Chapter 139: Just Saying Hello
It was already past 5 PM by the time Hikigaya Hachiman returned home by bus. He collapsed onto the sofa, full of regret.
"I really should've just taken a taxi, huh?"
Even though he was now fairly wealthy, he had still chosen the slower bus route.
"Onii-chan, are you okay?"
Komachi, who had been lying on the sofa all day, noticed Hachiman slump onto it without moving and curiously crawled over to poke his cheek.
"It's nothing, I just spent more than two hours in the sun... I really don't feel like moving."
Hachiman tried to raise his hand to stop Komachi's poking. But the moment he attempted to lift his arm, it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
He gave up struggling, letting Komachi poke his face freely.
"By the way, Onii-chan, do you know why the power suddenly went out when you were out?"
Having lost interest in poking his unresponsive face, Komachi lay down beside him in the same position and started talking about the power outage in a muffled voice.
"The power went out here too?"
Hachiman, originally half-spaced out, sat up immediately upon hearing that.
"Yeah, the power suddenly cut off while I was playing a game. I was so mad."
Komachi's voice was full of resentment, clearly indicating she had been in the middle of something important.
"Then doesn't that mean the entire Chiba area lost power?"
Since it was daytime and he had been on a bus, Hachiman hadn't noticed anything amiss even though the shops along the road hadn't had their lights on. But hearing this from Komachi, he immediately realized something was very wrong.
In today's world, water and electricity are indispensable.
Without water, a person could last two or three days. But without electricity and internet? People like Hachiman and Komachi, practically shut-ins, couldn't survive even a single day.
"What do we do, Onii-chan..."
Now learning that the whole of Chiba might have lost power, Komachi was stunned. No electricity meant no TV, no games, no chatting with friends.
"We'll just have to patiently wait for the power to come back."
Seeing how Komachi was looking at him like he was some blue cat-shaped robot, Hachiman felt the need to clarify he wasn't a certain yellow mouse who could go "Pika Pika" and generate electricity.
"Well, there's no helping it. Until the power's back, let's play a board game or something."
Having already given up hope of the power returning tonight, Komachi sighed and pulled out a board game she had stashed behind the sofa.
"You had this prepared in advance?"
Seeing how all the game cards were neatly arranged, Hachiman's eye twitched. Why did it feel like he'd been set up?
"Hehe, it's just in case!"
Komachi scratched her head shyly as she explained.
"Onii-chan, you've been so amazing lately, I thought maybe you'd even fix the power outage or something… But just in case you couldn't, I bought a game to pass the time."
"So, what do you think? Wanna play?"
Hachiman stared silently at Komachi, who held the board game in front of him with a hopeful expression. Though she spoke casually, it was obvious she'd been waiting all this time for him to come back and play with her.
Come to think of it, it really had been a long time since they last played together...
"Honestly, I can't say no to you."
He let out a helpless sigh and took the game from her hands, setting it up on the sofa.
"But just so we're clear—after one game, we get started on dinner."
"Mm! Got it!"
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On a certain stretch of highway, Tsuchimiya Kagura slowly opened her eyes.
What she saw was a blood-soaked scene, pain radiating from all over her body. Fortunately, most of the injuries seemed to be superficial.
Struggling to push herself up, she touched her face—only to find it smeared in blood.
"Yomi…"
Staring blankly at the blood on her hands, a sudden rush of strength surged through her body.
She staggered to her feet, looking around until she spotted the smoking SUV about tens of meters away.
As she approached the vehicle, the first thing she saw was Kouji Iwahata, slumped unconscious in the driver's seat, head covered in blood.
"Uncle Iwahata?!"
She shook his shoulder to wake him, but it was no use.
Looking at the massive hole in the rear car door—where Isayama Yomi had been sitting—Kaname bit her lip. She made up her mind to get Iwahata out of the car first, then go look for Yomi.
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Meanwhile, deep in the forest beside the highway, Isayama Yomi was chasing a frail-looking figure ahead.
"You've chased me this far. Aren't you satisfied yet?"
The boy wrapped in glowing blue butterflies suddenly stopped atop a thick tree trunk.
He glanced back at Yomi, who was still hot on his trail, and felt a flicker of irritation.
If she weren't still of some use to him, he would've just killed her already.
Yet on the surface, the boy gave a warm smile, as if greeting an old friend.
"Why did you suddenly attack us?"
Unmoved by his innocent appearance, Yomi drew her treasured blade, Shishiō, and summoned her guardian spirit Ranguren to her side, demanding answers with full alert.
"Why?"
The boy tilted his head, as if the question were absurd.
"You all just seemed pretty strong. I thought I'd say hello—consider it a little greeting. Who knew you'd all be so weak though?"
"You…!"
Yomi's chest heaved with fury at his words.
"Ranguren!"
There was no point in further discussion.
The boy's casual, indifferent tone made it clear that he saw no value in human life. If that was the case, even if she killed him now, those above wouldn't say a word.
At her command, Ranguren, with its three tails and lion-like appearance, let out a thunderous roar and lunged straight toward the boy.