The Exorcism Story of Hikigaya Hachiman

Monday.

When Hachiman Hikigaya, sporting two dark circles under his eyes and feeling drowsy, pushed his bicycle into the bike shed, he suddenly noticed a faint sound coming from behind him.

"Hm?"

Sensing something was off, Hikigaya immediately turned his head to check.

He caught Yuigahama Yui sneaking up on him right on the spot.

"What are you doing here?"

Seeing Yui's sneaky demeanor, Hikigaya tilted his head in confusion.

Since Yui always has time to walk her dog before school, it was clear her house was much closer to Sobu High than Hikigaya's.

Therefore, Yui normally walks to school, so there was no reason for her to be in the bike shed.

"Ah, I just saw you and wanted to say hi…"

Originally, Yui wanted to sneak up on the groggy Hikigaya and shout a greeting to startle him.

But she didn't expect Hikigaya's alertness to be so sharp.

She was caught before she even got close.

"..."

Hikigaya felt a bit helpless hearing Yui's explanation.

Suddenly scaring someone like that can cause heart problems, you know!

"By the way, will Yukino come to school today?"

Quickly forgetting about her failed sneak attack, Yui leaned close to Hikigaya and asked the second reason she came to find him.

"Probably."

Yui's enviable figure—second only to Yurikawa Hana —came close to Hikigaya's face while he wasn't paying attention.

Hikigaya kept his usual poker face and turned his head aside.

He locked up his bike stand and casually said,

"Probably will."

Then he left the bike shed and headed toward the classroom.

"Eh, what do you mean 'probably will'...?"

Yui, though a bit slow, clearly caught the half-heartedness in Hikigaya's tone.

She jogged to catch up.

"What I mean is, the chances of Yukino coming today are very high."

Hikigaya recalled meeting Yukinoshita Yukino and her sister yesterday.

Judging by her complexion, after two days of rest, Yukino seemed fully recovered.

Knowing her personality, the odds she'd skip school today were nearly zero.

But considering the troublesome situation at Yukino's house, Hikigaya only said the chances were high, leaving some room for doubt.

"You didn't explain anything at all!"

Yui tried to read between Hikigaya's lines as they neared the classroom.

Just before entering, she finally realized Hikigaya basically just added a few words to his original sentence.

"You only just realized that now?"

Hikigaya, already stepping into the classroom with one foot, showed a trace of helplessness.

It took Yui four or five minutes to realize she'd been fobbed off all this time… How did this guy even get into Sobu High?

He turned back suspiciously to glance at her, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What?"

Noticing Hikigaya turning back, Yui instinctively crossed her arms in front of her chest, clutching her collar with a wary expression.

'If you don't want people to see, then just button your shirt properly! And you secretly shortened your skirt, didn't you?"

Yui's sudden suspicion left Hikigaya both amused and exasperated.

He shook his head helplessly and turned around to enter the classroom.

"Um, but..."

Seeing Hikigaya go inside, Yui immediately followed.

She was about to explain why she dressed that way when Yumiko Miura, sitting at her desk at the back, noticed her the moment she stepped in.

"Yui!"

Miura waved her over instantly.

"Sorry…"

With no choice, Yui apologized to Hikigaya with a glance before running to Miura's side.

"Haa…"

Watching Yui finally taken away by Miura, Hikigaya felt silently thankful despite knowing Miura disliked him.

A wave of sleepiness suddenly hit Hikigaya.

He glanced at his phone.

7:30 a.m.

There was still plenty of time before the first class to catch some more sleep.

Thinking that, Hikigaya didn't hesitate to rest his head on the desk and doze off.

"…Really going to sleep, huh…"

Yui, chatting with Miura while secretly watching Hikigaya, couldn't help but mutter as she saw him truly resting his head on the desk like he was about to sleep.

"Yui~"

But just as Yui was distracted, wondering if she should wake Hikigaya later, she suddenly heard Miura's harsh voice nearby.

"Eh?"

Just as Yui looked up, her cheeks were grabbed mercilessly by two hands and then repeatedly squished.

"Yumiko, I'm sorry…"

Being face-rubbed in front of the whole class was really embarrassing for Yui.

So as Miura's punishment was just starting, Yui was already tearfully begging for mercy.

"Seriously, were you even listening to me just now…"

Seeing Yui genuinely apologizing, Miura, who was only pretending to punish her, immediately withdrew her hands.

Sitting back down, Miura supported her face with her left hand and complained with a slightly dissatisfied tone.

"Sorry, sorry…"

Rubbing her hair bun, Yui smiled apologetically and cast a pleading glance at Hina Ebina, who was watching nearby.

"My boss recently met a really good neighbor for studying…"

Catching Yui's glance, Ebina, who had been flipping through delinquent info on her phone, repeated what Miura had just said in casual words.

"Eh, Yumiko, you've started studying seriously recently?"

Hearing this, Yui's eyes widened.

Among the three girls, weren't they mostly hopeless at studying except for Ebina?

Could it be that Yumiko was planning to abandon them and join the ranks of the top students?

"It's not like I'm seriously studying. It's just that the person next door to my house is a student at the University of Tokyo's medical faculty, and they're willing to tutor me…"

Hearing Yui's surprised tone, usually confident Miura suddenly grew shy.

"Since I found a top student willing to teach me, I definitely can't miss the chance, right?"

As always read ahead (60 chapters) on my pa tre on!

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