Chapter 494: Tonight, the Hikigaya Household is Quite Lively
As dusk fell, the Christmas event came to a successful conclusion.
The elderly attendees gradually departed, their smiles indicating their satisfaction with the event.
The remaining task was to clean up the hall.
Chairs and tables needed to be rearranged, decorations taken down, and trash swept up...
While Hachiman was tidying up the aftermath, Rumi Tsurumi walked over.
Looking at this "mini Yukino," Hachiman smiled. "Good job, Rumi. Your performance was excellent earlier."
"It was nothing."
Rumi Tsurumi shook her head at Hachiman's compliment, though a faint smile appeared at the corners of her mouth as she asked, "Do you need any help?"
"Haha, that's not necessary. I can handle it," Hachiman replied with a smile.
"By the way, how are you getting home, Rumi? Do you need me to take you?"
Though she seemed tempted, Rumi shook her head again. "No need, my mom will pick me up."
As they spoke, a gentle voice called out nearby. "Rumi."
Looking in the direction of the voice, they saw a woman in her thirties waving from a short distance away.
Seeing the woman, Rumi turned to Hachiman and said, "My mom is here to pick me up. I'm heading out now. Goodbye, Hachiman."
"Alright, goodbye, Rumi," Hachiman replied with a smile and a nod.
After saying goodbye, Rumi ran towards her mother.
...
After cleaning up the last of the mess, the sky had already darkened.
"Yukinon, we can go home now," Yui called out as she ran over.
"Okay, got it."
Finishing up the last bit of work, Hachiman went to join the others.
By this time, the students from both Kaihin High School and Sobu High School had gathered together.
As the student council president of Kaihin High, Tamanawa naturally had a few words to say. However, he still hadn't shaken off his habit of speaking in a formal, diplomatic manner.
"This event was a great success. Thanks to everyone's hard work, it really shows that when people come together, anything is possible."
Although he was still speaking in his usual, formal tone, Hachiman couldn't be bothered to argue with him. After all, the cooperation between the two schools would end with this event, so there was no need to get upset with someone he barely knew.
After Tamanawa finished speaking, it was the turn of Iroha Isshiki, the student council president of Sobu High, to say a few words.
"Hehe, I'm not sure what to say. These past few days have been tough on everyone. Without your efforts, this event wouldn't have been such a success. If there's another event like this in the future, I hope you can all help out again..."
As she spoke, she playfully tapped her head, trying to act cute.
Seeing this, Hachiman couldn't help but shake his head in mild exasperation. Just then, his phone rang.
"Sorry, I need to take this call," he said, excusing himself as he pulled out his phone.
Hachiman pressed the answer button, and Komachi's voice came through the phone. "Onii-chan, why aren't you home yet? Erina and the others have already arrived."
"Sorry, sorry, we just wrapped things up here. We'll be back soon," Hachiman replied with a smile before hanging up.
After ending the call, Hachiman looked up at the Kaihin High students across from him and said with a faint smile, "If there's nothing else, we'll be heading out now."
Seeing that smile, the memory of being overpowered in the meeting room flashed through Tamanawa and his friends' minds, leaving them unwilling to say much.
"N-no, there's nothing else. If you have other plans, you can go ahead, Hikigaya-san."
"Thanks," Hachiman nodded before turning to Yukino, Yui, and the others. "Let's go. Komachi just called and said everyone else has already arrived. We're the last ones."
Hearing this, Yui anxiously said, "Oh no, we better hurry back."
"Yeah, let's get going," Hachiman agreed, nodding to the group.
Seeing this, Iroha Isshiki's eyes gleamed with curiosity, and she asked, "Senpai, do you have another event tonight?"
Before Hachiman could respond, Yui answered directly, "Ah, it's a Christmas party at Komachi's place. She invited us all to come over and hang out."
Hearing this, Iroha's eyes lit up, and she turned to Hachiman with a pleading look. "Senpai, can I come too? I don't have anyone to hang out with tonight."
Raising an eyebrow, Hachiman wondered what her intentions were. Was she really not even trying to hide it anymore? Was she openly making a move on him?
While this seemed a bit suspicious, given how things were shaping up, it appeared this little devil might be more interested in him than in Hayama. But at this point, with so many girls involved, why not? If a beautiful girl is offering, why turn her away?
"If you want to come, go ahead, but don't blame me if you can't get away," Hachiman said with a mysterious smile.
"Eh?"
Iroha widened her eyes in surprise, taking a slight step back and crossing her arms defensively. "Senpai, are you planning something bad?"
"Who knows? If you're brave enough, come along," Hachiman replied, raising an eyebrow with a mischievous grin before turning to leave with Yukino and the others.
