Considering that he barely saw his girlfriend even once a month (and he wasn't even sure she was his girlfriend; one of her friends had told him emphatically that they were going out, and he figured they would know), it was pretty apparent that none of these approaches had worked.
Poor Higurashi - girlfriend or not, he still really hadn't seen her enough to feel comfortable calling her Kagome - was usually so sick she couldn't even have visitors. Hojo had only been to her house once. It had looked nice. He'd done his best to show her, through his very presence, that he was understanding and could take care of a girl with such a weak immune system. He was not afraid of getting sick.
Of course, he hadn't seen her again for about a month, and then she didn't seem to remember that he'd been there.
So he'd tried being kind, patient, straightforward, making the first move, and being a caretaker.
There was only one option left to get Higurashi's attention and show her how well he would treat her. He was going to have to play hard to get.
Unfortunately, he had no idea how to play hard to get with a girl who was only in school half of the year (or maybe even less?). Hojo wondered if she'd notice if he "forgot" to get her a therapeutic back pad for her latest spinal twist.