Chapter 325 Kushida: Horikita, Something is Wrong With You!
"Ah..."
"No, I've reached my limit!"
Horikita Suzune collapsed weakly onto the floor. Her flushed face was filled with intense frustration and defeat.
"Suzune, I told you to take it easy. Don't break your own body," Hikigaya said as he stretched his limbs, looking completely composed.
"Tell me..."
"How many times for her?" Horikita asked breathlessly.
"Nine times," Hikigaya answered truthfully.
"What?!"
Horikita's eyes widened instantly. She grit her teeth and forced herself to try and stand back up.
"Ugh..."
"I can still go another round!"
This damn competitive streak of hers was truly something else.
"Calm down for a second.
Suzune, you're too stubborn," Hikigaya explained helplessly. "Her nine times involved using all sorts of different methods to keep going.
You dummy, you tried to walk the same path six times in a row. Of course you're exhausted!
Honestly, being able to persist to this extent already shows you have extraordinary talent."
Hearing this, Horikita was stunned for a moment, then she bit her lip, appearing even more unwilling to lose.
"You and her... actually play that... much...?
Even though you're just high school students, this—this is way too shameless!"
Horikita's face turned bright red. It wasn't that she didn't understand those "tricks"; after all, she had practiced them in her dreams. However, in reality, she still maintained a shred of maidenly reserve.
On one hand, she was embarrassed. On the other, she was terrified that Hachiman would misunderstand and think she was a lewd girl.
"Shameless? Suzune, you're the one who forced yourself on me, and now you're saying this..."
Hikigaya looked at her with a strange expression, struggling to keep a straight face.
"...That... that was an outpouring of true emotion!"
Wow. How could this woman say something so incredibly embarrassing with such a serious face?
"I already know. Suzune likes me a super lot." Hikigaya nodded with faux-seriousness.
"Hmph! Aren't you the same? Gnawing on my foot with such intensity, didn't you find it dirty?" Horikita looked at him with a subtle expression. "Hachiman's way of expressing love is truly strange."
"That's just my personal fetish," Hikigaya admitted righteously. There was nothing to hide in front of his own people.
"In any case, we like each other, right?" Horikita looked up, her eyes gazing at him like rippling water.
"Yes, we do." Hikigaya nodded honestly. Direct ball to direct ball—there was no need to be tsundere.
"But, the person you like isn't just me, right?" Horikita's gaze became sharp.
"Uh... yes." Hikigaya felt awkward, but he could only bite the bullet and nod.
"Scumbag!" Horikita cursed him without mercy.
"Ugh..." Hikigaya covered his face in shame.
"Tsk! You twisted, gloomy guy—who gave you the courage to two-time?" Horikita continued to scold him through grit teeth.
"Yeah, I'm a thick-skinned, terrible man."
It wasn't just two-timing; he was practically chaining ships together!
Even Hikigaya himself felt he was being excessive.
The old him wasn't like this. He never even fantasized about having a girlfriend; he was prepared to grow old alone. At worst, he'd shamelessly beg Komachi to let him stay and live out a mediocre life.
Who would have thought everything would change after entering this school?
"What a humiliation! To think I'd actually like a guy like you..." Horikita looked helpless, yet had to admit this bizarre fact.
"I'm sorry, Suzune."
"..."
Hikigaya didn't know what else to say.
"Stop!"
"Hachiman, you don't need to apologize." Horikita interrupted him, her brow showing seriousness. "This was a choice I made myself."
"..."
Simply put, it was a case of "one willing to strike, one willing to suffer." Even knowing he was a philanderer, Horikita still chose to love him.
"Suzune, does that mean you're willing to accept them?" Hikigaya asked tentatively with a look of joy.
"Hmph! In your dreams!!" Horikita snorted heavily, her eyes filled with murderous intent.
"..."
Fine, I knew it. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
"The Hikigaya household can only allow one mistress!!" Horikita's attitude was firm and forceful. "This is a war between me and them!!!"
Gulp.
Cold sweat broke out on Hikigaya's forehead. He could already foresee that his future school life would be accompanied by a never-ending Shuraba (bloody battlefield).
My head hurts...
Whatever, I won't think about it. Things have already reached this point; I can only take it one step at a time.
-
-
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The next day at school.
Hikigaya felt exceptionally refreshed, walking with a spring in his step.
"Hey, Horikita. What's wrong with your legs?"
