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I Managed to Bring Down the Entire Family of That Impossible-To-Conquer S-Class Beauty, Completely Filling in Her Outer Moat

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“Well, since my China and Hope-kun have safely made up… Cheers!!”

“””””Cheers~~!!””””

Following Chitose-san raising her glass filled with sake, the rest of the family also raised their respective drinks.

As for me , who’d been invited to her house…

“”…What is this?””

We murmured the same thing in unison.

It had only been a few days since we started looking for hobbies together, and we’d already made up (?) long ago. Yet now, a party for that reconciliation was being held.

Seriously, why now…?

“Chitose-san, please explain properly.”

“Huh? But I wanted to play with Hope-kun!”

“We play all the time!”

“Everyone wants to play with the real Hope-kun! So, after dinner, let’s dive into nonstop gaming☆”

“You reek of booze! Get off me!”

As I sat on the sofa, Chitose-san draped his arm around my shoulder, breathing his alcohol-laden breath on me.

As I tried to wriggle free from Chitose-san’s clingy, boozy annoyance, a tiny human rocket flew in.

“Onii chaan!!”

“Gahh!? Ah, Akitoshi kun.. maybe skip the solar plexus headbutt next time…”

“Okayyyy! Let’s look at the bug picture book in my room instead of with Papa, okay~?”

Chitose-san sighed, “Instead of Papa…?”, but I ignored him.

Glancing at the dejected Chitose-san, I patted the head of Akitoshi-kun, who had plopped down neatly on my lap.

“Sure. After you finish eating, we can go together—”

“—No way, Akitoshi-chan~? Nozomu-chan is going to plan summer outfits with Mama~♪”

“Whaaat?! That’s so unfair—!”

“H-Hina-san? I don’t recall making any such promise…”

Before I knew it, Chitose-san had been discarded on the floor, replaced by Hina-san, China-san’s mother, sitting beside me.

Hina-san casually brushed off Akitoshi-kun’s booing and handed me several sheets of paper.

“Oh, right, I have some paperwork about that magazine from the other day. Could you write your name and address here~?”

“If that’s all, it’s no trouble at all!”

I took the pen and papers from Hina-san and was about to start writing when something felt off.

“Huh? This… is Ruelle’s employment contract…?”

“…………. Nozomu chan can’t be knocked out with alcohol, so he found out~♪”

“What are you trying to make me sign?! And anyway, you need parental consent for this, right!?”

“You have parents, don’t you? me♡”

“What are you talking about?!”

Ah, that was close. Hina-san is seriously trying to get me…

Good thing I double-checked the documents carefully just in case.

“Hina, stop it. Sensei is troubled.”

“Sachiko san…”

Sachiko sat down on the opposite side of Hina, trapping her between them.

She was throwing me a lifeline, but after what happened at that cafe earlier, Sachiko was also on my watch list…

“…Sensei, please stop giving me that suspicious look. It’s just plain sad.”

“Because of what happened before. Are you planning to lure me in with that ‘open wide’ again?”

“Wh-why do you know my plan!? Ah, uuuiiihieiea hoeeaa!”

“I knew it… And please don’t launch your denture rocket.”

Sachiko san hurriedly reinserted her dentures.

Honestly, trying to seduce me while Natabame-san is here is a bit much.

Is Natabame okay with this? Maybe I should ask him.

“Natabame, your wife is trying to make me her second husband. What do you think about that?”

“Hmm, well… Grandma is that kind of person… If it’s Nozomu, then… well, maybe he could be Grandma’s second… Ugh!!”

“Say no immediately! Why are you hesitating?!”

“Hmm. Those who’ve been targeted should get along, Nozomu.”

Natabame san said this with a resigned look, as if he’d given up.

While I wanted him to properly hold the reins as her husband, I also thought holding Sachiko’s reins would be an incredibly difficult task.

‘Nyaaaaaaa’

“Seri-chan? Could you please not sit on my head…”

‘Unya’

“Not ‘no’…”

With only enough space above my head, Serri seemed to be saying she’d just put up with it there.

I was seriously starting to get stuck…!

“Onii chan’s gonna look at the bug book with me, so everyone move aside!!”

“Ho, Hope-kun’s on my side, right?! Best friends forever, right?!”

“There’s still a way to make a contract… No, wait, I have something to talk about, so let’s chat with Mom~♪”

“Sensei. Here, it’s red bean rice. Open your mouth, won’t you♡”

“Nozomu… I think steering the ship towards supporting Grandma together, rather than as a son-in-law, might be one option.”

‘Nyahhhhh!’

Alright, let me briefly summarize my current situation.

Akitosgi kun clinging to me from the front, Hina-san to my right, Sachiko-san to my left, Chitose-san clinging to my legs, Nabatame-san patting my knee to comfort me, and Serichan perched on my head.

“Seriously… how did it come to this…”

I muttered that line from long ago, this time alone without China-san.

… Come to think of it, where is China-san? I don’t think she’s said a word since earlier…
Just as that question crossed my mind, someone appeared, grabbed my completely immobilized hand, and pulled me free.

“.. Thank you, China-san!”

The one who pulled me out was China-san, her cheeks puffed out like a balloon.

She seemed pretty furious.

