Chapter 10: Please Be Sure to Accept
The dark sky completely covered the city of Chiba.
When Hikigaya walked out of the Araraki household, there wasn't a soul on the street.
Yukinoshita Yukino's mother was walking right behind him.
Without a word, this woman obediently followed him out.
After leaving the street where the Araraki family resided, he suddenly snapped his fingers, and a group of people rushed out from the shadows by the roadside.
"Take her with you," Hikigaya commanded authoritatively as he waved his hand and walked away.
Regardless of how Yukino's mother would cooperate with those Yomi martial artists, Hikigaya marched toward the Chiba branch of Seishuin.
Since he said he was taking them back, he couldn't just take one person.
He didn't do half-hearted work.
Despite the name of Seishuin, Hikigaya felt there was a huge difference between Seishuin and its outward appearance.
He largely treated Seishuin and the group under it as completely unrelated entities.
For the most part, the distinction was quite clear.
Hikigaya soon became bored with simply walking.
He started leaping, jumping from the streets to rooftops, and in mid-air, he would reappear in other locations.
As he increased his speed, the streets and colorful neon lights around him turned into thin lines, whizzing past him.
Eventually, he stopped atop a building—this entire building had been rented by Seishuin as a base for handling family matters in Chiba City.
Hikigaya had no intention of using the stairs. His body passed through the concrete, dropping straight into the building's room as if falling through layers.
He stopped on one floor, waved his hand, and unleashed a gust of wind, sweeping Yukinoshita Haruno, who was startled by his sudden appearance, into the air.
Then, he leaped out of the window.
In the night sky, Hikigaya allowed the wind to carry him and Haruno as they flew toward his house.
Unlike Hikigaya, who had been in the wind many times, Haruno was terrified at first.
But by the time she calmed down, she could already see Hikigaya's house.
"I thought you'd scream," Hikigaya suddenly turned his head and said.
"It did startle me, but it's actually fine now. After all, I've seen scarier sides of you," Haruno said with a forced smile.
"Don't force it, that smile looks terrible… I found your mom and sister. They're at my place," Hikigaya immediately commented.
Even though she was from a broken family, why was she still smiling?
It would have been better to vent like your sister.
"Thanks." Haruno's voice was muffled, though she seemed to have relaxed.
This response felt unfamiliar to Hikigaya.
"You can show more emotions," Hikigaya turned to her, genuinely curious about what expression she was showing now.
If it were him, it was hard to say if he could still keep going, trying to survive.
Then, he was startled.
Yukinoshita Haruno's face was covered in tears, her damp hair clinging to her face.
"I don't really understand what you're saying, but as long as I'm alive, I'm already grateful," she sniffed and said.
This shocked Hikigaya.
Because back when he saw her on the boat, Yukinoshita Haruno seemed emotionally stable.
When they arrived near his house, Hikigaya descended, and just before entering, he waved his hand in front of Haruno's face, wiping away the tears.
Then, he opened the door and brought her inside.
Inside, Yukinoshita Yukino was already up, holding her mother tightly.
"Wow? Haruno-nee?" Komachi ran out.
"Komachi, do we have any food left?" Hikigaya asked, taking off his shoes and putting on slippers as he walked into the living room.
Behind him, Yukinoshita Haruno cautiously scanned the room before mimicking Hikigaya, removing her shoes, and... walking in barefoot.
"Why aren't you wearing shoes? There are plenty of slippers," Hikigaya asked, turning around with confusion.
"Ah, I'm afraid I'll ruin them…" Haruno seemed to tremble involuntarily.
"Uh... it's fine, you can do whatever you like..." Hikigaya was taken aback by her strange reaction but didn't dare to comment further, fearing he might upset her.
'Ugh, just one outburst of the Yukinoshita way is enough for today.'
"Onii-chan, can we have noodles?" Komachi called from the kitchen.
"Sure, and add a fried egg to mine!" Hikigaya shouted back.
Then, he walked over to Yukinoshita Yukino, who was still clinging to her mother, and patted her on the shoulder.
