Inside the dormitory.
The last day.
I've had to go out every single day of winter break.
What kind of "corporate slave" have I become?
Hachigaya stood before the mirror, adjusting his trench coat. This winter break had been exhausting, and he even had to go out today.
However, today was actually fine.
After all, it was the book review exchange he had arranged with Hiyori Shiina. They were going to exchange book lists again, and Hachigaya had no complaints about that.
Reading with Hiyori Shiina was a very relaxing activity. Hachigaya didn't dislike it and didn't find it tiring.
At the Library.
Hachigaya bought a MAX Coffee and went to the library.
The library during winter break was almost empty—in fact, "empty" was an understatement.
As soon as he entered, Hachigaya saw Hiyori Shiina sitting at a table. She waved with a pure smile on her face.
"Oh, you're early."
Hachigaya sat opposite her.
He took out the book Hiyori Shiina had lent him last time from his bag and placed it on the table. Although he had been busy lately, he had still managed to finish it.
"Hachigaya-kun is early too."
Hiyori Shiina looked at the time and smiled. "I just spend all my time in the library anyway, but you are ten minutes ahead of our scheduled time."
"Is that so?"
Hachigaya was quite surprised.
He hadn't expected someone to spend their entire winter break in the library. It seemed Hiyori Shiina truly loved reading.
"Yes, let's begin then."
Hiyori Shiina smilingly picked up the book in her hand. Hachigaya realized it was No Longer Human, which he had recommended.
He hadn't felt much about it before, but now Hachigaya felt strangely embarrassed.
Why would he recommend a book like that to someone?
It was simply nonsensical.
"Because of cowardice, one escapes life, and from the darkest sinkhole of non-resistance, pride is born. Because of pride, one does not choose life and rejects crude optimism. It feels just like a certain someone."
Hiyori Shiina leaned forward, her usual lazy smile gone, replaced by a somewhat mischievous one.
"Hachigaya-kun, do you feel like everyone around you is an idiot?"
"..."
Hachigaya's face turned red.
It felt like a public execution, a total "social death" moment.
"Not everyone..."
In the past, he really did feel that those noisy "normies" were all idiots. Normies and girls were just frivolous types who liked engaging in improper relationships.
Now he understood their feelings a bit better.
Aside from a few people in Class D, at least they weren't all idiots.
"Actually..."
Unexpectedly, Hiyori Shiina put her hand to her mouth and lowered her voice:
"Actually, I also feel that the people around me are all idiots..."
As she spoke, Hiyori Shiina giggled behind her hand.
"Uh..."
Hachigaya was stunned for a moment before a slight smile appeared.
"I felt it before, but Shiina-san, you seem to have a bit of a mean streak."
"That's so mean..."
Hiyori Shiina thought for a moment before saying:
"But maybe you're right. I never noticed it before, but I might indeed be a bit mean. Whenever I see something interesting, I can't help but want to poke at it."
With that, Hiyori Shiina looked at Hachigaya with a beaming smile.
Ever since she discovered Hachigaya, she had wanted to tease him, but unfortunately, they were in different classes, so they didn't have many chances to meet.
"Hachigaya-kun, do you dislike that?"
"Hmm?"
Hachigaya thought it over and said: "I wouldn't say I dislike it. After all, my sister is also quite mean. As long as you know the limit, it should count as a plus."
After all, Komachi was so cute, which proved that a little bit of meanness could actually make a girl cuter.
"I see."
Hiyori Shiina smiled in relief before changing the subject: "Speaking of which, Hachigaya-kun, what do you think of the couples in this school?"
"What do you mean 'what do I think'?"
Hachigaya asked, puzzled. "Doesn't this school prohibit improper relationships between men and women?"
Though Chie Hoshinomiya seemed to have said that as long as no one died, it usually wasn't a problem.
But in reality, Hachigaya had also noticed.
There seemed to be very few couples in this school. He rarely saw those "idiot couples" emitting a sour stench like in middle school.
The only ones he knew of were Hirata and Karuizawa, and those two were fakes.
"While those are the rules," Hiyori Shiina nodded, "as long as it isn't too excessive, it's fine. I heard there's a boy in our class dating a senior girl."
