Chapter 151: Just Face It Normally
After getting up, Hikigaya Hachiman used the bathroom at Yotsuya Miko's house to splash cold water on his face, and finally fully woke up.
"As I thought, I shouldn't have slept in the middle."
Looking at his somewhat haggard face in the mirror, Hachiman gave a bitter smile.
He stepped out of the bathroom.
Yotsuya Miko and Komachi hadn't gotten up yet.
But that was normal.
After all, it was only a little past five in the morning.
If it weren't for that especially vivid dream, Hachiman himself would probably still be lying in the warm futon, fast asleep.
He easily found the keys on the table.
After putting on his shoes by the entrance, Hachiman left the Yotsuya house, jogging while looking for a nearby 24-hour convenience store.
Half an hour later,
Hachiman returned to the Yotsuya house carrying a large bag of items.
"Yo, good morning!"
Just as he entered the entrance, the middle-aged man who had disappeared all night suddenly appeared and greeted him.
"Good morning, uncle."
Politely responding, Hachiman immediately asked about the previous night's events.
"After Miko and I went into the storage room, you were the one who put out the candle, right?"
"I didn't…"
Seeing Hachiman's suspicious look, the middle-aged man tilted his face to one side and denied it.
"I was just standing by the candle, and it went out naturally. You can't blame me for that…"
"..."
Faced with the middle-aged man suddenly acting like a rogue, a crow slowly flew over Hachiman's head.
"That almost made Miko cry."
Sighing, Hachiman told the man not to do that again.
Miko already bore a lot of psychological pressure regularly, and on top of that, if the man kept scaring her like this, she would eventually break down.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted — to scare her into crying."
Hearing Hachiman's words, the man muttered softly.
He was a benevolent spirit and couldn't easily influence the real world like an evil spirit.
He went through all that trouble to put out the candle last night so that his daughter would cry and Hachiman would comfort her.
After all, he had personally experienced that a crying woman was quite alluring.
Back in the day, he and Miko's mother were like that...
cough cough — getting sidetracked.
Anyway, after what happened in the storage room last night, the man was sure his daughter and Hachiman had gotten closer.
Although neither of them seemed to notice it yet...
"By the way, you bought so many things — are you planning to make breakfast?"
The man's gaze shifted from Hachiman to the bag he was carrying.
After seeing what Hachiman had bought, he showed a slight satisfied and approving expression.
Although it wasn't absolute, guys who knew how to cook were often gentle and considerate.
"Yeah."
Hachiman nodded.
Before going out, he had already checked the fridge at Yotsuya Miko's place.
If it weren't for the soda and snacks, he would have thought Miko usually didn't buy anything.
While chatting with the man, footsteps suddenly came from inside the house.
Hachiman changed shoes and entered the living room, just bumping into Yotsuya Miko coming down from the second floor.
"G-good morning!"
Already changed into casual clothes, Miko's face instantly turned red when she saw Hachiman.
After mumbling an awkward greeting, she quickly ran into the bathroom like escaping.
"...Um, did I do something excessive?"
Turning to the middle-aged man beside him, Hachiman asked with a confused expression.
"Not at all~"
With a smiling, squinting expression, the man shook his head.
"..."
Although Hachiman felt the man was hinting at something, he had no clue, so he just shook his head helplessly and went into the kitchen.
Splashing cold water on his face again.
Listening to the sounds from the kitchen, Miko felt her face grow even hotter.
"Why did that kind of thing happen?!"
Looking up at her reflection in the mirror, she felt like crying but had no tears.
She was usually a very quiet sleeper, so why last night...
Wait a second...
Miko blinked and suddenly remembered someone.
"Dad, are you there?"
Her gaze scanned the bathroom, and she tentatively called out.
"Is there something you want?"
The middle-aged man came out from outside the bathroom door.
Hearing his daughter's voice again after a year made him very emotional, a smile beaming on his face.
"Was it you who did everything last night?"
Having guessed what happened, Miko had regained her usual composure.
She crossed her arms and looked displeased as she asked her father.
"What do you mean?"
Scratching his head, the man looked a bit embarrassed.
"I mean everything!"
Hearing that, Miko stomped her foot in frustration.
Seriously, her dad was always worrying for no reason!
"I did put out the candle, but it was you who rolled into that guy's futon afterwards — you can't blame me for that!"
Seeing his daughter getting angry, the man quickly raised a white flag.
He had just managed to restore their relationship, and he didn't want to be hated again.
"Impossible!"
Miko found it hard to believe.
"Putting out the candle was already my limit — I don't have that much power to interfere with reality."
But the man shrugged his hands, indicating he had no way of pushing a fully alive Miko into Hachiman's futon.
"Alright then."
Sighing, Miko reluctantly accepted reality.
Now she was facing a definite dilemma.
She couldn't stay in the bathroom forever, so how should she face Hachiman later?
He must know what happened last night, right?
"Just face it normally, isn't that enough?"
The experienced middle-aged man immediately gave Miko advice.
Rather than panic and accidentally reveal more, it was better to watch the other person's reaction and decide how to respond.
This was the tactic Miko's mother was good at.
.
.
-
Stepping out of the bathroom,
In just a few minutes, Komachi — who had been sound asleep — was also awake.
She was now slumped on the sofa playing on her phone, while Hachiman came and went in the kitchen.
"Ah, Miko-nee, good morning!"
Komachi covered her mouth to yawn, then saw Miko coming out of the bathroom.
She winked at her with an inscrutable smile on her face.
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