Chapter 61: Ebina Hina, Too, is Rotten (End)
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[Hikigaya Hachiman's POV]
Getting out of the haunted house, I was immediately greeted by a somewhat pale Saki and a stoic Shinobu who was watching Tobe and Ebina from the corner of her eyes. Shinobu turned her eyes to me as soon as she spotted me. She quirked an eyebrow at the meekly silent Miura. She must be thinking about her group's fragile bond.
Telling Miura I was going to join Saki and Shinobu, I left her side as soon as she nodded. Upon arriving before Shinobu, I gestured at Tobe and Ebina who were entering the gift shop. Shinobu nodded faintly, indicating that the haunted house did wonders for them. Nodding my head, Shinobu led Saki and me to another place.
We spent a few minutes wandering around before we were ordered to move to the next spot. As my car was not fixed yet, we had to go there by bus, which required us to wait in line. Everyone was eager to let me and the girls in first, but I refused. I didn't want them to treat me like the school's delinquent boss.
A bus ride later, we arrived at the Ryoan-ji Temple. Yui joined us as soon as we got off the bus. She arrived there first as she got on the bus faster than we did. She asked us about how Ebina and Tobe did while we were walking. Shinobu took the initiative to explain. Yui nodded as she listened to Shinobu keenly.
Before long, we reached the Toranoko-watashi Garden. We saw a familiar face sitting on the edge of the garden, looking contemplatively at the rock situated in the center of the garden. She was no other than the Yukinoshita Yukino. We came to greet her, waking her up from her contemplative state.
"Do you want to make the rock fall for you? You don't have to stare at it so hard," I quipped, earning a glare from the Ice Queen.
"I was just wondering what part of the garden makes it called the crossing tiger cub. Obviously, someone with such a low insight as you could never figure it out," Yukino retorted.
And here I thought she had gotten nicer to me. "For someone with such a profound insight, you like being redundant, don't you? Sometimes, things are meant to be taken at face value; there is no deeper meaning to it."
"Stop it, both of you," Shinobu interjected with a helpless sigh, stopping Yukino from saying anything. "Why don't we enjoy our field trip and explore the place?"
"I concur."
Yukino didn't look willing to accept her loss but let it go eventually with a sigh. She gave me the stink eye but said nothing. She stood up and then followed Shinobu who was dragging me along with her. Silence accompanied our walk before Yukino talked about how Tobe and Ebina were. Shinobu relayed what happened and then they agreed that Tobe might have a chance.
Our exploration turned into a "date spots" survey. We visited one shop to another and looked around from one spot to another. We bought some souvenirs and some food. The girls seemed to enjoy it, bringing a faint smile to my face. I didn't like visiting crowded places much, but their company made it quite fun.
"Are you thinking of devouring them?"
Shinobu's question made me shoot her a confused look. "Do I look like Aseru to you?"
"You know what I mean." She wiggled her eyebrows with a knowing look.
"Jealous?"
Thump!
A solid punch to my arm made me slightly grimace. It might look cute to other people, but I could guarantee it was strong enough to fracture a grown man's arm. Fortunately, I was a Vampire. But… doesn't that also mean I can take more painful beatings. Now that I think about it, it was not that fortunate.
"You know I won't do that. I am not a scumbag."
"Who knows? Your popularity might have gotten to your head," Shinobu scoffed.
"I am anything but— okay, I concede."
Shinobu's glare made me stop denying the truth. Truthfully, I still couldn't accept I had become popular. I guess having a body that secreted pheromones stronger than any species' came with its perks. With that line of thinking, could Shinobu be…My eyes turned to Shinobu who met them with a quirked eyebrow.
I sneakily sniffed the air and noticed nothing wrong. I wasn't being sneaky enough as Shinobu immediately smelled her armpit. She looked flabbergasted. I was sure it was as fragrant as ever. Damn, I sounded like a pervert there, didn't I? Looking up at me, she tilted her head in puzzlement. What is this creature? So cute. I might date her. Wait, I am dating her.
"Did I smell or something? Because I don't think so."
"No, you don't. I am just curious why I fell for you."
"Because I am sinfully pretty?"
"I am not that shallow of a person. But you are sinfully pretty," I admitted, earning a slight blush from the Vampire. "Well, it doesn't matter. You don't need reasons to love."
"Never expected that coming out of your mouth," Shinobu commented.
I agreed. I would have blushed after saying that embarrassing line if I still cared about what I said.
