Deadeye

Chapter 13 – The Visage of the War God

Anyone who looked at me were scared off, taking a few steps away from my path in order to get away from me as quickly as possible as my mind was racing through all of the possible ways to reach my destination in the shortest time possible.

Unconsciously, my feet quickly turned another corner, my mind deciding on the route that I had chosen to take as my walking pace increased. Not enough for me to break into a full run, but could cover more distance than just walking normally, "Oi. What are you doing here, you brat?"

My eyes glanced towards the speaker who was standing in front of the building that the others were supposed to be in, a delinquent belonging to some kind of high school that I could care less about. In an instant, my katana (replica) was already out of its sheath, its (fake) blade caressing the delinquent's neck as he immediately froze in place, making the mistake of looking into my eyes as the overwhelming scent of urine immediately filled the air.

This is...unpleasant. A quick step forward, and I immediately slammed the hilt of my katana (replica) into the delinquent's nape, immediately knocking him out cold as I slammed his face against the building's wall for good measure. A second later after finding out I wasn't covered in that guy's piss, I grabbed his collar and started to drag him inside the building that he was standing around to protect. If the building was what I think it was, then that would've meant that Nagisa and the others were already inside...

...About time to make my grand entrance, then, "Here come the buddies that I called. They're badasses the likes of which you do-gooder brats have never seen before...Eh?"

"You mean that guy who just pissed himself upon seeing me?" I said, my voice frostier than a blizzard as I haphazardly tossed the unconscious body of this excuse of a delinquent as the rancid smell of urine once again filled the air, "...You're going to have to do more than that, you idiots."

"Hikigaya-san!" Nagisa said, immediately perking up as he turned towards me, his elated expression changing into a blank look as he tried his best to smile at me, "...Wait, just what are you wearing, exactly?"

"A kimono", I said, ignoring the weird stares that everyone gave me as I stepped into the light of this damp place, "I starred in a period play a while back, and Korosensei forced me to wear this for the rest of the day while he went off with my other clothes."

"Though..." I said, a smile forming upon my face as I unsheathed the katana around my waist and immediately took a stance, "...It's probably a good thing if they have a trauma against anyone wearing a damn kimono."

"Hikigaya–"

"Relax, it's just a replica. At most they'll just wake up with a few bruises to their faces", I said, a grin filled with unknown intent threatening to split my face into two as my voice took on a much colder tone, "Though...Since I'm sufficiently pissed, I'm going to have to go further than just a few bruises."

"You, you...! Just because you're an elite student–!" The thug that appeared to be the ringleader behind this whole thing apparently snapped out of his thoughts and charged at me with a speed that an ordinary middle-schooler wouldn't hope to match, but...

...All that he got in return was a katana (replica) swinging into his exposed left side, the sound of bones cracking immediately resounding through the air as the ringleader was nothing more than a ragdoll in response to the sickening force behind my swing, his screams of pain echoing throughout the air as he crumpled right at the spot where I had hit him.

"Next", I said, my voice cold and emotionless as my gaze glanced towards each and every single one of the delinquents around me, taking note of their numbers and their possible armaments as three of the delinquents now charged at me, with knives and bottles at the ready.

I ducked low, whirling around as my katana lashed out in a blur of silver, striking the first delinquent in the shin as the sound of bones cracking once again resounded through the air, the delinquent screaming in pain and dropping his knife. As much as I wanted to send this guy into the other side, I simply didn't have enough time to do so.

No rest for the wicked, after all.

I spun around in place, catching the surprised delinquent off-guard as his swing went wild, his bottle smashing the floor as it splintered into glass shards. All it took was a single quick jab through the nape with the hilt of my katana in order to knock him out, "Karma."

"On it", the red-headed devil said as a blur shot out from somewhere behind me, the sickening crunch of another delinquent's face being smashed against his knee as I slowly turned around and looked at the red-headed devil, "Woah, Hikigaya. You look like a demon right now. And for some reason I want to stay away as far from you as possible."

"Well, I guess I'm slightly unhinged for the moment", I said, a grin forming on my face as Karma coolly took a step back and let me face the oncoming tide of delinquents, "...Might as well make the most out of my short stint as a god of war."

My katana glinted an eerie silver as the rest of the delinquents finally snapped, rushing towards me with all of their weapons and attempting to overcome me with sheer numbers, "Making fun of us just because you're an elite school, huh!?"

