The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

Upon hearing the affirmative answer, Key couldn't help but chuckle.

"senior......."

Hachiman Hikigaya felt a few crows flying overhead and looked helplessly at Key, who seemed to be mocking him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I wasn't mocking you, I just feel like we're really destined to be together... 乭..."

"A destined connection?"

"It's nothing, please don't mind it. So, what are your thoughts on the women around you?"

Key waved his hand, indicating that Hachiman Hikigaya didn't need to take his words to heart.

"To be honest, what they said bothers me."

Recalling the experiences of the past few months, Hachiman Hikigaya had a conflicted expression on his face.

"Choosing either one will cause irreparable harm to the others. But if you don't make a choice, you're juggling multiple relationships, and in the end, everyone will get hurt. Isn't that right?"

Key looked at his bewildered junior with a tone full of emotion.

Fate seemed to have a particular fondness for playing tricks on people. Unexpectedly, more than ten years later, he would meet someone who had experienced something extremely similar to his own.

However, unlike him, Hachiman Hikigaya's current situation is still salvageable, unlike him who was lost for several years before being redeemed...

"Senior, have you ever experienced a similar situation?"

The expression on Key's face made it hard for Hachiman Hikigaya not to overthink things.

That nostalgic look on his face suggests he must have experienced what he's going through now, right?

"That's right~"

Contrary to expectations, Key readily and openly admitted to his past.

"And the final result........."

Hachiman Hikigaya was taken aback when he saw Key so readily admitting it, but then a bad feeling rose in his heart as he looked at Key's frank face.

"Because no one was willing to give up, it is no surprise that all three of them eventually suffered misfortune."

Recalling this painful past, Key gave a bitter smile.

"........."

Hachiman Hikigaya stared blankly at Key. If he didn't make a decision, would his final fate be the same as his senior's?

"Don't look so pitiful! Although the process was tough, I had a happy ending!"

"No, no matter how you look at it, it's absolutely impossible for this to have a happy ending, right?"

Hachiman Hikigaya expressed doubt when Key revealed the final outcome.

"How could that be? No matter how difficult the situation is, there is always a perfect way to complete the game."

Key patted Hachiman Hikigaya on the shoulder and said sincerely.

"So, what was your method for clearing the level, senior?"

"Make them all fall in love with me!"

"what?!"

"Is there a problem? If we can't abandon anyone, why not just take them all?"

When he said this, Key's originally refined demeanor suddenly became invigorated.

No, I should say I got excited?

"Senior, are you serious?"

This claim sounds completely unbelievable!

What kind of modern world is this? How can we possibly want it all?

And even if you had such ambition, it wouldn't work on girls at all, right? After all, even the best of friends would absolutely...

"You're really serious about it."

After a brief moment of excitement, Key returned to his usual gentle demeanor.

"You really are like me. You know, I was quite surprised by my own audacity when I first had this idea..."

As he spoke, Key touched the back of his head sheepishly, seemingly feeling ashamed as he recalled his impetuous youth.

"Don't they know?"

"Of course I know. In fact, the moment I started pursuing my current love, I had already told them about my dream of having a harem."

"The result was predictable: they got beaten up, right?"

"Oh, no, not at all. Although they seemed quite disgusted with me at the time, they were actually all very kind to me."

"So that means they already had feelings for their senior before they told them?"

After all, if a girl who imagines herself confessing her feelings were approached by a complete stranger and then told that she had been added to his harem list, she would definitely slap him, right?

Aren't you just like me?

"Eh?"

Hachiman Hikigaya suddenly froze.

"Whether it's the two girls this afternoon or the girl you rushed to save late at night, don't they all have a lot of feelings for you? It's even possible that there are others who secretly have feelings for you besides them."

"They couldn't possibly be, could they?"

It's hard to predict how Miko Yotsuya and Yui Yuigahama will react to Hachiman Hikigaya, but Yukinoshita will definitely slap him.

The idea of ​​having a harem was a dead end from the very beginning.

"But before I spoke, I also thought it was absolutely impossible."

key continued to add.

At the time, apart from one of them who was relatively familiar with him, the other three had only met him a few times. In particular, the difficulty of conquering one of them was comparable to the level of world destruction.

Even so, he eventually succeeded.

"Staying stagnant will definitely lead to a bad outcome, but if you try to find a solution, you might succeed. Of course, this is just a suggestion; the final decision is up to you."

After saying that, Key glanced at Hachiman Hikigaya, whose expression was complicated, patted him on the shoulder, and walked away into the distance.

"senior!"

"what happened?"

From your current perspective, what was your choice back then?

"Of course it's absolutely fantastic!"

Chapter 277 Inner Complexities

"elder brother....."

Sakura's call successfully roused Hachiman Hikigaya from his reverie.

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

Hearing Sakura calling his name, Hachiman Hikigaya stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Sakura beside him.

"What happened when you were taking Yukinoshita home, brother? She seemed distracted the whole way..."

Sakura's face was filled with worry.

Ever since Hachiman Hikigaya returned from delivering snow, he has been walking silently with his head down, completely unlike his usual self.

In addition, Sakura had already noticed that the relationship between the three of them was unusual, and a sense of crisis began to grow in Sakura's heart.

Could it be that her hard-won brother is going to be taken away again?

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about a problem..."

"question?"

"Hmm, it's a very important issue for me, isn't it?"

"Could you tell me about it, brother? Sakura might be able to help."

Sakura raised her little head, looking at Hachiman Hikigaya with anticipation in her eyes.

"Thank you, Sakura. However, this is a decision only I can make, so I'm sorry, I can't tell you the specifics..."

After gently stroking Sakura's long hair to calm himself down, Hachiman Hikigaya took Sakura's hand and continued walking home.

............

"It's too late to get home!"

As soon as the two returned home, Hachiman Hikigaya was cornered at the entrance by Komachi and given a lecture.

"Honestly, he said he'd have Onii-chan pick Sakura up from school today, but he's only back this late. Komachi was really worried!"

With her hands on her hips, Komachi glared at Hachiman Hikigaya and scolded him.

Finally, she went to Sakura's side again and carefully checked her over to make sure that Sakura was unharmed before she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sister Komachi, I'm fine, don't mention brother..."

Seeing Komachi getting angry at Hachiman Hikigaya, Sakura instinctively defended Hachiman Hikigaya.

"Ugh, Sakura... I was worried about you, but you're still protecting Onii-chan..."

Komachi, who wasn't angry with Hachiman Hikigaya to begin with, almost coughed up blood after hearing Sakura's words.

She was lecturing Hachiman Hikigaya because she was worried about Sakura's safety, but she didn't expect Sakura to side with Hachiman Hikigaya!

"I'm sorry, Komachi-neechan..."

Upon hearing Komachi's words, Sakura lowered her head in deep apology.

"Well, fine. I'll let you off this time, Onii-chan. But you absolutely can't come back this late next time, understand?"

With her little fangs peeking out from the corner of her mouth, Komachi menacingly threatened Hachiman Hikigaya.

"I understand, Lady Komachi! I promise I won't do it again!"