Hikigaya Hachiman didn’t choose to accept it at first, but upon meeting the girl’s earnest gaze, he solemnly took the jade pendant.
In stories, there is always an elderly character who gifts an item that advances the key plot developments.
This represented the recipient inheriting the unfinished will of their predecessor.
The long-lost feeling returned; his suppressed chuunibyou (middle-school syndrome) soul ignited once again, and some memories he had deliberately erased came rushing back.
This world originally had seven gods: the three Pillars of Creation—”Sage Emperor Galan,” “Valkyrie Mikia,” and “Soul Guardian Hadia”; the three Pillars of Destruction—”Foolish King Orut,” “Lost Buddha Hall Logu,” and “Paranoid Lai-Lai”; and the Eternal Debt God, the “Nameless God.” They were the ones maintaining the prosperity and decline of the world.
The current world happens to be in its seventh rebirth, and to prevent the world’s destruction, the neon government is searching for the reincarnations of these gods.
As the most important of the seven pillars, the Eternal Debt God, “Nameless God,” whose true power remains unknown to this day, is none other than I, Hikigaya Hachiman…
‘Is this kid a demon?
She accidentally made me recall unbearable past events.’
He shook his head, shaking these shameful memories out of his mind.
Then, he opened his mouth, and like a protagonist in an action anime, he held the precious item against his chest.
He felt the warm, smooth texture in his hand.
“Master, I have inherited your will.”
(He is playing along with Kanna and treat the pendant as a weapon bestowed by a master)
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After returning home, Hikigaya Hachiman remembered his behavior toward Kanna and rolled around on his bed in agony, clutching his head in frustration.
‘What have I done?
Middle-school syndrome has really ruined me.’
However, Hikigaya Hachiman had his own unique way of dealing with the suffering caused by shame: if you embarrass yourself outside, just go home and sleep it off.
Young people have resilient bodies; before long, Hikigaya Hachiman was fast asleep on his bed.
Too much had happened over the past two days, and the internal pressure he felt was immense.
The night was already deep, and the Hikigaya living room was quiet.
But suddenly, the dragon-shaped jade pendant Hikigaya Hachiman had brought back from the coffee table began to emit a yellow light.
However, because it was late at night, no one in the Hikigaya family noticed this anomaly—except for Ka-kun.
Ka-kun had been running around in the corner of the living room when it suddenly saw something glowing on the coffee table.
Bored as it was, it couldn’t resist the temptation.
It placed its front paws on the table, keeping its head very low, and began to observe stealthily.
‘Doesn’t it move?
Is it preparing a surprise attack?
Fine, if that’s the case, I won’t move until the enemy moves.’
Ka-kun kept still.
As a cat, it had plenty of patience; it would wait until dawn if it had to.
It didn’t know how much time passed, but it felt like a long while.
Suddenly, Ka-kun extended its left paw and swatted at the glowing object on the table, then nimbly jumped backward.
Although its life as a cat had been short, its hunting instincts told it that this probing strike, while enough to incapacitate most small creatures, wasn’t enough for everyone.
Therefore, one must deliver a fatal blow the moment the opponent stops faking and prepares to counterattack or escape.
Ka-kun pressed its body low, tail held high against the ground.
To its surprise, the glowing object was swatted away, crashed heavily onto the floor, and showed no reaction at all.
After observing from its spot for a few seconds and realizing the object remained motionless, Ka-kun boldly approached it.
‘Dead?’
It sniffed—no scent, and no feeling of danger.
It didn’t know what this thing was.
‘Taste it.
Hmm, cool and refreshing, quite nice.
Let me lick it again.’
It couldn’t taste anything, so Ka-kun decided to eat it.
After all, this was the spoils of its first solo hunt.
Ka-kun tried to bite down but realized it couldn’t chew it at all, so it swatted the item to the floor and ran off with a look of disdain.
But just then, the jade pendant floated up from the floor into the air and began to fly leisurely toward Hikigaya Hachiman’s bedroom.
‘Uh oh, it flies.
An assassin!
There’s an assassin!’
Ka-kun’s eyes widened, and it hurriedly gave chase.
Ka-kun leaped into the air, preparing to pin the pendant down.
To its surprise, the pendant passed through Hikigaya Hachiman’s closed bedroom door as if it had no mass.
Thinking of the idiot servant inside being attacked by this unidentified flying object, Ka-kun’s fur bristled in panic.
But it immediately froze in place.
The pendant was hovering above Hikigaya Hachiman’s head, and then it, too, went still.
A line made of light connected to the center of Hikigaya Hachiman’s forehead.
Although Ka-kun didn’t know what this meant, strangely, it didn’t move around, and then it realized it really couldn’t move.
Ka-kun had lost control of its body.
It immediately let out a terrified shriek, but at that moment, it couldn’t even open its mouth.
Then, a sudden surge of black energy erupted from Hikigaya Hachiman’s body.
The black energy tried to drill into Hikigaya Hachiman’s body again but failed.
Having lost its host, the panicking energy began spinning around the room.
Finally, upon discovering a motionless pet cat in the corner of the room, it dove into Ka-kun’s body under the cat’s terrified gaze.
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Feeling a heavy, impossible-to-ignore weight on its stomach, Hikigaya Hachiman finally lost his drowsiness.
Opening his eyes to find Ka-kun lying on his stomach, Hikigaya smiled helplessly and gently moved the cat to the side.
Then he saw that Ka-kun was holding the jade pendant Kanna had given him.
“This is a precious item.
If you break it, I don’t know how long that little girl will cry.”
Hikigaya Hachiman took the jade pendant from under Ka-kun’s paws and placed it in the pocket of his school uniform.
Although he didn’t know what exactly it was, it must be very important to Kanna.
After all, that earnest gaze from earlier felt like she was truly entrusting something to him.
If he lost it, she would be very troubled, wouldn’t she?
‘I’ll just keep it with me for now; I can always…’
Hikigaya Hachiman thought to himself, and his mouth curled upward.
The reason why Hiratsuka Shizuka insisted he join the Service Club:
Many things disappear secretly when you aren’t paying attention.
If you don’t keep them right in front of you and watch them closely, they might vanish in the blink of an eye.
Therefore, he must keep them in the Service Club, within arm’s reach.