"Elite...?" I said as my left eye twitched, finally snapping at these idiots' idiocy as I quickly brought my katana down to his hip, "You know, I've always been wondering, but are you seriously high school students? Just what kind of logic you idiots have to mess with someone just because they're supposedly 'elite'?"

I dodged a knife from one of the delinquents and kicked another in the groin. I ducked low in order to dodge a wild swing from a bottle, and with a single circular slash I made sure that they'd be using their arms to walk for a few weeks at best, "Though I believe that humanity is an idiot for letting the likes of you even join its ranks, the fact that you have survived until this day just tells something about natural selection, isn't it?"

"The weak are strong; the strong are weak", I said, a grin on my face as hacked my way through the delinquent horde with nothing more than a replica katana and the rest of my limbs. A delinquent had grabbed hold of the blade with a smug smirk on his face, but all he got for the trouble was nothing more than his nuts being crushed by a swift kick to the groin, his scream being silenced by a chop to his waist, "Those are Darwin's laws, and I'm pretty sure that an ingrate of you has heard of them, at least."

"But, the matter of being 'weak' and being 'strong' – or the matter of being 'elite' or not, only depends on whatever the people themselves think", I said, cutting another delinquent down with a single flash of silver light as I met the gazes of the delinquents' ringleader, my ice-cold gaze narrowing at him as he was immediately frozen in place, "If you see yourself as 'strong', then you are strong, no matter how weak your body is. If you see yourself as 'weak', then you see yourself as weak, even though your body is strong. Do you understand?"

My katana caught the slivers of light that had managed to sneak past the building's windows, glinting in an eerie silver as I showed its entire length towards the ringleader. Its blade was battered, with cracks running through its edges, it's once bright sheen now marred by the shadows of its surroundings and only standing out in the most concentrated of spots, glinting a brilliant light that served to blind others who saw it.

Now that I think about it, this blade was just like me, "...I'm not one that you would call 'strong'. I'm not one that you would call 'weak'. I am nothing more than an empty husk of a person with chaos in his heart and soul, living on nothing but borrowed principle. I have no dreams. I have no wants. But now, I'm starting to get the subtlest hints that I do."

Silver flashed, and the katana replica was already by the ringleader's throat, the high-school delinquent staring at me with absolute fear in his eyes as the rancid smell of urine once again filtered through the air like a disgusting stain.

"I admire those who drag others down to their own level, since it proves that they have the necessary intellect and skill in order to accomplish such a feat", my tone was cold and sharp, utterly devoid of human emotions like 'fear' or 'anger' as I pressed the katana's blade closer to his throat, "...But, your mentality in doing so only proves that you are all idiots. If you wanted to do something about this complexes of yours, then do it yourself. If you want something to fix, don't fix the world around you – it's hopeless to change society because the cogs are already set in place. If you want something to fix, then fix your own, goddamned, self. Though, this is just me rambling about your idiocy. After all..."

A grin formed on my face as my eyes glinted with a malicious glee, "...Dead men aren't supposed to talk."

The only thing that resounded through the air after that was the delinquents' ringleader collapsing in his own pool of urine. Ugh. Simply disgusting. Common sense would dictate that you move away from your own puddle of urine before you lapse into unconsciousness but...Oh well. I was talking to an idiot after all, so it made sense that he would do such an idiotic thing.

I might need to give whatever I'm wearing right now a good scrubbing later, though. Damn it, there goes my souvenir wear... "Hikigaya-san."

My katana was already sheathed as I sighed and turned towards the rest of the group that I had helped out earlier, my eyes not failing to notice the hulking mass of yellow that seemed to be trying his best to hide beyond the alcove leading to this place, "...What?"

"Oh", Nagisa said, visibly heaving a sigh of relief as smiled at me, "...Nothing. I was just thinking that you might've turned into a monster halfway during the whole 'beating up the delinquents' scene that I can't help but worry."

I'm sure that you are worried, but guessing from the little barbs that you've been sending to me from just that one sentence, you seem to be more inclined with verbally assaulting me rather than making small talk, "I'm perfectly fine, I assure you. All of my stress was gone the moment that I was done beating up those wastes of oxygen."

"...Then why do I feel like you're still not done with whatever you're planning on doing?" Nagisa shot a deadpan at me as I simply smirked at him and snorted at his remark.

"See you back at the inn", I said, waving once at the rest of Nagisa's group as I made my way out of the building, a thin smile forming on my face as I stopped and turned around, seeing Korosensei who was staring at me with his two main tentacles folded over his chest, staring at me with his usual yellow color.

