Chapter 265: The Unreliable Mother and Daughter
"A relative who has traveled a long distance to seek refuge?"
The time was 9 PM.
Mr. Hikigaya, who had finished a busy day and finally returned home, was surprised to see a strange girl in his living room.
After listening to the combined, supplementary explanations from Hachiman and Komachi and broadly understanding Sakura's purpose, he fell silent.
"Onii-chan, is it really okay to say that?"
Seeing her dad lower his head and fall into thought, Komachi quietly moved closer to Hachiman and whispered.
Sakura, sitting on the sofa, also kept her head down, nervously twisting her hands together, awaiting Mr. Hikigaya's final judgment.
"......"
Hachiman looked at the two nervous people beside him, a flash of helplessness crossing his mind.
He had already told him in advance that he would handle it using unconventional means, so why were they still nervous!
"Alright, since there are no other family members they can rely on besides us, I suppose there's no helping it, is there?"
Sure enough, after a moment of contemplation, and following the psychological suggestion Hachiman had given him, Mr. Hikigaya sighed and agreed to let Sakura stay.
"Yay!"
Hearing her father's answer, Komachi immediately jumped up and threw herself into a hug with Sakura.
"Be careful not to scare her, okay?"
According to the hint Hachiman had given, Sakura's affairs were left entirely to Hachiman to manage.
Although he greatly doubted whether his son could handle all the problems, Mr. Hikigaya still entrusted the matter to him.
"Well then, I'll go back to my room and rest first."
Having dealt with Sakura's matter, Mr. Hikigaya, who was already physically and mentally exhausted from a day of work, yawned and headed upstairs to the second floor.
"Um... where is Auntie?"
Although she was officially adopted by the Hikigaya family, calling a complete stranger "Mother" still made Sakura feel reserved.
Looking at Mr. Hikigaya's retreating figure upstairs, Sakura curiously asked the two siblings beside her about their mother's whereabouts.
"Mom is still working overtime today, she probably won't be back..."
Hearing Sakura mention their mother, a hint of helplessness flashed across the faces of both Hikigaya siblings.
.
.
.
The next morning.
After successfully getting his father to accept Sakura as part of the family last night, Hachiman woke up early.
The reason was, naturally, that he needed to resolve the issues of the two people still waiting in the hotel today.
However, since the Inari Shrine had already helped resolve the identity information issue yesterday, all Hachiman really needed to do today was find a place for Irisviel to stay.
As for work, the jewels Irisviel possessed were enough for the mother and daughter to spend for a lifetime...
"Well, I'm heading out now..."
After finishing breakfast and saying hello to Komachi and Sakura, Hachiman left home and headed toward the hotel where Irisviel and Illya were staying.
He took the elevator to the floor where the mother and daughter were residing, went to the door, and pressed the doorbell, but there was no response from inside.
"?"
Are they still sleeping?
Having received no response, countless question marks popped up in Hachiman's mind.
Could it be that Irisviel and the others were feeling complicated after just arriving in a new world and didn't sleep well last night?
That shouldn't be the case...
Trying again, Hachiman pressed the doorbell once more.
This time, the door opened in response.
However, Hachiman only glanced into the room before quickly turning his gaze to the corridor, then pulling the door shut again.
"Why are you opening the door in your pajamas!"
"Because Illya and I were still sleeping..."
Irisviel, wearing a light blue fluffy nightgown that revealed a strip of fair skin, rubbed her sleepy eyes while leaning against the door to explain.
"Insomnia?"
Hachiman raised an eyebrow at Irisviel's reason.
It couldn't be that coincidental, could it? The random reason he thought of actually came true?
"No, well... actually, it's because of the phone you gave me yesterday..."
When asked why she wasn't up yet, a hint of embarrassment flashed across Irisviel's face.
Yesterday, Hachiman bought her a smartphone for emergency contact.
But after Hachiman left, Irisviel and Illya only fiddled with it for a while before successfully mastering the device, which contained technology over a decade ahead of their world.
And then the mother and daughter, immersed in the sea of the internet, simply couldn't pull themselves out...
"Buzz..."
"Wait..."
Hearing a strange machine buzzing sound coming from the room, Hachiman no longer cared about Irisviel's current attire.
He peeked through the slit opened by the door.
He saw two laptop computers lighting up, with the screens showing the operating interface of an online game...
Illya, wearing a pink sleep robe, was sitting in front of a computer, wearing headphones, staring intently at the screen, her fingers clattering on the keyboard...
"Actually, you two didn't sleep all night just because you were playing games with headphones on, so you didn't hear the doorbell just now, did you?"
Looking at the scene inside the room, Hachiman's face instantly twitched.
Never mind how the mother and daughter managed to get computers. How have they already started playing browser games after just one night?!
"I'm very sorry..."
With her lie exposed, Irisviel stood in front of Hachiman, docilely bowing her head like a student who had made a mistake.
"Ah, Onii-chan..."
Illya, who had lost the game despite fighting hard because her mother temporarily quit, took off her headphones, just about to complain to her mother, when she saw Hachiman standing at the doorway.
Without hesitation, Illya jumped off the stool and, imitating her mother's posture, stood obediently in front of Hachiman with her head down...
"......This mother and daughter pair are beyond saving..."
Hachiman looked up at the ceiling in despair.
He couldn't understand it.
It had only been one night, yet why had the course of events completely exceeded his imagination...
Also...
Which utterly unforgivable person bought these two a computer?!
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