Reincarnation: Yukino Yukinoshita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Yukino arrived home at 5:10 p.m.

As she was changing her shoes at the entrance, she heard voices coming from the living room and immediately guessed that Utaha and Megumi were already there.

Her recent time with her sister had been pleasant. Without any pressure from work or University, Haruno had simply accompanied her for chats and occasional shopping trips.

Although her sister still teased her from time to time, Yukino was genuinely happy with how their last meeting had gone.

So she entered the living room and took the initiative to greet the two girls.

"You're both here. Don't tell me this is a surprise intervention?"

"We've been waiting for you forever," Utaha replied lazily, curled up beside the kotatsu. She gestured with her chin at the folder sitting to her left.

Yukino immediately understood.

"That's the printed script, isn't it?"

Utaha nodded. By now, she had fully regained her composure and no longer looked as flustered as she had earlier.

Megumi chimed in."I've also compiled some resources I found online. If you're interested, we can go through them together."

"Resources on acting?" Yukino asked, guessing Megumi had focused on the subject since she was cast as the second female lead.

Megumi gave a small nod."Utaha-senpai's nearly done revising the script. She just wanted to wait until you got back before going over the final details."

"Got it." Yukino casually shrugged off her coat and glanced toward the kitchen."Haru's cooking?"

"Mhm. He said he was waiting for you," Utaha replied with a rare, genuinely friendly smile—grateful, no doubt, that Megumi hadn't outed her earlier blunder.

Yukino called out softly toward the kitchen.

"Haru, you can start cooking now."

A moment later, his voice responded in the affirmative. With that, Yukino sat beside the kotatsu and began flipping through the script pages with full focus.

The living room quickly turned into a little "girls-only creative conference."

By the time Haru emerged with the dishes, the three of them had already gotten comfortable and only got up to wash their hands when the food was served.

"So?" he asked while arranging plates on the table. "You've finalized the script?"

Yukino didn't rush to serve herself food. Instead, she ladled a bowl of hot soup and took a small sip. The warmth and rich flavor blossomed on her tongue, and she closed her eyes in contentment."Most likely. We'll have it locked in today. What soup is this?"

"Crucian carp and tofu."

"Oh, that one… it's part of Cantonese cuisine, right?" she asked, slightly unsure.

"Yeah, that's right."

Pleased with herself, Yukino took another sip.

"Teach me how to make it sometime."

"No problem," Haru said, recognizing that spark of culinary curiosity in her eyes.

Utaha didn't seem very interested in the cooking discussion. In her opinion, Haru's food was already at a god-tier level—why concern herself with the how when she could just enjoy the results?

Since she wasn't in post-meal "Sage time" yet, she still had energy to stir the pot a little."Speaking of which, Yukino told us earlier—you're planning to let Jelly shoot a commercial for cat food?"

Megumi also looked over, clearly intrigued. After spending time around the plump orange cat, she'd grown quite fond of it too.

Haru, while helping himself to vegetables, replied casually,

"Yukino and I have only discussed it in passing. Whether Jelly actually gets selected is still up in the air."

"She's so clever and adorable. She'll make the cut," Yukino said flatly but firmly.

The other three in the room instantly picked up on the love in her tone when she talked about the cat.

Utaha let out a soft chuckle.

"I actually brought that up too before. I even looked into it—apparently, auditions for pet commercials are pretty fair. The directors usually just pick the most obedient cat."

Megumi looked down at Jelly, who was sniffing around curiously."I remember you said you've successfully trained her before?"

Haru nodded.

"Yeah. I'm planning to teach her a few new tricks soon. If she can nail those, the role's practically hers."

As soon as he mentioned it, the girls instantly perked up.

"What kind of tricks?" they asked in unison.

Haru responded with a perfectly straight face, "The legendary Hakimi Tornado."

"…What?" All three girls blinked.

Of course, "Hakimi Tornado" was just a joke. What Haru actually had in mind was training his chubby cat to respond to simple commands—not on a dog's level, but enough to demonstrate some basic obedience.

Now that he had the [Hypnosis] skill, teaching his cat a few new tricks was definitely doable.

One of those tricks? A backflip.

