Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

"There's no evidence of any witnesses."

When school was over, Kushida Kikyo spoke with a helpless look on her face.

"By the way, is there something wrong with Sudo's feeling? Do we have to keep looking like this?" Yamauchi Haruki sat in his seat looking tired. He didn't even think that he had any responsibility in this matter.

"What are you talking about? This is not only helping Sudou, but also helping yourself!"

Kushida responded immediately.

But Yamauchi and Ike both looked very confused. After all, it was Sudo himself who actually beat the man. The two of them were not even accomplices. At most, they could only be considered as the fuse.

In the end, even if the school imposes a penalty, only Sudo will be expelled...

Perhaps because he knew this, Sudo hardly left the dormitory these days and stayed in his room the whole time.

"Do Hirata and the others have any clues?"

Ayanokouji, as an outside member of the Three Idiots, spoke out of curiosity.

"I contacted them, but didn't get much out of them." Kushida shook his head.

"Why don't you ask Hikigaya?"

When everyone fell silent, Ayanokouji suddenly spoke.

During the last midterm exam, he and Horikita had witnessed Hikigaya's true ability, and thus developed a strong curiosity about this most inconspicuous student in the class.

Unfortunately, no matter what means he used, Hikigaya seemed to be indifferent to him, which really made Ayanokouji realize how inadequate his social skills were.

He had actually gradually forgotten about observing Hikigaya.

But at the class meeting yesterday, the scene where Hikigaya angrily criticized Yamauchi and Ike made him curious about Hikigaya again.

At least I felt that Hikigaya was special.

Therefore, when it came to finding witnesses, Ayanokouji instinctively thought of Hikigaya.

"This……"

"Let's forget about the penguin."

After what happened yesterday, Ike and Yamauchi are now extremely angry with Hikigaya.

It was a blessing that they could hold back and not get angry at Hikigaya, let alone ask for his help.

In fact, it's not just Ike and Yamauchi who are unhappy with Hikigaya. Many people in Class D are uncomfortable with Hikigaya's remarks yesterday.

After all, Hikigaya exposed the dark side that was hidden in people's hearts. This may be what everyone thinks in their hearts, but the public often cannot accept this ugliness on the surface.

Simply put, you can do it secretly in private, but you can't tell anyone about it openly.

Whoever says it is the enemy!

As a result, Hikigaya's reputation in Class D plummeted, and his already poor popularity became even worse. Even after class, he often felt that strange classmates were pointing fingers at him.

But Hikigaya didn't feel sad about the situation at all.

On the contrary, he actually welcomed this situation. It was like he was back in junior high school and was hated by everyone in his class. It was like he had become the protagonist of a rebirth story!

Therefore, our rebirth hero, Hikigaya, silently took out the novel he had borrowed from the library and calmly began to read it.

"Um, Hikigaya-san..."

Suddenly, a voice came from my ears.

Hikigaya looked up in surprise and found that the person coming was Kikyo Kushida.

"What, what's wrong?"

Kang didn't expect that Kushida would come over suddenly and actually stand right in front of him.

Um, I mean... you're a little close, I smell a weird scent, is it perfume? And I hope you don't come any closer...

"I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday."

"Uh... ah?"

He didn't expect Kushida to come to talk about this specifically. He was slightly stunned and replied, "Okay, okay, given the relationship between us, you don't have to pretend like this."

Hikigaya felt that Kushida was just pretending to be gentle and kind as usual.

But in fact, Hikigaya already knew the other party's true identity, and he didn't think it was necessary for Kushida to continue pretending in front of him.

"No, that's not it." However, Kushida Kikyo shook her head, "My apology to you is from the bottom of my heart... I regret asking you the question at that time and making you hated by your classmates."

While saying this, Hikigaya was paying attention to Kushida's expression.

What surprised him was that Kushida's expression was not fake, and he seemed to be truly sorry from the bottom of his heart.

But why?

Why would Kushida, who is dark and powerful by nature, feel sorry for himself?

Unable to figure it all out, Hikigaya could only give a stiff answer, "Don't worry about it. Even if you didn't ask me the question at that time, I would have said the same thing."

"That's right..."

Kushida Kikyo nodded slightly, but it was obvious that she still hadn't let it go. "Hikigaya-san... why can you say such cruel words? Aren't you afraid of being disliked by others?"

Obviously, what Kikyo Kushida could not understand the most was that Hikigaya voluntarily blew himself up to drag Yamauchi and Ike into the water.

In Kushida's opinion, this behavior is the most unprofitable and has no benefit at all.

For Kushida, who has always pretended to be gentle and kind and hopes that everyone likes her, Hikigaya's behavior is simply her opposite, the darkness that corresponds to the light.

"Is there anything to be afraid of?"

Hikigaya heard what Kushida said and responded calmly, "Other people's attitudes won't change the essence of who I am. As for the fear caused by the change in social environment, I still need to be social. No one likes people like me in the first place. Now it's just a change from 0 to negative. There's no loss at all."

"This……"

Kushida Kikyo opened her mouth slightly.

What Hikigaya took for granted was simply an incomprehensible concept to her.

Kushida could never take this for granted.

