"Hmm..."
"There shouldn't be any need for tutoring, right?"
Looking at the test questions Mako Asakura had finished, Hikigaya fell into deep thought.
Ten questions.
This girl had gotten eight right.
Mako Asakura's liberal arts seemed to have always hovered around 70 points.
While not exceptionally outstanding.
But with these grades, there was no need for tutoring at all; there was zero risk of expulsion.
In addition.
Although Mako Asakura's science was a bit stronger than his, it was also around 70 points, a fairly average grade.
While not brilliant, there were no obvious weaknesses.
But it was certainly enough to tutor him.
Hikigaya had a bit of a headache.
This kind of unequal relationship was hard to explain as "work." It was clearly Ichinose entrusting her to look after him.
"How could that be!"
Mako Asakura clenched her small fists in front of her chest and spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction:
"If it were a normal school, that might be true, but in this school, I also want to contribute more to the class. Hikigaya-kun has also been working hard for the class in your own way, haven't you?"
In the eyes of outsiders.
In the uninhabited island exam, Hikigaya had actively taken on the hardest work and used his own method to induce Kaneda to make a wrong judgment, winning the exam for the class.
In the VIP exam, he had quickly found the VIP hidden in the Dragon group and didn't forget to seek Ichinose's opinion before causing trouble for the class.
In the sports festival, although he didn't have much to show for it, he participated in the matches properly; although there was some luck involved, his results were quite good.
It was the same for this exam.
Hikigaya had also put forward his own unique views.
Although they weren't adopted, at least one could see that Hikigaya was seriously thinking for the sake of the class.
And this time too.
As soon as the two met, Hikigaya focused on helping her improve her grades.
He was truly reliable.
Only.
Hikigaya was just too modest; he never took credit for himself and only silently contributed to the class.
And Mako Asakura had always been sitting behind Yuki Himeno.
As one of the people closest to him.
Mako Asakura could see that Hikigaya was working hard for the class. Even though he looked pale every math class, he still listened attentively.
He could face things he disliked without backing down.
At least.
In Mako Asakura's eyes, it was a very impressive thing.
"No..."
Why did it feel like this girl had some inexplicable admiration for him? Hikigaya said awkwardly:
"I just don't want to cause trouble for the class. It's not like what you said."
"There you go again."
Mako Asakura laughed helplessly: "Excessive modesty can actually seem a bit hypocritical, Hikigaya-kun~"
"It's not..."
Hikigaya was truly helpless.
Did everyone in Class B not listen to what people said? These people's thinking was way too positive.
Knock knock knock~
At this moment, a knock sounded at the club door.
Mako Asakura gave him a confused look, and Hikigaya was equally puzzled.
This was a "salted fish" club; why would anyone come here?
Even for Yuki Himeno, she always burst in with bad intentions to scare him; she had never knocked before.
Who could this be?
Although he couldn't figure it out, Hikigaya still said:
"Come in!"
Creeeak...
The club door was pushed open from the outside.
A girl with blue short hair walked into the classroom, with Yuki Himeno following beside her like a gentle maiden.
That should be a classmate from Class B as well.
"Little Yume, Yuki, why are you here~"
Mako Asakura quickly stood up to meet them, excitedly grabbing their small hands; clearly, their relationship was very good.
Who would have thought that Yuki Himeno's act of being a "good girl" was so good that she had even integrated into Ichinose's core group.
But with Ichinose's personality, there probably wasn't a core group in the first place.
But.
Little Yume? Who is Little Yume? Can you please not call people by nicknames? It's very rude. Think of the people who don't know her.
The Yuki Himeno on the side gave him a playful glance, betting that Hikigaya definitely didn't remember the name.
She secretly moved her cherry-colored lips, mouthing the words.
Kobashi? Yume Kobashi.
Hikigaya understood and breathed a small sigh of relief. This Yuki girl would occasionally show a commander side like this.
"Why, can't we come?"
Yume Kobashi also held her hand and gave a pretty eye-roll:
"We came to see how you guys were doing."
Saying that, Yume Kobashi led the two over to Hikigaya's side, looking at the notes on the table.
Hikigaya had a bit of a headache.
Ichinose really liked to worry too much; this must have been another arrangement of hers.
But to tell the truth.
Compared to being alone with Mako Asakura, with Yuki Himeno, a club member, by his side, Hikigaya felt much more relaxed.
Every time school started.
Those noisy guys, if they arrived at school early, would glance at the classroom entrance with a dissatisfied look, desperately hoping to see someone familiar.
But they would never talk to someone they weren't familiar with.
When their friends arrived.
Those "normies" would then put on a flat expression as if to say, "You're here."
So that's how it feels.
Hikigaya felt he was finished.
Before, he only felt those guys were just a bunch of weaklings who felt uneasy without friends—proof that their hearts weren't strong enough.
Now, he felt he was increasingly understanding the feelings of those normies.
Had his heart regressed?
"Eh? Isn't this going very well?"
Yume Kobashi was a bit surprised. Yuki Himeno, looking at the notes on the table, was also a bit surprised and at the same time a bit displeased.
How could this guy be getting along so smoothly with Mako Asakura?
"It's all thanks to Hikigaya-kun."