If Jelly could pull that off, he'd have the perfect excuse to tease Yukino later:"Wanna come over and see my cat do a backflip?"

Dinner proceeded smoothly, and as always, Haru's [Drugging] skill subtly kicked in. But this time, rather than succumbing to the skill's usual effect of blissful laziness and blank-mindedness, the girls pushed through and continued workshopping the final draft of the script right there in the living room.

Haru, not wanting to interrupt, quietly kept to the background—only stepping in to pour tea or refill cups when needed.

By the time they wrapped things up, it was already 8 p.m.

Utaha neatly gathered the printed pages into a folder, her expression one of barely contained excitement.

"Once the school break ends, why don't we shoot this with the photography club?"

Yukino and Megumi had no objections.

But Haru did have one question: "So far you've only confirmed Kato as the second female lead, right? Who's playing the protagonist?"

Utaha flashed him a sly smile.

"Obviously, Yukino."

Yukino's tone immediately chilled.

"I don't recall agreeing to that."

Utaha remained calm and composed.

"Last time, you were the director and I was the female lead. So naturally, we switch roles this time."

"Based on what logic?"

"Isn't it obvious? For freshness and challenge. Tell me I'm wrong."

"…That reasoning is shaky at best. Personally, I'd much rather stay behind the scenes."

The discussion ended in a draw.

Yukino knew full well that Utaha's talk of "freshness and challenge" was just a smokescreen.What the girl really wanted was to experience what it felt like to give Yukino orders for once.

Which was precisely why she hadn't agreed yet.

Even though… Yukino was genuinely intrigued by Utaha's new script.

Later, after everyone relaxed for a bit in the living room, Haru stood up to escort Megumi downstairs.

Unlike Utaha, who always found excuses to stay over, Megumi wasn't the type to casually lie to her family. She still kept a relatively low profile.

Once outside the apartment complex, Haru called a driver—he wasn't about to let a girl walk home alone this late.

Megumi seemed about to object, but stopped herself when she saw the concern in his eyes. Instead, her lips curled into a faint smile as she asked,

"By the way… back when I was talking with Utaha-senpai in the living room—were you eavesdropping from the kitchen?"

Haru replied with utter conviction, "Nope."

Technically speaking, he was simply "listening in righteously."

Megumi clearly wasn't buying it. "I think you're lying."

"And what makes you think that?"

"Knowing how much you care about Utaha-senpai, there's no way you wouldn't be curious about what we were discussing."

"Oh, you mean the bunny ears? I already heard you mention that."

Megumi narrowed her eyes slightly and said with a deliberately ambiguous tone,

"If it were just bunny ears, I wouldn't have been that shocked."

That definitely got Haru's attention. "…Go on."

A sly glimmer lit up Megumi's gaze, like a duelist flipping her hidden trap card at just the right moment.

"I'll tell you… if you agree to do one thing for me."

She had, after all, promised Utaha not to tell Yukino—but no such promise had been made about Haru.

"So one condition?" Haru asked curiously. "Can I at least know what it is?"

Megumi shrugged, her voice casual.

"I'd rather tell you another time."

Haru grinned.

"Still playing mysterious? What is it, something spicy?"

"If you're trying to bait me, it won't work."

Megumi rolled her eyes. She wasn't falling for that.

Haru wasn't surprised.

"Alright, deal. I'll agree."

Megumi looked mildly taken aback.

"You're not even going to question it?"

"If Utaha-senpai had said that, I'd assume she was about to drag me into something ridiculous. But if it's you, I trust it's nothing dangerous."

…For some reason, Megumi's cheeks suddenly felt warm.

Just like that—out of nowhere—she felt as if she'd just been flirted with. And she wasn't even sure if he meant to.

Under the quiet glow of the streetlights, she took a small breath and said as calmly as she could,"Utaha-senpai wasn't just wearing bunny ears. She had on a see-through nightgown… and black stockings."

Haru's eyes widened instantly.

Megumi glanced up thoughtfully.

"Now I'm starting to suspect she's hiding even sexier outfits somewhere."

She probably is, Haru thought.

Like that risqué bunny girl costume buried in the bottom of the closet.