At the same time, Leon was also walking towards the Service Club activity room. Judging by the direction he came from, he was not chatting with Utaha Kasumigaoka in the classroom, as Yukino Yukinoshita had guessed, but was coming from the rooftop.
He was indeed a bit late today, but that was because he had received a message from Sona Sitri right after school. To avoid drawing attention, he had gone to the rooftop and talked with Sona for a while there.
Recalling what Sona Sitri had just told him, Leon mused inwardly.
"It's a bit troublesome, but this is a perfect opportunity to give Yukino a proper practical lesson."
It had been a month since she became his Peerage. Although Yukino Yukinoshita had been diligently studying books, learning about devils, and training her abilities, she had yet to engage in actual combat.
Without real combat experience, even the strongest person would have many problems.
Therefore, Leon had already decided that he would entrust this matter to Yukino Yukinoshita to resolve. He would just stand guard on the side and absolutely would not interfere unless it was absolutely necessary.
"No time to lose. Let's start the operation tonight."
With this thought, Leon arrived at the Service Club activity room.
But when Leon pushed open the door and stepped inside, the heavy atmosphere within the room caused him to slightly pause.
"You... you're here?"
Yukino Yukinoshita immediately stood up upon seeing Leon walk in, her reaction being quite noticeable.
The person sitting next to Yukino Yukinoshita, however, was gazing at him with a smile. Not only did she fail to give any visible reaction, but she also cast a sharp glance at Leon.
Seeing this, Leon raised an eyebrow. He then ignored Yukino Yukinoshita's reaction and the sharp gaze, and walked in with a normal expression.
"It turns out we have a distinguished guest. That's rare."
Leon sat down in the chair Yukino Yukinoshita had been occupying, causing Yukino Yukinoshita to instinctively step back and stand behind him.
The scene made the so-called distinguished guest subtly frown, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
However, she didn't show it directly. Instead, she greeted Leon with a bright, sunny smile.
"Hello, Elig-kun. I'm Yukino's older sister, Haruno Yukinoshita. Please take care of me."
Her warm demeanor was nothing like her sister's frosty attitude, nor was it like the owner of that overly sharp gaze just moments ago. Coupled with her refined appearance and pleasant voice, it made people instinctively want to drop their guard.
Unfortunately, despite Haruno Yukinoshita's warmth, Leon appeared even brighter than her.
"I know. The Yukinoshita family's eldest daughter. You're quite the celebrity at our school too."
Leon smiled broadly and genuinely, like a cheerful, guileless boy. His smiling face momentarily made Haruno Yukinoshita feel a sense of confusion, and she couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"Putting everything else aside, his appearance is incredibly good. He's more handsome and has better temperament than all those so-called scions of rich families I've seen before."
As for Leon saying she was a celebrity, Haruno Yukinoshita wasn't surprised at all.
She was twenty years old this year, currently studying in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the local national university, but she had once been a Sobu High School student; she was a Sobu High graduate.
And in the three years before her graduation, Sobu High did not have as many as four lofty beauties.
During high school, Haruno Yukinoshita was the only lofty beauty in the entire Sobu High, a genuinely popular character who dominated the entire school.
She possessed not only beauty, family background, elegance, and excellent grades, but also a social ability that could be called unfair, standing leagues apart from Yukino Yukinoshita, a beautiful girl whose interpersonal skills were worrying.
During her time there, she established good relationships with students, teachers, and even the school principal and board members, leaving such a deep influence and impression on Sobu High that even a year or two after her graduation, rumors about her still lingered in the school.
Especially for the third-year students, the name Haruno Yukinoshita was still brought up from time to time.
After all, when Haruno Yukinoshita was in her third year at Sobu High, they had just entered, making them first-year students at the time.
Thus, many third-year students still had a deep impression of Haruno Yukinoshita, including Leon.
Although he hadn't had direct contact with Haruno Yukinoshita when he was in the first year, he had seen Yukino Yukinoshita walk through the corridors more than once, surrounded by a large crowd of people.
Everyone clustered around her, making her the center of attention, yet she managed not to neglect anyone, handling interpersonal relationships with effortless skill, truly a social terrorist.
Many called her the perfect superhuman, and many others saw her as a trusted older sister, unable to forget her.
This was the situation while Haruno Yukinoshita was still attending Sobu High.
And even outside of Sobu High, Haruno Yukinoshita was a celebrity in her own right.
