Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

Kushida Kikyo, on the other hand, was the opposite of hers and said unhappily, "You are so self-righteous, Horikita-san, for not contacting someone before looking for them."

Hello, didn’t you send me a message in advance when you came to see me?

Hikigaya complained in his mind.

When Horikita Suzune heard what Kushida said, she said without giving in: "This is indeed my problem, but isn't it a bit too self-righteous for Kushida-san to come to Hikigaya right after meeting me?"

"..."

There seemed to be a hint of tension in the air. Hikigaya tried to lighten the mood with a cup of coffee, but the two girls ignored him, so he could only lower his head in silence.

"I don't see anything wrong with me coming to see Hikigaya-kun."

Kushida spoke calmly, placing his hands in front of his chest.

Seeing this, Horikita Suzune frowned slightly and said, "Didn't I tell you that it's best not to involve Hikigaya in this matter?"

"Yeah, I didn't intend to involve him."

"you sure?"

Horikita seemed to be unable to believe what Kushida said and looked at him suspiciously.

Kushida himself replied calmly: "I came here in the hope that he would not get involved in our affairs."

"Is that so?"

Horikita hesitated and looked at Hikigaya himself.

The latter nodded helplessly in approval.

Horikita then sighed and replied, "It seems I made a mistake. I'm sorry."

"..."

Seeing that the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became cold again, Hikigaya couldn't help but take the initiative to speak: "I think this matter may allow me to..."

"No."

Horikita and Kushida spoke at almost the same time.

The two of them seemed to have never considered this possibility, and showed amazing unity in not letting Hikigaya interfere in the matter.

But Hikigaya really hopes that the two of them can try to be more united in normal times.

Unfortunately, there was obviously no possibility of reconciliation between Horikita Suzune and Kushida Kikyo. After finishing the initial discussion, they quietly started talking about serious matters.

"Horikita, have you told Hikigaya-kun about my past?"

Kushida's sharp gaze pierced through Horikita.

Horikita responded by responding, "I only said what I know, and this was all at your request."

"That's true." Kushida nodded, "I believe Hikigaya-kun. I am even willing to tell him everything about the past, but the prerequisite is that you must disappear from this school."

"Do you hate me so much?"

"Yes, I do hope you can disappear from this school." Kushida said calmly, "Because you and I are in the same junior high school, in the same year, and you are the one who knew about the incident."

"I did hear about the incident, but since I don't have any friends, it's not something I'm interested in. What I heard was just a rumor, not the truth."

"No guarantee that you don't know the truth?"

"Well, I can't fill the gap between you and I because of this." Horikita sighed, "No matter how much I deny it, you can't deny the possibility that I lied. Not only that, I think you can't allow me to know the existence of the incident, so you want to expel me from school."

The two seemed to be having a frank conversation, but Hikigaya, who was standing next to them, felt that the conversation was extremely empty, as if it was covered by something false.

Horikita continued the empty conversation: "Do you want to make a bet with me, Kushida-san?"

"Bet? What does that mean?"

"You don't like my existence, this is a helpless problem, right?"

"Yes, as long as you are in this school, my opinion will not change."

"In fact, I am tired of your existence." Horikita Suzune no longer concealed her thoughts and spoke in a cold and indifferent voice: "Just as you hope that I will drop out of school, I also hope that you can disappear from this school and this class, and no longer become a mine hidden in the class."

"Hey, you actually have such an idea."

"Because I've stopped avoiding problems and decided to face everything." Horikita Suzune took a deep breath, "So, I decided to let you drop out of school to solve all the problems."

"No way. If you want to drop out, you should be the one to drop out."

"It seems that we have reached a consensus on making the other party drop out of school."

"Indeed, I have long believed that our relationship would never improve no matter what."

Facing Kushida's ridicule, Horikita nodded slowly: "Before making this decision, I had thought countless times about how we should live in harmony, but as time went by, I realized that no matter how hard I struggled, this was impossible."

"I think so, too, Horikita-san." Kushida fiddled with his fingers, "This matter won't end unless someone disappears."

"So, you want to make a bet?"

"..."

After a brief silence, Kushida asked, "What do you mean by bet?"

"If I get a higher score than you in this final exam, I hope you can drop out cleanly and not cause any impact on this class."

Horikita made the final conclusion.

"Does that mean you want to play an individual match regardless of your partner's total score?"

"Ah."

"This is a very stupid bet, Horikita-san. I have never beaten you in the exams, and it would be even harder if it was the total score."

"Yes, so we won't compare the total scores. Let's have the final exam in one of the eight subjects to decide the winner. You can freely choose the subject you are good at. Then, if your score is higher than mine, I will take the initiative to drop out."

Horikita Suzune clearly laid out the conditions in front of Kushida Kikyo.

In this situation, even Hikigaya instinctively felt a little nervous...

Chapter 524: Self-loathing

Normally, it would be difficult for Horikita to agree with Kushida on what she proposed. After all, there was already a gap in their abilities, and if they were to compete based on their test scores, it would be hard to determine who would win.

However, Horikita herself added difficulty limits to the scope of the exam, that is, only single subject scores were compared, allowing Kushida Kikyo to choose the subjects she was good at.

