Hachiman escaped from his home.
Not in the sense of a child throwing a tantrum.
Nor in the dramatic sense of a divorce.
He simply went out to buy a drink.
Having a middle school student at home who stared at him constantly might sound like a good thing to certain deprived circles of society, but after a while, it became genuinely uncomfortable—that lingering awareness of being watched at all times.
He bent down, fed some coins into the vending machine, and selected a Max Coffee.
It would wake him up and replenish his sugar in one go.
Then he unhurriedly sat down on the roadside steps.
The bright moonlight and pale white streetlights fell gently across Hachiman’s face, making it look even more pallid than usual.
Nighttime and vampire themes were always such a perfect match.
Times like this made him feel like a real vampire.
He had to admit—this kind of character setting, not quite villainous but certainly not heroic, was pretty cool.
Even for a high school student.
“I am the Fourth Progenitor, Kaleid Blood. The solitary king who commands the twelve calamity Familiar Beasts.”
Heh.
Not bad.
Actually quite cool.
Perhaps the darkness of night had unleashed Hachiman Hikigaya’s latent chuunibyou.
Or maybe the empty surroundings had given him inexplicable courage.
If anyone caught him doing something this embarrassing, it would definitely become a dark history that haunted him for life.
“That’s really cool, Kaleid Blood-kun. And a little cute, too.”
What the hell.
These stalkers were relentless, weren’t they?
Hachiman felt intensely uncomfortable.
Getting caught in the middle of an occasional solo chuuni performance was the worst kind of awkward.
“You can call me Yukima Miko, to borrow Kaleid Blood-kun’s phrasing.”
A beautiful figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
A woman—well-proportioned, beautiful, with a smile on her face.
Also a chuunibyou cosplay enthusiast wandering outside in the middle of the night wearing a miko outfit.
Yes.
This mature, short-haired woman was actually wearing red and white shrine maiden clothes.
Tucked against the right side of her head was a mask with an ice-blue pattern.
An absolutely hardcore chuunibyou cosplayer. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Instantly, the embarrassment inside Hachiman evaporated.
If someone else was being a chuunibyou alongside you, then being one yourself didn’t seem so hard to accept.
“Then, may I ask, Yukima Miko—what is your relationship with my classmate, Yukino Yukinoshita?”
Hachiman wasn’t blind.
This woman calling herself Yukima Miko had a face at least eighty to ninety percent similar to Yukinoshita’s.
The only differences?
The woman’s hair was different, and where Yukinoshita was flat-chested…
Well.
Moving on.
“I am her mother. Haruno Yukinoshita.”
Ma’am, I—
In short, Hachiman was shocked.
The woman in front of him looked incredibly young.
But upon second thought, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
Yukinoshita had once described herself as a snow woman, so naturally her mother would be one too.
It wasn’t strange for non-human yokai to retain their youth.
At the very least, that eighty to ninety percent facial resemblance couldn’t be faked.
However—
“Although I don’t know who you are,” Hachiman declared, “such an obvious lie serves no purpose.”
He rendered his judgment.
This woman might be related to Yukino Yukinoshita, but she was definitely not her mother.
“Ara ara? Why do you say that? Do I not look like little Yukino?”
“If you ignore the figure, the face is indeed remarkably similar. But I cannot imagine that the serious, upright Yukinoshita’s mother is a chuunibyou cosplay enthusiast.”
“What kind of strange reasoning is that?”
“It’s not strange.” Hachiman frowned.
“I simply feel that someone as eccentric as you probably couldn’t raise a daughter like Yukinoshita.”
“Well, you guessed right. Do you want a reward from your big sister?”
Haruno Yukinoshita revealed a devilish smile, her lips curving into dimples.
She was practically a boy-killer.
Hachiman was certain that if he were still in middle school, he might have been completely infatuated.
This was a devil who could steal a young boy’s soul with just a glance.
“That won’t be necessary. Instead of that, why not just state your purpose, strange cosplay player?”
“I’m a legitimate miko of Yukima Shrine. I even have a license, you know.”
“Mikos need licenses? That’s quite different from what I imagined.”
“You’re the Fourth Progenitor, yet you still have to go to school, yes? As for my purpose… since you’re so good at guessing, why not try to figure it out?”
That was… oddly persuasive.
But to be honest, Hachiman still hadn’t discovered what practical use the “Fourth Progenitor” identity actually had.
Was he supposed to become a terrorist and demand money from the government?
Something like: Give me enough money to live a life of leisure, or I’ll start a world war?
“You look older than Yukinoshita. Maybe you’re her sister. Did you come here because of her?”
“You guessed right… half of it.” Haruno Yukinoshita took the mask off her head and held it at her side.
“I am indeed little Yukino’s sister. But my reason for finding you has nothing to do with little Yukino.”
“Then why? I don’t see how an ordinary male high school student like me could have any connection to someone like you.”
Haruno Yukinoshita was undeniably gorgeous.
She also seemed to have a cheerful, outgoing personality.
No matter what environment she was in, someone like her would be a normie—at the very top of the social food chain.
There was no way she could have any interaction with Hachiman Hikigaya, who dwelled at the very bottom.
“An ordinary male high school student? Are you sure you’re talking about yourself?”
“Absolutely genuine.”
“Well, whatever you say. My purpose here is to give you something.”
With that, Haruno Yukinoshita walked forward unhurriedly and placed the ice-blue patterned mask into Hachiman Hikigaya’s hand.
The mask shimmered with a strange luster under the streetlight.
It had a warm, jade-like texture to the touch—and a strange, almost hypnotic quality, as if it wanted to suck a person’s gaze into it.
“This must be very expensive,” Hikigaya said.
He could tell at a glance this was no cheap temple fair trinket.
There was no way he could accept something this valuable for no reason.
“In a sense, it’s a priceless treasure. But—”
“Then I’ll return it.”
Before Haruno Yukinoshita could finish her “but,” Hachiman Hikigaya moved with lightning speed and placed the mask back onto Haruno’s head.
Do not underestimate a vampire progenitor’s reflexes at night.
“I heard from Shizuka that you were an interesting child,” Haruno said, utterly unbothered.
She simply smiled at him—a smile that somehow felt more unsettling than any glare.
“But I didn’t expect you to be this interesting.”