Seeing that Yotsuya Miko didn't want to talk about those things in front of everyone, Hachiman smiled and shook his head, then turned toward Shino Shizuku beside him.
"Shino-san, are you all coming along too?", He still wanted to develop the Track and Field Club into a branch of the Service Club. Even without considering Shino Shizuku's "Slave of Desire" mission, there were already plenty of side world heroines nearby with countless quests that could be triggered.
Unfortunately, he was too busy at the moment. Expanding a branch wasn't something he could burden Yukinoshita Yukino with, so all he could do for now was build a good relationship with Shino and the others, and wait for the time when they'd need help, at which point he could bring the Service Club into play.
"Go have fun with them, Hikigaya-kun. I'll stay with Amane and the others for more training, so I won't go."
Seeing that Hachiman was being chatted up by two first-year girls, Shino Shizuku blinked and smiled, waving him off as she said goodbye.
"But next time you have some free time, Hikigaya-kun, please give us some guidance too. The girls' swimming club and the tennis club have already benefited from your coaching, you can't leave our track and field team out, can you?"
"That depends on whether your club captain would even want me to help. My training tends to involve a lot of physical contact, you girls might not like that. See you tomorrow, Shino-san."
Hachiman chuckled and nodded. After saying his farewells, he turned and left with Yotsuya Miko and Yuriwaka Hana.
Although he now had the "Club Branch" system, which allowed him to strengthen club members through joint training, that could only be done once the club was officially turned into a branch of the Service Club.
Whether it was the Service Aura or the Teaching Aura, improving performance always required a certain degree of intimate interaction.
If the Track and Field Club didn't take the initiative to invite him for help, he definitely wouldn't recklessly use those methods on others.
Once such things happened without mutual consent, it would cause trouble no matter how effective the results were. He didn't want to help and end up being blamed.
After Hachiman, Yotsuya Miko, and Yuriwaka Hana left, the girls around Shino Shizuku turned to look at her indifferent face.
"Shino-senpai, how can you not react at all?"
"Yeah! Those two girls just flirted with Hikigaya-kun right in front of us!"
"They're way too much! We're all standing right here, and they just ignored us and asked him out!"
Amane Hisajo, Mizuki Miki, and Nime Minori all spoke indignantly on Shino Shizuku's behalf.
They could all tell Shino was interested in Hikigaya. The moment she saw him appear on the track, she went over, she had even prepared drinks to offer him.
They thought that with Shino being so proactive, her relationship with Hikigaya would surely progress.
Who would have thought that Yotsuya Miko and Yuriwaka Hana would show up out of nowhere and snatch him away, ruining all their matchmaking efforts?
"I told you already, I don't like Hikigaya-kun. And besides, he doesn't even know those two girls, they probably just needed his help with something."
Seeing her teammates imagining nonsense, Shino Shizuku sighed helplessly.
The reason she treated Hikigaya so kindly wasn't because she liked him, but because he had rescued her from those guys in the Track and Field Club.
Still… even if she didn't have romantic feelings, she did feel some affection toward him.
Especially when she remembered how he had suddenly vaulted over the railing that day, standing in front of her and Karuizawa, blocking those guys, that day, she hadn't even thanked him properly. Hikigaya had left right afterward with Karuizawa. She still didn't know what their relationship really was.
"Amane, Miki, you two keep training. I'm going to the restroom."
With that thought, Shino Shizuku took a deep breath, tossed out the words, and quickly walked away toward the restroom.
———
On the other side, Hachiman had gone with Yotsuya Miko and Yuriwaka Hana, who were being mistaken for girls hitting on him, to a café near the school.
Once they left the safe zone of Sobu High, Yotsuya Miko grew a little tense, afraid that a ghost or spirit might appear around the corner.
But just as she was about to explain that she wasn't trying to flirt, but had something important to ask for help with, a blue-haired, short-haired girl wearing black tights and exuding a cool aura sat down right beside Hikigaya.
"We've all been busy handling the issue with the band's vocalist, and you, Hachiman, as the fifth member of the band, are here secretly dating two cute girls? At once, even?"
Casting a glance at Yotsuya Miko and Yuriwaka Hana, at both their faces and their chests, Yamada Ryou gestured subtly toward a corner table where her pink-, gold-, and red-haired companions were sitting.
As she chided Hachiman in her usual flat tone, she picked up the menu and called the waiter over.
"Can you really face Bocchi-chan, Nijika, and Kita-chan after this? I'll have this coffee jelly and mochi. Now, can you face me?"
'This Yamada Ryou who wants mochi...'