“Listen, everyone… I’m telling you now, Nozomu-kun is—mine!!”

“—…Huh!?”

“Hm…? Ah!?”

She grabbed my arm firmly and declared that to the family.

Loading icons appeared above our heads. The moment the loading finished, both our faces flushed rose-pink.

“N-no, no…! It’s an abbreviation for ‘because I need him for my hobby’!!”

“Y-yeah, that’s right! W-whoa, that was a shock~…”

After that, the whole family teased China-san as she desperately made excuses, grinning all the while, and she got scolded badly.

If Fumihiko saw this scene, he’d probably cry blood.

I wonder what he’s doing now…

　　＃　　＃　　＃

“Ugh… This sucks…”

Fumihiko sank into bed, his face gaunt.

Large dark circles hung beneath his red, swollen eyes, and his cheeks seemed slightly sunken from lack of proper meals.

He closed his eyes, feeling utterly disgusted with everything.

Then, the words from China’s family began echoing in his ears.

‘Scary… I hate you…!!’

‘To be honest, I thought it was a shame you lacked guts.’

“We demand you never, ever involve yourself with our family again…!”

“You… you’ve damaged my precious grandson…!”

“What an utterly hideous child you are. I can’t believe you’re the same age and race as the teacher.”

In order: her younger brother, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother.

Well, he was thoroughly hated.

And the words from China herself, I could never forget.

“—Hikawa-kun. I’m sorry for ignoring your advances and letting you misunderstand for so long. I heard everything from my family too. I think there are plenty of reasons to hate you. I truly, deeply despise you.”

“I will never forgive you…!!”

The first person I ever truly loved from the bottom of my heart said that to me.

And then, to add insult to injury, I got suspended.
The pawns I’d been exploiting casually discarded me, and the women I kept by my side looked at me with contempt and abandoned me too.
Even my parents’ kindness, which I’d always found annoying, now feels like they’re saying I’m pathetic, and it hurts.

My life, which had been smooth sailing, began to plummet all at once…

Where did I go wrong…?

How did it come to this…?

I was supposed to be filling in the outer moat, but what I was doing was digging it deeper.

My life deteriorated before my very eyes.

“No, all along… I kept making mistakes…!!”

I gripped the bedsheets tightly, gritting my teeth to hold back tears.

Everything was going well, and I took advantage of that, got complacent, got cocky, became arrogant.

That’s why karma came back to bite me.

This fool named Fumihiko Hikawa never even tried to become a man worthy of China. He just convinced himself he was the best he could be.

Even when I mocked that Watarai Nozomu, deep down, I just couldn’t accept that he was better than me.

It wasn’t like I was just teetering on the edge.

I was thrown off the cliff and floated there like a cartoon character. Falling was inevitable.

I was never fit to be the protagonist.

I might have had the potential, but I let the flames of arrogance distort me grotesquely, and in the end, I shattered it.

“Ugh… ahh… uwaaaaa”

I… failed to become the protagonist…!

　　#　　

From behind the door, I could hear a man’s voice groaning, stifling his cries.

The voice belonged to Fumihiko Hikawa… my older brother.

“Oh dear, big brother looks so pathetic and pitiful. Don’t worry, I’ll get revenge for you.”

Watarai Nozomu-senpai, one year my senior.

He was the one who reduced my brother, who had been so full of confidence, to a tattered rag.

“Come to think of it, lately, you’ve been getting along well with that ‘impregnable S-class beauty’… Amagiri China, haven’t you?”

Amagiri China, reputed to be the most beautiful girl in high school.

Rumors had reached me that Watarai-senpai had been frequently seen getting along well with Amagiri China and her family lately.

If she herself is impregnable, perhaps he’s trying to fill the outer moat and conquer her indirectly.

Well, whatever the case, that might be the spot to strike.

“Since you’ve treated other girls like pawns up until now, this time I’ll be using you as a pawn, Onii chan.”

My family line seems prone to producing handsome men and beautiful women.

In fact, both my brother and I have been fawned over as beauties.

But we lack innate intelligence, covering our blunders with charm.

It seems my brother suffered a defeat where even that charm couldn’t cover his blunder.

Probably because he grew arrogant from all his past successes.

I would never make such a basic mistake like my brother.

I head back to my room to start planning my strategy.

My hand reaches for the light switch as I mutter under my breath.

“Watarai Nozomu-senpai… the enigmatic second-year high school student who makes everything his hobby and expands his network even outside school… And then—”

The light clicks on, filling every corner of my room with white light.

Simultaneously, the entire room’s layout becomes clear.

“—My world’s coolest Senpai♡♡”

Photos of Nozomu-senpai plastered across the entire wall reflected in my eyes.

Let’s be honest—I adore Nozomu-senpai.

Back when I was frail, he shared his hobbies with me. It’s no exaggeration to call himr my savior.

How could I not fall for someone who treated me with such sincerity?

I love him♡

There’s no way I’d let someone like Amagiri China get him.

I absolutely cannot allow it.

(I will definitely make sure I get senpai…!!)

—Hikawa Uruha, younger sister of Fumihiko.

“Wait for me, senpai♡ I’ll go dig up the moat you worked so hard to fill in, starting right now♡♡”

—Hobby: Watarai Nozomu.

Maiasa

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