Chapter 13 Stop right there and don't run
The little fox ran off cleanly—so cleanly and swiftly that it didn't even leave behind traces.
If this is what monsters are capable of, then monsters really are pretty formidable.
After comforting the thoroughly groped and visibly exhausted Ena, Hikigaya returned to the classroom.
He was surprised to find it packed to the brim, with the majority of the crowd being female students.
That Hayama guy really lives up to his status as the most popular guy at Sobu High—he sure has a lot of fans.
A curtain had already been set up inside the classroom, and because of the sheer number of people, it had become extremely cramped.
So Hikigaya moved a long table to block the doorway and hung up a sign that read "Full House—Thank You," so people outside would know the room was full and stop coming in.
As a member of the class, he still had a place to sit, so he pulled Ena along and sat down.
Before long, the stage play officially began.
First up was Hayama, playing the lead role in the script—a pilot. Because most of the audience were his fans, they cheered enthusiastically.
The name of the play was The Little Prince, apparently adapted from a famous foreign novel with the same title.
The story was about the protagonist, a pilot, crash-landing in the Sahara Desert, where he meets "The Little Prince." Through a lengthy conversation, they come to understand what truly matters in life.
The plot sounded like it was dripping with chuunibyou.
However, Hikigaya had read Ebina's original manuscript, and that had gone far beyond just "chuunibyou"… Hopefully the others hadn't lost all their sense of shame and had made decent revisions.
A desert and a crashed airplane backdrop were set up on stage, and Hayama began a monologue, which seemed like it would go on for a while.
Then the second character finally appeared—one of the class's cross-dressing boys, playing the Little Prince.
No other implications here, just calling it exactly how it is.
That said, the cross-dresser looked great. Even though the audience were Hayama fans, they still found the appearance aesthetically pleasing.
With the two characters' meeting, the story smoothly unfolded.
Eventually, the plot reached the scene where the "Little Prince" arrives on Earth.
This is where things started going off track.
Hikigaya remembered that the next character to appear was supposed to be a male.
But the one who ran onstage was… Miura.
Instead of the expected man in a fur coat and a fox mask, it was Miura dressed in a rather revealing cosplay of a nine-tailed fox… No, damn it—this was the nine-tailed fox!
She had possessed Miura again.
The audience didn't seem to realize there had been a switch, but a few of the guys were definitely giving big thumbs-up to Miura's entrance.
Even the class, who had initially found it weird, saw that it was going over well and decided not to interfere.
Especially the male students—Miura usually acted all high and mighty, so seeing her in such a shy and alluring outfit was a rare and amusing treat.
The cross-dressing "Little Prince" looked a bit surprised, but still managed to adjust quickly and carry on acting.
"Play with me… I'm really sad right now…"
Hmm, the cross-dresser's acting was on point—both facial expression and tone were spot-on.
Then Miura spoke.
"Sure! If you can tame me, I'll let you do me."
Pffft—!
Spitting sounds echoed throughout the audience, one after another.
Even Hikigaya spat out whatever he was drinking…
This was even more savage than Glasses Girl's original script! And she had only written the line, "Wanna do it?"
"Heh heh…" Ena let out a ghostly laugh beside him. "To toy with the hearts and bodies of humans… now is the time for us to slay this demon."
She wasn't joking—she really intended to go through with it. Hikigaya could feel the surge of spiritual energy pouring off her.
"Calm down! Calm down!" he broke into a sweat. "Let me handle it."
No joke—if they started a scene here, they would definitely get kicked out.
He didn't particularly love school, but for now, it was the daily life he was used to, and he didn't want to mess that up.
From the bottom of his heart, Hikigaya hoped to keep getting stronger, but he didn't want to turn into a god-slayer like Voban in anime. To avoid that path, he figured doing normal things for his age and staying in touch with regular people was a good way to keep from turning into a rage-filled monster.
Being a god-slayer was a job heavy with killing intent. He never realized it from anime, but now that he was one, he really felt it. The enemies were either gods or other god-slayers. If you spent too long away from regular people, you would gradually lose your basic humanity. Worst of all, you wouldn't even notice it happening. You'd think you were normal, while in others' eyes, you'd already become a monster.
Hikigaya had no interest in becoming that kind of person. He had family, after all. Even if he couldn't make friends, he didn't want to become a monster in his family's eyes. What kind of failure would a person have to be for their own family to see them that way?
After calming the now-triggered Ena once again, Hikigaya leapt to his feet and lunged toward the stage.
Funny thing—while the general public in this world maintained their worldview by avoiding contact with supernatural forces, martial arts didn't count as supernatural.
No matter how exaggerated the display, as long as it was martial arts, people accepted it.
So when Hikigaya lunged toward the stage, the students were surprised—but not in a "Holy crap, honey, come look at this!" way. More like "Whoa, this dude's insane!"
The fox that had possessed Miura noticed Hikigaya immediately. She let out a coquettish giggle and turned to flee.
Just as Hikigaya landed on stage, she had already slipped out—so smoothly it was ridiculous.
However, it seemed that while possessing a human, she couldn't move quite as stealthily as before.
"Hey! You! Stop right there! Don't run!" Hikigaya gave chase, thoroughly fed up. Was it too much to ask for a peaceful everyday life? He was dead set on beating the hell out of this lewd fox!
Seriously, this fox was pretty formidable. That time on the rooftop, she had definitely tricked him. Thinking back now, her words had been utter nonsense, yet he'd believed her. Way too careless. He knew damn well that in mythology, fox demons were masters of illusion and deceit.
Even possessing a human, the little fox could run pretty fast. Hikigaya had barely made it out the door, and she was already weaving far ahead through the crowd.
If she had just been messing around, Hikigaya might've let it go. But after groping Ena earlier and saying such obscene things during the play, it was clear she was here to cause trouble—not do good.
She had pretty much wrecked Class 2-F's stage play. If she kept this up, the whole cultural festival might be ruined.
So Hikigaya figured it would be best to capture her first. He still wanted to enjoy the festival, after all.
He chased after her even faster than before, and those in the hallway only felt a sudden gust of wind blow by, having no idea what had just happened.
"Lord Hachiman."
Yomi disciples appeared at Hikigaya's side—even the little bear that had disappeared earlier showed up again.
Aside from Hiratsuka-sensei, Ena, and the idiot couple from Ryōzanpaku, only these Yomi disciples could see him and keep up with him in this school.
"Do you want us to capture that woman?"
"Yes, but don't hurt her," Hikigaya nodded.
He had to say it—if they mistook Miura for the enemy and went even a little too hard, they could accidentally kill her. Being possessed didn't make her body invincible.
Hikigaya didn't think they'd actually catch this slippery fox, but chasing her was a lot easier with help than doing it alone.