Seeing Horikita Manabu wave.
Hikigaya ran over without stopping. He could finally get away from that guy Ayanokouji.
Looking at Horikita Suzune walking toward him.
After hesitating for a moment.
Hikigaya still nodded, and the other party nodded in response.
Horikita Suzune couldn't help but stop her pace and look back at his figure.
Whether it was Ayanokouji or Hikigaya.
Why.
Okay.
Her brother would care about these two so specifically.
Horikita Suzune really couldn't understand it, but it no longer mattered. She was no longer chasing Horikita Manabu's shadow. Now, she just wanted to work hard with everyone to rise to Class A!
On the other side.
"Oh."
Hikigaya walked in front of Horikita Manabu and didn't know what to say.
To be precise.
Aside from a few transactions.
He didn't seem to have any relationship with Horikita Manabu. At most, they could be considered business associates. He didn't know why he had to be the one to see him off.
"Hmm."
Horikita Manabu looked Hikigaya up and down.
They hadn't seen each other for just a few days.
And it felt like Hikigaya had completely changed.
His eyes revealed a sense of confidence and pride.
It took Manabu a while before he smiled:
"Why do I feel like you're much more energetic than before? Did something good happen?"
"I guess... you could say that."
Hikigaya was suddenly a bit embarrassed. Was his expression that obvious?
Speaking of which.
These people's insight was way too incredible.
"Forget it."
Horikita Manabu smiled dismissively. "What do you think of this school now?"
"Trash school."
Hikigaya didn't hesitate in the slightest, then scratched his head. "However, that... the class isn't bad."
"I see. You're really not honest..."
Horikita Manabu pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and shook his head again:
"Your class seems to have lost the special exam at the end of the year. In that case, why not consider leading the class yourself? If it's you, you should be able to do it, right?"
"How is that possible?"
This guy really thought highly of him. Hikigaya was somewhat speechless:
"Setting aside whether I can do it, I don't have the ability to shoulder the future of thirty-nine people."
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Horikita Manabu was slightly stunned. "Responsibility, in your eyes, is such a heavy thing?"
"That's only natural, isn't it?"
Hikigaya let out a sneer. "On the contrary, I don't understand those guys who always have 'responsibility' on their lips, only to end up apologizing or becoming deserters."
"If you want to take responsibility, shouldn't you at least prepare the corresponding price for it to be fair?"
As he spoke.
Hikigaya silently added a sentence in his heart.
Except for Ichinose.
She was pushed up by everyone in Class B.
That didn't count.
"I see."
He looked Hikigaya over.
A smile couldn't help but appear on Horikita Manabu's mouth.
He didn't make promises easily.
Once a promise was made, it was bound to be kept.
Precisely because of this, Hikigaya could be so trustworthy.
It was just that he was still a bit naive.
How could there be anything in the world that was 100% successful?
But that didn't matter.
"No matter how you view responsibility."
"No matter how heavy it is in your eyes, no matter how tired, how painful, or how hopeless."
"One day."
"You will also encounter someone you want to voluntarily take responsibility for."
Horikita Manabu patted Hikigaya's shoulder, speaking like a true senior in a earnest tone.
"What's that?"
Hikigaya said somewhat uncomfortably, "A masochist?"
Knowing it was deathly heavy.
And still voluntarily shouldering it?
If that's not a masochist, what is?
And.
Even so.
At most, shouldering Ichinose's responsibility was already his limit.
As for the class.
Hikigaya naturally also wanted to let them rise to Class A, but at most, he would just provide advice behind Ichinose.
"Haha."
"A masochist?"
"Maybe."
Horikita Manabu couldn't help but laugh; perhaps every man was a masochist.
But.
That wasn't important either.
Although he couldn't see too far ahead.
Hikigaya was kind-hearted and responsible at his core, and he was still growing.
For a person like him.
When the day comes that he can voluntarily shoulder responsibility, facing off against people like Nagumo Miyabi is almost a certainty.
There was no need for him to worry about anything.
Therefore.
Horikita Manabu never forced it.
He casually handed over his personal points to Hikigaya as a weapon.
"Alright."
