Unintentionally, Orimoto Kaori Catches The Cynic Off Guard

"That's how it is so I'm very sorry, Orimoto."

In front of the same public library, the sight of a bowing Hikigaya can be seen next to Orimoto.

After a short explanation of his personal affairs, Hikigaya went ahead and apologized to Orimoto that he won't be able to keep his promise of teaching her for her midterms due to his own preparation for the university entrance exams.

The primary reason why he didn't do it through phone was because he made his decision when it was already late at night and he didn't want to bother Orimoto in case she was already sleeping.

The other reason was the brown envelope held on his right hand which he handed over to Orimoto.

"Now while I did say that I won't be able to help you study from here on out, I wouldn't want to let you leave empty-handed too. So, please take this."

"These are?"

"A comprehensive study guide of what will likely come out of your midterms. Because of the time constraints, I could only make two so I prioritized your two worst subjects. For the others, I just left some tips and notes for you, though they're not as detailed. You're not that bad with the remaining ones anyways so if you don't slack off too much, you'll more than likely do well enough to pass."

With that, Hikigaya turned around and bid farewell.

"Well then, I won't hold you up much longer, Orimoto. Enjoy the rest of your Golden Week."

"Wait, Hikigaya."

"Yes?"

"Where are you going?"

"Inside the library. To study. Like I said earlier, it's for my university exams preparations."

"Which university are you aiming for?"

"…"

Hikigaya almost reflexively answered with Chiba University before he stopped himself at the last second.

"I'll try to get as high a score as I can first. Then, I'll go from there."

It wasn't necessarily a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either. At his current state, Hikigaya was far too unprepared to say something as bold as, I'm aiming for Todai. So this kind of noncommittal answer will do for now.

"Whoa! As expected of a Sobu elite…."

Orimoto's eyes sparkled in amazement as she heard Hikigaya's statement. Meanwhile, the cynic could only make a wry smile from his side while thinking of a rather rude thought that involved certain members of the clique he was part of.

Pretty sure if you saw Tobe and Yui's scores, you'd not be as amazed.

Hikigaya wanted to take this opportunity to say goodbye but Orimoto's words came before his.

"Do you mind if I come with you?"

Surprised, the cynic could only doubt her intentions.

"Uh sure, I guess. But why though?"

"You see, I really didn't set any plans with my friends for the whole week because I expected myself to be studying the entire time… Besides… I kinda want to read what you prepared for me too."

While Hikigaya thought that it was unimaginable for someone like Orimoto to not have plans in such a time like this, he also wasn't the type to pry into others' affairs too much so he had no other choice b ut to take Orimoto's words at face value, for now at least.

"Is that so? Well, if you're truly fine with studying with me around then be my guest."

Now that that was settled, the duo once again found themselves in a similar position they were in yesterday. This time around, although they were still sitting opposite to each other, neither had any sort of interaction as they were both focused on their own study materials.

After putting his earphones on, Hikigaya did not even spare a glance at the girl in front of him as he weaved through page after page of the book he borrowed from the library whilst scribbling his notes on relatively the same pace. Or so it appears on the surface.

As for Orimoto, try as she might on concentrating on her own output, she found her eyes drawn towards Hikigaya's motions once every five minutes, three minutes, two minutes, one minute, half a minute, a few seconds before eventually, she was just full-on staring at him go through his usual study routine.

Unbeknownst to Orimoto however, one of Hikigaya's loner skills involved his advanced usage of his peripheral vision.

Loner Skill No. 17: Hikki Vision.

Much like Orimoto, Hikigaya himself was also sneaking glances towards the girl in front of him. Once he got too into his studying however, he stopped staring back at her as he saw no reason to continue doing so.

Like so, an hour and a half passed.

At this interval, regardless of whether it was because he was finished with this book or he just felt like taking a break, Hikigaya suddenly stopped writing and took out his earphones.

