Chapter 13: Is She Your Bride?
Moe is not a brat; she is a good child.
So, although she was cheerfully strolling around calling out Hikigaya's name, she didn't cause any trouble at all. She just curiously watched Hikigaya arrange the four girls in a row inside the room.
Then, she watched as Hikigaya smacked a palm onto each of their foreheads with a pa sound.
The first one to wake up was actually Gokou Ruri.
Even after entering university, this little black cat is still a Goth enthusiast. In this kind of environment, her outfit looked particularly striking.
In fact, Moe's gaze clearly showed she was viewing the little black cat as one of her own kind.
But just as she didn't know that Gokou Ruri wasn't a doll at all, Gokou Ruri likewise didn't know that the exquisitely beautiful girl she saw upon waking—who looked just like a western doll—wasn't human at all.
In fact, as the first person to wake up, Gokou Ruri was dumbfounded.
She only remembered that earlier, she and Ayase had come to tell Hikigaya that Komachi would be coming home a bit late today.
Leaving aside whether her friend Hikigaya Komachi has a brother complex, she is definitely strictly managed by her brother. Although she refuses to admit defeat verbally, she actually listens to her brother, Hikigaya Hachiman, very much.
Of course, Hikigaya Hachiman is indeed an impressive brother. Although Gokou Ruri couldn't guess what exactly this guy did for a living, he looked like someone with significant social status.
At the very least, she had inexplicably gotten into Tokyo University; Gokou Ruri stated that she hadn't even applied to Tokyo University.
If it were just that, it would be one thing, but there were no tuition fees either. If there wasn't something fishy going on here, her name wasn't Gokou Ruri!
From that moment on, she became very curious about this man named Hikigaya Hachiman.
Compared to that pair of siblings from the Kousaka family, this pair currently seemed more interesting to her. Moreover, focusing on interesting things also helped her forget her feelings for Kousaka Kyousuke.
Giving up was to help fulfill the one she loved; she had no regrets.
But right now, she significantly regretted coming with Ayase to look for Hikigaya.
Anyone who wakes up to find themselves lying on the floor of a dark room, with three unconscious people lying next to them, probably wouldn't find it very interesting.
Ruri remembered that at Hikigaya's door, she and Ayase had seen that woman they had seen before lying on the ground. They had intended to see what was happening, and then she felt a sharp pain in her head.
When she opened her eyes again, it was the current situation. Standing in front of her was a beautiful woman dressed in a very strange, old-fashioned style, looking at her with an incredibly intense gaze.
What a beautiful woman... wait, no, her eyes are so scary!
Had she been captured? Is Hikigaya Hachiman actually a giant pervert who uses these methods to capture women and toy with them? Have she and Ayase been locked inside a secret chamber he meticulously prepared for toying with the bodies and minds of young girls!?
"Hey you, are you thinking about some messy nonsense in your head right now?"
She suddenly heard someone speaking beside her.
Ruri looked towards the sound and found Hikigaya Hachiman holding a glass of water, looking at her with a helpless expression.
Subconsciously crossing her arms over her chest, Gokou Ruri stammered, "You... You... What are you going to do? I told Komachi before coming here!"
"Giving you water to drink. Did you all get mass anemia today or something? Why did you all collapse at the door of my room?"
She heard Hikigaya say this.
This made her freeze for a moment. She looked around again and realized that this was indeed Hikigaya's room, and even the room door was still wide open.
Eh... So I just suddenly fainted.
That's really strange, I should have been fine. Is it because of eating at the cafeteria for lunch these past few days? Come to think of it, indeed, only Ayase and I ate at the cafeteria.
I'd better just bring my own bento starting tomorrow.
"I'm sorry..." Knowing she had wrongly accused a good person, Gokou Ruri lowered her head in shame. But then she remembered something, raised her head to look at Moe, and said, "Komachi's Elder Brother, this young lady beside you seems like someone I haven't seen before."
"Yeah, her name is Moe. She's my new shop assistant, she just arrived today."
So it was a newly recruited shop assistant!
It seems I really did wrongly accuse a good person.
"I am truly sorry, I was too rude..." This time, the little black cat honestly lowered her head to apologize.
He clearly had the good intention of helping me into the room and even kindly poured me water.
Come to think of it, Komachi's brother shouldn't be a bad person. After all, no matter how you look at it, he is a very decent person. Furthermore, he is deeply worshipped by Ayase; anyone worshipped by that woman must be extraordinary.
Gokou Ruri told herself this.
She didn't know why, but she felt that only by thinking this way could she stay here with peace of mind.
There seemed to be something extra about the Hikigaya Hachiman before her eyes that made her feel very afraid.
"Drink some water." Hikigaya handed the water to Gokou Ruri. He didn't think too much of it; he just felt that Gokou Ruri's behavior was very different from usual. Given that the North Wing does appear a bit eerie after dark because there aren't many people, he really didn't think of anything else.
He was still trying hard to hide the side of him that existed in the other world from his family, and the same went for these friends of his sister.
If these girls knew about the existence of the other world, it would be of no benefit to Hikigaya.
"If possible, I hope you can help me look after the others." After Ruri finished the glass of water, Hikigaya poured her another one and requested, "I need to take Moe to get familiar with the situation in the shop, so I'll be going over there first."
Perhaps feeling that was a bit too casual, he added, "If anything happens, just call my phone anytime. Do you know my number?"
"It's fine. The few of us actually know Elder Brother's number because Komachi often uses our phones to call Elder Brother."
"Alright... sorry for the trouble you've been put through." Hikigaya gave a dry laugh. No wonder Komachi often called him from different strange numbers.
That mischievous brat!
After asking Ruri a few more questions to confirm she was OK, Hikigaya took Moe and left the room.
Exiting the main building, the sky was already dotted with stars; it was very beautiful.
Hikigaya held Moe's hand and walked along the steps towards the Yorozuya. Walking up stairs was still a bit of a struggle for Moe, who hadn't fully adapted to her body yet, but she was indeed trying hard to adapt and was walking more and more steadily.
The night breeze blew gently, adding a sense of comfort to the tranquility of Hinata-sou.
It was at this moment that Hikigaya heard Moe say, "Is that girl Hachiman's bride?"
He turned his head in astonishment, only to see Moe looking at him with incredibly motivated eyes.
"There's no such thing. I don't have a bride," he said, secretly wondering what breed of Tsukumogami would be such a bride-complex enthusiast.
He didn't know if it was Keitaro's fault, but Moe seemed particularly interested in the character setting of a "bride."
Then he heard Moe ask again, "Is that girl Keitaro's doll?"
This sentence first made Hikigaya not know whether to laugh or cry, but soon, he realized that there was something wrong with it.
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