The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

Curious, Yotsuya Miko turned her head and saw Hachiman Hikigaya looking helpless.

"Did Komachi stand you up?"

Based on the expression on Hachiman Hikigaya's face and the information he had just given, Miko Yotsuya guessed what had happened to Hachiman Hikigaya.

“That’s right…”

Hachiman Hikigaya gave a wry smile, his gaze still scanning the surroundings as he tried to find Komachi and Sakura hiding nearby.

"puff....."

Upon hearing Hachiman Hikigaya's affirmative answer, Miko Yotsuya suddenly covered her mouth and burst out laughing.

"what happened?"

Hachiman Hikigaya looked at Miko Yotsuya with a puzzled expression, not understanding why she suddenly laughed.

"Is Hikigaya-kun still in the dark?"

Wiping away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, Yotsuya Miko patted her cheeks to compose herself before looking up at Hikigaya Hachiman, a hint of smugness in her eyes that suggested Hachiman had seen through the scheme first.

"Inside the drum?"

Upon hearing Miko Yotsuya's words, Hachiman Hikigaya's face immediately turned strange.

It seems that Yotsuya Miko is the one who was truly kept in the dark, right?

"That's right, today's events were probably planned by Xiaohua and Xiaomachi together..."

At this point, Yotsuya Miko lowered her head, her face slightly flushed.

She's not stupid.

It just so happens that she runs into Hachiman Hikigaya at the agreed-upon place, and then it just so happens that both of them are stood up at the same time. This kind of thing is full of conspiracy.

However, she didn't dislike it happening, after all...

Thinking of this, Yotsuya Miko secretly looked up and glanced at Hikigaya Hachiman beside her.

What will he do next?

Given his personality, it's not impossible that he might say something like, "Since we've been stood up, let's go our separate ways."

"Should we go to Tokyo? Just the two of us..."

To Yotsuya Miko's surprise, Hikigaya Hachiman actually took the initiative to extend an invitation.

So surprised was she stared wide-eyed until Hachiman Hikigaya called her again when she didn't respond for a long time, and only then did she come back to her senses.

"of course can!"

Yotsuya Miko suppressed her excitement and nodded gently.

Although they were supposed to go out together, only the two of them went to Tokyo today. This trip could definitely be defined as a date, right?

There was not much hesitation.

Hachiman Hikigaya and Miko Yotsuya then entered the train station and boarded the train to Tokyo.

"Komachi-nee, aren't we going to follow them?"

In the restaurant, Sakura sat next to Komachi and watched as Hachiman Hikigaya and Miko Yotsuya disappeared from her sight. Then she turned to Komachi and asked a question.

"No need, it's easy to be spotted if we get too close."

In reality, it's not like in novels where you can change clothes and become unrecognizable.

If someone's gaze is focused on another person for an extended period of time, that person will become aware of it, and this applies to ordinary people as well!

The reason they haven't been discovered by Hachiman Hikigaya is solely due to the large crowds near the train station; if they were followed, they would definitely be spotted.

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

The tram was crowded, and the two people who couldn't find seats had to stand in a small corner by the door to avoid being squeezed by the crowd inside.

Because they were so close, Miko Yotsuya could clearly feel Hachiman Hikigaya's breath.

Her snow-white neck instantly turned crimson, and Yotsuya Miko lowered her head and unconsciously began to fidget with her hands.

"How have you been lately, Hachiman?"

"rest at home."

"........"

Yotsuya Miko never expected Hikigaya Hachiman's answer to be like this, and for a moment she didn't know how to continue the conversation.

Is there anywhere you'd like to go today?

Perhaps noticing Yotsuya Miko's awkward situation, Hikigaya Hachiman looked at the two figures reflected in the window and asked Yotsuya Miko about her plans for the day.

"Well, since we're going to Tokyo, I'd like to visit Tokyo Tower..."

An expected answer.

Upon hearing Yotsuya Miko's answer, Hikigaya Hachiman revealed an expression of "I knew it."

But this is normal.

After all, very few people who go to Tokyo don't visit Tokyo Tower.

"So, where does Hachiman plan to go next?"

If it were just her and Yurikawa Hana, Yotsuya Miko's plan for today would naturally be to visit as many famous tourist attractions in Tokyo as possible. But since it's Hachiman Hikigaya, she has to rein in her natural love of shopping and consider Hachiman Hikigaya's opinion.

"It's nothing. I'll go wherever you want to go today, Yotsuya."

Hachiman Hikigaya was quite indifferent to where he would go today.

After all, he wasn't one of those popular groups at school.

