Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

"W-what are you going to do?"

"If I didn't recognize the wrong person, why are you so angry?! Let me take the photo!"

Faced with Karuizawa Megumi's panic, Manabe and her companions became even more arrogant. They directly surrounded Karuizawa and wanted to take a photo of her.

"do not do that……"

However, Karuizawa Megumi, who has always been strong in Class D, has changed her previous style. Not only does she not dare to confront Manabe and others head-on, but she also seems to be a little timid.

Witnessing this scene, Hikigaya inexplicably recalled a long time ago when he first met Karuizawa Megumi and felt something weird and awkward from her.

Although Karuizawa pretends to be a fearless hot girl on the surface, in fact, she is not that strong most of the time, and even makes people feel inexplicably fragile in private.

At that time, Hikigaya vaguely realized that Karuizawa's strong attitude was just a false disguise, and the other party should be more cowardly in nature...

Now this disguised personality should just be a means for the other party to protect himself.

However, it is obvious that Karuizawa has been influenced by the character he plays, and his style and behavior have become unrestrained, out of restraint and control.

This is probably the main reason why Bofang would be in trouble with Manabe and others, and why the uninhabited island exam would lead to such tragic consequences.

"Hmph, so you are the one who bullies Rika!" Seeing that Karuizawa didn't dare to resist, Manabe Shiho became more proud and forced the camera lens towards Karuizawa.

"It's no use pretending to be a little woman."

"I'll help you catch her, take pictures quickly!"

The two girls from Class C looked at this situation, smiled happily, and grabbed Karuizawa's hands, forcing her to stay in place.

Hey, hey, hey, this is close to bullying.

Originally, Hikigaya just wanted to watch and had no intention of getting involved in this matter.

After all, to him, Karuizawa only had it sown upon himself. If he hadn't gone looking for trouble with the people in Class C before, he wouldn't have been bothered by them now.

This is the price the other party should bear.

However, if the problem escalates to bullying, it is a different matter.

Although Hikigaya has never experienced bullying in the true sense, because his sense of existence is too low and he is not even qualified to be bullied, he has learned about bullying behaviors from various channels.

It can be said that this behavior of the majority collectively bullying one person is the most unacceptable behavior for Hikigaya, and it has exceeded any level of moral constraints.

Hikigaya, who had always been ostracized by the general public and had experienced a lot of pure cold violence, could not bear to watch such behavior happen.

However, just when Hikigaya was about to do something, Machida Koji from Class A happened to pass by from a distance.

He looked over here with a confused look on his face and spoke slowly:

"Hey, what are you doing over there?"

"Machida-san, can you help me..."

Karuizawa seemed to be very familiar with this situation and immediately showed a look of seeking help to Machida Koji.

Even though he is a member of Class A, Machida Koji cannot resist the opportunity to be a hero and save the damsel in distress.

His face immediately turned red, and then he said to Manabe and the others: "Let her go. If you continue like this, I will go call the teachers."

"This has nothing to do with you, Machida-san, right?"

"I can't just stand by and watch my classmates being bullied."

"This……"

Manabe is obviously a person who bullies the weak and fears the strong. Although she acted tough when facing Karuizawa, she did not dare to say anything when facing Machida Koji from Class A. She turned around and left with a helpless look on her face.

"Thank you, Machida-san."

Seeing that the trouble was solved, Karuizawa looked up at Machida with a look that seemed to be somewhat respectful.

When this trick is used by a beautiful girl like Karuizawa, almost no normal boys can resist it, and the same is true for Machida Koji.

“…I just did what was right.”

Machida replied shyly.

Did he have a premonition that he was about to start a romantic relationship?

But unfortunately, Karuizawa is already taken, and is Hirata Yosuke's girlfriend.

But it's really amazing that Karuizawa could do this. He relies so skillfully on the people around him to protect himself. Obviously, this is not the first time he has done this.

This is indeed the true nature of Karuizawa Megumi...

Hikigaya shook his head.

He had no interest in what kind of person Karuizawa was. Since the other party's crisis had been resolved, he no longer had any intention of taking action.

For him, Ayanokouji's actions are more worthy of attention.

Oh, and where's Ayanokouji?!

Thinking of this, Hikigaya suddenly began to look around. He thought that Ayanokouji might have left the examination room long ago, but he soon found him in the corner.

Ayanokouji's eyes were fixed on Karuizawa at this moment. Although there was no expression on his face, it was obvious that he had set his eyes on Karuizawa.

Is the other party planning to use Karuizawa to complete this exam this time?

All of a sudden, Hikigaya recalled Horikita Suzune, who was forced by Ayanokouji to become seriously ill and had to withdraw from the uninhabited island exam, and he instinctively felt complex and heavy emotions in his heart.

……

Ayanokouji is preparing to do something to Karuizawa.

Although Hikigaya did not fully understand what was happening in the Rabbit Group, he roughly guessed what would happen next based on his intuition.

Although Hikigaya never felt the need to establish connections with other people, the fact is that after coming to this school, he has communicated with many people, either passively or actively.

Karuizawa Kei was one of the few people he had been able to communicate with, although it was always the other person who took the initiative to communicate with him...

But because of this, he couldn't just watch Karuizawa Megumi being schemed against by Ayanokouji and falling into the same situation as Horikita Suzune on the uninhabited island.

This is not because he wants to be a righteous partner, it is just pure self-satisfaction.

Otherwise, if I don't do anything, I won't be able to sleep peacefully at night...

