"So, you want me and Hayashizaki-kun to go with you to investigate Komachi's school?"
Yukinoshita Yukino summarized Hikigaya Hachiman's request briefly.
The latter sat in the client's seat, while Hayashizaki moved to the seat next to Yukinoshita Yukino by the window.
"Yeah, that's about it."
Hikigaya Hachiman scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm worried I might not be strong enough, and something might go wrong."
"I don't have any issues with it, but as for Hayashizaki-kun, it's up to him."
Yukinoshita Yukino turned to look at Hayashizaki.
"Me? Sure, I'm free anyway."
Hayashizaki shrugged and agreed without hesitation.
Besides, even if he weren't as free as he was now, he would still agree. After all, Hikigaya was such a smart guy, not helping out would be hard to justify.
Hayashizaki hadn't seen such a smooth and natural bow in a long time.
After successfully getting Hayashizaki to agree, Hikigaya Hachiman let out a heavy sigh. The huge weight that had been on his mind finally lifted.
"By the way, what did you do when you took those few days off? Did you go exorcise some cursed spirits again?"
After settling the Komachi school investigation, Hikigaya Hachiman relaxed and casually started a conversation.
"Yeah, I was dealing with a special grade cursed spirit called Mahito."
Yukinoshita Yukino replied.
"What? Special grade!?"
Hikigaya Hachiman's dead-fish eyes widened. Had Yukinoshita Yukino's strength grown enough to be involved in battles with special grade cursed spirits?
Before he could recover, the black-haired girl dropped another bombshell: "It's the one who altered Ooka."
Hikigaya Hachiman froze, his mouth opened and closed as if he didn't know what to say, looking like a fish stranded on the beach.
After a long silence, he let out a heavy sigh, then bitterly smiled. "I guess that's one way to avenge Ooka."
"Mm."
The girl gently nodded her head.
The atmosphere in the Service Club suddenly became tense, until hurried footsteps were heard coming from the hallway outside.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm late!"
Before the classroom door even opened, an energetic voice came from outside.
"Yaho~!"
Yuigahama Yui opened the classroom door, greeted everyone as usual, and was immediately stunned when she saw an unfamiliar figure sitting next to Yukinoshita Yukino.
"Huh? A new client? Wait, they're not wearing a school uniform. Are they from another school?"
Yuigahama Yui looked back and forth between Yukinoshita Yukino and the unfamiliar young man with black hair, clearly confused.
"Yukinon, is this person someone you know?"
She sat down in her seat and whispered.
Although the girl with the bun hairstyle tried to lower her voice, it clearly didn't escape Hayashizaki's ears.
He chuckled with interest, and before Yukinoshita Yukino could answer, he asked, "Hey, Yukinon, what do you think our relationship is?"
Yukinoshita Yukino felt a bit awkward.
In that moment, she almost saw her older sister Haruno's figure in Hayashizaki's face.
This guy must have often gone drinking with my sister, right!?
The girl cast him an annoyed look, but when her eyes met his smiling red ones, she couldn't help but feel a bit flustered.
Yukinoshita Yukino quickly turned her gaze away and stammered, "I-I don't know..."
Her top-ranking grades in national language were no help here—she couldn't even find the right word to describe her relationship with Hayashizaki.
Friend? Teacher and student? Or maybe just a parasitic relationship?
None of these words could fully and accurately describe the bond between them, in Yukinoshita Yukino's mind.
From being scared and disgusted at the beginning, to gradually getting used to having someone constantly talking in her head; from trembling in fear when facing curses to now being able to handle them confidently—she had Hayashizaki to thank for pushing and encouraging her all along.
Not to mention, this guy had watched her entire life's precious memories as if they were a VR movie. That was just too much.
In a certain sense, Hayashizaki knew her better than she knew herself.
Can such a presence, such a relationship, really be summed up with just one word?
The more she thought about it, the more confusing it became, and the deeper it felt.
It was like being lost in a flower field.
Seeing that Yukinoshita Yukino had spaced out before finishing her sentence, Yuigahama Yui slowly squinted her eyes.
She glanced at the black-haired girl, then at the handsome young man with black hair.
Hmm, very well-matched!
"Could it be… are they dating?!"
Yuigahama Yui suddenly shouted with wide eyes, staring at Yukinoshita Yukino, whose cheeks had turned slightly red.
Hikigaya Hachiman immediately felt his eyelids twitch, sensing that things were heading in a strange direction.
Hayashizaki couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
"What?"
Yukinoshita Yukino snapped back to reality and, blushing, quickly denied it. "Of course not! Why would you think that, Yuigahama-san?"
"Huh? Really?"
Yuigahama Yui looked very surprised. She had thought for sure that Yuki-chan was dating this handsome older guy.
"Alright, alright."
Hayashizaki laughed and intervened, stopping the misunderstanding. "I'm Yukinoshita's friend, Hayashizaki. Nice to meet you."
"Oh, oh, I'm Yuigahama Yui, also a friend of Yukinon!"
Yuigahama Yui realized she had made a fool of herself, her cheeks turning red.
Sitting nearby, Yukinoshita Yukino let out a small sigh of relief. Luckily, she hadn't caused any strange misunderstandings with Yuigahama-san.
It's all Hayashizaki's fault for saying something that could easily be misunderstood!
She shot a sharp glare at Hayashizaki, who just smiled back at her.
"Alright, I'm heading out. You guys take your time."
Without planning to continue talking to the three, Hayashizaki gave a quick goodbye and left the Service Club.
Once he was gone, Yuigahama Yui immediately started pestering Yukinoshita Yukino with questions about Hayashizaki. Yukinoshita could only brush her off with a vague excuse, saying, "We got to know each other because of family reasons."
It took a while to get the curious girl to stop asking, and the Service Club finally became peaceful again.
As the club activity time was about to end, Hikigaya Hachiman's phone suddenly rang.
"Komachi?"
He looked at the caller ID, then answered the call. "Hello? Komachi, what's up?"
"Ah, brother, I won't be home for dinner tonight. You'll have to figure something out yourself!"
Komachi's lively voice came through the phone.
"Eh? Why?"
"Ah, you remember the school ghost stories I told you about? Well, Komachi was invited by a friend to go after school and look for the source of the piano music that plays by itself."
"Huh?"
"Anyway, that's it. I'm hanging up now."
Beep beep beep.
The busy signal sounded, and Hikigaya Hachiman snapped out of it, suddenly feeling a jolt in his chest.
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You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu