AN:Thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please excuse us when we inevitably push back update dates as both life and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has approached us. As for me, I also have my other fics to update…
LanceSennin: Wow, this fic is gaining traction so quickly. Most of the reviews this time is about the pairing, it seems… some think that Hachiman will be paired with Kei while some are Arisu supremacy. RedGlitchFox is with those guys. In my case, I'm in the Honami camp. What's the pairing for Hachiman? We'll just find out, won't we?
"Oh, excuse my manners. My name is Ichinose Honami. I'm from Class B. What about you?" Ichinose Honami introduced herself with a playful gesture, giving me a curtsy with this school's short skirt.
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From Arisu to Ryuuen to even Hosen or Amasawa later on, this was the one character I'd have preferred to avoid meeting so soon. My heart wasn't ready! I can deal with Gary Stu Main Characters, Bratty Egotistical Brocons and Idolized Sociopathic Attention Whores, but I was a normal highschool boy who was now standing in front of something pretty close to a celebrity.
Nevertheless, it's always surprising to see just how true to character the… well characters are. Ichinose effortlessly introduces herself to a stranger such as I while fully knowing I'm someone from another class. Woman, do you try to make friends with just about anyone? Also, understand the danger you pose, dammit! It isn't good for a normal guy's heart if you just show up with a smile like that!
Regardless, this is pretty convenient in some regards. Her fate was another that I was hoping to change, but here she was standing right in front of me with bright eyes and an eager smile. Calm down, Hachiman, she's just a nice girl. Don't have another Orimoto moment.
Oh, shoot, you're supposed to respond to people in a conversation.
I had been staring with wide eyes for quite a bit to the point where I could almost see her beautiful and bright smile turn to one of worry and confusion, but before she could answer, I answered.
"Hikigaya Hachiman, from Class D. It's nice to meet you."
Was that too stiff? Were my eyes facing her properly? Usually, I wouldn't be self conscious in this situation, but as someone important to the future plot and someone I was a fan of, I couldn't help it. I think my voice cracked… BRAIN you were in charge of handling that!
Alas, my thoughts were in vain and I didn't need to worry about laying off my brain. The simple phrase despite all the faults I found with it turned a bright face into a brighter one. Ichinose smiled as she replied, "It's nice to meet you too, Hikigaya-kun. This place sure is stacked with a lot of clubs to enter. Have any caught your eye?"
Gah! Who said 2D was better than 3D? I have to look away! Okay, maybe I am blowing things out of proportion, but in all honesty, my heart was racing and I was having trouble even keeping eye contact with her. I could feel my clothes touching my skin, I was manually breathing and I was remembering every single embarrassing thing I've ever done in my life leading up to this moment.
Thanks brain, I can always rely on you when it comes to situations like this. Orimoto REALLY did a number to my self esteem…
"Unfortunately no. The sports clubs look too intense and none of the other clubs have anything that interests me." Also, I'm going to be plenty busy herding Class D like cats and seeing how Kamakura ignored me unless I had food, this is going to be an uphill battle.
"Oh that's a shame," She replied, holding a finger to her lip as she looked up, seemingly recalling every club she had been to. "I thought all the presentations from the clubs to try and recruit people were rather convincing. I was almost tempted to join a few myself!"
Honestly, I'm pretty sure you could be convinced to join any club with enough pressure with how nice you were, but I'll digress you beacon of purity. Go onwards away from this place! You're too good for all of these sociopaths here! I should know, I sit between two!
"What clubs stood out to you?" I sorta already knew the answer, but it'd be weird if I didn't ask and I really needed to get this conversation flowing to leave a good impression.
"Hmm, I'm sure all the clubs are fun in their own way, but" Her eyes glittered with determination as she continued, "I think I'm interested in the Student Council!"
"Oh really? That's pretty ambitious. Why do you want to join the Student Council already? Don't most students usually apply when they become a 2nd year?" I feigned ignorance, pretending that I didn't know almost everything about her.
"You're right, but I don't know, maybe it's because I was a member of my middle school's student council! I was even the president my 3rd year, so it feels only natural for me to continue that in high school, right? There's no harm in trying after all!" She didn't seem to mind me questioning what seemed like a hasty decision. If anything, it seemed like she was fully aware of it and was deciding to do so anyway. If I had to guess, this wasn't her first time having such a conversation with someone, but it wasn't like she spoke to many others about it. I'm guessing she had already made a friend in her class and discussed it with her and was now just seeing what a stranger thought.
"You must have good leadership skills if you're already dead set on the student council here. Not everyone decided that they want to join the Student Council on the second day y'know? I also hear that most members are role models for their class and year. You seem just like that type." Whether those qualities make them good people is up for debate. Such thoughts then reminded me what was waiting for Ichinose in the Student Council and there was my conundrum.
"I don't know if I'm that capable. I like to think that I'm simply doing my best." Ichinose Honami is definitely a humble individual, almost to her detriment. Maybe there is something I can help Ichinose with besides her dire fate, though she had a somewhat unfamiliar smile on her face. It seemed like she didn't really come up to talk about herself, which is going to be unfortunate for her.
There wasn't much to say about me after all.
"And I think that does make you capable. Leadership doesn't happen naturally. People voted for you back in middle school because they believed in you. There had to have been a reason, especially since you've managed to enroll into a school like this. Don't discredit yourself, you're smart. You must be if you're in Class B."
"Hey, you didn't need to say all that," She raised her voice out of embarrassment, her cheeks flushing from the blatant praise, causing her to play with her hair. "I appreciate the sentiment, but it's really not a fair judgment with this being only your first impression of me. What do the classes have to do with it anyway?"
She shifted her eyes away briefly before she seemingly latched onto my last sentence. Sharp as ever even before there was any sense needed for danger.
I couldn't tell her that among every student present here, I would be the one who knew her the best. I also realized my error at potentially revealing the Class System. Dammit! Forget everyone else, this was the true boss! It's so much harder to keep your mind grounded in front of such a cute girl like Ichinose!
Elsewhere
Horikita and Karuizawa were at 2 seperate parts of the club festival, yet both felt particularly offended for some reason and they couldn't know why. If they were right in front of each other, they would have mirrored each other's movements of furrowing their eyebrows, crossing their arms under their chest and frowning.
While they were focused on their own thoughts, their pride as girls alone felt as if it had been attacked, but they quickly shrugged it off to continue with their own business.
Hachiman Hikigaya
"W-well, I assumed that all the classes are divided academically! From what I could see, it seemed like most of the bigger and more notable clubs had presidents that were in Class A from what they told us." I did my best to lie, doing my best to justify my reasoning.
"Oh? That's a fair assessment… Hm… If what you're saying is true, then I feel pretty nervous now, since that means my grades weren't good enough to get into Class A…" Ichinose seemed to visibly deflate, causing my heart to protest against my brain for causing such a thing.
"N-no. I don't think it's that. M-maybe there are other factors for how the Classes were organized!" I stammered, trying to double back.
Ichinose seemed to be thinking about something hard before she seemingly did a 180 and began smiling again.
"No, I think your reasoning isn't wrong! I think I have a good idea as to why I'd be in Class B if your theory is true, so don't worry! Geez, that does mean I'll have to work even harder if I want to get a place in the Student Council, huh?" Her previous mood had vanished and she had returned to the friendly character I always expected her to be like if I were to ever meet her like this.
