Chapter 099: Hikigaya-kun's Contact List!
Hikigaya-kun confessed to Ichinose from Class B… and failed.
Sakura, though she had never confessed or been confessed to before, knew that staying in this situation any longer would be extremely awkward.
So, after a brief consideration, she saw that Shiranami had already left. She quietly picked up her camera and carefully slipped away as well.
Meanwhile, back at the scene—
Watching Shiranami Chihiro's departing figure—
"Phew—"
Ichinose Hanabi let out a deep sigh of relief. "Seriously, thank you so much today, Hikigaya-kun."
"I really didn't expect you to… take such an approach."
Yeah.
Originally, the plan was to pretend to be a couple so that Chihiro would back off.
But Hikigaya-kun's method took a different step back—not faking a relationship, but outright confessing to her.
Then, all Ichinose had to do was reject him while making it clear that she would reject everyone.
That way, even if Shiranami did confess, she would also be rejected.
Meaning Shiranami had no reason to confess at all.
And then Hachiman said—
"This is just a temporary measure. You said 'for the three years of high school.' But what if, three years later, Shiranami still likes you?"
"In school, you have the excuse of focusing on studying. But after graduation, she might still confess to you."
"Ugh…"
That… would be even more difficult to deal with.
Ichinose made a troubled face again.
That was the frustrating part.
Even if someone kept their feelings hidden, unspoken love could still linger if not properly cut off.
Which made this a real headache.
In response—
Ichinose said, "Well, there's three years. Chihiro will probably find someone else she likes by then."
Besides—
A hint of loneliness appeared on her face—something that shouldn't belong there. "Because I'm really not such a good person. I'm not worth her liking."
"..."
Her expression was lonely.
Her tone carried the same loneliness.
It felt like she was shutting herself off.
This made Hachiman wonder—maybe the reason she rejected Shiranami Chihiro or anyone else wasn't simply about whether she liked them or not…
Maybe, deep down, it was a form of self-denial.
Just as Hachiman was about to dig deeper—
Ichinose suddenly perked up again. "Well, I owe you another favor today, Hikigaya-kun."
She said, "I want to advance to Class A with everyone from Class B, so when the time comes, we won't hold back, okay?"
She had returned to being the bright, warm Ichinose Hanabi everyone knew.
"But, Hikigaya-kun, was what you did just now really okay?"
Ichinose seemed eager to wrap up this conversation.
Yet, there was still something on her mind.
"Because I just rejected you." Ichinose seemed a little embarrassed. "You… you weren't hurt, right?"
"That was just acting," Hachiman replied. "Besides, I don't have that kind of feeling for you."
"Ugh, meow…"
"Then… what if the things you just said during the confession get spread around—"
She worried it might cause trouble for Hachiman.
But, Ichinose.
If you were that concerned about causing him trouble, maybe you shouldn't have suggested pretending to be a couple in the first place.
In the end, this whole situation with Shiranami's confession must have been really difficult for you to handle, right?
It didn't take much thought to understand.
For example, if Hirata-kun confessed to him… hmm… yeah, that'd be really hard to handle.
He would definitely reject him, of course. But it wasn't like he had ever considered the possibility of someone of the same gender liking him.
"There was no one else here just now," Hachiman said. "And Shiranami doesn't seem like the type to gossip."
"Mhm." Ichinose nodded. "Chihiro would never do that."
"Then I can relax." Hachiman said.
Honestly, whether a confession succeeded or failed, the moment it became reality, there was always a risk of it spreading.
It could become a topic of conversation.
Or lead to teasing whenever the two people involved were together.
Even if they tried to stay friends, things would never quite be the same.
That's why—
Love was such a hassle.
Hikigaya Hachiman didn't long for romance.
All he wanted was to find a wealthy woman who'd take care of him so he could become a stay-at-home husband.
And so, seeing that Ichinose seemed fine, Hachiman left the scene.
Ichinose said that she wanted to stay there a little longer to rest. The things she had experienced today were still difficult for her to digest.
She needed a bit of space and time to release her emotions.
Just look at Kushida—kicking the railing and cursing.