I sigh. This is going to be a bit hard to explain, isn't it? "Hikigaya-kun."

"...Sorry, sensei", I said, glancing off towards the setting sun as I couldn't help but grit my teeth, "I...lost control."

"That you did", the octopus said as he nodded sagely at me, "...What happened, Hikigaya? This isn't like you. The ordinary you should've known that I would've come running at Mach 20 the moment that I heard that Kanzaki-san and Kayano-san were kidnapped by a bunch of high-schoolers."

"I knew that, but I..." I stop, the words that were supposed to come out of my mouth not even manifesting themselves as vibrations of my vocal cords as I could only sigh once again, "...It's weird. This...all of this...If I just reined in my emotions at that time, then no one would've been hurt..."

Korosensei sighed, placing a tentacle on top of my shoulder as I blinked at him in confusion, "Hikigaya. It's only natural to feel angry over one of your friends being kidnapped. Now, I agree that you could've handled your anger better, but you're still young; you could still–"

"Sensei", I said, cutting into the octopus' lines as I stared at his blank, beady eyes, "I...don't have friends. No...I guess you could say that I don't want to have friends. This...feeling, this anger...I-I don't want this sensei. If being friends with someone means having to control something like this, then I..."

Friends. Finally, my mind had been able to completely understand every single meaning of the word for me to use it in conversation. But of course, understanding is based out of inference, and since all the knowledge that I had of friendship was in my previous years and the few strands that I currently have right now, I'm not exactly the type of person to consult for friendship.

In my perspective, the thing known as 'friendship' is nothing more than a give-and-take relationship. One part gives something that the other part wants, and the other party is bound by an invisible contract to reciprocate. This contract lasts as long as both parties are interested in the resources that the other party holds, and thus this thing known as 'friendship' is only good for short-term uses, when both parties are still interested in each other's goods before the contract is abruptly cut off.

But this...What I had experienced earlier; the simmering rage that I had felt when Fuwa insinuated that I was only after Nakamura's body, my mind finally grinding to a halt when Nagisa had told me that Kanzaki-san had been kidnapped...There had been some sort of 'attachment' towards them. After all, if it were simply a give-and-take relationship with the two of them, then I wouldn't have snapped in anger at what Fuwa and those delinquents had said and done. This sort of 'attachment'...was something not completely alien to me.

I had Komachi. I was more or less sort of 'attached' towards her by virtue of being her older brother, but the sort of 'attachment' that I felt towards both Nakamura and Kanzaki was different. It wasn't the familial kind of attachment that forced you to care out of obligation, but it was the kind of connection that one could sever all at once – an easily fragile bond that was as brittle as glass.

But still, I had chosen to keep it. I had chosen to keep these connections because of some reason that I couldn't understand back then. But now...I do. I was 'attached' to them; attached to the two people who were the first ones who made me step out of my shell and put a tentative step forward in the right direction. Attached to the two of them who had broken through my shell of apathy and showed me my faults; painstakingly used their time in order to try and mold me into a better person.

This sort of 'attachment' was enough to cloud my judgment, to completely take over whatever ounce of logic that I had inside of me at the mention of those two possibly getting hurt. And that feeling of losing control scared me. What if something actually happened to them? Would I lose my mind and just go berserk when I learn that one of them had been hurt, and go on a roaring rampage of revenge and vengeance like what I had done earlier? Would I actually give into the bloodlust inside my head and spare no mercy for all of the parties involved?

...Would I kill others just so I could keep this lingering form of 'attachment'? "Hikigaya."

My thoughts were dissolved as I snapped out of my stupor, turning towards the first being that I had trusted after my transfer into this new school, "I don't know how long you've been trying to live without any kind of social interaction, but...I can only say this."

"...Don't think that such a thing as friendship is too much of a reward for you", Korosensei said as his tentacle's grip on my shoulder grew tighter, "Sure, your friends might leave you. Sure, your friends might possibly betray and leave you for another. But still, the memories are there – all the times that you had shared with them, your thoughts, your feelings, and your emotions...All of them aren't fake. You're the one observing them after all, so they are real – more genuine that you can ever imagine. What matters most isn't the end of your friendship – all friendships must end sooner or later, for that is an inevitable fact of this world. No, what matters most is the memories that you make with them – experiences. Abstract things for sure – subjective things for sure – but they are the ones that are most genuine in this world. Trust me on this, Hikigaya. Please."

