It was past 4 PM.
After finishing their ramen, the two arrived at an accessory shop.
"I want this one..."
Karuizawa tried on a silver heart-shaped bracelet on her wrist. Hachiman checked the price.
2,888 private points.
Roughly two days' worth of food money—not too expensive. Hachiman felt relieved.
"This one will do, right?"
"Yes."
Karuizawa looked at the heart on the bracelet and nodded vigorously.
"I've had my eye on this for a long time, just waiting for you to help me buy it today~"
As she spoke, Karuizawa looked up slightly at Hachiman, her face turning crimson.
Such a hint... should be obvious enough, right?
"Don't do this next time..."
Hachiman's mouth twitched. She was just waiting for him to pay.
"You..."
Karuizawa's eyes widened.
Forget it.
Since she was happy today, Karuizawa held her white wrist out to Hachiman, showing off the heart.
"How is it? Pretty, right?"
"Well..."
The bracelet seemed average, but Hachiman was unconsciously drawn to her fingers.
Her fingers, coated in nail polish, were sparkling. The pink nails complemented her long, white fingers perfectly.
They were as enticing as pink candy sticks.
"It suits you very well..."
"Heehee, thank you."
Karuizawa flipped her hand back and forth in front of Hachiman, noticing that his eyes frequently drifted to her fingers.
After hesitating for a moment, her face reddened as she said:
"Want to touch?"
"Cough."
Hachiman couldn't help but cough a few times, his face turning even redder.
After all, he couldn't help it.
When someone holds their hand out to show it off, any boy would be somewhat interested.
But taking advantage was not okay.
A boy who praised a girl's nails just for physical contact was quite disgusting.
"No, it's fine..."
Hachiman shook his head repeatedly, turning his gaze toward the small accessories:
"Since you've finished picking, you should head back. I still have some things to do."
"Hmm?"
Karuizawa pouted.
Coward.
"Are you looking for return gifts for Sakura-san and the others?"
Karuizawa showed a fox-like smile.
On Valentine's Day, she had seen several gifts placed at Hachiman's door, though they were all just from "minor characters."
Still, even if they were minor characters, she couldn't be defenseless.
Hachiman had to be hers alone!
And so, Karuizawa didn't hesitate.
She placed the gifts for Sakura Airi, Kushida, and the others on both sides of the door, while she occupied the "Queen's throne" alone!
"Yeah."
Hachiman nodded.
Since the gifts were received all at once, it wasn't surprising that Karuizawa guessed.
"Then these will do."
Karuizawa looked around for a moment and then unhesitatingly stuffed several crystal bracelets into Hachiman's hands.
"These will serve as return gifts for them."
"This..."
Hachiman looked at the price.
Since they were made of crystal, they didn't look bad, but they were mostly cheap items around 200 to 500 points.
"Since it's a return gift, won't this be a bit bad?"
"It'll be fine."
Karuizawa's mind worked fast: "After all, 'obligatory' (giri) chocolates aren't expensive. The price should be about the same; they probably won't mind."
The price was indeed about the same.
However, there was a big trap in the middle.
The styles of several bracelets were almost the same, with only slight differences in color.
When Sakura Airi and the others found out, they'd definitely understand these were return gifts for "obligatory" chocolates.
They might even wonder what Hachiman meant—was he trying to "two-time" several girls?
At the very least, they would feel Hachiman's attitude wasn't sincere enough, lowering his evaluation in the eyes of Sakura Airi and the others.
Thinking of this, Karuizawa's gaze toward Hachiman was a bit guilty.
But it couldn't be helped.
Hachiman could only be hers.
As long as she could be with the person she liked, Karuizawa would do anything. What was a little scheming?
The idea of several girls with no status in the class trying to snatch her man...
Keep dreaming!
"That's true."
Hachiman thought for a moment and nodded.
The price was indeed similar.
In fact, the value of the bracelets might even be a bit more expensive.
The only difference was the cost of the packaging, which he could pay for the clerk to handle later.
"Then these are it."
Hachiman put the bracelets away and turned back to look at the accessories in the showcase.
"Are there more?"
"Yes, I need to buy two more."
"..."
More rivals?
Whatever.
It didn't matter how many rivals there were.
Karuizawa hurriedly stuffed two more bracelets into Hachiman's hand:
"They're all the same, all the same!"
"Won't this be a bit bad?"
Hachiman said hesitantly: "These two are for Ichinose and the others. They take care of me a lot, so I should choose something a bit more expensive, right?"
After all, he wasn't very familiar with Sakura Airi and the others; they were "ramen friends" at most.
Being a bit perfunctory wasn't a problem.
Though he felt it wasn't necessary, Ichinose and the others really had looked after him a lot, so he should show some more sincerity.
"I see..."
Karuizawa scratched her hair and glanced at the counter.
She picked two more bracelets that were similar in style but slightly more expensive and stuffed them into his hand.
"Then these two should be about right."
"Hmm..."
Looking at the different colored crystal bracelets in his hand, Hachiman thought for a moment and then nodded.
Immediately, Karuizawa's smile grew even more brilliant.
Let those other girls fight it out.
She was going to take the lead alone!
No one could take Hachiman away from her!
...
Dormitory Building.
The two parted ways there.
Hachiman returned to his room and looked at the different colored gift boxes in front of him.
Even though they were all the same style, he still sorted the crystal bracelets according to the girls' hair colors.
But then he suddenly realized a problem.
He originally wanted to follow Sakura Airi and the others' example and place the gifts directly at their doors.
But he didn't know the room numbers for Sakura Airi and the others.
"This..."
Hachiman felt a headache coming on.
He couldn't call them one by one to come and get their return gifts, could he?
That felt a bit shameful.
Besides, they were just return gifts worth a few hundred private points.
Making a big deal out of it felt a bit disgusting.
In fact, all this tossing and turning felt a bit disgusting too.
Suddenly, Hachiman had a flash of inspiration. He immediately took the gifts and left his room, heading to the dorm lobby.
There, he saw Ayanokouji standing in front of the mailboxes, stuffing a gift box into one.
"Uh..."
Hachiman's face stiffened.
He really didn't want to see Ayanokouji or Acting Chairman Tsukishiro again.
But after all, this was a closed-off school.
Encounters were inevitable.
"Return gifts?"
Ayanokouji, seeing no one else was around, stepped forward and asked with a flat face.
"Yes..."
"Then I'll be going."
With that, Ayanokouji turned and walked into the elevator. Hachiman looked back and sighed in relief; it seemed Ayanokouji really didn't care about him.
That was enough.
Whatever.
Even a "big shot" like Ayanokouji stuffed gifts into mailboxes.
Clearly, this method was viable.
Hachiman walked to the mailboxes and, matching the names on them, stuffed the return gifts in one by one.
"Phew."
Hachiman finally sighed in relief.
Since they were bracelets, he didn't have to worry about expiration dates.
Everyone had their share.
Whether they took them or not was up to them.