Chapter 187: Pink-Haired Girl: Thanks for Saving My Dog's Life
They were riding the bus. The members of Advanced Nurturing's Martial Arts Club arrived in Chiba Prefecture. Time: 6:45 AM.
"We've come way too early, Captain Mutou," the club members complained one after another.
According to normal high school hours, school starts at eight o'clock. It wasn't even seven yet; the school gates hadn't even opened!
"It can't be helped; I have to account for potential emergencies during the trip and allow for more buffer time."
Captain Mutou had always been a cautious man with a strong sense of time. Every time he came to club training, he arrived early and was never late. Though Hikigaya found it a hassle, he wouldn't deny Captain Mutou's approach.
After all, they were now representing the face of Advanced Nurturing. If they arrived late on the day of the exchange meeting, they'd truly become a laughingstock!
"It's still early. What do we do now?"
"Everyone go grab some breakfast first, and while you're at it..."
Captain Mutou lowered his voice as much as possible at the end: "Do whatever you want to do.
But remember, don't play around too much!
If the accompanying sensei finds out, everyone's in for it!"
The school rules of Advanced Nurturing strictly prohibited students from communicating with the outside world without permission. Of course, as the saying goes, "where there is a policy, there is a counter-measure." Almost every year during off-campus exchange meetings, people would sneakily engage in small activities.
For example, finding a phone booth to call home and report that they were safe. Or privately buying local specialties to sneak back into the school.
Coincidentally, Hikigaya also had things to do. He headed to the post office and sent off the gift Katsuragi had entrusted to him. As for Hikigaya himself, he planned to deliver his gift to his sister personally.
He had already coordinated through Chabashira-sensei to reveal to Hiratsuka-sensei that he was coming to Sobu High.
On the day of the club exchange, Sobu High was open to the public, allowing students' family members to come and visit.
Whether his parents came from work didn't matter—the point was that his sister had to come!!
Walking along the familiar streets and seeing students in Sobu High uniforms appearing one by one, Hikigaya couldn't help but feel emotional: If I had gone to school normally, I'd probably have been one of them, right?
"Sable~ Stop it, it's time to go home. I have to go to school!" At the intersection ahead, a pink-haired girl with a bun hairstyle was leading a dachshund. At that moment, a corgi walked by on the other side of the road. The dachshund barked excitedly, broke free from the leash, and dashed into the street.
Hikigaya's ears twitched as he detected a black Bentley driving normally toward them from behind. He instinctively took a step, but in the next second, reason made him stop.
First of all, the stupid dog ran out on its own. The car was driving normally; even if it got hit, the driver wouldn't be responsible. He wouldn't risk getting injured just to save a stupid dog.
"Wait, Sable!!" The pink-haired girl let out a cry of alarm and instinctively chased after the dog into the road.
'Hey, hey, hey! What is this brainless woman doing?!'
In that instant, before his brain could calculate the pros and cons, Hikigaya's body moved first.
He lunged forward, shoved the pink-haired girl aside, and tumbled with her to the other side of the road. To protect her from hitting the ground, Hikigaya used his body as a cushion.
Screeech— Along with a piercing sound of brakes—one has to admit high-end cars have great braking performance—it managed an emergency stop within such a short distance!
"..." Hikigaya looked up, ready to start swearing, only to be blinded by two large mounds of softness. A very pleasant scent swirled around his nose, causing the curse words he was about to spit out to stop abruptly in his throat.
"Ah?! S-sorry!"
The pink-haired girl looked dazed for a moment, and upon realizing she was pinning a boy down, she hurriedly scrambled to get up. In her flustered state, she accidentally tripped over her own feet, leaning forward and slamming head-first back into Hikigaya.
If it were just a chest-to-person collision, Hikigaya would have treated it as a "bonus event"—it wasn't his first time encountering such a thing anyway. But this time the angle was a bit delicate; the pink-haired girl's face was pressing down toward his.
Seeing those pink lips drawing infinitely closer, Hikigaya quickly raised his hands to brace against her shoulders and then pushed her back firmly. The two of them stared into each other's eyes at close range, feeling each other's breath.
"Uu... mm~"
The pink-haired girl's cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
'Is this... the legendary hero saving the beauty?'
Looking closely, this boy was actually quite handsome. Although his eyes were a bit fierce, they were also quite cool, weren't they?
"Ahem~" Hikigaya's heart was also racing a bit. She had long peach-colored hair with signs of a slight perm, and a cute bun tied to the side of her head.
Her makeup was a bit flashy, and the top two buttons of her shirt were undone. Above all, she had a pair of "titans"—by visual estimate, they were in the same weight class as Kushida Kikyo's.
However, with Hikigaya's extraordinary eyesight, it wasn't hard to see that this girl was most likely like Karuizawa Kei—a "fake gal."
"Can you get up first?" Hikigaya quickly regained his composure.
"Ah? Oh, oh!" The pink-haired girl finally stood up in a panic, her body stumbling again, nearly performing an anime-style "flat-ground trip."
"Woof woof~" The frightened dachshund shivered at its owner's feet.
"Sable, honestly! Do you know you almost caused a disaster?"
The pink-haired girl first crossly scolded the dachshund, then turned to Hikigaya and bowed in thanks: "Classmate, thank you for saving my dog's life.
Ah, no, no, no!
For saving mine and the dog's life..." The pink-haired girl scratched her head awkwardly, letting out a silly laugh.
"It's fine. It was just a small matter." Hikigaya replied nonchalantly, then turned his gaze toward the Bentley. Through the windshield, the driver could be seen talking to the passenger in the back before getting out.
"Young people, are you alright?
Crossing the road like that is very dangerous!"
The Bentley driver was a middle-aged man in a suit.
Hikigaya only took one look to judge from his demeanor that he wasn't the owner, but a professional driver. Thus, Hikigaya ignored the driver and looked inside the car. The person inside seemed to have noticed his gaze as well; ignoring the objection of another person, they stepped out of the car.
Long black hair reaching to the waist, refined posture, delicate features, and pale, translucent skin. The over-the-knee black stockings on her lower body had no patterns or decorations, yet gave off a strong impulse to want to reach out and touch them.
"Hello. May I ask if either of you are injured?"
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