Chapter 097: Ichinose the Archangel—Loved by All, Whoa, a Confession!
The written exam had ended, and the results were as expected. Although there weren't many perfect scores of 100 in the class evaluation, the gap between classes didn't widen either.
Because of that, the class celebration that Hirata had mentioned before was now happening, thanks to Hachiman stepping in.
And so, it led to the current situation—
Every single student in the class participated in the celebration the next day.
"Cheers!"
Such cheers could be heard throughout the room.
Of course, since they were just students—even though they had rented a private karaoke room—the staff wouldn't serve them alcohol.
So, while they had built a tower of cups, all that was inside them was cola, Sprite, and other soft drinks.
Class 1-C's celebration was held at the largest karaoke venue in the shopping district.
They had booked a big private room.
Originally, there were suggestions to go out for a feast instead—some people had been craving steak for a while.
However, in the end, they chose karaoke.
The reasoning was simple: they could sing, play around, eat food, and drink beverages all at once.
Since this choice received the most votes, it was settled.
If I could really reach there
Then I would no longer need warmth
At this moment, someone was already singing.
And surprisingly, it was the boys who were singing.
Even though this was an event for the entire class, upon closer observation, the boys finally seemed to realize something—most of the girls in their class were incredibly beautiful!
So, wouldn't this be a great chance to show off and maybe get a girlfriend?
Though honestly, that was a ridiculous thought. After all, these same guys had previously ranked the girls in the class based on their bust sizes, leaving a large portion of the girls with a bad impression of them.
So, no matter how hard they tried now, it probably wouldn't do much good.
If anything, it might even make them look like they had ulterior motives.
That said, some of them did have some skills.
Their singing was actually not bad.
Hachiman updated his opinion of them slightly.
But overall, he still felt they were just a bunch of kids.
And speaking of kids, there was currently another one standing right next to Hikigaya.
"Actually, blending in a little isn't such a bad thing," Hikigaya remarked.
Right now, he was sitting on the sofa to the side, and next to him was a black-haired, fox-eyed girl who had shown up but seemed to be spacing out.
Perhaps because of their close proximity, he could clearly see the girl's black stockings. The moderately thick fabric wrapped around her well-shaped legs, carrying a certain inexplicable allure.
Of course.
It wasn't that Hikigaya was a leg fetishist or anything—it was just that, at this distance, that happened to be the only part of Horikita that he could really see.
Still, he was making an effort.
Even though Horikita Suzune had been dragged into this group event, she still chose to sit alone on the side, completely uninvolved.
It was as if she was just checking in for attendance.
"I'm already used to being alone," Horikita Suzune said.
Is that so?
"But being alone, while convenient, also means there are many things you simply can't do by yourself," Hikigaya replied. "For example, if you wanted to practice tennis but had no one to rally with, how would you even play?"
That was a lie.
Because in Hikigaya's embarrassing history, there was a time when he played tennis alone and even managed to use trick shots.
But Horikita Suzune probably hadn't experienced something like that.
"I think you might be confusing the meanings of 'aloof' and 'arrogant,'" Hikigaya said.
Immediately, he was met with the fox-eyed girl's sharp gaze.
Because—
"..."
Her older brother had said those exact words before. So the moment Hikigaya said them, Horikita locked her eyes onto him.
"Somehow..."
Just then, a cute female voice interrupted.
"Somehow, it feels like Hikigaya-kun and Horikita-san have a really good relationship."
"Why don't you two join everyone else?"
Hmm.
So Kushida was here too.
But really, they weren't badmouthing you, Kushida-san. No need to pay so much attention to them.
That said, Hikigaya had a feeling that Kushida had come over on purpose.
Since she was cute and had a good attitude toward both guys and girls, Kushida was like an angel to the class. Naturally, that meant a lot of boys liked her and had a good impression of her.
Or rather—
Quite a few of them saw her as an ideal potential girlfriend.
Because of that, many guys were eager to show off, hoping to even sing a love song duet with Kushida.
And that kind of situation... of course, would be annoying for Kushida.
So Hikigaya figured she had used them as an excuse to escape from Ike and Yamauchi's invitations.
It seemed like Kushida actually found them quite annoying too.
