"Hikigaya, it is not that bad," Ren said while packing his bag.
He looked at the boy in the front seat. Hikigaya had been slumped over his desk for almost the whole afternoon.
He was acting like his life was over just because Ren beat him 6-0 in tennis.
Even though he said that, Ren had a happy smile on his face.
"Katsuragi, do you think it is only about that!" Hikigaya asked.
He lifted his head from the desk and looked at Ren with a sad face.
It was bad enough to lose at tennis. But then Nino Nakano came to the class again.
She had already given Ren handmade cookies before, but she came back to give him another bag.
Hikigaya thought about Ren's fiancée and felt impressed by him.
He remembered a famous anime where the main character was killed with a cleaver.
That character died because he had too many girlfriends at the same time.
Hikigaya had not even met all of Ren's girlfriends yet.
But if Mahiru Shiina and Nino Nakano ever met, it would be a disaster.
Was Ren really not afraid?
"Katsuragi, you have so many girlfriends... are you not afraid of getting killed with a cleaver?"
Hikigaya felt he had to warn Ren. He did not want his friend to end up like the guy in the anime.
"Why are you asking me that, Hikigaya?"
Ren was surprised. He did not expect Hikigaya, who had never been in a relationship, to care about this.
Was he worried? Or did he want to learn how to do it?
"Well..."
Hikigaya began to tell Ren about the man called "Makoto-kun." This man had many girls and a very bad ending.
"I see," Ren said. He nodded as he listened to Hikigaya's story.
"So, Ren, what about you?"
Hikigaya tried to make Ren see the danger. He wanted his friend to choose one girl before the girlfriends met each other.
However, Ren did not plan to change.
"Me? He is him, and I am me. Just because he was killed does not mean I will be."
"Hikigaya, why do you think he was killed?"
Ren did not feel sorry for "Makoto-kun." Instead, he started to discuss the reasons for the tragedy with Hikigaya.
"Because he had too many girlfriends?" Hikigaya asked.
He did not understand why Ren was asking, so he gave a simple answer. It was a direct and fair point.
"True," Ren said.
"Then why don't you change? Do you really want to die?"
Hikigaya wanted to hit Ren. He was truly worried about his friend's safety.
Ren was his best friend, so he cared about what happened to him.
"But I didn't lie to them. I think about the future of every girl I date. I help them improve."
"I told them clearly that I have more than one girlfriend. I gave them the chance to leave, but they stayed."
"Also, I take responsibility. I don't just leave them after I get what I want. I value them."
"I don't think I will be killed," Ren said. He tapped the desk and spoke seriously.
If Ren hid his girlfriends from each other and lied to them, getting killed would be expected.
If you try to hide things and fail, you get what you deserve.
But Ren never tried to hide it. He was honest and gave them the right to choose.
If someone could not accept his way of life, he would not stop them from leaving.
Ren provided emotional support and helped them through hard times. He helped them become better people.
When he was asked, he told the truth about his situation.
In this case, a girl could leave without losing anything. She would even leave as a better person.
Ren was more like a helpful person in their lives. A tragic ending did not make sense.
"Fine, you always have an answer. Just don't get blood on me when it happens," Hikigaya said.
He seemed to understand what Ren meant, but he still acted tough.
"If that happens, I will use my bloody finger to write 'STUPID' on your face," Ren said.
"Go away!" Hikigaya yelled.
Ren laughed and finished packing. He was ready to leave.
Mahiru had sent a text saying her club would finish late. She told Ren not to wait for her.
Ren planned to go home to feed the cats and walk around. He would drive back later to pick up Mahiru.
"Wait for me, Ren," Hikigaya said.
He grabbed his bag and quickly followed Ren.
"Hikigaya, aren't you going to the Service Club today?"
"Don't even ask. I am tired from Zaimokuza's bad writing and Saika's tennis training. I can't take any more."
"Yukino was nice enough to give the club a day off today," Hikigaya explained.
They walked down the school hallway together. Hikigaya explained why he didn't have to go to the club.
He was shocked when Yukino Yukinoshita said the club was closed for the day.
He wondered if that was really the same cold and strict Yukino.
Hikigaya looked at Ren beside him.
He did not believe that Yui Yuigahama was the reason Yukino was changing so fast.
Ren was the only other person who talked to Yukino besides him and Yui.
"I missed this. It has been a long time since I could just go home early," Hikigaya said.
He had not been in the Service Club for long, but it felt like a long time.
The free time he used to ignore now felt very sweet to him.
Outside the school gate, Shoko Nishimiya had been waiting for a long time.
She saw Ren Ren coming out and ran toward him with a smile.
Yuzuru Nishimiya was talking to a pink-haired girl named Hitori Gotoh.
She saw her sister running and saw Ren at the gate too.
Yuzuru waved her hand and called out, "Brother Ren!"
Ren was surprised to hear the voice. Then he saw Shoko running toward him.
Hikigaya, who was walking with Ren, immediately moved away. He took out his phone to call the police.
Ren never mentioned that one of his girlfriends was such a young girl.
If Ren did anything strange or said anything weird, Hikigaya was ready to report him.
He would make sure Ren went to jail to become a better person.
Ren knelt down to look at Shoko, who was out of breath. He rubbed her soft hair.
"Shoko, we meet again," Ren said softly.
Shoko Nishimiya nodded her head hard. She quickly took a notebook out of her bag.
It was the same notebook where Ren had written a message before.
"Kat... su... ra... gi... kun..."
Shoko said Ren's name using the sounds she had practiced many times. She opened the notebook for him to see.
Under Ren's sentence: [Parting is something people spend their whole lives learning.]
Shoko had written a new line:
[Parting is a required course that I can never learn in my life.]