Chapter 40: Walking in the Dark
Under Yuigahama's urging, Hikigaya walked into the dark portal with her.
As they descended step by step, the surrounding light visibly faded rapidly. After turning a corner and walking a few more steps, they were plunged into complete darkness.
In this pitch-black space, without the handrails along the edges, an ordinary person would completely lose their sense of distance and direction. Even magicians wouldn't fare much better here if they relied solely on their eyes—after all, eyes need light to see.
In such darkness, it made no difference whether one's eyes were open or closed—it was total darkness. This must be what they call the abyss of darkness. Everyone moved cautiously, as if confirming the ground with every step. They stumbled forward like a group of penguins—or at least, that's what it looked like to Hikigaya.
Of course, he wasn't an ordinary person. No, more accurately, he wasn't human at all.
He possessed the power to steal light, so he could "see" very clearly in the darkness.
For example, Miura, who was walking just ahead.
She kept murmuring something like a spell, as if talking in her sleep—this chant only amplified her own fear.
Humans crave light and fear the dark—it's instinctual. Especially for modern people, their resistance to fear is even weaker.
The place was already very quiet, and because they had taken off their shoes, the cold seeped in through their soles. Combined with the uncontrollable fear in their hearts, many of them occasionally shivered.
"...This is bad, so dark, so dark, really so dark..."
Miura wasn't very brave—completely different from her usual assertive personality. Hikigaya had already seen through her back during the urn incident.
In an environment like this, the usual mask was useless.
Yuigahama was much braver. Although she shivered too, she wasn't nearly as flustered.
"This really isn't good..."
Next to Miura, Hayama muttered. Though he also seemed uneasy, he was handling it better than most.
Tobe, on the other hand, kept yelling, "Whoa, this is way too dark! Darkness level: MAX!" while the fujoshi casually replied to him.
She might've been the bravest of them all.
"Damn, this is amazing," she said—hardly sounding scared.
In this environment, even Hikigaya, a god slayer, found his hearing and touch heightened.
But this sensation was nothing new to him. He moved forward by feeling the large prayer bead-like bumps on the handrail. Because he was walking a bit fast and wasn't paying attention, he accidentally bumped into someone's hand.
Crap!
It was the fujoshi!
He stopped walking, and then felt a soft bump from behind.
"Wah! S-sorry, I can't see anything."
It was Yuigahama who bumped into him. Unable to see, she confirmed his presence by feeling his back and arm.
"No worries, I was walking too fast."
Hikigaya pulled her to his side. Her heartbeat was racing.
"I thought I got separated since you weren't saying anything."
"There wasn't really anything worth saying, you know?"
Hikigaya chuckled and continued forward.
After a winding path, something appeared in their pitch-black vision.
It was a dim grayish-white light. As they approached, they saw that it was light reflected off a rock.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
As they reached the rock, their faces became faintly illuminated.
"We're supposed to walk around the rock and make a wish," said Yuigahama, her cheeks flushed.
Did she drink? It's not that cold, is it?
"Oh?"
Hikigaya responded vaguely.
The wish in his heart wasn't something a rock could fulfill. Anyone in this world had the right to wish—except for a god-slayer. He could only rely on his own efforts.
That's the meaning of gain and loss: when you can take anything from this world with ease, and all the gods are your enemies, who can you even wish to?
"C'mon, Hikki, don't be such a grump—make a wish!"
Yuigahama's voice was excited.
"Uh..."
Hikigaya mumbled vaguely to brush it off.
"Okay, let's go around it together!"
Without warning, Yuigahama got all hyped and pulled Hikigaya into circling the rock. She closed her eyes tightly, looking very serious.
After walking around, she even clapped twice.
Wait, you have to pose like you're praying too?
Thankfully, there were no onlookers. There weren't many people who took this path—Hikigaya's group was the last one, and no one was behind them.
But perhaps influenced by her, Miura, who had already passed, came back. After watching a while, she also faced the rock and posed the same way.
She looked especially serious—probably because of her past paranormal experience. The impact of that hadn't surfaced until now, but it seemed to have "fermented" in this passage. Otherwise, she wouldn't have left Hayama's side.
Then, both girls' gazes landed on Hikigaya.
Seriously... are they really gonna make me do this?
"Hikki, go ahead! You've got something dark on your face. The book says that's a sign of bad luck!"
