Chapter 6: The Intertwining Trio
"The rich bestow upon the poor with compassion—that is what is called volunteering. Extending a helping hand to those in trouble is service."
Hachiman Hikigaya, wearing a bathrobe, sat by the massive floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the neon night view of Tokyo's most bustling district. He swirled the red liquid in his goblet and then drank it down in one gulp.
"Will you be my salvation?
Yukinoshita."
As the blood-red liquid was swallowed, Hachiman Hikigaya's calm black eyes suddenly transformed into unnerving, demonic, scarlet vertical pupils, adding a touch of malevolence to his handsome face.
Before Sanguinius's return, the Blood Angels were notorious.
This was because Blood Angels were all, on average, "vampires." They suffered from a unique gene flaw called the "Black Rage" and "Red Thirst." Every Blood Angel, like a daemon, harbored an intense craving for the blood of the living.
In extreme cases of the "Red Thirst," the host would cease to be a vampire and become a savage cannibal, consuming criminals if available, and civilians if not.
Hachiman Hikigaya was no exception. He thought that by getting a new body, he could bid farewell to his past self, but this damned old affliction followed him like a shadow.
Failure to ingest fresh blood would cause Hachiman Hikigaya to lose his sanity and become extremely aggressive until the symptoms of the "Red Thirst" were alleviated by preying on a large amount of human flesh and blood.
This may also be one of the factors contributing to Hachiman Hikigaya's remarkably high adaptability to Blood Manipulation.
Hachiman Hikigaya's existence is inherently dangerous to those around him. That's why he doesn't live with his family but lives alone, ensuring he doesn't treat his family as sustenance when his affliction flares up at night.
Fortunately, Hachiman Hikigaya's transition to Sorcery allows him to suppress this frantic impulse to deeply suck fresh blood, an urge that originates deep within his bones.
Hachiman Hikigaya's current need to ingest half a goblet of fresh blood every three days is far better than his former colleagues' habits; this is the result of ten years of disciplined withdrawal.
After ingesting blood, Hachiman Hikigaya doesn't even need conventional sleep. In his state of heightened excitement, his energy is incredibly abundant.
Normally at this time, Hachiman Hikigaya would transform into a fanatical follower of the Emperor, chanting the Emperor's name and carrying out the slaughter of evil Curse Spirits.
But today, he felt weary. Hachiman Hikigaya neither went out to hunt Curse Spirits nor felt like writing manuscripts; he just wanted to sit quietly.
He was like a solitary night noble, waiting in the darkness for the light to arrive.
The moment the dazzling dawn appeared on the distant horizon, Hachiman Hikigaya calmly stood up.
"It's almost time to go out."
In the early morning, Hachiman Hikigaya carried his school bag and cycled onto the street.
As usual, Hachiman Hikigaya found a small shop on the street, ordering a plate of steaming Meat Bun and a bowl of congee. Simple, yet it gave him a genuine taste of being alive.
Little did he know that twenty minutes after Hachiman Hikigaya left, his doorbell rang.
It was Yukino Yukinoshita. Having woken up early, she also looked like she hadn't slept well last night.
"I just made this myself. If you don't mind, please try some.
And the black tea.
Yes, that's what I'll say."
Yukino Yukinoshita held a plate with freshly baked cookies that were still steaming, and a teapot containing black tea. She was intending to bring them to Hachiman Hikigaya.
Although Yukino Yukinoshita wasn't sure if she had been played by him.
But Yukino Yukinoshita was also good at convincing herself. He had helped her with such a big favor, so it would be improper not to send a gift.
Making an entire bento box felt too exaggerated, so sending some small cookies and the black tea he liked seemed just right.
"That's strange, is he not awake?"
Yukino Yukinoshita rang the doorbell three times, but there was no answer. Logically, a man of his type should be very disciplined.
He shouldn't still be sleeping, should he?
Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the shoe rack outside the door skeptically. When she saw that the pair of shoes he had worn yesterday was gone, she concluded that he had already left. Yukino Yukinoshita sighed resignedly, holding the plate, and turned to leave.
"I'm too late."
.
.
.
After eating, Hachiman Hikigaya pushed his bike and cycled toward school. Since it was still early, he would usually stop by the Student Council room for a while to clear up some work that other members had accumulated and failed to finish yesterday.
Meanwhile, not far from Hachiman Hikigaya, a very cute girl with light-pink hair tied in a bun and wearing sportswear was either walking her dog or being walked by her dog.
Despite holding a leash connected to only a small Dachshund, the girl was being dragged along by the dog.
"Slow down, Sabre!"
The girl was already out of breath and exhausted, and in the end, her hand slipped, and the leash flew out of her grasp.
Freed from restraint, the small dog ran like a wild horse, galloping joyously on the road.
But there was a crossroads ahead. Although there wasn't much traffic in the early morning, it didn't mean there were no cars.
The girl clearly saw a black luxury car speeding down the road, likely to hit Sabre.
Realizing this, the girl's face instantly went pale.
"Sabre, stop!"
But the cheerful puppy thought its owner was telling it to run faster. Its short legs pumped even harder, and it dashed straight into the middle of the road.
A car was quickly speeding towards it from the opposite direction. Even if the driver slammed the brakes now, it would be too late.
The dog was about to die instantly.
Just then, a black-haired junior high school student, who looked particularly mentally unstable, clearly saw the scene too.
Although the target had changed to a dog, the scene felt eerily familiar to him.
For that boy, a simple car accident, similar to this, had claimed the life of the person he loved most.
"No."
The boy clutched his chest tightly. Along with his intense emotional fluctuations, a massive, pale-skinned, incredibly terrifying, and hideous one-eyed monster, invisible to ordinary
people, appeared directly in the middle of the road. It roared and smashed its fist violently onto the speeding vehicle.
Immediately, several huge gashes were torn into the car's engine hood. The entire vehicle lost control and crashed directly into the roadside.
The scattered debris still didn't spare the dog. Under the inertia amplified by the explosion and the terrifying power of the Curse Spirit, the fragments carried considerable destructive force.
If nothing happened, the puppy would likely die right here.
But the sharp fragments of the bumper, which were flying back like boomerangs, did not decapitate the dog. Instead, they were violently compressed in mid-air by an invisible, twisting force into a smooth, spherical ball. Finally, they lost all kinetic energy and fell to the ground.
The metal ball rolled right next to the puppy. Its size was perfectly aligned with the Dachshund's mouth, making it suitable for a toy.
Hachiman Hikigaya had just arrived at the intersection when he sensed an unusual surge of Cursed Energy. He immediately got off his bike and rushed over.
It was he who saved the puppy. Psychic power is particularly effective in such situations. The hardness of aluminum alloy in this world is far inferior compared to the outer shell of even the Orks' kustom junkyard creations.
The puppy saw Hachiman Hikigaya and looked clearly delighted. It barked once and cheerfully trotted over, clutching the metal sphere in its mouth.
"What a silly dog."
Hachiman Hikigaya crouched down and stroked the head of the silly dog, which was unaware of its recent brush with the Grim Reaper.
That was definitely a Special Grade Curse Spirit of the highest level just now.
But by the time Hachiman Hikigaya tried to investigate, the Curse Spirit had completely vanished, leaving behind only widespread devastation.
Hachiman Hikigaya still needed to calm down the dog's owner, who had lost control of her emotions, so he had to give up the chase.
Meanwhile, Yukino Yukinoshita, who was waiting at home and asked her driver to come earlier, received news that their family driver had been in an accident on the road.