Hachiman glanced at the blue-haired beauty beside him, but didn't mind her sitting so close or ordering freely. Once the waiter left, he followed her gesture and looked toward the corner.
There sat Ijichi Nijika, Gotou Hitori, and a red-haired girl, all in Sobu High uniforms, staring over with mixed expressions of embarrassment, happiness, and curiosity.
He didn't recognize the cute redhead, but it was obvious, that had to be the runaway vocalist of the band Kessoku Band, Kita Ikuyo.
Nijika had mentioned earlier that she and Gotou were going to look for Kita today. He thought it might take some effort, but it seemed they'd caught her surprisingly quickly.
Then again, it made sense, Sobu High wasn't that big, and if Kita wanted to run, there wasn't really anywhere to go.
"Ahahaha! Hachiman, and these two classmates, fancy seeing you here!", Nijika awkwardly stood up and came over to greet him.
She wasn't embarrassed about "catching" Hachiman with girls, after that incident at their live show, Ryou had been teasing Hachiman endlessly about "taking responsibility" for having touched her.
But Nijika was different. That live show had been her idea, she'd asked Hachiman for help herself, and if things got a little out of hand, so be it. She'd done even more intimate things with Yumiko and Marin. As long as she didn't betray Yumiko, she didn't care.
Right now, though, she wasn't worried about that. She was worried that Hachiman might invite her along with these two girls later, and that could be... awkward.
She already knew from Marin that things between Hachiman, Marin, and Yumiko had escalated. Marin had even warned her to be careful, that next time, she might be "sold off" too.
"Hachiman, Hachiman! We just finished talking with Kita-chan and had some delicious desserts together. I was going to ask if you were going to STARRY later, if you were, I'd bring you some sweets. But you're already here!"
Gotou Hitori didn't overthink anything. Despite the two unfamiliar girls, she happily hugged Hachiman and sat in his lap, chattering away about her day.
Ever since she'd become friends with Hachiman, everything in her life had gone well. She'd made tons of friends, and her band dream was finally coming true.
"Maybe it's just that Bocchi-chan missed me so much that fate made us meet right here," Hachiman patted her head, smiling, and turned toward Kita Ikuyo beside Nijika.
"Kita-san, hello. I'm Hachiman. Did Nijika and the others talk things through with you? Are you willing to come back to the band as vocalist?"
"Hello, Hikigaya-kun. Yes, I've already spoken with them, I'll join everyone in practice again. I won't run away anymore," Kita Ikuyo bowed deeply, full of apology.
"I've heard from Nijika and Bocchi-chan about you. If it weren't for your help, our performance would've been a disaster because of me."
A band could survive without a singer, some bands were purely instrumental, but she wasn't just the vocalist, she also played guitar.
After she left, if not for finding Gotou Hitori and Hikigaya, Kessoku Band, with only a bassist and drummer, couldn't have performed at all.
"It's fine. The important thing is that you came back. Nijika and the others won't hold it against you. If you hadn't left, Nijika might not have found Bocchi-chan either. Let's all work hard together to make the band shine."
Hachiman smiled as he glanced at Ryou ordering food beside him, Bocchi still sitting in his lap, and Nijika looking embarrassed, it seemed the band was finally complete.
Now he didn't have to worry about forming a trio with Setsuna Ogiso and Touma Kazusa for the time being.
Things had gotten a bit awkward with Setsuna at the library last time, recruiting her again right now would be... complicated.
"Thank you so much for understanding. I'll do my best to make our band shine brilliantly again!"
Kita Ikuyo straightened up and nodded earnestly, her eyes filled with curiosity as she looked at Hachiman, who was now sandwiched between Ryou and Bocchi.
She'd heard stories about him from the others and had some idea of his temperament. The infamous Service Club president with all sorts of campus rumors swirling around him.
She wasn't afraid of being scolded; she just wanted to express her apology. But what really piqued her curiosity was what had happened within the band while she'd been away.
She'd heard that Hachiman had helped them a lot lately, but when she asked what his role was, Nijika dodged the question, while her idol, Ryou, had only smiled mysteriously and patted her on the shoulder.
And when Bocchi, normally so timid and withdrawn, saw Hachiman, she'd instantly straightened up, her long bangs parting to reveal a stunning, delicate face.
Ryou, meanwhile, had naturally and smoothly taken a seat beside him and started ordering, clearly expecting him to pay.
And Nijika, supposedly his classmate and the one who should've been most familiar with him, now stood at a cautious distance.
'Just what on earth happend in the band while I was gone?'
