Chapter 331: Hikigaya Hachiman is Mentally Exhausted
"So, is there a reason for waking me up this early?"
Ten minutes later, under the combined urging of Komachi and Sakura, Hikigaya Hachiman—having finished a simple wash and sitting at the dining table with hair like a bird's nest—yawned and looked at his sisters with a look of utter helplessness.
"Kagura is coming over to play today!"
While picking out all the food she disliked and piling it onto Hachiman's plate, Komachi explained the reason for the early wake-up call while enjoying her own breakfast.
"That doesn't seem to have anything to do with me, does it?"
Hachiman poked at the food he also disliked with a fork, his voice trailing off in resignation.
"But the main reason Kagura is coming is to find you, Onii-chan."
Mentioning the reason for Kagura's visit made Komachi pout. Kagura was supposed to be her friend, yet the reason for the visit was Hachiman.
"Onii-chan... you didn't do something to Kagura, did you?"
Having read some strange books recently based on Illya's recommendations, Komachi looked at Hachiman with a glint of suspicion in her eyes.
"I didn't do anything at all!"
Hachiman, who was drinking milk, nearly choked on Komachi's words. Seeing this, Sakura, who had been eating quietly, thoughtfully brought over a tissue to help wipe the milk droplets from his clothes.
"Thank you, Sakura."
Gratefully ruffling Sakura's long hair and noting inwardly that she seemed to have grown a bit taller again, Hachiman turned his gaze back to Komachi.
"Komachi, you haven't been reading more weird books on Illya's advice lately, have you?"
Since he had been burned by Illya before, Hachiman immediately locked onto the silver-haired loli as the prime suspect.
"Hehe, how is that possible?"
Komachi scratched her cheek guiltily and looked away, not daring to meet Hachiman's eyes.
"......."
Watching her use the exact same evasive maneuvers he used when lying, Hachiman felt as if a flock of crows was flying through the room.
"Well, anyway, except for playing games, you should spend less time with Illya," Hachiman said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples.
"Understood!"
Komachi, seeing that she had escaped trouble, gave a very cheap verbal promise.
Ding-dong~
Just as the siblings finished discussing whether Hachiman had done anything to Kagura, the doorbell rang from the entryway.
"Is she here that early?"
Knowing someone was visiting, Hachiman instinctively assumed it was Kagura. However, it wasn't even 8:00 AM yet. Isn't this a bit early for a visit?
"Hmm, Komachi isn't sure either..."
Facing Hachiman's doubt, Komachi was also puzzled. Although Kagura said she would visit this morning, a "morning visit" usually meant after 9:00 AM, didn't it?
"Um, it might be Illya or Auntie Iris."
While Hachiman and Komachi stared at each other, Sakura offered her own guess. To Illya, the Hikigaya house was clearly no different from her own. And it wasn't like she hadn't come over to play before without prior notice...
"Illya?"
At Sakura's suggestion, Hachiman fell silent. Especially considering they were just discussing the little loli, his head began to ache even more. If it was Illya at the door, there was a high probability Irisviel was coming along as well...
Of course, he didn't dislike them coming over. On the contrary, their presence made the Hikigaya house much livelier, and Sakura would be happy. It was just that every time they visited, Hachiman felt like he was looking after four children at once.
To be honest, that feeling of being both a parent and manual labor was not very friendly in Hachiman's eyes.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! ...
Receiving no response, the person outside began ringing the bell more frequently. Sensing the irritable mood from the frequency of the bell, Hachiman stood up and walked to the entryway.
Chomp!
He opened the door. Before he could even say hello, he suddenly felt a "human attachment" on his right arm, followed by a sharp sting of pain traveling from his arm to his brain.
"......"
After an awkward glance at Irisviel, Hachiman looked down at Illya, who was still latched onto his arm and refusing to let go.
"Why are you biting me?"
"Because you didn't open the door!"
At Hachiman's question, Illya momentarily let go.
"But I opened it in the end!"
"Too slow! You definitely didn't want to open it earlier!"
Though she didn't know exactly what happened during the wait, Illya was certain of the fact that Hachiman hadn't wanted to open the door.
"........"
Having his thoughts accurately guessed, Hachiman gave up on making excuses. Fortunately, Illya's attention was quickly diverted by Sakura, who came running over at the noise. With a joyful cheer, Illya abandoned Hachiman without a trace of nostalgia, jumping down and throwing herself into Sakura's embrace.
Hachiman stepped aside and invited Irisviel into the house.
"I'm sorry for intruding again today..."
Perhaps realizing she had visited the Hikigaya house far too many times this summer, the more mature Irisviel apologized with a look of guilt. Hachiman was somewhat moved by her self-awareness.
However, just as he was about to offer some empty pleasantries to show his magnanimity, Irisviel's eyes suddenly landed on the new game console in the corner of the living room—the one Komachi had recently bought...
Watching Irisviel become completely captivated by the console, Hachiman looked up at the ceiling in resignation. Truly, this mother-daughter pair was beyond saving!
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10:00 AM sharp.
A high-end black sedan came to a slow stop in front of the Hikigaya residence.
Wearing casual clothes and holding a box containing all of the Tsuchimiya family's Sessho-seki, Tsuchimiya Kagura stood before the door.
She rang the bell. Just as Kagura was full of anticipation to see what the home of an Exorcist Lord looked like, a burst of chaotic noise suddenly erupted from inside the house...
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