Horikita Manabu laughed for a while before turning to look toward Horikita Suzune and said:
"As a parting gift, can you answer one more question for me?"
"Except for math problems."
Hikigaya said indifferently.
Come to think of it.
Previously, he had always been talking business with Horikita Manabu, and only now did he notice his side as a senior. It made it feel like a deathbed testament.
It made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Heh..."
Horikita Manabu couldn't help but smile. "What kind of person do you think Suzune is?"
"An annoying person."
Hikigaya said without the slightest hesitation.
Horikita Suzune at the start of the school year was okay; at most, she was just a bit arrogant and her attitude was direct.
The current Horikita Suzune.
Feels full of hypocrisy.
She can't even compare to someone like Sakayanagi Arisu who is just in it for the fun.
"Hmm?"
Horikita Manabu was slightly stunned.
He had never imagined that his beautiful sister would actually be hated by Hikigaya.
"Is that so?"
Horikita Manabu shook his head helplessly. "Actually, Suzune was a very gentle and kind person when she was a child."
"Really?"
Hikigaya turned to look toward Horikita Suzune.
He clearly didn't believe it.
Maybe there was a bit of that at the start of school, but now it was completely unnoticeable.
However.
That's not to say it's impossible.
After all, technically, Horikita Manabu and Horikita Suzune hadn't seen each other for three years, and given their performances, the chances of them bumping into each other at school were probably not many.
At least.
Hikigaya felt that he was already different from how he was at the start of the school year.
Three years' time.
Was enough for a person to change.
Perhaps.
Horikita Manabu's impression of Horikita Suzune was still stuck on her childhood.
No matter how powerful he was.
Horikita Manabu was just a mortal.
He couldn't see through a person's nature completely at a glance.
"Yeah."
Horikita Manabu sighed and also looked in that direction.
"Suzune is no longer chasing my shadow. I can see that brilliant radiance, like a raw gemstone, on her."
"The current Suzune is like a huge blank sheet of paper."
"Furthermore, Nagumo Miyabi wants to make this school even more meritocratic. I'm not very clear on how Suzune will grow."
"So."
Horikita Manabu looked at Hikigaya before him and said sincerely, "Could I ask you to help take care of Suzune a bit?"
"This..."
Hikigaya scratched his head as he looked at Horikita Suzune and the others.
Horikita Suzune at the start of school was actually okay.
If it was truly as Horikita Manabu said.
Perhaps Horikita Suzune was influenced by this school, or perhaps she was influenced by Ayanokouji beside her.
Hikigaya wasn't an heartless person either.
After all.
Horikita Manabu gave 27 million, so in terms of both reason and emotion, taking care of her a bit was nothing.
Every time he saw Sakura Airi and Karuizawa, Hikigaya couldn't help but feel his brotherly spirit burning.
As long as it was within his power.
Helping a bit was no problem.
But.
"Your sister is not someone who needs me to take care of her."
Hikigaya shook his head.
Unlike Karuizawa and Sakura Airi.
No matter how much he hated Horikita Suzune, he had to admit she was a very strong and cool-headed leader.
Horikita Suzune didn't need anyone to take care of her.
"No."
Horikita Manabu shook his head and said with some concern: "It's not to have you take care of her all the time. Suzune is just now starting to truly grow. It's just whether you can give her a pull when she goes down the wrong path."
"How would I know if she's gone down the wrong path?"
Hikigaya was somewhat speechless.
"That will be for you to judge."
Horikita Manabu couldn't help but smile.
No matter who went astray, Hikigaya couldn't possibly go astray.
"How about it?"
"Well, if it's within my power..."
Hikigaya scratched his head helplessly.
He still didn't dare to guarantee it.
Twenty-seven million was indeed not easy to take.
Although he didn't want to deal with Nagumo Miyabi, giving Horikita Suzune a thrashing when she went astray wouldn't be a big deal.
"That's good enough."
Horikita Manabu breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of his heart.
Compared to Nagumo Miyabi, the most important thing was that sister of his.
With this man's guarantee.
It was enough to put one at ease!
However.
It would be nice if Horikita Suzune could gain Hikigaya's favor.
Unfortunately.
Horikita Manabu also knew that this sort of thing couldn't be forced!