What exactly was something genuine?
At the mention of this, not only Hachiman, but even Hayato—and Yukino Yukinoshita as well—tensed up. Hayato, who seemed to be living the perfect social life, looked lost; Yukinoshita, who seemed so proud, looked lost too. They didn't know what they were pursuing until they heard the term "something genuine"...
But why did Sogo Doma ask this dead-fish-eyed guy in front of him—Hachiman? Could this dead-fish-eyed guy really say what something genuine was?
"I don't know..." Sure enough, just as they expected, Hachiman Hikigaya denied it outright. Yet perhaps because he was thinking of something genuine, he added, "But I know that something genuine remains the same. No matter how much time passes—even decades, centuries, thousands, tens of thousands, or countless tens of thousands of years—it's something that won't change..."
Hearing that, Hayato and the others, as well as Yukino Yukinoshita, all narrowed their eyes again. This guy...
Just as they were about to marvel at it, however, Sogo Doma spoke again. "Hikigaya, do you know the one thing in this world that never changes?"
"Hm?"
"The one thing that never changes is that everything is changing!"
"..."
"See?" As Hachiman fell silent, Sogo Doma continued. "That's what they call second-year syndrome—the upgraded version of chuunibyou. You always think you see things more clearly than everyone else, that everyone else is an idiot, because everything they pursue is 'fake' and will change as time passes..."
"I..." Hachiman choked. He wanted to say that wasn't true. Though he really didn't want to deal with people, and he really...
"Hikigaya..." But just as he opened his mouth, Sogo Doma interrupted him. "You're smart. Of course, I don't mean you get good grades. I mean that just through observation, you can see through the relationships between people. Friends