How could they not be happy, how could they not support.
Next, as long as she naturally loses to Hachiman, maybe their relationship could overtake the others.
"Shameless!"
But before Miura Yumiko could agree, the long-black-haired disciplinary committee member Kotegawa Yui appeared before them, arms akimbo, face stern, glaring at Miura Yumiko and Hachiman.
"What are you betting on? What shameful things are you trying to do?"
In fact, ever since joining Asai Saki and Sakurai Hana's disciplinary punishment toward Hachiman, Kotegawa Yui had started to pay special attention to him.
All day today, every time after taking notes in class and while the teacher rested a bit, she would secretly glance backward at Hachiman.
However, due to the barrier shielding the back of the classroom, she could only see the scene of Hachiman seriously attending class, unable to notice the shamelessly absurd behavior occurring there.
She even thought that after being punished by Sakurai Hana, Asai Saki, and Usui Makoto, Hachiman was starting to behave, not even needing her and Ryuzakai Hina to step in. But now the day wasn't even over and he had already revealed his true self.
Kotegawa Yui had wanted to stop Miura Yumiko and the others from continuing to make noise in the classroom, but just as she walked over, she heard the bet between Miura Yumiko and Hachiman.
'Too outrageous!'
Already on the disciplinary blacklist and still so arrogant. Flirting with female classmates in the classroom openly.
"Uh...", Seeing the emotionless Kotegawa Yui appear beside them, face stern, the noisy White Gyaru group, Yuina, Minami, and Rin, immediately fell silent.
"Sorry, we were a little too loud," Ijichi Nijika awkwardly smiled and quickly apologized to Kotegawa Yui, who had a cold expression.
"Class is about to start, go change clothes quickly!"
Kitagawa Marin even directly pulled the relieved Miura Yumiko and Hachiman, who were grateful the bet was interrupted, and ran outside.
"Right, Kotegawa, you should go change too."
Yuina also dragged away Ijichi Nijika, who still wanted to explain, and quickly left the classroom with Rin and Minami.
With only a few students left, the classroom instantly quieted, no more commotion.
In truth, they had no personal grudge against Kotegawa Yui, mainly that she was too strict and unapproachable.
If it were only noise in the classroom, an apology would be enough. But if Kotegawa Yui found out about their special relationship with Hachiman, she would definitely cause endless trouble, showing no leniency at all.
"Sugisaki-san, class is starting soon," Seeing the others avoiding her, Kotegawa Yui, already used to it, said nothing more. She only looked seriously at Sugisaki Kasumi, who sat near the window in the classroom, wearing thick glasses and having just put down her book. She gave a brief reminder before turning to go change for P.E.
"Okay, thank you, Kotegawa-san," Sugisaki Kasumi looked at the slim back with jet-black hair and gently expressed thanks, pushing her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose, standing to tidy up her desk before slowly walking out of the classroom to the changing room.
Actually, sitting at the front by the window, the chatter from the back didn't bother her much. Moreover, Hikigaya and Miura weren't speaking too loudly either.
But she still had a good impression of Kotegawa.
Not just because Kotegawa had spoken up for her, someone still reading in the classroom, but also because Kotegawa, like her, had no friends in school.
Though Kotegawa was just too strict and inflexible, with no social grace, and she herself was plain and had no presence, they were both outsiders in the class, both equally friendless.
Sugisaki Kasumi walked alone to the changing room. Kotegawa Yui was already opening her locker, changing into her gym clothes.
Ijichi Nijika, Kitagawa Marin, Miura Yumiko, and Yuina hadn't changed yet either, still chatting and laughing quietly while changing.
Sugisaki Kasumi silently opened her own locker, taking out the gym clothes she had prepared earlier, sneaking glances with the corner of her eye at Kitagawa and the others.
Compared to her and Kotegawa, who had no friends, Ijichi and Shirasaki, who surrounded Hikigaya, were truly enviable.
During that gr*ping incident on the train, Ijichi had exchanged contacts with Sugisaki and even wanted to invite her to hang out together.
