Can I come to Hikigaya-kun's room tonight in front of the whole class?

"Morning, Yamauchi!"

"Morning, Ike!"

A week after enrollment, as I arrived at school right on time as usual, the class troublemakers Ike and Yamauchi were greeting each other with exaggerated, beaming smiles.

Although it had only been seven days since school started, while neither had been late, the fact that they arrived at the very last second every single day was truly bizarre.

"Oh man~ I was so excited for class that I couldn't sleep!"

"Hahaha, I get it! After all, our school is amazing—we even have swimming lessons starting in April!"

Come to think of it, today was indeed the first day of swimming class.

And it was a co-ed class, too.

In other words, the boys could legally admire the sight of the girls in their school swimsuits.

However, these two... they were always shouting about wanting girlfriends and cursing popular, handsome guys to drop dead, yet didn't they realize that such things shouldn't be broadcasted so loudly?

Any normal person would understand that this was exactly why they couldn't get girlfriends.

In fact, the way most of the girls in class looked at them was the same way one would look at a cockroach.

While silently criticizing their words and actions, I unfolded my chessboard and began to solve an endgame puzzle.

If I didn't do this, I just couldn't seem to settle my mind...

Just as I was fiddling with the pieces—

"Hey—Hikigaya!"

Ike was calling my name.

I looked up to see him waving, with most of the boys gathered around him.

Although I didn't want to get involved, pretending not to hear would be even more troublesome, so I decided to listen briefly and then retreat.

I sighed and walked over.

"What is it?"

"Actually, we're betting on the bust sizes of the girls in class," I tried to abstain, "Wait! You must be curious too, right? Everyone else has already voted!"

"I don't know, and I'm not interested."

Besides, the girls were already glaring at me; I didn't want to be associated with this at all.

"Don't act so cool! Oh! Right! You like flat chests, don't you? No wonder you're not interested!"

Ike nodded as if he had just realized something profound, and Yamauchi chimed in with "mm-hmm" in agreement...

"Why are you so sure I like flat chests?"

Honestly, whether they were flat or large, as long as it was a beautiful woman willing to support me, I wouldn't mind.

"Huh? Because Sakanayanagi, who you're close with, is flat, and Shiina isn't exactly big either."

If Sakanayanagi heard that, you'd be dead.

Given her personality, she wouldn't fly into a rage on the spot, but she would definitely sneer and manipulate things until you were expelled.

As for Shiina... she would probably react with her usual lack of emotion.

After all, she had even less emotional fluctuation than I did; seeing her smile even once in a while was a rarity.

Still, it was good that they stopped there.

Regardless, I had no interest in this topic, and if Sakanayanagi found out about this bet, she would definitely use it as leverage.

In the end, I escaped the betting circle and went back to fiddling with my chess game.

After school that day...

"So, the winner of the swimming race gets five thousand points."

I was telling Sakanayanagi about what happened earlier today while playing chess in the library.

Usually, Shiina would join us, but she had gone to the Tea Ceremony Club today.

"Five thousand points for a classroom competition—that's quite nice. By the way, what place did you get, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Ninth out of seventeen boys."

"Right in the middle of the pack. May I ask, was that your normal performance? Or was your state of mind unstable because you saw the girls in their swimsuits?"

"What kind of person do you take me for? It was my normal performance, of course. Besides, most of the girls in our class skipped the lesson."

It was all because of Ike and Yamauchi's lewd remarks; more than fifteen people had skipped.

"That aside, the key point is that the PE teacher said something strange."

"Something strange?"

"Yeah. He kept emphasizing, 'You must learn to swim before summer; it will come in handy later.'"

It wouldn't be strange for a passionate teacher to say something like that, but I couldn't help but feel there was a hidden meaning behind his words.

"..."

Sakanayanagi seemed to notice the anomaly as well, resting her chin on her hand in contemplation for a moment.

However, she quickly returned to her usual state and moved her knight: "After all, I didn't hear it with my own ears, so it's hard to judge. But since Hikigaya-kun is concerned, I will keep an eye on it. Although, I can't swim to begin with."

Come to think of it, Sakanayanagi is hopeless at sports.

It's not that she can't swim; she simply can't engage in physical activity at all.

"By the way, Hikigaya-kun, there is something I have always been curious about. Do you not have any friends in your class?"

"That's sudden... I don't. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that I've never seen you speak to anyone other than me and Shiina."

