"Mm-hmm."
With a dramatic flourish, Karuizawa threw off her blanket. Her pink pajamas, soft fabric clinging to her figure, revealed her form clearly under the dormitory lighting.
"Wh—what are you doing?!"
Hikigaya froze, eyes wide, his entire body going stiff. Reflexively, he shot up from his chair and stumbled a step backward to put distance between them.
Karuizawa didn't seem fazed by his reaction. Instead, she blushed and said softly, "Actually… there's something I want to show you."
And with that, she slowly lifted the hem of her pajamas, revealing a pale lower abdomen marked with a faint scar. Her skin was almost translucent under the light—smooth and unblemished, save for the healed wound.
"You—what are you doing?!" Hikigaya blurted out, quickly covering his eyes with both hands, his ears turning bright red. "W-what the hell is this?! I—I didn't sign up for this!"
He was panicking. Flustered.
"You… listen here! There are chat records! You're the one who asked me to bring you medicine! You're the one who invited me into your room! There's surveillance footage, too! You opened the door! If this gets reported to the school, I've got the receipts—literally!"
He spun his head, scanning the room, paranoia sinking in.
"Wait a minute… is this a setup?"
"Hidden cameras? Hidden microphones? Is someone watching right now?"
"Could this be some kind of trap?"
His mind raced through possibilities. "Is this a ploy by Class D to compromise Class B? Or worse… Is Ryuuen behind this again?"
But that didn't add up. The power dynamic between Class D and Class B wasn't at a point where betrayal would benefit anyone. And Karuizawa didn't seem like she was being coerced.
Unless—Was Ayanokouji manipulating things again behind the scenes?
As Hikigaya's overthinking spiraled, Karuizawa suddenly burst out laughing. She bent forward on the bed, covering her face as she laughed uncontrollably.
"You… seriously thought it was a trap?" she gasped between laughter. "You're too much! I didn't expect you to be so paranoid!"
"You little…" Hikigaya muttered under his breath, his teeth gritted. "You're worse than Juke. You're a damn menace."
Karuizawa sat up straight, pouting slightly. "What menace? I'm still a young girl, you know!"
But even as she tried to sound indignant, her voice wavered, softening as she looked away.
"Still," she added, more quietly, "I figured… Hachiman wouldn't care about something like this."
"...Care about what?"
Before he could finish processing, Karuizawa lifted her pajama top again, not nearly as dramatically this time. Her expression was solemn. She touched the scar on her stomach gently.
"This injury… I got it when I was being bullied."
Hikigaya stopped.
He glanced at her through the gap between his fingers, and for the first time, really looked. The scar was faint now, but deep enough to know it hadn't been superficial. There were multiple marks—probably inflicted with a blade.
A sharp one.
Ten centimeters. Consistent in length. Consistent in cruelty.
It all made sense now.
Karuizawa's unusual fears. Her instinctive flinching. Her tendency to fabricate control through superficial friendships and appearances.
"She was really hurt," Hikigaya thought. "And no one knew."
Suddenly, her strange behavior didn't seem so strange anymore.
Her anxiety. Her calculated social moves. Her occasional emotional outbursts.
It wasn't immaturity.
It was survival.
To be honest, Hikigaya couldn't blame her.
People always said "ignore the bullies," or "just don't give them power." But in reality, appeasement never worked. It just gave the aggressor more space. It emboldened them.
Sometimes, retaliation was the only answer.
Even Hikigaya—detached and cynical as he was—knew there were moments when being passive was a mistake. There were situations where doing nothing only made things worse.
That was why, even when others teased or mocked him, he was always ready to bite back—if only to maintain his own space. His own breathing room.
Karuizawa… maybe she didn't respond quickly enough back then. Maybe she wasn't in a position to.
And this was the result.
"You're… incredible," Hikigaya said quietly.
Karuizawa blinked.
"What?"
"You went through that… and you're still here. You're still standing. Most people wouldn't recover from that, but you did."
He wasn't the kind of guy to throw around compliments. He rarely praised anyone.
But this?
This deserved respect.
She had been called out by Ryuuen, humiliated, threatened… and still showed up to school with a smile the next day.
She didn't just endure it.
She pushed through.
"...I've never heard about any bullying cases here at school. Which means you've already managed to put all that behind you. That kind of mental strength—"
"It's not that big a deal," Karuizawa interrupted, flustered. Her cheeks were flushing again, this time for an entirely different reason.
She hadn't expected praise.
In fact, the best she'd hoped for was silent tolerance.
But instead, here was Hikigaya—after seeing the worst of her, the scar she always hid—praising her.
Sincerely.
"I just… copied the way those junior high girls acted," she mumbled, trying to brush it off.
"You say that," Hikigaya replied with a half-smile, "but I couldn't do it."
"Huh?"
"When I was in junior high… I tried to blend in. Tried being the class clown. Told jokes. Laughed at my own expense. Thought maybe I'd become someone people liked."
His voice dropped.
"But it was exhausting. And pathetic."
He let out a dry chuckle.
"In the end, it didn't matter. No one laughed. They just stared. I wanted the ground to swallow me."
Karuizawa looked at him, stunned.
She had never heard him speak so openly about himself before.
"...But look at you," he added. "You were stabbed—literally—and you're still here. Still fighting. So yeah, I mean it. You're amazing."
Karuizawa didn't respond right away. She just stared at the glass of water beside her bed, as if it had suddenly become fascinating.
The room fell silent for a few beats.
Then—
"I was pretending to be sick."
"...I know."
"I do have a cold, though! It's just not that serious," she added defensively. "Why don't you check for yourself?"
With that, she leaned toward him slightly, pulling the blanket up to her chin and giving him an expectant look.
"You want me to… what, take your temperature?" Hikigaya deadpanned.
Karuizawa pouted. "Touch my forehead or something."
"Nope. Too risky."
"Why? Scared?"
"No. Just don't want to get accused of anything by the surveillance cameras you definitely don't have hidden in here."
"Come on, I'm serious!"
"I'm leaving now."
"Wait, seriously—"
But Hikigaya had already turned toward the door, shaking his head.
Behind him, Karuizawa watched him go, her hand resting lightly over the scar on her abdomen.
And even though he was walking away, she didn't feel abandoned.
Not this time.
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