20: I Got My Confession Rejected by Yukinoshita Right Out of the Gate!
[20] 20: I Got My Confession Rejected by Yukinoshita Right Out of the Gate!
[20] Looking over the paper Hikigaya had turned in, Hiratsuka-sensei’s brow was far less furrowed than usual.
“This is honestly hard to believe.
After spending time in the Service Club, it looks like even your twisted personality has changed a little.” The essay Hachiman Hikigaya had submitted looked, at least, like something a normal person might have written.
There was none of the immediately oppressive gloom it usually gave off.
That said, it still had one flaw.
“You’ve revised a lot and added plenty of real-world support, but why did you still tack on this line at the end: ‘In conclusion, after investigation and analysis, I have once again determined that I am best suited to the profession of househusband, so please allow me to go home and begin practical training’?
What exactly does that conclusion have to do with everything you wrote before it?” “It does have something to do with it.
That’s my personal opinion, applicable only to my own circumstances.
It is definitely not some arbitrarily fabricated conclusion derived from the inference that the process must not affect the result.
It is the path that belongs to me alone, reached only after eliminating every other option.” “That’s very sincere…
but somehow still infuriating.
Makes me want to punch you.” As she said that, Hiratsuka-sensei slowly clenched a fist.
Her eyes moved over Hikigaya’s body as though she were deciding where would be best to hit him.
So frightened that he immediately covered the more vulnerable parts of himself, Hikigaya blurted out, “Please don’t use the Last Beat of Extinction on me.” “So the earlier moves are fine, then?!” “Those too, please don’t.” Seeing how scared he was, Hiratsuka-sensei finally lowered her hand.
Still, she went on.
“It really does look like the Service Club has changed you a little.
Haven’t you noticed?
Your essays aren’t full of nothing but negativity anymore.
They even include words like ‘investigation’ and ‘implementation’ now.
That’s progress.” She said it with the air of someone who understood him very well.
“You’re mistaken, sensei.
What changed me wasn’t the Service Club, but a girl who happened to bring in a request.” “Hm?
Something like that happened?
Who was she?
Let’s hear it.
Is she in our year too?” “No.
She’s a first-year.” “Oh? Get faster updates on novelping.com.
A first-year?
Did she do something special?” “Not really.
She just used her excessively correct way of thinking to erase me, that’s all.” “That sounds a little alarming.
Are you sure you’re mentally okay?” The fact that some student had actually managed to talk Hikigaya—the king of twisted teenage logic—out of his twisted worldview head-on was enough to make Hiratsuka-sensei curious about who this girl was, and what exactly she had said.
There really weren’t many girls who could make Hikigaya yield and change.
“I’m fine.
My essence hasn’t changed.
I’ve just become a bit more restrained, that’s all.
One of my defining traits is that I never forget my original aspirations.” Hikigaya gave a faint smile.
“And her name is?” “I don’t make a hobby of leaking other people’s private information.
Even if you are a teacher, I still—” “My Skull-Crushing Right Hand…” “I’ll talk, I’ll talk, just spare me!
I’ll tell you everything.
Her name is Tadayana Volkova.
It’s one of those foreign names where you can’t really tell the given name from the family name.” “Hm…
Tadayana Volkova, is it?
Oh, that girl who wrote an essay every bit as striking as yours before.
Looks like I’ll have to go meet her.” “Just don’t tell her I was the one who told you.” “Heh.
As if she wouldn’t figure it out even if I didn’t say so.” “That’s true.
Then why is it that if I don’t tell you, you can’t figure out who she is?” “You looking for a beating?!” “Sorry, my fault, my fault!
I won’t talk back again!” …
“Lately some stranger’s been sending anonymous emails to the whole class.
Yuigahama, did you get them too?” “Huh?
What?
What emails?” In Class 2-J, Hina Ebina—the girl universally acknowledged as the resident fujoshi—secretly grabbed Yui Yuigahama by the hand, pulled her into a corner of the classroom, and began muttering to her in conspiratorial tones.
“You know, the stuff about Tobe, Yamato, and Ooka…” Kakeru Tobe, Yamato, and Ooka were indispensable members of the little clique made up of Hayato Hayama, Yumiko Miura, Hina Ebina, and Yui Yuigahama. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Basically, they were there to keep the vibe going, always clustered around Hayama, the center of the group.
Yuigahama, of course, ranked a little lower than they did—more like someone at the edge of the clique.
If you split the group further into the boys’ and girls’ sides, then Yuigahama was one of the younger girls following Miura, the undisputed queen bee.
Ebina was more or less the same.
On the boys’ side, Hayama stood at the center, with three little punks orbiting him.
“What about them…?” “Well, like this, and that, and also that.
Anyway, the three of them definitely switch with each other, and every last one of them wants to top Hayama too.” “Uh…” As expected, this girl couldn’t go three sentences without steering the conversation back to fujoshi topics.
There was no getting anything useful out of her by talking.
So Yuigahama gave up, leaned in, and looked directly at the message herself.
“Tobe’s some punk from Inage who used to beat up a bunch of people, Yamato’s a dirtbag who was juggling three girls at once and never took responsibility…
what even is this…” Before Yuigahama could finish, Ebina clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Shh—don’t read it out loud.” “Mmph—mmph—” Only after noticing Yuigahama had finally calmed down did Ebina remove her hand.
Yuigahama, meanwhile, quickly forwarded the whole thing to Tadayana.
[Yui Yuigahama]: Tadayanan, listen, there’s been a lot of nasty talk going around our class lately that could really damage people’s relationships.
On the other end, Tadayana stared at the message in bafflement.
Classmates, classmates—if people could really align with one another in thought, would they need to be forced to spend every day under the same roof just to barely coexist?
As far as relationships between classmates went, she didn’t believe in them at all.
[Tadayana Volkova]: Isn’t that normal?
However classmates get along, once you graduate there’s a good chance you’ll never talk again anyway.
So what?
To everyone else, a classmate’s scandal is just something to laugh at and move past.
Who’s really going to care?
Eat when it’s time to eat, drink when it’s time to drink, and don’t take any of it to heart.
“Ugh…
Tadayanan really does see relationships between people a little too clearly…” After thinking it over, Yuigahama realized that it was true—she had already completely lost contact with all her classmates from elementary and middle school.
Yes.
When it came down to it, she was a social failure.
All those years before high school, aside from learning how to read the room before she spoke, she had never managed to make a single real friend.