Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

"..."

The words that Ichinose spoke in one breath expressed the distress in her heart and the determination she finally made after a long time.

Facing such a strong and even brave Ichinose, Hikigaya couldn't help but ask: "Ichinose you are really amazing, do you really want to be promoted to Class A?"

"This...any normal person would think so." Ichinose seemed to be hesitant about this matter. "Didn't the school say that further study or employment goals will be guaranteed? In other words, as long as you graduate from Class A, you can realize your dreams as you wish. Even I have the same idea, I want to graduate from Class A and realize my own dreams."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, but although the school system is very pleasing, it would be tragic if I couldn't graduate in Class A. This is a meritocratic school, and I feel like I would be labeled as someone who can't win by strength." Ichinose said in distress, "The most important thing is that the superiority and inferiority are determined by class, which means that right now, between me and Hikigaya, only one of us can realize our dream. Oh, yes, there are also situations where neither of us can realize it."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any dreams that I want to realize, so I'm not interested in Class A."

My dream is to become a househusband who is supported by someone. I think even if I go to Class A, the school won’t be able to meet my requirements, right?

Could it be that the school will assign a rich woman specifically for me?

Tsk tsk, then I'll go to Class A to learn more now!

"Haha, Hikigaya-san is indeed different."

"I'm nothing special."

"How could that be? There is basically no one in this school who is not interested in being promoted to Class A like you, right? Oh, by the way, there is another one in your class, Koenji-san... You two do have some similarities."

"This……"

Hikigaya had not expected to be compared with Koenji. He felt mixed emotions for a moment. "I am different from Koenji. Koenji has too much. It doesn't matter whether he is in Class A or Class D. I am different. I have too little. Even if I go to Class A, it won't make any substantial difference to a lonely and unsociable person like me."

"Yes, but that's why Hikigaya-san is so trustworthy." Ichinose kept smiling, "In a school like this where it's hard to trust each other, and even the school itself can't be trusted, Hikigaya-san's unchanging qualities are the most reassuring."

"Did you really find out?"

Ichinose's words vaguely revealed a fact, that is, the other party did not believe in the concept of strength supremacy proposed by the school, and the supreme rules of Class A.

"Yes, after all, in this era, you can't just go to school or find a job as you please. Even if the school says that graduating from Class A will get all kinds of benefits, what will actually happen? I think there is a 99.9% chance that this statement contains an invisible trap."

The school's mechanism for promotion or guaranteed employment has rules just like the 100% employment rate mentioned at the time of admission. It is basically a pie in the sky that no one can understand.

Whether you can really get the rewards you deserve in the future, if you have too high expectations, you will most likely be disappointed.

"Since you see it so clearly, why are you still obsessed with Class A?"

Hikigaya looked at Ichinose curiously.

Since the other party can understand the fallacy of the concept of meritocracy and can see the many traps exposed when the school sets the rules, why can they still insist on targeting Class A?

"Because I'm not fighting just for myself." Ichinose said as a matter of course, "From the moment everyone in the class gave me the points, I'm not fighting just for myself, but for everyone in the class. So even if I may not get the result I want, I will never admit defeat and surrender!"

“Is this what you believe in?”

"Yes, that's why I fight."

The driving force that drives Ichinose to strive for advancement in her class is not her personal desire, but her responsibility as the leader of Class B.

Such integrity and such a noble attitude, to be honest, even made Hikigaya feel a little uncomfortable.

At least until now, he had never seen someone as consistent as Ichinose.

If he used the standard he had always used to evaluate things, Ichinose's existence could be called a real thing.

At least, among all the first-year students, no one could do anything as perfectly as Ichinose did, without any unnecessary impurities.

Others, whether it is Kōhei Katsuragi, Sho Ryuen, Yosuke Hirata or Suzune Horikita, all have their own selfish desires.

Could this child really be an angel?

After confirming that Ichinose's will was as clear as a mirror, Hikigaya became more determined that he could not deceive this child, otherwise he would feel guilty.