He prefers staying home playing video games or watching TV rather than going out.

Of course, if he were alone, he would like to visit Akihabara, which is known as a holy land, but since Yotsuya Miko is also there, it's better to suppress that idea for now.

........

Several tens of minutes later, Hachiman Hikigaya and Miko Yotsuya finally set foot on Tokyo soil.

However, as soon as the two stepped off the tram, a low-level evil spirit darted out from under the platform.

"what!"

Caught off guard, Yotsuya Miko instinctively lunged towards Hikigaya Hachiman beside her when she saw the evil spirit rushing towards her.

"I almost forgot that my own world is also abnormal..."

Compared to Yotsuya Miko, Hikigaya Hachiman's reaction was much more subdued.

Although he was momentarily stunned upon seeing the evil spirit, he quickly regained his senses and, by imbuing his palm with a wisp of spiritual power, utterly annihilated the evil spirit that had terrified Yotsuya Miko.

Why would something like this exist here?

As she heard the dying screams of the evil spirit, Yotsuya Miko looked up toward the spot where the evil spirit had appeared.

She breathed a sigh of relief after discovering that the evil spirit had been completely eliminated.

Realizing their current position, she blushed and quickly released her grip on Hachiman Hikigaya's clothes, taking a few steps back.

"This is the normal situation."

Hachiman Hikigaya didn't find it strange that he encountered an evil spirit right after getting off the train.

On the contrary, Chiba is an anomaly in this world because the Demon King was killed and Inari foxes patrol day and night, causing evil spirits to disappear.

Chapter 296 A Different Summer Vacation

"...It does seem to be true."

Because she hadn't encountered any evil spirits for a long time, Yotsuya Miko almost thought that all the evil spirits in the world had disappeared.

Recalling that the reason she couldn't see the evil spirits in Chiba was entirely due to Hachiman Hikigaya, Miko Yotsuya couldn't help but feel a bit amused and exasperated.

"But it's still really strange, isn't it? Even in Tokyo, the distribution of evil spirits is far too dense..."

Quietly following Hachiman Hikigaya, they walked towards the exit of the station.

It was only a few hundred meters away, but during that time, Yotsuya Miko had seen at least five or six evil spirits of different levels.

“A considerable number of people commit suicide at Tokyo train stations every year.”

While casually dealing with the evil spirits he encountered, Hachiman Hikigaya explained why there were so many evil spirits at the train station.

When the two finally walked out of the station and onto the street, Hachiman Hikigaya had already earned nearly a thousand spirit coins in extra income.

"Even if a large number of people commit suicide, which could easily breed evil spirits, this number is still far too high."

Looking at the spirit coins he had collected, Hachiman Hikigaya did not feel happy; instead, a sense of worry arose in his heart.

After all, if there are too many evil spirits in Tokyo, Chiba, which is right next door, will inevitably be affected to some extent. Moreover, the Inari God had previously warned it about the nine-tailed fox's awakening...

(Could the number of evil spirits be related to the nine-tailed fox?)

Standing on the bus stop with Yotsuya Miko, Hachiman Hikigaya watched the evil spirits drift past him and chose to remain still.

He encountered far too many evil spirits along the way; even working 24/7 without rest wouldn't be enough to deal with them all. Therefore, Hachiman Hikigaya simply ignored these low-level evil spirits that posed no danger to him.

Meanwhile, although Yotsuya Miko was terrified by the evil spirit beside her, she felt much more at ease after touching the bracelet given to her by Hachiman Hikigaya.

After waiting quietly for a while, the bus to Tokyo Tower pulled up at the platform...

.

"Oh dear, there seem to be more and more evil spirits lately!"

With a casual slash, he felled a mid-level evil spirit in front of him. Isayama Yomi glanced back at his companion who was still fighting the evil spirit beside him and complained.

It was supposed to be a precious summer vacation, and she was planning to go to the beach with Kagura since she didn't have to go to school. But since the start of the vacation, she hasn't had a single day off. Every day she's been running through the streets and alleys of Tokyo dealing with these annoying evil spirits!

However, this was not what Isayama Yomi complained about the most. What really bothered her was that, despite her and her colleagues in the countermeasures room working very hard to clear away the evil spirits, the number of evil spirits not only did not decrease, but increased by more than three times compared to when summer vacation had just started!

"The intelligence team hasn't been able to find out the reason either..."

The wry laugh of Jinguji Ayame, head of the countermeasures office, came through the earpiece.

As the head of the countermeasures office, Jinguji Ayame was well aware that keeping her subordinates in a high-intensity combat environment for an extended period was definitely not a good thing.