Ever since that "friendly" chat with Horikita in the courtyard during lunch, the troubleso situation Hikigaya had expected never actually happened. That was a relief, but at the sa ti, he cursed himself for ddling. This bad habit of trying to help others really needed to change, or he'd just keep adding to his long history of embarrassing monts.
Looking back on it, he and Horikita were classmates and even seatmates. There was no avoiding her. Just thinking about the way he had lectured her made him want to crawl into a hole. Or maybe he should just take a few days off from school?
God, that was so embarrassing.
Even though Horikita acted as if nothing had happened after they returned from the courtyard and showed no unusual behavior, Hikigaya couldn't shake the feeling that there was sothing off.
Lately, he'd been sneezing a lot too. Maybe he actually caught a cold?
"C-Class just won't stop causing trouble."
Inside the library, Hikigaya, now wearing a mask, slumped into his seat after resolving yet another conflict between C-Class and other students. This wasn't the first ti he had to step in. Those C-Class students acted like they were running on pure adrenaline, constantly provoking A-Class and B-Class students, which led to fights that Hikigaya had to clean up. It was beyond exhausting.
"With classmates like these, it must be tough for Shiina."
Hikigaya felt bad for Hiyori, who had to deal with such a rowdy bunch. Lately, he hadn't seen much of her in the library either—she was probably busy tutoring her classmates.
"Hikigaya-kun, what are you mumbling about?"
A warm breath tickled his ear out of nowhere, making him shiver like a startled cat.
Haruno burst into laughter, clearly enjoying his over-the-top reaction.
"Why... are you here?"
Hikigaya shot her a resentful look, but Haruno casually sat on the table, swinging her pale legs. The way she sat made it hard to ignore certain parts of her figure. Grinning, she said, "Why do I feel like you have so serious complaints about ?"
Hikigaya let out a dry chuckle, giving her a look that scread, You know exactly why. But he quickly averted his gaze, refusing to fall for whatever trap she was setting.
"Aww, don't be so stingy! As an apology, I'll treat you to dinner. How about it? You can't say no to a girl's invitation, you know."
Haruno tilted her head, pouting as she pressed her palm against her cheek. Her voice had a teasing, almost pleading tone.
Watching her smooth, effortless performance, Hikigaya's eyebrow twitched. With just a few simple gestures and words, Haruno had completely shut down any possible coback he had.
Damn it. She was just too good at this.
Her skill level was way too high—easily a top-tier player, no doubt about it.
Was there no escape?
"Not answering ans you agree."
"Can you sit properly, please?"
Hikigaya sighed and pulled out a chair for her, feeling self-conscious as he glanced around. "Everyone's staring at us."
Haruno giggled and scooted her chair closer to him. "So shy~"
Hikigaya's face turned slightly red. "No, you're just shaless!"
Haruno didn't seem to mind at all. She rested her face in her hands, gazing at Hikigaya's profile before reaching out to poke his cheek.
"Didn't expect it, but you actually look more attractive with a mask on."
"Should I take that as an insult?"
With only his eyes visible above the mask, his usual dead-fish stare stood out even more. So people found it unsettling, but weirdly enough, it made today's problem-solving a lot easier.
"Nope."
Haruno stared straight at Hikigaya's face.
"I was just thinking... how can a human have eyes like that? Could it be so kind of superpower?"
"You should apologize to everyone in the world who has these eyes!"
"Are you sure you don't have x-ray vision or the ability to see far away?"
"Co on, this is the real world, not so ani with Sharingan or Byakugan! And even in ani, there are plenty of background characters with dead-fish eyes!"
"Eh~"
Haruno looked disappointed, then lazily slumped onto the table.
"Lately, everything's been so boring. I wanna go ho. I miss Yukino. I wanna ss with her~"
Hikigaya suddenly got curious.
"Aren't you worried about your class?"
Haruno, still lying on the table, answered weakly with her cheek pressed against the surface.
"What's there to worry about? If sothing happens, just let them fight it out first. I'll just stand on the side and cheer them on."
"More like you'll be fanning the flas."
Hikigaya sighed. He knew exactly what kind of person she was. Believing she wouldn't stir up trouble was about as realistic as believing you'd get hit by a truck and wake up in another world as the ultimate protagonist.
"Hehe, Hikigaya, why are you speaking so much truth~"
Haruno didn't even try to hide her true nature.
Then, as if sothing popped into her mind, she looked at Hikigaya with interest.
"You know, you're pretty famous in our class now. Sakayanagi seems really interested in you. And there are a lot of people on Totsuka's side who aren't happy about you joining the student council."
Hikigaya didn't care much about that. What did catch his attention, though, was the na Totsuka!
That lackey following Katsuragi the other day was nad Totsuka Yahiko, wasn't he?
Just thinking about it annoyed Hikigaya.