But she declined politely, not wanting to approach the "normie" group of the class. She only occasionally watched Hachiman from afar.
Compared to the colorful lives of those gyaru, glamorous normies, she, who only knew how to study and nothing else, was completely out of place.
Although she too wanted to laugh and joke with Hikigaya during breaks like Ijichi and the others, a plain girl like her who didn't know how to dress up probably wasn't even noticed by him.
Sugisaki Kasumi bit her lip, suppressing the unrealistic restlessness in her heart, and continued to change clothes.
"Sugisaki-san, sorry about earlier. We were too noisy and might have disturbed your reading," At that moment, pink-haired gyaru Yuina approached Sugisaki Kasumi, gently tapped her shoulder, and whispered an apology.
"Actually, I wasn't disturbed. I was about to put away my books anyway, so no need to apologize, Shirasaki-san."
Sugisaki Kasumi's body stiffened, turning to find the gentle and thoughtful Yuina from the gyaru group. She quickly shook her head in denial.
"As long as it didn't bother you."
Yuina smiled and nodded, glancing at Kotegawa Yui, who remained expressionless nearby, and sighed inwardly.
Both of them were class outsiders, but Kasumi, who usually just read at her seat, was easy to handle. The rigid and thorough Kotegawa, who strictly searched and confiscated contraband, was another story.
It could be said that Kotegawa Yui was the biggest obstacle standing in the way of their plan to help Hachiman dominate Class 1-F.
If it weren't for the invisibility magic, they'd have to tiptoe around everything they did in class to avoid Kotegawa Yui.
"Oh~ Sugisaki-san's figure is surprisingly nice, didn't notice before."
Minami suddenly came over too, staring at Sugisaki Kasumi's curves usually hidden by her uniform.
Though not extraordinarily large, and not on par with tall girls like Hayase Saki or Narahashi Miki, it was quite impressive among ordinary girls.
"Her skin is also really pale. Does Sugisaki stay inside reading most of the time?"
Rin lifted her arm to compare with Sugisaki's and was speechless to find herself less fair-skinned.
She even loved using whitening products to make her skin softer and lighter, but everyone around her seemed paler.
"Uh...", Sugisaki Kasumi was at a loss as the gyaru group approached, unsure what to say.
Did they find out she often watched them and Hikigaya secretly?
But she had no friends and never told anyone her thoughts. Just watching from afar couldn't have brought her trouble, right?
"Not just your figure, Sugisaki-san, you're actually really cute. I saw your face without glasses during that train incident."
Ijichi Nijika, having finished changing and closed her locker, turned to look at Sugisaki and the others with a smile.
"But Yuina and Minami, don't crowd too close. Look, you're making Sugisaki nervous."
"Cute? Sugisaki-san, could you take off your glasses so I can see too?"
Minami was stunned by Ijichi's comment, eyes fixed on the bespectacled Sugisaki.
"Uhm... okay... but I'm not really cute...", Seeing Minami and the others' curious stares, Sugisaki hesitated, then slowly removed her thick glasses.
"If you let down your tied hair too, you should see Sugisaki-san's true look," Ijichi Nijika, seeing Sugisaki remove her glasses, smiled and helped untie her short ponytail, letting silky black hair fall over her shoulders, turning her gently to face the group.
"Hiss... she really is cute. It's been so long since school started and we never noticed...", Yuina looked at Sugisaki's bashfully lowered head and her pure, pretty face, unable to help but marvel.
Their class already had many beauties, probably the most in the entire school. [T/N: You have a MC in your class, what do you expect?]
Aside from Horikome China and Kotegawa Yui, everyone from their group to Miura Yumiko to transfer students like Gabriel and Ichinose Honami, all had close ties with Hachiman in the back row. And yet here was another who had slipped through the net.
"Sugisaki-san really is cute, hehe~"
"Come play with us in tennis class, Sugisaki-san~"
Rin and Minami exchanged a glance and instantly understood each other, immediately stepping forward to bond with her.
"Ah? I'm really not that cute...", Sugisaki Kasumi shrank back, startled by their sudden enthusiasm.