Because of this abrupt transition, Orimoto hurriedly lowered her gaze and returned to her own notes which were only just half-done.

Although Hikigaya didn't catch the fact that Orimoto has been staring at him for far too long than he expected, he still noticed that Orimoto's output was, quite frankly, lacking.

To him, that was a little strange. That was because speed did not seem to be a problem for Orimoto at all. In fact, Hikigaya would even say that Orimoto was way too fast for her own good.

In that case, what was the issue?

It probably involved him because of all this staring he's getting. The reason for that however, eluded him.

Still though, that didn't mean he didn't have anything to work with.

In essence, the root of Orimoto's problem was simple.

It was a lack of focus.

Orimoto said it herself yesterday after all.

If that was true, how was he supposed to help in a way that it didn't interfere that much with his own studying?

The answer came to Hikigaya after a little bit of thinking.

However, it didn't help that the solution that he came up with was a little too embarrassing for his own taste. Unfortunately, it was the only one that came to mind especially after considering recent events.

After summoning all of his courage, Hikigaya leaned a little bit forward and tapped a space on the table near Orimoto to grab her attention.

"Hey, Orimoto. Can I ask something?"

"Sure, Hikigaya! What is it?"

He felt that there was a little too much tension on Orimoto's response but he opted to ignore that for now.

"Do you have that assignment I made you answer yesterday?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Can I take a look at it?"

"Eh? Are you sure? Aren't you a little busy right now?"

Hikigaya made a vague smile of reassurance before responding.

"It's fine. I planned on taking a short break anyways."

"Well, if you say so…"

Orimoto timidly handed her paper to Hikigaya.

The loner prince immediately got to work upon receiving it.

Due to having made this test just yesterday, most of the contents were still fresh on his memory. As such, it didn't even take 20 minutes for Hikigaya to blitz through the entire thing.

The result.

Orimoto managed to reach a score of 73.

It might not be that high according to Sobu's standards but it was at least enough for an average student to not worry about failing too much.

Still though, it was also a score that left a lot to be desired.

The improvement of Orimoto's score was predicted by Hikigaya to a certain extent. That was because a good number of the questions listed here were already something Orimoto answered from the other sets that Hikigaya gave her yesterday. In a way, he was also trying to test Orimoto's retention.

It would have been problematic if Orimoto's scores lowered instead.

Had her score increased way too much then he would have suspected some form of foul play to be involved.

Nevertheless, an improvement was an improvement. Even sophistry would have some trouble twisting this fact.

"Congratulations, Orimoto. Your score increased by a good amount."

Hikigaya returned the paper to Orimoto which the latter received with a big smile on her face.

"Oh! It did. It really did! Then again…"

Orimoto's smile then turned to a look of mild frustration.

"I felt like it could've definitely been higher though…"

Hikigaya could only smile wryly upon hearing such an optimistic line from Orimoto's mouth.

"Well, if you plan on aiming for something higher then you need to work even harder for it."

At this, Hikigaya then retrieved a small case from his bag.

He ended up bringing his glasses with him today just to fulfill yesterday's promise even though he had no idea if Orimoto planned on accompanying him or not.

"Just like what we talked about yesterday, I'll wear these glasses for you."

Maintaining his stoic expression, Hikigaya put on his glasses in a slightly clumsy manner, a testament to how he was not used to putting on such an accessory. To Orimoto however, that small detail only served to highlight the difference between the appearance of a Hikigaya with his glasses on and the one without it.

"Eh?! While I'm very thankful for that Hikigaya, you don't have to go that far…"

Orimoto waved her hands around in refusal but the cynic simply shrugged at her and spoke in his usual neutral tone.

"You want to aim for a higher score, right? In that case, you'll need all the help you can get. While I originally wanted to help you more directly, I can't do that anymore because of my own affairs so this is the only way I can help you now."

"Huh?"

Orimoto tilted her head in confusion. It was a cute gesture but that only made Hikigaya sigh.