How did this conversation even happen? I guess the reasonable answer is that she probably just went up to just about anyone to befriend them. I can't imagine having to do that, but right now I seemed to be someone that she decided she could make a friend of.
This was the same girl who just suddenly became friends with the protagonist out of nowhere in the original story after all… Which was why right now was a better time than any to get her to change the direction of her future.
"Hey, Ichinose." Her attention returned to me after I said her name. "You have all the capabilities to enter the Student Council already. You were Class President once, all that's left is for you to do good enough here to join, even if that means you have to wait until you're a 2nd year like most people. Who knows, you might even be able to be Student Council President here too."
I kept my tone steady as I tried to keep her on the path she would've originally walked to begin with. She would succeed one way or another just like the original story, but the reason was the issue, so I needed to try and guide her along a safer path.
"Pfft, why are you saying something like that to someone you first met?" She giggled, before she met my eyes with her own. "You're right though, I'm sure I'll be able to join eventually, but that doesn't mean I can't try right now!"
She suddenly seemed to pump herself up, catching me off guard.
"Wait, do you mean right now, right now?" I asked, getting caught up in her momentum, to which she nodded.
"Of course! I was told that the current Student Council President would have an announcement here today! So let's go find him!" She declared confidently with her hands on her hips, before she grabbed my arm and pulled me away.
"Huh? Me too?" I asked dumbly, getting dragged along by her boundless energy.
"Mhm! You're the one who seems so sure of me, so why don't you come to at the very least support me while asking?"
Hold on there. We're moving way too fast! My heart was just beginning to settle down and now you're asking me to support you? That's one translation away from asking me to take responsibility!
My life had been completely out of my control the moment I was whisked away here, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, but I was anyway.
We made our way through the crowds of people back to where the Student Council did their presentation for the Club Fair and I was actually surprised to see that the two faces I did not want to see were together talking to the students that came up to them.
"There they are! Don't they just exude professionalism in being a good role model for students everywhere?" Ichinose asked excitedly as my eyes drifted over towards the group, eyes landing on the one person I would not have described as such.
For all my grievances against the elder Horikita sibling, he was still a man with standards who had his own way of doing things. While he was the epitome of being a stickler for doing things by the books, he tended to bend the rules every once in a while if he found you interesting enough.
The other guy sitting next to him? Not so much.
Miyabi Nagumo. There wasn't much for me to say about him besides the fact that I didn't recall seeing him during Manabu's speech, but that didn't matter too much to me, because this was the one person I needed to do everything I could to avoid while making sure he didn't get his dirty hands too deep into our grade.
Class A, B, C and of course D would all be oppressed by him along with the grade under us. While I really shouldn't care about the ongoings of Class A or Class C, it'd still leave a rather bad taste in my mouth if he were to just run amok with the freedom he so freely enjoyed in the base story.
I could go all in on his ideas of a meritocracy here, but the biggest issue at hand was the person who had dragged me to see these two men who had a firm grasp on the student body.
Ah.
She was already talking to them while I was having a serious dilemma about how I was going to possibly even try to prevent Nagumo from completely controlling every aspect of my school life here after the 1st year.
I was at a pretty good distance since she apparently didn't seem to need me to be there to talk with her or listen. I'm just here to be morale support, which I'll do any day of the week. I'll get a shirt and banner to wave around for her if she asked me to, but in this regard, I needed to step in for one reason and one reason only.
"-k you! I'd really love to do my best to assist this school in whatever way I can!" Ichinose seemed to be in good spirits as she conversed with Nagumo who was putting on an incredibly impressive show of acting like he was a good person.
"Of course. Just send in your application. We'd love to have someone as enthusiastic as you join." The blonde second year gave a dazzling smile towards Ichinose who only reacted with her own in a platonic way.
Nagumo's eyes briefly wandered across her body and the flicker of a smirk momentarily flashed across his face before he quickly changed it, returning to the act of behaving like a respectable member of society.
"I'll be sure to do so right away! Thank you for your time and I hope to work together with you and President Horikita in the future, Vice President Nagumo!" Ichinose bowed politely towards the two before turning around to directly face me with a bright smile.
Ah, it seems our dear Vice President is looking in my direction with an amused expression.
Yeah, you smug egotist, you try and make a game out of me. Of anyone here, I'll be sure to make sure of one thing and one thing only.
I will not let you do as you please with Ichinose like the original story.
"Hey, Ichinose, it seems like you've done pretty good there." I did my best to keep my tone positive as she came over with a cheerful bounce.
"I sure did! I just have to send in an application and if it looks good enough, they'll schedule a meeting!" She explained, holding up the application.
"See? You were getting worked up over just getting a paper in the end." I made a point to look as close as I could to Ichinose as possible within Nagumo's view while being inconspicuous enough to not have her get creeped out.
I wasn't trying to pose to be her boyfriend or something nor was I trying to stake my claim. I'd die before I end up being like one of those types of people.
What I was doing was simply making sure he remembered me. I don't know how much he'd actually care, but I'm almost certain that being seen as "that friend of Ichinose" enough times will make him think he needs to try and get rid of me if he wants to try whatever he wants with Ichinose.
Especially if I shut down one of the methods he had tried to take advantage of her.
"Yeah, but I still need to get accepted for an interview first and even then, I can still fail that…" Ichinose sighed, her shine temporarily dulling.
"About that. It's likely you won't succeed the first time. The Student Council President doesn't seem to be too likely to accept first years due to experience alone." I began to fabricate an explanation for what'll be happening in the future, before Nagumo can spin the yarn in his own way.
"Wha? After all that you're already now expecting my failure?" She asked incredulously.
She didn't seem particularly offended as there was a slight hint of teasing in her voice as well as understanding.
"Well, I believe that the Student Council President is my classmate's older brother and if they're anything alike, then they're definitely micromanagers. It's nothing against you personally, but I believe he just has high standards and it just feels safer to leave the Student Council in the hands of those who will be in their third year like him when he's gone." I did my best to make up a convincing explanation, to which she seemed to take, before her eyes widened.
"Wait, the Student Council President's sister is in your class?" She asked with a surprised look, to which I visibly deflated at the reminder.
"Yes and she not only sits right next to me, but she's also my next door neighbor…" I lamented. "She's a nightmare and it's only been 2 days. Everything is all about efficiency to her and I can only imagine how her older brother is."
Painting the image of how Horikita could be created an even stricter version for Manabu, which resulted in a look of someone simply with the highest standards with nothing personal in regards to who sent in an application.
Ichinose giggled, holding a hand to her mouth to try and stifle the sound before she spoke again.
"Well, Vice President Nagumo seems pretty nice at least. Maybe he can help ease the Student Council President to let me in!" She suggested and here is where I needed to be careful as well as precise.
It was really hard to be honest. I woke up this morning realizing how much I had to do to not only try and change things, but to not reveal how much I knew about everyone. I had the knowledge to cause a butterfly effect that can change the outcome of even the ending of the series, but if I'm not careful, things will quickly go out of control and I may end up making things worse.
Right now from being sandwiched between Horikita and Kiyotaka, having to help Karuizawa and standing in front of Ichinose now, I have directed the course of this story in a direction I won't be able to control in the future.
