Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

Well, I tried to open it once when I was in elementary school.

But when he sent invitations to everyone in the class, and prepared a big birthday cake and various snacks in anticipation, waiting for someone to come, the end result was that he didn't see any of his classmates until midnight.

Since that day, he has given up on holding any birthday parties.

Of course, this doesn't mean that he hasn't celebrated a birthday since then.

In fact, his birthday is a day he looks forward to every year because his sister Komachi will prepare special gifts for him to celebrate.

Although it was a birthday party for only two people, it was the only redemption in Hikigaya's overly lonely life as a lone ranger.

It seems like I really won’t be able to go home and have Komachi celebrate my birthday this year…

If possible, Hikigaya would like to swim back to Japan directly from the Pacific Ocean, and then run back to Chiba within a day.

Well, if I had the physical fitness of Dragon Ball's protagonist Son Goku, it would be fine...

Damn it, why am I not living in a world of super powers!!

Feeling tired of the overly sad reality, Hikigaya sighed and walked silently towards the cruise ship's lounge.

He had obtained a satisfactory result in this uninhabited island exam. I think Sakayanagi would be a little surprised about Class A's current score of 0.

Of course, the greater possibility is that the other party will not be surprised.

After all, that woman is a little devil with a bad temper, cold-blooded, ruthless and cruel methods.

Even if Hikigaya completely defeated Class A and turned it directly into Class D, that girl wouldn't even raise an eyebrow.

Come to think of it, the only time Sakayanagi Arisu has shown emotional fluctuations so far is when facing Ayanokouji.

Ayanokouji might be a special person to her...

But Sakayanagi herself is the daughter of the academy chairman, and should come from a wealthy family. In comparison, Ayanokouji doesn't look like he comes from a wealthy family at all. Instead, he looks more like a poor boy who was born into a poor family.

Why would two people like this come into contact?

It seems that Ayanokouji has more secrets than I thought. I want to transfer to another class. I don't want to suffer in Class D anymore because of this guy...

With endless thoughts in his mind, Hikigaya finally arrived at the door of the dormitory.

He was ready to lie down on the soft bed and fall asleep as soon as possible, and sleep all day without wanting to meet anyone.

If Komachi wasn't here, I would rather spend my birthday alone.

As Hikigaya thought about this, he tried to open the dormitory door with the cruise ship's key card, but when he put his hand on the handle, he found that the room had been open from the beginning.

Hey, is there someone coming back early?

Although a week has passed, Hikigaya's outstanding memory allows him to still remember his dormitory members, namely himself, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Hirata Yosuke, and Koenji Rokusuke.

Alas, are there too many weirdos in the dormitory?

It seems that no matter who comes back first, neither of them wants to meet the other.

Although he was resisting in his heart, Hikigaya's hand instinctively opened the door.

When I walked into the room, the dormitory was still the same as it was a week ago, so clean that there didn't seem to be a trace of dust.

But what was different from usual was that a black-haired girl wearing a coat and with a serious look was sitting at the desk in the cruise ship dormitory.

Under the setting sun, she wrote quietly.

The scene before her eyes was like a painting, and Hikigaya even had a strange illusion - even if the whole world was destroyed, she would definitely remain like this.

Horikita Suzune noticed his arrival, stopped what she was doing, and placed the pen on the table.

"You're finally back, you damn criminal."

"Are you going to quarrel as soon as you open your mouth?"

"It's because you forced me back to this ship without my consent."

"This……"

Hikigaya was speechless for a moment and could only shut up and admit his mistake.

At this moment, he found that Horikita's physical condition seemed to have not fully recovered. Her face was pale, and he couldn't help but ask: "By the way, why are you in my room? Why don't you go back to your room and continue to rest?"

"I rested enough the day before, and now this level of pain doesn't affect my actions anymore." Horikita sighed, "I borrowed the key card from Koenji because I want to know why Class D ended up like this."

“Why are you asking me this question?”

"You really don't know anything?"

"If I knew everything, I wouldn't be staying in Class D like you."

"Too……"

Horikita Suzune sighed and spoke in confusion, "This exam was too weird. Class D was such a mess that we couldn't pay attention to the other classes. Not only did Class A get a zero, but Class C, which was supposed to be eliminated, got over a hundred points. We have no idea what happened."

"Yeah, it's really very strange."

Hikigaya's disguise was very good, without any flaws.

This made Horikita, who wanted to test further, slightly stunned. She stared at Hikigaya's face carefully for a long time, and finally sighed: "It seems that you really don't know anything. I misunderstood you."

"It's ok."

Hikigaya spoke without blushing or beating his heart.

When it comes to lying, he is an expert among experts and a complete liar.

After a brief silence, Horikita said quietly: "Our class only got 50 points this time. I must take the main responsibility for this matter. I will apologize to the rest of the class later."

"You can totally put the blame on me..."

"Do you think I would do something like that!?"

Horikita Suzune suddenly gave her a look with an extremely horrified expression.

Hikigaya was so scared that he almost fell down. He didn't expect the other party to have such a scary reaction.

Is that so? I was just joking... er, okay, I guess I wasn't joking.

But even so, there's no need to be so angry, right?