While Hachiman was talking to Kita Ikuyo and the others, Yuriwaka Hana across from him was silently panicking as she watched the scene.
"This is bad.'
'The guy Miko likes is way too popular.'
She'd heard of Hachiman's name before, just as a rumor, but she never imagined he'd be surrounded by so many beautiful girls.
Each one of them, the well-known Nijika and Kita, or the cool, blue-haired beauty beside him, was stunning.
No matter who liked him, Miko didn't stand a chance.
Not to mention the pink-haired girl sitting in his lap, she was unbelievably gorgeous, prettier than most idols.
Miko's love story... was over before it even began.
Yotsuya Miko, seeing Nijika and the others appear, also felt uneasy, but for a completely different reason.
She hadn't come to confess anything, she wanted to ask Hachiman about ghosts and spirits. To find out whether he knew anything, or if he could do something about it.
But now, with all these girls showing up, she didn't even know how to start.
"Hachiman, are we... interrupting? We've already talked things out with Kita, and she's agreed to rejoin the band. It's getting late, though, we're planning to start practice tomorrow."
Noticing the tension between the girls, Nijika smiled politely and decided to leave it at that.
She'd wanted to explain why Kita had refused to come back before, but seeing the atmosphere, she thought it best not to discuss such things in front of strangers.
"You're not interrupting. Yotsuya-san and Yuriwaka-san came to ask for my help. We're not in that kind of relationship, their request is just... similar to yours, though perhaps a bit more unusual."
Hikigaya shook his head. Did they really think he needed to flirt? If he wanted privacy, he wouldn't have let Nijika and the others catch him here.
"If you're interested, or rather, if you're not too scared, you can stay and listen."
From what he remembered, Nijika was afraid of ghosts and creepy stuff, while Bocchi, due to her social anxiety, actually felt some affinity toward spirits, thinking of them as kindred souls, unseen but yearning to be noticed.
But that was just how they felt in theory. Whether they'd still feel that way when faced with real ghosts was another story.
"Help? A request?"
Nijika blinked, then sat beside Hachiman with Kita, looking uncertainly at Miko and Hana.
After spending so much time around Hachiman, she'd grown used to seeing pretty girls around him, so her first thought had been that they were part of his "bullying circle."
She'd nearly forgotten that he was, after all, the president of the Service Club. Given how capable he was, it made perfect sense for others to come to him for help.
"Don't worry, Yotsuya-san. They're ordinary people without special abilities too, but they already know I can use a little magic. You don't have to hold back."
Hachiman nodded encouragingly, noticing her hesitation.
"I saw you looking around nervously on the way here, did you run into something dangerous?"
He'd never actually seen ghosts or vengeful spirits himself, and didn't know if he could handle them, but that didn't really matter. Unlike Miko, he wasn't alone.
If he couldn't fight them himself, he could call in backup.
Eirlys and the other elves from another world might not have direct experience with "spirits," but surely they'd dealt with undead, liches, or wraiths before. As nature- or life-type beings, they'd probably know how to handle it.
And not to mention, he had literal angels and demons as his neighbors, watching him from next door. They were his ultimate trump card. Though they were supposed to be training in the human world, and couldn't interfere too openly, he knew they'd step in if things went too far.
There was also the shrine maiden from the Student Council, Origamine Ouka, who specialized in dealing with such things. But he wasn't close to her. Calling her outside school would be... awkward.
"T-Then I'll just say it straight."
Seeing that he had openly admitted to knowing magic, Yotsuya Miko bit her lip and decided to tell the whole truth.
"Recently, I've started seeing things, ghosts, spirits, monsters, wandering around in broad daylight. But no one else seems to notice them."
"At first, I thought if I just pretended not to see, it would be fine. But there are so many of them."
"Most of them just drift along the streets, but some... some of them suddenly stop and ask me if I can see them. I feel like this can't go on. That's why I wanted to ask you for help, Hikigaya-kun."
"I don't know if you understand this kind of thing or if there's any way to deal with it, so I've been really torn about what to do."
"Oh, and one more thing, I noticed something strange. For some reason, none of those ghosts or spirits ever enter Sobu High. It's like the school is special, or protected somehow."
Having finally let out everything she'd been bottling up, Miko felt her chest lighten as though a huge weight had been lifted, but she still anxiously watched Hachiman's face, afraid he might say he couldn't help.
Pouring out one's fears to others could relieve some pressure, but without a real solution, that relief wouldn't last, it would only pile up again.
"Ghosts and spirits, huh... So that's what this is about."
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