"Now for the math and science stuff." Yume turned the tables on him. "I'm not great at this either. Yuki, Mako, any ideas?"
"I'm not sure," Yuki said, still playing her "clueless girl" act. Hikigaya gave her a look, and she kicked him again. It didn't really hurt, so he ignored it.
"Hmm..." Mako thought about it. "I guess you just have to memorize the formulas and do a ton of practice problems?"
"Is that it?"
Hikigaya sighed. That was useless advice. He knew he had to use formulas; he just didn't know which ones to use or when.
"Well," Mako said, "let me see your old tests. That might help me see where you're struggling."
"Do I have to?" Hikigaya hesitated. Showing off his bad grades felt like a public execution.
Yuki kicked him again.
"Hey!"
He looked at her, annoyed. He hadn't even done anything this time. Did she think he was an easy target? Even a nice guy has his limits. In middle school, people ignored him, but no one ever dared to actually hit him. Want to know why?
Hikigaya looked at Yuki's legs and kicked her right back. Because he wasn't afraid to fight back when he had to.
"Huh?"
Yuki looked at him in shock. She didn't expect him to actually retaliate. She knew his math grades were bad and was trying to "help" him in her own way, but she couldn't believe he had the nerve to kick her back.
She immediately kicked him again, and he returned the favor. It started as a joke, but Hikigaya knew that if you let people walk all over you, they'll never stop.
He wasn't going to back down. They went back and forth under the table for a few seconds. Hikigaya kept a straight face, determined not to lose. He had no reason to let her bully him.
But as it went on, Yuki started to smirk. She actually liked that he had some backbone. It felt like their relationship was moving forward. But she wasn't going to let him win that easily.
She bit her lip and ran her foot up his leg.
"Gah—!"
Hikigaya felt a jolt go through him. He jumped and pulled his legs back immediately. He lost. There was no way he could win against her.
"Hikigaya," Yuki said sweetly, "Mako can't help if she doesn't see the paper. Just show her."
"Fine..."
He pulled the test out of his bag. Yuki looked down and smiled, looking very pleased with herself. Nice try, Hachiman.
Yume and Mako, totally oblivious to the battle under the table, started looking over his test. "Why is the back page empty? Did you run out of time on the easy questions?"
"No, I just didn't know how to do them. I figured I should spend my time making sure I got the easy ones right."
"That's a good strategy to pass," Mako nodded. "But you shouldn't leave them blank. You can always try to guess or use a ruler to estimate. Sometimes teachers give partial credit just for trying."
"Really? Any other tips?"
Hikigaya was interested now. He wanted the maximum points for the minimum effort.
"Not really. It's mostly just practice."
"Yeah, you just have to grind through the problems."
"Just start practicing now. If you get stuck, just ask me," Mako said.
"I can help too!" Yume offered. Yuki added, "I'm not great at science, so maybe we can just help each other?"
Yeah, right, Hikigaya thought.
Thud. Another kick from Yuki.
He gave up. If it were a guy or a genuinely mean person, he'd know what to do. But Yuki was a mix of annoying, helpful, and dangerously playful. He decided to just focus on his work. But after a few minutes, Yume spoke up again.
"Isn't it nice and quiet in here?"
"It is. It's actually quieter than the library," Mako and Yuki agreed. The library was okay, but there were always people whispering. This room was perfect.
Hikigaya couldn't argue with that. It was quiet—before they showed up.
"I have an idea," Yume said, looking at Yuki. "What if we make this a regular thing? We can form a study group and meet here from now on. What do you think?"
"I love it!" Mako said. "Count me in!"
"Sounds good to me," Yuki said, acting shy while secretly giving a mental "thumbs up." This was exactly what she wanted. She wanted to spend more time in the club, but she didn't want to have to explain herself to Ichinose or Hikigaya. This was the perfect cover.
"Wait, hold on," Hikigaya cut in. If they turned this into a study hall, he'd have no peace and quiet left.
"Is there a problem?"
He felt their eyes on him, and he could feel Yuki's foot hovering near his leg again. "Well... I just don't think Ichinose would like it. Isn't this like going behind her back?"
"Not at all!" Yume laughed. "Honami would be thrilled to know we're studying!"
"Yeah," Mako agreed. "If she wasn't so busy taking care of everyone else, I bet she'd want to join us."
"So, it's a plan then?" Yuki asked, setting the trap and giving him another light kick.
"It's a plan!"
Hikigaya realized he'd been outmaneuvered. Yuki was way smarter than she let on. He didn't even get a chance to say no.
He figured it wouldn't be that bad. They'd probably only meet around midterms and finals. He could handle that. He didn't really have a choice anyway.
He thought about just giving up the club's budget and shutting the whole thing down, but he couldn't bring himself to give up the 15,000 yen a month. Money was a powerful motivator.
Besides, Yuki was technically a member of the club. He couldn't really stop her from bringing friends over.
"We need a name for our group!" Yume said, moving on to the next topic.
"Sure, what should it be?"
Hikigaya tried to ignore them and get back to his math.
"I've got it!" Yume's eyes lit up. "Let's call it 'The Hikigaya Group'!"
"Wait, what? No!" Hikigaya looked up, horrified. "Don't use my name. That's incredibly embarrassing."
"Why? I think it's cute," Mako said.
"Yeah," Yuki added. "Having a group named after you is a compliment. You should be happy."
Thud.
Hikigaya kicked her. She was definitely making fun of him now.
"I like 'The Hikigaya Group,'" Yuki said, not kicking him back this time. She just gave him a sweet, infuriating smile. She was clearly enjoying this.
"It makes sense," Yume argued. "This is your club room, and you're the president. Plus, you're the only guy, so it sets the group apart. Do you have a better idea?"
She had a point. But he still hated it. If people heard there was a "Hikigaya Group," he'd never hear the end of it.
"How about 'The MAX Coffee Group'?"
"Too lame."
"Next."
"Coffee has nothing to do with studying."
"The Ramen Group?"
"What does that even mean? No."
"The Hikigaya Group it is!"
Every single one of his ideas was shot down. He was totally outnumbered. This was a textbook case of a "tyranny of the majority."
"Okay, let's exchange contact info."
"I think I'm the only one who doesn't have Hikigaya's number. Let me add you."
Before he could say anything, they were already exchanging info on Line. Hikigaya looked at the notifications on his phone, feeling defeated. He noticed they didn't even bother making a group chat. Maybe they didn't think it was necessary?
He'd heard that girls usually had dozens of different group chats for everything. Class B was weirdly simple. Everyone seemed to actually get along. But he wondered if being that sheltered was actually a good thing. They were like greenhouse flowers—if things got tough, would they be able to handle it?