So all I could do now is at least direct the flow of things in a way I could at least grasp.
"Hey, Ichinose. Is the Student Council really the first thing you want to join first?" I asked, getting her to for the umpteenth time since meeting me to give me a confused look.
"Why are you asking this now? It sounds like you already gave up on me being able to join the Student Council." She looked perplexed with my sudden question, but I quickly dissuaded her train of thoughts.
"No, it's just that considering it's you, do you really need the Student Council to be able to help people?"
The question didn't really have any deeper meaning behind it, as I was just curious as to why she decided to just go straight towards the Student Council of all things. Considering their work and such, it seems awfully limiting to join them.
They were more to assist the student body as a whole as opposed to every individual from my memory.
Ichinose looked like I had asked her something entirely different, seeing as how she furrowed her eyebrows, seemingly trying to come up with an answer to something I wasn't at all really serious about.
Before she could come up with anything however, I felt my arm being tugged on, immediately making me turn to see Karuizawa was the culprit who was gripping my arms rather aggressively with a glare that made me feel as if I did something wrong, despite having been a saint for the past few hours.
"Hey, Hachiman, we were supposed to meet up together, ya know?" The blonde stated despite my having no recollection of such a thing ever being planned, also, I wasn't aware we were on a first name basis.
"What are you talking about? We didn't even know about the club festival unt-" I began before her grip on my arms tightened in a way that told me that there was no argument to be had.
It was unfortunate for her that I didn't really care to let her run my life as there were already enough women trying to do so.
To prove my point, I moved my hands to try and extract hers from my arm before she gave me a death glare that told me that it'd be a lot faster and easier to just comply. Especially since I was having the hardest time with keeping my cool around Ichinose to begin with.
"Oh, did you have plans? Sorry for taking your time, Hikigaya!" Ichinose seemed unaware of the vice grip that was currently wrapped around my arm or was purposely ignoring it.
"N-no problems. I hope you manage to accomplish what you we-" I began my goodbye, but I was reminded as to why I hated character types like Kei Karuizawa as she dragged me away before I could give a proper farewell.
"Goodbye, Hikigaya! I'll be sure to let you know if I manage to succeed!" She smiled brightly, waving her hand to send me off.
Gah! I didn't even try to get her number! The one number I'd have actually wanted and I didn't even get a chance to ask! Damn you, Karuizawa!
As I lamented my misfortune and fortune of being able to gain distance from Ichinose, Karuizawa eventually found a spot where there were less people around so that we could talk in private.
Looking around I saw that I had returned to where I had seen the literature club. Yep. Barely any members as I had expected. I almost felt bad.
"Hey!" Karuizawa snapped my attention back, reminding me who it was that brought me back to this sad section of the club festival.
"What? What did you want? It's only been a day and I was talking to someone." I grumbled, finding myself particularly more easily irritated when it came to pushy girls like her.
"Uh, yeah? Weren't you supposed to be helping me?" The blonde asked with a pointed glare at me as if I owed her something.
Excuse me, princess, but I'm helping you out of the goodness of my heart. I'm not "supposed" to do anything unless I feel like I have to and right now I don't have to do anything.
"What is there for me to do right now to help you?" I asked, wondering what she thought I could do right now.
"Uh, I don't know, I thought that you would have a plan after everything you said yesterday." She answered. "Are you telling me that you don't know what to do yet?"
I'm not even getting paid for this…
"Well, I don't exactly have a guide on how to get popular with me, unfortunately, but in this regard, do you really need me to tell you what to do every day on how to get people to like you?" I asked rhetorically. Shouldn't she at least know the basics of how to be liked?
"Of course I do. I could do that anytime, but there's a difference between being liked and being safe." She rolled her eyes, explaining as if it was obvious as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Why don't you work on actually being likable first?" I asked with a deadpan stare.
She understandably took offense to that. Despite her smaller frame, she tried to look intimidating by trying to lift me up by my shirt, but it was clear that she had never done something like this before and was merely trying to imitate movies.
"What are you trying to say about me? I'm not likable?" She growled in a rather unthreatening way despite her grasp on my collar.
"Well, I'm sure not liking you more with this…" I murmured, resulting in her letting go but not before she made a point to bring me down to face her at eye level, but this time with a lot less aggression.
"You really will help me right? I really need help…" She asked in a much quieter tone.
It occurred to me that the main personality she had on the exterior would be irritating to someone like me, but in the end, that was just the surface level. She had her insecurities, worries and other such human emotions.
I wasn't helping a character from a book I read right now, I was helping an actual person.
"Of course. Come on, let's go find a club for you to join to become the queen of." I reaffirmed her doubts, sighing inwardly before motioning towards the clubs around for us to check out.
Despite our attempts, however, we didn't find any club that suited her while being able to boost her popularity.
I can only do so much with the base material at hand… Maybe I really should've just let Hirata handle this one.
(-)
I got to class earlier than usual today because I stopped by the bookstore in Keyaki Mall for something important.
It turns out that even though I'm currently in a light novel myself, this place sells light novels of its own! The best part is that they were on sale, so they were within my budget and it wouldn't hurt me in the long run.
I chose to buy the first volume of a series about gods who chose to live as humans in a fictional city while fighting against monsters in a labyrinth. The protagonist was your average guy who gets every girl, and he's part of the group of a certain goddess called 'Familia'. I heard that this series was overlooked because of the girls that fall in love with him and the boring story, but I'll wait until I've read the whole thing before I say anything. I know not to judge a book by its cover.
And so here I am, sitting in peace with a trusty light novel in hand, reading away while there was still time left. This reminds me of how I used to act whenever I'm at the clubroom back then. The only difference this time is that the place I'm in right now is filled with other people instead of Yukinoshita and Yuigahama.
It used to be way more peaceful back with the Service Club, but this is my situation from now on. I'm prepared to get used to this for however long it takes, assuming I can even make it back.
"Morning, Yamauchi!"
"Good morning, Ike!"
Oh, boy… it's the two idiots. Did they already become friends that fast?
All right, I said that I'll have to get used to my situation, but I won't even be able to read in peace now. That doesn't sound fair.
Urgh, I thought they'd be the types to be late, when did they decide to be punctual? And did you have to be so loud?!
I fail to understand how these two got more attention in the original storyline than someone like Sakura from a marketing standpoint (aren't the waifus supposed to be more marketable?). They're cannon-fodder at best, Ayanokoji should have gotten rid of them first if he was going to get rid of anyone.
Sure, Yamauchi did get expelled but who exactly pulled the strings for that to happen? It wasn't Ayanokoji at all. It's the work of a smug little loli whose name I shouldn't mention yet at this point, lest I end up unintentionally summoning her.
Oh, wait. Ike did have his boy scout training or something. Reminds me that I really really need to prepare for the island event. Damnit, I have to actually be thankful Ike is around.
"Are you excited for today?!" Ike asked with childlike glee, his voice already grating on me.
"You betcha! Oh, if only we were allowed to bring cameras to the pool area!" Yamauchi grinned, already drooling over what's going to happen later.
Come on now, aren't they being a bit too much like cliche perverts? Syougo wasn't going to get any points for the creation of these clowns, I'll tell you that much. Also, you're just saying it out loud for everyone to hear? Have some subtlety!
