Hachiman was going farther and farther down the road to self-destruction.
Huh? What transformation? Yui had her cheeks stuffed with bacon and a sausage dangling from her lips, her upper and lower jaws moving like a hamster's as she looked at Hachiman in confusion.
It's nothing. Keep eating.
Yukino pushed the food on her own plate in front of Yui as well.
I can't eat this much... Yui hadn't finished speaking before she ducked her head, because Yukino had lightly kicked her under the table. Dango suddenly noticed Hachiman's expression darken in an instant.
Hachiman looked at the cowering Yui, unable to voice his troubles. Yukino was forcefully stepping on his foot with her little leather shoe while her small hand twisted his waist again and again.
Pretending to be nonchalant, he nudged Little Rumi, who was happily eating. The little one looked puzzled at being suddenly disturbed, but after seeing Hachiman's grim expression and Yukino smiling beside him, then recalling Hachiman's suicidal remark just now, Little Rumi instantly understood what she needed to do.
Under Hachiman's hopeful gaze, Little Rumi put on an innocent expression and said to Yukino, "Mom, do you like papaya? You can have my share too."
Hachiman felt that even buying a coffin now would be too late.
Fortunately, Rumi still remembered how good Hachiman was to her. After flashing a hint of an impish smile, she still helped Hachiman out. The little one composed herself and said in a slightly bashful tone, "Dad, I... I need to use the bathroom."
"Komachi, go take Rumi to the bathroom."
Yukino directly crushed Hachiman's fantasy, casting him a sidelong glance with utter disdain.
"Darling? Do you think papaya is useless?"
"It's useless! It definitely is. If papaya worked, what would we need silicone for?" Hachiman declared righteously.
"If it's useless, should I still eat it?"
"If you like it, eat it. If you don't, give it to me."
"But if I don't eat it, someone will complain about me again."
Yukino continued speaking in that sarcastic tone.
"I won't complain. How could I? My preferences absolutely change according to the circumstances."
"What a sweet mouth you have~"
"You know whether it's sweet or not. You've tasted it so many times."
"Fine. Do fifty squats while carrying me tonight, and we'll let this matter go."
Yukino said it indifferently.
"What!" Hachiman's face immediately turned green.
"What? Not satisfied? Then make it a hundred."
"I'm satisfied, I'm satisfied. Fifty it is."
Hachiman had already begun regretting why he had let his mouth run.
"When Komachi and Rumi come back, let's go for a walk outside."
Yukino made the decision.
Edinburgh Travelogue III
In the lush Princes Street Gardens, the grass was dotted with dewdrops from the recent drizzle, making it look even greener.
At the easternmost end of Princes Street, near Carlton Hill, there was a road. Following it west would lead to the Dundas Monument and the National Museum of Scotland.
However, that was not Hachiman and the others' destination. The five of them had just walked out of the hotel when they discovered that a fine drizzle had begun falling outside.
Hachiman took an umbrella from the doorman and pushed open the door to leave the hotel. He had just started to open it when he found that the drizzle had already quietly stopped.
Hachiman returned the umbrella with a helpless laugh. The pedestrians around them seemed to have long since grown accustomed to this, merely tightening their clothes before continuing on their way.
After Yukino spread the blanket over the slightly damp grass, everyone had just sat down when several restless pigeons flapped over to them.
In less than ten minutes, the overcast sky had been swept away by the warm sun, and pedestrians gradually began appearing on the lawn.
Perhaps because it had just rained, the damp grass could not be used directly for sunbathing, so people simply sat on the benches provided nearby.
"Hikki~ Look!"
Yui suddenly cried out in delight.
"What is it?" Hachiman asked in confusion, following Yui's finger. He saw a squirrel crouching not far away.
The squirrel blinked its jewel-like eyes, tilted its head, and used its paws to comb its whiskers as it looked at them in confusion.
"Wow~ It's so cute."
Yui stared at the fearless little one with sparkling eyes.
The squirrel seemed to sense that the people before it meant no harm, so it bounced over to the blanket where Hachiman and the others were sitting.
"I remember there were some nuts in the bag. Yui, you didn't finish them, did you?" Yukino was also somewhat tempted by the squirrel before her. Her movements were unusually gentle, as if afraid of frightening it away.
"Eh~ Let me look."
Dango searched herself and found the almonds left over from yesterday in her jacket pocket.
After peeling off the shell, Yui nervously extended the almond toward the squirrel, her hand trembling as she watched it.
The little creature hopped over to the almond in a few bounds, lowered its head to sniff it, then held it between its tiny paws and stuffed it into its mouth.
"Hikki, look! It really ate it!"
Yui excitedly spoke to Hachiman.
"I saw..." Hachiman pursed his lips, utterly unable to understand why Yui was so excited.
Hachiman ignored the four girls gathered around the squirrel. Instead, he took some biscuits he had bought on impulse from his pocket and fed the flock of pigeons nearby by himself.
"Ah!" Yui suddenly cried out, watching the squirrel gradually run away. "Why did it leave?"
"Either it was full, or your lovestruck-pervert act scared the poor thing away."
Hachiman mocked her.
"Hikki, how can you be so mean~" Yui unhappily walked over, snatched the biscuits from Hachiman's hand, and broke them into pieces like she knew what she was doing, enjoying the feeling of the pigeons pecking at her hand.
