Just as he picked up the pen, Hikigaya felt this was an opportunity. If it were these three people, as long as they didn’t speak ill of Ichinose, nlai and the others would probably answer him.
"Um..."
Hikigaya glanced at his notebook and asked, "Can I ask a few questions?"
"Certainly."
nlai responded with a sweet smile. "Also, Hikigaya-kun, you don’t have to be so polite. Just call by my na. nlai or Yu-chan is fine."
"Yes, we’re already part of the sa group," Okakura Asako added with a friendly grin. "It’s strange to call each other formally. Just call Asako-chan, like Honami-chan and the others~"
A faint sound of frustration erged. Juke’s hand, holding the gel pen, gripped a little too tightly. These two were being way too friendly. It felt strange to her that Hikigaya was casually being addressed by their first nas when she herself struggled with it. Her introverted, gentle nature made it difficult for her to be so casual.
At that mont, nlai looked at Juke and smiled. "Then for Juke, just call Juke, right?"
"Y-Yes... That’s fine," Juke replied softly, secretly relieved that nlai was so understanding.
"How about Hikigaya-kun, should we call him Xiao Qi?" nlai asked.
The girls exchanged glances and nodded quickly.
Wait. Did anyone ask for his opinion?
Hikigaya was speechless.
He’d known from the start that these people were the type to do things their way without listening to others. But didn’t the topic just completely drift off?
"Xiao Qi, is there sothing you don’t understand?"
Okakura Asako seed genuinely interested in his studies, leaning forward to reach for his notebook.
"Ah, no." Hikigaya waved his hand awkwardly. "When the student council was changing, I saw Ichinose involved. What happened?"
Although he was rejected by Horikita Manabu before, with Nagumo now taking over, it wasn’t surprising that Ichinose wanted to join the student council.
But...
It felt odd to just ask directly, so he decided to ease into the topic. While Ichinose had claid she wanted to lead everyone to Class A, her actions remained a mystery.
From the uninhabited island exam until now, Ichinose led everyone in a straightforward manner. However, from another angle, it seed she had no real plan.
Every exam, she could identify the key points, but never formulated any strategies.
Just hard work.
Hikigaya couldn’t tell if she didn’t think of a strategy or if she thought it was unnecessary. If they had to rely on hard work alone, it ant they had no other choice.
Therefore, he wanted to understand Ichinose’s mindset. He didn’t plan to change anything. If Ichinose and the others were just drifting along, then Hikigaya figured he could do the sa.
If the boss was slacking off, then as a subordinate, he could slack off, too. What’s the harm?
"It’s because Honami-chan joined the student council."
"Didn’t she get rejected before?" Hikigaya asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, now it’s President Nagumo. He values personal strength and plans to eliminate the limit on the number of student council mbers. Anyone strong enough can join," Okakura Asako explained.
"I see..."
Hikigaya was only half-interested in what happened to Huko and quickly redirected to his real question. "So, how did Ichinose beco the class leader?"
"Huh? Xiao Qi doesn’t know?"
"Uh..." Hikigaya scratched his head in embarrassnt. "I’ve been busy, so I don’t have much ti to pay attention to the chat group."
In this school, there were no typical positions like class president or team leader.
"That’s true." Okakura Asako accepted his explanation without doubt. "Without a class leader, things were inconvenient, so we recomnded Honami-chan in the group."
Hold up. So, she was the one responsible...
"What about everyone else? Didn’t they have any opinions?" Hikigaya asked, perplexed.
"There’s no one in Class B more suitable than Honami-chan," nlai replied with a smile.
It was true. While Kanzaki was competent, his blunt manner of speaking lacked tact. Even if what he said was right, he lacked Ichinose’s communication skills. People would just find him overbearing.
On the other hand, Shibata was way too kind. He respected Ichinose and even treated Hikigaya as a friendly rival, despite liking Ichinose himself. That kind of innocence just made him unsuitable to lead.
So, Ichinose was the obvious choice for the class leader. Yet, it was clear she wasn’t ready for the role.
She worked hard and tried her best, but she wasn’t fully prepared to take on the responsibilities of leadership. The school’s unique environnt must have overwheld her.
In a way, it wasn’t her fault. But Hikigaya couldn’t rely on her.
He decided that moving forward, he would focus on saving twenty million personal points without causing trouble for the class. After all, taking responsibility for your own life was only natural.
At five in the afternoon, club ti ended. Hikigaya looked at his blank notebook, realizing he hadn’t even written a single answer.
nlai and the others kept chatting away. It was true what they said about three won making a drama. Studying alone was definitely more efficient.
As they left the club, Hikigaya locked the door and pocketed the key.
"By the way," nlai suddenly clapped her hands, eyes sparkling. "To celebrate our new group, let’s go to Palette!"
"No, I have other things to do." Hikigaya imdiately declined. His default response to invitations was always rejection.
"Eh?" nlai looked puzzled. "But it’s early. Is sothing going on, Xiao Qi?"
"Uh, can you please not call Xiao Qi?" Hikigaya cringed at the nickna.
"Then how about Xiao Hachi? Or Xiao Banner?" nlai teased.
"It’s still Xiao Qi..." Hikigaya sighed.
"But we should celebrate," nlai insisted. "And it’s rare for all of us to be free."
"No, I can’t waste personal points like that."
"Just once!"
"Letting yourself go is a bad habit."
"Fine, then we’ll plan sothing for next ti," nlai conceded.
"Yeah, definitely next ti," Hikigaya nodded quickly, desperate to end the conversation.
As they walked back to the dormitory, Hikigaya felt relieved. But he couldn’t shake off the feeling that dealing with the girls in this class was exhausting. Their enthusiasm was both overwhelming and strangely comforting.
Maybe things were going to be different this ti.
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