"Customer. Would you like 'wire' or 'softer'?"
The staff member in front of him asked with a smile, though Hikigaya felt an inexplicable hostility in his tone.
For some reason, Hikigaya felt his "Hachiman 108 Techniques" was undergoing a mutation.
The implication was: "This kid has been here with other girls before; you all should be careful."
"Yes." Kushida Kikyo maintained a smile on the surface, but she was cursing inwardly.
What was with these ramen shop employees? Was their memory that good? They still remembered them from last time?
"Yes, please." Hikigaya felt inexplicably guilty and wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
"Ah..." Sakura Airi quickly said, "This time I also want to try 'wire'. Is that okay?"
"Sure, sure, of course you can." The staff member nodded with a friendly attitude.
"Wire?" Kobashi Yume leaned forward and asked, "What's 'wire'? Does Sakura-san eat ramen often?"
"Eh?" Suddenly addressed, Sakura Airi's face turned red and she began to stutter:
"It... it refers to the hardness of the noodles. It seems there's yukidoushi, barikata (wire), katame (hard), futsuu (regular), yawarakame (soft), and bariyawa (very soft). The soft ones I had last time were already very good, so you guys can try them."
"Eh? Is that so?" Mako asakura said with surprise. "I didn't know there were such distinctions. It's completely different from pasta at a cafe. I didn't know that before."
"Thank you, Sakura-san." Himeno Yuki nodded reservedly.
"No problem, don't mention it." Sakura Airi's face turned even redder, and she quickly waved her hands.
As expected, the people in Class B were all very kind.
Only Kushida Kikyo's face looked troubled. While it wasn't bad last time, she still preferred the softer ones. Unfortunately, she could only grit her teeth and continue eating this way.
Hikigaya remained expressionless, feeling like he was sitting on needles.
I beg you all. Can you please stop chatting in the ramen shop?
Hikigaya could feel several glares from behind that felt like they could kill.
After all, occasionally couples would enter a ramen shop under the boy's lead and chatter away at the counter.
Every time that happened, Hikigaya would give them a "death stare."
A ramen shop is a pure place for tasting delicious food and replenishing energy. If you want to sparkle, please get lost and go to your cafes.
Damn normies.
Hikigaya felt truly apologetic toward the middle-aged men. It really wasn't intentional.
Come to think of it, why was he playing around with six beautiful girls on Christmas?
It was very strange, wasn't it?
"Alright, the noodles are here." The staff member slammed a bowl of steaming ramen in front of Hikigaya and said with a beaming smile:
"Please enjoy."
"Um... thanks." Hikigaya forced a smile. He could hear the underlying message: "Hurry up and get out; you're not welcome here."
What should he do? It seemed he had been ostracized by the ramen shop.
"I'll start now." Kobashi Yume politely put her hands together, picked up some noodles, and put them in her mouth. Her beautiful eyes immediately lit up:
"What a surprise~!"
"Really?" Asakura mako looked at the oil on the soup, her gaze hesitant. Himeno Yuki wasn't afraid, but to maintain her persona, she also pretended to hesitate.
"Yeah." Kobashi Yume said joyfully, "Total surprise! I didn't expect it to be this good. Yuki, mako, you guys should try it too."
"Alright." The two girls slurped the noodles and seemed very satisfied.
On the other side, Sakura Airi ate a few bites and then said hesitantly:
"By the way, I heard the school added two new ramen shops, Tenkaippin and Toranoyu. Hiki-chan, do you know about them..."
"Mm..." Hikigaya nodded with a pained expression.
Truly.
I was wrong.
If you want to chat, could you please go somewhere else?
If we are abandoned by the God of Ramen, the consequences will be very serious.
"Stare~"
The customers in the shop occasionally glanced toward the group. Couples were already a forbidden item in a ramen shop.
This dead-fish-eyed guy actually dared to bring six.
He was an absolute heretic among heretics.
"Slurp..."
Hikigaya quickly finished his noodles, but Kobashi Yume and the others were eating leisurely, strand by strand, chatting from time to time.
"Um... aren't you done yet?"
Hikigaya felt truly embarrassed.
"Eh? What?"
"Can you eat a bit faster?"
"Actually..."
Hikigaya hesitated for a moment and said: "After all, we have to consider the customers waiting behind us. It's not very convenient to chat in a ramen shop, and the noodles don't taste good once they get cold."
"Is that so?"
Kobashi Yume looked around, and those guys immediately lowered their gazes.
"But, I feel like there aren't that many customers in this shop?"
Kobashi Yume looked up at the owner and said: "Excuse me, is chatting not allowed here?"
"Hahaha."
"Little sister, how could that be?"
The shop assistant laughed loudly and stuffed another serving of noodles into Hikigaya's bowl:
"I remember you usually ask for extra noodles. Eat slowly, stay as long as you want."
"Ugh."
Hikigaya looked troubled.
Mr. Shop Assistant.
Thank you for always remembering my habits.
I'm sorry.
Sigh.
I'm really sorry.
"Eh?"
asakura mako and Himeno Yuki were both a bit surprised: "Hikki, do you eat ramen often? It's impressive that the staff remembers you."
"No, it's just that the school uniform is quite eye-catching."
Hikigaya responded somewhat helplessly.
Keyaki Mall.
After finishing the ramen in a state of constant trepidation.
Hikigaya felt physically and mentally exhausted. The next time he went to a ramen shop alone, he hoped he wouldn't be kicked out.
The group returned to the dormitory lobby.
"I am truly very sorry."
Kobashi Yume stood in front of Kushida Kikyo and the others, bowing slightly: "I caused you trouble today, making you accompany us for the whole day."