"Calm down, sit down first, you're still not in the clear."
"Yukino, sit down first," Yukinoshita's mother said, noticing Hikigaya's older daughter behind him, her emotionless face showing signs of excitement.
The family of three, having survived their ordeal, was finally reunited.
Hikigaya sat down on the couch across from them, turned on the TV, grabbed a game controller, and started playing Pro Evolution Soccer.
It wasn't until the AI thoroughly defeated him 5-0 that he lost all desire to keep challenging.
Frustrated, he tossed the controller back onto the couch.
"Hikigaya-san…"
"Just call me Hachiman," Hikigaya quickly said before Yukinoshita's mother could say anything more, "No need for extra pleasantries, there's no meaning to it. You can stay here without issue. If it's inconvenient, I can have them return your house to you."
He stopped there, honestly wondering if the mother and daughters really had the courage to go back.
Sure enough, the faces of all three of them darkened to varying degrees.
"Looks like you'll have to stay here for now..." Hikigaya stood up and walked toward the dining table, already smelling the noodles, "Let's eat together."
The three women exchanged looks and showed bitter expressions.
But they still walked to the table, especially Yukinoshita Yukino, who was clearly hungry.
After Hikigaya finished his portion, he was satisfied to see the Yukinoshita family digging in, especially the two daughters, who ate as if they had thrown all caution to the wind.
As they ate, they let out whimpering sounds, pitiful to the core.
"Can I have a smoke?"
Yukinoshita's mother suddenly asked Hikigaya.
"It's fine, go ahead. But I don't have cigarettes, only an ashtray."
"Thank you."
Yukinoshita's mother smoked gracefully, her eyes filled with sorrow, looking deeply melancholic.
She took a deep drag, and her expression softened a little.
"Actually, we almost gave up later," she suddenly said, "We just wanted to keep the two kids alive."
"Oh?" Hikigaya was confused.
He knew her husband had died, but there was no need to tell him.
"Though my daughter learned a lot, there was one thing she never learned, something that would have been useful at this time."
Yukinoshita's mother gazed at the ceiling light, her eyes growing even more sorrowful.
"Oh..." Hikigaya waited for a long time but still didn't hear her speak. He frowned and muttered "Oh" again, eager to hear the second wave of words.
"So, Hikigaya-san, on behalf of my daughter, who is your classmate, please be sure to accept them."
Chapter 11: Don't Eat Random Things or You'll Turn into a Weirdo
When Yukinoshita's mother made her so-called "request," Hachiman responded with a sarcastic chuckle, then went back to eating his noodles.
After finishing, he returned to the living room, picked up his game controller, and resumed his battle.
"Damn it, no way I'm losing to this dumb AI again!"
But… apparently, he really couldn't beat it.
So frustrating. Everything seemed fine, yet every time he kicked the ball, he'd lose possession.
Still, Hachiman was relentless, fighting on until he heard a soft swoosh beside him.
Annoyed at being interrupted, he looked over—and was shocked to find Yukinoshita's mother there again.
She sat beside him gracefully, pulled a cigarette from her sleeve, lit it with practiced elegance, took a deep inhale, and exhaled a stream of smoke.
He glanced behind him.
The kitchen had already been tidied up, and both Komachi and the Yukinoshita sisters were gone.
Checking the clock—damn, it was already 11 p.m.!
But still… hell no, he wasn't sleeping until he won a round tonight!
He kicked off his slippers, sat cross-legged on the couch with a fierce expression, ready to start another match.
But before he could press the button, Yukinoshita's mother's ghostly voice drifted over.
"Do you find them unsatisfactory in some way?"
Good thing the match hadn't started yet. Being interrupted mid-game would've really killed the vibe.
Hachiman side-eyed her.
Diagnosis complete: she'd clearly soaked in the hot bath for way too long.
Weird. Was his house's bathroom really that comfortable?
"Not at all. But wouldn't it make more sense for you to stay with your daughters instead?" Hachiman gave her a "say no more, I get it" look, then turned back to his game.