Yuigahama looked full of energy.
What the heck—dark on my face? That's just unwashed dirt.
Well, fine, I'll play along. Miura looks seriously stressed—this place clearly isn't for her.
Hikigaya raised his hands and gently clapped in front of the rock.
Crack...
The sound was faint, but in this tunnel, it echoed unnaturally loud and clear.
"What was that?"
"Did something crack?"
Voices were tinged with unease.
"Yumiko?" Hayama called from ahead. Everyone turned back.
But Miura didn't answer. Both she and Yuigahama were staring wide-eyed at the rock.
There was a crack in it.
Hikigaya frowned. On his shoulder, Tamamo-no-Mae leaned forward and started sniffing intensely.
Is this chick seriously not a dog demon?
After staring at the rock for a while, Hikigaya clapped again.
This time, there was no sound—but the rock crumbled into dust before his eyes.
At the same time, Hikigaya felt a stream of energy escape from it, blending into the quiet air.
As expected, there was something wrong with that rock.
Hikigaya turned around. Yuigahama looked scared, but not too bad. Miura, however, had gone completely pale.
She was definitely reminded of the urn incident.
She was probably regretting chasing her crush into a place like this with every fiber of her being.
"It's okay. Let's go."
Hikigaya said.
Whatever that thing was, as long as it wasn't a god, it wasn't worth worrying about.
"O-okay..."
Yuigahama snapped out of it. As Hikigaya turned, she quickly ran to his right side and grabbed his hand.
"Let me borrow your hand..."
She stammered, clearly shaken.
Before Hikigaya could respond, someone clung to his left arm.
It was Miura.
If Yuigahama was scared—Miura was terrified. Her face had gone completely white.
Hikigaya didn't ask anything. If it made her feel safe, then fine.
"Yumiko."
Up ahead, Hayama and the others had started heading back toward the light. When they saw Hikigaya sandwiched between the two girls—and the place where the rock had turned to dust—they looked stunned.
"I-I'm fine..." Miura stammered, which obviously meant she wasn't. But with more people around, she reverted to pretending she was okay. "I-I'll walk with Hachiman."
Hey? Not chasing your dream guy anymore? Why tag along with me?
"Well, that's fine too," Hayama nodded. "We probably shouldn't walk this kind of place again—it's not really for girls."
"Eh, Hikigaya knows martial arts, right? Even if monsters show up, we're safe!" said Tobe, laughing stupidly.
Tobe wasn't just an idiot—he was also a clown, and it showed.
The fujoshi was clearly giving him a "I'm gonna punch you" look.
Looks like his confession's dead in the water.
"Idiot, don't say stuff like that right now," Hayama said with a wry smile.
Since no one was behind them, no one rushed or saw what had just happened. After the lightened mood returned for a bit, everyone continued on, plunging into darkness once more.
Even though the mood had relaxed a little, Hikigaya was still stuck as the "cream in the cookie."
Feeling the softness and bounce from both arms, he could only sigh—these two had really unfair figures.
In terms of size, Yuigahama was slightly superior, but Miura's taller frame made her curves higher and her embrace broader. As they walked, Hikigaya's hand kept brushing her lower body.
But she seemed too terrified to care—she clung even tighter, like it gave her a sense of security. Judging by her racing heartbeat, she hadn't calmed down much.
Jeez, if it's that bad, just admit it already.
Luckily, it seemed like that rock had been placed near the end of the path. After just a few more steps, a faint light appeared, outlining the shape of an ascending staircase.
Hikigaya could hear the people in front sighing in relief.
With the light, he could just barely see that some people were already going up the stairs.
Hayama and the others picked up their pace.
"We're almost there—hang in there," Hikigaya told Miura.
He had to say it—she was practically draping her whole body over him. Her breath was hot enough to tickle his ears.
If she were his girlfriend, he'd definitely do something, but Miura wasn't.
So yeah, this was annoying. Could he not just walk in peace? His clothes were about to get yanked off!
Important Announcement!
School Tyrant Hikigaya - Starting from Class C
Summary:
Hikigaya Hachiman , who was supposed to attend Sobu High, has to attend Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School instead after his Father lost his Job.
This sacrifice was made in hopes that his younger sister, Komachi, could eventually go to university.
After all this school offered free tuition.
After arriving at school, he discovered that he was assigned to Class C.
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