighed and answered the question for her.
"The word 'Angel' is a common term for certain specific establishments. Taking into account the business hours... it's almost certainly what we're thinking."