Chapter 24: The Deal with Kawasaki Saki

"Hm? What's wrong?" Seeing the sudden change in their expressions, Kawasaki Taishi tilted his head in confusion. Was his question strange? Since Hikigaya Hachiman wasn't his sister's boyfriend, he must have come to their house for some reason, right? "This is a long story..." Hikigaya Hachiman's gaze flickered around the living room, sweat forming on his forehead. How was he supposed to explain to Kawasaki Taishi why he was visiting their home? With a pleading look, Hachiman turned to Kawasaki Saki beside him, hoping she could help him out. "Sigh..." Seeing the desperate look in Hachiman's eyes, Kawasaki Saki sighed deeply and looked at her younger brother. "Taishi..." "Yeah? What's up?" Hearing his sister call him, Kawasaki Taishi turned his head toward her. "Your recent monthly exam results should be out by now, right?" Just with that one sentence, Taishi's expression changed dramatically. "N-not yet..." Kawasaki Taishi stammered. But judging by his restless eyes and guilty look, anyone could see he was lying. Normally, Kawasaki Saki would have pinched her brother's ear to show some sisterly concern. But today, to help Hikigaya Hachiman out, she could only sigh and say, "In that case, hurry upstairs to study..." "Yes!" Taking his sister's order, Kawasaki Taishi didn't care anymore about why Hachiman had come to their house. He got up from the tatami mat and fled upstairs in a hurry. "All right, if there's nothing else, you should head upstairs too. I'll call you when dinner's ready." After settling Taishi, Kawasaki Saki turned her attention to the other two siblings still lingering in the living room. Learning from Taishi's example, the other brother voluntarily expressed that he was dedicated to studying and asked not to be disturbed upstairs before dinner. After sending both brothers away, Kawasaki Saki focused on Kawasaki Keika, who was still sitting in Hikigaya Hachiman's lap. Seeing the little girl smile brightly at her, Saki suddenly felt a headache coming on. She could handle her brothers with the authority of the eldest sister, but with the youngest sister, that method definitely wouldn't work. "Keika, big brother and your sister need to talk. Why don't you go upstairs first?" Watching Kawasaki Saki helplessly addressing Keika in Hachiman's lap, Hachiman said, "I'm pretty good at this." After years of training from Komachi, he had become quite skilled at handling younger sisters tipe of girls. After just a few coaxing words, the previously unyielding Keika nodded and jumped out of Hachiman's lap. She then greeted the two of them and ran upstairs to bother her two brothers. "You're surprisingly good at coaxing little girls." Seeing Hachiman saying goodbye to his little sister, Kawasaki Saki felt a wave of unease. Someone this skilled with little girls—could he be a pervert? Determined, Kawasaki Saki resolved to keep Hachiman away from her little sister from now on. "Cough cough, no. I just have a little sister too, so I happen to know how to coax them..." Hearing Saki's suspicion, Hachiman coughed awkwardly twice. Although he had already earned strange nicknames like 'dead fish eyes,' 'weird loner,' and 'homebody,' he definitely didn't want to be labeled a 'loli lover.' "Is that so? Well, let's drop it then." Kawasaki Saki remained highly suspicious of Hachiman's words. But since he was a benefactor to her and her entire family, she decided not to dig deeper into the matter. "Thank you so much..." Relieved that Saki wasn't pressing the 'loli lover' topic anymore, Hachiman let out a breath of relief. "Well, enough chit-chat." Kawasaki Saki's expression suddenly became serious. "Anyway, thank you very much for coming to my house and dealing with those ghosts..." Saying this, Kawasaki Saki bowed deeply to Hikigaya Hachiman. "It's really nothing special, just happened to be convenient..." Seeing Saki so sincerely thank him, Hachiman scratched his face awkwardly. Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't gained anything—those five low-level spirits gave him 250 spirit coins, replenishing his nearly depleted amount. "Oh, right!" Suddenly remembering something, Hachiman clapped his hands together. "Hm?" Kawasaki Saki looked up in curiosity. Hachiman rubbed his hands together with excitement as he looked at her. Ten minutes later, the wooden door of the living room opened again. Kawasaki Saki came out thoughtfully, followed closely by Hikigaya Hachiman. "All right, that's enough for now." After leaving the Kawasaki family's yard, Hikigaya Hachiman stopped Saki from walking him to the gate. "Well, take care of yourself. I'll get the things I promised done as soon as possible." Hearing Hachiman's words, Kawasaki Saki nodded. She stopped in place and looked at him seriously. "There's no need to rush too much anyway. My strength is actually quite weak." Saying this, Hikigaya Hachiman smiled awkwardly. Although he was already a high-level exorcist, there were many higher ranks above him. Being 'high-level' only meant he could survive in this spirit-infested world. "Is that so? I understand. Then let's start with some simple tasks..." Kawasaki Saki's eyes flickered a few times, as if trying to judge how much of Hachiman's words were true. Finally, she nodded, agreeing to help him select some simple tasks at first. "All right, I'll be counting on you." Waving at Kawasaki Saki, Hikigaya Hachiman grabbed his backpack and headed toward the station along the road. Because this time there was no spirit interference with the time, although it seemed like dealing with the Kawasaki family's spirits took a long time, it was actually only a little after six o'clock now. Still, it was a terrible time. After yesterday's late return, Komachi would definitely come home early today, waiting and asking why he came back so late at night. And once again, he was late because he helped Kawasaki Saki. "Komachi must be really worried by now..." Thinking so, Hikigaya Hachiman pulled out his phone and checked his Line messages.