Chapter 20: A Chance Encounter at the Intersection
The afternoon consisted of three consecutive science classes.
The hot and humid weather, combined with the teacher's monotonous voice, made Hikigaya Hachiman feel drowsy.
Suddenly remembering that his clothes had temperature control, the coolness transmitted from them helped clear his mind a bit.
However, facing the blackboard completely covered with formulas, he still felt overwhelmed.
After what happened at noon, Yotsuya Miko and her friend no longer appeared anywhere near him.
Likewise, the classmates who had previously paid attention to him because of Miko's lunchbox gift had shifted their focus to other interesting matters again.
Hachiman was naturally glad to see that.
After enduring the tedious three periods, the dismissal bell rang over the school broadcast.
In an instant, the previously quiet school came alive.
By the time everyone packed their bags, the once-empty playground was filled with all sorts of club activities, and students were bustling back and forth in the hallways.
Carrying his bag, Hachiman looked up toward Kawasaki Saki.
Coincidentally, Kawasaki Saki was sitting right at her seat, staring fixedly at him.
Their eyes met briefly, and he immediately understood the urge behind her gaze.
With a light sigh, Hachiman gave up on his plan to first stop by the Service Club room to clock in and rest for a while.
He could understand Saki's thoughts—after all, this concerned the lives of her entire family, so naturally she wanted to resolve it as soon as possible.
Tilting his head toward Saki to signal her to follow, Hachiman slung his bag over his back and headed out of the classroom.
First, he passed by Shizuka Hiratsuka's office corridor, confirmed she was busy chatting with other teachers and couldn't take him back, then quickly went downstairs, changed shoes at the shoe rack, and waited near the school gate.
A little over a minute later, Saki appeared in his line of sight.
"Are we going to your house now?" Hachiman asked casually, looking at the busy street ahead.
"Yeah!" Saki nodded without hesitation.
Seeing the sudden apparition, she naturally wanted to deal with it as soon as possible.
On the way, when they passed a cake shop, Hachiman suddenly stopped.
After telling Saki to wait a moment, he went into the cake shop, and when he came back out, he was holding a box containing a cake.
"What are you doing?" Saki frowned, staring at the cake in Hachiman's hands.
She had asked him to exorcise spirits at her house, and it was already good that he didn't charge an exorbitant fee like some monks. How could she possibly allow him to buy a cake?
Thinking this, Saki pulled out her somewhat old wallet, intending to pay for the cake, but Hachiman stopped her with his hand.
"It's normal to bring a gift when visiting someone's house, right?" Hachiman said, pressing Saki's hand down, staring into her eyes.
From what Saki said earlier that morning, he could easily guess that she must be pretty short on money right now.
"Alright then..." Seeing Hachiman's expression, Saki gritted her teeth and gave up the idea of paying.
But Hachiman clearly sensed the reluctance in her tone.
She seemed very unwilling to owe favors to others.
Noticing this, Hachiman started thinking.
If the person was her, that plan might just work?
But in the end, he would have to wait until after dealing with the spirits at Saki's house before making any judgments...
After the cake incident, maybe because she felt she owed him too much, Saki's attitude toward Hachiman changed significantly.
For example, the distance between them while walking changed from Saki leading in front and Hachiman following behind to walking side by side.
However, they kept silent the whole time.
Originally, Hachiman thought this silence would last until they reached Saki's house, but when they waited for the traffic light to change at an intersection, a surprised shout came to Hachiman's ear.
"Hikki?!"
Hikki?
What a strange nickname.
Curious, Hachiman turned around to look for the person who had shouted, and his eyes searched for the unlucky "Hikki" called out in public.
If that person was him, he would be utterly embarrassed, blushing deeply, wishing to disappear into a crack in the ground.
However, after looking around, Hachiman easily spotted the girl who had shouted outside a bubble tea shop, but there was no sign of the person called the "Hikki."
Had they run away because it was too embarrassing?
Hachiman felt a little disappointed.
Just then, he happened to meet the gaze of that girl.
Uh, why does it feel like she's staring at me?
Hachiman blinked in confusion and looked again at the girl to be sure.
He wasn't unfamiliar with the girl in front of him; after all, she had a big bun on her head.
At that moment, she was looking at Kawasaki Saki beside him with a stunned expression, seemingly puzzled about how the two of them had met.
Yuigahama Yui watched the two waiting together at the traffic light, then glanced at the cake box in Hachiman's hand and bit her lip.
Is this setup for a visit to the girl's home?
"Yui, what are you doing standing here alone?"
Just as Yui felt conflicted watching the scene, Yumiko Miura, Hayato Hayama, and a large group of people came laughing and chatting out from the bubble tea shop.
Seeing Yui standing outside the shop looking dazed, Yumiko's smile faltered.
She quickly scanned the surroundings and soon locked her gaze onto Hachiman and Saki.
Her eyes also swept over the cake box in Hachiman's hand, and an understanding expression appeared on Yumiko's face.
She was almost certain of what was going on.
"Let's go..."
At that moment, the traffic light turned green.
Although puzzled whether Yui's shout of "Hikki" was meant for him, Hachiman knew helping Saki deal with the spirits was the most important thing now.
"Yeah..."
Glancing once more at the bun-headed girl in the crowd, Saki's intuition told her that this girl seemed to have some inexplicable feelings toward the boy beside her.
However, hearing Hachiman's words and thinking of her younger siblings at home, Saki lost interest in probing further.
They crossed the street and soon disappeared into the vast crowd.