The second day of the trip ended on a quite high note. We returned to the hotel with a lot of ideas on how Tobe should confess to Ebina. Tobe would highly get rejected, but, at least, it would be beautiful. It would soothe his aching heart, maybe.
After cleaning ourselves, we went to the cafeteria to have dinner. Hayama and Tobe joined Saki, Yui, and Yukino meanwhile Shinobu and I joined Miura, Ebina, and Sagami. While Yukino was brainstorming Tobe on what he should do tomorrow, Shinobu engaged Ebina in a conversation. Miura was looking at me the whole time, probably cursing me for what my club did.
At the end of the dinner, Ebina stood up just as I was about to excuse myself. "Hikigaya-kun, can we talk for a bit?"
"I am going to pick up my car from the shop. I am going to walk there, so unless you want to accompany me, you should wait until tomorrow," I quickly shot her down, knowing where this was going.
"It's all right, Hikigaya-kun. I know the repair shop is not that far from here."
Inwardly sighing, I motioned for her to follow me. Shinobu shot me a warning glare. I looked at her reassuringly, telling her not to worry about my ruining Tobe's confession. I seemed to get the wrong message as she glared harder. Not wanting to incite her ire more, I left the cafeteria with Ebina.
We got out of the hotel and walked to the shop quietly. Ebina crossed her arms behind her back and leaned on me as she hummed a happy tune. She was not harassing me, so I didn't tell her to get away. Besides, what she did could barely be considered intimate.
"You know, Hikigaya-kun, if you think you are winning, you are wrong."
Ebina stopped in her tracks, creating a dramatic effect. I didn't. I kept walking until a disgruntled Ebina pulled on my sleeve. With a sigh, I turned to face her.
"You could have rejected Tobe-kun's request and prevented this from happening, but you didn't. You are asking for this, Hikigaya-kun."
"We accepted both of your requests," I corrected. "We stand by our motto, so we provided you nothing but ways to solve your problem."
"You are actively helping Tobe-kun," she countered.
"We are just removing intervening variables."
Ebina looked frustrated for once. The indication was that she took off her glasses and sighed. She skipped before me and then looked up at me innocently while leaning her body forward. She was planning something. I could tell.
"You brought this upon yourself, Hikigaya-kun."
After saying that, she wore her glasses and then skipped away. Looking at her back, I realized one thing. Ebina has quite a perky butt. I quickly turned around, remembering that I had a car to pick up. Kiss-Shot would kill me for that thought, for sure. Thankfully, Kiss-Shot couldn't read my mind. I hope.
After taking my car, which was a quick affair, I returned to the hotel. My roommates were still up, so they invited me to play UNO with them. Time passed quickly and everyone was asleep after a few rounds of my winning. Expectedly, I couldn't sleep. I wasn't worried, but there was a nagging feeling whenever I thought about Ebina's words.
What are you going to do, Ebina Hina?
Morning came without my getting a chance to sleep. It didn't bother me as I could function without sleeping for a month straight. I got out of bed and dressed up before meeting the others. The third day of the trip was free time. We were allowed to explore the place by ourselves. As planned, we followed Tobe who took Ebina to the date spots we surveyed the day before.
Everything went smoothly. Too smoothly, I might add. My premonition got stronger when we arrived at the Arashiyama bamboo path. It was the place where Tobe was supposed to confess to Ebina. The girls and I watched the two from among the bamboo.
"Did you enjoy the trip, Hina-chan?"
"I did. The places we visited were interesting, to say the least."
Tobe wryly as he looked up at the sky. Judging by his reaction, he must not know what to do. He sighed once he looked forward. Steeling his gaze, he turned to Ebina.
"Hina-chan, I want to say some—"
"You are close with Hikigaya-kun, aren't you, Tobecchi?"
Tobe looked taken aback. My face darkened.
"We are bros," Tobe answered with a smile regardless.
"I have something to confess." Ebina stopped in her tracks, prompting Tobe to do the same. "I think I like Hikigaya-kun."
"Ah… I see."
Disregarding Tobe's hurt look, Ebina continued, "I know he has a girlfriend already, but what do you think I should do?"
Stoically, Ebina gazed into the crumbling world in Tobe's eyes. As expected, Ebina Hina, too, is rotten.
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Venerable Immortal Bowzr
Venerable Immortal JayJonnaJamison
Venerable Immortal Kkmoney
Venerable Immortal Solaz
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