Hikigaya saw the look on Kushida Kikyo's face and realized that she would continue to feel guilty, so he took the initiative to explain:

"Kushida, you really don't have to worry about anything. The reason I did this is just because I think it is the most efficient way."

"The most efficient...?"

"Didn't you notice that after what happened yesterday, no one in the class discussed whether Sudo and the others were right or wrong?"

"This...what do you mean?"

"If what happened yesterday hadn't happened, Class D would probably still be arguing about Sudou and the others. Many people would complain about you protecting them, and Class D would continue to be divided. Even with you and Hirata, the class can still maintain unity on the surface, but privately, no one can easily accept all this... So I did this, and the result is that no one will argue about this matter anymore, right?"

"It seems, is it really like this? But why?"

"This happened because I have already expressed their complaints in front of everyone. An existing answer is not worth discussing further, let alone complaining about in private."

Hikigaya looked at Kushida Kikyo who remained silent and showed a deliberate smile, "Look, I only need to be the bad guy to maintain the unity of the entire class. Don't you think this is a wonderful thing?"

as if,

A world where no one is hurt is achieved.

Chapter 178: No matter what happens, I will never abandon you, Hikigaya-san!

Hikigaya's words came from the heart, and he truly believed that his actions could bring redemption to everyone in Class D.

Of course, he himself is excluded from this.

After all, he is a lone ranger. A lone ranger will never have emotional fluctuations due to changes in other people's attitudes towards him, nor will he feel sad because he is hated by other groups.

This kind of thing was thrown away by him a long time ago.

Therefore, Hikigaya didn't feel that being disliked by the students in Class D would hurt him.

Therefore, his actions can be said to have created a world where no one would get hurt.

Otherwise, Class D would have already shown signs of division during the previous midterm exam.

You know, with the level of Class D, most people in the class can't understand the significance of the class leaders' behavior of forcing Sudo Ken to pass the midterm exam.

Because Sudo's actions had already caused too many people to be disgusted, most students thought that it would be a better thing to let Sudo Ken drop out of school.

However, due to the actions of the prestigious people in Class D, most students would not choose to speak out actively even if they had such thoughts in their minds, and could only keep it all in their hearts.

If nothing happens for a few months, most people will probably forget about it.

If Sudo Ken becomes a regular player of the basketball club and earns a certain amount of points for Class D, the others will probably be even more determined to forget Sudo's previous bad behavior.

However, there is no if in reality.

Before becoming an official player of the basketball club, Sudo Ken had already gotten into a fight with Class C. Not only was he likely to be expelled, but he might also lose all the points that Class D students had worked so hard to accumulate last month.

At this point, the hatred of most of the students in Class D towards Sudou reached its peak.

As a result, most students began to resent Horikita Suzune, who had previously forcibly saved Sudo Ken, as well as Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyo.

This complaint may not be spoken out loud, but it will definitely exist in the heart of everyone in the class.

As time goes by, this dissatisfaction will gradually cover everyone in Class D.

In other words, not only in the future, but even now, many students in Class D will have strong resistance to helping Sudo Ken, which will have a serious impact on the unity of the entire Class D.

Although Hikigaya has never cared about Class D and doesn't think there is anything in this class worthy of his attention, he still has to do something for the sake of his promise with Chabashira Sae.

Anyway, this kind of thing is not worth much.

Seeing that Kushida Kikyo remained silent, Hikigaya said calmly, "Kushida, do you know what kind of person can unite a group?"

"Unity? A good leader like Hirata?"

Kushida Kikyo responded instinctively.

But she quickly realized that since it was Hikigaya who asked her such a question, what she had just said must not be the real answer.

In fact it is.

Hikigaya quickly denied it, "You are wrong. People like Hirata Yosuke can certainly win over most people, but he can't unite everyone, and that method is not efficient."

"This...what do you mean?"

"The best way to unite a group is to create a common enemy."

Hikigaya had seen a variety of different groups over the years.

These groups usually appear in front of everyone in a harmonious manner, but once the group members are divided into several parts, they will immediately burst out with dissatisfaction with the entire group.

Because the essence of human beings is "independent", no matter how well they integrate into the environment, people still have their own desires and thoughts.

The only way to completely dissolve people's minds is to create a collective consciousness.

It is said that humans are creatures with "empathy". For example, if you see someone yawning, you will be infected and want to yawn too.

Everyone wants to be like everyone else.

Therefore, if you want to unite a group, all you have to do is artificially create a concept that is collectively recognized, just like religion does.

So, what kind of concept can gain everyone's recognition the fastest and be integrated into everyone's subconscious at a speed faster than a "meme"?

That is the existence of the enemy.

As long as an absolutely selfish person like "Hikigaya-san likes to make fun of and complain about others" is brought to the fore, public opinion will naturally lean to the other side.

The most handsome people are those who are selfless and dedicated, and the opposite is Hikigaya.

With such a label, everyone has to work hard even if they don't want to.

"..."

After listening to Hikigaya's explanation, Kushida Kikyo finally realized the so-called reality.

After all, she is not a truly naive girl. In reality, she is a person with a worse personality than Hikigaya, who is even more selfish and self-centered.

Therefore, Kushida was silent for a short while before he understood what Hikigaya said.