Yotsuya Miko didn't stay in Hikigaya Hachiman's arms for long.
The sudden emotional breakdown just now was rely due to all the fear and stress she had gone through today—it overwheld her temporarily.
Once she felt her mood had settled a bit, Yotsuya Miko quietly climbed off Hikigaya Hachiman.
"Sorry… it must've been really uncomfortable, right?"
She sat on her knees on the wooden floor of the storage room.
The cold touch of the floor gradually cleared her mind.
Looking at Hikigaya Hachiman, still lying there in a starfish-like pose, her face turned slightly red. A wave of heat rushed to her cheeks.
What the heck was I just doing?!
If it weren't for the fact that Hachiman was right next to her, Miko would probably be banging her head against the storage shelves right now.
"It was a little uncomfortable, but it's okay..."
Hachiman sat up from the floor and stretched his joints.
Then he looked at Yotsuya Miko.
"Feeling better now?"
He couldn't fully understand the imnse pressure she was under—after all, he wasn't her.
But letting out so of it just now had to have helped a bit, right?
"Yeah... thank you. I feel a lot better now."
She nodded lightly, stood up, and patted the dust off her clothes.
Seeing this, Hikigaya Hachiman also stood up with the box of bedding and exited the storage room.
"It didn't get blown out?"
At the windowsill, the candle that had gone out was still standing upright.
This made Hachiman realize—the fla probably hadn't been blown out by the wind.
"That old man... what's he trying to do?"
Hachiman quickly pinned down the suspect: Yotsuya Miko's father.
Komachi wouldn't pull a prank like this from downstairs, and he and Miko certainly didn't do it from inside the storage room. That left only one possibility.
Ever since Miko had changed her clothes earlier, her father had completely disappeared.
"What's wrong?"
After tidying herself up a little, Yotsuya Miko ca out of the storage room and imdiately noticed Hachiman staring blankly at the candle by the window.
"It's nothing. Let's go downstairs."
Putting the candle away, Hachiman shook his head with a blank expression, then took the box of bedding and headed toward the stairs.
"You guys were so slow! You didn't really do sothing up there, right?"
Seeing Hachiman coming down with a big box, Komachi imdiately put down her phone and ran over to help.
After moving the sofa and coffee table aside, a large open space appeared in the middle of the living room.
"So, are we going to sleep now, or hang out for a bit first?"
It was almost 11 PM, but Komachi didn't feel sleepy at all.
She sat cross-legged on one of the newly laid-out futons and pulled out the board ga she and Hachiman had played earlier that day.
"How'd you bring that with you?"
Seeing the board ga in her hand, Hachiman's expression changed slightly.
Just one match between the two of them earlier had taken more than an hour.
If Miko joined in too...
"Hmm, I'm not sleepy either."
Unaware of how grueling the board ga was, Yotsuya Miko nodded in agreent to Komachi's suggestion to play a round before bed.
.
.
.
12:40 AM.
The night had grown deep.
In the Yotsuya family living room, the three of them continued playing by candlelight.
"Haahh~..."
Suddenly, Komachi yawned and looked visibly exhausted.
"Let's wrap up the ga here, okay? Looks like everyone's tired..."
She glanced over at Yotsuya Miko, who was also nodding repeatedly, clearly struggling to stay awake.
"Agreed…"
Despite having insisted earlier they play a full ga, Komachi weakly raised her hand in agreent.
Then she let go of her cards and dove straight under the covers.
"Cleaning up is all yours, Onii-chan. Komachi's going to bed."
Hikigaya Hachiman: …
Can't say no to you, huh?
His face full of helplessness but eyes full of affection, Hachiman looked at Komachi fondly. Then he stood up and began cleaning up the scattered cards.
"Yotsuya-san, ti for bed."
Noticing that Miko was still clutching her cards tightly, he gently tapped her shoulder.
"Huh?"
Groggy, she raised her head and instinctively let go of the cards in her hands.
"If you're sleepy, just go to sleep. I'll handle the rest."
Taking the cards from her, Hachiman went off to clean up the ga.
"Okay."
Too sleepy to care anymore, Yotsuya Miko fumbled around blindly on the floor and crawled into the nearest empty futon.
Once Hachiman had cleaned everything up and blown out the candle, he was also ready to rest.
But as he looked at the futon laid out between Miko and Komachi, he hesitated.
"Komachi, let's switch places."
He quietly walked over to Komachi's futon and whispered.
But all he got in return was her steady, rhythmic breathing.
"..."
Standing there in silence for a mont, Hachiman sighed.
Then he crawled into the futon between the two girls.
"Just lie flat... get through the night... no turning over..."
He warned himself in his heart to stay still.
Feeling a bit of sleepiness creep in, he closed his eyes.
.
.
.
In the middle of hazy dreams, Hachiman suddenly felt a weight on his body.
Half-asleep, he casually pushed the weight off.
But just as he began to relax again, the weight ca back.
Not only that, he felt his blanket being pulled away, little by little.
Even soone as laid-back as Hachiman had limits—especially when it ca to blanket territory.
With a gentle tug, he reclaid his blanket.
"Mmm... it's so cold..."
A sleepy female voice whispered in his ear.
The next mont, he felt a soft, warm body slip into his futon.
"!"
His eyes shot open.
Morning sunlight stread into the living room through the curtains.
Hachiman sat up, dazed.
He looked left and right.
Yotsuya Miko and Komachi were both curled up sound asleep in their own futons.
"So it really was just a dream?"
All the tension in his chest vanished.
Hachiman covered his face and let out a wry laugh.
Turns out... even he could have dreams like that?
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