"Heeheehee~ Big Brother, I want some too!" Komachi pounced on Hachiman and asked him for some.
"There's none left. They're all with your sister Yui."
Hachiman spread his hands.
"Eh~ How could you do this!" Komachi complained coquettishly to Hachiman.
"Why blame me when you didn't buy any yourself?" Hachiman said indifferently.
"I don't have any money!" Komachi glared angrily at her brother, her little canine teeth grinding audibly.
"Here~ This should be enough, right?" Hachiman pulled three bills from his wallet and handed them to Komachi, waving her away.
Having received three hundred pounds, Komachi did not care about Hachiman's attitude. She skipped away happily and gathered with Yui, whispering to her.
"Where are we going later?" Yukino sat beside Hachiman and asked.
"No rush. Let's sit a little longer. You can't see scenery like this in Japan."
Hachiman lay on the blanket, staring at the layers upon layers of buildings.
"That's true. There are really very few high-rise buildings here. Most people live in low houses, so it doesn't have that oppressive feeling Japan does."
Yukino stared at the clearly layered blue-and-white sky, feeling incredibly at peace inside.
"Most importantly, the happiness here seems to radiate from within, while Japanese people always look so serious. They probably wish they could get up in the morning and wash their faces while brushing their teeth."
Hachiman grumbled.
"You're clearly a well-fed man who doesn't understand a starving man's hunger. If the two of us were like ordinary people, forget traveling during the holidays—we'd better hurry up and find jobs at a convenience store."
Yukino lightly poked Hachiman with her finger, her face full of disdain.
"Yes, yes~ I owe it all to you."
Hachiman wrapped an arm around Yukino's waist, leaned over, and rested his chin on her shoulder, breathing in her heart-soothing scent.
"Hmph~" The girl's inner walls of ice had completely melted, leaving her gentle as water. After giving a soft little hum, she silently felt the warmth of Hachiman's palm covering her lower abdomen.
"Aren't you cold?" Hachiman asked Yukino, who was wearing only a long skirt that reached below her knees.
"I'm fine~ My constitution is much better than before."
Yukino, who had been carefully cared for by Hachiman, had a healthy blush on her face.
"That's good."
Hachiman could indeed feel the faint warmth radiating from the girl, and only then did he relax.
"Hikki~ What's that over there?" Yui pointed at a Gothic building and turned to ask Hachiman.
"That looks like the Scott Monument."
Hachiman asked Yukino uncertainly.
Yukino nodded, confirming Hachiman's words.
"Eh~ It's so tall."
Yui tilted her head back to look at the building before her, her mouth falling open.
"Do you want to go take a look?" Hachiman asked Yui.
"Mm~ Forget it. Wouldn't climbing that high kill me from exhaustion?"
Dango shook her head with pursed lips.
"Hikki~ Take a few pictures for me, quick. It's not every day I come abroad, and I completely forgot to take pictures."
Yui shoved her phone into Hachiman's hand, then turned around and struck a pose.
After taking pictures of Dango, Hachiman returned the phone to her and leaned over to watch the girl slowly type on it, showing off.
"First trip abroad~ England feels completely different from Japan! ??ω????" After typing that line, the girl attached the photos Hachiman had taken and posted them to her social media.
For the next ten minutes, the girl's phone rang constantly with notification sounds. The expression on Yui's face grew happier and happier, until she finally even laughed aloud.
Hachiman packed up the blanket, collected the trash, and put it into a garbage bag, preparing to throw it into a bin.
"Yui, hurry up. We're going somewhere else."
Hachiman called out to Yui after they had spent several hours in the gardens.
Edinburgh Travelogue IV
"Hikki~ I really need to use the bathroom... What should I do?" Yui said to Hachiman with a flushed face as they headed toward the restaurant.
"Isn't there a bathroom over there?" Hachiman said, pointing at a public restroom nearby.
"But I think it costs money, and my English isn't good. Come with me, please."
Yui hurriedly pulled Hachiman toward the restroom.
"How am I supposed to go in with you?" Hachiman blurted out without thinking, immediately taking it the wrong way.
"Eek~ Hikki, you pervert."
Yui hugged Hachiman's arm. It was impossible to tell whether the blush on her face came from holding it in or from embarrassment.
"Ahem..." Hachiman coughed, stepped forward, looked at the sign, and paid fifty pence. After sending Yui into the restroom, he noticed that there were three signs above the entrances.
"What the hell? I understand men and women, but what does 'Scottish' mean?" Amused by this bit of British humor, Hachiman stood cheerfully at the entrance and waited for Yui.
While waiting, Hachiman saw several men wearing kilts and carrying bagpipes walk straight into the restroom marked "Scottish."
"So that's what it means..." Hachiman was left laughing helplessly.
After Yui finished using the bathroom, the group continued toward the restaurant.
"This should be the place, right?" Yukino checked on her phone.
"Let's go. Time to eat."
Yukino was the first to enter the restaurant called The Mussel and Steak Bar.
"Hello. Please, follow me."
A man who looked to be in his fifties approached them. He was dressed impeccably, his leather shoes polished to a shine, and he led the group inside.
Before you continue