628 – What’s It Like When Your Son’s Teacher Invites You to a Parent-Teacher Meeting… and She’s Also Your Future Daughter-in-Law?

Yukino’s confusion only deepened.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out what kind of “evidence” her sister could possibly have.

“Ruyi Dorm!” Haruno declared with the conviction of a prosecutor delivering her closing argument.

“Hojou’s house! I’ve never even been there once, but you Yukino-chan! you’re practically a regular visitor!

You’ve even gone shopping with Hojou’s mom! And when Hojou decided to take his talent to the baseball field, you gave him a baseball glove.

Be honest, Yukino, did you write ‘All or Nothing’ inside it?”

‘Gulp.’

Yukino froze, her eyes wide as she swallowed hard.

She wanted to refute it, but every word her sister said was true.

Every. Single. One.

Even the words written inside the glove…

That idea had come from Katou Megumi, who said it’s something people often did in dramas, a way to wish a pitcher good luck.

After all, the pitcher shoulders the entire team’s hope.

That one throw truly is an “all or nothing” moment.

One pitch that holds the fate of the entire game, the world even. “All or nothing”—a throw that decides it all.

After hearing Megumi’s reasoning and considering the current state of Soubu High’s baseball team.

Yukino had to admit, the phrase suited Hojou Kyousuke perfectly.

The entire team was betting everything on him.

Everyone believed that with one decisive pitch, he could turn everything around.

‘This must be Sakura’s fault… she must’ve told my sister…’

Yukino sighed in silent despair.

Each of those two was already a headache on her own.

And together? Their chaos multiplied exponentially.

Sakura alone could probably spark a “classroom power struggle” if she were left in a kindergarten.

Haruno alone could form a “Queen’s Guard” of little girls and then sit at the top of the slide, giggling as the boys fought below for her amusement.

And now, with both of them working together?

If dropped into a desert, they’d probably organize an army of scarab beetles and mummies, build an entire civilization from sand, and construct a sacred tower to the moon.

Because, well, it’d be “fun” to watch the mummies carrying bricks, wouldn’t it?

‘This is all Hojou Kyousuke’s fault!’

If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be suffering through this nonsense!

Yukino screamed internally.

So much had happened in just one evening.

All she wanted now was to bury herself under her blanket, curl up like a cat, and sleep it all away.

But her sister wasn’t done.

Haruno was still muttering dramatically, even pretending to dab at tears.

“If it’s Miki-senpai who is turning against me, that’s fine. But my own little sister… siding against me too?”

She dropped onto the couch beside Yukino, her short hair brushing against her shoulder, half her face hidden behind it as she sighed theatrically.

“Who would’ve thought… the cunning little cat has been stealing my home—sneaking around behind my back, trying to steal my man!”

That did it.

Yukino’s composure finally shattered.

The girl’s eyes turned sharp, her cool blue gaze glinting like ice.

Her voice carried a cold, biting edge.

“You should be worrying about someone else, shouldn’t you?”

Her words were vague, but Haruno understood instantly.

She didn’t flinch just gazed at her sister with feigned sorrow.

“Everyone else is just background noise. You, my dear little sister, you’re the only real rival.”

Yukino rolled her eyes so hard it was almost audible.

She stood up abruptly, clearly done with this circus.

This room? Not worth staying in tonight.

If her sister loved it so much, she could have it.

Yukino was sleeping in Haruno’s room instead.

As Yukino’s silhouette disappeared down the hall, Haruno’s smile faded.

Her eyes softened with something almost… melancholy.

‘Oh, my foolish little sister…’

The apple may look tempting, but it’s poisoned.

And not something you can win with a little sisterly rivalry.

Haruno didn’t mind that her sister liked the same man.

Not really.

Though, to be fair, neither of them could honestly say they liked Hojou Kyousuke yet.

Especially her.

She’d first heard of Hojou’s name from their mother—then gathered more from her school’s seniors.

He was, on paper, the perfect husband candidate.

If he married into the Yukinoshita family, even their ancestors would probably rejoice.

Hojou Kyousuke might not be a prodigy in business, but his literary genius alone was exceptional, and the shrewdness he’d shown in starting his own company proved he had the mind for strategy.

