Chapter 120: An Unexpected Gain
Before Hachiman Hikigaya could even finish speaking, Mrs. Yuigahama proactively stepped in to offer Komachi her protection.
"But… isn't this kind of inappropriate?" Hachiman asked hesitantly. After all, Mrs. Yuigahama was an elder. Letting her give Komachi a massage felt… awkward.
"I've always wanted to have another daughter, you know," she said. "It's just that after having that child, I felt I didn't have the energy to raise another…" "Your sister is so cute. I really like her, so it's totally fine!"
As she spoke, Mrs. Yuigahama picked Komachi up and nuzzled her cheek-to-cheek.
"Okay, there's no doubt now—Yuigahama Yui is definitely her biological daughter…" The kind of overly affectionate gestures she shows Yukinoshita? Totally inherited from her mom.
Looking at Komachi caught in her embrace with a helpless expression, Hachiman shrugged as if to say "good luck," then headed out to the yard for some fresh air.
Calling it a "yard" was generous—it was really just a small open area used for hanging laundry. But since it was nighttime, no laundry was out, which spared him from accidentally witnessing anything awkward.
"Phew…"
Hachiman stood in the yard, breathing in the fresh night air and looking up at the sky. There were no clouds tonight, and the moon was already hanging high.
"Maybe I'll grab a drink."
Just as he turned to head back inside, he realized he was a bit thirsty. Thinking of Mrs. Yuigahama in the living room, he hesitated only briefly before deciding to leave the yard and head out.
He remembered passing a vending machine earlier on the way over. Walking a few minutes along the road by memory, he soon spotted the familiar glow beneath a streetlight.
Ka-kaak!
Just as he pulled out his wallet to buy a drink, a crow suddenly shrieked and dove at him. He waved it away and was about to insert his coins when he noticed a 500-yen coin lying on the ground.
"…?"
Did money just fall from the sky?
Kneeling down to pick it up, Hachiman examined the coin, then slid it into the vending machine and bought a can of cola.
[Three low-level spirits detected.]
Just as he was about to leave with his drink, the system notification echoed in his head. He glanced around, but saw no signs of any spirits.
Weird. They should be nearby...
With suspicion growing, Hachiman crouched down to check beneath the vending machine.
Three little spirits with wrinkly old-man faces were huddled beneath, trembling.
The moment they realized Hachiman had spotted them, they jumped out and sprinted toward the road.
"So ugly…"
Hachiman had seen many types of spirits by now, but the human-like ones somehow always looked the worst.
They were only low-level spirits—just 150 spirit coins total—but Hachiman had no intention of letting them go.
Chasing after them along the route they fled, he was just about to turn a corner when the system chimed again.
[One high-level spirit and seven low-level spirits detected.]
Turning the corner in silence, Hachiman found himself staring at a massive old-man spirit that practically blocked the entire alley.
The three earlier spirits were crawling up its body, pointing and gesturing wildly at him—clearly tattling.
Perhaps due to its humanoid nature, this elder spirit possessed unusually high intelligence for its class. As Hachiman studied it, it raised its head and studied him back.
Hachiman: Thanks to your brats for leading the way. So, how do you want to die?
Big Old Man Spirit: …
He went out to buy a drink, didn't spend a yen, and came back 1,000 spirit coins richer.
Sweet deal.
Staring at the lifeless eyes of the now-dead high-level spirit, Hachiman sheathed his demon-slaying blade back into the system space and turned to return to the Yuigahama household.
.
.
.
"Did something happen while you were out? You seem... unusually happy."
Yukinoshita, having just finished tutoring Yuigahama, looked up in fatigue—only to see Hachiman's face lit with a rare smile.
"No, nothing…" He shook his head and toned down the expression.
Then he handed the drinks he had bought to the two girls.
"How did you know I like this one?"
Yukinoshita Yukino blinked in surprise at the strawberry milk in her hand.
"Yeah, mine too…"
Yuigahama Yui nodded in agreement.
Neither of them had ever told Hachiman what they liked. So how had he picked exactly the drinks they wanted?
"I've seen you both drink them a few times…"
Hachiman explained quietly. He'd been with the Service Club for a few weeks now. During that time, he'd seen both of them bring drinks to club meetings. He just bought the ones they had brought the most often.
"I see…"
Yukinoshita nodded thoughtfully.
"So, how's the study session going?"
He'd been gone a while. Given Yukinoshita's capabilities, she should have helped Yuigahama solve the problem from earlier, right?
"No progress at all…"
Yuigahama, who had been happily sipping her drink a moment ago, now looked like she was chewing on a bitter melon. She was starting to feel hopeless.
Even though Yukino was doing her best to teach her, she still couldn't understand it.
"That can't be…"
Yukinoshita's explanations were practically idiot-proof.
As long as you weren't a total moron, you should be able to follow along step by step.
"In any case, we've skipped that problem. Yuigahama just needs to pass, after all."
Yukinoshita clearly didn't want to revisit that traumatic experience. She changed the subject, refocusing on the goal of getting Yuigahama a passing score.
"There are 100 total points on the test. Subtracting the 40 points from the four long-form problems, we have 60 points from multiple choice and fill-in-the-blanks."
"What we need to do is make up the remaining 50 points from those 90 possible—after discarding one long-form question."
It sounded easy in theory—but in reality, the room grew heavy with silence.
"Ugh… I don't think I can do it…"
After tallying up all the points she might be able to score, Yuigahama still only came up with 45.
She slumped face-down on the desk in despair.
"I see… Well, although it's a shame, I'll always treasure the time we spent together in the Service Club—"
"Don't fire me on your own!! Fine, I get it, I'll keep studying, okay?!"
With tears in her eyes, Yuigahama picked up the long-form problem she had just given up on and went back to attacking it.
As always read ahead (60 chapters) on my pa tre on!
There you can also read my other 9 Fanfiction