A Day on a Date

The weekend had arrived, bringing the students a day of rest.

At the entrance to the shopping center, many students had come to relax and shop. Amid the crowd, Horikita quietly waited for someone's arrival.

This was already her second weekend since coming to this school.

To be honest, Horikita was dissatisfied with being placed in Class D. Although Chabashira-sensei had not said anything, judging by the name alone, Class D was undoubtedly the worst of the four classes.

Two weeks of observation had confirmed her suspicions.

Hardly any students listened seriously in class, and problem children were everywhere. On top of that, the teachers' strictness made her wonder whether this school was really as excellent as advertised.

She truly could not stand being grouped with such defective products.

Proud as she was, she had always believed that she belonged in Class A. So from the very beginning, she had treated everyone with indifference, unwilling to have anything to do with them.

Of course, there were a few exceptions.

Only four people were still willing to approach her despite knowing her distant personality.

The class's nice guy, Yosuke Hirata; Kikyo Kushida, who stubbornly wanted to become friends with her; and her two neighboring desk mates.

Today, she had come to fulfill the bet she had lost.

Before long, a boy in casual clothes entered her field of vision.

Hachiman Hikigaya—the boy she found somewhat difficult to figure out.

"Yo."

"Don't 'yo' me. If you invited someone, you shouldn't be late yourself!"

Horikita snapped at him, and Hachiman scratched his head awkwardly.

It was only one minute...

According to the bet, the two of them were supposed to spend the day on a date. Hachiman was looking forward to it. After all, his date was Suzune Horikita, the girl who was cold to the extreme!

"Let's go."

Horikita entered the shopping center first. The two wandered around together and watched a horror movie.

It was worth mentioning that Horikita did not show even the slightest fear during the horror movie, which was genuinely admirable.

Hachiman had wanted to pretend to be scared and throw himself into her arms for comfort, but after seeing the murderous look in her eyes, he gave up on the idea resentfully.

After the movie, they spent some time at a few entertainment facilities before finally finding a drink shop to rest in.

"Horikita, what do you think of Class D?"

Seeing how awkwardly quiet things had become, Hachiman took the initiative to bring up a topic that might interest Horikita.

"Nothing much. They're just a bunch of hopeless idiots. I really don't understand why the school put me together with people like you."

Hearing that, Hachiman chuckled. That way of thinking was probably exactly why she had been placed in Class D.

Suzune Horikita was outstanding among the first-years, whether academically or athletically.

Only her aloof personality made her just as defective as the other Class D students.

And despite believing herself inferior to no one, in the future she would merely be someone who could barely fight the leaders of the other classes by relying on others.

"This month is already halfway over. Do you have enough points?"

Horikita looked out the window and said, "I still have plenty left. What? Are you planning to borrow points from me?"

This had already happened in their class. Karuizawa, one of the more prominent girls, had spent all one hundred thousand points in only a few days and was borrowing points from people all over the class.

"Not really. Still, I don't think the school would hand out points for no reason. It just feels strange."

"Could it be that you suffer from paranoia?"

Horikita had found it strange at first too, but two weeks had passed without anything happening, and her doubts had gradually faded with time.

"Do you think there'll come a day when the school stops giving us points?"

Hachiman wore a relaxed smile as he asked that terrifying question.

Without points, many students probably would not be able to accept it.

Horikita frowned at his question, seemingly imagining such a situation.

"Who knows."

"By the way, your life seems pretty plain. I've never seen you at the Student Cafeteria."

"I don't think your life is all that exciting either."

Horikita countered, then added, "But it's true that I rarely go to the Student Cafeteria."

"Oh? Do you cook for yourself in the Dormitory?"

"Mm. I'm fairly confident in my cooking."

"Heh, then—"

"Please give up. I won't invite you over."

Realizing what Hachiman was about to say, Horikita rejected him before he could finish, leaving his words stuck in his throat.

"We're on a date, you know. Eating together in your room could count as part of the date, right?"

"I refuse."

Horikita would not budge, looking utterly determined not to agree.

"I can pay you points."

"I don't lack points."

"I can agree to any request you make."

"Sorry, I don't need anything."

Horikita still refused, as though nothing could move her.

Hachiman sighed inwardly. With Horikita's personality, how long would it take before he could win her over?

"Huh? Are you two on a date?"

A somewhat familiar voice sounded behind them. When they turned around, they found the person Horikita least wanted to meet: Kikyo Kushida.

Kushida was with several classmates, and they had clearly arranged to go out together for the weekend.

"I knew it. They were walking so close together, there had to be something going on."

Several girls whispered among themselves, and Horikita calmly replied, "No, it's just—"

"That's right. We're on a date."

Before Horikita could finish, Hachiman confirmed it first.

"Hikigaya!" Horikita called out sternly.

Facing Horikita, Hachiman wore a teasing expression. At an angle where Kushida and the others could not see, he silently shaped a sentence with his lips.

"Agree to my request."

Horikita furrowed her brows, then sighed.

"Fine, as long as you don't say anything reckless."

After receiving Horikita's answer, Hachiman turned back with a grin.

"Just kidding. We only happened to run into each other. We're not on a date."

The girls immediately sighed in relief. Although they had suspected it, deep down, none of them wanted Hachiman to be dating Horikita.

Because each of them, more or less, had a little crush on Hachiman.

"I should go." Horikita drained her coffee in one gulp, stood up, and left the Cafe, unwilling to stay even one second longer.

"In that case, I should get going too. Bye, Kushida."

Hachiman hurriedly said goodbye to them and followed Horikita.

"Ugh, he really knows how to cause trouble."

Horikita truly could not understand why she had run into Kushida in a place like this. Her luck was far too terrible.

Inside the Cafe, Kushida and her friends had all ordered drinks. One of them asked curiously, "Kushida, didn't we just finish having drinks at the shop next door? Why did we switch to another one?"

Kushida smiled sweetly. "Of course, it's so we can try more different flavors."

After saying that, she tapped on her phone for a moment. Suzune Horikita's name appeared on the screen, after which she turned the screen off.