Miura Yumiko's chest was heaving violently.

Half of it was because of Hikigaya Hachiman's words, and the other half was due to Yuigahama Yui's little movements.

The combination of the two nearly drove her mad with anger.

As for Yuigahama Yui, Miura Yumiko naturally couldn't deal with her openly.

Even if she wanted to teach her a lesson, it would have to wait until it was just the two of them.

But as for Hikigaya Hachiman...

Looking at Yuigahama Yui beside her, nervously glancing at her, Miura Yumiko suddenly felt powerless.

She took a deep breath to suppress her rage and began thinking about how to deal with Hikigaya Hachiman.

Then, she suddenly remembered the Service Club's activities. Her eyes instantly lit up.

Wasn't Hikigaya Hachiman a member of the Service Club?

Then all she needed to do was assign him a few extremely troublesome requests.

By the time all his energy was drained by those requests, let's see how he'd still have the nerve to talk back to her.

And if he couldn't handle the requests, wouldn't that prove that the Service Club was pointless?

She could even use the chance to undermine Yukinoshita's reputation!

She was brilliant!

Miura Yumiko mentally gave herself a thumbs-up for her cleverness.

Then, she crossed her arms and looked at Hikigaya Hachiman in front of her with a slightly arrogant tone, saying, "I have a request I'd like to ask of you..."

"I'm sorry. I'm not accepting any requests from you."

Without the slightest hesitation, Hikigaya Hachiman firmly refused upon hearing Yumiko's words.

"Eh?"

This was the first time someone had refused her so bluntly. Miura Yumiko froze for two seconds, unable to believe what she had just heard.

That lowly Hikigaya actually dared to reject her request—how infuriating! Just like that woman!

"In any case, I won't accept any request as long as it comes from you. If there's nothing else, we'll be leaving now..."

Seeing the dazed look in Miura Yumiko's eyes, Hikigaya Hachiman unexpectedly found her a little cute.

Of course, that was something he absolutely couldn't say aloud.

He nodded politely toward Miura Yumiko, as a gesture of farewell, then gave Yuigahama Yui a look and pushed his bike forward.

"Then, Yumiko, I'm going home now~"

Understanding the meaning in Hachiman's glance, Yuigahama Yui bit her lip in hesitation, but ultimately decided to leave Miura behind and chased after him.

After all, she still had so many questions she wanted Hikigaya Hachiman to answer.

And Yumiko was so strong—surely she'd be fine even without her, right?

Before Miura Yumiko could even respond, she saw her loyal sidekick already briskly running up to that dead-fish-eyed guy, chatting and laughing with him.

Such a crushing defeat...

A feeling of loss suddenly welled up in Miura Yumiko's mind.

She had come here out of concern that Yukinoshita might be bullying Yui, even turning down a KTV invitation just to wait here.

And yet...

Miura Yumiko reached up and patted her cheeks to compose herself, then turned around and headed in the direction of her home.

"Phew..."

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew past her. Miura Yumiko immediately felt a weight press down on her shoulder.

However, when she turned to look at her shoulder, there was nothing there aside from the strap of her school bag.

"Was that my imagination?"

She gently patted her shoulder, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

.

.

.

"Hikki, why are you staring at me like that?"

Since that gust of wind earlier, Yuigahama Yui had noticed Hikigaya Hachiman staring at her intently.

It made her feel a bit shy but also curious—what exactly was he looking at?

"No, it's nothing."

Upon hearing her question, Hikigaya Hachiman withdrew his gaze.

But his mind was still stuck on that gust of wind from earlier.

Just as the wind passed between them, he noticed the black aura that had been clinging to Yuigahama Yui suddenly vanish.

No, "vanish" wasn't quite the right word. More accurately, that wind had blown away the black aura from Yuigahama.

'That wind... was definitely not normal.'

Hikigaya Hachiman was certain of that.

But when the wind passed by him, the system didn't alert him to any nearby evil spirits.

'Was it a wind summoned by a distant spirit... or created by an exorcist?'

Those were the only two explanations he could think of.

Of the two, he leaned toward the first.

After all, with only five exorcists in all of Japan, the odds of randomly encountering one were just too low...

"By the way, Hikki, why did you reject Yumiko's request just now?"

Seeing that Hachiman wouldn't give her a straight answer, Yuigahama Yui puffed up her cheeks like a bun in frustration.

But her curiosity soon got the better of her, and she asked him again why he had refused Miura.

"Because I'm sure Miura's request was meant to mess with me."

At the mention of Miura Yumiko, Hikigaya Hachiman sighed and looked exasperated.

He honestly didn't know what he had done to offend her so badly—why was she so hostile from the very start?

Besides, when she mentioned the request, she looked so excited—she didn't even try to hide her expression!

He wasn't stupid; of course he could tell she was planning something.

And with someone as proud and haughty as Miura Yumiko, if she ever really had a problem, there's no way she'd come to him for help.

"Yumiko wouldn't go that far, would she?"

Yuigahama Yui stuck out her tongue sheepishly, uncertain about Hachiman's explanation.

Sure, Miura often called her stupid, but she always helped when Yui was in trouble—why would she go out of her way to mess with Hachiman?

"Who knows?"

Hikigaya Hachiman glanced at Yui and could tell she really didn't know what Miura was up to—not pretending, but genuinely clueless.

Since Miura had no intention of telling Yui, he figured he shouldn't say too much either.

Soon, the two arrived at Yuigahama's neighborhood.

Now that the black aura was gone, Hachiman felt it was safe for Yui to walk home alone.

After saying their goodbyes, Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly got the urge to test his improved physical condition.

So he hopped on his bike and sped all the way home, just in time to run into Komachi, who had walked back.

"You're unbelievable, Onii-chan! Riding so fast is really dangerous, you know!"

In the Hikigaya family's living room, Komachi stood with her hands on her hips, sternly scolding her brother.

"Sorry..."

Sitting in front of her in a proper kneeling position, Hikigaya Hachiman had a wry smile on his face as he listened to her righteous lecture.

He'd finally gotten the urge to go for a wild ride—and got caught by Komachi the moment he got home.

His luck was really something else.

"A simple apology isn't enough, you know! Komachi really worries about you getting into an accident!"

Clearing her throat, Komachi looked at her brother with some frustration, seeing how he didn't seem to grasp the seriousness.

Fortunately, Hachiman had told her about the system before.

Otherwise, today's reckless ride would've scared her to death.

He'd barely recovered from his injuries from the previous accident, and here he was doing something dangerous again...

"It won't happen again!"

Seeing the concern on Komachi's face, Hikigaya Hachiman spoke sincerely.

He didn't want his little sister to worry about him anymore.

From now on, he'd follow the traffic rules no matter what.