Hikigaya's God Slayer Story

Chapter 24: Mine! All of It Is Mine!

Regarding the thoughts and location of Mrs. Yukinoshita and Yukinoshita Yukino, Hikigaya knew nothing at all.

He had left the mother and daughter behind with peace of mind, simply because he trusted that the people of the Yomi would take care of them properly.

It had to be said, his approach of being a "hands-off boss" was perfectly aligned with the practical workings of the Yomi.

The so-called "Yomi" was an alliance organization formed by extreme martial artists from various countries.

Its "headquarters" was merely a meeting place for the leaders of different factions.

That's why there was an ongoing conflict between the Hand-to-Hand and the Armed factions, and why the organization had a structure like "One Shadow Nine Fists." Hierarchy within this organization was entirely determined by martial prowess— the weak submitted to the strong.

These martial extremists from around the world were coordinated by the strongest among them, forming a terrifying global organization under a shared ideology.

At the same time, this loose structure was also why, despite their vast wealth, manpower, and resources, the Yomi could never shake the foundations of any country's magical society.

Take the Unarmed faction as an example— the "One Shadow Nine Fists" were not subordinate to one another.

Coordination was relative.

Yomi could never truly operate as a unified force.

However, when the leader is a Godslayer, that loose structure stops being a weakness— it becomes a source of explosive vitality.

Because no one could be stronger than a Godslayer— and it's a strength that commands genuine respect.

If you're not convinced, fight. That's the rule of the Yomi.

Top martial artists like the One Shadow Nine Fists always have rivals eyeing their position.

And yes, the world's top martial artists aren't limited to just a few individuals.

But unlike other organizations, people in the Yomi don't fight for power.

They fight to prove that their style of martial arts is the strongest.

This is an unshakable foundation of Yomi, and also the only reason for its very existence.

Within Yomi, martial arts factions have never gotten along. P

ractitioners of Chinese boxing think Muay Thai is for morons.

Japanese jujutsu players see Russian wrestling as clownish.

European knights generally believe that all martial arts outside Europe are for monkeys.

Meanwhile, modern Sanda or boxing practitioners think that those obsessed with ancient martial arts are just sad little men whose wives are probably banging the guy next door.

To get this entire bunch of lunatics to shut up, only someone like a Godslayer— someone utterly beyond standard scale— could possibly pull it off.

And when Yomi warriors stop acting like edgy teenagers and stop running their mouths, they can be terrifyingly effective.

So Hikigaya had no worries at all.

He wasn't even remotely concerned that anything might go wrong with the Yukinoshita mother and daughter.

To be honest, Japan was one of the countries most heavily infiltrated by Yomi, second only to America across the ocean.

The power comparison between the so-called "Committee" and the Yomi made things very clear.

That so-called Committee? Just a barking dog that only gets brave on home turf.

Hikigaya wasn't afraid of outsiders— but he was terrified of that dumb little Komachi of his.

That's why he snuck into his room carrying Haruno like a thief…

Then, amid Haruno's giggles and playful scolding, he carefully dressed her in a tracksuit.

Well, he helped her dress, okay? He was the one who shredded her clothes— he had to take responsibility, right?

And if he happened to take a bit longer while dressing her, or if his hands "accidentally" slipped a few times— come on, that's understandable!

He couldn't turn the lights on! It was pitch dark! Hikigaya-sama claimed he had bad eyesight and could only grope around with his hands.

Damn… so smooth…

With such thoughts and feelings, Hikigaya spent nearly half an hour "helping."

Though he regretted not choosing an outfit with more complicated pieces, the principled Hikigaya Hachiman decided not to delay things any further.

After all, Haruno still had a fight to pick tonight.

But before that…

"Okay, let's sneak out, and then I'll head back home," Hikigaya whispered sneakily at the door, eavesdropping to confirm that Komachi was still in the living room watching TV, before tiptoeing back to Haruno.

"You seem really afraid of Komachi," Haruno teased, blushing— though clearly not because of her heat-based powers. The reason was all too obvious.

"This outfit is really tight… did I gain weight?" She frowned and twisted uncomfortably. "My chest feels stuffy. Can I unzip it a little?"

As she spoke, she tugged at the zipper at the collar, revealing a flash of snowy white, fully demonstrating the truth behind the phrase "where there's cleavage, there's fire."

"No way!" Hikigaya almost pounced at her. He angrily zipped it back up. "You are not unzipping that!"

"So mean~ But I can't breathe… and it's rubbing me all itchy~"

"I don't care!"