So, what exactly should I do?

Thinking of this, Hikigaya returned to his room immediately, but he did not lie down to rest as he did in the past. Instead, after confirming that Ayanokouji had not returned to the dormitory, he walked around the cruise ship twice, trying to find Ayanokouji.

Finally, he found Ayanokouji on the deck of the cruise ship and discovered that he was chatting with Sakura Airi.

Ayanokouji and Sakura?

Is this combination a bit too unusual?

Hikigaya observed from the side for a while, and only walked forward after Ayanokouji left.

"Hey, Sakura."

"Hi, Hikigaya-san?!"

Unexpectedly, Hikigaya would appear behind her. Sakura Airi showed the same panic as before, and her whole body was so nervous that she seemed to be stretched like a rope.

Ever since the uninhabited island exam, Hikigaya has deliberately distanced himself from Sakura Airi because he felt that her attitude was a little strange when he was on the island.

In order to prevent the other party from developing unnecessary dependence and thoughts, as a lone ranger, he undoubtedly chose the path of active alienation.

Now it seems that the effect is not very good.

After all, Sakura Airi is a more introverted person than him, and it is impossible for her to distance herself from Hikigaya just because of a few days of estrangement.

"Um, um...what's going on, Hikigaya-san?"

Sakura Airi spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito.

If Hikigaya didn't have a perception ability far beyond that of ordinary people, he might not have been able to hear what the other person said clearly.

"Ahem." In order not to scare Sakura, Hikigaya spoke as gently as possible, "You seemed to be talking to Ayanokouji just now? Are you friends with him?"

To be honest, Hikigaya really hopes that Sakura Airi can make friends and grow, but the prerequisite is that the target cannot be a dangerous person like Ayanokouji.

His tone unconsciously became stern, like an old father taking care of his silly daughter.

"No, no... that's not the case!" Sakura Airi quickly denied what Hikigaya said, "Ayanokouji-san came to talk to me on his own."

"He came to talk to you?"

"Well, he, he said he wanted my email number."

"what?"

Hikigaya was almost stunned when he didn't expect to get such an answer from Sakura.

Ayanokouji came to Sakura Airi specifically to get Sakura's cell phone number?

Is that guy out of his mind, or is this world crazy?

Without time to think, Hikigaya immediately said, "Is that so? So you gave him your email address?"

"No...I'm embarrassed to do such a thing."

Exchanging email addresses means you become friends who can communicate with each other.

Although Sakura Airi looks stupid, she still has the most basic vigilance and bottom line, so she won't be fooled so easily.

"That's good."

Hikigaya breathed a sigh of relief, and without any hesitation, turned around and headed in the direction Ayanokouji had left.

After confirming that Ayanokouji was indeed behaving abnormally, he decided to follow Ayanokouji for the entire day, and would continue to do so as long as the other party was unaware of his presence.

There was no way. Ayanokouji's abnormal behavior made him too alert. To be honest, it would be difficult for him to feel at ease unless he figured out what the other party wanted to do.

"Hikigaya-san..."

Seeing Hikigaya leaving, Sakura Airi showed a look of loss on her face.

She actually wanted to chat with Hikigaya for a while longer, even talk about the exams. You know, the Ox Group she was assigned to was also a very bad group. Not only was there no familiar people in it, but it was also a group of bad guys, such as Sudo and Ike Kanji.

If possible, she really hoped that she could complain to Hikigaya, or even ask for help.

That kind of friend-like state was undoubtedly very wonderful and dreamlike for her.

However, Hikigaya obviously would not respond to her expectations.

As a lone ranger with an even more awkward personality, Hikigaya is not only unlikely to take the initiative to interact with Sakura as friends, he is even actively trying to avoid such a thing from happening.

To the Lone Ranger, the word "friend" is like a tempting yet deadly drug.

Most people might accidentally become addicted and unable to extricate themselves, but Hikigaya, who is extremely rational, will not be easily intoxicated.

A true lone ranger will never get drunk, but will always stay sober, even if he has to face the cruel reality.

Chapter 365: Ayanokouji is a monster in human skin!

Having decided to follow Ayanokouji, Hikigaya quickly caught up with him.

Although he didn't know why the other party came to ask for Sakura's email number, Ayanokouji's increasingly strange behavior patterns still made Hikigaya instinctively become unusually alert to him.

"Aya~ ...

Just as Hikigaya followed Ayanokouji back to the cabin, a figure suddenly appeared and hugged the latter.

At some point, Yamauchi Haruki jumped out from the shadows, wrapped his arms around Ayanokouji's neck, and tightened his grip.

Ayanokouji pretended to be flustered and said helplessly:

"What, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" Seeing that Ayanokouji didn't understand the situation, Yamauchi showed an angry expression like a demon, "Ayanokouji, you said you would tell me Sakura's mailbox when we were on the uninhabited island, right? That's why I helped you prank Horikita, and she almost beat me to death! You're not lying to me!"

Is that so?

When Hikigaya was thinking back to the uninhabited island, Yamauchi Haruki suddenly went crazy and threw wet mud on Horikita, causing Horikita's condition to worsen.

At the time, Hikigaya suspected that this matter was related to Ayanokouji, and now it seems to be true.

However, Hikigaya didn't expect that Ayanokouji's condition for motivating Yamauchi would be to give the other party Sakura Airi's phone number.

In other words, does Yamauchi still have feelings for Sakura?