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419 Scumbag and Liar — A Perfect Match
🕑 Added 2025-08-01 15:00:22 +0000 UTCHaruno sat on the couch watching TV while slurping on a grape-flavored jelly snack from a pouch.
But even after her mouth was full, she didn’t swallow it right away.
Instead, she puffed up her cheeks and swirled the slippery jelly around with her tongue, letting it roll over every tooth.
The squishy, wet noises were getting on Yukino’s nerves.
She just couldn’t understand how her sister could enjoy such a mind-numbingly boring program with so much enthusiasm.
“Food’s not a toy,” she muttered, massaging her temples.
“I’m not playing,” Haruno replied with her mouth still full. “I’m building a relationship with the food. You can’t enjoy the true essence of flavor until you fully understand it.”
That line rang a little too familiar—and made Yukino’s headache worse.
“…Did Hojou teach you that?”
“He did! He said the same thing to you, too?”
The moment his name came up, Haruno perked up, swallowed the jelly, and sat up cross-legged on the couch.
“Maybe,” Yukino replied, not entirely sure if she’d ever heard those exact words from Hojou Kyousuke, but it certainly sounded like something he would say.
“Speaking of, I heard from Shizuka-chan that you’re serving as vice leader for your sports festival team?”
“…Yeah.”
Yukino’s voice dropped a notch.
“That’s so nice. I’m jealous. Back in my day, I just participated like everyone else. What a classic high school memory,” Haruno sighed dreamily, slurping at her jelly again.
Yukino paused for a couple of seconds, then turned toward the TV.
“You wouldn’t have done it anyway. It’s a pointless hassle with no reward.”
That’s right—there was nothing to gain.
But if you messed up, you’d be the one everyone blamed.
Not just now, but even years later, when people reminisced about that failed sports festival, her name would come up.
Even if she did everything perfectly, people would only remember her as a strict killjoy—someone they “had to resist” during her reign of tyranny.
Either way, she’d be cast as the villain.
And no, she didn’t believe in the kind of optimistic fantasy Hojou always talked about—where people would look back fondly at their youthful struggles and raise a toast to the joy of trying.
“That’s not it,” Haruno said. “It’s not that I didn’t want to join—it's that I couldn’t.”
“Even you understand how much trouble something like this brings, right? Do you think I didn’t? Of course I knew.
Even if everyone was hoping I’d lead them to a fun and exciting festival… that kind of trust is heavy, Yukino. And I just couldn’t do it.”
Yukino’s small, delicate ears twitched ever so slightly.
Her pale face, bathed in the colors of the television screen, showed a faint trace of sorrow.
Because she understood—her sister, as the heir of the Yukinoshita family, didn’t have the luxury of failure.
If she succeeded, people would say “of course she did,” that it was only natural.
But if she failed, it would become gossip passed around every social circle in the family.
Their mother would be mocked at tea parties, and their father would be ribbed on the golf course by his political colleagues.
As for herself? She had no friends, so there was no one to mock her. Just people whispering behind her back.
Her sister was just as trapped as she was.
“Who told me to be born the Yukinoshita heir, right? Sooo stressful~” Haruno groaned theatrically, then began swirling her jelly again, making that same annoying squelchy noise.
“But hey, all I had to do was make up a couple of excuses—like ‘my family doesn’t allow me to do things that attract attention.’ And boom! They thought I was so well-raised. They believed that if I wanted to, I’d definitely be able to do it. That I was amazing~”
“Ahh~ that’s the best kind of sports festival~”
…What a horrible person.
Yukino quickly wiped the emotion from her face. Of course. She shouldn’t let herself get swayed.
Her sister was just like this—a compulsive liar who said cruel things just for the fun of watching others squirm.
“All that said, lying doesn’t suit you, Yukino. You’re too straightforward. But that kind of earnest effort has its own charm.”
Still teasing, Haruno had somehow lain back down again.