This was because she was the legitimate eldest daughter and heir that the Yukinoshita family had wholeheartedly groomed. She was the young mistress who, even before entering society, had already begun to take on various social engagements and some political and business responsibilities for the Yukinoshita family. Her capabilities far surpassed those of Yukino Yukinoshita, and she already had a considerable reputation in the political and business circles of Chiba Prefecture.
It was precisely because she was so perfect and so excellent that Yukino Yukinoshita had always lived in the shadow of her sister and was deeply influenced by her.
One could tell from Yukino Yukinoshita's current behavior; she remained silent, completely lacking her usual sharp wit and poisonous tongue. She appeared somewhat nervous and unconsciously displayed a degree of fragility.
Yet, she didn't leave or do anything, merely standing behind Leon, appearing to take him as her lead.
This led Haruno Yukinoshita to feel that her perception of the relationship between these two might contain significant errors.
"Isn't Elig-kun also a celebrity?" Haruno Yukinoshita withdrew her gaze from Yukino Yukinoshita and turned to look directly at Leon, smiling: "I remember, even before I graduated, Elig-kun was already very popular. Even older female students would sneak over to look at you, right?"
"I can't compare to you, Senpai." Leon smiled noncommittally: "At least, people who don't like me exist, but people who don't like you, Senpai, probably don't exist, right?"
"Then you think too highly of me." Haruno Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes slightly, hinting meaningfully: "Many things can't be judged just by the surface. Some relationships look very good, but in reality, people harbor deep dissatisfaction with each other behind the scenes. Some relationships look very bad, but in reality, they care deeply for each other."
As she spoke, Haruno Yukinoshita's gaze swept back and forth between Leon and Yukino Yukinoshita, her expression growing increasingly significant.
"Like before I came here, I always thought you two had some unspeakable, improper relationship, but now it seems your relationship is even more complex than I imagined."
Undoubtedly, Haruno Yukinoshita had rushed to Sobu High to demand an explanation after learning that Yukino Yukinoshita had not returned to her apartment for some time and was allegedly very close to a boy, suspected of being in a relationship with him.
Yukino Yukinoshita also knew her sister would misunderstand her relationship with Leon, but she chose silence rather than refutation, fearing that her sister would see through something.
Even though she had always lived under the shadow of Haruno Yukinoshita, Yukino Yukinoshita had to admit that her sister was an excessively excellent person, completely different from a "flawed product" like herself—a true perfect superhuman.
Once she rushed to argue and explain, she would definitely fall into the other party's verbal trap and have the truth subtly extracted from her.
To prevent this from happening, Yukino Yukinoshita could only uncharacteristically remain silent, refusing to argue or explain even when Haruno Yukinoshita stimulated her with words, waiting for Leon to arrive.
Leon, conversely, acted very candidly, as if he had no intention of concealing anything.
"In a sense, Yukinoshita-senpai is right."
Leon looked at Haruno Yukinoshita's probing eyes and smiled as he said this.
"Yukino and I do have an unspeakable relationship, and this relationship is indeed improper."
As soon as these words were uttered, Haruno Yukinoshita's gaze sharpened once more.
She stared at Leon, both of them wearing smiles, yet there wasn't a trace of amusement in their eyes.
No, it should be said that Leon's eyes were still full of playful amusement, while Haruno Yukinoshita's eyes had completely lost any hint of a smile.
This caused the atmosphere in the Service Club activity room to become heavy again, even tense, making a fine layer of sweat seep onto Yukino Yukinoshita's back.
"You are very bold, Elig-kun."
After a long while, Haruno Yukinoshita spoke again.
"Knowing that we are the daughters of the Yukinoshita family, you still dare to admit in front of me that you have an improper, unknown relationship with my disappointing sister. If my mother finds out about this, you might not even be able to stay at Sobu High, you know?"
This was less a threat and more a test.
Haruno Yukinoshita was attempting to interpret Leon's essence, a skill she excelled at.
Despite her sunny and cheerful appearance, seemingly like a trusted older sister, this demeanor was merely a disguise.
Haruno Yukinoshita was an artificial person who would adjust her conduct and personality according to the preference of her target, making herself the ideal type for the other party to achieve various goals. She was definitely not some perfect superhuman.
Currently, Haruno Yukinoshita was attempting to interpret Leon's preferences in order to achieve the goal of testing him.
But this was actually a futile effort.
"It will eventually reach her ears that Yukino and I are closely involved anyway, so what does it matter?"
Leon remained consistently candid, eliminating the need for any testing.
"...You mean to say, even with me coming here today, you still don't intend to end this relationship."
The smile on Haruno Yukinoshita's face slightly faded.
Leon was the opposite; the smile on his face grew even deeper.
"It should be said that you all can't end this relationship."