Chapter 39: I, Hikigaya, Am a Normie
An exhausting day passed. Hikigaya had never experienced such a grueling life. Almost every break between classes brought a steady stream of classmates asking to exchange contact info.
Today, Hikigaya nearly wore out his phone's keyboard. The sheer amount of finger movement was anything but friendly to someone dreaming of being a househusband.
Plus… since Hikigaya didn't use his phone much, his typing speed was far from fast. Not wanting to misspell anyone's name—having been called "Hikigaya" or worse—he typed even slower.
His "great deeds" even spread to other classes. During breaks, students from other classes came to witness his existence. By the end of the day… he had truly become a normie.
Lying on his bed, Hikigaya stared at his constantly buzzing phone, tempted to throw it away.
'Being a normie is this exhausting? I misjudged you, Hayama.'
Hikigaya never wanted to relive this day. He wasn't sure why things escalated like this, but if Hirata hadn't initiated the contact exchange, it wouldn't have snowballed. In other words, that guy did it on purpose, didn't he?
Completely played.
[Yukinoshita couldn't believe her eyes. Was this really Hikigaya? The dead-fish-eyed, twisted personality guy? He made so many friends…]
[Yuigahama: "Hikki's actually this popular? I must be dreaming."]
[Hikigaya: "It's just a video. Anything can happen."]
[Yuigahama: "Even so, it's terrifying. Hikki can't even handle normal conversations…"]
[The ponytail girl's wide-eyed disbelief left Hikigaya helpless. No matter how he looked at it, this was too fantastical. He thought he'd never experience something like this in his life, yet it happened to his video self.]
Hikigaya's phone kept buzzing with notifications, the 99+ messages making him reluctant to even open it.
At times like this, a group reply function would be invaluable. Just type what he wanted to say in a box and select all contacts.
"OK!"
Lying back on his bed, Hikigaya felt life was absolutely wonderful.
Exchanging contact info with nearly the entire class in one day was terrifying. He hoped he'd never have to go through that again.
Just as Hikigaya settled onto his bed, his phone rang with that devilish sound again.
This time, it was a call.
"Moshi moshi…"
"It's me."
"Who's this?"
"Horikita Suzune."
"Oh, oh… you could've just said so."
Hikigaya muttered quietly, but Horikita ignored it, pretending not to hear.
"Tomorrow afternoon after class, meet me at the library."
"What?"
Beep beep beep beep…
All that came from the other end was the sound of the call ending.
Hikigaya let out a soft sigh. This girl gave him no chance to ask questions. The strong sense of being used instantly pulled him back from his normie high.
But… this feeling was better.
He didn't have many complaints. Instead, he sent the meeting details to Yamauchi, Sudo, Ike, and Kushida, then fell into a deep sleep.
[Sudo: "If I'm not mistaken… there's a high chance this study group will end with Horikita chewing us out and everyone leaving unhappy."]
[Ike: "Yeah, I still remember it vividly…"]
[Horikita: "Though I admit my planning back then wasn't thorough, a big part of the reason was that you guys were too stupid."]
[Yamauchi: "Exactly, that arrogant attitude! I can already feel how likely this is to crash and burn."]
[Kushida Kikyō: "Could it be… even with Hikigaya there, it won't work?"]
[Ayanokōji watched the video, this scene etched deeply in his memory. If not for the study group's failure, he and Kushida wouldn't have gone to upperclassmen to buy last year's exam papers.]
[Since he still needed to use Horikita, he absolutely couldn't let classmates get expelled back then. Otherwise, he'd lose the leverage of aiming for Class A to pressure Horikita. That's why he spent 100,000 points to secure one point to save Sudo.]
[If a classmate got expelled, Horikita knew well that without fully understanding the school's rules, she couldn't afford to gamble with such things.]
[Now, the past was about to replay.]
[Ayanokōji just watched the boy in front of him. Whether he could successfully hold this study group or not, with the current timeline, saving Sudo would likely be difficult. So, what would he do then?]
[This wasn't just on Ayanokōji's mind. Class A's leader Sakayanagi, Class B's leader Ichinose, and Class C's leader Ryuen were all watching the video at the same time.]
[What kind of surprise could he bring?]
The next day arrived quickly. Though Hikigaya returned to the classroom with some unease, things seemed to have calmed down after a night. Everyone was back to normal.
As expected, he was the only one who cared.
Compared to the previous class atmosphere, things were much better now. At least those occasional glances were gone.
Probably after apologizing, the classmates felt better, and Hikigaya was no longer the class's outcast. Though he still had no friends, as he entered the classroom, several classmates waved or greeted him.
Other than that, nothing else changed.
Could this… be the power of a normie?
Unknowingly drawing others' attention. Greeting people wasn't a big deal, but if someone actually tried talking to him later…
'What do I do?!'
Hikigaya's heart was filled with panic. This was the one thing he absolutely didn't want to deal with.
Of course, until the end, aside from Sudo, no one approached him to talk.
As expected, he hated this self-important version of himself the most.
But… since his worst fear didn't happen, that was pretty good.
( End of this chapter)