Though, Kushida was a bit more violent about it.
Meanwhile—
Hachiman raised his left hand.
This hand had just been grabbed by Kushida and placed onto her soft… area.
It was a clumsy way to silence him, thought up by Kushida.
But he couldn't deny that Ichinose's words earlier—words that almost sounded like a confession—had quite an impact.
Yet, he had resisted.
In a way, that was thanks to Kushida.
However—
Kushida, you really are troublesome.
.
.
.
And that troublesome Kushida had already returned to her dorm.
As the "little angel" of the class, she was quite popular, and a lot of the boys were… well, idiots.
Some of them even tried to take this chance to confess to her.
Of course, Kushida wasn't happy about that, but she handled it smoothly. She took the opportunity to slip away when some of the girls left.
As soon as she got back to her dorm, she saw a message from Hikigaya Hachiman.
He was asking if she knew anything about Shiranami Chihiro.
Oh?
Shiranami Chihiro, huh? Of course, Kushida knew her.
And she could guess why Hikigaya was suddenly asking—he must have run into someone that led him to ask about this.
In other words, he had witnessed Shiranami Chihiro's confession?
How interesting.
Hikigaya-kun, how do you always end up in these ridiculous situations?
Kushida, despite playing the role of a little angel, had to admit—Ichinose from Class B had surpassed her in her own area of expertise.
Ichinose had more friends than she did.
She had even managed to become her friend.
It was… frustrating.
With these thoughts in mind, she decided to step out for some fresh air.
But as soon as she reached the hallway, she saw the elevator doors opening.
"I don't know whose camera this is."
A few girls had apparently found a lost item.
There were only four girls inside.
From her own class: Karuizawa, Shinohara, and Satou.
All members of her gyaru group.
And then there was one girl from Class A—Kamuro Masumi.
Kushida knew all of them, but they didn't all know each other.
Shinohara was holding a camera, while Kamuro stood quietly in the corner of the elevator.
And that pink camera—
"..."
Kushida recognized it instantly.
Wasn't that Sakura's camera?
Without a doubt, it belonged to Sakura.
But before she could say anything, Shinohara, likely trying to check for the owner, turned the camera on.
"This is…"
Karuizawa and the others looked surprised.
Even Kamuro, the purple-haired girl from Class A, had an astonished expression.
"Uh… actually, I know whose camera that is." Kushida quickly spoke up.
This was likely Sakura's selfie camera.
Which meant it was probably full of Sakura's selfies.
Sakura was actually a stunning beauty, but because of her shy personality, she always dressed plainly.
Kushida wanted to keep that secret for her.
But—
Shinohara Satsuki had already opened the files on the camera.
She was one step too late.
.
.
.
["I've liked you for a long time. Will you go out with me?"]
["Ichinose, you once said—if I confessed to you here, how would you react? Well then, you must have already thought of names for our future children."]
["If it's a boy, he'll be named Makoto. If it's a girl, then she'll be Sora."]
"..."
A voice played from the camera.
And it wasn't a stranger.
Everyone present recognized the voice of Hikigaya Hachiman.
"What… is this?"
"A confession scene?" Shinohara Satsuki muttered.
From the video, it was clear—
Hikigaya was confessing to a beautiful girl with long, golden-pink hair.
The angle from which the video was taken was well-hidden—it showed Hikigaya's back while capturing Ichinose's full appearance.
"Wait, this is a confession to Ichinose from Class B, right? I never thought Hikigaya liked Ichinose! I mean, she really is super popular!" Satou exclaimed excitedly, probably thrilled by the romance-related topic.
She was the type who longed for a sweet high school romance.
"A confession…? Maybe it's some kind of misunderstanding," Karuizawa said, looking a bit surprised. "I just can't picture Hikigaya confessing to a girl."
"I always thought he was closer to Horikita."
"What are you guys talking about?"
At that moment, a girl carrying a hot water kettle passed by.
It was Horikita Suzune.
She didn't particularly enjoy celebration parties, so she had left as soon as she could. After taking a bath, she was now heading to get hot water.
Then she overheard her name.
She usually didn't care about people talking about her—after all, people could say whatever they wanted.