Although Horikita had tried her best to hide it, the sharp-eyed Kushida Kikyo noticed her unnatural walking movement.
"It's nothing, just a result of excessive exercise..." Horikita brushed her hair back, her cold expression looking the same as usual.
"You... something is wrong!" Kushida narrowed her eyes, her face written with suspicion.
"May I ask what exactly is wrong?" Horikita's heart tightened, wondering where she had slipped up.
"I also think Horikita-san is in an abnormal state today."
Matsushita Chiaki, who was passing by, joined the conversation. Her eyes were full of deep meaning as she observed her. "Even though Hachiman-kun is right next to you, you're deliberately avoiding looking at him... No matter how you look at it, it's a cover-up."
"Horikita! What on earth did you do to my Hachiman?" Kushida couldn't hold back anymore and questioned her aggressively.
"What do you mean, your Hachiman?" Horikita didn't like the sound of that and frowned. "Kushida, have you forgotten how to speak Japanese?"
"Don't change the subject!" Kushida was relentless.
"... I have no idea what you're talking about." Horikita chose to evade.
She wasn't going to brag about last night. That would be too stupid. If she provoked them and they followed her lead by forcing themselves on Hachiman, wouldn't she be shooting herself in the foot?
"Curse you, Horikita! Why are you running away!"
Kushida stomped her foot in anger, then turned her sharp gaze toward the feigned-calm Hikigaya. "Hachiman, say it yourself!"
"Last night, Suzune and I did five math mock exams together." Hikigaya didn't lie.
"What, so it was just studying." Kushida's furled brow immediately relaxed.
"Was it really just studying?" The suspicion on Matsushita Chiaki's face did not fade. As a habitual gossip, her intuition told her there was a massive story here!
"Yes. Besides math, we also studied biology."
Practical training—there was nothing wrong with that!
"Biology?"
"I remember Hachiman-kun's biology grades are quite good, so why would you..." Matsushita frowned, falling into deep thought.
"Class is about to start, let's stop dawdling." Hikigaya ended the conversation and quickened his pace to the classroom.
"Hachiman, wait for me~"
Kushida's voice turned sugary. After catching up, she boldly grabbed his arm. Like she was declaring her sovereignty, she walked into the classroom ostentatiously.
"Good morning, Hachiman-kun... Hey! Kushida, let go of your hand right now!" Karuizawa Kei rushed forward angrily with her hands on her hips.
"Karuizawa-san, why are you shouting so loud?"
"I'm so scared~" Kushida spoke in a "tea-ish" (manipulative/fake) manner, then hugged Hikigaya's arm even tighter.
As she spoke, she shot a provocative glance toward Horikita. However, she was surprised to find that the other girl was calmly reading a book, not giving her so much as a second look.
Tch!
This bitch! Why is she acting so composed today?
"That Kushida girl, clinging to Hachiman first thing in the morning—how irritating!" Hasabe Haruka grumbled indignantly. She turned around: "Airi, what are you looking at?"
"..."
Sakura Airi reached up to adjust her glasses, her eyes gloomily fixed on Horikita's back.
"Haruka... have you noticed that Horikita-san seems different today?"
"Huh? What's different...?" Hasabe was stunned, not following.
Horikita was just sitting quietly at her desk reading. On the surface, there was no difference from her usual self. Yet, the casual way she tucked her hair behind her ear gave off an air of pleasing, dignified grace.
"Specifically, I'm not entirely sure..." Sakura Airi shook her head, her face dark. "Anyway, just looking at her makes me angry!"
"Ai... Airi?" Hasabe was shocked. The usually timid and weak Airi was expressing clear hostility toward another girl for the first time.
The school bell rang, interrupting their scrutiny of Horikita. Due to the special nature of this exam, the atmosphere in the class had been terrible since the morning started, feeling very oppressive. The students of Class D weren't noisy like usual; they were all practicing "silence is gold." There was even a hint of mutual wariness in their eyes.
They were afraid of receiving "censure votes," weren't they?
For Hikigaya, however, he enjoyed this rare peace. If possible, he hoped this group of "eccentrics" in Class D would stay suppressed forever.
Speaking of which, Shinohara Satsuki's small clique huddled together whispering—isn't that too obvious? They were clearly recruiting people to discuss who to target with censure votes!
Although he couldn't hear specifically what the girls were saying, through his "human observation" skills, Hikigaya could detect Shinohara and the others glancing at a certain person from time to time.