From Yukino’s angle, she couldn’t see her face—but if she could, she might have noticed a rare trace of sincerity.
“You’re right. I can’t handle things as smoothly as you can. I can’t make everyone happy. I just fumble around like an idiot.”
Yukino clenched her fists on her lap, her voice low and tight.
“That’s not true~”
Haruno wiggled on the couch and stretched out a leg, using her round, soft toes to tickle Yukino’s side.
Yukino flinched hard, instinctively trying not to laugh—but she bit her lip and forced it down.
“Tickle tickle tickle~” Haruno said as she kept at it, even providing her own sound effects.
“Pfft—!”
Yukino couldn’t hold it in anymore.
She burst into laughter, grabbing her sister’s foot and twisting her body away. Tears welled up in her eyes from laughing so hard.
“Cut it out! You’re so annoying!”
Seriously. After all those irritating comments, now she was pulling this childish nonsense?
“What? I just wanted to ask if this is your new way of beating me, Yukino. Something that even surpasses your amazing older sister.”
Haruno didn’t pull her leg back. She just let it rest on her sister’s lap.
“Hmm?” Yukino blinked, her smile still lingering. She wasn’t following.
“Even if it’s tough, you don’t have to lie. You move forward slowly but surely, guided by your own will—that’s your way.”
Haruno’s voice was soft, like she was reciting an old tale. She spoke with a gentle melancholy.
Yukino sat there stunned—like a panda stuffed full and staring blankly at the wall. She didn’t even notice Haruno’s toes still tapping against her leg.
…Was that a trick of her imagination? Did her sister’s voice just sound… wistful? Longing?
No way. That was impossible. Haruno, like Hojou Kyousuke, was the type to always take the shortcut.
They loved using their background and advantages to crush their opponents. They’d never choose the long road.
“Oh! I remember now. Shizuka-chan also said you only became vice leader because you lost the vote for team captain and the winner made you do it. Whoops~ Sorry, sorry—did I bring up something painful, Yukino-chan?”
Worst. Person. Ever.
Yukino immediately flung the foot off her lap. For the third time in five minutes, she’d been completely played by her sister.
“You really are my new bestie. Like cherry blossoms blooming in early spring, with sunshine and a gentle breeze~”
“I’m going to bed.” Yukino stood up abruptly.
“Were you always this quick to give up and retreat when you failed?”
Yukino froze for just a second—then kept walking toward her room.
Haruno watched her retreating back, unimpressed. She casually flipped the channel. It didn’t matter what was on.
She never had the chance to watch TV when she was a kid, so now she just left it on whenever she could.
‘Yukino… you haven’t changed at all.’
She picked up her phone and dialed.
“Moshi moshi~? I’m home now~”
Haruno heard a sigh on the other end, “…. Then why are you telling me this?”
"…What do you mean, ‘why am I telling you’? Aren’t you even a little worried about me? I thought you’d be sitting by the phone this whole time, waiting for me to call."
"I highly doubt you’d get yourself into any real danger," Kyousuke replied, a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"Hey, I’m still a stunning beauty, okay? Pretty face, killer body—you of all people should know that best."
Yukinoshita Haruno nestled her head against the armrest of the sofa, a relaxed smile on her face. For her, making this call was part of her wind-down routine.
"You're spouting nonsense like an idiot. Wait, don’t tell me... Yukino’s right there with you and you're trying to make me look bad?"
"I'm gonna cry now! You’re on the phone with me, but all you can think about is another girl? Can’t you just pay a little more attention to me for once?"
She playfully whimpered as she spoke, though her grin never wavered.
Stretching out her long leg under the warm light, she examined her soft pink toes, clearly amused.
"When you’re alone, there’s no need to lie so much. Why not save that energy for bullying Yukino instead?"
Already lying in bed, Kyousuke rolled over and put his phone to his ear.
He smiled to himself—maybe it was because he’d seen right through Haruno the second time they met, but she had a habit of pestering him ever since.