In this way, Kushida will at least not fall into too big a disadvantage, and even have a great chance of defeating Horikita.

Of course, whether or not she is willing to accept the conditions given by Horikita still requires the consent of Kushida himself, and there is no need for her to compete with Horikita here.

"This could become a simple verbal agreement." After hearing Horikita's suggestion, Kushida fell silent for a moment, "Like if you lose and pretend the game never happened, of course, I may not abide by the agreement. Do you really think we can trust each other?"

"That's true." Horikita seemed to have thought about the question raised by Kushida. "To avoid that situation, I prepared reliable witnesses in advance."

"A reliable witness? Are you talking about Hikigaya-kun?"

"I said I wouldn't drag Hikigaya into this."

Horikita Suzune denied it coldly.

But seeing this, Hikigaya wanted to complain, "When you were talking about this in my room, you dragged me into this, okay?"

"Then who are you talking about?"

"My brother, the student council president, Horikita Manabu."

"Well!"

Hikigaya and Kushida both looked surprised when they heard the name.

Neither of them had obviously expected that in order to resolve this matter, Horikita would actually be willing to go find his brother and pull Horikita Manabu out as a witness.

Horikita seemed to have noticed the attitudes of the two, but she said calmly: "I know what you think, but this is my determination. I will not escape anymore and will choose to face everything."

"..."

Horikita's words made Kushida Kikyo fall silent.

If there is a student council president to take charge, this bet might actually be successful.

At least Horikita Manabu has never been the type to protect his sister. If Horikita Suzune loses, the strict student council president will probably ask Horikita Suzune to drop out immediately.

"Horikita, have you really made up your mind?"

"Yes."

"It seems you are serious, Horikita-san."

“I can’t keep standing still.”

"Okay, I'll participate in this match." Kushida was silent for a long time, and responded to Horikita's words, "My preferred subject is mathematics, and the content of the bet is just as Horikita said just now. If the scores are the same, it will be considered invalid, okay?"

"it is good."

Horikita nodded in agreement.

The bet has been established and neither party has any way out.

"Although I don't really want to drag you, Hikigaya, into this." Horikita turned around, "But since you've already witnessed everything, can you also serve as a witness to ensure the execution of the result? If either Kushida or I lose, we must drop out of this school."

"That's...ok."

Faced with Horikita Kushida staring at him like that, Hikigaya had no way of refusing and nodded slightly stiffly.

"Thank you."

After this thank you, the scene fell silent for a while.

Both sides seemed to be thinking about the impact of this incident.

In the end, Kushida Kikyo took the initiative to speak, with her usual sarcastic attitude: "I'm really looking forward to the final exam, Horikita-san."

"Let's do our best for each other."

Horikita responded with a nonchalant tone, as if she no longer wanted to pretend to be enthusiastic with Kushida.

"Come to think of it, why did you ask me to stay?" Horikita suddenly recalled something and looked at Kushida coldly, "There was no need to let Hikigaya know about this from the beginning. We could have agreed on a time to discuss it tomorrow, and I could have called my brother out in advance."

In response to Horikita's question, Kushida smiled calmly and said, "I don't have any special ideas, I just think it would be unfair to let you go back directly."

"fair……"

Horikita chewed on this word, thinking deeply.

She then slowly stood up and said silently: "Since the matter has been decided, I will leave first."

Before leaving, she looked at Hikigaya deeply, as if she had countless words she wanted to say, but in the end she said nothing.

On the other side, Hikigaya looked at Kushida who was still sitting in his seat and said helplessly:

"Aren't you leaving yet?"

"Eh? Are you kicking me out so soon?" Kushida said in an exaggerated manner, "Could it be that Hikigaya-kun really wants me to drop out of school right away?"

"That's definitely not the case..."

Hikigaya sighed, becoming increasingly confused about the situation.

After all, the problem he was facing right now didn't even have anything to do with him, and both Horikita and Kushida showed that they didn't want him to get involved.

This was undoubtedly the worst situation for Hikigaya, who had always been a passive participant and rarely took the initiative to do anything, because he found that he had no reason to interfere with the positions of the two girls.

If he took the initiative to do something, it would be equivalent to him giving up his position as a lone ranger and making a choice in his heart...but he himself didn't know what choice he would make.

With one person missing, the atmosphere in the dormitory became very quiet. The occasional cool breeze blowing in from outside was colder than ever, symbolizing that winter was approaching.

"There's nothing to do."

Kushida Kikyo, who was sitting in her seat, suddenly whispered.

"What else?" Hikigaya had picked up the unfinished copy of No Longer Human without knowing when, and now looked at him silently, "Aren't you planning on going back? You can't stay the night at my place, can you?"

"Don't you want me to stay, Hikigaya?"

"We've already talked about this topic last time."

"..."

Kushida was slightly stunned by Hikigaya's clever response, and after a moment of silence, Hikigaya suddenly said, "Kushida, do you want to go shopping somewhere tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"

"what?"

Rather than being surprised, her expression was more like being stunned. This reaction was closer to being puzzled than surprised.