Is the target Ayanokouji Kiyotaka?
Yo~ you guys really know how to pick a target! Hikigaya was at a loss for words.
With Ayanokouji's sharp insight, he clearly realized Shinohara and the others were targeting him.
.
.
.
Lunch break. Karuizawa Kei sought him out to report the situation.
"Hachiman-kun, I've heard some rumors.
Shinohara and her group are organizing people. They plan to give their censure votes to Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
They asked me if I wanted to vote with them."
Even though he hadn't asked her to collect intel, Karuizawa was working quite proactively. He felt she was very suited for being ordered around.
Hikigaya shook his head. "There's no need for you to get involved in that. Just vote according to your own thoughts."
"Eh? Doesn't Hachiman-kun hate that Ayanokouji guy?" Karuizawa looked surprised.
"It's true I dislike him, but I also dislike this method of a collective ganging up on one person." Hikigaya's voice was low. Once upon a time, he was the victim of collective isolation.
Besides that, he didn't think Ayanokouji would just sit there and wait for death. Small tricks like this wouldn't defeat the masterpiece of the White Room.
Another important reason was that Hikigaya felt the Acting Chairman's attitude was unclear. Adding this "In-Class Voting" exam seemed aimed at forcing a specific person to drop out. But thinking carefully, the rules were designed strangely—for example, the rule that students from other classes can give praise votes. This was clearly leaving a back door for someone driven into a corner...
Whatever. What did these bullshit conspiracies have to do with him?
"Kei, that Ayanokouji guy is dangerous. Stay away from things involving him in the future." Hikigaya gave his advice.
"Heehee~ Hachiman-kun is worrying about me, I'm so happy!" Karuizawa beamed.
.
.
.
Afternoon, Class D classroom.
Shinohara Satsuki's clique began to take action, moving around to win over other students. While Shinohara's influence was limited—currently only recruiting five or six students—considering Ayanokouji's reputation in Class D was already terrible, there was a high probability other students would vote for him even without her lobbying.
Ayanokouji, well aware of this, finally launched his counterattack.
"Hirata, I've found that I'm being bullied. Can you help me?"
Whoa!
Hikigaya was shocked to find that this guy's level of serious bullshitting was even higher than his own!
Bam!
The classic table-slam.
"Enough of this!"
Hirata Yosuke believed it, and then, as expected, flew into a rage.
"Hi... Hirata-kun, what do you mean by this?" Shinohara was somewhat intimidated by his angry gaze.
"Shinohara! You are openly calling for everyone to target Ayanokouji-kun. This is an extremely malicious act of bullying!!" Hirata rebuked her righteously.
"How is this bullying!"
"I... I'm doing this for the sake of the exam!" Shinohara explained defensively. "Hirata, it's easy for you to talk, but when the actual exam day comes, everyone has to vote. Either way, someone has to be expelled..."
"I absolutely cannot accept this method of collective bullying!" Hirata's eyes were cold. "If you insist on doing this, then I will write your name on my censure vote!!"
Read ahead (160 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting
Announcement
I'm happy to announce that there are 2 new Fanfiction!
Hachiman wants to escape the Romantic Minefield in COTE
Why are Yukino and Yui in this school too?!
To ensure a comfortable future, Hikigaya Hachiman chose to attend a highly advanced high school with a 99% college entrance and employment rate.
However, upon entering, Hachiman immediately noticed something was amiss.
Karuizawa : "If... you hadn't been there back then, I probably wouldn't have made it..."
Kushida Kikyo: "Hachiman-kun, if you dare tell anyone about what happened in middle school, I'll make sure you can't stay here!"
Yui: "Hachiman... if the lights are off, can't you just pretend I'm Ichinose-kun?"
Yukino: "Hachiman-kun, it seems you need to explain how many people you've messed with since transferring schools!"
Shirou's multiverse selves
"I've actually been reborn ten years in the past, during the Fourth Holy Grail War."
Realizing this, countless ideas flooded Shirou's mind. Just as he was about to put them into action, Shirou suddenly found himself in a space filled with white mist, where he encountered two other versions of himself.
But these versions have different powers and their world are familliar, and with only a touch we can share memories and powers.
Massive Multi-Crossovers and multi protagonist(the protagonist are the various Shirou in their world)
One Piece, FGO, Food Wars, Slime Tensei, Fairy Tail and more