“I’m sorry, I’m afraid of pain, so please allow me to refuse.” “Boring.
Shiina, you stay and talk with him.
I’m leaving.” Ryuen Kakeru looked at Shiina, who had a calm expression.
“I see a lot of novels on his desk.
Haven’t you always wanted a book buddy?” Most students in Class C were athletic and preferred being outdoors.
Shiina Hiyori, who liked spending time in the library, was an anomaly.
Seeing her alone, Ryuen had tried to bring her into his group, but seeing her discomfort, he had to give up.
Without waiting for Shiina’s reply, Ryuen walked out of the dorm and slammed the door shut.
Only Hikigaya and Shiina Hiyori were left in the room, staring at each other.
Her silver hair cascaded down her back, with two strands tied up with small black hair ties.
Her delicate face had lost its usual placid expression, and under the incandescent light, her usually fair skin seemed almost translucent.
If Shiina Hiyori hadn’t been looking at him, flustered, Hikigaya could have watched her for half an hour, no, maybe even an hour.
“What kind of books do you like?
I personally prefer literature.” Shiina Hiyori, standing where she was, showed no signs of leaving.
Hikigaya understood that she genuinely wanted a book buddy, just as Ryuen had said.
For her courage in staying, Hikigaya couldn’t bring himself to ask her to leave.
Under his guidance, Shiina sat down at the desk.
There were several books that had been borrowed from the library not long ago.
They were a bit scattered because Ryuen had sat there.
“The one I recently finished rereading is this book, Natsume Soseki’s ‘I Am a Cat’.” Standing beside Shiina, Hikigaya picked up the book he had been reading for a long time the previous night and placed it in front of her.
Because Hikigaya was standing to her right, he couldn’t see her face clearly, and Shiina Hiyori’s nervousness slowly eased.
After sitting down, the hands resting on her lap were raised, and she opened the book in front of her.
The familiar words and passages brought back memories of when she had first read this book.
“It feels so nostalgic.
I was in my first year of junior high during summer vacation when I read this.” Because she wasn’t used to interacting with people, she had no friends in junior high.
During that time, she always stayed in the study, quietly reading next to her father.
Her father, a writer, was constantly working on his manuscript in a dishevelled state, and he was her companion during the holidays.
Would classmate Hikigaya be her next companion?
“You were reading literature in your first year of junior high?
That’s amazing.
I was mostly reading novels back then.” As if marveling, the voice of the male classmate beside her was low and magnetic.
“I probably only started liking these kinds of literary works in my second year of junior high.
Shiina, do you have any favorite books you’d recommend?” “Raymond Chandler’s ‘Farewell, My Lovely’.” Shiina’s voice clearly became higher, as if filled with countless excitements.
“There’s been a Raymond Chandler craze among the second-year students recently.
I had to go to the library several times to borrow it.
It’s definitely a very interesting book.” “Is that so?
Then I absolutely must read it.
I’ll come to get it from you on Saturday, the day after tomorrow…” Hikigaya, now the student council secretary, remembered that he had to go to the student council after school tomorrow for some demanding work, and he wasn’t sure if she would be busy.
“I’ll go back to my room and get it now.” “There’s no need to go to so much trouble.
If you keep running back and forth to get me books, you might spoil me into becoming useless.” “That’s an exaggeration, classmate Hikigaya.” Shiina, pressed back into her chair by him, her excitement slightly diminished, added, “I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.” “Okay, okay.” After that, Shiina enthusiastically discussed works they had both read with Hikigaya.
Although he was a bit unaccustomed to it, Hikigaya did his best to respond, and time flew by.
Finally, Shiina noticed him looking at his phone time and again, so she apologized and left.
At the door, she promised to remember to bring him the book the next day, and then reluctantly departed.
It was now past nine o’clock.
The time for his transaction with Ryuen was less than half the time spent discussing with Shiina.
The consequence of being delayed was receiving numerous impatient text messages from Kushida, her tone growing increasingly impolite.
After sending a text to Kushida, his door was soon knocked on.
When he opened it, Kushida, Hirata Yosuke, and Horikita Suzune stood outside.
All three were in their school uniforms, likely having not showered yet.
“You certainly made me wait a long time, Hikigaya the loyal student.” “Hey, hey, don’t give me such a weird nickname.” “You’re the weird one, aren’t you?
Let me think of a way to describe your strange actions that day.” “Sorry, it’s my fault.
Please come in.” Defeated, Hikigaya apologized without hesitation.
Hirata and Horikita told him to sit by the bed, while he and Kushida stood in front of them.
“I’ve asked you here today to sell some information to Class D.
The price is two million private points.
I’m entrusting the task of collecting private points from the class to you, and Kushida will also help, of course.” He didn’t plan to hide his intention to transfer classes from them, nor could he.
Hirata and Horikita were the ones he intended to put forward as leaders for Class D.
The helpful Hirata had broad social skills and strong charisma, but his weakness was indecisiveness when the class was in trouble.
Horikita Suzune, on the other hand, possessed extraordinary observation skills and adhered to her own principles without fear of offending others, but her drawback was that she was eccentric and couldn’t integrate into groups socially.
Hikigaya hoped that the two of them would learn from each other through cooperation and lead Class D forward.
Although Class D had some unpleasant people, there were also good ones.
“Are you planning to transfer classes?
Is it classmate Yamauchi who upset you?
I can apologize to classmate Yamauchi on your behalf.” Hirata’s smile, which had been present moments before, was now clouded.
In the past, he had also caused his class to break down, a nightmare that lingered in his heart.
It began with his friend being bullied and him not helping, leading to his friend’s suicide.
Guilt drove him to use ruthless violence to control the class and eradicate bullying.
When classmates argued, he would mercilessly inflict the same punishment and physical pain on both parties, and thus, bullying slowly disappeared from the class.
But at the same time, the students in the class also gradually “degenerated” into robots.
There was no longer any playing during breaks, and even communication between students gradually disappeared.
No one knew what they might say wrong or what the other person might say wrong that would incur the tyrant’s punishment.
Undoubtedly, he had failed.
Upon arriving at this school, he decided to start anew, attempting to guide his classmates with a selfless, good-natured attitude to unite and get through high school.
“I haven’t hated Yamauchi to that extent.
It’s just that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka in our class is a monster with whom I absolutely do not want to coexist.” From the very first day of school, Hikigaya had been quietly observing Ayanokouji Kiyotaka’s words and actions and inferring his thoughts.
The conclusion reached by combining past memories was that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka now only had the appearance of a human.
“He has only rationality, not emotion.
He is currently just learning to be a person.
We might just be stepping stones for his progress.”