When Hikigaya had strange thoughts in his mind, Horikita Suzune was looking at him silently, and then a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of her mouth, and the haze that originally covered her face slowly dissipated.

"Every time I see your ugly appearance, I always feel that many of my troubles are simply unnecessary."

"Because worrying is a superfluous thing." Hikigaya earnestly counseled, "Most of the time, as long as you don't regard something as a worry, then the so-called worry won't exist."

"Is this why you make others hate you again and again?"

"I did that to let everyone know that I exist."

"Your personality is so twisted that I can't help but admire you." After hearing what Hikigaya said, Horikita Suzune pressed her temples and sighed as if she had a headache. "However, although your personality is bad, most of what you say is correct. It's me who is fussy about it."

"Oh?"

"Didn't you tell me I was stupid during the test?"

"You still remember this? You are such a horrible woman..."

Seeing Hikigaya looking like he was afraid of her revenge, Horikita Suzune took a deep breath and said, "You are annoying me all the time. I mean, I agree with what you said."

"Eh?"

"Looking back, I did something really stupid. For the sake of my own boring self-esteem, I threw the safety of the entire class aside, and even caused a disaster."

Seeing Horikita's self-deprecating look, Hikigaya couldn't help but sigh and said slowly: "I don't think you should blame yourself for that."

"why?"

"The leader of Class D has been changed."

"what?"

Facing Horikita Suzune's look of disbelief, Hikigaya slowly took out the replaced key card in his arms, on which was written - Hikigaya Hachiman.

"So, the mistake of losing the key card was not your fault. On the contrary, the fact that the leader's identity was guessed was my fault."

"..."

Hikigaya finished his words slowly, ready for Horikita's accusation.

In fact, he had already prepared himself for being blamed and excluded by Class D, but he didn't expect that the guys would start fighting among themselves and even forget to find him as the culprit.

After hearing the news, Horikita was stunned for a moment, and then said with a complicated expression: "Why do you always like to do things that others hate?"

"Because not only do I not hate myself, I actually like myself like this."

Hikigaya raised the corner of his mouth and spoke from the bottom of his heart.

Chapter 323: Hikigaya-san, do you have someone you like?

Why do I always like to do things that others hate?

The question raised by Horikita Suzune is one that Hikigaya has asked himself many times in his heart.

Why can't I pretend to be like most people and live a dull, boring yet "youthful" life like an ordinary high school student?

Perhaps Hikigaya had indeed been ostracized for various reasons in the past and had always been a loser in group activities.

But now he has accumulated enough experience and ability through enough failures, and has the possibility of pretending to be a "successful person".

Even if this disguise might be exposed, he should at least try and live a normal life.

However, he never actually did so.

Not to mention disguising himself as a popular person, he generally doesn't even want to get in touch with those popular person groups.

In essence, it is no longer Hikigaya who is excluded by the group, but he himself is full of hostility towards the so-called group and hates those overly boring interpersonal relationships.

It's not that Hikigaya is excluded by the class, but that he himself is excluding the entire class.

In this regard, he is even too similar to Horikita Suzune of the past.

Hikigaya also tried to reflect on his own solitary way of thinking, and felt that perhaps he could live a good life without being a lone ranger.

But in the end, due to various reasons, or coincidences, he finally ended up on the inevitable road to death as a Lone Ranger.

Then he finally realized that the Mavericks were his destiny.

It's not that he has no other choice but to become a lone ranger, but that he is passionate about the path and behavior of the lone ranger from the bottom of his heart, and he himself has this desire.

Just like the various fantasies that chuunibyou are always filled with, Hikigaya himself has not yet graduated from this mode of thinking that pursues self-definition.

Even if people dislike him, he will still do his job well. This is how cool I am - Hikigaya used this idea to motivate himself and prevent himself from being hurt.

But now, this has become Hikigaya's thinking instinct.

It doesn't matter if I get hurt, as long as I can get results.

The quickest path based on rational thinking is what Hikigaya has always been best at and what he likes most.

"Don't mind me, I just enjoy doing this."

"..."

Hearing Hikigaya's heartfelt words, Horikita couldn't help but sigh deeply, "I now know how seriously you are twisted. Compared to you, I feel like I'm just an ordinary person with a normal brain."

"My brain is also normal."

"Look, he's already started talking nonsense!"

"..."

Hikigaya was helpless with Horikita's sharp tongue, so he quietly changed the subject, "Horikita, did you come to my room just to ask about the situation of the uninhabited island exam?"

"Yeah." Horikita Suzuin nodded. "I was originally planning to go look for Hirata and the others, but I found them quarreling on the deck. When I realized you weren't there, I ran to your dormitory to stake out a spot."

"As a girl, you come to the boys' dormitory, aren't you worried about rumors spreading..."

"Do you think there is anyone in this dormitory who is likely to be the source of rumors?"

"Ah this..."

In this dormitory, not to mention himself and Ayanokouji, Koenji's personality and style are too flamboyant, and it is impossible for anyone to make him the subject of the rumor.

As for the most likely candidate, Hirata Yosuke, that guy already has a 'girlfriend' in Karuizawa Megumi, so he is unlikely to be the subject of rumors.