"It's still a bit early."
After leaving the student council office, Hikigaya looked up at the sky, which hadn't darkened yet. Ever since joining the student council at the end of last month, his after-school routine had mostly consisted of student council duties.
"It's been a while since I last went to the library."
Hikigaya decided to spend so ti there. It was also the only way he could think of to pass the ti—going to the mall alone was just not his thing.
Compared to the beginning of the school year, the library was noticeably busier. It made sense, considering that the midterm exams were coming up at the end of the month—an important battle no student could afford to lose.
As expected, not a single D-Class student was in sight.
"Looks like everyone's feeling confident about the midterms," Hikigaya sneered.
He found a quiet corner on the upper level, hidden by bookshelves and a structural beam, creating a small blind spot. The layers of bookshelves felt like protective walls, forming a space that he had discovered by chance—his little sanctuary, untouched by other students.
But when he turned the corner, he froze.
A girl with long, light blue hair and violet eyes sat curled up on the floor, leaning against the wall. Surrounding her were several books—all detective novels by famous foreign authors.
She was completely absorbed in her reading. The way her expression shifted—sotis tense, sotis frowning—showed she was right at the most exciting part of the story.
Hikigaya hadn't expected his secret spot to be taken. Then again, maybe she had found this quiet place long before he did. He had just assud he was the first.
...And then, completely by accident, he saw it—just for a second.
The absolute zone.
He swore it wasn't on purpose. He definitely didn't an to look. It was just the angle!
Panicking, he quickly turned around to leave, not wanting to be mistaken for so creep lurking around.
But in his haste, he bumped into the bookshelf, making a loud noise.
Crap.
In the silence of the library, the sudden sound caught the girl's attention. She looked up, confusion in her violet eyes as she examined the vaguely familiar figure in front of her.
Then, in the next second, her eyes widened. The confusion vanished, replaced by surprise and excitent.
"Wait!"
She hurriedly stood up, reaching out to grab his sleeve.
Maybe she moved too fast.
Maybe her legs had gone numb from sitting too long.
Either way, the mont she took a step forward, her legs gave out, and she started falling straight ahead.
Before she could hit the floor, soone caught her.
"Are... are you okay?"
Hikigaya had reacted just in ti. Holding her soft fra, he could faintly sll her light fragrance. His heart skipped a beat. But as soon as she regained her balance, he quickly let go and turned to leave.
Seeing that the boy she had finally t again was about to walk away, the girl panicked and instinctively rushed forward.
Then—
She slamd right into his chest.
The sudden impact made Hikigaya hunch over slightly, letting out a muffled groan of pain.
The girl realized she had ssed up and quickly looked up to apologize—
And in her haste, she accidentally headbutted his face.
A sharp pain shot through her forehead, and she clutched her head with both hands, letting out a small whimper.
"A-Ah! You're bleeding!"
She saw blood trickling from the boy's nose. Panicked, she forgot about the tissues in her pocket and instead clumsily pressed her hand against his nose, trying to stop the bleeding.
"I-I think it stopped?"
She let out a relieved sigh.
The next second, blood gushed out.
...
"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't an to!"
The girl lowered her head, looking guilty. In front of her was an unlucky guy trying to stop his nosebleed. Luckily, it was just a minor injury, and the bleeding stopped quickly.
"But... but aren't you supposed to tilt your head back when you have a nosebleed?" The girl asked curiously, noticing the boy had his head down while pinching his nose.
"Are you hoping I get hurt even more?"
"S-Sorry!"
Realizing she had said sothing wrong, the girl quickly apologized and made up her mind to study first aid properly when she got ho.
About ten minutes later, after making sure the bleeding had completely stopped, Hikigaya let go of his nose and looked up—only to et the curious gaze of the girl sitting across from him.
"Um, I-I'm Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C. I'm really sorry about what just happened! A-And I swear I didn't do it on purpose!" The girl, Shiina Hiyori, introduced herself nervously while carefully watching Hikigaya's reaction, afraid that he might still be upset.
"If you did it on purpose, I'd probably be in the hospital right now." Hikigaya couldn't help but comnt.
Thinking back to what had just happened, he wondered—was this so kind of classic rom-com ani scene? That was way too ridiculous! His nose still hurt a little just thinking about it.
Shiina Hiyori let out a small laugh, then quickly covered her mouth when she realized it might be inappropriate. But she couldn't help but add, "It really feels like sothing straight out of a novel."
"I'm fine now. I'll be going."
Just as Hikigaya got up to leave, Shiina Hiyori panicked and quickly stood up too. But before she could do anything, Hikigaya suddenly backed away like he had just seen sothing terrifying—kind of like that one blue-haired guy screaming, 'Stay back!' in a certain ani.
Shiina Hiyori paused for a second, then burst into laughter.
"You haven't told your na yet!"
"H-Hikigaya Hachiman, Class 1-D."
"Will you... co back again?" The girl looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"Huh?"
Hikigaya's face twisted into a weird expression. Was this... so kind of new scam?
A library encounter with a cute, bookish girl who took the initiative to talk to him... If this were a high school romance novel, this would be a dream scenario.
Too bad it wasn't.
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