Chapter 71: My Family Could Barely Be Considered Nobility

"Waaah, I'm never going to get married now..." On the rooftop, Yurikawa Hana was covering her face with both hands, looking like she'd been seriously bullied. Beside her, Yotsuya Miko glared at her with complete exhaustion. "Even if you want to help, please at least tone it down a bit..." After the recent "interrogation," Yurikawa Hana had fully confessed all her schemes for helping Yotsuya Miko get together with Hikigaya Hachiman. She even said that if Miko found out, she'd still dare to try again next time. "But I honestly don't know how to help..." Responding to Miko's complaint, Hana insisted she was completely innocent. She didn't know why, even though her figure and looks were far superior to Miko's, no guys chased after her, and she was still a total love novice. The only way she knew to help Miko win over Hikigaya was by learning from books. "You actually believe those silly things from books could work..." Miko was momentarily at a loss for words when hearing Hana's reply. "But if the book's methods don't work, then why do so many people buy those books?" Hana was confused. She had bought the hottest bestseller on how girls should chase guys — how could the book be lying to her? "Because they're trying to fool idiots like you!" Miko held her forehead, feeling completely exhausted. "Hehe, don't be mad. I really believe you'll successfully win him over!" Realizing she might have messed things up earlier, Hana immediately resorted to her charm tactics. "It's not that easy to win him, I wonder if I can even..." Miko casually complained, but then caught herself and quickly covered her mouth. Hana had already heard her words and now stood with her hands on her hips, wearing a "just as I thought" expression. "You still say you just invited him over to exorcise spirits!" "You actually learned to bait me?" "Of course! We've been best friends since we were kids — there's nothing you're thinking that I can't guess." "You little brat, stop right there!" "Only fools stop! Ah, I'm sorry, don't tickle me!" . . . Hikigaya Hachiman was completely unaware of the bickering happening on the rooftop after he left. Right now, he was back in Hiratsuka-sensei's office, the two staring at each other. "I thought I told you not to cause trouble for me recently?" After staring at Hikigaya for a moment, Hiratsuka sighed and finally broke the silence. "I haven't caused any trouble, have I?" Hikigaya put on an innocent face. Sensei had only just warned him yesterday, so why would he cause more problems? "Then can you explain why you were at Yukinoshita's house last night?" "Eh?" Hiratsuka's question immediately gave Hikigaya a bad feeling. He had tried to be discreet returning from Yukinoshita's place — how did she know? "There was a banquet last night specially for the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family — Yukinoshita Yukino, the student council president. My family is considered somewhat noble in Japan, so naturally I was invited. Plus, Yukinoshita is my student, so I was there too." Seeing Hikigaya still confused, Hiratsuka briefly explained why she knew he was at Yukinoshita's house. "I was supposed to be very discreet leaving, right?" Since Hiratsuka had already said this much, Hikigaya had no choice but to admit he had indeed been at Yukinoshita's house last night. "So Otani Kazuki wasn't human, huh?" Hiratsuka was stunned by his admission. Then she took a cigarette out of her pocket, her fingers trembling slightly as she lit it. "How do you know?" This time Hikigaya was the one shocked. Hiratsuka was just a normal human — how did she know about the spirits? "Didn't I just say? My family is somewhat noble in Japan. It's totally normal to hear little rumors sometimes." "Is that so?" Hikigaya twitched at the corner of his mouth. For an ordinary person to know about spirits, either they got it from one of the five exorcists in Japan or, like Kawasaki Saki, stumbled across Hikigaya by chance. Hiratsuka definitely wasn't the latter, so this "noble" family she mentioned must have contact with exorcists, these ultra-powerful families... If so, why was Hiratsuka still single at over thirty? Wouldn't such families have tighter control over this kind of thing? "If you keep thinking about that, I might kill you!" Seeing Hikigaya scrutinize her, Hiratsuka frowned in confusion then shook her head with regret. She clearly understood what this kid was thinking. Her fingers cracked as she gave Hikigaya a death warning. "Uh, sorry, my bad..." Even though he was strong enough to overpower her, Hikigaya instinctively softened and surrendered in the face of her threat. "Since you saved Yukinoshita last time, I'll let you off this time." Seeing him admit fault, Hiratsuka had no intention to hit him, so she smoothly moved the conversation on. "So what about Yukinoshita's side?" "They're all fine. Nobody found out about you. The only reason I saw you last night was because of this!" Hiratsuka pulled a small, exquisite jade pendant out of her cleavage. "What's this?!" Hikigaya immediately sensed a strong spiritual power from the pendant. "When I was in high school, a big sister gave it to me. She said my life force was too strong and might attract some nasty things. Wearing this jade pendant would protect me." Recalling the moment she got the pendant, Hiratsuka's face showed a hint of nostalgia. She remembered how she had battled that big sister dozens of rounds on the baseball field before her lover finally showed up and stopped the fight... "So teacher, you mean this pendant was made by that woman you mentioned?" Hikigaya was excited hearing Hiratsuka's words. With such strong spiritual power, the maker must be one of the five exorcists! "You little brat, what are you thinking?" But Hiratsuka mercilessly poured cold water on him. "The pendant was given to her by her lover, who then gave it to me." Mentioning that big sister's lover, Hiratsuka frowned. Because when she saw that man, he was accompanied by three women — clearly a scumbag. She didn't understand why the big sister didn't care about those three women at all, and even looked happy. Ah, right. Recently, it seemed like Hikigaya himself was juggling a few girls, so she had to find a way to put him in his place. After all, she had been watching his changes. It wasn't much yet, but who knew how many girls he might end up hurting in the future? Better to extinguish his desires early... Thinking this, Hiratsuka's gaze suddenly became very stern.