In a way, his lack of a “businessman’s nature” was actually a good thing for the Yukinoshita household.

Their father, the current head of the family, was the same.

No business instinct whatsoever, not even a natural politician—but that didn’t matter.

The women of the Yukinoshita line were superhuman, just like their mother: born to be the perfect wives, capable of running the household flawlessly so their husbands could conquer the world.

Haruno had long since stopped believing in love.

She’d lost her childhood, and with it, the illusion that love was necessary.

She knew all about the tangled relationships surrounding Hojou Kyousuke—her own two (or three) friends included.

But she didn’t mind. In fact, she enjoyed it.

Because chaos, after all… was interesting.

Everything about Hojou Kyousuke was being quietly recorded and archived.

The Yukinoshita family even had a monthly budget dedicated to “intelligence expenses.”

At first, they’d hired private detectives.

But one particularly famous Tokyo PI had returned from his first mission utterly defeated.

He hadn’t even managed to take a photo before Hojou spotted him, then cheerfully dragged his date into a nearby shop.

Before the detective could react, he’d been pulled into an alley and beaten to a pulp.

The call to the Yukinoshita family’s butler afterward was… awkward.

The detective, being a “professional,” hadn’t carried the client’s card or saved their name in his phone, of course.

But sensing danger, he’d fallen to his knees and confessed anyway using a fake client’s name he’d prepared as a cover.

Unfortunately for him, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses and snake-like eyes didn’t believe a word of it.

After some “soul-shaking interrogation,” the Yukinoshita family changed tactics, gathering information indirectly.

And that, surprisingly, worked even better.

After all, Hojou’s every rumored girlfriend was already being discussed online.

Gathering intel from the internet was almost too easy.

His fanbase was insane, they are on par with real celebrities.

The most devoted ones gathered in an online fan club called “The Handless Devil Support Association”.

And judging from the member list… it was basically a 1:1 replica of Raging Angel’s lineup.

Except, of course, for one person Hojou Kyousuke himself.

If you think back to how Utaha Kasumigaoka first got to know Hojou Kyousuke, everything suddenly makes sense.

The Yukinoshita family is simply following the path paved by those before them.

Interestingly, despite the collision between these two powerhouses, neither side’s relationship was damaged.

Mrs. Yukinoshita had witnessed firsthand how well Hojou Kyousuke could command those under him, while Kisaki saw in him the perfect ally for her “king of the heavens.” Both were completely satisfied.

Even Yukinoshita Haruno, watching from the sidelines, was laughing so hard her stomach hurt.

Seeing her flawless mother finally take a loss? That was more satisfying than watching the Yukinoshita family go bankrupt.

“Nothing’s more fun than a good fight,” — that saying might as well have been written for Haruno.

She didn’t care about her mother’s order to “get closer to Hojou Kyousuke,” nor did she mind the many girls already orbiting him.

In fact, if possible, she’d probably shout, “More! Bring in even more!”

But that was her.

As for Yukino… that poor girl shouldn’t get dragged into this mess.

This was a woman’s battlefield — and if Yukino joined in, she’d be the first to end up crying.

Still, the thought alone made Haruno’s beautiful violet eyes glimmer mischievously.

‘Actually… wouldn’t that make it even more interesting?’

“Wait up, Yukino! It’s been ages since you’ve slept with your big sis~” Haruno called cheerfully, lifting her skirt slightly as she chased her sister down the hall.

“You do remember kids have memories, right? I still remember everything from kindergarten and I definitely wasn’t the one crying back then!” Yukino shot back coldly.

“Oh, maybe I got it wrong then,” Haruno said sweetly. “Maybe I was the one crying, begging Yukino-chan to sleep with me.”

“That part’s actually true.”

“…”

Their voices gradually faded down the hall until they disappeared altogether.

In the end, the “cat” that was Yukinoshita Yukino had still fallen victim to her sister’s affection — vanishing into Haruno’s room with a look of reluctant disgust.

————————————————————————

Meanwhile, across Tokyo, in another apartment…

This place once belonged to Lawyer Uchiumi, who had co-founded a law firm with Hojou Ichirou.