It was the first time. The first time that this artificial creature – this super being who can travel at Mach 20, bowed. The yellow octopus that had transferred in at the start of the school year and casually told everyone to assassinate him was bowing. A sign of ultimate humility – a sign that he had bitten back his pride and lowered his head in order for the other party to know the complete sincerity in his words, no matter how the other party might see such a thing, "Don't throw away one of your greatest chances at friendship just because you're too scared to take another step forward, Hikigaya. You were the one that said it yourself, right? That you're going to be the one that's going to be pushing himself forward."

Memories floated through my mind, ones that came from my past. But they were not from one of those times during my second year and back, wherein I was constantly harassed by others who wanted nothing more than to step on me in order to climb up the metaphorical social ladder. No, what I saw were recent memories – memories of the days that I had spent as a student of class 3-E in Kunugigaoka Junior High School. That first day of school, that time in the convenience store, that time in the infirmary, that time in the game store, that time in Saize, that time in my apartment...hell, even the various memories from the train ride and up until now flashed through my eyes. It might've looked like I was already preparing for my death, but it technically wasn't.

Sure, I was dying, with the 'I' pronoun being used as a pronoun for my past self – the one who had the vestiges of the anti-social man who can't help but continuously read between the lines and suspect others of having hidden motives. The one who had no faith in other people except himself, and used all the tools in his disposal in order to make himself untouchable. But in truth, that man was just scared – scared that in one way or another, in some time or another, that he would once again let down his guard, allowing someone to sneak through his walls, and slowly crush his heart from within. A cycle that he knew all too well, and a cycle that he swore to not to repeat again, but he knew deep within that he would inevitably fall into the same trap all over again.

That man was dead. What now lived inside of him was a new soul, forged and tempered through chaotic circumstances that were shaped by the blacksmith more commonly known as doujinshi fodder. Well, him and a few other people that I probably should mention, but shouldn't for the sake of my reformed sanity.

"Sensei..." I said, staring at Korosensei as the latter immediately drew back in shock, sending him a smile that seemed far more genuine that what my old self could've ever given, "...Thank you."

Just as the octopus started stuttering due to seeing my expression, my smile simply grew wider as the intent of my smile changed ever-so slightly. Sure, I was still incredibly grateful for the octopus and all, but still... "Also, Korosensei..."

A second passed before I abruptly ended the supposedly melancholic mood in the air by smoothly bringing out a BB gun from one of the folds in my kimono, trying my best to gun the damn octopus down as my rage reared its ugly head, but this time for a completely different reason, "PAY ME BACK FOR THE COST OF THIS COSTUME YOU DAMN OCTOPUS!"

The cracks that came out from the barrel of the air gun was enough deterrent for the octopus to ever try stealing my stuff again. But seriously...Wasn't he supposed to learn his lesson when I gunned him down before for taking my beloved Vita-chan?

[–|–]

Evening. And I was completely, and absolutely bored out of my wits. And so here I was, the new Hikigaya Hachiman, prowling around the hallways of the inn that we were staying in as if I was nothing more than a disgraceful stalker at his work environment.

Of course, I wasn't exactly stalking anyone at all, so everything is just fine and dandy here at the inn.

I turned another corner, seeing Nagisa, Sugino, Okajima, Fuwa, and Nakamura glancing around a wooden sliding door with determined expressions on their faces. I was about to approach them in order to investigate their suspicious when I suddenly noticed the writing above their heads, written in blue fabric and spelled out clearly and cleanly in large, block-like letters.

'Men's Bathroom' it said.

...Slowly, I inched my way out of the corner and immediately turned around in the other direction, my mind immediately asking questions that I could not answer for the moment as I quickly made my way across the halls at a brisk pace, my aim being the place wherein I was supposed to sleep with the rest of the guys in my class.

A few minutes later, I finally arrived at my destination, finding a Korosensei who was currently hunched over a notepad and was writing something...a quick look over his shoulder proved that I was right; the damn bastard was taking down notes to use for blackmail. Seriously, this damn octopus just won't stop gossiping around, "Korosensei."

"Hyaah!?" The octopus immediately screamed in surprise as he perked up and faced towards me, trying to hide the notepad that he held within his two main tentacles as I simply stared at him blankly for a few seconds, before sighing and sliding the door to the men's room open.

My arrival brought on the immediately stares of the entire male population of the E-Class (save for Nagisa, Okajima, Sugino, and Karma), whose surprised gazes immediately turned into one of malicious curiosity as the mood in the air immediately forced me to choke on my own saliva and immediately take a step back on instinct.