Even though Hikigaya knew her true nature, the fact that the usually angelic Kushida would openly avoid Yamauchi and the others like this was surprisingly blunt.
Which meant—
Deep down, the real Kushida truly despised those two.
How pitiful.
But Hikigaya was self-aware enough to know that he was probably ranked second on Kushida's personal hate list.
First place, of course, was Horikita.
"Horikita-san hasn't had much experience attending these kinds of group gatherings in the past," Hikigaya said. "And neither have I. So naturally, we don't quite fit in."
"Oh, I see..."
"But I do think that, since we're already in a lively place like this, it'd be a waste not to do something," Kushida added.
"After all, the cost of this celebration is going to be split among everyone," she reminded them.
Right.
Money doesn't just fall from the sky. Even if this was a celebration, it still cost money, and since they didn't have any kind of class fund, the expenses would be collected from everyone at the end.
So naturally, just as Kushida had pointed out—since they were already here and had spent the money, wouldn't it be a huge waste to just sit around doing nothing?
"Actually, I also think that, since you're here, it would be a good opportunity to blend into the group," Kushida added.
And at that moment, someone similar to Kushida—another person who played the role of class glue—approached them.
It was Mother Hirata.
"Horikita-san, Hikigaya, I really hope you both take this chance to get along with everyone," Hirata said with his usual gentle demeanor.
His warm and encouraging gaze was directed at the two of them.
Ugh.
So Hirata had also noticed how out of place Hikigaya and Horikita were acting.
And he had gone out of his way to try and help them integrate into the class.
But Hikigaya didn't think that was necessary.
Because if you were truly strong, solitude was a natural state of being.
That said, he also admitted that he hadn't reached that level of strength yet.
Still, simply forcing himself to "blend in" with a group that had already formed its own circles wasn't exactly a great idea either.
"Speaking of which," Hikigaya said, deciding not to reject Hirata outright but instead taking a page out of Kushida's book and changing the topic, "I didn't expect Koenji-kun to actually attend this celebration."
Koenji—Koenji Rokusuke.
The class's number-one academic genius, and also a top-tier athlete. If Sudo's athleticism was like an unfair cheat code, then Koenji's was something that had nearly reached the peak of human limits.
He was incredibly bizarre.
However, despite being outstanding in many areas, he was also narcissistic and vain, carrying himself with an air of arrogance.
Hachiman figured that, given his excellent qualities, Koenji must have offended the interviewers with his haughty attitude and ended up in Class D.
"I think we need to pay attention to him right now," Hachiman said. "Because he seems like he's about to order a very expensive drink."
"Huh?"
Hirata was stunned for a moment before quickly turning his head. And sure enough, he saw a waiter standing beside Koenji.
The waiter was holding an order-taking device, seemingly ready to enter something.
Uh-oh.
Hirata had already noticed that Koenji had no regard for conserving his private points.
Within just half a month, he had completely spent the 100,000 points the school gave each student.
In other words, Koenji wasn't concerned about buying expensive things.
And now, the same thing was happening.
"Hmm… This Sprite..."
"I don't think it tastes very good. Bring me something expensive—this one is too cheap, the taste is completely off," Koenji said.
"Sir, how about one that costs 30,000 per bottle?" the staff confirmed.
"30,000? That's pretty cheap. Bring me two," Koenji said.
"..."
Hirata.
The cost of this celebration party was being split among everyone.
The budget for food and drinks had already been planned out.
If Koenji started ordering things outside the budget… everyone's share of the cost would increase.
That would cause dissatisfaction among the classmates.
Hirata didn't want to see that happen.
So, he quickly went over to intervene.
—
The celebration party lasted for two hours, and in the end, each student had to pay 6,000 points.
That amount was basically two days' worth of meals.
However, if it weren't for the one bottle of Sprite Koenji had already opened and couldn't return, the cost would have been lower.
From this perspective, Koenji might have come from a wealthy family.
He spent money so carelessly, without a second thought.
But after the celebration party, Hachiman had another meeting.
And his meeting partner was an old acquaintance—Ichinose Honami from Class B and Kanzaki Ryuji.
And this time, Hachiman hadn't brought Kushida or Horikita along.