Passing On Experience

The next day, a gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks, easing some of summer's scorching heat.

Under the blazing sun, Hachiman Hikigaya abandoned all concern for his image and ran miserably toward the classroom.

Only when a blast of cold air hit his face did he finally relax.

One word: awesome!

As he entered the classroom, Hachiman found that the atmosphere had become somewhat strange.

It seemed that many pairs of eyes were subtly landing on him, while their owners occasionally whispered to their companions.

Honestly, Hachiman hated this kind of situation the most.

It always felt like they were secretly gossiping about him. It made his skin crawl!

If there's gossip, why not share it with me?

Fortunately, someone was always unable to contain their feelings.

The moment Hachiman appeared in class, three figures charged toward him.

"Damn it!! Hachiman, did you sneak ahead of us too?"

Ike unwillingly wrapped an arm around Hachiman's neck. Hachiman, struggling not to throw him over his shoulder, was utterly startled by their behavior.

"What do you mean?"

He forcefully patted Ike's hand to signal his surrender.

"You went on a date with Sato over the weekend, didn't you?"

Ike glared viciously at Hachiman.

Yamauchi from the Idiot Trio had already beaten them to it and snagged Kushida, the cutest girl in class, which had made him deeply annoyed. And now Hachiman was trying to do the same.

Although Hachiman had previously been involved in rumors with plenty of girls, this was the first time someone had actually witnessed him on a date.

If Yamauchi hadn't happened to run into him, no one probably would have known.

"No, we just watched a movie together."

"Idiot, watching a movie means you're dating!"

Sudo shouted as well. It was obvious these two single guys were getting anxious.

"It's not what you think."

Hachiman explained weakly, casting an ill-intentioned glance at Yamauchi.

That loudmouth had spread the news through the entire class in less than a day.

"You'd better give us a reasonable explanation!"

Why did I have to do that?

Hachiman was thoroughly confused. Was this what friends were like? Still, they were not especially close friends—just classmates who occasionally hung out together.

Even though he thought that, he could not withstand the determination of the Idiot Trio.

After Hachiman was dragged away by them, Sato appeared at the doorway.

There was not the slightest trace of heartbreak from being rejected on her face. Instead, she was beaming, as though something wonderful had happened.

"Maya!"

Matsushita waved, and Sato responded.

Karuizawa's trio had gathered together as well, chatting among themselves.

"Maya, are you okay?"

Karuizawa and Matsushita watched Sato with concern.

They had learned that Sato's confession had failed and spent the entire night thinking about how to comfort their friend.

Normally, someone whose confession had failed would cry their eyes out to vent the resentment and sadness in their heart.

Sato's smiling face, her act of hiding her sorrow inside, worried them greatly.

When this happened, it often meant the person was devastated but did not want to show it, bottling everything up alone.

If that continued for too long, the consequences would become impossible to contain.

"Hm? Me? I'm great."

Sato did not think much of it and answered directly.

Her mood could not merely be called good. It was absolutely fantastic.

Hachiman had rejected her on the surface, but the actual situation was entirely different.

From his words, Sato knew that Hachiman definitely liked her. He simply did not want to hold her back because of his current goal.

Because of that, Sato did not feel disappointed at all. Instead, she wanted to work even harder and help Hachiman reach Class A sooner.

By then, Hachiman... no, Hachiman-kun, would be able to be with her.

All right! Then I'll start working hard from now on!

Filled with motivation, Sato took out her textbook and buried herself in studying.

Karuizawa and Matsushita exchanged glances. It was over—this girl had really been hurt deeply!

"Is that really all there was to it?"

Ike asked skeptically, his voice full of disbelief.

Men's mouths were lying ghosts, especially a handsome guy like Hachiman.

"I'm not lying to you."

Hachiman helplessly shrank back. A clear conscience feared no ghost knocking at the door; Hachiman was not worried that they would discover anything.

"Sigh, actually, it'd be pretty good if you two got together."

Sudo sighed emotionally, drawing an angry rebuke from Ike.

"Idiot Ken, that kind of thinking makes you a traitor!"

"Huh?"

Ike, who did not know his place, was swiftly punished by Sudo with a chokehold.

"If Hachiman gets together with Sato, that means no one will compete with me for Horikita. This is what you call genius thinking!"

I see. Who would have thought Sudo's brain was actually pretty good?

Hachiman rubbed his chin as Ike fought desperately.

"That's why you're the traitor! You're actually trying to leave me behind alone! I won't allow it!"

Clearly, Ike was afraid of becoming the only single guy.

The two began wrestling, but Hachiman had no interest in it and returned to class to take his seat.

"Morning, Horikita."

Hachiman greeted Horikita at the neighboring desk. She merely glanced at him without responding.

"So cold..."

"Sorry, I simply do not want others to misunderstand our relationship.

After all, Hikigaya-kun attracts a lot of attention."

A faint killing intent filled the air, making Hachiman's hair stand on end.

Th-this-this! Hachiman fearfully looked past Horikita and questioned Ayanokoji on the other side.

"Ayanokoji-kun, do you sense a strange aura?"

"Not at all."

"That's impossible. Horikita is clearly giving off the smell of jealousy. You sit right next to her, so there's no way you didn't notice!"

A sharp gaze fell on him, and Hachiman did not dare move.

"Please do not say such things."

Hachiman shrugged. "All right, all right."

"How terrifying. This is the horror of women during those few days every month."

Hachiman once again passed on this kind of experience to Ayanokoji across Horikita.

"I see." Ayanokoji nodded seriously, silently recording this situation in his supercomputer brain.

Bang!

The class bell rang. With a huge bump on his head, Hachiman listened lifelessly as Chabashira taught.

Which genius had suggested bullying Horikita together in the chatroom some time ago?

What a joke. With Horikita's fighting skills, you would probably be the ones getting bullied instead, right?!

Where no one else could see, the corners of Hachiman's lips lifted slightly.

The more Horikita reacted like this, the more it proved that Hachiman had begun to occupy a certain place in her heart.

Otherwise, the tsundere Horikita would never have reacted so strongly.

The seed had already begun to slowly sprout.

Next, all he needed was to wait for a downpour—a downpour that would allow the seed to grow successfully at the very edge of collapse.