"Uh!"
"What are Miko and the others doing?"
In the distance, Yurikawa Hana, Kita Ikuyo, and Yamada Ryou still stood on the street.
They were all ordinary people and couldn't see Ghosts; from that far away they couldn't make out Yotsuya Miko's expression or exact reaction.
They only knew that Hachiman who had been beside them a moment ago, had instantaneously appeared next to Yotsuya Miko.
There was no doubt Hachiman was amazing. Seeing him teleport like that made Yurikawa Hana and Kita Ikuyo start to believe the ghosts Miko had talked about really did exist, even if ordinary people couldn't see them.
But from afar they watched Miko sandwiched between Gotou Hitori and Ichiji Nijika, arms locked on either side, and now Miko had collapsed into Hachiman's arms...
"Um... we..."
"Let's go over. Hachiman-kun isn't here protecting us right now; if some invisible Ghost targets us, it'd be bad."
"Yeah! Let's go right now!"
Yurikawa Hana and Kita Ikuyo exchanged a glance and spoke at the same time, easing the slightly awkward mood between them.
They were friends of Yotsuya Miko and Ichiji Nijika respectively, and seeing their friends hugging the same boy left them at a loss for words.
To be honest, the two of them kind of suspected Nijika and Miko were using fear of ghosts to compete for attention, but with the prettier, better-bodied Bocchi-chan around, there was no way to stir up a love triangle scene.
Among the three, only Yamada Ryou stayed calm, carrying desserts she'd bought with Ichiji Nijika and Gotou Hitori, silently following the others to join them.
She liked being called a weirdo, didn't follow the crowd, and had many odd hobbies, so like Bocchi-chan, she was genuinely interested in Ghosts.
Too bad she couldn't see them either, so she couldn't experience Miko's terror firsthand.
"Miko, did you get attacked by the Ghost? How did Hachiman suddenly get to your side?", When they got close, Yurikawa Hana saw Miko still sprawled against Hachiman's chest and, whispering, urged her to pull herself together a little.
Although it was late and people on the street couldn't clearly see faces from a distance, one boy holding three girls at the roadside still attracted a lot of attention.
"Hana...", Hearing her friend's voice, Miko, who had just regained a little strength, lifted her head from Hachiman's chest, eyes rimmed with tears as she looked at Yurikawa Hana, feeling bitter inside.
She'd thought Hana was too fat to run and, since Hana might be a prime target for Ghosts, she didn't want her coming over. But with Hana not there, Miko had been too scared to move.
"Huh? Miko, what's wrong? Was that spirit that scary?", Only now did Yurikawa Hana notice Miko looked like she was about to cry; she hurried over, inspected and supported her, concern mixed with puzzlement.
Miko hadn't run back, so Hana assumed nothing had happened, so how did things escalate to this?
"I... it's nothing... earlier there were about ten Ghosts around me. I didn't notice and thought they were people waiting in line."
"When I realized, I got scared and my legs went weak, so I had Hachiman support me..."
Miko leaned on Hana's shoulder and slowly straightened up, then glanced at Ichiji Nijika and Gotou Hitori, still clinging to Hachiman and listening nervously, and eyes sparkling with anticipation respectively, and pressed her lips together, not wanting to air her embarrassing moment in public.
Ichiji Nijika and Gotou Hitori didn't notice her embarrassment; only Hachiman did, and this wasn't the time for Miko to out herself... so she kept quiet.
"Ah? Miko, are you hurt anywhere? Drink some water and calm down," Yurikawa Hana, reading Miko's hesitant expression and sensing something off, quickly fetched water and checked for injuries, there wasn't time to ponder anything else.
"A bit better... Hana, don't worry. My legs just went weak. The Ghosts were all taken care of by Hachiman."
Miko sipped water in small gulps, nodded slowly, and involuntarily looked over at Hachiman, whose face was as calm as ever.
"So we measured the range of my life-energy protection. It's roughly the straight-line length from this end of the street to here. If you're near me you're safe, but even if you're not next to me, don't worry, I can appear beside you if there's danger," Hachiman looked at Miko, whose unusually flushed face still hadn't faded, and pondered.
"Miko's issue is mainly that she can see ghosts ordinary people can't, so even without immediate danger, an aimlessly wandering spirit suddenly appearing would scare her."