I turned to the empty seat beside me, where Horikita was supposed to be, but she wasn't there. I was the first one to leave the dorm and head to class, but it seems like she's still handling some stuff, I guess.
Ugh, where's Horikita when you need her? At this point, I'd rather argue endlessly with her than listen to these two morons act like horny perverts. Reminds me of why I could never get into DXD. Hell, I'd rather take on an angry Hiratsuka-sensei than listen to those two, and I'd much rather be on her good side instead.
Maybe I was being too much, but there's something to be said about reading about two loud obnoxious perverts and being right next to them. I never cared for them in the story, but now that I have to sit right behind them, I can safely say that whatever charm they had being fictional is lost when becoming real.
If only I had Vita-chan right now, I'd be able to distract myself easily. But then again, it would mean a decrease in class points if I did that… ugh, and I actually have to care about stuff like that!
"Man, I barely got some sleep last night because I've been looking forward to this day ever since I got here!" Ike excitedly exclaimed.
"You said it!" Yamauchi placed his hands on his hips like he was some kind of superior student (in his dreams) and grinned. "This school is just the best, isn't it? First, we can buy whatever we want with points, now we actually get to have swimming class with the girls! Oh, I must be dreaming~!"
Wow, for a couple of idiots, they finally said something worth taking note of. I'm soooo proud.
Wait, wait, wait. Not in that way! I, Hikigaya Hachiman, am not a pervert!
When it comes to high schools, swimming classes are pretty rare. We didn't have them back in Sobu, but this place does. That means Horikita, Karuizawa, Kushida, Sakura, and all the other girls in the class are gonna be showing a lot of skin. It makes sense for these two perverts to be excited, but I now have to look forward to swimming.
Unfortunately for those two, the most skin they'll see will most likely be arms and a lot of leg. The school swimsuits, while admittedly stimulating, aren't bikini levels of revealing. Although I say this, they'll probably get excited by it all the same.
Me on the other hand?
I don't particularly care about their swimsuits and I'll be keeping 'Stealth Hikki' on for the whole duration of swimming class. I don't want to stand out and possibly be labeled by Horikita as a pervert for some nonsense reason. Wait, of all the people she's been labeling as a creeper, I'm the one she's hyper focusing on?
I glanced over at the two stooges' shoulders to see them going over pictures they had discretely taken already and I had to say: I'm impressed they got away with taking that many in one day and are brave enough to be sharing in class like this.
I may have been called a creepy pervert many times, but I've never acted like one towards any girl that I've encountered.
In the slight chance that one of my classmates won't let me be invisible, I might have to fake a stomach problem or something.
"Yo, Hikigaya! Wanna join us? We're talking about the girls, man!" One of the voices snapped me out of my train of thought. I'm reminded constantly that unless I am alone, someone will disrupt Hiki Alone time.
Why did you two have to notice me? I was fine being in the shadows and now you're trying to pull me into your perverted discussions?
Nope. Avoiding all of that. Knowing how this goes, karma will come back to bite me and I don't think I want to mess with her anytime soon.
I'll just buy some MAX Coffee, take my reading elsewhere, and come back just before our first period starts.
(-)
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji
As soon as Hikigaya heard Ike and Yamauchi call out to him, he quickly stood up from his seat and left the room with his book as if he was being chased by something dangerous. I suppose he didn't want to associate himself with those two.
I'm surprised he didn't arrive here with Horikita. Maybe it would have saved him from being noticed because a lot of people here are afraid of approaching her and by association, they wouldn't go near Hikigaya either.
I'm glad I didn't get involved with her. I can only imagine how difficult it'd be to make friends with her being a ward to push people away.
"Guess he didn't want to talk about the girls," Ike shrugged his shoulders, not seeming offended in the slightest.
"Eh, let him. That guy's obviously too much of a loner to care about girls' treasures," Yamauchi laughed.
I don't know about that. Hikigaya has been arguing with Horikita almost everyday since school started, so I wouldn't say he's a complete loner, even if he only talks with a single person this whole time. I'm certain he's just not interested in perverted topics like these, which is something that I can somewhat understand.
These two were looking forward to this day ever since they found out that swimming classes were a thing here. They even made bets regarding the sizes of the girls' chests yesterday.
Look, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested and curious. But I knew the risks of getting involved, so I kept quiet like I always did and after observing Hikigaya, I can see that his eyes were definitely drawn to them too, but he knew better than to let them linger.
"Hey, what about you, Ayanokoji?"
With Hikigaya gone, Ike and Yamauchi now turned their attention to me. I almost thought they were actually talking to someone else, but they were clearly staring at me right now.
They were talking to me, huh? How troublesome.
On one hand, I can follow Hikigaya's example and leave the room as well to avoid having to talk to them but at the same time, this is a clear opportunity for me to interact with my classmates. I should see where this goes first before doing anything else, after all, aside from the occasional small talk with Hikigaya, I found myself alone for a large sum of time.
"What about me?" I responded with my normal tone of speaking.
They walked closer towards me. "Do you want to talk about the girls with us? We might even get some pictures of them during swimming class later!"
I knew it. Their way of thinking is too predictable. There goes my chance of making friends. They had a look in their eyes that even I couldn't try to rain on, but the reasoning behind it was rather distasteful.
"Count me out. I don't want to be hated by our classmates for doing something like this if we were to get caught." I told them, putting my hands in the air.
"Oh come on, don't be like Hikigaya, man!" Complained Ike. "Surely, you must want to have a girlfriend, right? You might figure out who's your type out of the girls!"
"I think I can figure out my own preferences without needing to participate in your conversation," I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "Still, if you really plan to go through with this, you might want to keep it subtle. Our classmates don't really think highly of you, you know? Especially the girls that you keep talking about."
They suddenly froze in their places, their skin turning pale out of nervousness.
"R-Really…?" Yamauchi stuttered, looking as if it was the last thing he would have ever expected.
"Wait, how would you even know that?!" Ike exclaimed, demanding me for an explanation, seemingly in disbelief.
"By using my eyes and ears."
My answer almost caused them to fall over and lose balance, but they caught themselves before they could meet the floor. It almost looked amusing.
"You're actually close with one of the girls, aren't you?! Admit it, Ayanokoji!" They accused me and I could only sigh. It'd be great if I was close with anyone at all, actually.
I turned my head away, as I didn't want to give them any further attention than I already have. My action caused them to give up and walk away a few seconds later, but not before shooting me with angry looks on their faces.
As they left me alone, I felt a strange feeling. One I was unfamiliar with and I couldn't understand why and it had me perplexed for a good amount of time.
Oh, failure. What an enlightening feeling to finally feel such an emotion. It was disgusting and I wasn't sure how people got used to it.
I'm not one to let trivial things get under my skin, but my feelings were evident.
It's been over a week now, and I have yet to have friends of my own. Will I really have to approach other people myself in order to make friends? Can't I just stick to the shadows until someone talks to me?
How troublesome.
(-)
Kei Karuizawa
After morning classes were finished and lunchtime came, it was time for swimming classes.
Honestly, this is one of the things that I've been trying to avoid ever since I found out about it. But I can't do anything about it other than to attend class like a good student.
It's not that I hate swimming. As a matter of fact, it's really refreshing to get in the water to splash around and have fun, something that I enjoy doing when there's an opportunity.
