Chapter 46: The Return
Nightfall descended upon Tokyo once again.
Those who had been busy all day began to enjoy the Tokyo night; inviting a good friend or colleague for a sip of sake is the favorite pastime of the salaryman crowd. Once the alcohol starts flowing, the boasting begins—for example, the simultaneous serious fires in multiple buildings last night provided excellent material.
Business in the hot spring district only ever picks up after nightfall. The brilliant lights illuminate the entire street with a bandit-like brightness, lighting up the night sky to the point that even if someone were actually paying attention to the sky instead of their feet, it wouldn't be easy to notice the fleeting bolt of lightning reflected against that sea of lights.
Few people know that this hot spring street is connected to an old yet significant building. Even the locals no longer have a deep impression of that old-style inn on the side of the hill called Hinata House; after all, it hasn't been prosperous for a very long time.
Most importantly, its location is poor. When it was first built, it was purely for political purposes, intended as a place for high-ranking officials and nobles to socialize. Back then, this wasn't a hot spring street, but just a crude dirt road. In those days, whenever night fell, the carriages of Great Men would travel back and forth in an endless stream. High officials who started as Restoration patriots but had seen their ideals eroded by politics, butchers who had left piles of heads in the wars against China and Russia, nobles of illustrious families, and even important members of the Imperial Family were once regulars here.
After the Great War, it was converted into an inn open to the public and enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, as the hot spring street was established, it gradually lost its competitive edge. Following World War II, both the Japanese military and political circles underwent purges, and the political significance inherent to this place caused it to be intentionally and completely ignored, becoming a place adjacent to but isolated from the hot spring street.
Hinata House, which flourished because of politics and fell because of politics—it was only logical.
Therefore, when a Campione moved here, it naturally became the most prominent spot in Japanese magical society. As of now, none of the big shots controlling Japanese magical society have been permitted to enter.
Now, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky from England and entered a room in the main building. The high-heat lightning power caused no damage to anything in the room, instead manifesting the physical form of the world's seventh Campione.
Returning to the place where he ate and slept, Hikigaya stretched comfortably, feeling in high spirits. He first checked the clock, then flipped through the calendar in the room to confirm the time he had agreed to meet his old classmates—it was tomorrow, or more precisely, ten hours from now.
Thus, he decided to check his sister's homework first—if a tutor doesn't assign homework, what's the point? His little sister wasn't going tomorrow, and Hikigaya believed that if he simply showered and went to sleep without checking her work, she would happily skip out on it. The tutor likely wouldn't punish her because they were too familiar.
In that sense, finding a "demon tutor" who isn't close with Komachi has real practical value. Since Hikigaya himself was tormented that way back in the day, wouldn't it be a shame if she didn't experience such a "meaningful" youth?
Walking to the South Wing, Hikigaya first went to the dining room and saw Moe happily cooking—she was making a midnight snack for him. It was an interesting phenomenon: because she couldn't eat herself, the newly reborn Moe took a particular interest in cooking. Her culinary skills were also surprisingly excellent, if one didn't count her first attempt.
Hikigaya didn't disturb her. He turned and headed for Komachi's room, but at the door, he wasn't at all surprised to hear the sounds of rowdy playing coming from inside. There was also the voice acting of Meruru. That part was somewhat unexpected.
He knocked on the doorframe and called out, "Open up, I'm here for a homework inspection." Afterward, he took great pleasure in hearing the sound of chaotic scurrying on the other side of the door.
Hikigaya's former ambition was to be the Academic Representative—not because he wanted to be a top student, but because he really wanted to experience that super-satisfying sense of accomplishment on the first morning after a long holiday, having the power of life and death over the many people in class who hadn't written or finished their homework. Seeing the "scum" look like they were facing a formidable enemy one by one was just too entertaining.
"I haven't handed mine to the teacher yet, do you want to copy some?" "Yes! Yes! Yes!" "Sorry, the teacher called me, I'm leaving now."
Dialogues like these had once played out between Hikigaya and the Academic Representative. Unfortunately, he had always been the weakling in the middle with only three words to say ("Yes! Yes! Yes!"). In those days, on the revolutionary path known as "copying homework early in the morning," getting on good terms with the group leader was just the beginning of the climb; the first great mountain was always the Academic Representative.
As for now... Hikigaya declared that he would be his sister's Mount Everest. He would be all three "Great Mountains" combined.
After a while, the door finally opened.
"You demon!" It was Komachi who pushed the door open, looking huffily at her personal Mount Everest. "Yukino-san already promised me I could play today!"
Hikigaya's response was to rub Komachi's head, maliciously messing up her hairstyle. There were several other girls in the room. Everyone was wearing cute pajamas, though they were the type suitable for seeing guests.
"Where did Big Brother go? I haven't seen you all day." Komachi pouted as she closed the door and plopped back down among her friends.
"Went for drinks with a friend," Hikigaya said. "Even if you're playing, you should do a bit of homework, otherwise you'll forget everything."
"Wow! You actually drank! And for the whole day!" Komachi deliberately ignored the second half of his sentence and seized upon the first to start her critique.
Well, this method of only attacking the enemy's weak points while avoiding one's own wasn't bad, but...
"What's wrong with me drinking? Adults are allowed to drink." "I'm an adult too, so what's wrong with playing a bit?"
An adult "playing a bit"? You silly girl, you don't understand how adults play at all...
"No, you're just a kid," Hikigaya said. "Because you're younger than me."
In the room, Komachi's friends began to giggle.
"Komachi, it's impossible for Big Brother to have been drinking all day; there's no smell of alcohol on him at all," Ayase Aragaki smiled.
"Oh, Ayase! You're siding with my brother again, choosing looks over friendship!" Komachi huffed.
"You like my 'trashy' brother, don't you?"
She had just said it casually, but Ayase Aragaki was genuinely startled. Her friends' gazes became somewhat peculiar.
"Speaking of which, though Ayase doesn't have a brother, she actually has 'brother-con' attributes, doesn't she?"
"She's always calling Komachi's brother 'Big Brother'..."
The girls whispered among themselves, their eyes filled with the mischievous look of people who just want to see the world burn. Though they called it whispering, they intentionally spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. Kanako Kurusu, who had been setting the pace the whole time, found this incredibly fun.
"Kanako..." The previously flustered Ayase suddenly underwent a total change in temperament. Her tone remained gentle, but as for her eyes...
"Kanako has always been a good girl, hasn't she?" Ayase approached Kanako with a smile. "You mustn't do the things that only bad girls do."
"Eh? Eek?" Seeing Ayase crawling toward her in a soul-stirring posture, Kanako, who had intended to be rowdy, turned pale. She waved her hands frantically and said in a panic, "Right, right! I won't do that kind of thing! Waaah! Help!"