In her own words—
"I’m a liar, you’re a scumbag. Aren’t we just made for each other?" Haruno said it lightly, cheerfully, her toes wiggling in a little dance.
She had spent over twenty years lying to herself, building her life out of deception, shaping herself into the perfect daughter of the Yukinoshita household according to her mother’s expectations.
Her whole life was a performance, a carefully constructed farce.
The only times she could feel anything real were those brief moments she messed around with her boozy teacher or her overly earnest little sister.
Then she met someone like her—someone also weaving a false life with careful intention: Hojou Kyousuke.
This man, buried under flowers and praise, worked with genuine devotion to build a world full of lies.
But unlike her, where both she and her world were false to the core, his lies had real feelings behind them. His greed was real.
His affections were real. The way he loved them—whoever “they” were—was painfully, undeniably real.
Maybe, just maybe, he was right when he said—
"Careful. That’s bordering on defamation," Kyousuke said irritably.
"So, not slander—just an invasion of privacy?"
Haruno laughed out loud.
That was exactly it. He was crafting a fake world with real emotion.
Like her, he didn’t shy away from lies—but unlike her, he still stubbornly tried to tell the truth in the dumbest, most sincere ways.
"I am not a scumbag! I just love too many people, okay? It’s a love thing—you single people wouldn’t understand!"
He muttered the words under his breath, knowing full well he could only say something that dumb to someone like Haruno.
Even if she spread it around, no one would believe her. Not even Yukino.
"Hahahaha, yeah, yeah. I totally get it~"
"Liar."
"Rude! That wasn’t a lie! Didn’t I already say it? We’re a perfect match—you, the scumbag, me, the liar. I can sniff out lies like a human polygraph~"
"So Yukino never lies because she grew up with her own personal truth detector?"
"Huh?"
Haruno blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing again.
"Well, maybe! After all, I am her super favorite big sister!"
"Favorite? I think you meant most hated. I swear she was about to cry the last time we all had dinner. You’ve got the worst sense of humor."
Kyousuke recalled how different Yukino acted around Haruno.
Around him, Eriri, Mitsuha, even Sakura, she never bowed her head.
She always met people head-on—confident, proud, like a lotus blooming in the mud.
But with Haruno? She lowered her gaze, fell silent.
Like a stray puppy abandoned by its owner, sitting alone under a streetlamp.
A small, half-year-old mutt with white fur and black spots, too scared to even whimper for fear of being hated even more.
Honestly, seeing her like that had shaken him.
Yukino could be frustrated, sure—even depressed but she was never the type to give in.
And yet around Haruno, she looked so vulnerable, so helpless...
He had felt a sudden, almost overpowering urge to hold her. To tell her it was okay.
That his home was big enough—he could take care of her too.
"Yeah… Yukino hates me," Haruno said quietly.
Just as Kyousuke opened his mouth to respond, she spoke again, her voice suddenly brighter.
"But she doesn’t want me to hate her."
Kyousuke couldn’t hold it in. He laughed, hard.
That... that really did sound like something Yukino would do.
"Right? Isn’t that totally unfair? She hates me but still wants me to like her? Life doesn’t work like that! That’s why I have to keep teasing her!"
Hearing him laugh made Haruno grin wider.
"This is what they call a love-hate relationship, isn’t it?"
"Love-hate? Maybe. But I honestly don’t know if she loves me more or hates me more."
"I think it’s something even more complicated."
"Like what?"
"Let me think… Oh! What if… after you inherit your dad’s seat and become a member of parliament, Yukino joins the prosecutor’s office and watches you like a hawk 24/7?
Then, the moment you get caught for embezzlement, she kicks open your office door with a pair of silver handcuffs and shouts, ‘You’ve betrayed the people!’ and drags you off to jail."
“…Huh?” Haruno gave a surprised little gasp.