She didn't want to waste her energy on such things.
But just now, she also thought she heard Hikigaya's name.
So, she became a little curious.
And now, she had clearly heard her own name as well.
"Uh… So, Horikita, do you have any interest in Hikigaya?" Satou asked.
"..."
Horikita paused. "Hikigaya… I do respect him."
With that, she started walking back to her room.
"So cool and distant," Satou commented.
"Kushida, you said earlier that you know the owner of the camera?" Shinohara hadn't forgotten about that.
"Yes, yes." Kushida quickly nodded.
She had initially thought the camera had exposed Sakura's selfies, but instead, it revealed Hikigaya's confession scene.
Still, the camera was in Shinohara's hands—she needed to get it back.
"Well then, help return it to its owner." Shinohara readily handed the camera over.
Kushida knew that everyone had just witnessed the recorded moment—Hikigaya's confession and subsequent rejection.
That must have been awkward for them.
"Are you all going out again?"
At that moment, the girl from Class A, who had been standing silently in the corner, spoke expressionlessly.
"Ah, sorry," Satou quickly replied.
They were on this floor, but the Class A girl was heading further up.
So, they hurriedly got out of the elevator.
"Class A girls always seem hard to get along with."
Watching the elevator doors close and continue upward, the girls murmured among themselves.
It was as if nothing had happened.
But Kushida had a feeling that Hikigaya's reputation might take a hit from this.
.
.
.
After finishing the exams, helping Ichinose solve a problem, and even gaining a favor from her, Hikigaya was in a relatively good mood.
However—
From Ichinose's lonely expression, he could tell that even this "great angel" had some kind of past.
Still, the fact that she was in Class B instead of the Class D where he originally was should mean she was doing fine, right?
Thinking about that—
Hikigaya glanced at his phone.
Surprisingly, he had received a message from Sakayanagi.
She was asking to meet.
Sakayanagi seemed to be inviting him for lunch tomorrow.
Hmm.
Having lunch together probably just meant she was offering to pay for his meal.
Hmph.
A few days ago, he had also wanted a free meal, but Sakayanagi had completely refused to spend any money on him.
This kind of call him when she needed him, ignore him when she didn't attitude annoyed Hikigaya.
[Tomorrow, you can order the spicy wings and egg tart combo you wanted.]
Hmm.
Well, in that case, he might as well go.
Not that he was short on money right now.
Aside from the basic living expenses he received from the class every month, which were sufficient for an average student, he also had the 100,000 points he earned from selling test papers to Kamuro, as well as a portion of the 100,000 points Horikita's former student council president had transferred to him earlier.
Additionally—
Apart from the 1,000,000-point card given to him by Chabashira-sensei at the start—
He now had another 1,000,000-point card in his pocket.
It seemed that she was quite satisfied with the results of this recent exam.
However, this also meant that she expected their class to continue climbing higher.
And for that, he would have to rely on Kushida to keep gathering intel from the upper grades.
With that—
Everything was looking great.
And he wasn't particularly short on money.
But saving where he could was still a good habit—after all, he aimed to become a stay-at-home husband in the future, so getting used to frugality and careful budgeting was important.
With that in mind, Hachiman considered responding to confirm that he would accept Sakayanagi's invitation.
Just as he was about to send the message to Arisu Sakayanagi, he noticed a new text from Karuizawa.
In his phone, he only had the contacts of Horikita, Sakayanagi, Kamuro, Ichinose, Kushida, Sakura, Karuizawa, and Chabashira.
Since he had saved their names properly, it was easy to see who had sent the message.
However—
[Guys really do like boobs, huh.] – Karuizawa. [You guys are all just oppai obsessed.]
????
What kind of baseless accusation was this?
And why was Karuizawa suddenly bringing up such an ahem suggestive topic?
"Did some guy confess to you after the celebration party?" Hachiman quickly typed back, his instincts sharp.
He didn't think she would just send a message like that out of nowhere—something must have happened.
And he had already promised that if she helped their class move up, he would provide protection.
So—
Today, Hikigaya Hachiman was in full battle mode.
Ready to be her knight in shining armor.