Chapter 29: The Date
[In the Service Club…]
[Hikigaya suddenly felt a resentful gaze directed at him…]
['What's going on? Is it snowing? Why's it so cold…']
[Isshiki: "It's so cold, senpai. What's up with that…"]
[Yukinoshita: "Who knows… Maybe winter's coming early."]
[Hikigaya: "Hey, it's barely summer. How's it winter already? You're a god—"]
[The moment he met Yukinoshita's gaze, Hikigaya seemed to understand something, and his words cut off abruptly.]
['Artificial… snow, huh? No wonder it's so chilly.']
[Yuigahama: "Looks like you're not unpopular after all, Hikki. So many people are looking out for you over there."]
[Hikigaya: "It's just a video, just a video…"]
[Yukinoshita: "Oh? Having a date with a silver-haired girl feels pretty good, doesn't it?"]
[Hikigaya: "You're not even listening to me…"]
Under Sakayanagi's lead, Hikigaya followed her to a lush green park.
Though he had been at the school for nearly a month, he rarely went out on weekends and hadn't explored the campus properly.
Or rather, even those familiar with the school might not know this place, as the vast park was empty except for Hikigaya and Sakayanagi.
Since it was lunchtime, Sakayanagi took out a carefully prepared lunch from her bag. The moment she opened the bento box, even Hikigaya was taken aback.
She looked like a refined young lady, yet her cooking skills were far from lacking—above average, even.
Seeing Hikigaya's stunned expression, Sakayanagi gave a faint smile and said: "Just as you thought, I rarely cook, but I'm not completely hopeless at it."
"Stop casually reading my mind."
"Well… after we eat, please tell me your thoughts about it."
The silver-haired fairy handed Hikigaya a pair of chopsticks, and he froze again, staring at them.
"You made this for me?"
"Since I invited you, taking care of Little Hikki is naturally part of the deal."
Hikigaya couldn't detect a hint of deceit in her eyes. She seemed to genuinely want to share lunch with him.
"I had a friend who was very naive. His friend treated him to a meal, but he didn't realize he'd fallen into a trap. To repay that favor, he became free labor."
"That friend was you, wasn't it?"
"Are you an idiot? I said it was my friend."
The girl let out a "giggle" and said: "It's just a normal lunch, nothing more."
"I'm not going to use this to blackmail you, Little Hikki."
Hikigaya decided to trust her one more time. Though the girl was a bit intimidating, he didn't sense any malice.
Plus, the lunch looked really tempting.
Come to think of it, he had never eaten a bento made by a girl before. Back at Sobu High, he mostly ate snacks or, on occasion, Komachi's bentos.
This was Hikigaya's first time eating a bento from a girl other than Komachi.
[In the Service Club, the snow had grown even heavier than before.]
["Hikigaya-kun, would you like to try my bento tomorrow?"]
[Yuigahama: "Yukino, you're so scary... But Hikki, you can try my bento too!"]
[Hikigaya: "Why are you suddenly so obsessed with bentos? It doesn't really matter, does it?"]
["It does matter!"]
[Isshiki Iroha suddenly shouted, then turned to Hayama: "Hayama-senpai, would you like to try my bento? Of course, I'll make one for senpai too."]
[Hikigaya: "You don't need to repeat it. Also, you don't have to force yourself."]
[Of course, Hikigaya's opinion didn't matter at all. Hearing that Isshiki was making a bento for Hayama, Miura immediately said she'd make one for him too. In short… The Service Club was now completely fixated on bentos.]
After spending a relatively pleasant time, Hikigaya enjoyed the warm sunlight, happily supporting his body with both hands.
"Delicious… really delicious…"
"Thank you. If you join our class, I promise to make you a bento every day."
"That's a pretty tempting offer, but…"
The thought of Class A's leader making him a bento every day and the kind of rumors that would spark—Hikigaya couldn't even imagine it.
It was better if that didn't happen.
As if reading Hikigaya's mind, Sakayanagi lowered her head, smiling and muttering: "That kind of thing doesn't matter…"
"Little Hikki, a tissue."
Hikigaya reached out to take the tissue and thank her, but he didn't expect the girl to lean forward, wiping his mouth for him.
After cleaning it, the silver-haired fairy gave a satisfied smile.
'Scary, so scary… she is truly a fairy.'
The girl moved away from him and began packing up the utensils.
"You really don't want anything from me?"
Hikigaya couldn't help but feel that eating and drinking for free was a bit much.
The silver-haired girl returned a smile, just like at the start.
"I told you, it's just an invitation."
"I'm not like Ryūen. I won't force you to join Class A. I just hope we can get closer, that's all."
"Of course, if you want to join Class A, then… I'd spend every point the class has to bring you over. In my eyes, you absolutely have the ability to be in Class A."
It seemed the girl wasn't lying. Everything she said now carried no trace of deception. As for her true motives, Hikigaya couldn't figure them out.
"That girl with the side ponytail—she's the one you've been sending to follow me, right?"
"Oh? Looks like you've noticed."
"She's always showing up in unexpected places. It's hard not to notice."
"She's just there to ensure your safety. It was indeed my order, but… if you don't want it, I'll have her stop immediately."
Hikigaya didn't know what "danger" the girl was referring to, but… he didn't have much privacy to begin with, so being followed didn't bother him much.
Besides, Sakayanagi was clearly no ordinary student. She seemed to know this school inside and out.
( End of this chapter)