...This is bad. Everywhere I go, I seem to be beset by these damn gazes. Just what the hell do I need to do in order to turn them away!? "Ah, Hikigaya, perfect timing! We wanted to ask you some questions, so just take a seat somewhere around the room or something."

What the hell, this is just an interrogation then, isn't it!? Stop hiding behind your facades of curiosity and just attack me with those malicious stares, damn it! Anyone looking into the room could see what's happening as clear as day, so just drop the act and start tormenting me already!

I sighed, massaging my temples due to the paper-thin veneer of hate directed at me as I situated myself at the point in the room wherein it was easiest for me to open the door and run away, "...Alright. What are you guys supposed to ask me?"

"Who do you like?"

"No one."

I knew it. No matter what age we are in, it seems that hormone-addled teenagers just think of the same thing. Women. Makes me despair at the thought that we're supposed to be the apex predators of the current ecosystem. I cry everytime.

"I-I see..." Isogai said as I wait Isogai why the hell are you the one asking me these kinds of questions!? I thought you were the one above the influences of teenage hormones around here, you know!? I trusted you! And just for the record, I don't usually trust people right of the bat, you know!? "T-Then Hikigaya-san, if you're interested in someone in the class, who is it?"

...You're assuming that I'm actually interested in someone. But I guess, I am, "...Hayami-san, I guess."

"Woah, he just admitted it right then and there, you know."

"Three-timer? Is Hikigaya one of those renowned playboys? Is he finally passing the two-timer mark and going to be a three-timer?"

"Shut it Maehara, you're not any better."

"I am! At the very least I can't even get Kanzaki-san interested in me, you know!"

"""Huh!?"""

"First it was Nakamura, second it was Kanzaki, then he's going for Hayami for the third one!?"

"Chiba! How do you feel about this!?"

"Hikigaya", Sugino said, suddenly appearing in front of me with everything but a friendly smile on his face as I noticed that his fists were already balled up and ready to go at any time and woah I think I just avoided a strike to my face there...And another. And another, and another, and another, and another – "Stop moving around you damn idiot!"

"Maybe if you just let me speak instead of trying to pummel me with your fists, then maybe we'd get somewhere with this!" I screamed back, an annoyed grunt escaping out of my mouth as another choreographed punch tried to hit me in my stomach, but I quickly sidestepped and used his momentum in order to pin him on the ground and put him in a lock, "...Alright, I get it that you're infatuated with Kanzaki, but hold in those damn hormones and try to think logically about this, will you? Just what the hell would I do in order to make Kanzaki interested in me, anyway?"

"I don't know Hikigaya, you're the one that technically saved her and Kayano from those delinquents, after all", Karma's voice echoed throughout the air of the room as he stepped into the killing floor, "Who wouldn't be interested in their savior, anyway?"

"Oh, a lot of people", I said, a sigh escaping my lips as I stood up and released my lock on Sugino, turning towards the rest of my male classmates as I gave them a cold glare, "...And if you think that I'm three-timing or something like me being interested in Hayami, I'm going to warn you now: don't piss me off."

I opened the door as I kept my gaze at the rest of the males, slowly closing the door in my wake as I sighed in relief and turned towards in front of me–

–Only to meet Nakamura, who was apparently a confirmed pervert as she took a long sniff out of my current clothes– Wait! "Oi."

"Ah, sorry", Nakamura said, immediately shoving me backward with a quick push from her hands as a thin smile formed on her face, "I'm just wondering whether or not you're the same Hachiman that I know since that smile on your face is too natural for me to ease up around you."

I couldn't help but scowl at her, using my hands at the same time to check if I was smiling, and indeed I was, "...Well, I'm sorry if my smile looks horrible, but the last time that I can remember smiling was when I was in second grade–"

"It looks good on you, that smile", Nakamura said, taking another step back as she gazed at me with a thin smile on her face, and my instincts told me that what I was seeing as of the moment was a genuine smile from the individual known as Nakamura Rio, "...Yeah. It really does look good on you, Hachiman."

"Spare me the flattery, and just tell me what you came here for", I said as a teasing grin came over Nakamura's face.

"Oho, and what makes you think that I came here just for you?" She said in a teasing tone as I couldn't help but frown at her in the process. Seriously you witch, just who do you think puts up with you and all your pranks? "...Not going to cut it, huh?"

