Hʏᴏ̄ᴍᴀ's Wɪɴᴛᴇʀ Pʀᴏᴍɪsᴇ | Chigiri Hyōma √

05: Dinner

"You must be Ohara!" Chigiri's sister greeted the young girl from Hyoma's school as she opened the door on a Friday night. She had asked her brother to invite all his friends to hang out at her place. Ego Ohara was the last one to arrive.

Ohara nodded in agreement. "Yes, you must be Hyoma's sister." She noticed the striking similarities between Hyoma and his sister—the same pink hair and gorgeous faces that they undoubtedly shared. Ego Jinpachi honked his car horn, signaling that he was leaving. Ohara nodded and waved goodbye to her uncle as Chigiri's sister welcomed her inside.

Her friends were already seated at the dining table, but she noticed some were missing.

"Ohara-chan," as usual, Bachira jumped into her arms, catching her off-guard. "We thought Ego-san wouldn't send you."

"Well, he dropped me here," Ohara replied, patting Bachira's back before he gently pulled away, grinning. She scanned the dining table, spotting Reo and Nagi, but a few were still absent. "What happened to the others?"

"You know, Rin isn't interested, Barou being the king, not wanting to join our stupid hangout, and others said they wouldn't be able to make it," Reo explained, approaching Ohara and stretching his knuckle. "They've probably got some errands to run, even Kunigami."

"Oh, really?" She pouted, bumping her knuckles against Reo. "Nagi came?"

"Actually, I dragged him," Reo admitted, noticing Ohara's surprise. Bachira made his way to the dining table, allowing her to see Nagi engrossed in a video game on his phone.

"That was expected," she chuckled. "So, where's Hyoma and Isagi?"

"Hyoma?" Both Bachira and Reo raised their eyebrows. "Since when did you start calling him by his first name?" Bachira inquired.

"Well, he's my seatmate now, you know... um—" Ohara's eyes wandered everywhere but at them, trying to come up with a reason. She hadn't anticipated that calling him Hyoma would become such a big deal.

"Are you blushing, Ohara-chan?" Bachira teased, pinching both her cheeks as he caught her avoiding eye contact. "You totally are!"

"Hey, no, I'm not," Ohara protested, slapping his hands away as Reo chuckled beside them.

"C'mon, give my lady friend some space, guys," Chigiri's sister intervened, holding Ohara from behind. "Hyoma is arranging the meals with his friend. So, would you like me to blow-dry your hair, darling?"

"Oh, I didn't have time to do it before I came," Ohara pouted, tilting her neck. "But I can manage—"

"That's okay, let me do it. Since you're the only girl here, it feels nice to have some girl talk," Chigiri's sister offered with a sweet smile, causing Ohara to blush furiously. She couldn't refuse such a kind offer from someone so sweet. 'She's stunning, just like him,' Ohara thought.

"You can call me 'sis'," she added with warmth, leading Ohara away from the boys as Bachira grinned, watching the girls leave.

Reo found Bachira's mischievous smile suspicious; it usually heralded some clumsy idea.

"Well, spill it, bob-cut," Reo demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. "What are you planning?"

"Me?" Bachira feigned innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about, Reo. I'm just happy Ohara seems different now. She doesn't seem as miserable as she did before."

"Huh—huh?" Reo remained unconvinced. Bachira picked up on it immediately and dashed towards the kitchen to meet his friends. As they brought the final dishes to the table, Bachira gave them a hand.

When Hyoma arrived with the last dishes, Bachira fixed his gaze on him. Reo had been keeping an eye on Bachira since the girls had left, sensing he might stir up something.