Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

Hikigaya followed Hirata Yosuke out of the dormitory. Along the way, the other party did not speak actively, but walked forward in silence.

Seeing this, Hikigaya had no intention of speaking, so he just followed along.

Of course, he had no intention of following along. If Hirata Yosuke didn't tell him what happened until the very end, he would definitely reduce his presence and sneak away.

After all, it was impossible for him to really go with Hirata to play with Karuizawa and the others.

That kind of thing is too bad to think about.

"Um, Hikigaya..." Fortunately, Hirata Yosuke did not hesitate any longer. He spoke quickly, "I asked you to come out this time because I want to discuss something with you."

"discuss?"

Although he had guessed this a long time ago, Hikigaya showed nothing on the surface and pretended to be confused.

"Yes, I would like you to help me establish contact with Horikita Suzune-san."

It turned out to be for Horikita.

The moment he heard Hirata's words, Hikigaya realized what the other party was thinking and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, without knowing the other party's purpose, he even suspected that his disguise had been discovered by the other party. Although being discovered was no big deal, who knows what trouble might happen.

Now, the trouble was not coming for me, but for Horikita.

He could be said to have completely relaxed.

"Do you want to communicate with Horikita?"

"That's right. In order for Class D to continue to be united in the future, I think Horikita Suzune is indispensable." Hirata Yosuke spoke to himself. "After all, in the previous Sudo incident, it was Horikita who stepped in and prevented Class D from losing important class points. If there is another class struggle in the future, her strength may be the key to reversing the situation!"

From Hirata Yosuke's perspective, Horikita Suzune can almost be said to be the hero who led Class D to defeat Class C in one fell swoop.

Although he failed to keep his personal points in the end and only saved the class points, this was enough to prove that Horikita Suzune could do what Hirata Yosuke could not.

"Why don't you go to her in person?" Hikigaya asked, "If it was Horikita, she would definitely want you to make the request directly."

"This……"

Hirata glanced at Hikigaya hesitantly, "I have tried to communicate with Horikita before, but was rejected and ignored by her. Other classmates and even Kushida-san's efforts have failed to achieve this. Currently, the only one who can establish a connection with Horikita-san is you, Hikigaya-san, so I hope to ask you to help build a bridge of communication with Horikita-san."

"..."

After hearing Hirata Yosuke's heartfelt words, although Hikigaya felt that this matter was very troublesome, he also knew that Hirata chose to come to him because he was desperate.

Given Horikita Suzune's extremely introverted personality, if others don't go and talk to her themselves, it may be difficult for them to get her acceptance.

"I understand."

Hikigaya finally nodded.

Although he has lost interest in the class struggles in Class D, he will still help this class to the best of his ability.

After all, this was also the agreement between him and his homeroom teacher, Chabashi Sae.

"Thank you very much."

Upon hearing Hikigaya's agreement, Hirata Yosuke's face immediately revealed an expression of gratitude, which was even more exaggerated than Hikigaya had imagined, as if this was more important to Hirata than anything else.

But this is weird.

As the leader of Class D, Hirata Yosuke actually cares so much about Horikita.

Could it be that the other party is also eager to be promoted to Class A like Horikita?

But in the past, I rarely saw the other party express such desire...

Hikigaya always felt that there was a deviation in his understanding of Hirata Yosuke. Although he could not see the specific appearance of that deviation at present, it made him instinctively wary of Hirata.

Afterwards, Hirata Yosuke and Hikigaya made their way to the deck.

The latter kept trying to find a way to escape during this process, but never found a suitable opportunity.

But no matter what, I can't follow Hirata and Karuizawa to meet them. Just imagining that kind of thing makes my scalp tingle.

Is the only way to force yourself to find an excuse to slip away?

Just as Hikigaya was thinking about how to get out, several figures suddenly walked over from not far away. They were Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki and Sudo.

The classic three idiots in Class D.

"Hey, Hirata, how far have you and Karuizawa progressed?"

When Ike Kanji saw Hirata coming, he suddenly ran over to talk to him.

"I don't think I need to report this to you." Hirata Yosuke responded calmly on the surface, but Hikigaya could see that he looked guilty.

This is no way.

Hikigaya knew from the beginning that Hirata and Karuizawa's relationship was fake.

"We've already come to such a new place to travel, you two can be a little clingy!" Ike Kanji joked, "Besides, if you don't get together with Karuizawa, you'll attract all the other girls' attention!"

"That's not the case." Hirata Yosuke responded silently, "We have our own pace. Sorry, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

Hirata Yosuke said this and wanted to leave with Hikigaya, but when he turned around, he found that Hikigaya had disappeared at some point.

How could I not have noticed it at all?

Hirata Yosuke frowned slightly.

Although this means that Hikigaya-san's presence is quite low, being able to disappear without any sense of incongruity doesn't seem like something that can be done easily.

Hirata couldn't help but pay some attention to Hikigaya, a classmate who had almost no presence in the class and was even disliked by many people.

……

Hikigaya wandered on the busy cruise ship deck, where students from various classes were currently relaxing and enjoying the sea and sunshine.

Although Hikigaya, as a reclusive lone ranger, was in the same area as them, he walked through narrow corners that ordinary people would not walk into. Unless someone was also a lone ranger, it was almost impossible for anyone to notice him.

"Haruki, I've decided. I...I'm going to confess my feelings to Kushida-chan during this trip!"

"Really? Wouldn't it be really embarrassing if I got dumped? Is this okay?!"