On the other hand, swimming also involves shedding clothes, and I have to keep a certain thing away from everyone's eyes.
Good thing we were required to wear school swimsuits, because I would have stuck to the bleachers and watched everything from there if we weren't. I can't bear to let anyone see the 'thing' near my stomach.
After changing into my swimsuit in a restroom stall, I went to my friends and talked with them as we waited for our teacher. While that happened, we were forced to listen to the perverted duo talking about the sizes of the girls' chests because they were just so loud. Disgusting.
When he finally arrived, he wasted no time and blew a whistle, getting everyone's attention and shutting up the perverts for good. We gathered in front of him at the side of the pool as he explained what we're going to do today.
Our class today was apparently going to be a simple competition between everyone in a fifty-meter freestyle race. For us girls, there will be two races with five students each and we'll be ranked according to our time. For the boys, they'll have three races against each other and their final ranking will be determined with a final one. The top three students among the boys and girls will even receive private points as a reward, which is really tempting.
Too bad I'm aware of my own limits, and physical activities were never really my forte. Not that it bothers me.
Speaking of boys, I turned my head to look at one particular guy.
Hikigaya-kun was standing on the far back without anyone else beside him. From the look on his face, it's obvious that he's bored or done with life… again.
It's the same look he's always had, which could make a person wonder if he was just apathetic to everything and didn't care about what's going on around him. But he's not like that, not after what happened last week between us.
Anyway, does he even want to swim? Hmm, he doesn't seem like he's fat or anything, but I seriously doubt that this guy even cares about working out. Still, he doesn't look scrawny at all… I'm sure he can swim faster than those—
…w-wait, what am I doing…? Am I seriously checking out Hikigaya-kun?!
I-I mean, he did go out of his way to help me, but he's not really my type… n-not that I'm saying he looks ugly! I just don't think he's the right one for me! Yeah, that's it! Nothing more!
But speaking of Hikigaya-kun, I think I should talk to him later or sometime after this. It's been a week since we last spoke to each other, and that was when he promised that he'd protect me from being bullied again. In return, he told me to just go out and be friends with our classmates, so that's what I did.
So far, I think I'm doing good. I managed to befriend several of the girls, including Maya, Satsuki, Nene, and Chiaki. It was different than what I thought it would be, because they were easy to get along with and I can talk to them just fine. Of course, I'll keep my guard up for now and be cautious of them, but something tells me that they're good people and I can trust them.
It's gonna take some time for me to do what Hikigaya-kun asked of me, but if it means being able to live my high school life without being bullied again, then I'll do it. Besides, I'm not some introvert who has to lament on how to make friends. I've had friends before after all!
"All right! We shall first perform some stretching before getting to the actual race. The girls' races will go first, followed by the boys. Do your best, everyone!" The coach called from the end of the pool, motioning for us to come forward.
As our teacher relayed his instructions, Hirata-kun stepped forward and told all of us to separate into two groups, the boys and girls. Thank god, because the perverts would surely take the chance to get a peek at us if we were close to them.
After that, we began a set of stretching exercises, which I took as an opportunity to steal a glance at the guy whom I decided to trust with my safety.
Hikigaya-kun still looks bored and his eyes look dead as they have always been. It's like he has a problem with the world for some reason… Why can't he just put on a smile and act friendly like I do? It would get people to befriend him at least, or maybe he's just like the guy who sits beside him. Ayanokoji, was it?
All of a sudden, he then turned his head towards me, as if he somehow sensed that I was staring at him for a while now.
Out of reflex or maybe panic, I quickly turned away and focused on exercising, as I tried to make it seem like I wasn't staring at all. I could feel myself blushing in embarrassment, something that I tried to fight against because he'll catch on to me if he sees me like this!
Yeah, on second thought, maybe I should talk to him when we're not here anymore, when we're alone and there's no one to see us. Right, it'd be too risky to do it here…
(-)
Hachiman Hikigaya
Weird. I could have sworn that Karuizawa was looking at me just now… or was she? Does she want to say something to me?
Well, whatever. If she wants to talk, she can approach me anytime. Unless I'm busy doing something else, of course, not that it mattered considering how pushy she can be.
After we were done with our exercises, we stood by the poolside and watched the girls as they got ready for their race.
I think Ayanokoji already said this in the original story, but Horikita is really beautiful if you ignore her personality. If her looks were genetic, then I wonder what her mother looks like. There's Karuizawa who had her arms crossed over her stomach for obvious reasons and while she can't really compare to her classmates in looks, by no means is she ugly.
There's Kushida, who could really pass for an actual angel if you didn't know what kind of person she was under that mask. That doesn't take away anything from her appearance, though. She really is cute and beautiful, you have to admit.
Unfortunately, Sakura and a few other girls chose not to participate in today's class, so they're just sitting by the bleachers watching us. Tough luck for the perverts, they wouldn't be able to see them— wait, what am I doing?
I could feel myself blushing as I realized what I just did. I was basically talking about the girls' qualities while they were in their swimsuits…
Okay, don't panic! Don't panic! You know what, this is actually the first time I've attended a swimming class and now I don't feel like I'm ready for it. It's not because of the girls showing some skin or their swimsuits, but it's because there were a lot of them and it's gonna be hard for me not to stare.
I may have said that I'll use 'Stealth Hikki' to stay undetected, but it's hard! I'm still a normal teenager, damn it! Maybe I should apologize to the two idiots… No, I'll never get to that point.
Speaking of which, looking at my fellow male classmates, they were all taking this differently. There's Ike, Yamauchi, and a few other guys who look like they've won the lottery, Sotomura taking notes for some reason, while Sudo and the rest watched on like normal spectators. Koenji was admiring himself in front of a mirror as expected, and Ayanokoji… was Ayanokoji, as always.
So, after fighting down the heat in my cheeks, I chose to watch like a normal person. If I just keep my thoughts clean and pure, I won't attract any attention this way!
The first race began with Kushida and Horikita as two of the competitors. The difference between them is very apparent because not only Horikita was gifted in academics, she's also physically fit. She finished in first place with Kushida coming in second.
"28.12 seconds for Horikita, 30.43 seconds for Kushida. Not bad," said the teacher as he blew his whistle.
A lot of the boys began cheering for Kushida and even the rest of the girls, and it didn't take long for them to turn away and cover their crotches as a result. Truly, these people deserved to be called 'defects'. The only ones who weren't staring at them were Hirata who was too nice for that, and Koenji who was more fixated on himself. Ayanokoji was looking at them, but I'm sure he doesn't have any perverted thoughts in mind… or does he?
After the first set of girls were done, the next group followed after and gathered at the starting line. The teacher then blew his whistle again, signaling the start of the second race. Karuizawa was a part of this one but unfortunately, she only finished in sixth place while Onodera came in first, followed by Matsushita.
Yeah… That reminds me that despite Sakura having almost no usage whatsoever, I can safely say Kei isn't too far off, but that cold way of thinking is something I wasn't going to have, huh? Mr. "People are tools"?
"Is there something on my face?" Kiyotaka asked and I realized I was staring at him out of annoyance for his original self.
"No! I mean, no. Was just curious about how you'd do in the race. You look pretty fit, you know?" I immediately improvised an excuse and it seemed to work.
