OREGAIRU : Hikigaya Hachiman's Exorcism Story

"Yukinoshita, I've brought the person here for you." 

Arriving at the door of the classroom marked "Service Club," Hiratsuka Shizuka pushed open the door and dragged Hikigaya Hachiman inside. 

Hearing the noise from the door, Yukinoshita Yukino, who was sitting by the window reading a book, sighed, closed the book, and looked up at Hiratsuka Shizuka. 

"Hiratsuka-sensei, I think I've already reminded you to knock before entering, right?" 

"I did knock," 

Hiratsuka Shizuka said, and in front of Yukinoshita Yukino, she knocked on the door she had already opened. 

Yukinoshita Yukino: ... 

"Well, since I've brought him here, I won't disturb you any longer." 

With that, Hiratsuka Shizuka pushed Hikigaya Hachiman forward, then closed the door behind her as she left. 

Hikigaya stumbled forward a few steps and suddenly noticed a pair of long, slender legs wearing black stockings in his line of sight. 

"What are you looking at?" 

Before Hikigaya could look any longer, Yukinoshita's cold voice reached his ears. 

Looking up, Hikigaya found Yukinoshita looking at him with the kind of gaze reserved for scum. 

"Nothing..." 

He had originally wanted to explain that he hadn't meant to get so close, but then he thought to himself that even if he explained, Yukinoshita probably wouldn't believe him anyway. 

So, Hikigaya just shrugged and walked to the back of the classroom. After moving a chair, he sat down at a spot far from Yukinoshita. 

Yukinoshita frowned as she watched Hikigaya do all of this. 

In fact, when she finished speaking earlier, she had a vague feeling that she might have misunderstood Hikigaya. 

But since Hikigaya didn't refute her, she wasn't sure if she had misunderstood him or not... 

After seeing Hikigaya sit down and remain quiet, she shifted her attention back to the book in her hands. 

Yukinoshita immersed herself in the world of the book, while Hikigaya, who had been sitting for a while, felt extremely bored. 

To pass the time, he began looking around the classroom. 

Naturally, the first person he looked at was Yukinoshita, sitting by the window. 

At that moment, the girl was bathed in golden sunlight. 

Her snow-white skin appeared even more delicate and fair under the light. Her jet-black hair swayed gently with each subtle movement as she flipped the pages of her book.

Maybe because her hair was blocking her view, the girl slightly furrowed her brows, then lifted her delicate hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. 

Hikigaya was a little stunned. 

This was totally against the rules. Why, besides Komachi, was there such a woman who fit his taste so perfectly? 

"Um, is anyone here?" 

The door to the classroom was suddenly knocked on, followed by a slightly hesitant female voice coming from outside. 

"Come in!" 

Hearing the voice, Yukinoshita looked up, glanced curiously at the upright Hikigaya Hachiman, and then called out toward the door. 

"Thud..." 

As the classroom door was opened, a girl with long, glossy black hair like Yukinoshita's walked in. 

The moment the girl entered the room and saw Hikigaya, she immediately showed an odd expression on her face. 

"He's a member of the Service Club sent by Hiratsuka-sensei." 

Seeing the girl looking at Hikigayaan, Yukinoshita thought she was confused about his identity, so she explained. 

"I see?" 

Hearing Yukinoshita's words, the girl nodded, but her gaze toward Hikigaya remained strange. 

Seeing this, Hikigaya introduced himself: "I'm Hikigaya Hachiman from 2nd-year Class F, nice to meet you." 

"I'm Yotsuya Miko from 2nd-year Class E, nice to meet you." 

After Hikigaya and Yotsuya Miko introduced themselves, they both nodded and Hachiman continued to zone out on his seat. 

But soon, Hikigaya noticed that Yotsuya Miko kept glancing at him while talking to Yukinoshita. 

Very self-aware of his appearance, he immediately looked down to check his outfit. 

After finding nothing wrong, but still noticing Yotsuya Miko staring at him, Hikigaya frowned and used his right hand to gather energy to pat the evil spirit attached to his clothes. 

The evil spirit, which had been coiled around Hikigaya, suddenly shot out from his clothes. 

"!?" 

Seeing the evil spirit rushing toward her, Yotsuya Miko's pupils shrank instantly. Although she was scared out of her wits by the suddenly appearing evil spirit, she kept a straight face and didn't scream. 

It was clear that this place wasn't safe anymore... 

Yotsuya Miko thought, and immediately stood up, preparing to run out of the classroom. 

"Yotsuya-san, what's wrong?" 

Yukinoshita, who couldn't see the evil spirit, was confused when she saw Yotsuya Miko, who had just entered, getting ready to leave. 

"No, it's nothing..." 

Hearing Yukinoshita words, Yotsuya Miko realized that leaving immediately after just entering would be too awkward. 

Besides, evil spirits wouldn't hurt people during the day. 

So, she gave an awkward smile, picked up the chair she had bumped into while standing, and sat back down in front of Yukinoshita. 

But at that moment, Hikigaya, who hadn't said anything after introducing himself, suddenly spoke up. 

"You saw it, didn't you?" 

The two locked eyes, and Hikigaya clearly saw the surprise and then the excitement flash in Yotsuya Miko's eyes. 

"Sorry, I just remembered I have something to take care of..." 

Hearing Hikigaya's words, Yotsuya Miko's gaze flickered a few times. With an apologetic expression, she told Yukinoshita and then quickly grabbed her bag and ran out of the activity room. 

"Eh, wait..." 

Yotsuya Miko's sudden departure caught Yukinoshita off guard. 

She had already prepared to listen to Yotsuya Miko's troubles and think of a way to help her... 

Yukinoshita Yukino reached her hand out toward Yotsuya Miko's back, but Miko didn't look back and ran straight out of the classroom.

"Well, I should be going now..." 

Noticing the awkward atmosphere in the classroom, Hikigaya stood up, grabbed his backpack, and walked toward the door. 

When he reached the door, for some reason, Hikigaya looked back. 

Against the backdrop of the setting sun, Yukinoshita's quiet face caught his eye, and Hikigaya felt his heart speed up a little. 

What a hopelessly good person... 

He self-mockingly thought, a bitter smile appearing on his face. He turned around and called out to Yukinoshita: 

"Tomorrow..." 

"?" 

Yukinoshita looked up at Hikigaya in confusion. 

"I'll be coming tomorrow afternoon. The match we talked about yesterday, I'm definitely winning!" 

After saying that, Hikigaya pulled the door closed behind him. 

"Oh? Hikigaya, you are quite confident, but I won't lose to you!" 

Although Hikigaya had already closed the door, Yukinoshita still spoke to him through it. 

What she didn't notice was that a faint smile had appeared on her usually cold face.