Dare: Hold Hands for One Minute

After the questions ended, they started a new round.

In the second round, Kushida's luck exploded, and she once again became the player with the highest number present. Horikita, meanwhile, became the unlucky one.

"I choose dare."

Horikita chose dare without hesitation, afraid that Kushida would ask another embarrassing question.

Kushida smiled at that, resting her index finger against her chin as she considered what dare to give Horikita.

After thinking for two or three minutes, Kushida's smile deepened.

"Then, Horikita, please choose one of us and hold hands with them for one minute."

"I refuse."

"No, you can't refuse."

Kushida narrowed her eyes, giving off an unexpectedly scheming impression.

Horikita stared blankly at the others, unable to carry out the dare Kushida had proposed.

When people played Truth or Dare, the questions and dares were generally especially suggestive. Unless they were playing some absurd version of it, this was perfectly normal.

Hikigaya glanced at her, silently conveying his experience with this game.

Horikita sat frozen in place, completely unable to act.

"Sigh, Horikita is unexpectedly shy." Kushida sighed, then said, "If you're embarrassed, all of us can close our eyes. That way, no one will know who you chose."

Kushida compromised, and everyone else waited for Horikita's answer.

Since Kushida had put it that way, Horikita found it difficult to refuse again under so many watching eyes.

"Fine. I understand."

Horikita agreed, and the other eight people promptly closed their eyes. Horikita sighed softly and swept her gaze over everyone present.

In the dimness behind his closed eyes, Hikigaya felt a small, icy hand touch his shoulder.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. He did not care that Horikita had violated the terms of the dare, merely waiting quietly for the minute to pass.

Time was up, and everyone opened their eyes.

"Who did Horikita choose?" Sudo anxiously looked around at everyone and asked curiously.

Unfortunately, no one stepped forward to answer him. No emotion could be seen on Horikita's face, while Hikigaya's disguise was even more flawless. The answer to that question became one of humanity's unsolved mysteries.

"Ike lost, so please give Yamauchi, who's sitting beside you, a kiss."

"Sudo and Ayanokoji, hug for one minute."

The game went on for seven or eight rounds, yet not a single question about the relationship between Hikigaya and Sato—the thing they cared about most—was asked.

That was because those two had been especially lucky and had not lost a single round.

The celebration was more or less over, reaching its final conclusion.

Though they were still curious, they decided to call it a night.

The girls and the Idiot Trio all left, leaving only Hikigaya and Ayanokoji in the room.

"Then let me help clean up the aftermath."

Hikigaya stood up and began helping tidy the room. Though he could have simply left, he felt a little bad about using someone else's room and walking away like that.

"It's fine. I can do it myself."

"Please let me help a little."

"Alright."

The two grown men began cleaning the room, clearing away all the trash they had created.

"Ayanokoji, what do you think of this school?"

While cleaning, Hikigaya casually struck up a conversation with Ayanokoji, as though he were bored.

Ayanokoji paused before replying, "It's a very good school. Both the environment and the educational resources are the best I've ever seen."

"Is that so?" Hikigaya nodded. After pondering for a moment, he said, "I think it's rather boring here. There don't seem to be any particularly interesting people."

"If only I could make these three years a little more challenging."

Hikigaya remarked wistfully. Ayanokoji continued cleaning in silence without offering any response.

After returning to his room, Hikigaya poured himself a glass of water and silently looked out the window.

With Ryuen's appearance, his presence in class had admittedly become much more noticeable. Of course, his presence among the girls had always remained exceptionally high.

To be honest, Hikigaya did not want to draw too much attention, especially not by letting Ayanokoji discover his abilities. If that happened, he would have to constantly stay on guard against this wildcard student in the future.

But wouldn't doing that make things far too dull?

If he did nothing at all, then coming here after transmigrating would not have changed much, would it?

The two contradictory thoughts clashed within him, making his brows furrow.

At that moment, a notification sounded. He picked up his phone and found a message from Wang Meiyu.

"Congratulations, Hikigaya. You successfully got through this crisis."

Wasn't this congratulations a little late?

Hikigaya shook his head with a wry smile and replied to her message.

"Thanks to you, I was able to safely pass the exam."

"No, I only did something insignificant."

"Even so, I still have to thank you. If you ever have any trouble next time, you can ask me for help. I'll definitely do my best."

Turning off his phone, Hikigaya switched off the room lights and lay down on his bed, no longer paying any attention to the girl on the other end who was lost in her own thoughts.

The next day, Chabashira walked onto the podium with a smile, bringing Class D tremendous good news.

Their class points had finally increased. Because the entire class had successfully passed the exam, the school awarded them 100 class points, making these students—who had gone a month without points—cheer loudly.

Of course, the gap between them and the other three classes had not changed at all. They still held firmly onto last place.

However, 100 class points meant each of them could receive ten thousand personal points, which was more than enough to solve their urgent needs.

This was especially true for the girls. They had far more things to spend money on than the boys, and life without points had truly been difficult.

Seeing the ten thousand points immediately credited to their phones, the Idiot Trio had already decided what lavish meal to eat today.

As expected of people who had spent all their points within days, at this rate, they would probably all become paupers again by tomorrow.

Hikigaya put away his phone, making sure no one saw the huge fortune inside it.

He did not want to be surrounded every day by people asking to borrow money, so he had no choice but to keep a low profile.

Hikigaya observed everyone's actions and expressions in the class, eventually settling his gaze on one girl.

While everyone else happily chatted and celebrated regaining their points, she alone sat quietly at her desk with her head lowered, not speaking to anyone.

She gave off a sense of being completely out of place.

Hikigaya remembered this girl. When the first swimming class had begun, she had been one of the top candidates among the girls the Idiot Trio considered to have the best figure.

Airi Sakura, tags: [Model] [Introverted] [Lacks confidence]