"Was it because of your friends, after all?"
"Emmm..." Sogo Doma pondered for a while as he looked at Hachiman Hikigaya, whose expressionless face and dead-fish eyes somehow seemed to see through everything. "I get the feeling you've misunderstood something again."
"Is that so?" Hachiman Hikigaya said faintly. "Maybe I did misunderstand. Still, I rather appreciated what you said about arrogance today..."
"So you think I'm arrogant?"
"You said so yourself—you said you were an arrogant guy."
"That's true..." Sogo Doma nodded. "I am arrogant, and I've never denied it..."
"..." Hachiman Hikigaya fell silent again. After a long while, he finally said faintly, "Honestly, this is the first time I've met someone as outrageous as you..."
"Outrageous?"
"Yeah, outrageous..." Hachiman Hikigaya nodded. "Everyone I'd met before had more or less some reservations. But I've never seen that emotion in you. It's as if there's nothing in this world worth caring about to you. You don't care how others see you, and you don't even consider..."
"So that's why you're afraid of me?" Hachiman Hikigaya: "..." Perhaps? But...
"Have you ever cared whether others were afraid of you?"
"Emmm..." After pondering for a moment, Sogo Doma shrugged. "Not really..."
"Then what does it matter whether I'm afraid of you or not?"
"Kid, you get it."
"Can't be helped. After realizing what you did to those children..." Hachiman Hikigaya said faintly.
"Wait a minute!" Before he could finish, Sogo Doma cut him off. "Don't spout nonsense. I didn't do anything..."
"If you didn't do anything, then how did those children end up like this?"
"What happened to the children?" Sogo Doma blinked. "They were even in the mood to take part in the courage test. Come to think of it, I thought you'd do something during the courage test..."
"There's no