Damn it! Why does that guy have to be nad Totsuka?!
There is only one Totsuka, and that's Saika!
The idea that soone other than Saika was nad Totsuka filled Hikigaya with rage.
"By the way, have you run into any trouble lately?"
Hikigaya suddenly asked, rembering a dispute he dealt with a few days ago.
"Hikigaya, are you worried about ? Aww~ I'm so touched!"
Hikigaya ignored her completely. Even heroes learn from failure, and he had long since developed the skill of blocking out this demon queen's nonsense.
"You an Class C, right?"
Haruno smirked.
"The leader of Class C... what was his na again? Ryuen sothing? He's really annoying. Like a fly. You really wanna swat it, but it's just too disgusting to touch. Ugh, such a pain~"
Ryuen's tactics were nothing but pure harassnt. They didn't benefit him in any way; they were just ant to ss with others. The worst part was that he was really good at staying within the rules—pushing boundaries without actually crossing the line. That ant every ti Hikigaya stepped in, all he could do was issue a verbal warning. He could never actually punish him.
Clearly, Haruno had been dealing with the sa thing.
Ryuen was obviously provoking the student council on purpose, as if saying, "I've figured out all the rules of this school. You can't catch ."
"I think he's disgusting too."
Hikigaya nodded. That guy caused trouble every day, and combined with Haruno's constant slacking off, his workload just kept piling up. At this rate, he wasn't just a corporate drone—he was a school drone.
"Hey, aren't those students from your Class D?"
Haruno suddenly pointed toward a study table in the distance.
Hikigaya glanced over. It was the three idiots—Ayanokouji, Kushida, and Horikita. Kushida and Horikita were helping the others review for their studies.
He had actually noticed them earlier. Honestly, he was really surprised. He never expected this "failing student group" to actually co together again for a study session. Even during breaks between classes, he had been seeing them in similar situations.
It had only been two days since their last "explosion," and yet they were already back to this? That was nothing short of a miracle.
With their personalities, they probably didn't care much about midterms. There was no way they'd willingly listen to Horikita. And as for Horikita lowering herself to ask them for help?
Sorry, but Hikigaya had never even considered that possibility.
Hikigaya glanced at Kushida. She was probably the only one who could completely control that trio of idiots. A true "monkey trainer"!
But then he rembered that Kushida seed to have so kind of hidden agenda against Horikita...
Oh well, whatever happens between Kushida and Horikita has nothing to do with !
"Hikigaya-kun doesn't seem to care much about his classmates. What a heartless man~"
"Coming from you, that's pretty rich."
"That's so an!"
Haruno puffed out her cheeks and pointed at Hikigaya's textbook. "I was going to tell you that you got the wrong study material for the test, but I guess I was just being too nice!"
"Huh?"
Hikigaya looked down at his book, realizing sothing was off.
"Haruno, can I take a look at the test topics for your class?"
"Hmph! You ignore when you don't need anything, but now that you do, you suddenly call my na so sweetly?"
Oh no. Seeing Haruno getting into one of her moods, Hikigaya instantly understood what was happening.
"Miss Haruno, I'm terribly sorry. I was wrong. I beg you, please forgive ."
A quick bow, three apologies in a row.
"Hikigaya-kun, why are you so good at this?!"
Haruno looked both hurt and disappointed.
Damn it, that's my line!
Why are you so good at this?!
Hikigaya scread internally.
Haruno seed to be enjoying herself, but she eventually stopped ssing with him and handed over the test outline for her class. Within seconds, Hikigaya reached a conclusion—Class D and Class A had completely different test ranges. About 50% of the material didn't match.
"This midterm is a standardized test for the whole grade, you know."
Haruno added with a smile.
Hikigaya's expression darkened. He knew that already. Even if there were two different versions of the test, A and B, the material shouldn't be this different.
After thinking for a mont, he sent a ssage to Hiyori. Less than a minute later, she replied with a photo. It was the test outline for Class C—identical to the one Haruno had just shown him.
"Heh."
Hikigaya suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"Wow, your Class D really is sothing else. If I were in your class, I'd never be bored!"
Haruno looked regretful, clearly catching on to what was happening.
Hikigaya's only response was another "heh." If Haruno joined Class D, it would be an absolute disaster. He might as well drop out on the spot.
The good news? He had discovered the mistake in the test material.
The bad news? The exam was in less than ten days.
But what really concerned Hikigaya now was why Chabashira-sensei did this in the first place.
Was this revenge for what happened in the first month of school?
Could that even be possible?
Or was she just ssing with the students for fun?
Didn't she realize that this could cause a wave of dropouts in the class?
What would she even gain from that?
If Chabashira-sensei knew the consequences but still chose to do this, then could it an there's so hidden rule in this midterm exam that allows us to pass smoothly?
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