He yanked it tighter and then grabbed Haruno in a bear hug, kissing her hard on the lips until she went weak in his arms.

Now that he'd finally feasted— no way was he going to share. Not even a peek!

Mine! All of it is mine!

"You're not unzipping it, got it?"

"Stingy~ okay okay…" Haruno giggled.

Then both of their expressions changed drastically.

Thud thud thud —footsteps approached the door, stopping just outside.

"Onii-chan?" Komachi's confused voice came from the other side.

Holy shit— was she a Godslayer with super hearing or what!? How did she hear that?

Thankfully, the door was locked. And Komachi didn't have the habit of barging into her brother's room without knocking… probably… hopefully…

"That's weird… I definitely heard something…" Komachi muttered, then said something that nearly scared the two in the room to death: "Hmm? Could it be Shiro? I didn't know where you went— turns out you're here! Big sis is coming to cuddle you~!"

Cuddle your damn watermelon, you dumb Komachi! That's a nine-tailed fox, damn it! Can't you leave her alone!?

"Oh right— the spare key's in my room…"

Komachi ran off cheerfully— probably to fetch the key.

If they didn't bolt now, they were idiots.

In an instant, Hikigaya and Haruno locked eyes and reached a silent consensus.

Hearing Komachi unlock the room next door, the two of them scrambled out the window— at least twice as fast as when they came in.

It was pitiful— a Godslayer, one of the Seven Kings of the world, plus Haruno, a human weapon practically on par with the King of Phoenix Mountain, driven into a panicked escape by an ordinary girl like Komachi.

If word got out, jaws would drop worldwide.

Just after crawling out the window, Hikigaya grabbed Haruno and whoosh— flew up into the sky.

Moments later, the lights in his room flicked on, and Komachi's voice rang out: "Shiro~ where are you?"

Holy crap, that was close!

Still… tsk! Why did he have to be so scared? Pathetic! When he got back, he was definitely going to reestablish his big brother authority!

Decision made— no playing hide and seek with her tonight! She needs to learn that her big brother can be scary too!

"Why did we run?" Haruno suddenly asked. Hikigaya looked down— her cheeks were pink, and her teary eyes gazed up at him with a provocative look.

Oh ho? You wanna play this game?

Hikigaya smirked coldly and launched his counterattack:

"You ask me? Who was it just now whose little nipples got hard from the scare? They were poking out like darts— I nearly got stabbed to death!"

"Ah! You perv! Hachiman, you're such a perv!"

Chapter 25: What to Do When All the TV Programs Are Serving Crap

After some horsing around, Hikigaya flew far away from home and put Haruno down.

The cold ground seemed to dampen the heat of their previous energy — or more precisely, it was Haruno whose mood cooled down.

She realized the reality she was about to face. It wasn't something she could get through just by goofing around with Hikigaya.

This was something she had to decide on her own, and do with her own hands.

"I won't give you a pep talk — this isn't something to be celebrated." Hikigaya stepped up and gave Haruno a quick hug, then let go.

"Just follow your heart. What matters isn't what you do tonight — what matters is that you don't have any regrets. After tonight, you only need to think about the road ahead. Don't look back."

He looked at Haruno seriously and said,

"Only if you do that will all of this have meaning. Otherwise, it's just failure — and an irreversible one at that."

He patted Haruno on the shoulder and turned to head back home.

"Hachiman," Haruno called out to him.

"What?"

"Will I disappoint you?"

"No. Because I've gone through something similar — and at the time, I had no one to rely on, so I had to do it alone. But you don't. This is just an opportunity. It's best if it succeeds, but if it doesn't, that's okay too. You still have me."

After saying that, Hikigaya left.

This time, he didn't look back at all — he just walked away cleanly.

To be honest though, he wasn't sure if his experience was really applicable to Haruno. But thinking it through, he was just an ordinary person to begin with. And Haruno — she was an exceptional ordinary person.

So she should be more than fine.

Hikigaya walked slowly. The streetlights cast pools of white light on the pavement every few meters. The night air was crisp and cool, and the peace of it made it easy to let your mind wander.

But Hikigaya wasn't lost in thought — not really. His mind was full.

To outsiders, someone who had become a god-slayer like him should have no worries, but that wasn't how he felt. The worries were still there — just of a different kind.

It wasn't anything like being "lonely as snow" or "seeking defeat in life" or whatever. He was long past the psychological age of thinking that kind of nonsense.

He'd love to be invincible — what's the point of seeking defeat? It's not like he's some kind of masochist!

His house gradually came into view in the distance.

The lights in the room were still on.