Kiyotaka was many things and those many things were all varying levels of being "perfect", but when he was trying to change the subject so that you didn't focus on him too much, he would come up with the most obvious lies.
"Sort of. I just diet really well." He stated and just like that the conversation was over.
Phew.
"27.56 seconds for Onodera, 31.18 seconds for Matsushita. Very good results." The coach announced the results loudly to everyone.
With the girls done, it was the boys' turn now.
I was part of the first race, and all I could do was roll my eyes inwardly. I just had to go first, huh? Fine, at least this also means that I get to finish earlier than everyone else, not to mention I didn't have to go against the monsters of Class D from Ayanokoji to Koenji.
Oh, and an added bonus: Yamauchi and Ike are part of the first race too! This is an easy win if I ever saw one. Also an opportunity to chump those two? Satisfying. Yeah, I know, I know… I'm not like this and I wouldn't do such a thing to the two other guys, but who cares?
These two were annoying whenever they're in a scene that I read and even now when I'm seeing them with my own eyes, they are annoying. It's not like I hate them directly as human beings, but just that their character archetype annoys me, despite me knowing why they were made.
I also know that I'm not really good at physical activities like this, but I'm pretty sure that I'm better at swimming than almost half of the guys here. I'm not too worried about them. The only ones who can surely beat me would be Koenji, Sudo, and Ayanokoji himself. Everyone else is a hard guess, but from Yukimura to Ijuin, I don't think my competition is too difficult.
I say that, but I'm still planning to do this with all I got. The reward of private points to the top three students is too tempting to pass up on, you know? I got to have some spare points to be able to buy MAX Coffee!
And who knows? Maybe Ayanokoji would let himself lose on purpose just to keep the attention away from him, and that's already my biggest obstacle gone! I'm not sure how I can fare against Hirata but I could try, and then I'll be able to secure third place overall. I'll be satisfied with that because it's obvious that I won't be able to win against Koenji or Sudo. Good grief, they're even more monstrous in person.
The moment I heard our teacher blow his whistle, I didn't waste any time and dove straight into the water, before swimming away. By no means am I an athlete who can swim very fast, but I know how to move around the water quickly whenever I need to.
After reaching the end of the lane, I was forced to turn my head when I heard the sound of splashing water beside me. A guy with dark magenta hair was there too, which made me think if we finished at the same time.
Right, there's the outlier who I just barely remembered.
If I recall correctly, this guy was one of Ayanokoji's friends in their little group… Miya-something? I can't remember his exact name but I do know his abilities. He's not good with academics, but he's good in the physical sense, especially in archery. It's really truly unfortunate that he just gets outshone by a lot of the other guys in his year. Don't worry, friend, I'm here with you.
"29.36 seconds for Hikigaya, 29.40 seconds for Miyake. That was a close battle, you two! I want to see more of this from all of you!"
Ah, so that was his name.
"Hey, Hikigaya! That was a really good race. We were pretty close, but it looks like you're the faster one between us," Miyake told me as he got out of the water with a wide smile.
"I just got lucky. I think I had a better start than you." I gave a half smile back, trying to make a good impression. I wouldn't want to look like a sore winner or an unsportsmanlike classmate.
"Maybe, but the fact is you were still able to get 1st! Here I wrote you off for being so quiet, shows me not to underestimate someone!" He chuckled as he got out of the water.
I got out of the water too, while I thought of the time it took me to swim all the way. It wasn't that bad personally, but it just means that I'm slightly above average when it comes to physical abilities, especially compared to my classmates. I only managed to barely beat Miyake's time but on the bright side, this also means that there are only a handful of students that are above me. All those times biking and playing sports solo really helped out a lot, huh?
As proof, the rest of the boys followed after us about two seconds after we finished, with Ike and Yamauchi coming in last.
"Aw man, you guys were just too much!" Ike complained as he got out of the pool. "Don't think this is over, you hear me?! I'll be faster than all of you when the time comes!"
"Hehe, you guys were lucky I chose to hold back and let you take the win! Back in elementary, I was known as the 'Flying Fish'! I could beat every swimmer in my grade back then!" Yamauchi boasted.
I had to commend him for staying in high spirits despite doing even worse than Ike. It was an admirable quality to keep your morale up despite losing so badly.
"So I guess there's a reason for those fish eyes, hm, Hikigaya?" Horikita was sitting just in front of me, having watched me swim, so of course she had to make a comment. "It seems you have more life once put back in the water."
"As a matter of fact, I found myself woken up rather quickly the moment I got into the water. It was a lot colder than usual, but I suspect that it might have been from your cold heart freezing it when you went in earlier." I fired back.
She didn't really react, simply continuing her patented resting bitch face. Yeah, that's what I thought.
After we were all done, the boys who were part of the second race went in their respective lanes and prepared to dive in. Koenji, Hirata, and Yukimura were all part of this race, by the way.
A certain blonde narcissist won the second race by a landslide, obviously. As if he would pass up on the chance to flex his abilities in front of everyone.
"22.98 seconds for Koenji, 26.52 seconds for Hirata. Koenji is officially the fastest swimmer among everyone now. Exceptional!"
As expected, Koenji's swim time garnered everyone's attention. The girls were mostly amazed by his speed, while a lot of the guys were glaring at him in jealousy. I'm not gonna lie though, it's really impressive. All of his narcissistic comments weren't for nothing.
Koenji wasted no time and got out of the water, before he struck a pose for everyone to see. "But of course! A perfect existence like me is way above these idiots in everything!" he boasted, flipping his hair back in an arrogant manner.
Yeah, yeah, spare me these comments, will you? I've already read them lots of times. I can only imagine what another reader would do if he were in my position. His fan base, from memory, was a pretty clean divide of worshiping him or hating his very existence.
"Hey, Hikigaya!"
Upon hearing someone call out for me, I turned my head to see who it was.
"What's up, Sudo?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at my red-haired classmate who approached me for reasons I was already able to guess.
In the past week, we had hung out a few times, but a majority of that time was me waiting till he talked about anime again. I could only keep up a conversation with a subject I knew after all.
"29 seconds, huh? Not bad, but you should do even better in the last race. It won't be easy to get to the top with private points on the line." He gloated, jabbing a thumb in his direction to emphasize himself.
"Hoh? What makes you so sure that I'll even be part of it? It took me nearly thirty seconds to swim fifty meters, you know." I grumbled. He was like one of those stereotypical "Gym Bros" that would always try to get you to get into shape with them. I had thought about it, since there were only benefits, until he told me I'd need to ditch Max Coffee for some sort of drink to help with growth.
You can tell what I decided to do.
"Come on, have a little faith in yourself, Hikigaya! I have no idea how the hell Koenji was that fast, but you're still one of the fastest swimmers among the guys!" He slapped my back pretty hard and considering we were still shirtless, the raw hand meeting my bare skin from a giant monster of a delinquent didn't really feel light.
"Did you forget that Miyake was only four milliseconds behind me? If anything, you should be talking to him instead." I tried to divert attention to the person who would actually focus entirely on fitness in the future, but Sudou wasn't really having it.
"Hey, a win is a win. You should take pride in that! Besides, I don't know him too well, while you're my friend, right? I'm not holding back on you, though! When we meet in the last race, give it your all, Hikigaya!'
Friend huh? Well, at least I know he'll have my back if I were to get attacked.