"Actually… that sounds kinda great! At least then, Yukino would’ve found her own way to chase her dream. Not just trailing behind me, trying to copy everything I do like some awkward little shadow."
"Copying you, huh..." Kyousuke chewed on those words.
It explained everything.
The way Yukino shrank under her sister's presence.
Their family’s attention always focused on the perfect older sister... the younger one slowly grew silent.
"Is this another story of the competent older sister bullying her poor little sibling?"
"What?! I never bullied her! I’m the best sister ever, thank you very much! Watch it, or I’ll sue you for defamation!"
"That line is definitely a lie. If anything, now you’re defaming me. I’m calling Justice Superman for backup."
"So cruel… In your heart, I’m just a woman full of lies, huh?" Haruno said with a voice dripping with mock heartbreak, like a nightingale singing a sorrowful ballad.
“…You’ve got some nerve. Weren’t you the one who said all this?"
"So you admit it—you are a scumbag!"
"At the very least, you have no right to call me that."
"I heard that~♡"
"But when I’m with you…" Kyousuke said softly, "I find myself wanting to tell the truth the most."
Haruno held her phone in her right hand and raised her left under the living room light, carefully admiring it.
It was as if she was completely satisfied with every part of her body.
“A good big sister who bullies her little sister all the time?”
“When I was undergoing etiquette training, Yukino-chan was reading picture books.
When I was so terrified at a formal banquet that I lost my voice, Yukino-chan was hugging her stuffed animals and sleeping soundly.
While I was carrying the weight of being the heir to the family, Yukino-chan was playing make-believe with your little Service Club.
Tell me—am I not the best big sister in the world?”
Right. So perfect, in fact, that her younger sister came to admire her.
Then, unable to live up to that ideal, she grew frustrated and began to resent her sister.
But even then, deep down she knew all the privileges she enjoyed were thanks to that same sister—so she loved her, too.
She didn’t want to be hated by her.
Typical Yukinoshita—twisted and complicated. Even more stubborn than Eriri.
“You know… maybe the two of you should just talk things out. Would make life easier for both of you.” Kyousuke offered casually.
If one wants something and the other doesn’t, just switch—problem solved.
“And what about everything I’ve endured over these past twenty-something years?
All the lies I’ve told to survive, the fake world I’ve lived in—what about all that…?”
“Okay, okay, I get it already!” Kyousuke quickly interrupted.
“Happiness must be forged by your own hands. Yukinoshita is destined for greatness, a trailblazer born to shape the world.
And everything she’s going through now is just the loving hardship and blessings bestowed by her perfect big sister, Haruno-sama, so she can one day rule the world.”
This—this right here was exactly why Kyousuke avoided getting involved in other people’s family drama.
There was no clear right or wrong, just a tangled mess. Best solution? Burn it all down. Let everyone walk away happy.
“Ahahaha~ You're so cold, Hojou! Here I am, opening up and trying to share my pain with you—do you have any idea how hard it is doing everything alone?”
Haruno laughed brightly, completely ignoring the sarcastic tone in her own words.
Her mood hadn’t changed a bit from earlier—still cheerful, still relentless.
“Oh, and I just mentioned to Yukino that she failed her bid to become the sports festival committee head.”
“…No wonder she moved out. If she kept living with you, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up in a mental hospital.” Kyousuke wrinkled his nose.
This woman really had no hesitation when it came to turning Yukino’s failures into entertainment.
He knew Haruno deeply loved her sister—but the way she showed that love… was a little too brutal.
Then again, maybe that was just how their family worked.
After all, Haruno herself had been raised in the exact same way by their mother.
In a twisted way, Yukino really had gotten what she wanted.
She may have been spared her mother’s harshness, but Haruno made sure she got a full dose of it anyway.
“Don’t push her too far. Yukino’s not as strong as you are.”
“But she has you, doesn’t she?” Haruno’s tone suddenly turned cold. “You’ll keep helping her, won’t you? Just like at the party earlier—you’ll be her new support, right?”
