Chapter 012 Is This Dead-Fish-Eyes Really This Bold?
This guy with the dead-fish eyes... he clearly has the face of a gloomy, bottom-tier virgin, but his composure is actually quite strong!
'But a man is a man.
An exchange? Asking me to help him with something?
It's nothing more than wanting to take the opportunity to ask me out on a date or something like that.'
Kushida Kikyo sneered in her heart, but her face maintained an expression of joyful acceptance.
"Sure~!
As long as Hikigaya-kun can help me invite Horikita-san out.
I can agree to any request you have~"
She looked at him with pleading eyes, while simultaneously showing a perfectly timed expression of shyness.
Using cuteness as a weapon.
To be honest, even though Hikigaya knew she had ulterior motives, it was hard for him to feel any disgust. Because Kushida Kikyo really was cute.
Hikigaya wouldn't mind her becoming "Wife No. 3" in his dreams.
'Pfft!
Wait, no!
Am I seriously assigning them numbers now?!'
Hikigaya seriously suspected he was developing a delusional disorder lately.
Seeing the shifting expressions on his face, the corners of Kushida Kikyo's lips couldn't help but curl upward slightly.
She thought to herself: 'He's wavering, right? Acting all deep and brooding for me? In his head, he might have already fast-forwarded to our wedding!'
"I will do my best."
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Hikigaya's face.
He figured she probably looked at him as just another hormone-driven monkey like Ike or Yamauchi. Even though that was annoying, Hikigaya found himself unable to confidently deny it.
Entering the Class D classroom, it was as noisy as ever.
Some were showing off newly bought game consoles, some were openly bringing siscon manga into the classroom to read—good grief... Hikigaya loved reading that stuff too, but he only dared to do it behind closed doors at home.
The girls weren't much better; with pendants, bracelets, hairbands, and all sorts of flashy accessories, their entire focus was on dressing up.
'Are you guys really here to go to school?'
One could only say, as expected of Class D...
Hikigaya shook his head privately and returned to his seat.
His neighbor, Horikita Suzune, was quietly reading as usual, forming a sharp contrast with the surrounding clamor.
Thinking of his deal with Kushida Kikyo, Hikigaya took the initiative to speak: "Hikigaya Suzun—mm!"
The name that slipped out was swallowed back by him at the very last second, his hands clamped tightly over his mouth.
"Is this some kind of novel greeting?"
Horikita Suzune turned her head with a puzzled look: "Shouting your own surname at someone else..."
"N-No, it's not!"
Hikigaya shook his head frantically.
'That was close...!'
He almost called out the name of his "wife" from the dream.
He couldn't imagine what kind of reaction Horikita Suzune would have if she heard it. She'd probably give him an immediate arm-bar, followed by a body slam, and finally a ground-and-pound cross armbreaker...
The clear image of Horikita Suzune KO-ing him with a combo move instantly surfaced in his mind; Hikigaya even felt a faint ache in his back.
'Uh...
This strange sense of déjà vu, am I over-fantasizing?'
"Don't talk to me for no reason."
Horikita Suzune glared at him with a cold gaze.
'Fine, dreams and reality are indeed different.'
The short-haired version of Suzune was a "cool outside, warm inside" cute little bride. The long-haired version of Suzune was a humorless, icy beauty.
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First period: Mathematics.
Hikigaya's lifelong enemy!
Normally, he would have fallen asleep immediately. However, after learning that the freshmen were undergoing a month-long "behavioral evaluation," Hikigaya held back.
Even if he completely failed to understand what the teacher was saying, he maintained an upright sitting posture, pretending to listen intently.
Most of the students in Class D didn't even bother to pretend; they were either sleeping or playing on their phones, showing their true colors.
The math teacher ignored it the entire time, which made the students below even more reckless!
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Monitoring Room.
"As expected, a group of hopeless wretches."
Chabashira Sae was mocking them, but she was also mocking herself.
How many years had it been? Was she still not giving up hope? Every year, Class D was comprised of defective products; the repeated shattering of her hopes had left her disheartened.
Suddenly, in a corner of the monitor screen, one student caught her attention.
"That's... Hikigaya Hachiman?"
Chabashira Sae recognized this student. His file showed that his entrance scores for liberal arts could rank in the top three of the grade, but his science scores were disastrous—especially math, where he somehow only got 9 points... Such a severe imbalance of subjects made it hard not to be impressed.
"He's actually listening so intently... wait, no!"
Having been a teacher for seven or eight years, Chabashira Sae had developed a pair of sharp eyes.
"He's pretending to listen.
What is the purpose of doing this?
Playing the good student?
Or rather... has he seen through something?"
Chabashira Sae stared fixedly at Hikigaya on the monitor for a full forty minutes. It wasn't until the bell rang for the end of class that she saw Hikigaya inadvertently look up and glance in the direction of the surveillance camera.
"Interesting!"
Chabashira Sae smiled.
It was like a drowning person seeing a life-saving straw. This time, she would grasp it firmly and never let go!
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The morning had three consecutive science classes, which severely devastated Hikigaya's spirit. Fortunately, the last period was Japanese, which allowed him to recover some of his energy.
Glancing at Horikita Suzune, who was still seriously organizing her notes after class, Hikigaya took a deep breath and adjusted his mindset.
"Horikita-san."
"Finally can't resist speaking? You've looked over at me seven times this morning."
'Exactly seven times? You were actually counting?'
Hikigaya suppressed the urge to retort, cleared his throat, and organized his words.
He placed his hand over his heart and said with an incomparably solemn expression: "If you come at four o'clock in the afternoon, then from three o'clock on, I shall begin to feel happy."
"Pffft—"
This completely stunned Kushida Kikyo, who was pretending to pack her bag while secretly pricking up her ears to eavesdrop!
'Wait, is this dead-fish-eyes guy really this bold?'
Quite a few people in Class D heard it and cast looks of utter astonishment. It was common knowledge that while Horikita Suzune was beautiful, her cold "stay away" attitude discouraged anyone from trying to get close.
"T-This is a confession, right?!"
"For real?"
Ike Kanji looked shocked.
"Ha~ Hikitani really doesn't know his own place."
Yamauchi Haruki mocked him without concealment.
Sudo Ken glanced at Horikita Suzune and added with a nuanced expression: "There's no way Horikita would agree..."
"Fine."
Horikita Suzune first looked at Hikigaya with surprised eyes, as if recalling something thoughtfully, and then responded with a straight face: "The temperature of the food is the scale of the heart."
"Eh?!"
"Does that mean she agreed?!"
Faced with a dialogue that left them feeling "impressed but confused," the crowd could only assume it was Horikita Suzune's reserved way of accepting.
After school, under the incredible gazes of everyone, Hikigaya and Horikita left the classroom one after the other.
"To actually use the 'taming' philosophy of the fox toward the Little Prince... you really are a reckless fellow."
Horikita Suzune was both surprised and slightly curious. Their dialogue came from the story of The Little Prince by the legendary French author Saint-Exupéry.
"Sorry, I was also taking the risk of being scolded."
Hikigaya scratched his head with slight embarrassment.
He really couldn't find a reason that would successfully invite Horikita Suzune, so he had to take a leap of faith and use the literature she loved as bait.