To keep up the positive atmosphere, I merely gave a weak smile with a non committal "We'll see after your race, I guess."
The sound of our teacher blowing his whistle interrupted our conversation, as Sudo gave me a little salute before joining his fellow competitors for the third race. Ayanokoji was one of them, and I turned my attention to him solely this time. I'm curious to see if he's still going to hold back or if he will show what he can really do.
I'm hoping he does… so that Horikita can finally be off my back and he'll handle her from now on. Look, I get it, nobody wants her, but that doesn't mean to just ignore her! You're the only one who can control her!
Once the whistle was heard, the last batch of boys dove in and began to swim. It only took me about five seconds before my heart broke.
Why?
Because Sudo was clearly ahead of Ayanokoji and that coldhearted monster didn't even care. The result was way too obvious at this point.
"24.17 seconds for Sudo, an exact 28 seconds for Ayanokoji. We now have our competitors for the final race!"
Yep, he's still holding back. Greaaat.
Ugh, I had to keep myself from slamming my head into something. I get that you want your peaceful life, but the whole class will need you in the future, you bastard. You might not know it yet, but I'm picking up your slack! I'll give you an excuse to slack off for now, but once Chabashira gives us the test, you better put in the work!
"The final six competitors, get in your lanes!"
Okay, I'm gonna stop thinking about Ayanokoji for now. I still want those private points, so I'm going to push myself for this one yet again.
I'm most likely going to end up regretting this in the end when I tire myself out after two high-intensity activities, but if it means getting them private points, then so be it!
It wasn't just for my vices, but because any amount of Student Points I can get early on may be integral for something I may not expect in the future.
I don't even have to win the whole thing, because that would be impossible. Besting Hirata in this is already enough for me. Even the third place is going to receive private points, right? I don't have to beat Sudo or Koenji to get them. Ayanokoji isn't bothering to showcase his true abilities either, so I'm not expecting him to do anything now.
I joined Ayanokoji, Koenji, Sudo, Hirata, and Miyake at the starting lane. It was there that various whistles and cheers from the girls could be heard, causing some of us to turn to them.
"Go, Hirata-kun!"
"We believe in you, Hirata-kun!"
"Win this, Hirata-kun!"
Ah, so Hirata's fangirls are making themselves known, as expected. In return, he's only sending them a smile and a wave like the good guy that he is. This reminds me of when girls at Soubu High would also cheer for Hayama in whatever he does, but become too afraid to approach him because of Miura by his side. In this case, it's Karuizawa who does that through their fake relationship but I already dealt with that.
Huh, speaking of which, Karuizawa looking at me from the poolside and she's… sending me a thumbs-up? Or is that directed to Hirata like the other girls?
Whatever, gotta focus!
The moment we heard the whistle, all of us jumped at the same time and entered the water. With that, I swam as fast as I could, while ignoring the growing strain in my arms and legs. This was the second time I've pushed myself to the limit today, and not even thirty minutes had passed since the first race!
As soon as I touched the end of the pool, I wasted no time and climbed out, not bothering to look at the people who were already done before me. I just laid there and took the time I needed to recover. My arms and legs were aching, damn it! I hope this doesn't end up in a trip to the clinic.
I'm starting to regret doing this. I swear, if all of this goes to waste and I'm not even part of the top three, then I'm never pushing myself again for this class.
As I laid at the edge of the pool trying to catch my breath, our teacher blew his whistle once again, signaling the end of the race.
"And that's it! In sixth place is Ayanokoji, with 27.86 seconds!"
So he only improved his previous score slightly, huh? At least he's not too much of a background character, I guess… if he was, then he would have let himself lose his first race and let someone else take over.
Baby steps, Hachiman, baby steps… there's plenty of time to get this coldhearted bastard into gear.
"In fifth place with a time of 27.46 seconds… Miyake!"
That's a relief to hear. We were so close during the second race that it made me think twice if I could really beat him.
"Fourth place… Hikigaya! You clocked in at 26.92 seconds."
…
Somehow, I'm not even surprised. Just disappointed.
No, not because I couldn't do it but because I actually thought that I stood a chance against three other guys (four, if you include Ayanokoji). I should have kept my expectations lower.
I should have seen this coming before the race even started and now I'm sore and in desperate need of the Max Coffee that I now have to pay out of my allowance instead of prize money.
I slowly sat up and looked at the other guys who competed with me. Ayanokoji looked as detached as ever, Miyake was struggling to catch his breath, Hirata was smiling at his fans, while Sudo was glaring at Koenji.
"Hirata, you are third with 25.31 seconds. Sudo, you got an exact 24 seconds, which makes you second place. And our first place is none other than Koenji! He had a time of 22.26 seconds! These are the students that will receive private points as a reward."
"Seriously?!"
"That's insane!"
"I thought he was just all-talk!"
"Did he just break the world record?!"
A lot of our classmates looked at Koenji in pure amazement, while the guy himself just laughed. Once again, for a guy who does nothing but brag about himself, he sure can back it up with his abilities.
"Fuhahahahahaha! A perfect existence like myself can do whatever he wishes anytime he wants. A mere race is nothing!" The narcissistic blonde was already posing, resulting in me turning away, because there were a few things in my life I'd want to see, but a buff highschooler in a speedo posing is not one of those things.
I didn't bother listening to anything else that came out of our teacher's mouth after that due to how dejected I was.
One thing's for sure. I'm never going to put any extra effort into this class again. Huh, maybe Ayanokoji and I will have another thing in common.
(-)
You know, sometimes in life we are faced with the cruel realization that any sort of planning, hard work, or determination will not stop bad things from happening as even the best laid plans of mice and men go awry.
Because of this, various questions arise spiraling into people cursing God or people praising God. I, myself, did not wish to do either of the two at the moment.
Why? You might ask. Simple.
"Hikigaya-kun, what are you staring at? Aren't you enjoying your coffee?" One Kushida Kikyou asked in a voice sweeter than my coffee, yet potentially more dangerous than the diabetes I could potentially get. "Hmm, maybe you shouldn't smother your coffee in sugar, right?"
I'm with the literal devil right now. I neither wish to be cursed by a god nor do I wanna be blessed by any for what I'm experiencing right now.
Let me back up to how I found myself in this situation…
Another class had just ended unceremoniously. This month that wasn't completely covered in any iteration of the story was clearly taking a toll on me with what to expect. Well, that and Horikita and Ayanokoji still not connecting as companions. Yeah, shocker. I stopped caring after the first week when they somehow kept missing each other in the morning on the way out.
Anyway, as I attempted to utilize my Stealth Hikki Mode to leave the room and plot, I was stopped right at the door by that beige-haired sociopathic attention whore bitch.
"Hikigaya-kun! If you wouldn't mind, could we chat for a minute?" She said loudly enough for everyone to take full notice.
Everyone had already turned their attention to us and I could see what she was trying to do, unfortunately, I was already used to not caring what my classmates thought.
I thought that she might've still been hung up on not getting my phone number. Fully anticipating this, I gave the short and concise answer without any care.
"No."
That word stunned her for a few seconds, allowing me to walk on. Before I could exit the room though, a warm hand touched my sleeve.
Kushida, with her head upturned into a decisively adorable manner, said, "Oh, don't be like that, Hikigaya-kun!" before leaning in closer and whispering, "I understand you don't want to give your number right now. You're a little shy, right? If you can't give me your number though, could you help me get Horikita's?"