The chance of an ordinary person being targeted by a Ghost was probably low, no more likely than running into a murderer at home. If it happened frequently, Yurikawa Hana and the others wouldn't be alive to complain.
But Miko was special. Hachiman thought she not only awoke the kind of yin-yang eyes that see ghosts, she might have a summoning-type constitution too, though not as obvious as Hana's abundant life energy.
"Um... Hachiman-kun, could you walk around the shops with us for a bit?"
Miko explained briefly to Hana, drank water to steady herself, and, seeing Kita Ikuyo and the others still looking at her, hesitated, looking at Hachiman awkwardly.
It was a bit embarrassing to ask Hachiman to accompany her shopping now.
But... she really couldn't go home like this; she couldn't even ride the train in her current state.
"Huh?"
Kita Ikuyo and Yurikawa Hana looked puzzled at Miko's request, 'What does she mean, suddenly go shopping?'
"We won't go out shopping this late. Next time, Miko, if you want to shop I'll come with you," Hachiman looked at Miko's still-not-fully-faded blush and frowned slightly. He guessed she wanted to buy some undergarments, but then shook his head.
"I have two younger sisters; Iris and the others stay at my house, and guests come over often, so we have plenty of clean clothes that haven't been used. Don't worry about having nothing to change into at my place."
"As for school uniforms, I can do pinpoint teleportation magic in small steps, I'll take you back to my house now; wash and dry them tonight, they'll be ready by morning."
He had cleaning magic, so he wouldn't let Miko stay embarrassed on the street. But Miko's problem wasn't just dirt; once something seeped into clothing, his cleaning magic would be harder to use.
Although he had lots of experience with cleaning magic, he usually used it on girls he was close with and didn't need to handle things very delicately.
So actually cleaning Miko's skirt or underwear might embarrass her even more.
Anyway, Miko wouldn't dare go home alone tonight, so he might as well take her home.
His family hadn't kept a stash of unused women's clothes before, but since his house often hosted themed parties now, after Iris pointed it out, Ruritsuyu Tsubaki's personal maid, Ms. Shion, had sent a set of clean clothes to Hachiman's house to be prepared for such occasions.
"Clean clothes... teleportation magic... Well then, Hachiman-kun, thank you. I hope Hana and I won't be a bother... I'll call my mother now," Miko bit her lip and thanked Hachiman with mixed feelings.
Buying underwear would cost money and might tip people off to her embarrassment; but if she changed she couldn't even ride the train, for fear others would notice.
Now that Hachiman could teleport her away, she had no more worries.
Taking a deep breath, Miko looked at her friend Yurikawa Hana.
"Hana, tell your parents you're staying at my place tonight."
"Eh? Staying over?"
Yurikawa Hana stared at Miko in shock, Miko was suddenly asking her to lie and tell her parents she'd be staying at someone else's house, and realized Miko had already arranged to stay at Hachiman's tonight.
'So bold?'
'Going to a boy's house right after meeting him?'
'Wait! Why is Miko dragging me along too?'
"Hana, your life energy is pretty strong. Because you can't see those Ghosts, you wouldn't know if they targeted you. The elf princess lives at Hachiman-kun's house, so we'll stay one night and ask if there's a way to deal with this."
Miko patiently explained, knowing Hana hadn't seen the grotesque spirits and might not grasp the severity. Right now she couldn't leave Hachiman's side. If she stepped outside his protective range she'd likely run into another spirit.
She knew she couldn't always rely on Hachiman's protection or keep staying at his house, but tonight she didn't want to go home.
Alone she could force herself to pretend not to see spirits that entered her home, pull the covers over her head and sleep, then get to school early the next day to be within his protection. But Hana's life energy wasn't as overwhelmingly strong as Hachiman's; her middling level would attract spirits she couldn't handle.
"Okay... then if you're staying at Hachiman's, I'll come too. I'll call now," Yurikawa Hana hadn't fully accepted ghosts yet, but seeing Miko's decision, she didn't hesitate long and agreed immediately.
Whether or not Ghosts were real, Miko was her friend. She couldn't just let Miko go stay at a stranger boy's house alone.
"What about you, Nijika and Bocchi-chan? Going home or coming to my place tonight?", After Miko and Hana decided, Hachiman looked down at Ichiji Nijika and Gotou Hitori, who still clung to his arm and hadn't spoken up.