"It was nothing like that."
Kushida Kikyo was slightly taken-at-a-loss. Inwardly, she disdained these "good people," but she smiled and said:
"Today was very fun. Besides, we were originally planning to go out anyway, right?"
"Yeah."
Hasebe Haruka and Sakura Airi also smiled and nodded.
In short.
It was still quite happy.
"That's good."
Kobashi Yume breathed a sigh of relief as if she remembered something.
She quickly took three gifts from her bag and gave them to Himeno Yuki and asakura mako, then handed the remaining gift to Hikigaya.
She looked fearful.
"Here, this is for Hikki."
"This is?"
"A Christmas present!"
Kobashi Yume said with a beaming smile, casting an apologetic look at Kushida Kikyo and the others, which immediately made Hasebe Haruka's hair stand on end.
Until this moment.
Hasebe finally reacted.
What terrifying calculation.
Hasebe quickly pressed down on Sakura Airi's small hand, which was searching through her bag.
The underlying meaning was: Since you guys were originally going out to play, you probably didn't prepare a gift for Hikigaya in advance, right?
Wouldn't this be self-defeating? It was essentially a direct confession!
Hasebe quickly whispered a few words into Sakura Airi's ear. Sakura Airi's gaze toward Kobashi Yume suddenly became filled with alarm.
How could this be?
This person had been on guard against them the whole time.
That's way too scary.
Should she just confess directly?
Sakura Airi touched the gift box in her bag, her face full of anxiety, but she didn't dare make a decision.
After all.
She and Hikigaya had only met a few times. The chance of success was very low, right?
And there were so many people around right now.
But.
She still wanted to give the gift. Otherwise, future chances would be even slimmer.
On the other side.
"And mine!"
asakura mako and Himeno Yuki also took gifts from their bags and handed them over.
"Um..."
Hikigaya looked at the exquisite gift boxes in his hand with some hesitation: "But I didn't prepare any return gifts."
"It's no..."
Before askura mako could finish, she heard Kobashi Yume say nonchalantly:
"It's fine. It's still winter break anyway. You can just buy them and give them to us in a few days. Why don't we go buy them together in two days? I'm still missing a winter hat, how about that?"
"..."
Himeno Yuki's eyes widened.
It was as if she was meeting this best friend for the first time. Since when had Kobashi Yume become so clever? This way, there was another opportunity to meet.
This wingman move was way too powerful.
"You're even specifying the gift."
Hikigaya was a bit speechless, but the gift she gave probably had a matching value.
"Since it's a return gift anyway, we should definitely pick something we can use."
"Okay."
Hikigaya didn't have any objections.
The other party had already prepared the gift and spent the money; it would be a bit rude not to accept it. Once accepted, a return gift was naturally required.
On the other side.
Seeing that Sakura Airi and the others were almost about to cry from anxiety, Kushida Kikyo quickly pulled the two of them aside.
"Do you want to give Hikigaya-kun a gift?"
"Yeah."
Sakura Airi touched the gift in her bag, tears welling in her eyes: "What should we do now?"
"Hmm..."
Kushida Kikyo knitted her brows and thought for a moment: "Is this gift expensive? Can you give it to someone else, and then give him an identical one next time?"
"Eh?"
Sakura Airi said sadly: "It's not very expensive, but Christmas is only today."
"What does it matter?"
Kushida Kikyo smiled and comforted her: "A Christmas gift doesn't necessarily have to be given on Christmas Day. As long as the sentiment is there, it's fine, right?"
"Hmm..."
Sakura Airi thought about it and nodded: "But how do we do it?"
"Leave it to me. Haruka probably has a gift for Airi too, right?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Can you give it to me?"
"Okay."
Seeing Sakura Airi's sad expression, Hasebe Haruka nodded, and the two of them handed the gifts to Kushida Kikyo.
"Now there are three."
Kushida Kikyo pulled a gift box out of her bag, a smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.
It was originally prepared for Hikigaya. After all, with her persona, it wouldn't be surprising for her to give a gift to anyone.
But now.
Kushida Kikyo quickly returned to the others and handed the gifts to Kobashi Yume and the rest.
"Kobashi-san, asakura-san, Himeno-san, Merry Christmas."
Kushida Kikyo turned to Hikigaya and smiled: "I'm sorry, Hikigaya-kun. These gifts were originally prepared for them. I didn't expect to run into you today by chance and forgot to prepare your share. I'll make it up to you next time."
"No need."
Hikigaya refused sternly. It was better that she hadn't prepared one.
On the other side.
"Eh?"
Kobashi Yume held the gift in her hands, hesitating: "I'm sorry, I didn't expect Kushida to prepare a gift for me. I didn't prepare a return gift."
"It's okay."
Kushida Kikyo shook her head nonchalantly, showing a sweet smile:
"I just wanted to give them to you. If you really feel bad about it, just buy me a return gift in a few days. Oh, I know!"
Saying this.
Kushida Kikyo clapped her small hands, her eyes lighting up:
"Why don't we all go together then?"
As soon as these words were spoken.
Kobashi Yume's face stiffened, and she stared straight at Kushida Kikyo.
Wasn't this the same trick she just used?
How did it get turned back on her?
Only now did she realize that Kushida Kikyo was so calculating.
And Hasebe Haruka was even more stunned.
She didn't expect such an operation. Now there was another reason for a gathering, and next time they could send the gifts directly.
As expected.
It was really good to have called Kushida Kikyo along today!
Hikigaya stood silently to the side.
Although Kushida and Kobashi were friends, it seemed normal to prepare a gift in advance, but he always felt like these people were acting a bit strange.