Games were such a miracle—he wasn't even remotely sleepy, even though normally he'd be nodding off even if the sky fell.
In the silence that followed, only the rapid clicking of the controller could be heard, occasionally punctuated by her quiet exhalations.
Time passed.
Then he heard a faint rustling beside him again.
Yukinoshita's mother was fidgeting nonstop on the couch like she had ADHD or something.
"If you're bored, feel free to head upstairs and sleep. There are plenty of rooms," Hachiman said with a frown as he glanced at her unusually flushed face. He reached out, picked up the cigarette butt in the ashtray, and examined it.
"This your own cigarette?"
He seriously doubted she'd brought that stuff herself.
He recognized it from his apprentice days in the underground—some hallucinogenic powder created during a failed experiment.
Originally meant for something else entirely, it ended up being a waste product for martial artists in the underworld.
But following their no-waste philosophy, the underground started selling the stuff to rich playboys from all over the world for their orgy parties...
To put it simply, it had effects similar to a drug, but without the harsh side effects—making it quite popular.
"Hehe... want to try one too? It helps you forget all the unpleasant things…"
"Yeah, looks like it's fully absorbed." Hachiman tossed the cigarette butt into the ashtray. "From now on, don't bring that kind of stuff in here... And by the way, you really shouldn't use it so casually. This stuff was originally made for death trials for martial arts disciples."
In the underground world, there was a famous saying: "We don't need long-lived martial artists."
The drug's purpose was to push the user's physical and mental senses to their absolute limit.
For elite martial artists, it was pointless. But for trainees, it was another story.
"My lovely daughters still don't understand their situation. They shamelessly tried to use their past relationship with your sister... I feel deeply ashamed." Sitting on the couch, Yukinoshita's mother undid her hair, letting her long, glossy black locks cascade down.
If not for the maturity in her features, she'd really look just like her daughters.
Especially the way her curved eyes gleamed with that same pure, lotus-like charm Yukino had.
Hachiman thought to himself: I've been a godslayer for so long, and finally someone tries to seduce me like this—too bad she's way out of my type.
Sure, her figure was great. But just thinking about her two daughters being upstairs instantly killed any interest.
"How about going to bed?"
He offered helpfully.
He really wanted to get back to his game. And hey, he was making progress tonight—he'd reduced the AI's score to just 3-0!
"It's good to know that Mr. Hikigaya prefers younger women. That really puts my mind at ease."
"…Oi, oi."
Maybe it was because it was the dead of night, prime time for couples to… do their thing. Yukinoshita's mother, a professional wife and recent widow, looked like she really wanted to get laid.
Seems like she and her now-dead husband used to get freaky quite a lot too.
While thinking that, Hachiman was stunned to see her start loosening her kimono.
"Daddy, look, your daughter's all grown up now…"
The hell!? I'm not your dead husband! Can you even see clearly!?
Don't eat strange things—or you'll turn into a damn weirdo. This right here was a textbook example.
"Doctor, come give mommy an injection…"
Yukinoshita's mother was clearly no longer in her right mind.
But Hachiman wasn't surprised. The underground sold this drug precisely because, even though it went totally off-course during development, the effect was explosive.
Thankfully, it wasn't one of those "if you don't do the deed you'll die" types from fantasy stories.
No matter how hyped up the user got, just sleep it off and everything would be fine. No side effects, really. Just some temporary overuse of physical potential.
Still, this stuff—utter trash to martial artists—was pretty expensive. Yukinoshita's mother probably couldn't afford it, so...
She must have a stash somewhere.
Tossing the game controller aside, Hachiman decided it was time to pause the gaming session.
First, he'd put her to bed.
By "put," of course, he meant: knock her out before she could react, haul her upstairs, toss her into the nearest empty room, and be done with it.
Seemed like a pretty solid plan.
In the next second, he reached out with lightning speed and struck her neck with a sharp chop.
She slumped down like a rag doll.
"Damn, let's get her in a room fast. I've still got football to finish!"