However, Iroha Isshiki's competitive spirit was ignited by Hachiman's words. The little devil snorted, "Hmph, I'll go! I don't believe you'd dare do anything to me in front of Yui-senpai and the others."
With that, she quickly caught up to Hachiman.
The boys from Kaihin High exchanged glances, feeling disappointed. They had hoped to join Yukino and the other girls for some fun, but to their surprise, all the girls followed Hachiman, leaving none behind.
Seeing the group of girls surrounding Hachiman, the boys couldn't help but share the same thought: Is this the so-called life of a popular guy?
...
Under Hachiman's lead, the group of girls arrived at his home.
It was Kawasaki Saki and Iroha Isshiki's first time visiting Hachiman's house, so they couldn't help but feel a bit curious.
After all, in their minds, they had assumed Hachiman might come from a wealthy family, but the house turned out to be quite ordinary.
As Hachiman opened the door, he invited the girls inside. "Come on in."
"Sorry for the intrusion," they replied, nodding as they stepped into the entryway.
Hachiman took out a few pairs of new slippers from the shoe rack and handed them to the girls. "Here, you can wear these."
These slippers were ones Komachi had bought just a couple of days ago, unsure of how many people would be coming over, so she had bought plenty.
As if summoned by the sound of the door opening, Komachi poked her head out of the living room.
"Ah, Onii-chan, you're finally back."
"Yeah, sorry for being late," Hachiman nodded.
"It's no big deal to me, as long as none of the sisters are upset," Komachi said with a shake of her head. Then, she greeted the girls behind Hachiman.
"Good evening, Yukino-nee, Yui-nee."
The two returned her greeting with a smile. "Good evening, Komachi-chan."
"Good evening, Komachi."
Meanwhile, Kawasaki Saki, feeling a bit shy, gently tugged her sister along and bowed slightly.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Komachi paused for a moment upon seeing Saki, then quickly remembered who she was.
"Oh, you're Kawasaki-san from the summer festival, right?"
"That's right, I'm Kawasaki Saki. It's nice to meet you." Saki introduced herself, then pointed to the small girl beside her. "This is my little sister, Kawasaki Keika."
Keika smiled at Komachi and greeted her, "Hello, Onee-san. I'm Kawasaki Keika."
Hearing herself called "Onee-san," Komachi's face lit up with a happy smile.
"Okay, then I'll call you Keika-chan!"
Komachi cheerfully responded to Keika before turning her attention to Iroha Isshiki.
"Onii-chan, who is this?"
"Ah, she's just a little tagalong I couldn't shake off," Hachiman shrugged.
Iroha pouted in annoyance at Hachiman's words. "Senpai, that's too mean."
"Senpai?" Komachi looked a bit surprised.
Iroha introduced herself with a smile. "I'm Iroha Isshiki, a first-year at Sobu High, so I'm Hachiman-senpai's junior. Nice to meet you, Komi... I mean, Komachi."
"Hey, who's Komi?" Komachi replied, a bit annoyed.
Hachiman stepped in, "Alright, enough standing around in the doorway. Let's head inside."
Everyone nodded in agreement and followed him into the living room.
As they entered, Kawasaki Saki and Iroha Isshiki were taken aback by what they saw. The room was filled with Christmas decorations, but what really surprised them was the number of people—there were easily over a dozen, and most notably, they were all girls.
As soon as Hachiman finally returned, Erina walked over with an unhappy expression. "It's about time you got back. We've been waiting for you."
Seeing her slightly annoyed face, Hachiman smiled apologetically. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't realize how late it was after cleaning up over there."
Hearing this, Erina's expression softened a bit, but before she could say anything, Alice pushed her aside.
"Move over, Erina," Alice said, holding a towel and starting to wipe Hachiman's face.
"Hachiman-kun, you must be exhausted. Are you tired?"
"I'm fine, really. I just did some cleanup. It wasn't that hard," Hachiman said with a smile, gently stopping Alice from wiping his face any further.
He could feel several intense gazes directed at him, and to prevent any potential conflict, he decided it was best to stop Alice.
Just then, Erina's furious voice rang out, "A-l-i-c-e!"
Seeing that Erina was about to lose her temper, Hachiman quickly intervened. "Alright, everyone, let's start the party!"
Since the host had spoken, Erina couldn't argue further. She huffed and returned to her seat, while Yukino and the others also took their places.
"Everyone, let's begin the party!" Hachiman announced.
The group gathered in a circle, and under Hachiman's lead, they all raised their glasses of juice.
As the glasses clinked together, the girls all voiced their cheerful wish for the evening.
"Merry Christmas!!!"
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