Chapter 20 Cute Shiina Hiyori
Although beanbag sofas are comfortable to sit on, getting up from them is harder than from a regular sofa. As Shiina was preparing to stand up and take her leave, a hand reached out in front of her—it was the hand of her first book friend, Hikigaya.
"Thank you." Hugging her book with one hand, Shiina grabbed Hikigaya's hand to use as support and tried to spring up, but her foot got caught on Sakayanagi's accidentally dropped cane. She lost her balance and fell directly into Hikigaya's arms.
His hand that was holding Shiina's got caught between their bodies, and the other hand was tightly wrapped around the waist of the girl who almost fell. Hikigaya was a bit stunned—the girl's warm body and a scent completely different from Ichinose's made his heart race a little.
"Are… are you okay?" Realizing that Sakayanagi and Kamuro were still present, Hikigaya quickly released his hold on Shiina's waist and took two steps back. Shiina's beautiful face, flushed red with embarrassment, entered his view.
Turning her head slightly, Shiina said, "I'm fine. I'll be leaving now."
"I'll walk you out." Following behind Shiina and stepping out of the room, Hikigaya looked at her graceful figure walking down the corridor and couldn't help waving his hand. "See you tomorrow."
Just when he thought Shiina would leave without looking back, she stopped in her tracks and turned halfway around. Under the corridor's fluorescent lights, her cheeks were rosy and her violet eyes shimmered with shyness—a breathtaking sight.
"See you tomorrow…"
Her small hand lifted and waved twice gently before she slowly disappeared from Hikigaya's sight.
She's way too cute. Why is she so cute? She's as cute as my little sister—ah! I'm going to die. Hikigaya's heart started pounding again. Unfortunately, remembering the little devil still inside his room left him a bit frustrated.
Returning to his room, Hikigaya collapsed like a puddle of mud onto the beanbag chair Shiina had been sitting on and closed his eyes.
Feeling that dealing with Sakayanagi would be troublesome, he wanted to relax first. The soft texture wrapped around his body.
"A host closing his eyes to rest while the guest is still present, that's not very polite, Hikigaya-kun." The wooden cane tapped lightly on Hikigaya's leg a few times.
"Guest? Who said you're the guest? Tell him to come out and fight me for 300 rounds." Hikigaya didn't bother to open his eyes. "If you've got something to say, say it quickly. I need to shower and sleep soon."
He had promised Sudo to help him tomorrow, so Hikigaya really planned to sleep early tonight.
"Hehe, not opening your eyes, huh?"
As Sakayanagi's voice rang out, Hikigaya felt two soft, warm objects land on his stomach.
"Just giving you a little reward to make you focus."
Realizing something was off, Hikigaya opened his eyes. As expected, the warm softness on his stomach turned out to be Sakayanagi's delicate, exquisite feet. Her slender ankles and round toes were flawless and snowy white.
"She really does whatever she wants, huh, your master." Hikigaya quickly sat up and brushed off Sakayanagi Arisu's little feet, turning to look at the silent purple-haired beauty, Kamuro Masumi.
"Who said she's my master, you dead fish-eyed pervert."
"Sorry she's not trained properly yet, embarrassing huh."
"Huh?!" Kamuro angrily glared at Sakayanagi before turning her head away.
Doesn't dare talk back, huh? Looks like Sakayanagi's got something on her. Hikigaya made his judgment—he had originally thought Kamuro was Sakayanagi's friend, but now it was clear he was overthinking.
Sakayanagi was still in her spoiled and willful brat stage. Katsuragi Kohei stepping up to challenge her for class leader really wasn't a bad move. Letting Sakayanagi run wild would destroy Class A before they even realized what hit them.
Makes sense—just by her appearance you can tell she's the daughter of a powerful family. The privileges of Class A are worth less than toilet paper to someone like her. Katsuragi probably feared this and that's why he stepped up.
"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka—can you tell me how much you know about him?"
Taking out her phone, Sakayanagi smiled and enlarged the photo Hikigaya had sent her at noon. In the picture, Ayanokouji stood expressionless at the podium.
"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, huh…" Hikigaya dragged out the name, feeling that Sakayanagi might already know some intel about Ayanokouji. He had to figure out how to get some info out of her.
There wasn't anything too unusual about how the midterm exam was handled—it definitely shouldn't have attracted such intense interest from Sakayanagi. Her lofty arrogance was obvious—she hadn't even taken him seriously before. This second meeting only happened because of Ayanokouji and the others.
"You're Ayanokouji's friend, right? He said he knew you since childhood." As Hikigaya spoke, he watched Sakayanagi's expression—but got absolutely nothing.
"Just answer my question, Hikigaya-kun." Sakayanagi's face maintained its graceful smile without change.
Too hasty, Hikigaya thought with a sigh.
"Ayanokouji is a warm-hearted good guy, with a tenacious spirit and burning determination. For the sake of his classmates in Class D, he fearlessly seized the past exams from upperclassmen."
You've got your tricks, I've got my loopholes. If she wouldn't give him any useful information, he could verbally spar with her all the way until curfew.
As Sakayanagi scrolled her phone, a brand-new photo appeared in front of Hikigaya. "Hikigaya-kun, what do you think would happen if I sent this photo to Ichinose?"
In the photo, he was lying on the beanbag chair with his eyes closed, looking comfortable. On his stomach were a pair of dainty, clearly feminine feet.
"Isn't Ichinose your girlfriend?" Sakayanagi smiled.
"I am indeed Ichinose's boyfriend," Hikigaya paused, "but who are you to Ichinose? Go ahead and send it. Let's see who she believes—you or me, you damn little gremlin."
At the Advanced Nurturing High School, only Hikigaya gets to threaten others—never the other way around.
"Pfft, hahaha… little gremlin." Sitting on the sofa, Kamuro couldn't hold back her laughter, clutching her stomach as her long, rounded legs trembled.
Seeing Kamuro like that, Sakayanagi immediately opened the browser to search for the meaning of "little gremlin." Due to her poor health, she had always had tutors and lacked knowledge in some areas.
Thanks to the school's fast internet, Sakayanagi quickly finished reading the explanation of "little gremlin."
["Little gremlin" refers to a younger female character who treats older individuals with arrogance, disdain, teasing, and mockery. Initially haughty and bossy, but once "disciplined," she becomes gentle and obedient.]
"Hehehe, Hikigaya, I admit you've pissed me off." The graceful smile that always adorned Sakayanagi's face vanished completely, replaced by a Horikita-style cold expression.
"We'll be leaving for now, dear—Hikigaya-kun." Sakayanagi tapped Kamuro's thigh with her cane. "Get up, let's go. Laugh anymore and I'll leave you here as Hikigaya's dinner."