Mako Asakura pulled the two to sit down; the four of them just happened to fill the four sides of the square table.
On Hikigaya's left was Yuki Himeno, and on his right was Yume Kobashi; Mako Asakura sat opposite him.
"Hikigaya-kun is truly super reliable; right at the start, he arranged ten exam questions of varying difficulty for me to check my level, so the progress has been very fast."
Mako Asakura showed the notebook to the two of them.
"Eh?"
Yume Kobashi looked at Hikigaya with some astonishment.
"W-what is it?"
Hikigaya felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at.
"Sorry."
Yume Kobashi quickly waved her hand and said: "I'm just a little surprised; since Hikigaya seems to be sleeping in the classroom all the time, I didn't expect him to be such a serious person."
"It's not..."
Great, he felt like this was another person who wouldn't listen to reason; Hikigaya explained somewhat helplessly:
"It's just that Ichinose arranged it this way, and I had no choice."
Yes.
He simply had no choice.
Why wouldn't these people believe it?
"Is that so?"
Yuki Himeno's voice was soft as she said: "I thought Hikigaya-kun would hate this."
For some reason.
Hikigaya shuddered and quickly glanced at her.
Although he couldn't hear any hidden meaning, it was normal for a bystander to have such an impression of him.
But it just felt like Yuki Himeno's words were somehow hiding murderous intent.
This girl was just too terrifying.
"Because I was threatened by Ichinose; if the people from the class came here for a study session, that would be even more hateful."
Hikigaya quickly explained: "And since it's work, it can't be helped."
"Hmm."
The expressions of Mako Asakura and Yume Kobashi suddenly became serious.
"Hikigaya-kun."
Mako Asakura spoke in a serious tone: "Honami-chan isn't threatening you; she's just worried that if you continue like this, you'll face the risk of expulsion, and it's also very worrying that you don't interact with people."
"Honami-chan is just caring about you; isn't it a bit much to say that?"
"Oh... oh, sorry..."
Hikigaya quickly apologized.
As expected of Ichinose's die-hard fans, one cannot speak ill of Ichinose.
Furthermore, Ichinose's actions were entirely out of good intentions without any malice or teasing; it was true that he shouldn't speak ill of her for this.
However.
Did he not have the right to choose?
Hikigaya was somewhat confused.
He should have been used to his opinions being ignored in the past.
But there was a difference in this kind of ignoring.
People in the past never took him seriously, but now they were ignoring his opinion because they were seriously caring for him.
It's just that this kind of ignoring felt even more distressing.
"Yes, and it's definitely not work."
Yume Kobashi clenched her pink fists in front of her chest and quickly corrected him:
"Class B isn't a company; everyone helps each other, grows together, and makes beautiful memories together."
"At a time like this, it should be called a bond~ yes, a bond~"
"Oh... oh..."
Hikigaya was startled.
Are you guys the Twelve Guardians? But he wasn't Naruto.
Where did a bond come from when they hadn't even spoken a few times?
It was over.
He felt he wasn't very good at dealing with Yume Kobashi's passionate personality.
There were three beauties in front of him, but Hikigaya felt they were all the types he wasn't good at handling.
Speaking of which.
Since you came to see the progress, shouldn't you be able to go back now?
If these three women stayed, Hikigaya felt his future would surely be one of physical and mental exhaustion.
At this moment, Yume Kobashi also took out her study materials from her bag.
"What are you doing..."
"Studying together, of course! Don't worry, we won't disturb you, and with more people, studying will definitely be more efficient; Yuki and I don't have bad grades either."
I'm sorry, I feel like we can't study together.
And Yuki Himeno, on his left, also submissively took out her stationery from her bag, casting a subtle glance at Hikigaya.
Scared?
This was the terrifying part of Class B.
Although the atmosphere always felt very good, no one could resist Ichinose's authority.
Sensing Hikigaya's gaze, Yuki Himeno said softly:
"Yes, and unless someone specifically investigates, not many people know about this club; Class A has been staring at us, so we can study more peacefully here."
Betrayed!
Yuki Himeno had unhesitatingly stood on the other side; this girl was pretending to be good again!
Though his relationship with Yuki Himeno wasn't that great to begin with.
But Hikigaya still felt a bit dejected.
Damn it.
Speaking of which.
Although he really hadn't been stalking, Sakayanagi's pressure hadn't stopped; she must be retaliating.
It felt like she was throwing a tantrum.
Stepping up the offensive further felt a bit petty, since the stalking itself didn't exist.
But if she stepped back, Sakayanagi felt displeased, so she defaulted to continuing Class A's pressure.
Why did Hikigaya feel that the little girl Sakayanagi was somewhat cute?
If that's the case.
The study environment in the library definitely couldn't compare to this place.
Even though it was all Sakayanagi's misunderstanding and had nothing to do with Hikigaya, he still felt a bit guilty.
If he hadn't eaten that bowl of ramen.
It probably wouldn't have turned out like this, right?
It couldn't be helped that Yume Kobashi and the others wanted to stay here to study...
Damn it.
Why did he have to take responsibility for eating a bowl of ramen?
Hikigaya felt that the world's malice toward him was a bit too much.
If a bond really existed.
Then he might be Sasuke Uchiha...