That was it.
"It wasn't a confession, actually," Hachiman said. "I just picked up her hairpin and returned it to her. She wanted to give me a small gift in return, but I didn't accept it."
"Doesn't that still mean it could develop into a romance?" The classmates did not seem particularly satisfied with that explanation.
"I think high school is a time for studying. Spending it on romance would be too wasteful," Hachiman added. "Romance is something that has nothing to do with me."
"Ooh, ooh, ooh."
"Then that's good." Yamauchi suddenly seemed satisfied.
He probably thought that even someone as outstanding as himself had never had any romantic encounters, so why should a guy with no presence like Hachiman get asked out by a pretty girl?
This was exactly why classmates like him were so annoying.
Hachiman thought to himself.
"Alright, everyone, disperse."
Hirata then drove Yamauchi and the others away.
That was truly reassuring.
Hachiman hated dealing with idiots like these, and he certainly would not choose friends like them.
After the boys left, several girls headed out together through the back door.
However, those girls seemed to be looking over with strange expressions.
It felt rather odd.
Hachiman noticed that one of them—a cute little angel with short blonde hair—seemed to wink at him.
He felt as though she was hinting at something.
So he looked at his phone.
Sure enough.
He had received a message from Kushida on the chat app.
Were you really not interested in romance, Hachiman?
"..."
Kushida, you really were nosy.
Hachiman decided to ignore her.
But very soon after.
Weren't you getting along quite well with Classmate Sakayanagi from Class A?
"..." Hachiman.
So Kushida really was close with Sakayanagi, huh?
[She hates me right now, so don't say something that terrifying.]
I see. Kushida seemed to believe him.
But all the girls saw you holding an umbrella for her.
And you even had a meal together. You went into a private room.
No one would have thought that Hachiman was such an experienced ladies' man. You got into the swing of things immediately.
That sort of topic was already spreading among the girls. Everyone thought they needed to be careful around you, Hachiman.
It would be bad if you ended up leading them astray. Kushida typed incredibly quickly, and her messages kept coming. There was also a tremendous amount of information in them.
Damn it.
So that was why the girls had been looking at him with contempt?
They thought he was a lolicon.
That was a colossal injustice. He did think Sakayanagi Arisu was cute, but that girl was a little brat.
She was hard to handle.
Besides.
As an adolescent boy, he naturally preferred girls who were rich, could make money, and could make money.
But when it came to making money.
Hachiman felt that he needed to plan ahead.
He had learned the true nature of this school from Sakayanagi Arisu.
As a Class D student, it was difficult to rely on the class. They could not even meet their living expenses.
So he could only work independently.
His current business partner was Chabashira-sensei. Chabashira-sensei had assigned him the task of investigating the classmates.
Each classmate was worth 200,000 points.
But he had already confirmed that Chabashira-sensei had ulterior motives. She was a bad woman.
She wanted to use him as a weapon.
So should he ask Chabashira-sensei to raise the price?
After all, she was a bad woman, so being a little bad himself would only make them evenly matched.
But.
How should he go about it?
As he thought about that, Hachiman suddenly looked up.
He noticed an intense gaze coming from the neighboring seat.
Suzune Horikita was staring brightly at him.
"..." Hachiman.
Right.
Horikita's little sister had accepted her brother's assignment to find Hachiman's weakness, but her brother merely wanted her to pay more attention to others, learn something, and become a little more tactful.
Not be as stiff as a plank of wood.
"How about we have dinner together tonight?" Hachiman asked.
After inviting Sakayanagi Arisu—possibly the cutest girl on campus—to lunch, Hachiman invited another person.
And this person, judging by looks alone, was Suzune Horikita, the prettiest girl on campus.
Getting Suzune Horikita Under Control—It Felt Like He Had Experienced Sakayanagi's Joy!
Suzune Horikita.
She had long, straight black hair, with a small braid on one side, and a pair of sharp, spirited fox-like eyes.
Her skin was snow-white, and her features were exquisitely beautiful.
Viewed from the side, she looked like a painting.
Her looks were exceptionally high-class, and she possessed a unique temperament—the aura of an untouchable flower on a high mountain.
Now, she sat beside him, reading from a vocabulary book, giving off the air of a top student who excelled at studying.
From Hachiman's perspective, aside from her lack of tact, Suzune Horikita was actually quite a decent person.
She was very good at studying, and her Academic Ability was not bad either.
Moreover, she could study diligently every day.
As a result, Hachiman had a moment of dazed thought. Horikita was still weak right now, but perhaps he could invest in her a little. He felt that in the future, she would either become a lawyer, a doctor, or enter some other high-paying profession that required Academic Ability.
So she was worth looking forward to.
That was right.
Suzune Horikita was still weak.
Granted, true strong people disdained associating with others; only the weak gathered in groups.
But Horikita, you were not strong enough. You had yet to reach the level of a true strong person.
Hachiman's thoughts wandered wildly.
He once again confirmed that pretty or cute girls really did seem to have something like a natural body fragrance. Take Sakayanagi Arisu, for example. When he had picked her up, Hachiman discovered that she smelled sweetly of milk.
And Horikita was the same...
No.
Hachiman found the scent of Horikita's shampoo familiar.
More specifically, he had smelled it the day before yesterday, when he discovered that the supermarket offered free supplies as well. Among them were complimentary shampoo and body wash.
Since he saw the free samples, he had opened a bottle and taken a sniff.
It had a faint jasmine fragrance.
And now, he smelled that same scent again.
In other words, despite having points, Suzune Horikita was still frugal?
She did not waste money and seemed like the type to care for a household. Girls like that were already quite rare.
"..." Hachiman.
For some reason, even looking at Horikita had become more pleasing to the eye. That was an abnormal situation.
It was as though he was wavering.
Or rather, why was he having strange thoughts about a classmate? He had even thought that if he invested in Suzune Horikita now and waited for her to grow up, perhaps she could support him someday.
That was an extremely dangerous notion.
Rather, the culprit should be Kikyo Kushida.
It was all because of her that he had started having fantasies he should not have had.
Now, the two of them had arrived at the cafeteria.
Since it was dinner time, there were many students around.
However, Horikita's beautiful appearance made her particularly eye-catching.
But she paid no attention to anyone's gaze.
Then would he, walking with her, also attract attention?
After all, he was a boy beside a top-tier beautiful girl. Would people misunderstand something?
Hachiman also hated getting tangled up in trouble.
But.
Anyone who knew even a little about Horikita would know that she was as cold as ice and as stiff as a plank, so she probably did not have emotions like romance.
So even if she was with a classmate, there would not be a problem.
Because most people interested in Horikita had already hit a wall with her.
As a natural surveillance camera, Hachiman had recorded every single one of those incidents.
But.
"If we're only eating together, then I'm not interested," Suzune Horikita said. "I'd rather return to the dormitory and cook for myself."
As expected of you.
They had already come all this way, yet she could still refuse him on the spot.
Before you continue