The classroom had been filled with the laughter of a few high school boys until their merriment had suddenly been silenced. One could hear a pen drop... or the lecturing and stomping of feet in the hallway.
What the boys inferred from this was that Yamada must have been caught while trying to set up posters of his upcoming doujin in the hallways by none other than the hall monitor, Ishimaru. Oowada had dared Yamada to do so just moments ago, no one actually expecting the otaku to successfully hang up a single poster.
The sliding classroom door was opened by the angry hall monitor. "Next time, ask for permission before you hang your posters, no matter the reason! Do you understand?!"
"Y-Yes sir," Yamada responded weakly. Ishimaru huffed and closed the door behind them. Yamada quietly took a seat among his peers, giving a sullen look that would have given away that he failed to accomplish his task if Ishimaru hadn't already done so.
"Since Yamada here couldn't even hang up a poster, we're skippin'is turn." Kuwata smirked, propping his feet up on his desk. "So that means it's my turn to pick on someone, huh?"
Yamada would have protested, but this little game had quickly gone from truth or dare to just dares- even if you were to say truth, someone would turn it into "would you accept a dare about..." He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to cause a commotion over nonexistent rules of their game. He instead watched the tension on everyone's face when Kuwata's eyes looked in Naegi's direction. Naegi had caught on and clearly showed in his expression that he wasn't anticipating his turn.
"So, Naegi!" Kuwata began, staying in his position. "Truth or dare, buddy?"
No matter what I pick, Naegi thought, it's going to be humiliating, isn't it... He had made clear that he was the least enthused to be playing the game, considering how much time he spent deciding which choice he would take. The other boys would usually just pick one without much thought.
"Gonna need an answer," Kuwata added, wondering why he didn't just skip Naegi's turn and pick Hagakure instead.
Naegi hadn't realized until that moment that he had been silent. "Oh, uh... Dare, I guess."
"That's great, man, I thought I'd have to skip your turn!" Kuwata grinned. He then unexpectedly slammed his palm onto the desk. "Now let's just see how much good luck you've got!"
Naegi felt a pit in his stomach the moment those words were said.
Kuwata stood up. "I dare you to ask Kirigiri out!" Naegi nearly fell out of his chair as everyone smirked, waiting for his response.
"I... I couldn't do that!" Naegi retorted nervously.
"Why not, Naegi?" Kuwata inquired. "Is she not good enough for you or somethin'?"
Naegi shook his head. "Y-You've got that wrong! It's just that it's not good to mess with people's feelings like that, is all!" The room was silent for only a few seconds. Judging by the glances that the other boys gave each other, the matter wasn't going to end there.
"Okay, okay," Kuwata said, breaking the silence. "How about this. Instead of your dare, let's have a truth here for once, yeah?" No objections were made, not even from Naegi. "Alright then, buddy... do you like Kirigiri?"
Naegi stiffened as he felt everyone's stares piercing into him. There was no way for him to get out of this one. He swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke. "...m...maybeIdosowhat?"
Yamada and Hagakure had almost immediately started laughing, not necessarily because of Naegi's response, but because they weren't expecting such an answer. Kuwata had a flabbergasted expression on his face, as if he were about to laugh, but couldn't bring himself to.
"You guys are the worst!" Ignoring the weak apologies from his peers, Naegi shot up from his seat and made his way towards the door when the laughter had ceased. If only Naegi had seen the shocked expressions on his friends' faces and the gestures to sit back down, he would have never opened the classroom door to find himself face to face with Kirigiri.
"...Kirigiri-san!" Naegi managed to utter. She did not greet him back, and instead glanced at the dead silent students sitting in the corner on the classroom, whose expressions read "we tried to warn you."
"I was walking by, Naegi-kun, when I heard my name." Kirigiri made direct eye contact. "Is what you said true?"
Naegi shuffled his feet. "Well, uh... y-yes. They did make me tell the truth." His friends froze after realizing they'd been shoved under the bus. "Um...so... yeah..."
Kirigiri didn't respond. She turned and walked down the hallway, leaving the matter still open. Naegi watched her leave, unable to say anything, and instead looked down at his feet in complete embarrassment.
"So much for being the Super High School Level Good Luck, eh, Naegi?" Kuwata jibed, trying to lighten the mood. Just a few moments later, their game had resumed as if the dilemma never happened.
Naegi did not completely participate because his mind was somewhere else. Just before Kirigiri had left, he could have sworn he had seen her smile.