"Then isn't that fine?" Hachigaya said dismissively.
He didn't really want to talk about this topic.
"Then what about people in the same grade?"
Hiyori Shiina put on a lazy expression. "After all, everyone wants to reach Class A, but in the end, only one class can graduate from Class A. If you date someone from a different class, it's very likely to cause conflict, and you might even break up because of it."
"Hachigaya-kun, don't you think that's unpleasant?"
"..."
Hachigaya fell into silence.
It wasn't that he didn't understand her doubt. After all, the chance to reach Class A was unique and related to one's future.
It was just like middle school couples.
Lowering one's standards to get into the same school, only to end up in different schools because one partner studied harder.
Simply idiotic.
This school was probably the same.
If you dated someone from a different class, conflicts would definitely arise, and you might even become enemies.
For example:
"Do you love me, or do you just want to reach Class A?"
"You clearly don't love me, you only love yourself."
"I misjudged you. Let's break up. Drop dead!"
Hachigaya could easily imagine this kind of flawless triple-strike.
It was definitely a possibility.
However...
"I don't find it unpleasant," Hachigaya opened his book, completely unconcerned.
"If their feelings can be destroyed that easily, it just means their feelings were only worth that much. They don't count as the 'real thing'."
Come to think of it, he didn't need to consider this at all.
He barely knew everyone in his own class; how could he possibly have the chance to date someone from another class?
But perhaps Hiyori Shiina had someone she was interested in, which is why she asked.
Hachigaya didn't mind providing some reference; as for whether it was useful, that was Hiyori Shiina's own business.
"Eh?"
Hiyori Shiina was slightly stunned.
If a relationship could be discarded at any time for the sake of Class A, it naturally couldn't be called a true feeling, let alone love.
"Hachigaya-kun, you're really amazing."
Shiina Hiyori's expression was slightly complicated.
One could see just how seriously Hikigaya treated feelings; by comparison, her own "wickedness" felt utterly insignificant.
The problems that troubled her already had answers in Hikigaya's eyes.
If Hikigaya truly fell in love with someone, he would likely give everything for her at any cost. Even betraying his class would probably be a minor issue.
"It's nothing like that," Hikigaya said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "It has nothing to do with me anyway. I was just speaking casually; you really don't need to take it to heart."
"Alright, alright."
Shiina Hiyori shook her head. "But I really didn't expect Hikigaya-kun to have such a 'cleanliness' complex."
"I don't think I do. I can't even keep my dorm room tidy."
Hikigaya was a bit confused.
His room certainly wasn't clean; at best, it was only slightly better than those noisy guys in the sports clubs. It definitely had nothing to do with being a neat freak.
"No, I meant in a spiritual sense," Shiina Hiyori noted, looking at Hikigaya with a hint of helplessness. "If that's the case, the difficulty of finding a girlfriend who is spiritually compatible with you is going to be very high, Hikigaya-kun."
"Even if I didn't look for that kind of person, the difficulty of me finding a girlfriend is already high enough."
Hikigaya felt even more speechless.
She spoke as if lowering his standards would suddenly make finding a girlfriend easy.
Hikigaya had at least that much self-awareness.
Even if it was as Ichinose said, he was at most barely friends with people like Kobashi Yume.
If he were to suddenly confess, Hikigaya had the confidence that he would be rejected immediately. However, given the kind and cheerful personalities of Kobashi Yume and the others, they would probably still remain friends.
"Is that so?" Shiina Hiyori tilted her head.
"I feel that as long as Hikigaya-kun wants to, he could find a girlfriend at any time."
"Haha, that's a good joke." Hikigaya gave a dry laugh.
But then again, if he really did find one, he truly couldn't imagine himself dating someone properly.
Even if there were no issues at first, over time, Hikigaya was confident he would eventually be dumped.
"Alright, let's begin then."
Hearing this, Hikigaya exchanged book lists with Shiina Hiyori once again.
Come to think of it, going shopping or singing with Kobashi Yume and the others wasn't that hard to accept.
However, being with Shiina Hiyori felt much more comfortable.
There was no need to desperately search for topics; they could just read books in silence. This kind of atmosphere was truly reassuring.