That little rascal Komachi — who knows if she's still looking for the fox, or if she just forgot to turn them off.

If it's the latter, she's getting a spanking.

He walked up to the door, took out his keys, and opened it.

Now he could walk in with his head held high, strutting like a boss.

The living room was empty, only the TV was still on.

Hikigaya changed into indoor slippers at the entryway and went upstairs.

When he walked into the room, he found Komachi fast asleep on the bed — she must have been tired from looking and lay down for a bit, only to fall asleep completely.

She was sleeping soundly, but Hikigaya was practically dizzy from it...

He walked over and patted Komachi's face. The little rascal just turned over and kept snoring.

Helpless, he picked her up, carried her to her own room, tucked her into bed, and made sure she wouldn't catch a cold.

"Out there she's competent, but at home she's such a scatterbrain…" he muttered. Then he turned off the light, shut the door, and headed back downstairs.

He took a bottle of orange juice from the fridge, went over to the sofa, sat down sideways, kicked off his slippers, and stretched out his legs. While sipping his drink, he picked up the remote to flip through channels.

Unfortunately, there was nothing good on TV tonight.

Well, there's no rule saying a god-slayer can't laugh like crazy at TV shows, right?

Hikigaya really wanted to laugh his head off, but no matter how much he flipped, he could only conclude that every channel tonight was serving nothing but crap.

He was so annoyed he almost wanted to call the TV station to rant.

But he gave up on such an irrational idea.

If he did, the TV station director might end up living in Tokyo Bay the next night — he had absolute confidence in his imagination as a Yomi warrior.

After all, everyone's just trying to make a living — no need to be that ruthless, right?

But he didn't want to play games either — he'd been crushed badly by an AI recently and was still traumatized.

If any rebellious AI god dared descend, he'd definitely take it down immediately.

Games that bully people with bad reflexes? All thumbs-down reviews!

But if TV's a no-go and games aren't appealing, what now?

Hikigaya figured — in the end, reading was the way to go. Can't lose those good habits.

He downed the rest of the orange juice in one gulp, turned off the TV, unplugged it, and went back upstairs.

Looking at the fully stocked bookshelf by the wall, he sighed contentedly.

Then he pulled out a book he'd bought recently after returning to Chiba.

In the early 20th century, European explorers launched a grand archaeological campaign. They went to the Near East to excavate, seeking to verify the truth behind ancient myths and reveal the ancient Western world that existed before the Bible.

At the time, Europeans still followed early historians' beliefs — that before the Bible, the ancient Western world was dominated by three Middle Eastern empires: Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. This was what the explorers sought to confirm through archaeology — and Hikigaya thought that's how you "play smart."

This massive excavation campaign did just that — the three great empires left behind awe-inspiring cities and monuments, which the explorers unveiled to the public.

Then the explorers had an unexpected surprise — they discovered fragments of a mysterious language that seemed to have been widely used in that grand era. This was the beginning of the discovery of the fourth empire of the pre-Biblical era — a lost civilization that had never appeared in any historical records or myths for 3,000 years: the Hittite Empire. The fragmented remains the explorers found became the key to unlocking and interpreting this mysterious world.

A once impregnable fortress-city, an unstoppable war machine, an empire even more prosperous than Egypt, and its former dark dominion — after sleeping for 3,000 years, everything about the Hittite Empire finally surfaced before later generations.

The book Hikigaya bought was mainly a description and analysis of the historical Battle of Kadesh.

Nowadays, almost everyone knows about this battle — a famous clash during the power struggle between the Hittites and the Egyptians.

As the two bigwigs of the time, the Egyptians and Hittites were ridiculously rich and extravagant.

In an age of very limited productivity, these two bros somehow managed to field tens of thousands of chariots to duke it out. Absolutely bonkers.

But compared to the ever-flashy Egyptians, the Hittites were kind of tragic in terms of visibility.

Their kingdom — also translated in pre-time-travel China as the "Xitai Kingdom" — was one of the earliest civilizations to master ironworking.

Yet the Hittite people and their kingdom just suddenly vanished from history, as if they'd never existed at all.

Until modern times, no one even knew that such a fabulously extravagant and headstrong civilization had once existed.

It just goes to show — if you don't know how to show off properly, no matter how flashy you are, it's all for nothing.

But for a history enthusiast — even a fake one — no words are more enticing than "lost civilization."

Hikigaya Hachiman was, without a doubt, a fake history buff.

He opened the window, letting the cool night breeze flow in.

Then he picked up the book, lay down on his bed, and began reading with great interest, immersing himself in that magnificent era.