Chapter 332
"Please, don't mind them."
Hearing the racket coming from behind him, Hikigaya Hachiman opened the door wide with an expressionless face and invited Tsuchimiya Kagura inside.
"Oh, okay..."
Nodding slightly, Kagura—who was here to ask for a favor—suppressed her curiosity. After changing into slippers at the entryway, she quietly followed Hachiman into the living room.
The moment she stepped inside, a wave of noise crashed into her. Instinctively covering her ears, Kagura began to observe the situation.
Two children she had never seen before were sitting in front of the TV playing games, while Komachi and a woman radiating a mature aura were huddled around another game console, shouting and cheering...
"Sigh..."
Just like Kagura, Hachiman sighed at the chaotic state of the room. He walked straight up to Komachi and tapped her on the shoulder. "Your friend is here."
"Ah, Kagura!"
At Hachiman's reminder, Komachi turned around and immediately spotted Kagura standing at the entrance of the living room.
"Good morning, Komachi."
In front of so many strangers, Kagura didn't greet Komachi with the intimacy she showed at school. Instead, she used the formal manner she had recently learned in etiquette class.
However, it was clear that Kagura hadn't quite mastered her etiquette yet. Under Komachi's casual, chatty style of conversation, she quickly abandoned her "refined lady" persona and began playing around with her friend.
"Ah, right! I almost forgot the important business!"
After chatting for a while, Kagura suddenly remembered the purpose of her visit. She hurriedly lifted the box placed by her feet, confirmed it was still intact, and stood up to look for Hachiman, who was in the kitchen preparing juice for everyone.
"Big Brother, can we talk for a moment?"
Clutching the wooden box containing the Sessho-seki, Kagura blocked Hachiman in the kitchen just as he was about to bring the juice out.
"Is there something you want to ask of me?"
Looking at the object in her hands and the hesitant expression on her face, Hachiman had already roughly guessed what was going on. He sighed and rubbed his forehead in resignation before placing the tray of juice on the counter and leaning against it, ready to listen.
"Um, it's about Yomi..."
Although Kagura had rehearsed her conversation with Hachiman countless times since deciding to visit last night, she still found herself involuntarily nervous when facing him in person.
"Yomi? What happened to her?"
As the only spiritualist who had ever actually attacked him, Hachiman had a fairly strong impression of Isayama Yomi.
"Since that day, Yomi hasn't woken up at all..."
Lowering her head, Kagura briefly recounted everything that had happened after Hachiman left that day. When Hachiman heard that Yomi's condition had left everyone feeling helpless, he rubbed his temples.
"Why do you think I can handle something that even all those doctors can't figure out?"
"Because you are very amazing, Big Brother!"
Hearing Hachiman's question, Kagura looked up and answered as if it were a matter of course.
"Being 'amazing' doesn't exactly mean being 'omnipotent,' does it?"
Her reasoning made Hachiman's head ache even more. Why did everyone think that someone stronger than them must be able to do everything?
"Um, could I please trouble you to go and look at Yomi's condition? It's fine even if you can't cure her. Please, just go and take a look!"
Kagura knew that an Exorcist wasn't an all-powerful being. However, at such a high level, an Exorcist undoubtedly possessed more vast and broader information than ordinary people. Perhaps a situation that seemed hopeless to them was a very simple, easily solved problem in Hachiman's eyes?
"As for the reward... I'm not sure if these Sessho-seki are enough..."
Fearing Hachiman might refuse to help, Kagura immediately opened the wooden box she had brought after stating her request.
"Sessho-seki?"
Initially, Hachiman hadn't cared much about the reward. After all, almost anything he currently possessed was something the spiritualist families in Tokyo could never hope to own. However, he completely did not expect Kagura to be able to produce Sessho-seki.
Shifting his gaze to the interior of the box, he saw several scarlet stones of varying sizes arranged neatly in a row at the bottom. By visual estimation, the total volume of these stones was about half the size of the one Hachiman had exchanged for previously.
"Alright, I'll go with you and take a look. But I can't guarantee a cure."
"Thank you so much!"
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"Eh, Onii-chan, you're going out again?!"
Having successfully persuaded Hachiman to help, Kagura didn't want to delay for a single moment. Upon hearing that her friend was about to spirit her brother away, Komachi—who had been happily playing games with Irisviel—suddenly wore a complex expression.
"Don't start getting ideas! I'm going to handle some business!"
Seeing Komachi's eyes darting around, Hachiman knew she was letting her imagination run wild again.
"Hehe..."
With her thoughts exposed in public, Komachi scratched her cheek awkwardly and then told Hachiman to come home early.
Bidding farewell to the group, Hachiman followed Kagura into her family's luxury sedan. As the car sped toward Tokyo, Kagura received a phone call, and her expression suddenly became solemn.
"What is it?"
"Um... Sister Mei has also met with an accident."
Putting her phone down, Kagura spoke powerlessly with her head bowed.
"The same situation as Isayama Yomi?" Hachiman raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. She was found by the roadside early this morning. Her condition is now exactly the same as Yomi's. And in the place where they found her, there were signs of a massive struggle..."
"So that means someone is intentionally targeting the Isayama family?"
Although Hachiman had only met Isayama Mei once, she was one of the few spiritualists whose strength reached the high-level tier. If it wasn't a deliberate target, Hachiman found it hard to imagine that two outstanding descendants of the Isayama family would suffer accidents in such a short time—and end up in the exact same state.
"That can't be confirmed yet, but the Isayama family is truly falling into a crisis this time!"
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