"I just keep communication to a minimum. That doesn't count as having friends."

"Then, does the me who plays chess with you after school count as your friend?"

"Don't joke around. To you, I'm just a toy you call a 'friend,' aren't I?"

I said this while moving a piece, but Sakanayanagi shook her head.

"That's not entirely true. While I did think of you as an interesting toy when we first met, I won't deny that."

"So you really did treat me like a toy." Although I admired her bluntness, I had no intention of being anyone's plaything.

"However, I also won't deny that the time we spend together like this is truly pleasant for me."

"...Thanks."

I thanked her, my cheeks feeling slightly warm.

Although Sakanayanagi is deep and calculating, she can be surprisingly straightforward at times.

Judging by the current situation, this wasn't a probing lie, but her honest feelings.

"You're welcome... Now, it's about time to wrap this up. Checkmate."

It seemed my desperate struggle was nearing its end.

Once Sakanayanagi puts you in check, all you can do is scramble to escape.

I tried to find a breakthrough, but in the end, I was soundly defeated.

▽

"Coffee after a chess match is the most comforting."

"You only say that because you always win. From the perspective of a perennial loser like me, this cup is full of tears."

"That won't do. It would be too rude to call the waiter over to 'deal with' that. I am joking, of course."

"Your sense of humor leaves much to be desired."

It was seven in the evening, and I was drinking coffee that Sakanayanagi had treated me to at a cafe.

She had been inviting me out frequently since we enrolled. I refused at first, but I could never shake her off, so recently I just stopped resisting.

Habit is a terrifying thing...

"By the way, you asked me earlier if I had any friends. What about you?"

I asked about something I had been curious about for a while.

Given Sakanayanagi's aptitude, she should have quite a few followers.

But more than a master-servant relationship, I was interested in whether she had any genuine friends.

"I certainly do."

Let me clarify: I didn't mean people who follow orders blindly, but people she truly trusts.

"...Hmm, I suppose Hikigaya-kun and Shiina-san would count."

"Trust? I'll pass on that, but Shiina makes sense."

"Yes. Although you both state facts bluntly, you never deliberately flatter me, so it's very relaxing to be around you."

"There's no benefit to flattering you anyway."

That sort of thing is better left to the lackeys; someone like me would never get close to the popular cliques.

However, Sakanayanagi asked about my social life, but the possibility of me becoming friends with my classmates in the future is likely very low.

After all, several small cliques have already formed in the class.

Kushida, who openly declares she wants to be friends with everyone, occasionally tries to strike up a conversation with me, but I have no interest in dealing with her while she wears that mask, so I always brush her off with excuses.

"Just out of curiosity, does your class have those kinds of lackey characters?"

"They exist, though they aren't my lackeys. There is a boy in my class named Katsuragi who is quite trusted by his classmates."

"So that Katsuragi has lackeys, then. That sounds incredibly boring."

Sakanayanagi stopped smiling as she said this.

Judging by her reaction, it wasn't disgust, but rather a lack of interest.

"That's right. Even though it's only been a week since school started, he really lacks any interesting qualities. Perhaps it's because I encountered someone as impactful as Hikigaya-kun on the very first day that everything else seems so dull."

"How exactly am I impactful?"

"Doesn't someone who was universally branded a two-timer within the first week of school count as impactful?"

"Don't bring that up. Besides, isn't that all your fault?"

"Oh my? Isn't Shiina-san one of the reasons as well?"

"I'll admit Shiina is just an airhead, but you definitely planned this all along."

During lunch breaks and after school, Shiina and Sakanayanagi would occasionally come to our classroom.

Every time, Sakanayanagi would appear with a mischievous smile on her face.

The day before yesterday, she even openly said in Class D, "Can I come over to Hikigaya-kun's room to play (chess) tonight?", which made me so angry I nearly lost my temper.

As for Shiina, she would also nonchalantly say embarrassing things in Class D like, "I want to be by your side," or "Would you like to go to the bookstore in the shopping mall this weekend?"

Thanks to them, I have been completely branded as a scumbag who plays two women at once.

"That's right, I did it on purpose."

Sakanayanagi flashed a refreshing smile.

This girl is truly infuriating.

Even though I thought that, I held back my anger and just let out a sigh.

Before I knew it, I had actually grown accustomed to this way of interacting...

And deep down, I couldn't deny that I was actually enjoying these interactions.