"You know me so well", I replied sarcastically as Nakamura scowled at me in response.

"Can it Hachiman", she said as she snapped at me, and I couldn't help but smile at her as she took a deep sigh to calm myself down, "...Fine, I'll play your game. Can we talk somewhere private?"

I raised an eyebrow at Nakamura, who simply avoided my curious expression by staring out into the hallway, making me sigh in response as I couldn't help but smile at the blonde-haired woman before me.

"You're going to be taking that step forward by yourself, right?"

Korosensei's words once again echoed through my ears as I simply nodded in response to her request, shaking my head about the futility of trying to stop this woman who was the force of nature embodied as she led me around the inn with – curiously – her hand latching onto mine.

I sighed for the third time in a single minute. To be frank, this woman would be the death of me sooner or later...But I severely underestimated my remaining lifespan when I'm with her.

Omake – Girl's side

The girls of the class 3-E were currently discussing their preferences in boys, in the same way that that boys were doing the reverse. Most of the girls were arranged haphazardly around the main speaker, but all chatter completely stopped when they heard something unbelievable coming from the class idol Kanzaki Yukiko.

Simply put, it was summarized into the words "I am interested in Hikigaya Hachiman".

Outrage immediately went through the ranks of the females in an instant as they stared at Kanzaki with nothing more than utter shock written on their faces. Hikigaya Hachiman? Who was he? He was the quiet man who was taller than Terasaka, but seemed to emit no kind of presence whatsoever. The rest of them thought that he was just some ordinary transfer student that had the bad luck of ever associating with the E-Class, but it seemed that he didn't mind. Plus, they actually doubted as to whether or not his real job was actually a student.

After all, he took down Karasuma-sensei in no less than three tries, and has been victorious ever since then, and there were some rumors that Hikigaya was actually the one who had blown off Korosensei's entire right arm, but most didn't believe the rumormongers. After all, the octopus moved at Mach 20 – what chance do they have in order to hit him, when he could just dodge any and all kinds of bullets that were coming his way?

Still, he was quite a bit good-looking on the physical side, but the main problem was that almost no one had ever talked to him and ever found out about his true personality. He was keen on not having conversations with other people, and sometimes he manages to be completely invisible even though he was just right under their noses. This meant that the only way they could get any information about him was through the only person that he constantly interacts with, and that was with Nakamura.

Sadly though, the blonde wasn't here, leading the other girls with nothing more than speculation to chew on as they constantly bombarded Kanzaki with questions such as how did she become interested in him in the first place.

"He came in along with the others to rescue us in a kimono while wielding a replica sword. If there isn't anyone interested as to why he was wearing that kind of clothing, then it would mean that no one has good taste."

They saw his grades. To be honest the rest of the girls didn't know how Hikigaya had gotten the number one spot in the entirety of Japan with his midterm scores by just having one mistake, just knew that it meant that he was incredibly smart, even though he always seemed to be asleep whenever classes are in session. Which probably meant that he was actually paying attention to Korosensei's lessons, just not in a way that they would expect.

Did Kanzaki out of all people like the enigmatic young man? "Well, I wouldn't say that I 'like' him per se, because that means that I'm romantically interested in him. It's not that I see him that way, it's just that...I don't know what the other boys would do to him if word got out of this."

...Wait. Did the class idol show that much affection for Hikigaya that she was willing to take the back row for the moment in order to make sure that he lives his life unbound by any problems?

Some girls closed their eyes, while others simply looked away and imitated gagging sounds. This girl is so pure, they thought, the love is so pure that it's burning away all of the impurities in this world. Hikigaya, just what have you done in order to deserve this kind of affection?

"Well, if Kanzaki-san's interested, then there might be a little bit of a problem", Fuwa said, bringing her head back from the window after the whole fiasco with Kanzaki's purity, pointing out the window as every single girl immediately abandoned their post and looked outside, "...Quite possibly a big problem."

In the back courtyard of the inn, Hikigaya and Nakamura sat close to each other – most likely due to the cold – while simply looking up at the night sky. They looked comfortable with each other, shooting thin smiles at the night sky while sipping some hot tea in the process. So comfortable that some of the girls immediately misunderstood what was happening and thought that the two were having a tryst, when Nakamura was just ranting at Hikigaya while the latter was doing his best to tune her out.

"Kanzaki-san..." Fuwa said with the smile of a predator as she stared at her two classmates who were currently in the courtyard, "...It looks like you have some competition."