"Although this is just my own inference, Kushida-chan is very cute, right? Most men would like to date her, but most of them probably don't have the courage, so she might not be used to being confessed to. My confession of love should be able to move Kushida-chan's heart. Rather, I only have hope this way."

"Is that so... You are ready now."

"Yes!"

Suddenly, a noisy sound came from in front of me.

Hikigaya looked up and saw that it was Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki who were discussing the plan of "confessing to Kushida Kikyo". The two were talking animatedly and did not notice the disgusted looks from the girls around them from time to time.

He really didn't want to get involved in the affairs of these two guys, so he turned around and was about to leave, but he found that he was actually feeling someone's gaze.

How can it be! ?

How could someone see through my ninja's secret skills?

Hikigaya really didn't want to admit the fact that his invisibility had been discovered, but the reality made it impossible for him to refute it, so he could only look honestly at the source of the gaze.

To his surprise, the person who discovered him was none other than Sakura Airi, a pink-haired girl in the same class as him.

Sakura seemed to be very uncomfortable with the lively atmosphere on the deck. Just standing there made her tremble all over and her expression panicked.

But she persisted and tried to move herself little by little.

Hikigaya was very surprised by this scene. He didn't expect that Sakura Airi, who had always been more withdrawn than himself, could have such courage.

What is the source of this courage?

"Hi, Hikigaya-san." Suddenly, Sakura Airi's words interrupted Hikigaya's thoughts, "Well, you can go with me... make an appointment..."

The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't say them.

Sakura Airi's anxious look was just like a hamster that saw food right in front of it but couldn't reach it. Her face was as red as a monkey's butt.

Hikigaya frowned slightly when he saw Sakura's expression.

He was not a brainless person and he knew exactly what Sakura Airi wanted to say.

The reason why the other party wanted to get close to me and had a good impression of me was probably because I had rescued him from the owner of the electrical appliance store before.

But how to say it.

Hikigaya doesn't think Sakura's idea is correct.

There is no difference between someone who wants to get closer to you out of gratitude and someone who wants to get closer to you out of interest.

In a sense, the clerk who was trying desperately to sell newspapers to him was closer to the 'real thing' than this existence in Hikigaya's eyes.

However, Hikigaya has fully absorbed the lesson from the incident with Shiina Hiwa.

When faced with someone approaching him with special purposes, he cannot push the person away abruptly, as that will only cause the person to suffer unnecessary harm.

Even if you want to keep your distance, you should use a gentler method that will not hurt the other person.

Hikigaya exhaled. He looked at Sakura Airi, who was still blushing and speechless, and said coldly: "Sakura, there is no need to force yourself to do something that you are not comfortable with. Even if I helped you once, you don't need to force yourself to repay me."

"I-I'm not..."

"Although you are a gentle girl, I helped you before only for my own purposes. I don't need you to express your gratitude specially."

After Hikigaya finished speaking, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He felt that what he said was still inappropriate and was worried that what happened to Shiina would happen again.

However, when he looked at Sakura, he found that the other party was not stimulated by his words, or for some reason, the other party was in some extremely dazed state.

"Gentle, gentle... Hikigaya-san actually praised me for being gentle... hehehe..."

Hmm? Isn't this situation different from what I imagined?

Chapter 228 Why are the people in Class A so irritable? Is it because of their period?

Faced with Sakura Airi's obvious desire to repay a favor and her expression of affection for him, Hikigaya, as he had done in the past, chose to actively reject her without hesitation.

He never thought that such feelings were real, and he would never actively accept such feelings with a muddle-headed attitude.

In this regard, he could be said to have done something even more ruthless in the matter of Shiina, but it also caused Shiina great harm.

Therefore, based on the experience with Shiina, Hikigaya felt that there was a high probability that he would disappoint Sakura Airi again this time, and even make her fall into depression like Shiina.

He was prepared for this and felt that he must handle it better this time.

However, to Hikigaya's surprise, after hearing his clear rejection, Sakura Airi did not fall into despair like Shiina Hiyori.

In other words, the other party seemed to have completely failed to understand what he meant, and had simply fallen into a state of intoxication, unable to come back to his senses.

"Isn't this guy a fool..."

Hikigaya looked at Sakura Airi in front of him and felt for the first time what a "restrained relationship" was.

Because when you are facing a stupid person with a poor brain, even if your words contain thousands of words, it is difficult for the other party to understand what you want to express.

"S-Sorry! Hikigaya-san!"

As if she had heard Hikigaya's sigh, Sakura Airi finally recovered from her self-absorbed state and said with a grin, "I really disappoint you. You must feel very uncomfortable talking to someone like me..."

Sakura Airi looked very inferior.

She usually has little sense of presence in the class and rarely communicates with other classmates.

Hikigaya is almost at the bottom of the class, and in Sakura Airi's eyes, he can be said to be unattainable.

Faced with such a Sakura Airi, Hikigaya didn't even know how to say no.

In that case, Hikigaya said helplessly: "Forget it, anyway, you want to go around this ship with me, right?"

"C-Can I?!"

Hikigaya's words made Sakura Airi's face suddenly excited, and the girl looked as if she had never dreamed that such a thing would happen.

Hikigaya said nothing and walked silently to the front of the cruise ship.

Since both of them were the type who were used to being alone, the roads they walked on were not crowded places. The quiet environment and the blowing sea breeze made Hikigaya feel inexplicably comfortable.

It seems like it's not a bad idea to maintain such a relationship with Sakura Airi.

At this moment, this thought inexplicably popped up in Hikigaya's mind.