Chapter 145 Intellectual Battle? Tell the Sensei!
Five minutes ago.
Following the location in the text message sent by Matsushita Chiaki, Hikigaya found the private cinema beneath the deck. Standing at the entrance was a young Black man wearing sunglasses—Albert.
Hikigaya narrowed his eyes, knowing that a direct head-on clash would likely be difficult to win.
'In that case, I can only outsmart him...'
"Hmm?!" Albert also seemed to notice his approach. He immediately turned around, blocking the path with his strong, 190cm-plus frame.
Hikigaya squinted his eyes and greeted him with a friendly face: "Hola, amigo~" (Hello, friend)
"!!!" Albert's expression froze.
Usually, when others greeted him as a foreigner, they would habitually use English. However, in reality, his home country was Equatorial Guinea, and the official language was Spanish. Hearing his native tongue after such a long time made him feel a great sense of warmth.
"Estoy bien, gracias!" (I'm well, thank you) Albert opened his arms, preparing to offer the friendliest cheek-kiss greeting.
"Sorry, that's the only sentence I know." Hikigaya decisively launched a sneak attack.
A fatal strike to the crotch!
"OHHHHHH——!!!!!!" Completely defenseless, Albert was kicked in his vital spot by Hikigaya. He collapsed on the spot, letting out a painful wail.
"What's the situation?!" Albert's scream drew the attention of Ryuen and the others inside the room.
"Yo~ You guys look like you're having a lot of fun. How about adding me to the mix!"
Hikigaya scanned the room. Seeing that Matsushita Chiaki had not been bullied as he had expected, he couldn't help but feel greatly surprised.
'Wait, what happened to the 'hero saving the beauty' scenario from the dream?'
"Hikigaya-kun, that's great! You came here to save me, right?" Matsushita Chiaki rushed over with a face full of surprise and hugged him.
"Um, you don't actually look like you need saving?" Hikigaya glanced at the unharmed Matsushita Chiaki, then looked at the other girl on the scene, who looked quite miserable with a swollen face.
"No, no, no, actually I was still very scared!" Matsushita Chiaki let out a long breath.
Facing three predatory boys alone, no matter how strong her heart was, she would still feel fear.
"Dead-Fish Eyes, you've come at just the right time!" Ryuen Kakeru stared at him insidiously: "Matsushita from your class assaulted Morofuji Rika from our class. How should we settle this debt?"
"Oh, right! And there's the matter of you attacking Albert!"
Looking at Albert clutching his crotch, his face turning a bruised shade of dark green from the pain, Ryuen Kakeru couldn't help but feel a chill.
"You bastard, you certainly hit where it hurts."
Seeing this, Ishizaki Daichi smartly moved to take Albert's position, blocking the room's only exit.
"Ryuen, do you think you're very smart?"
"Am I not? After all now I have leverage over you! Kukuku!"
"Don't try to bluff. From the moment I stepped into this room, you have been in a desperate situation!"
"Is that so? Interesting! Even now, you still have those annoying dead-fish eyes. I'm curious to see what other strategy you have!"
"Strategy? There's no such thing. I just came to take Matsushita back." Hikigaya's expression was indifferent.
"Hey, hey, don't be such a wet blanket. Play with us a bit more before you go!" A flash of suspicion crossed Ryuen Kakeru's face.
"Sure, it just so happens I have the same intention." Hikigaya readily accepted the provocation.
"Tch! It seems we're being looked down upon!" Ishizaki Daichi rubbed his hands together; he still remembered the last time they cornered Hikigaya, only for him to be knocked to the ground due to a momentary lapse in caution.
"Huff... huff... huff!" Albert finally regained his strength. He stood up silently, hot air huffing from his nose, looking enraged to the extreme. The three formed a surrounding formation.
"Hikigaya, this..." Matsushita Chiaki pulled on his sleeve, her expression worried.
"Stay calm. Class C is nothing more than a group of paper tigers." Hikigaya spoke non-committally, his voice filled with disdain.
"Ha! Still talking big. I want to see how you plan to escape this predicament!" Ryuen Kakeru clenched his fists.
"I have a question. Am I in a desperate situation right now?" Hikigaya remained composed.
"Ah? Are you trying to say the three of us can't take you down?"
Ryuen Kakeru's face turned cold: "I see you've learned a bit of martial arts and think you're invincible!"
"Don't resort to fists and feet at every turn. It's not like this is some hot-blooded battle anime." Hikigaya looked at them sideways with contempt.
Albert's forehead was covered in black lines.
'You started with a 'fatal crotch strike,' yet you have the nerve to say that?'
"Violence is the strongest power in the world! No matter how many tricks you play, in the face of absolute violence, you can only surrender."
Ryuen Kakeru approached step by step and reached out to grab Hikigaya's collar: "I'm curious to see if those dead-fish eyes of yours will shed tears of pain once I turn you into a pig's head."
"Waaa~ Ryuen is hitting people!
I'm so scared!!" Hikigaya suddenly cried out at the top of his lungs.
"???" Ryuen Kakeru's face froze, and he looked around suspiciously: "Who are you performing for? There are no cameras here..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hikigaya unhurriedly pulled his phone from his pocket.
The screen showed an active call...
"Chabashira-sensei, you heard all that just now, right? Ryuen Kakeru of Class C is going to hit me."
On speakerphone, Chabashira Sae's voice came through: "I heard it."
Everyone present: "..."
"You... you bastard, when did you start the call?" Ishizaki Daichi was full of shock.
"Actually telling the Sensei... are you an elementary school student?" Ryuen Kakeru was so angry he felt like he was coughing up blood.
He could have anticipated that Hikigaya might record it; in that case, they could just search him, check the phone, and delete it. He never imagined the other party would be on a live call with a Sensei!
"Under normal circumstances, telling the Sensei about a fight is useless. Most likely, you'd just get responses like 'it takes two to tango,' or 'why would they hit you and not anyone else?', or 'look for the reason within yourself'."
As soon as Hikigaya spoke, Chabashira Sae on the other end of the line nearly lost her composure, coughing repeatedly while trying to drink water.
Ryuen Kakeru and the others were also silenced. Clearly, they knew all these unspoken rules, which is why they never expected someone to use the "tell the Sensei" move.
"However, this is a school where meritocracy is paramount!"
Simply put, if Hikigaya had sought help from a Sensei before coming, he would have been brushed off. But by keeping the call active and entering the fray to face Ryuen and the others, it was viewed as a legitimate means of "intellectual warfare"!
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