After Hikigaya left, only Sakayanagi and Kamuro remained in the clubroom. Sakayanagi sat quietly in front of the chessboard, saying nothing. Meanwhile, Kamuro plopped down in the seat where Hikigaya had been sitting.
"Sakayanagi, did you have fun today?"
Kamuro unwrapped a lollipop and popped it into her mouth. Mmm, sweet and tangy strawberry flavor—not bad.
Sakayanagi didn't respond right away. She just stared at the chessboard in silence, lost in thought. Then suddenly, she smiled.
"Uh..."
Kamuro watched as Sakayanagi's lips curled into an unexpected smile, and for some reason, it gave her a weird feeling.
There was no sign of the frustration Kamuro had expected. Instead, it was more like... the excitement of finding a new toy.
Kamuro knew that smile all too well.
That was exactly how Sakayanagi had smiled at her back then—right before she became her "pet."
Dead-fish eyes, rest in peace.
Kamuro lit an imaginary incense stick in her heart for a certain someone.
"This Hikigaya from Class D really taught me a lesson today."
Sakayanagi picked up a chess piece and began replaying the game in her mind. She could perfectly reconstruct every move just from memory.
"I originally just wanted a little appetizer before the main course."
As she fiddled with the pieces, she muttered to herself, "Did it start from this move? No... that's not it..."
Kamuro watched her mumbling to herself with a strange look on her face. "Sakayanagi, you okay?"
Something about her seemed... off.
"Heh, Masumi, there's no need to worry. I'm feeling great."
Sakayanagi stopped moving the pieces, looking satisfied with how the board was set up. She glanced up at Kamuro and gave a small smile.
"I-I wasn't worried about you! No, I mean, you just look kinda..."
Kamuro struggled to find the right word. Finally, she came up with one.
"Content?"
"As expected, Masumi, you really do understand me."
Sakayanagi smiled again, but to Kamuro, that smile felt a little cold.
"So he really was holding back last time."
"But he still lost to you in the end," Kamuro said, unimpressed.
"Heh, you know, the right outcome requires the right process. The final result is what I wanted, but the way it happened was what he wanted."
Thinking about it, Sakayanagi recalled how she had "guided" Hikigaya into accepting the bet. The situation now was almost identical—the result was in her favor, but the way it unfolded wasn't quite what she had planned.
Anyone connected to that woman was bound to be trouble.
"That sounds way too complicated. In the end, you won anyway. Isn't that all that matters?"
Kamuro felt like Sakayanagi was just showing off. She had already won, yet she was acting like she both won and lost at the same time. So annoying.
"If we're only talking about this game, then yes, that's true."
Sakayanagi didn't argue with Kamuro but simply gave her a deep look. "Knowing what happened but not why it happened is a very dangerous thing."
"Huh? Are you saying I'm shallow?!"
Kamuro's eyebrows shot up as she glared at Sakayanagi without holding back.
"You're only looking at the chessboard, but he and I are seeing what's beyond it."
Sakayanagi sighed. "The moment he accepted the match, I should've realized I had already fallen into his trap."
"This is the first time I've seen you admit defeat."
Kamuro sounded a little surprised.
Sakayanagi seemed especially sensitive to the word "defeat" and gave Kamuro a sharp look as she spoke slowly, emphasizing each word: "I. Did. Not. Lose."
Ignoring Kamuro's dissatisfaction, Sakayanagi continued analyzing the situation. "He deliberately played fast to make me think, 'He knows he's not as strong, so he's using an unpredictable strategy.' That was his way of pretending to be weak.
Then, he deliberately acted like he was in trouble, thinking deeply about his next move, making me believe I had the upper hand. But in reality, he was setting things up behind the scenes. Now that I think back on it, his expression at the time didn't look fake at all.
In the end, he went all out, like a cornered beast. He's incredibly cunning… and ruthless."
"Is it really that serious?"
Kamuro muttered from the side, feeling like Sakayanagi might be overthinking things. Is this just how so-called geniuses think?
"He's a liar."
That was Sakayanagi's conclusion.
"As expected, only a liar can be friends with another liar."
Sakayanagi let out a cold laugh.
Really? I think you're a liar too.
Kamuro could only keep that thought to herself. She wouldn't dare say it out loud in front of Sakayanagi. Not because she was scared, of course—she was just being considerate!
Yeah, just looking out for her pride!
…
Time had unknowingly moved into mid-May. Since the first week had a holiday, most students spent it enjoying their own little golden week. By the time classes returned to normal, everyone suddenly realized that half the month had already passed.
Hikigaya found himself going to the library more often. Of course, he told himself it was for the upcoming midterm exams.
With less than two weeks until the exams, the library was noticeably more crowded, mainly with first-year students. After all, the pressure of expulsion was a real threat hanging over every student's head.
As for Class D, thanks to Hirata's efforts, the class had successfully organized a study group. Many students who were worried about their grades joined in, making it seem like things were heading in a positive direction.
One thing that truly surprised Hikigaya was that the two idiots—Sudou and his crew—actually joined the study group. But what shocked him even more was that Horikita was there too.
He couldn't imagine Horikita and Sudou, two people who clashed like a volcano hitting the earth, actually working together.
Did Horikita somehow learn some secret "monkey training" technique? How else could she get these three to follow instructions so obediently?
But when Hikigaya noticed Kushida among them, he started to understand what was really going on.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
A gentle, soothing voice suddenly spoke from behind him. Before Hikigaya could respond, the girl had already taken the empty seat across from him.
Noticing his dead-fish eyes on her, the girl's lips curved into a small smile. "Hello, Hikigaya-kun."
"Hello, Shiina-san."
Even though this wasn't the first time they had "run into" each other at the library, every time, Hikigaya still got a fleeting sense of peace and quiet.
After several encounters at the library, the two had grown more familiar with each other. While Hiyori claimed to be introverted and not good at socializing, Hikigaya noticed that she wasn't inherently bad at interacting—she just lacked experience.
Once you got to know her, you'd realize that, at heart, she was actually quite lively. But because of her "bookworm" image, people tended to assume she was just a quiet shut-in.
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