"Hikigaya-san..."

"what happened?"

Suddenly, Ichinose quickly closed the distance and came in front of him.

"You don't seem surprised that I collected the points of the entire class."

"Uh, this..."

"You really saw it before, didn't you? My phone?"

Those beautiful eyes that seemed to be sucking people in were staring at him intently, and Hikigaya's expression suddenly became very stiff.

He quickly apologized: "...I'm sorry, I accidentally saw the screen when you were operating your phone before."

"Ahaha, I'm not blaming you." Hearing Hikigaya's words, Ichinose's expression suddenly softened. "After all, it was my own fault that you saw those points, and if it was Hikigaya-san, I wouldn't worry at all that you would tell others."

"You trust me too much."

"Because you're Hikigaya-san."

Ichinose concluded with words that sounded very matter-of-fact.

Because the girl's attitude was too clear, Hikigaya himself felt a little embarrassed for a moment.

But at this point, Hikigaya no longer hesitated and discussed some details of the next action with Ichinose to ensure that every link was foolproof.

Just when the two had almost finished discussing their plan, the door of the Dragon Team's room suddenly opened, and members of Class A and Class C entered the room almost at the same time.

"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect you two to be here, Dead Fish Eyes, Ichinose." Ryuen Sho saw the two and sneered unscrupulously, "Are you two having a secret rendezvous in private?"

"..."

Hikigaya has become so accustomed to Ryuuen's usual behavior of challenging him whenever they meet that he is almost immune to it.

He was about to ignore the other party, but suddenly found that Shiina, who was following Ryuuen, looked at him and Ichinose with strange eyes for some reason, with a doubtful look on his face as if to say "Is this really the case?"

Hey, hey, Long Yuan was obviously joking!

Don't believe this guy's lies!!

Unexpectedly, he suffered a critical hit for no apparent reason. Hikigaya's hatred towards Ryuuen suddenly increased, and he decided not to give up until he had given the other party a good lesson.

Afterwards, other members of the group arrived one after another.

Kushida Kikyo was the last one to arrive at the exam, and just like in the past, she was uncommunicative to an almost weird degree. If no one spoke to her, it was doubtful that she would remain depressed.

The exam was about to begin, but just like in the past, everyone in Class A was silent and had no intention of participating in this exam.

Although the other classes were facing the fact that the exams were about to end, they did not show any anxiety at all.

Especially Class C, under the leadership of their king Ryuen Sho, these guys completely regarded this hour as an opportunity to have fun and relax.

Soon, an hour later, the exam was over.

"Goodbye then, Dead Fish Eyes."

Ryuuen sneered as he finished speaking, then stood up and left the scene arrogantly as he always did.

The other people in the room also left one after another.

Hikigaya and Ichinose looked at each other, confirmed each other's actions, and left decisively, but he did not leave the room far, but waited at the scene for a long time.

Until a certain girl walked out of the room...

"Hey, Kushida, good evening."

"H-Hikigaya...?!"

As if she had never expected the other party to appear in front of her, the short-haired Kushida Kikyo showed obvious confusion on her face.

She stood there blankly, the expression on her face changing several times, as if she was struggling, or like a drowning person, waiting for some kind of long-awaited salvation.

Chapter 384: Kushida, you betrayed Class D in private, right?

When the exam was over, Hikigaya did not return to the dormitory, but instead found Kikyo Kushida and took the initiative to talk to her.

Upon seeing him coming, Kushida's expression was clearly surprised, as if he had never expected that Hikigaya would actively talk to him.

In fact, it was indeed unusual for Hikigaya to take the initiative to talk to someone.

Except when he was in a particularly good mood, so good that he wanted to find someone to give away the killing weapon, in most cases he was not the type to take the initiative to find someone.

However, compared to his own abnormality, the person who is more abnormal now is actually Kikyo Kushida.

During the days of the cruise ship exam - no, actually even before that, Kushida had shown a strange attitude.