"I thought you said seeing me in my glasses helped you focus… Or was that a lie?"

Hikigaya's inquiry jogged Orimoto's memory.

She did recall saying something along those lines.

"Right, right… It really helps... Thanks, Hikigaya."

Hikigaya cast a look of suspicion for a few seconds before he turned his attention back to his books.

Orimoto breathed out a sigh of relief once he did so.

She wasn't sure when and why but she felt embarrassed at the fact that he was trying his best to look out for her even though he himself was quite busy.

Once again, Orimoto's eyes were drawn to the figure of Hikigaya diligently studying. That image was now even more imposing with his glasses on.

In actual fact, aside from his eyes being dead, Hikigaya's face was quite appealing. His lashes were long, his nose was just the right shape, he had a sharp chin, and his eyebrows formed an ideal curve. Coupled with a pair of glasses, a properly styled hairdo and his current activity which highlighted how much of a serious person he is, then it was not farfetched to say that he would be quite a hit to the ladies, though not on the same level as a certain Hayama Hayato of course but even then, he would still be quite popular.

Thankfully, Orimoto managed to avert her eyes before she could stare at him any longer. If she indulged herself for even just five more seconds, then she was sure she would end up staring at him for the entire day.

In that case, what would help her concentrate then?

After briefly looking around her side of the table, she noticed her smartphone that she kept at her arms' reach. Her hands unconsciously picked it up and before she knew better, the camera application on her phone was active and a photo of a bespectacled Hikigaya Hachiman hard at work was saved on her phone's memory.

Huh?! What am I doing?!

Orimoto reflexively wanted to delete the photo but upon closer inspection, she found out that it was a very well-taken photo. The angle, the lighting and Hikigaya's pose itself all highlighted his good features. It was a pity to delete such a good image as Orimoto was sure that she would not be able to capture something with a similar quality again.

Wait! Wait! Wait! This might work?

Thus, Orimoto chose to keep the photo. And because she possessed a photo of such high quality, she didn't become as distracted at the sight of Hikigaya working in front of her anymore.

For the first time in the entire day, Orimoto was completely focused on her own work. By the end of the day, even Hikigaya was impressed at how productive the girl was given how she had such an awful start earlier.

Coincidentally, it just so happened that Hikigaya missed the moment that Orimoto's smartphone camera was locked onto him.

On his side however, he was just truly thankful that he didn't need to do anything else to make Orimoto focus more.

Though at the end of the day, he felt a little guilty about the fact that he wasn't able to help her as much as he originally intended, Orimoto herself kept insisting that he has helped more than enough and that she'll take care of the rest herself.

Because of that fact, Hikigaya was also able to make good progress with his own studying.

An optimistic thought along the lines of, Todai might not just be a dream anymore if I can continue studying at this kind of pace, began to sprout on HIkigaya's head but he'll be caught dead first before he said that out loud.

And so, their respective Golden Week comes to an end.

But because Hikigaya was studying during the entire thing, he didn't feel like he took a break at all.

That kind of feeling was shared between all the other members of the clique who were also hard at work during the entire week.

Yes, including both Yuigahama and Tobe.

Author's Note:

If everything went according to plan this should pop up along with the previous chapter.

I had originally wanted to write this on Hikigaya's perspective but because he was supposed to have no idea that his picture was actually taken, it only came out like a paranoid's mumblings so I personally felt like this version was the more interesting one between the two.

With this, we've finally moved on from the timeline and we are now officially in the month of May.

I may have used way too much chapters for one month but most of those are setup anyways. Rest assured, I'll try to speed things up a bit more for the rest of the school year since I think I have enough foundation to work with now.

By the way, let me know if you guys are okay if I release back-to-back chapters like this for the future extras or would you rather have me compile them as previously suggested by someone else. I am willing to try either one.

With all that being said, I stash my tools for the trade for now and I bid you all farewell.

May everyone's good wishes and realities intersect.

Mori Hikiko