Chapter 161 Hikigaya Will Only Blow Things Out of Proportion
[Kushida Kikyo]: Those animals in class are all shouting so happily, it's seriously disgusting! By the way, Hikigaya, you shouldn't be interested in this kind of thing, right?
[Horikita Suzune]: Are you free tomorrow? I'll go over there to check your math homework.
[Sakura Airi]: Hachiman-kun~ Kaka (Haruka) said she wants to play in the water, do you want to come together?
[Hasebe Haruka]: Airi invited me to the pool; please, Hachi, you must act as our knight in shining armor~
[Karuizawa Kei]: Hachiman-kun, Chiaki, Maya, and I bought new swimsuits today. Do you want to see?
"Can I even say no?"
A look of resignation appeared on Hikigaya's face.
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The Next Day, Downstairs at the Dorms
"Eh? Didn't Kushida-chan say last night she had something to do and couldn't come?"
Ike Kanji had been the first to invite her yesterday and had received a negative response.
"Ah~ I thought about it and changed my mind at the last minute."
Kushida Kikyo responded to the group with a kind face, but her peripheral vision was fixed on Hikigaya as he walked out of the dormitory entrance.
"Could it be that Kushida-chan changed her mind because of me?"
"Huh? Kanji, what nonsense are you talking about? It was clearly for me!"
"Shut up! Kushida-chan belongs to everyone!!"
Yamauchi and the others were engaged in their usual "abstract" dialogue.
"Horikita, weren't you supposed to be reviewing today?" Hikigaya asked curiously.
"I need to relax occasionally... Though, I didn't expect you to participate in such a boring activity." Horikita Suzune looked at him meaningfully.
"Can't be helped, I have various reasons."
Hikigaya couldn't refuse the invitation from Captain Muto, to whom he owed a favor.
'It's definitely, definitely not because I'm interested in girls' swimsuits...'
"Wow!"
"Hasebe and Sakura actually came too!"
"And Karuizawa's group! This is pure bliss, isn't it?"
The boys were all acting exceptionally excited. Yamauchi and his group, however, had suddenly become much quieter for some reason, exchanging hand signals as if plotting something.
"Those idiots... they aren't planning to pull something, are they?"
Hikigaya narrowed his eyes, keenly sniffing the scent of a conspiracy.
"Hey, Ayanokouji, what exactly are you and Yamauchi's group planning?" Hikigaya proactively called out Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who was trying to stay low-profile in the crowd.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka seemingly hadn't expected Hikigaya to detect the anomaly so quickly, and the directness of the question was almost too blunt.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Ayanokouji was evasive and, for the first time, proactively greeted Horikita: "Horikita-san, can we step aside for a word?"
"No." Horikita Suzune refused without a second thought. "I have nothing to say to you."
She left him zero social face.
"It's about the class. You're still interested in moving up to Class A, aren't you, Horikita-san?" Ayanokouji hinted suggestively.
"Does someone like you actually care about the class?" Horikita Suzune looked disdainful.
"Well, I don't care about the class either," Hikigaya added.
"If it's Hikigaya, at least he won't do anything to harm the class."
"That's hard to say; it depends on the actual situation."
"Are you specifically trying to argue with me?" Horikita Suzune shot him an annoyed glare, then turned to Ayanokouji with an impatient face. "Say what you have to say quickly, I'm only giving you one minute!"
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka glanced at Hikigaya.
"What? This needs to be kept from me?"
"I don't even want to hear it!" Hikigaya had zero interest and simply walked away.
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"Can you say it now?"
Once they were away from the crowd in an open area, Horikita Suzune stared at him with a wary gaze.
"Is there a need to be so hostile... am I some kind of dangerous person?" Ayanokouji Kiyotaka sighed helplessly, then concisely stated the plan of Yamauchi and the others to peep.
"You bunch of morons!" Horikita Suzune instantly flew into a rage, unable to stop herself from cursing. "Are your heads filled with crap?"
"No, not me..." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka claimed his innocence.
"Why are you telling me this? And why specifically avoid Hikigaya?" Horikita Suzune frowned, confused.
"If we tell Hikigaya, he'll only blow the matter out of proportion, right?"
Once the peeping incident was exposed, the result would inevitably be the expulsion of all participants, and Class D would lose a massive amount of points! Horikita Suzune understood Ayanokouji's meaning after a moment's thought.
"I see. You think that because I want to move up the classes, I'll conspire with you to cover up and hide those criminals?"
"Calling them 'criminals'... isn't that a bit too severe? At most, it's attempted... though that is also serious." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was quite surprised. Based on his understanding of Horikita—who had no friends—she shouldn't care much about other girls being harmed by peeping.
Perhaps seeing through Ayanokouji's thoughts, Horikita Suzune stared at him with icy eyes. "Don't lump me in with you! Just because I'm not close with the girls in class doesn't mean I'll stand by and watch them be peeped on by perverts in silence!"
"Wait, what are you doing?" Seeing Horikita Suzune take out her phone, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's expression changed.
"I'm going to tell Hikigaya about this! He has the right to protect his friends!!"
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A moment later, Hikigaya saw the message sent by Horikita Suzune on his phone. His face instantly turned dark.
"Hachiman-kun, did something happen?" Sakura Airi asked timidly.
"Airi, and Kaka—don't go to the changing room for now." Hikigaya's face was as black as ink.
"Karuizawa, you, Matsushita, and Sato—take people and block the changing room door. No one is allowed in!"
"Eh?!" Hearing Hikigaya's sudden and forceful command, the three girls were stunned.
"That... without a valid reason, doing this might not be good?" Karuizawa Kei was a bit hesitant.
"There's nothing bad about it. You're Gyarus! Show some of that Gyaru spirit!!"
Under Hikigaya's heavy encouragement, the three girls suddenly felt emboldened.
"Hikigaya is right, we are Gyarus! Blocking a door is totally normal, right?" Sato Maya was full of excitement, clearly thinking this fit the Gyaru style.
"Is this a test from Hachiman-kun? It's a bit difficult, but I'll try my best to do it." Karuizawa Kei nodded solemnly.
"Sigh~ Hikigaya really knows how to make things difficult. Make sure to explain everything to me afterward!" Matsushita Chiaki, though she had objections, was willing to follow his instructions.
Next, Hikigaya found Kushida Kikyo and had her use her powerful network to notify all the girls from other classes not to use the changing room.
After completing the lockdown of the scene, only then did Hikigaya notify the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu.
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