OREGAIRU : Hikigaya Hachiman's Exorcism Story

"What... what is going on?"

The first Yotsuya Miko, seeing the disheveled version of herself in front of her, stepped back a few paces with an expression of disbelief.

"You should know better than anyone," 

The second Yotsuya Miko sneered, but remained cautious, standing in place without moving toward Hikigaya Hachiman.

Hearing the conversation between the two, Hikigaya Hachiman immediately felt a headache coming on. 

There was nothing wrong with their conversation; it just sounded like number one was a little more fragile than number two. 

But he didn't know much about Yotsuya Miko either. Throughout their time together, Yotsuya Miko had shown both strong and weak sides, and he couldn't tell who was Yotsuya Miko and who was the evil spirit. 

"This is troublesome..." 

Looking at the two of them keeping their distance from each other, Hikigaya Hachiman sighed. He then decided to use the oldest trick in the book to figure out who was who. 

After all, this method, although cliché, really worked... 

"One question for each of you, no interrupting!" 

First, he asked both Yotsuya Mikos to stay five meters apart from him. This way, when he figured out who the evil spirit was, he could quickly get to Yotsuya Miko's side to protect her. 

He then explained the rules and started asking questions: 

"Where did we meet for the first time?" 

While asking, Hikigaya Hachiman looked at number one Yotsuya Miko. 

"In the classroom!" 

Without hesitation, number one Yotsuya Miko immediately gave the answer. 

"Was there anyone else in the classroom?" 

Hikigaya turned to look at number two Yotsuya Miko. 

"Yukinoshita was also in the classroom." 

Number two Yotsuya Miko also answered. 

"Then, when I hid in the classroom with Yotsuya Miko, was the person standing outside the door a boy or a girl?" 

"A girl!" 

Number one Yotsuya Miko answered without hesitation again. 

Although she hadn't seen the person's face at the door, from the voice, it was definitely a girl. 

"How many evil spirits did we encounter the first time we entered this space?" 

"Four." 

After number two answered Hikigaya Hachiman's question, she impatiently urged him. 

"Can't you ask something more detailed?" 

"Uh, alright..." 

Hearing number two Yotsuya Miko's urging, Hikigaya Hachiman scratched his head awkwardly. 

After thinking for a moment, he asked with a shy expression, "When we were inside the spider's belly, where did I accidentally touch you?" 

"Pervert!" 

Almost as soon as Hikigaya Hachiman asked the question, number two Yotsuya Miko took off her shoe and threw it at him. 

However, Hikigaya Hachiman ignored her and instead turned to number one Yotsuya Miko. 

"Up... up there..." 

Noticing Hikigaya Hachiman looking at her, number one Yotsuya Miko lowered her head shyly and stammered the answer. 

"Yeah, you're telling the truth..." 

Hearing number one Yotsuya Miko's answer, Hikigaya Hachiman nodded. He was now sure that the Yotsuya Miko he had been talking to was the real one, and the other one was the evil spirit in disguise. 

"Why? She's the fake one!" 

Hearing Hikigaya Hachiman's words, number two Yotsuya Miko became agitated and took a few steps closer to him. 

However, Hikigaya Hachiman didn't hesitate. He swung his demon-slaying sword toward the neck of the evil spirit he had identified. 

Number two Yotsuya Miko dodged the attack with an impossible backward tilt, and then, after stepping back a few paces, turned and ran into another hallway. 

"Thank you..." 

Seeing the evil spirit driven away by Hikigaya Hachiman, Yotsuya Miko crossed her arms and walked over to his side, softly thanking him. 

"No need to thank me. It's nothing..." 

Hikigaya Hachiman shook his head, indicating it wasn't a big deal. 

"But how did you know I was the real one?" 

Yotsuya Miko looked at Hikigaya Hachiman curiously. 

The fake's reaction earlier seemed more like how a woman would react, so how did Hikigaya Hachiman figure it out? 

Hikigaya Hachiman shrugged helplessly and began to explain, "According to the evil spirit's usual behavior, when I accidentally bumped into it, you should've slapped me across the face, but you didn't do that..." 

"Is that so?" 

After hearing Hikigaya Hachiman's explanation, Yotsuya Miko lowered her head and fell silent. 

Similarly, Hikigaya Hachiman also felt embarrassed by his explanation. 

"So let's just pretend that didn't happen..." 

In the end, it was Yotsuya Miko who broke the silence first. 

"No problem!" 

Hikigaya Hachiman didn't hesitate at all and gave his approval. 

Then, the two of them continued searching for the location of the last mid-level evil spirit in the school building. 

After all, if Hikigaya wanted to leave before sunrise, he had to get rid of all the evil spirits. 

Perhaps because all of its skills were put into disguising, the last evil spirit was actually weaker than a normal low-level one. 

After being cornered in the restroom by Hikigaya Hachiman, it had no choice but to grudgingly contribute 200 Spirit Coins before disappearing into black smoke in front of him. 

With the last evil spirit eliminated, 

Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly heard the sound of glass breaking, and then the world in front of him began to rapidly collapse. 

In the blink of an eye, when he regained his senses, he and Yotsuya Miko were back in the school building's hallway. 

The light from a crescent moon outside filtered through the glass, shining into the room. 

"Back already?" 

After glancing around the familiar hallway, Hikigaya Hachiman confirmed that he and Yotsuya Miko had come back from that strange space. 

"Who's there?" 

Before he could get excited, a beam of light suddenly shone from a distance, and then a security guard appeared in front of Hikigaya Hachiman. 

"Follow me..." 

Seeing the security guard, Yotsuya Miko snapped back to reality from the joy of escaping the evil spirit's clutches. She grabbed the slightly confused Hikigaya Hachiman and quickly ran in the opposite direction. 

"Stop! Which class are you from?!" 

Seeing them trying to run, the security guard immediately chased after them. 

But Yotsuya Miko seemed to be very familiar with the school building. 

Hikigaya Hachiman only felt like he was turning left and right, and after a few twists and turns, they had already lost the security guard. 

Then, Yotsuya Miko led him through a broken security door and out of the school, escaping through a gap in the fence behind the gym. 

... 

Hikigaya Hachiman watched Yotsuya Miko smoothly lead him through the escape, and he couldn't help but feel convinced that she had probably been chased by evil spirits at school often. 

But why did the evil spirits always chase her at school? 

"Sorry, it's already late. Let's meet again tomorrow." 

Just as Hikigaya Hachiman was about to ask this question, Yotsuya Miko checked the time on her phone, waved goodbye to him, and hurried off. 

"Ah, time..." 

After politely waving at Yotsuya Miko's back, Hikigaya Hachiman realized the time as well. 

He took out his phone, and the number 21:37 on the screen made him feel utterly hopeless.

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