As the most cohesive girl in the entire D class, Kushida has always been enthusiastic towards everyone. Although she is sometimes a little careless, she never causes any trouble to others or causes any chaos. Therefore, when Kushida herself shows any abnormality, it is difficult for most people to notice.

However, for a loner like Hikigaya, Kushida himself is unlikely to cause trouble to others, so he is more able to detect the other person's abnormalities.

After all, white spots are only very obvious when they appear on black paper.

The shortcomings of the current team can only be clearly shown in the eyes of the Lone Ranger.

Therefore, he said directly: "You seem to need help? If you have this idea, you might as well say it directly."

"This..." Kushida Kikyo didn't expect Hikigaya to say such a thing, and her expression suddenly became stiff. "I don't understand what you are saying, Hikigaya?"

"It's okay if you don't understand." Hikigaya looked at the nervous and even uneasy Kushida in front of him and said with a smile, "How about we go find a coffee shop and sit down?"

In the past, whenever Kushida wanted to talk to him about something, he would often suggest going to a coffee shop. Hikigaya took note of this, so now he invited him in the same way.

"That's...ok."

Although Kushida himself didn't know what Hikigaya's purpose was, he didn't refuse in the end.

She seemed to feel that if she refused, it would be too abrupt, so in order not to expose herself, she chose to obey Hikigaya's words.

However, Kushida didn't understand that her unusually docile attitude was the main reason why Hikigaya suspected her in the beginning.

The two of them quickly came to the coffee shop, and Hikigaya took the initiative to order two cups of coffee.

"Kushida, I remember you said you wanted to be enemies with Horikita Suzune, right? Was there any progress on that matter?"

"Progress or something... should I say yes or no?" Kushida was vague about Hikigaya's words, "Anyway, I will definitely force that guy to drop out of school! Otherwise, I will never give up!"

"You will never give up?" After confirming Kushida's will, Hikigaya calmly continued to ask, "Come to think of it, didn't you say that you would also treat me as an enemy? Then is it okay for you to come and chat with me now?"

"This...I just think Hikigaya-san is trustworthy."

In order to cover up his lie, Kushida chose to create a new lie.

But lies are destined to be full of flaws from the very beginning.

Kushida is still too young to understand that the essence of lying is to tell the truth.

"Am I trustworthy? Then why don't you tell me what you have been doing recently? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Hikigaya seemed to be deliberately provoking Kushida by saying something that made it difficult for the other party to respond easily.

After all, when Kushida, for some reason, was unwilling to face Hikigaya with his true self, and continued to face him with the false personality he had played, it was doomed that he would not be able to gain any initiative in this conversation.

However, Hikigaya's purpose in talking to Kushida was not to attack Kushida, nor to force him to confess the truth to him.

In a sense, he came here to help Kushida.

"Sorry, I can't tell."

Kushida was silent for a long time, and finally spoke with a wry smile.

It seems that Kushida is not only planning to be a liar, but also intends to deceive herself...

"Really? You don't want to tell me?"

"I know what you think, Hikigaya-san, and I remember your help to me before. To be honest, I am very grateful that you are willing to contact someone like me."

Kushida Kikyo spoke slowly, with a hint of shyness on her face, and a tenderness that was unique to a young girl.

This might be the form that Kushida usually uses to deal with Yamauchi's gang. Most men would probably go into shock instantly if they heard such words coming from such a cute girl, and they would become so dizzy that they would not be able to make any rational remarks.

However, this method has never worked for Hikigaya.

As a lone ranger, Hikigaya has always had a strict self-awareness and is well aware of what kind of liars girls are and how they can easily play with men.

Most of the "happy" and "thank you" that beautiful girls say are just pure courtesy, and essentially mean "anything is fine".

On the contrary, the words "hate" and "disgusting" spoken by beautiful girls are most likely true, so men in the advertisement, please do not have any unnecessary illusions about any opposite sex.

After many trials and tribulations, Hikigaya has long been immune to "gentleness" at any level and will not be deceived by appearances.