Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

So Hikigaya walked over instinctively.

"Ah, Hikigaya-kun... Sorry, I'm a little late because I was a little rushed to prepare..."

Kushida apologized with an embarrassed smile.

"It's not too late. It's still one minute before the gathering time."

"Isn't this quite late?"

"Ok?"

Is there something wrong with your sense of time?

I wasn't even late, so how could this be considered late?

So when is early? Arrive an hour early?

As Hikigaya fell into deep thought, he and Kushida looked at each other and fell silent for some reason, as if the latter was waiting for some topic to unfold.

Well, when a man and a woman go shopping together, there must be a conversation starter...

As a veteran who has watched countless movies, Hikigaya quickly thought of what to say at this time.

He cleared his throat slightly and spoke slowly:

"Well...the clothes you bought are really nice."

"???"

Huh? Did I say something wrong?

Why does Kushida look stunned?

But don’t the male protagonists in anime always praise girls like this?

Hikigaya looked at Kushida in confusion, and it took him a while to realize that he seemed to have praised the wrong thing.

Normally at times like this you would compliment the other person on their good looks, or at least say that the clothes fit them well… why was I only complimenting the clothes?

Am I praising some fashion designer from somewhere?

I want to die. I really want to die...

"Haha, thank you for the compliment."

Fortunately, Kushida seemed to understand what he really wanted to express, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing an angelic smile that seemed to forgive sins.

How should I put it? Although he knew that Kushida was just a pirated angel in disguise, Hikigaya still felt the existence of redemption at this moment.

Chapter 408: Katsuragi, do you have a girlfriend?

Hikigaya and Kushida soon arrived at the shopping street of Tokyo Koukou Ikusei High School, which is a comprehensive business mall with a whole row of various stores.

All transactions are purchased using school internal points.

Hikigaya used to come here occasionally to buy some daily necessities privately. After all, convenience stores are not omnipotent, and there is no way to shop online at school.

It is worth mentioning that since the brief conversation at the beginning, the two people fell into silence all the way.

If you don’t know, you might think that both of them were under a silencing spell or under a black magic.

In order to ease the awkward atmosphere, Hikigaya had to take the initiative to speak:

"There's still a lot of time left. What should we do? Should we go back now?"

"Why do you want to go back so naturally after just arriving?"

"Well, keep going then."

"……Um."

Hearing his words, Kushida unexpectedly behaved obediently and followed him silently.

The two walked through the gate of a shopping mall and entered the inside of the glass door. During this period, Kikyo Kushida kept her head down and remained silent.

Silence was just a small matter to Hikigaya, but if it was Kushida who fell into silence, he would start to care.

After all, she is not usually like this. She can yell for a long time even for unimportant things, but now she has become so quiet. It really makes people worry whether she is angry.

In any case, just pick some questions and try them out.

"Well, you're buying a present for Inogashira-san, why don't you go with the others?"

As soon as he said this, Hikigaya couldn't help but feel regretful.

Why ask this kind of question when you have nothing to do?

If Kushida gave a terrible excuse, like 'Because people like you seem easy to use' or 'There's no one else to look for, so I had to look for you', then I would definitely be so embarrassed that I would want to commit suicide on the spot, or just run back home and torment myself under the covers for three days and three nights.

However, to Hikigaya's surprise, Kushida did not say anything that would offend his dignity.

On the contrary, the other party just smiled calmly and said:

"Of course it's because I want to come with you, Hikigaya-kun."

"Want to join me?"

"correct."

"..."

Kushida's words really made Hikigaya not know how to react.

After all, wanting to be with me means that my status in his heart is higher than that of other people in the class, right?

Eh? Could it be that I have established some kind of interpersonal relationship with Kushida that goes beyond that of ordinary people?

Do I have friends in the true sense?

Really?

Various thoughts kept coming out of his mind, and Hikigaya hesitated and said, "Well, what do you mean by wanting to come with me?"

"This..." Hearing Hikigaya's question, Kushida's originally cheerful expression suddenly fell silent. She froze for a moment, then replied with a smile, "Well, didn't you help me in the previous exams on the uninhabited island and the cruise ship, Hikigaya? I think I should return the favor more or less."

"I see."

Hikigaya breathed a sigh of relief.

so far so good.

In the end, my rationality maintained the bottom line and no embarrassing misunderstandings occurred.

Come to think of it, how could anyone take the initiative to make friends with a guy like me!

It's just a fantasy.

When Kushida saw his reaction, he said in a slightly strange tone: "Well, well...are you dissatisfied with coming out with me?"

"Report, no!"

In order to prevent the other party from getting angry, Hikigaya responded as quickly as possible.

"That's good."

Kushida smiled at this, and the two fell silent again.

Fortunately, there was a shop selling various small gifts right in front of us, and since there were no festivals during this period, there were basically no people in the shop.