Although she wanted to have a vibrant school life like the others around Hikigaya, this wasn't quite what she had imagined.
———
[Outdoor Tennis Court]
Unlike the girls who joked and played while changing, Hachiman had already changed and arrived at the court early, watching the F-class and the neighboring class slowly gather while reflecting on earlier.
Although the bet had been interrupted by Kotegawa Yui and he missed the chance to corner Miura Yumiko with help from Yuina and Nijika, it didn't make much difference to him.
Miura Yumiko, with her bossy personality, was like Vignette, feelings would develop over time, and she couldn't leave her friends unattended.
The only problem was that Miura would often make decisions for her friends "for their own good," unlike Vignette who respected boundaries.
If someone like Yuigahama Yui from the original series, weak-willed and unable to oppose Miura, tried to get along with her, it would be quite frustrating.
But Miura couldn't dominate him, and with Ijichi and Kitagawa's high emotional intelligence, Miura wasn't as overbearing as in the original. Their current dynamic was decent.
The only hassle was that Miura's normie clique wasn't made of inner-world heroines. With their strong and independent personalities, even if there were some flirty moments, it didn't mean they'd throw themselves at him like the three gyaru.
Good things take time. If he wanted to cosplay and rock out with them without reservation, it would take patience.
While sighing, Hachiman scanned the neighboring class for Bocchi's figure.
Last time, it was during tennis class that they became good friends.
This time could be another chance to grow closer. After all, tomorrow he'd be taking her to join the band, so preparing a bit now would be best.
But today's class next door didn't seem to be Bocchi's, it was a second-year class.
Just as he looked away and continued waiting for the gyaru group, he suddenly saw a busty long-black-haired girl jog over from the neighboring class.
"Hikigaya-kun, are you planning to conduct a customary disciplinary action during tennis class?", The refined-looking disciplinary committee member Asai Saki bounced over to Hikigaya, glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and excitedly approached, whispering.
She had seen him earlier from the other class and had been debating whether to greet him, only to find out he was looking for her too.
Though doing such things during tennis class was bold, she couldn't ignore her duty.
The disciplined environment of Sobu High was built by the joint effort of many committee members. If she had to sacrifice herself to stop Hachiman from corrupting it, then it was only right.
"Uhh... I was just casually looking, that's not what I meant...", Seeing this delusional committee girl misunderstanding his gaze, Hachiman waved his hand in exasperation.
He had only wanted to find Bocchi and train her courage a bit, who knew Asai Saki was in the neighboring class?
To be fair, she was quite pretty. Disciplinary committee members were rarely unattractive, and her looks and figure were among the best among second-years.
But her personality was... comparable to Kamijou Maki from the apartment next to Sakurase Shino's. And here she was, skipping class to come to him.
He had invisibility magic and dating-mode privileges to act as he pleased, but Asai Saki didn't. She was just plain bold.
"Hikigaya-kun, worried about being discovered? Don't worry, we can find a quiet place, the sports equipment shed or the restroom. Plus, Kotegawa-san is in your class, right? Have her stand watch outside and warn us if someone comes," Seeing Hachiman, who could physically take on multiple girls, refuse the disciplinary event, Asai Saki blinked and hurriedly suggested.
Though it wasn't as convenient as the student council office, a little difficulty wouldn't stop her from fulfilling her role.
The committee had already held a meeting, only a few members were responsible for disciplinary actions, but all had a duty to support.
Not to mention Kotegawa had voluntarily offered to help. Just having her on lookout was perfect.
"...That makes it worse. Does Kotegawa know what we're doing? If she's not stopping us, she definitely wouldn't be helping," Hachiman was even more speechless.
Anyone else, maybe. At Sobu High, if a girl was beautiful and unfamiliar, she was almost certainly from the inner world. The disciplinary committee girls were each more outlandish than the last.
But Kotegawa was truly pure and innocent, not someone who could be roped into this like the others.
"If Kotegawa-san won't work, that's okay too. I still have... mm... Hikigaya-kun, it's settled then. I'll come find you once we're dismissed."
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