Chapter 7: Thoughts on Revisiting Old Places
Although he didn't understand why the lower half of the boy before him looked like it had some kind of hormonal explosion, Hikigaya, following the idea that it's a virtue not to disturb someone else's happiness, let this young man named Watanuki scream and holler while trespassing into the residence.
After all, Yuko was running a shop, so this could be considered a business visit.
Once the boy had entered the house, Hikigaya slowly walked inside.
Walking down the corridor and pushing open the hall door, he saw Yuko as usual, conning some unlucky delivery customer.
It was quite interesting. Except for Hikigaya, everyone Hikigaya knew who entered this shop seemed to have the same experience: Yuko would explain that their visit was inevitable, and everyone appeared to enter unconsciously.
Undoubtedly, this was the kind of skill that multi-level marketers would dream of.
Getting back on track, Hikigaya had come to Yuko today to ask whether the person she was waiting for had appeared yet. At first, he had some expectations for Watanuki Kunimi, but after entering and observing Yuko's attitude, it seemed no different from her attitude toward other visitors.
Hikigaya thought waiting for someone was boring; it was more convenient to just find them directly.
At this point, Yuko had already started asking Watanuki Kunimi about his wish.
Hikigaya wasn't particularly interested. He wandered around other rooms in the house for a while, and when he returned, Watanuki Kunimi had left. Yuko was sitting in the large chair, looking as if she had been waiting for him to come back.
"Another business completed?" he asked curiously. "What did you get this time?"
"This boy is a bit poor, so I kept a record and let him work at the shop first," Yuko replied. She seemed less wary of Hikigaya now, probably sensing that he didn't harbor much ill intent toward her.
"Kept a record?" Hikigaya thought for a moment. Previous customers hadn't seemed to pay her any significant fee. Which meant…
Could it be that this Watanuki had requested… something more intimate with Yuko?
Hikigaya scrutinized Yuko. He had to admit that, from a fair-trade perspective, wanting to be with her in that way would be quite expensive.
Looks like the boy needed to work hard for money—ghost-hunting and wealth accumulation would be a good path.
However, Hikigaya didn't care much about this.
"Has the person you're waiting for not shown up yet?" he suggested. "Aren't you good at divination? Can't you be a little proactive?"
"No. There's no such thing as chance in this world; everything is inevitable. We will inevitably meet, so I only need to wait."
"Really? So meeting me is also inevitable, huh?" Hikigaya chuckled.
"…" Yuko faltered, but shortly after, she replied decisively: "Yes. Although I have doubts, our meeting cannot be by chance. It must be inevitable misfortune."
She actually added a twist—misfortune.
"Fine, whatever. I'm only interested in the power that created you."
"I'm afraid I can't help you with that."
"That's fine. Meeting the person who created your 'dream' will be rewarding enough."
As he spoke, Hikigaya took the tea offered by one of the little girls and drank it in one gulp. His mouth felt dry, so it helped moisten his throat.
He placed the cup on a table nearby, bid Yuko farewell, and left the house.
But in his mind, he had roughly confirmed his previous suspicion.
Watanuki Kimihiro was very likely the person Yuko had been waiting for.
Although his attitude seemed unchanged, the fact that she made him work at the shop was unusual.
Yet Hikigaya had already observed Watanuki Kunimi previously.
Aside from his exceptional spiritual awareness, he showed no other special traits.
Hikigaya didn't believe he had the power to bring Yuko into existence. Therefore, to him, this "person to wait for" Yuko spoke of had no real value.
Truly, peculiar people give rise to peculiar things.
Perhaps he was just too obsessed.
Walking home, Hikigaya silently made a decision.
The "serious and brooding" lifestyle didn't suit him. His proper way of living was to fight when there's something to fight for, and play when there's nothing to do.
Since there was no fight now, he should go out and have fun.
For example, finding the monkey. Or finding the monkey. Or finding the monkey.
First, old friends meet and shed tears. Second, that Stone Hero carried a lot of powers Hikigaya admired.
Also, Hikaru had been kidnapped by the monkey and kept calling him "brother." He needed to rescue her. As the saying goes: in life, you must see the living; in death, see the corpse.
However, according to the previous conversation in Tokyo with the Black Prince, the monkey was somehow related to a deity called the "Last King."
The Black Prince had spoken impressively, but Hikigaya cleverly realized he was just bluffing—after talking a lot, he never clearly explained what the "Last King" actually did, only that it was the god-slayers' great enemy.
Which was nonsense. Which god isn't an enemy of a god-slayer?
And he had the audacity to act like an "expert" while narrating, his eyes glowing when exploring ruins, but his speaking skills were terrible—Hikigaya found it less entertaining than reading ghost-exploration novels in his past life.
Hmph!
Hikigaya thought, showing a disdainful expression.
Archaeology? He and Ramses II had chatted casually about it, even visiting the tomb Ramses II had just repaired for his father, critiquing it in detail. Those wall murals were ugly as hell; had Ramses II not reacted poorly, Hikigaya would have even claimed a "most ancient streaming emperor" achievement.
Unfortunately, upon returning to the modern era, he learned that Set I's tomb had already been looted. Forget the burial items—the tomb itself had become an exhibit. His "return to the old site" posturing was crushed before it could happen.
Recalling all this, Hikigaya found he actually missed ancient Egypt.
He especially regretted not witnessing the Battle of Kadesh. Modern knowledge of that famous battle was minimal, reconstructed entirely from boastful records left by ancient Egyptians and Hittites. Those ancient "official literati" had morals just as questionable as their later counterparts.
Lost in thought, Hikigaya felt the power he had stolen from Di Jun surge within him. Unfortunately, it only surged—it couldn't disrupt his own time as smoothly as before.
This was why he was so attentive to Yuko's existence. His ability to usurp deities was limited. In terms of the "Ten Days" technique, he couldn't compare to the original Di Jun, who casually controlled the flow of time over all of Phoenix Mountain.
Looking back, winning had been a matter of luck, thanks to the solar-chasing power he had stolen from Kuafu.
As a god-slayer, he was still too young; Japan too small and fragile.
"One more trip…" Already at his doorstep, Hikigaya glanced east at the sky. "Revisiting old places isn't so bad…"
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