Quickly remembering this sort of scenario in canon, I realized that I have taken the main character's spot here! Ayanokoji, why am I seen as close to Horikita now and not you! And what is up with you, Horikita? Is the person closest to you always your seatmate? Expand out to more than a maximum of a two person radius!
"I neither have her contact info myself nor wish to provide you with someone's number even if I did have it," I responded flatley. Usually, one would think that a tone like that with eyes like this would actually be used as its natural girl repellent.
No dice.
"Jeez, Hikigaya, it's not like that! I um, just thought that…" She played up her nervousness, squirming in her stance, attracting a lot of attention as she suddenly decided eye contact was really hard.
Hey, hey, hey! Stop that! Stop that right now! What are you doing?
"Hah, what's going on over there? Is that a confession or something? I'm so jealous!" Yamauchi said surprisingly loudly.
"Hikigaya did surprisingly perform well at the swim race. Maybe he surprised a few girls. I should've tried harder.." Ike added.
You devilish vixen! You villainous harpy! You Malty S. Melromarc! And you two idiots! Shut the fuck up! You're doing exactly what she wants you to do!
"Look, I have someplace to be (my room). So I better get going," I said, attempting to brush her off my sleeve in an attempt to stop whatever momentum she was currently gathering, only for something worse to happen.
Sniffle.
Oh no…
"I'm sorry for b-bothering you, Hikigaya-kun. I just wanted to talk to y-you. I thought you seemed nice." Kushida said, acting extremely hurt. I thought that no one would be swayed by what was clearly crocodile tears, but soon enough comments were swirling around.
"Did he just reject Kushida?"
"He's not even that good looking. How much of an idiot is he?"
"Damn you Riajuu! How dare you besmirch the goddess!"
My hp was clearly going down with all of these critical hits. For one thing, I'm not a Riajuu and I don't pretend to be and for another thing, she isn't a goddess! Why doesn't anyone get that?!
Ah, right. Back to reality. These people don't know the basic lore of their own universe.
Unfortunate…
At any rate, I was headed to infamy in this class if I rejected Kushida. That cunning bitch, she has me here. I can take a few hits to my reputation, but this was something I couldn't tank.
Turning back to her, I met her eyes, concealing my emotions as I said, "Coffee, you're buying." If she was going to actually succeed in baiting me out like this, I wanted her to get hurt in points, no matter how minor.
"Ah, yes! Let's go," Kushida responded, a megawatt smile now where tears used to be. Convenient how quickly she can change expressions, right? I was in for it now…
Far in the back, I could see Karuizawa making hand motions that I couldn't understand, waving them frantically behind everyone.
Unfortunately, I do not speak spaztic chimpanzee, so whatever message she wished to convey to me was lost in translation.
And now we're back to the present. We've received our drinks and have just sat down in a popular couple's spot.
Hey, isn't this counterproductive to your plan, Kushida. You're supposed to seem neutral to everyone. Acting like a distraught lover here can only hurt you, trust me!
Unfortunately, she didn't seem too keen to listen to my thoughts, so naturally, she took a sip of her lesser coffee and then paused.
"You know, I feel like I've won something to be able to eat with the elusive Hikigaya-kun. Do I get a prize?" She asked, tilting her head, with a warm smile that was simply a cooled down version of hell.
I could only imagine what her real thoughts were at that moment, but at least here, I need to remind myself to act with caution.
Kushida can and will use any information I give her intentionally or not to her advantage.
Time to bullshit.
"What kind of prize are you looking for, exactly?" I knew what was coming, but it was easier than giving one myself.
Her smile brightened up as she said, "Of course, I want your number!"
A face like that could really make someone fall in love. Those words can really make someone get the wrong idea. Coincidentally that's exactly what she's planning on.
"Rejected, you get two more tries before getting nothing," I said playfully. Might as well mess with Kushida as much as she's doing with me.
"Eh? I have a limit! That's so unfair!" A small pout turned mischievous as her second request came. "Well, how about you give me Horikita's number? You have it, right? I wanna become friends with her!"
Again, I shook my head. "Rejected. I don't have her number. Like I said, I don't have it. If I did, she'd report me to the school board. You have one more attempt"
As I took a sip of my coffee concoction, Kushida said, "Hikigaya-kun, you're being unfair right now! I thought for sure you were just blowing me off about not having her number. You talk to her everyday!"
Hmm, not bad coffee. Maybe I can brew my own MAX Coffee.
"Yeah and I don't think prisoners fall in love with their jail wardens despite talking to them everyday. Personally, I think I'm being very fair to you considering I'm even giving you a single reasonable wish at all. The only reason I'm doing this is to, well," find out your game as of now and to put an end to it, "I'll leave that to the imagination."
"There is such a thing called Stockholm Syndrome, you know?" She reminded me, to which I held my tongue. Damn, she was right, my own analogy was used against me.
She then thought about it for a while before coming to her own realization. "Oh, I have something. If you refuse this request, I won't forgive you, Hikigaya-kun!"
Hmm? The way she's setting it up makes it seem like I will reject it. Well, what is it then?
"Hikigaya-kun, next time I talk to you, you aren't allowed to brush me off and ignore me!" She looked very pleased with herself with that request.
Huh? Is she trying to slowly build my trust with her? That's not going to work, Kushida. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, I won't take it to heart.
"Fine then. Your request is accepted," I said, hiding my true thoughts.
"Yay! I'll be sure to make the most out of this privilege. I hope the elusive Hikigaya-kun becomes the not-so elusive Hikigaya-kun," Kushida said, giggling at her own words with her fingers pressed together.
Checking the time as an excuse I said, "Yeah, yeah. I bet you'll do a lot with it. Just don't make me cancel the request! I'm outta here, it's late. Thanks for the coffee."
Kushida saw me off with a smile as fake as the light of day. How unfortunate that she isn't doing herself a favor ending this charade.
If she would just be a little less antagonistic towards everyone, she wouldn't be as nearly destructive and terrible as she is now.
Alas, all I can do is make plans accordingly. But for now, I'll go rest.
Exiting the cafe, I immediately walked in the direction of the dorm.
It was a little crowded in the area I was in so I rushed to get out of there fast. I wasn't going to get held back by anyone. My bed was in sight!
In my enthusiasm though, it seems I didn't pay attention to my surroundings because I knocked someone over!
Something fell off that person- girl's head, glasses by the looks of it. Thinking nothing of it, I picked them up to hand them to the girl and to also hopefully apologize properly for knocking her down.
"Hey, that was my bad. I wasn't looking," I said, reaching out my hand to the person. When I actually looked properly at the girl, I couldn't help but be taken aback. "Ah, it's you."
The girl quickly backed away in shock and realization.
"Uwawawawa-" she muttered over and over before running off, pink hair behind her.
Sakura Airi, I didn't expect to run into you. Why did she run away anyway? Was it because I scared her?
Oh wait, she has a secret identity in Shizuku, her Gravure Idol name. Did she think without her glasses she was recognizable?
Well, I don't know why I keep on running into these girls like that, but at least these glasses I still have can be an excuse to go resolve her problems.
For the sake of your continued participation in Class D, I'll bother you a bit, Sakura.