Lately, Ichirou had been staying here most of the time.

As for why he wasn’t living at home? Well… when you’re married, you try not to cause unnecessary complications, right?

Everyone in the Hojou family had an excellent sense of boundaries — and manners.

Even though Ruyi Dorm technically belonged to his son, Ichirou rarely visited, since the place was filled with women.

Aside from occasionally dropping by to check on his wife and daughter, he generally stayed far away.

A man of extraordinary restraint.

Of course, it might also have been because every time he saw that house full of “potential daughters-in-law,” his sanity meter started dropping fast.

The last time he visited for Kyousuke’s housewarming, the poor man had literally run for his life by the end of the night.

Who could blame him?

After returning to Tokyo, his son had ignored all his advice to “keep things calm” — and instead tossed even more dynamite into the powder keg.

He’d been personally invited by his future daughter-in-law Kasumigaoka, gotten drunk with another future daughter-in-law’s father (Mitsuha’s dad), and then, as if that wasn’t enough, his own father told him to visit Spencer’s house to deliver beef…

Honestly, Ichirou had been living in constant dread lately terrified that someday, one of his future daughters-in-law would summon him to school for a “parent-teacher conference.”

“Dear Hojou-san, your son has skipped class four times this month — all to go on dates with other girls. Could you and your wife please talk some sense into him?”

Just imagining that made Ichirou’s breathing seize up.

If that really happened… what could he even say?

He’d probably just tremble in fear and quietly wish for the earth to swallow him whole.

In recent weeks, Ichirou had been visiting old friends, college classmates, and even his university professors across Tokyo.

On the surface, he seemed to be enjoying life but deep down, he was suffering.

And the worst part? He couldn’t talk to anyone about it.

Even his closest friends, Uchiumi and Tamai, would just laugh themselves to death if they heard.

At best, they’d offer to “help relocate Kyousuke to a country where polygamy’s legal” — for a small service fee.

At times, Ichirou truly envied his wife’s carefree nerves.

He could never understand how she managed to stay so calm, surrounded by chaos.

“What’s there to worry about?” she’d say. “Sakura doesn’t mind, so why should you? The kids will figure it out themselves. Relax, relax~~”

But could he really relax? Could he really trust that things would sort themselves out?

Absolutely not!

If anything, the mere mention of Sakura Yamauchi, the girl who’d been informally promised to the Hojou family since she was nine made his whole body tense.

To be honest, at the last celebration party, Ichirou hadn’t even dared to meet Sakura’s eyes.

He was ashamed.

He was a failure of a father!

If Sakura had grown into some spoiled or wild girl, that would’ve been one thing — but she hadn’t.

She was still the same sweet, kind-hearted girl as ever.

She got along with his wife Mikiko like real sisters, and she and Kyousuke had such deep understanding that they could communicate with a single glance.

She was, in every sense, the perfect daughter-in-law and the entire Hojou family was waiting for the day she officially took their name.

And Kyousuke… that foolish boy… how dare he!?

Then again, looking at the rest of his potential daughters-in-law, Ichirou couldn’t entirely blame him either…

————————————————————————

Now, on this fateful April 26th, the most nerve-wracking day of his life had finally arrived.

Even during his entrance exams for Tokyo University and the national bar exam, Ichirou hadn’t been this nervous.

He’d even dragged his wife and daughter out of Ruyi Dorm, ignoring their complaints and protests, to stay with him in this apartment.

He needed moral support. Desperately.

“Hey, dear,” he muttered, staring up at the dark ceiling as they lay in bed. “What do we do tomorrow?”

“Cheer loudly! Clap as hard as you can! And give our son the biggest, most passionate applause possible!” she replied without hesitation.

“…What.”

Ichirou froze. Then sighed.

After so many years of marriage, he was long used to her whimsical answers.

He thumped his chest confidently.

“Of course, of course. I was part of the university cheering squad, you know! Back then even Keio and Waseda invited us to lead the chants!

Uchiumi and I already agreed on the slogan ye— wait, hold on! That’s not what I meant!”