Chapter 16 Guess?
In the quiet classroom, Chabashira Sae stood at the podium, expressionless, teaching history.
Not long after the dismissal bell rang, Ichinose's beautiful figure appeared at the back door of Class D.
"Hikigaya-kun, let's go to the student council together."
"Mm."
Hikigaya, pulled by the arm, walked out of the classroom under the envious and jealous stares of the boys in the class. Even in the corridor, the two attracted the scrutinizing gaze of many students.
"I wanna die."
"You shouldn't say such unlucky things," Ichinose responded with a cheerful smile. "Hikigaya—kun."
When Hikigaya, being pulled along by Ichinose, stepped into the student council room, Horikita Manabu remained calm, but Tachibana Akane suddenly stood up.
"Hikigaya, how could you do something like this! You can't be like Nagumo, toying with girls' feelings."
Tachibana assumed that Hikigaya had gotten close to Ichinose just to strike at Nagumo. Her small cheeks puffed out.
"I'm not that much of a scumbag," Hikigaya said under Horikita's scrutinizing gaze. "Recently, Ichinose and I formed an offensive-defensive alliance."
The implication being that the two were not actually a couple in the true sense.
Most of Class B's boys and some girls clearly wanted Ichinose to lead them. But Ichinose didn't have the confidence to respond to their expectations and lead them to Class A. Yet, when she saw the trust in her classmates' eyes, she couldn't bring herself to say no.
Trying to have both ways comes at a cost, and so she acted out of line the night before.
"I wouldn't mind if the fake became real, but unfortunately, Hikigaya-kun didn't agree." 'Though I think I've started to like him a little.'
Though she took the initiative the night before, Hikigaya didn't even return the embrace. He simply agreed to her unreasonable request and pushed her off him. Hikigaya had agreed to help her with ideas and strategies from behind the scenes, even without transferring to Class B. The price: thirty million private points and her promise to listen to him as much as possible.
Being "boyfriend and girlfriend" in name only gave Hikigaya a justified reason to get involved in Class B matters. Since he was Ichinose's boyfriend, it would be natural for him to help her.
"Tch, scumbag." Tachibana clicked her tongue and sat down with a red face. Ichinose's bold statement had made her a little envious.
'If I'm the scumbag, then Ichinose probably needs to take a day off today,' Hikigaya thought gloomily. His current body, still a virgin, couldn't handle her "T-Rex" level aggression. He didn't even have time to think clearly before agreeing to her request the previous night.
Even though he had gained control over Class B, it was through the "tool" Ichinose. Only by going through her could he influence the class. Just thinking about having to attend the gathering with Ichinose's classmates that evening, under the title of her boyfriend, gave him a stomachache.
Not long after Hikigaya and Ichinose sat next to Tachibana, Nagumo Miyabi also came in with his student council entourage and sat across from them.
"Hikigaya, you've really been hiding your talents."
"It's nothing, maybe I just have good character. After all, there aren't any rumors of me having multiple girlfriends."
Nagumo, flipping his blond bangs, was a little shaken.
"When did Ichinose become yours? You really kept it under wraps."
He had brought Ichinose into the student council to have her compete with Hikigaya and even gave up a student council position to elevate her status. With her popularity and beauty, he originally planned to find a chance to reel her in and play with her.
Now look—on the very first day, Ichinose betrayed him at light speed. Nagumo felt utterly humiliated.
"Take a guess?" Hikigaya chose the most annoying response possible.
Nagumo instantly cracked. "What am I, a kid? I don't wanna guess!"
"In the eyes of me and the president, you're just an overgrown brat," Hikigaya stared directly at Nagumo and said each word clearly and seriously.
Just from Nagumo's shady stunt of trying to get Tachibana expelled after becoming student council president, Hikigaya wanted to slap him twice.
Nagumo never considered the consequences of his actions. If Tachibana really had been expelled, her life could have entered a downward spiral. The outside world is harsh on expelled students.
Spending tens of millions of points to buy off Class 3-B to get Tachibana expelled, losing Horikita Manabu's trust—Nagumo did all this just to see Horikita angry.
Twisted freaks are terrifying.
"Come say that again after you've taken control of the first years."
"So I need to be a chef before I can judge food?" Hikigaya wasn't backing down from a verbal duel with Nagumo.
"You're mixing concepts."
Nagumo picked up a pen and began working. As the loser today, he knew that continuing to argue would only make him look more like a clown. 'A gentleman's revenge is never too late.'
He wouldn't forget Hikigaya.
"Ichinose, introduce yourself. For student council matters, learn from Tachibana first," Horikita stepped in to clean up after the verbal mess.
"Yes." Ichinose stood up confidently. "I'm Ichinose from Class 1-B, and I'm Hikigaya's girlfriend. Please take care of me."
As Tachibana clapped, a smattering of applause followed in the student council room.
.
.
.
"Sorry, I ate something bad earlier. My stomach hurts—I need to head back to the dorm," Hikigaya bent down.
After finishing student council matters and having dinner with Ichinose, the original plan was to attend a karaoke meetup with Ichinose's classmates. But Hikigaya didn't want to go. Not today, not tomorrow, not even the day after.
"Then should I just have Mako and Kanzaki come to your dorm instead?"
"...The pain went away just now, all of a sudden."
"Mako and the others aren't scary monsters, you know."
"Think about it—I'll definitely get bombarded with questions. Who knows, the guys from your class might even throw a bag over my head."
"No running away."
Ichinose tightly hugged Hikigaya's entire arm and forcefully dragged him to the destination. Inside the karaoke private room were already three boys and three girls.
"Good evening, everyone."
"Good evening, Hanabi-chan."
"Good evening."
After greeting everyone, Ichinose introduced her Class B classmates to Hikigaya. The girls were Amakura Mako, Kobashi Yume, and Shiranami Chihiro. The boys included Kanzaki Ryuji, whom he knew, and two unfamiliar faces—Shibata Souta and Watanabe Norihito.
"Good evening, everyone. I'm Hikigaya Hachiman."
After his self-introduction, Ichinose had already been pulled into the group of girls, and Hikigaya, reading the room, sat next to Kanzaki.
"If I find out you threatened Ichinose, I won't forgive you," Kanzaki whispered to Hikigaya as soon as he sat down.
As someone who had always been by Ichinose's side, Kanzaki knew well that there had been very little prior interaction between Hikigaya and Ichinose—suddenly becoming a couple was definitely suspicious.