Chapter 185: Balancing the Scales
"Like I said, Horikita and I really don't have that kind of relationship."
Thud!
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Nothing. I just suddenly felt annoyed and wanted to kick you."
Horikita Suzune kept her face stiff as usual, looking somewhat angry. Hikigaya could only think that this woman was truly difficult to please.
He had already tried his best to cover up the embarrassing incident of her being "solo-killed by a thermos"—what else could she possibly be dissatisfied with?
The farce from PE class came to an end here.
Speaking of which, could our PE teacher please stop wearing that look of regret, like he "didn't get enough gossip"?
And Classmate Matsushita over there—instead of just eating popcorn, she had turned into a strategist, whispering with Karuizawa and Sato while glancing at Hikigaya from time to time. Who knew what they were plotting?
After school. Kushida Kikyo approached him.
"Hikigaya-kun, Ichinose-san from Class A has invited the leadership of each class for a talk. You should come along too."
Hikigaya instinctively looked toward Hirata Yosuke's seat, only to find that he had already vanished.
"Hirata refused to attend the meeting," Horikita Suzune said, her expression full of dissatisfaction.
"He's throwing a tantrum just over those few pieces of expelled trash. I really don't know what he's thinking."
"Who knows? Maybe that's just what 'friendship' is."
Hikigaya had probably already guessed that the root of the conflict was likely Hirata Yosuke's past.
What Hirata was defending wasn't Yamauchi and those guys, but the integrity of Class D as a collective. As the saying goes, people value most what they lack.
From this, one could infer that a major event leading to the collapse of the entire class likely occurred in Hirata's middle school.
Hikigaya had no interest in delving deeper into the specific reasons. Just thinking about it felt like a massive hassle.
"As for the leadership meeting, you guys go. Don't drag me into it." Hikigaya refused.
"Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'? I don't recall becoming part of Class D's leadership."
"Hikigaya, whether you want to admit it or not, in the eyes of others, you are already a core member of Class D. Your importance even far exceeds Hirata's."
"Horikita, since when did you have such a high opinion of me?"
"Eto~ My opinion of Hikigaya-kun has always been very high, too!" Kushida Kikyo couldn't help but chime in.
'Every other day you come to me just to dump your vent-trash; I'll pass on your 'high opinion,' thanks!'
"Regardless, I'm not participating. Besides, my club activities have been very busy lately; I don't have time for this stuff." Hikigaya found a suitable excuse.
"Is it that off-campus club exchange meeting?" Horikita Suzune's eyes flickered.
"You're actually paying attention to that?" Hikigaya was quite surprised.
"...I'm just paying attention to the Student Council news and happened to learn about the club activities. I wasn't specifically paying attention to you." Horikita's expression remained normal.
"I know about it too; I've been keeping an eye on Hikigaya-kun all along." Kushida Kikyo blinked her large eyes and leaned in closer, continuing,
"I also know that Hikigaya-kun's hometown is in Chiba Prefecture, right? In that case, Hikigaya-kun will have a great chance to see his old middle school classmates.
That sounds wonderful~ Maybe you'll even have a romantic encounter with a girl you used to know."
'To know things in such detail... this girl's networking and intelligence-gathering power is a bit terrifying!'
Hikigaya squinted his dead-fish eyes and responded expressionlessly, "There are no familiar girls, though there is one familiar boy."
"Eh~ Hikigaya-kun actually has male friends?" Kushida Kikyo looked genuinely shocked.
"Wait, why is that so surprising?" Hikigaya was speechless.
"Because at Advanced Nurturing, Hikigaya-kun doesn't seem to have many good relationships with boys. However, the number of girls you're close with is surprisingly high!"
Kushida smiled, though her eyes didn't join in.
"Hikigaya, that 'familiar boy' of yours... he wouldn't happen to be a girl dressed as a boy, would he?" Horikita Suzune said something utterly ridiculous with a perfectly serious face.
"Horikita, since when did you awaken the skill of telling deadpan jokes? I confirmed Totsuka's gender with my own eyes." Hikigaya sighed helplessly.
Once upon a time, he had also held such unrealistic fantasies.
Once, when going to the bathroom, he had even specifically followed the other person... How should he put it? Small, and quite cute? To escape the cruel reality, Hikigaya could only try his best to seal away that part of his memory.
"Confirmed with your own eyes...The way you say that is a bit disgusting!"
Kushida Kikyo looked repulsed.
"With your twisted personality, you wouldn't happen to have an issue with your sexual orientation, would you?" Horikita Suzune looked at him suspiciously.
"That's impossible. Because I dream every day about getting married to different beautiful girls." Hikigaya spoke the honest truth.
"Scum!" Horikita Suzune huffed.
"Hey, hey, that's only in dreams, it's not real." Hikigaya cried out at the injustice.
"What you think about by day, you dream of by night. If you didn't have wicked thoughts in your heart, why would you dream of them?"
Horikita's words hit the nail on the head, leaving Hikigaya speechless.
"So here's the question: has Hikigaya dreamed of me?" Kushida Kikyo was very curious about this.
"..."
'Yes, but don't you think the atmosphere would be awkward if I said it out loud?'
"No." Hikigaya replied, going completely against his heart.
"Is that so? That's quite a shame~
It seems I'll have to work harder.
What about Horikita?"
Although the smile remained on Kushida's face, Hikigaya faintly felt that she was a bit dejected.
"No for her either." Hikigaya denied it again.
"Liar!" Horikita Suzune countered immediately.
"Uh, on what basis can you say that?" Hikigaya forced himself to stay calm.
"I remember one time, you called me 'Hikigaya Suzune.' At the time, I thought your brain had just short-circuited. Thinking about it now, you were probably dreaming about marrying me, weren't you?"
Horikita Suzune's words were a literal bombshell, leaving Hikigaya utterly thunderstruck!
'How is this woman's memory so good?!'
He had made a slip of the tongue once last semester, and she remembered it?
"Hikigaya!"
"You... you really did that to Horikita..."
Kushida Kikyo truly couldn't hold it together anymore; her facial expression management was nearing a total collapse.
"Ah! I told you, it was just a dream!"
To prevent the situation from spiraling out of control, Hikigaya decided to balance the scales.
"Fine!
I admit it—I've also dreamed of Kushida-san."
"Really? You aren't just making it up to coax me, are you?"
"Really. I remember back then, you had a birthmark on the left side of your butt."
"!!!!!!"
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