Chapter 115: Car Accident
"....."
Hikigaya Hachiman suspected that the driver was implying something, but he had no proof.
About twenty minutes later, the taxi exited the highway and entered the outskirts of Tokyo. Because the area where the destination was located prohibited vehicles from entering, Hachiman got off at the entrance to the neighborhood.
"Thank you for your patronage. Please ride with us again~"
After receiving two large bills from Hachiman and handing back the change, the taxi slowly disappeared into the night.
"This really is an out-of-the-way place..."
Looking around, he noticed that although it wasn't even 9 PM yet, the entire neighborhood had barely any lights on except for the streetlights.
Confirming the direction with a street sign, Hachiman slowly stepped into the neighborhood.
"Onii-chan!"
Just as he arrived in front of Komachi's friend's house and pressed the doorbell, Komachi—who had clearly been waiting—rushed out and leapt into his arms.
"All right now, you're too old to be doing this kind of thing..."
Hachiman patted her on the back, his face full of affection.
"Haha, you two are really close, huh…"
At that moment, a girl's silver-bell-like laugh came from the house again. Hachiman looked up and saw a short-haired girl dressed in a middle school uniform standing in the entryway, covering her mouth as she laughed.
"Hello, I'm Hikigaya Hachiman. Sorry for the trouble my little sister has caused…"
Realizing the girl must be the friend who had invited Komachi over, Hachiman immediately straightened up and spoke politely.
"It's no trouble at all. We had a lot of fun together."
As she spoke, the short-haired girl winked at Komachi.
Komachi, in turn, smiled and revealed her little fang.
The two girls had a wordless brainwave conversation right in front of Hachiman.
"Ah, right. I'm Tsuchimiya Kagura. I hope we'll get along from now on, big brother."
"If you're Komachi's friend, feel free to ask me for help with anything you need."
Hearing Kagura's self-introduction, Hachiman nodded indifferently and gave a courteous offer of help.
"Really? You mean it?"
To his surprise, Kagura's eyes lit up upon hearing that.
"Uh, of course I mean it."
Judging from Kagura's expression, she clearly had something she wanted to ask him. But since Hachiman had just made that grand promise in front of Komachi, he could only bite the bullet and nod.
After some brief small talk, Hachiman led Komachi out of the neighborhood.
"It's rare, isn't it? For you to go all the way to a friend's house this late at night—and such a faraway place too..."
"Because I was curious!"
When Hachiman asked why she had gone to Kagura's house, Komachi replied cheerfully.
"Curious?"
"Yeah! Kagura only recently transferred from Tokyo—she's super mysterious!"
"She transferred to Chiba recently?"
Hachiman's footsteps paused. His heartbeat skipped, and an ominous feeling crept into his mind.
"It's strange, right? It's already close to midterms, and she suddenly transferred to a place even farther from her home…"
"Komachi..."
Hachiman suddenly interrupted his sister.
"What is it, Onii-chan?"
"You asked me to come here on purpose tonight, didn't you?"
Turning to face her, Hachiman looked at Komachi with an expression full of helplessness.
From the moment they met, she'd been constantly bringing up Kagura, mentioning her oddities and dropping clues left and right. It was clearly all meant to pique his interest.
"As expected of Onii-chan. You saw right through me!"
Never planning to hide it to begin with, Komachi admitted it readily.
"Why?"
If she just wanted to introduce him to Kagura, she could've said so directly. If Komachi asked for something like that, he'd never refuse.
So why go through all this to lure him to Tokyo?
"Because it's rare for a classmate to actually invite me to her house!"
Though she had plenty of friends, because she always went straight home after school, this was Komachi's first time being invited over since entering middle school.
"I see."
Hearing that, Hachiman's expression relaxed.
It was because she always prioritized her lonely, antisocial brother that she'd missed out on so many chances to hang out with her friends.
Having exited the neighborhood, the Hikigaya siblings stood at the roadside to flag down a taxi. Perhaps by coincidence, when the taxi pulled up in front of them, Hachiman immediately recognized the driver from earlier.
The driver recognized him too. Seeing Komachi beside him, the driver opened his mouth slightly and showed an expression of understanding.
"She's my sister!"
Since they'd already chatted for a while earlier, their relationship wasn't that of strangers. Seeing the misunderstanding on the driver's face, Hachiman quickly explained.
He definitely didn't want to become the subject of some dramatic story the driver might tell future passengers.
"Oh, I see…"
Upon hearing they were siblings, the driver's disappointment was visible.
What a shame. He'd already imagined a whole story about a high school boy crossing two cities at night just to see his girlfriend.
Only for it to turn into a heartwarming family story in the end?
"Anyway, just start driving, old man!"
Hachiman had no interest in knowing what the driver had been imagining.
After getting in the backseat with Komachi, he hurried the driver to hit the road.
"No worries. With my years of driving experience, I'll get you two home in no time."
Even though he didn't get the gossip he'd hoped for, the driver still maintained his professional demeanor.
With a beautiful reverse turn, the taxi sped along the deserted, camera-free road toward Chiba.
"Come to think of it, we really are fated to meet today..."
Just as they got onto the highway, the driver resumed his habit of chatting. But suddenly, firelight appeared up ahead, and the driver's words abruptly stopped.
"What's happening up there?"
Seeing the glow, Hachiman asked curiously.
"Not sure. Let's be careful."
As he spoke, the driver slowed down to assess the situation.
Soon, they reached the source of the fire.
It was the burning wreck of two cars that had crashed into each other!
"Hey, I'm calling the cops..."
Without hesitation, the driver immediately dialed and reported the accident.
Then he pulled the taxi over to a safe spot, opened the door, and got out to check on the scene.
"Hey, it's dangerous!"
Seeing the flames engulfing the cars, Hachiman's eyelid twitched as he warned the driver.
"What if there are still people inside?"
But the driver wasn't deterred. He ran straight toward the crash site.
Watching the driver's back, Hachiman bit his lip, told Komachi to wait in the car, and then followed after him.
SPOILER: Tsuchimiya Kagura = main protagonist in Ga-Rei Zero
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