He'd already said he'd appear by their side if there was danger, but Miko didn't believe he could appear that fast from so far away and worried that if everyone slept, he might not notice if Hana was in trouble.
Well... he couldn't exactly tell them he often stayed up all night with Iris and the others and could go to school without sleep.
"I'll go to your house! But I'll tell Yumiko and my sister first."
Ichiji Nijika didn't hesitate; she trusted Hachiman to appear if they were in danger.
Based on what she knew of him, if Hachiman said he could do it, he wouldn't promise lightly.
But she was too panicked to sleep; with Hachiman nearby she didn't dare risk Ghosts appearing around her. Going to a boy's house overnight was serious, so she'd tell Yumiko to remind herself not to do anything reckless and not betray her trust.
"I want to stay over at Hachiman's too, but my mom doesn't believe I have friends like you, Hachiman and Nijika...", Gotou Hitori was torn.
Staying late and sleeping over at a friend's house was high on her fantasy list, but her mother didn't believe she actually had friends like Hachiman, Nijika, and Ryou, she thought they were imaginary.
Even though Hitori claimed Hachiman promised to support her for life and even showed five man yen in allowance he'd given her, her mother still didn't believe.
"Just video-call your mom later. Have Nijika and the others explain it's a band training camp; next time we can visit properly," Hachiman stroked Gotou Hitori's pink, waist-length hair and smiled.
It'd be best if he greeted her mother. After all, he planned to be Hitori's husband and take care of her someday.
But he'd never met Hitori's mother, and asking Hitori to stay at his house unannounced might worry her mom into thinking Hitori was being tricked. Let them tell a little white lie about a band sleepover.
"Oh right, video call is a great idea!", Gotou Hitori brightened, enthusiastically agreeing.
With Nijika's friendly presence on the call, her mom should be convinced.
"What about me? Hachiman, aren't you going to ask me if I'm coming to your place?", Yamada Ryou, seeing Hachiman asked only Hitori and Nijika, pointed at herself in mock offense.
Isn't Hachiman supposed to ask her? Though he mainly hung out with Nijika and Hitori, he never hid that he looked at the black stockings on her legs whenever he looked her way.
It seemed like Nijika, Yumiko, and Marin were playing some kind of "bully" game with Hachiman; now that Nijika and the girls had agreed, shouldn't he ask Ryou too?
"Ryou, didn't you tell Kirisu-sensei you, Nijika, and Bocchi-chan are my girlfriends, and that you all live at my house? Aren't you coming to stay with me?", Hachiman rolled his eyes at Ryou, who looked cool but was shamelessly indecent.
"Is that true? Ryou!!"
Ichiji Nijika, on a call with her sister, was shocked and glared at Yamada Ryou, embarrassed and angry.
'Ryou... always talking nonsense outside.'
"Nijika, don't listen to Hachiman's lies, he's sowing discord between us."
Yamada Ryou prepared to retort, but Hachiman was ready.
"Nijika, do you believe me or Ryou? I have no reason to lie to Kirisu-sensei about something that doesn't benefit me."
"But Ryou, she said in the office today, in front of Kirisu-sensei, that you were my girlfriends to make trouble for me. If I don't give her money she won't stop."
"Nijika, check her wallet. She definitely has some big bills she hasn't spent."
Hachiman grinned at Ryou, who'd run out of cash and had no one else to borrow from, who else would be the source of sudden large bills in her wallet?
After all, Ryou's family ran a hospital and she wasn't truly poor; she'd just blown through her allowance without restraint.
Of all people, only he was willing to give Ryou money, and she was willing to accept it.
"Hachiman... you're despicable!"
Ryou's face stiffened when Hachiman mentioned the money, no matter how she argued, she couldn't explain it away.
She'd miscalculated; she thought Hachiman was easy to tease, but he'd been waiting for her. He'd definitely planned this.
"I'm calling now, forget you guys!"
Seeing Ryou's expression, Ichiji Nijika knew she'd been betrayed by her friend. Her sister's call connected, and she clenched her teeth, vowing to settle the score later, then turned to explain the sleepover to her sister.
This is how it is with Yumiko, and with Ryou, really, they truly were her good friends.
[T/N: I have released a new novels set on Type-Moon universe: "Playboy Watchman of Camelot". Search it by name, it is not in this account. Do give it a try. Have a great read~ I have also pinned it below.]
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