This kind of shop, which looks very sober at first glance, has always been a restricted area for Hikigaya. In his eyes, it is an exclusive area for young girls and handsome guys to enter. Those who go in are either active couples or substitute couples who are about to become active couples.

Anyway, it is not a space that a dark and gloomy otaku like him can step into.

However, the situation today is different. Since it was Kushida who invited him to come here, even if the environment does not match him, he can position himself as Kushida's follower, and he thinks there will not be any sense of incongruity.

The first store we entered was a shop full of girls. The shop assistants were all older beauties with very good looks. The store was decorated entirely in pink. From dolls to mobile phone pendants, the store had most of the products that could be found on the market.

In a sense, Kushida had done him a big favor, otherwise there was absolutely no way he would come to a place like this to choose a gift for Komachi.

"What could make Komachi happy... I really don't understand."

Recalling the scene when he bought a Gundam model for Komachi, but was criticized by her as a "nerd, neet, otaku, and a perverted brother who is really disgusting", Hikigaya decided to change his ways this time and choose something for his sister that would make her happy.

But what exactly do girls like? For him, this is an epic problem no less than the Goldbach conjecture.

How about giving something like a bouquet of roses or a ring?

If someone mistakes it for a proposal, just elope with him/her to a small town in the countryside, or just go to Germany to build a happy family of two siblings!

"Have you decided what gift to buy?"

When Hikigaya was in a state of chaos and perhaps even suffering from torture from his parents, Kushida's voice broke his illusion.

The girl looked at him curiously and said slowly, "From your appearance, you probably haven't bought any decent gifts before, right?"

"..."

Don't guess so accurately!

Hachiman: My heart will be traumatized.

On the other side, Kushida seemed to have expected this situation, and said helplessly: "Well, it seems that I need to explain to you what girls will like. First of all, when choosing gifts, you must not choose flashy things, especially those that can be customized, such as mobile phone cases, key chains and the like... Most people like things with personal style, and people with special hobbies will even buy corresponding products specifically."

"Oh, I understand this."

As an old fan of the anime, Hikigaya has naturally bought anime peripherals, the largest of which are mobile phone cases, so he understands the reason.

Kushida then continued: "Secondly, don't buy those things that have no aesthetic value and are purely practical. You don't want someone to give you plain things like Band-Aids and scissors as gifts, right?"

"Is this not possible?"

Hikigaya Haruka remembered that she had given a mechanical pencil as a gift to her sister a long time ago, and as expected, she was criticized for not having any interest at all.

However, through Kushida's introduction, Hikigaya also realized the answer and said, "In other words, when choosing a gift, you just need to choose something that has practical value and is beautiful enough."

"Well, Hikigaya-kun is really smart."

Kushida smiled.

Before Hikigaya could be happy, the girl said helplessly, "If you were this smart normally, you wouldn't be so annoying."

"I'm so sorry I'm so annoying."

"Haha, it's okay." Kushida smiled and shook his head. "For me, the fact that you, Hikigaya-san, are so unpopular is actually a good thing."

Wow, how can this guy say such horrible things with a smile?

Hiding the yandere?

However, this also proved to some extent that Kushida was beginning to stop pretending in front of him and was willing to reveal his true self.

"So, what kind of gift would be better? Gloves, dolls, pencil cases?"

In response to Hikigaya's confusion, Kushida spoke silently: "This still depends on each person's different situation. You have to start from that person's preferences to choose the right gift. You must remember this in the future!"

"oh oh."

It felt like Kushida was deliberately emphasizing something, or even giving a strong hint.

However, Hikigaya obviously didn't understand what the other person meant. He just looked inside the store silently and thought about what his sister might like.

However, when I think about it carefully, my sister's taste is not only similar to mine, but can also be said to be exactly the same.

He can choose the gifts he wants, which can be said to be a wonderful gift bestowed by God on him as a brother!

Just as Hikigaya was carefully selecting a gift, he suddenly saw an unexpected figure appear in front of him.

Although it was only the back, the tall and bald figure was impossible to ignore. One could tell his identity almost at a glance: the former leader of Class A, now Class C, Kōhei Katsuragi.

Even though it was summer vacation, the other party was still neatly dressed in uniform and observing the goods in front of him with a serious expression, with no idea what he wanted to do.

It can be said that all the titles on the other party's head were due to him, which made Hikigaya feel somewhat sorry for him, so he couldn't help but observe the other party's actions with curiosity.

Under his gaze, Katsuragi slowly picked up a makeup box that was adorable, even though it didn't match his style.

But after picking it up and looking at it for a few seconds, he put it back and looked at other items in the store.

Although this seemed like a strange thing, it undoubtedly proved the fact that Katsuragi was currently choosing a gift for someone.

But who is Katsuragi choosing a gift for?

The things here are obviously prepared for girls. Could it be a girl in the school?

This big bald guy fell in love with someone!!