Chapter 19 Sakayanagi Arisu and Kamuro Masumi
Not long after mass messaging the leaders of each class, Hikigaya received replies.
Ichinose: I think Hikigaya-kun is even stronger. Let's have lunch together 😊.
Ryuen Kakeru: Interesting.
Katsuragi: I'll keep it in mind.
Sakayanagi: Hikigaya-kun, you truly are a delightful surprise. It's been a while—I'll be waiting for you at Palet at 7 tonight.
Palet was the school's popular café, mostly frequented by girls. Without a female friend accompanying them, boys typically wouldn't want to step foot inside.
[Sorry, I already have plans with a friend tonight.] Hikigaya felt a bad premonition from Sakayanagi's invitation and rejected it outright. He then decided not to open her chat again. As long as it didn't show "read without reply," he could later pretend he never saw it.
Hikigaya also wanted to reject Ichinose's invitation, but he had to eat at the cafeteria anyway. If he ran into her while eating alone, it would be more troublesome, so he agreed instead.
After replying "OK" to Ichinose, Hikigaya left Ayanokouji—now surrounded and bombarded with questions by the "three idiots"—and headed to B-Class to pick up his nominal girlfriend to go to the cafeteria. Together, they ate under the sharp gazes of numerous students.
After lunch, back in the classroom, Sudo and the others were already gnawing on bread while memorizing the freshly photocopied past exam. There were five subjects in total, and the exams were tomorrow—time was tight.
"I'll mark the easy-to-memorize, high-score questions for you to start with." Hikigaya took the past exam from Sudo's desk and started estimating which were easy to memorize and worth more points.
Sudo looked deeply touched. "You're a big help, Hikigaya. You're a good guy."
Though prone to explosive temper, Sudo wasn't ill-intentioned. He stood up for classmates who were bullied and never abused his size to bully others.
"Take the afternoon club activities off too. Come to the classroom two hours early tomorrow, go over the morning subjects, and I'll be here early as well to help patch any gaps."
"Okay." Sudo scratched his head shyly, not knowing how to respond to this kind of concern. "You really don't want me to get expelled, huh, Hikigaya?"
"Just focus on memorizing."
As he spoke, Hikigaya's hands didn't stop highlighting questions. He knew it was his scheme against Ayanokouji that reduced Sudo's study time, so he had a responsibility to make up for it.
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.
.
Most student dorm rooms had their own favorite decorations or wall art, but Hikigaya's hadn't changed much since school started. The only additions were three lazy sofas filled with soft foam. When not in use, they could be stacked in a corner and didn't take up much space—Hikigaya was quite pleased with them. It wasn't great always having visitors sit on the bed or the floor.
"Does D-Class have other students who enjoy reading like you, Hikigaya-kun?"
Shiina Hiyori, exuding a soft atmosphere, lounged on one of the lazy sofas like a resting cat. Her gentle silver hair was brought forward and tied with an off-white headscarf. Her slender legs, wrapped in grayish-silver tights, were stretched out onto the floor.
Since their information trade with Ryuen, Shiina and Hikigaya had become book buddies. They sometimes read together in the library, and Shiina would even bring books over to share her reading insights in person.
People who like reading? Hikigaya immediately pictured Horikita Suzune, whose hand was never without a book. Imagining Horikita and Shiina reading together actually didn't seem too odd.
"There's a classmate named Horikita Suzune, though her personality is a bit withdrawn and she's hard to get along with." Hikigaya stretched lazily. "After tomorrow's exam, I'll invite her over and introduce you."
"That might not be a good idea. I've seen Horikita—she doesn't seem like the kind who wants to make friends." To Shiina, Horikita felt like a cold, untouchable flower of the highlands. She wasn't confident in her communication skills to handle someone like that.
"You'll just need to be a little patient with her, Shiina-san. I hope you can be her first friend."
"Her first!?"
"That's right. According to her, she hasn't had any friends since elementary school."
"Since elementary!? I don't think I can do it, Hikigaya-kun."
"I really believe in you, Shiina-san. I'll help you too." Hikigaya turned seriously toward Shiina's surprised, cute face. Faced with Hikigaya's dead-fish eyes, Shiina surrendered instantly and agreed.
This was the first time Hikigaya had ever asked her for something. Though afraid, she was also quietly happy inside.
Knock knock knock.
Just as Hikigaya was celebrating that the student council president's precious little sister will soon receive a new friend, someone knocked on his door. Kushida had a key card, and Hirata, Ichinose, and the others only came after asking for permission, so it definitely wasn't them.
"Interesting Hikigaya-kun, please open the door—I'm here to visit as promised."
The elegant yet haughty-sounding voice could only belong to one person at this school—silver-haired little devil Sakayanagi Arisu.
Hikigaya pulled out his phone and checked her chat. It already said she would be visiting, and her message implied that silence meant consent. How high-handed. He decided to pretend not to be home.
"If you don't open the door soon, Hikigaya-kun, I'll just kick it down~. It won't be my fault if others see me here."
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Hikigaya replied immediately.
What a joke! If people saw someone like Sakayanagi— a famous beauty—visiting him, he'd never hear the end of it. The guys in D-Class would hound him with questions.
Taking three steps in two, Hikigaya quickly opened the door. Outside stood not only the annoying little devil Sakayanagi but also a beautiful, tall girl with bangs held back by a cute hair clip.
"Fufu, I thought you might struggle a bit longer, Hikigaya-kun." Sakayanagi squinted with a slight smile, walking into Hikigaya's room like she owned the place. The tall beauty followed closely behind like a bodyguard.
"Oh my, isn't this Shiina from C-Class? Hikigaya-kun, your ability to charm beautiful girls from other classes is surprising. Would you like me to introduce some cute girls from A-Class too?"
Putting down her cane, Sakayanagi slowly sat on the lazy sofa Hikigaya had been using. The tall girl casually grabbed the last lazy sofa, placed it next to Sakayanagi, and introduced herself as Kamuro Masumi before sitting down confidently.
"Please don't misunderstand, Sakayanagi-san. I'm just a normal friend of Hikigaya-kun," Shiina objected while setting down her book.
"Let's go with that, then." Sakayanagi shifted her gaze from Shiina to Hikigaya.
"Could I ask Shiina-san to leave for today? I have a few secrets I'd like to discuss with Hikigaya-kun alone."