Chapter 111 Shiina: Seeking Hikigaya-kun's Pity
"Clearly what?
I think you're just delirious from your illness and having hallucinations!"
Hikigaya certainly wasn't going to admit to anything. Moreover, he didn't think he had done anything wrong. He was just helping her get dressed—was there a fault in that? He couldn't exactly put them on her with his eyes closed!
"But I seem to remember you..." Horikita Suzune hesitated, her words trailing off.
"Ah~ I'm so tired! I'm going back to rest first."
Hikigaya greased his heels and quickly circled around her.
After returning to his rest cabin, Hikigaya first gave himself a full-body deep clean. Conditions on the island had been limited, allowing only for simple daily washing; after seven days, a lot of grime had accumulated on his body. Half an hour later, Hikigaya emerged from the bathroom looking refreshed.
Then, he lay on his bed scrolling through his phone, enjoying this rare moment of quiet time alone.
It wasn't until dinner time that Hikigaya stepped out of the cabin again, planning to grab a quick bite at a restaurant. To avoid the noisy crowds, he skipped the three-story luxury restaurant in the central area and instead sought out a small light-food bistro located in a remote corner. There were only four tables in total, and only one guest inside—it was quiet enough.
"Hikigaya-kun?!"
'Uh, I didn't expect to run into you here, Shiina-san.'
With long silver hair cascading like a waterfall, Shiina Hiyori was drinking tea alone, looking somewhat lonely and bored.
"Yeah, it seems we're quite fated."
Shiina Hiyori rested her chin on both hands, a smile on her face, and stared steadily at Hikigaya just like that.
"What are you looking at me for...?" Hikigaya felt a bit embarrassed.
"Because you're good-looking~"
Shiina Hiyori blinked her eyes. After sizing him up seriously from head to toe, she said with a smile, "I feel like Hikigaya-kun's skin has turned a bit darker, and you look more sunny."
"How so?" Hikigaya looked depressed. This girl always loved saying these mysterious things.
He then changed the subject: "Shiina-san, these past few days must have been very comfortable for you, right?"
On the second day of the special exam, Ryuen Kakeru had ordered nearly all of Class C to withdraw and return to the cruise ship. They had food, drink, and entertainment, and their personal points for next month would increase by tens of thousands—they were living the dream! It almost made Hikigaya want to transfer to Class C.
Incidentally, the S-System did indeed have such a rule: by paying 20 million personal points, one could freely transfer to any class. Hikigaya currently had over 4.5 million; according to the contract signed with Ryuen, he could obtain 500,000 personal points every month. Saving up 20 million didn't seem like an unreachable goal.
Of course, if it really came to the point of transferring, Hikigaya certainly wouldn't be willing to spend that sum himself.
Maybe another class would be willing to pool points to buy him over?
"Sigh~ It's not interesting here at all..."
Shiina Hiyori sighed, a hint of gloom between her brows. "There are no mystery novels on the ship, and no Hikigaya-kun either."
"Huh?"
Faced with such a direct critical hit, Hikigaya couldn't help his heart rate accelerating. He started talking about other things: "I-I remember the ship has a reading area. Are there really no mystery novels there? That's a major oversight. I'll go to the cruise ship's official website later to leave some feedback."
Hikigaya spoke nonsensical filler with a straight face.
"For Hikigaya-kun, life on the artificial island was quite colorful," she said. "There was even a girl who proactively gave you her panties..."
Shiina Hiyori's soft words were like an invisible arrow piercing Hikigaya's chest.
"Ahem!
Th-That was a conspiracy!
It's all Ryuen's fault for sending Manabe to frame me!"
Hikigaya quickly shifted the blame.
"I already protested strongly about that matter, but Ryuen-kun insisted on having his way." Shiina Hiyori pouted, looking truly angry.
"Don't take it to heart. It didn't affect me much anyway, and I extorted a huge sum from Ryuen afterward."
Hikigaya really didn't mind. He actually wished Ryuen would try it a few more times so he could continue knocking more points out of him.
"I think Hikigaya-kun is still too kind. You should have directly drained Ryuen-kun's entire fortune."
'This girl's heart is pretty ruthless too.'
Hikigaya looked surprised, then shook his head.
"That wouldn't be necessary. Draining the pond to catch all the fish is not advisable; one should practice 'sustainable pond-draining.'"
"'Sustainable pond-draining'... Pfft~ Hikigaya-kun is truly one of the top three in the grade for Literature; you know a lot of Hanzi."
Shiina Hiyori's eyes flickered as she continued, "Hikigaya-kun, could it be you're worried that if you blackmail Ryuen too harshly, he'll turn around and collect even more points from Class C?"
Most of Class C's points had already been forcibly collected by Ryuen Kakeru, leaving the other students with only about thirty to forty percent.
"That's part of the reason. After all, I don't want to involve Shiina or Ibuki."
Having been seen through, Hikigaya had no choice but to admit it honestly.
"Heehee~ I feel somewhat happy now!" Shiina Hiyori's eyes curved into crescents as she revealed a sweet smile.
"Wh-What is there to be happy about... If I hadn't done this, everyone in Class C could have divided more points."
Ryuen Kakeru ate the big meat himself, but he would at least give the people below some soup. Unlike Class D, where it seemed everyone could freely manage their points, but the problem was there was so little in the pot that no one had enough to eat, and life was tight.
"As for me, it's okay even if I go bankrupt~
Worst case scenario, I'll go beg on the streets.
" only ask for Hikigaya-kun's pity to take in my homeless self."
As Shiina Hiyori spoke, she pretended to gaze at Hikigaya pitifully.
Oh? You're acting now?
To play along with her performance, Hikigaya knitted his brows and intentionally put on a malicious expression.
"Jie jie jie~
Oh, foolish girl~~
Do you know the price of being taken in by the Great Demon King?"
Perhaps getting caught up in the moment, Hikigaya even reached out and gently tilted her chin up, forcing her to look him in the eye.
"Etto~
In that case, I suppose this little lady will just have to obey submissively?"
'Um, acting is one thing, but at least be professional. Don't put on such a happy expression, hey!!'
Just then, a figure suddenly burst into the bistro.
"Shiina, so you were here.
Everyone is having a victory banquet, you... eh?!"
The newcomer was Ibuki Mio. Her eyes went wide as she stared blankly at the two of them—specifically, the scene of Hikigaya holding Shiina's chin.
"You two... what are you doing here?"
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