Chapter 14 – Hiyori Shiina
The strongest student council president, Kurokami Medaka... No, Horikita Manabu, after leaving the gymnasium, was gone. Hikigaya, who had no intention of joining a club, also didn't plan to stay at the gymnasium any longer.
He turned to Sakayanagi and Yukinoshita and said, "Sakayanagi-san, Yukinoshita-san, I don't intend to join a club, so I'll be heading off now."
Hearing Hikigaya's voice, Sakayanagi, who had been sharing information about the student council with Yukinoshita, looked over. "I see, I feel the same way. This is getting boring—let's head back... Yukinoshita-san, what about you?"
"Mm, let's go back to the dorm," Yukinoshita nodded.
Seeing Sakayanagi move her cane, she too began to walk slowly behind her.
"Hikigaya-kun, don't just stand there like an idiot," Sakayanagi's voice came from up ahead.
"Ah, right…"
Just as he started to respond, still standing in place, a thought suddenly flashed through Hikigaya's mind.
If he went back to the dorms now—since the first-years all live in the same building—it would mean walking back with Sakayanagi and Yukinoshita.
Even though most students had gone to listen to club introductions and the path would be quiet, Hikigaya still felt an inexplicable sense of resistance. It's kind of like when class ends and you just so happen to walk the same way home as someone you're not really close with, and you're forced to make awkward small talk.
What's worse, these were the girls Hikigaya found the hardest to deal with.
So, how to avoid this kind of situation? There was only one answer.
"Nah, I want to go somewhere else first."
"I see." Sakayanagi paused her step briefly, waved her hand without looking back, and continued walking, her voice laced with amusement. "Well, we'll be heading off first, then."
In truth, Hikigaya had no particular place he wanted to go. He just told a small lie so that he could avoid walking back with them.
Someone lacking in social awareness might say, "Huh? Where can a loner like you even go? I want to see!" But someone perceptive wouldn't pry further. Sakayanagi was probably the type to see through things but say nothing, while Yukinoshita was the type to ignore him entirely.
…He wasn't sure which of their responses was better.
Hikigaya casually replied and watched the two of them walk away.
Alright, so what should he do now?
If he waited a few minutes and then headed for the dorm, he might still catch up with Sakayanagi and Yukinoshita. That would make the effort of separating meaningless. He should find someplace to kill time.
Hikigaya walked while thinking, letting his feet move aimlessly.
Before he knew it, he had arrived at the school library.
"The library, huh?"
Hikigaya actually liked reading. If he found something interesting, he could get so absorbed he wouldn't notice the time passing.
He'd realize hours had gone by only after he finally looked up. Since he didn't have friends, he had lots of time for reading.
This was one reason his grades in the humanities were good.
…Ugh, just thinking about it made him feel depressed.
He stepped into the library. Since most students were still in the gymnasium, the library was nearly empty. Only one librarian sat at the front desk, dozing off.
In other words, the library was essentially unused at the moment. Put another way, Hikigaya Hachiman had a private space all to himself!
The wealthy have private jets and private beaches, but the lonely always get private spaces. You could say they're the real winners in life.
In that sense, maybe loneliness was a kind of status symbol too.
Anyway, he had already finished reading the manga he brought from home—he stayed up all night reading after getting hyper from drinking too much MAX Coffee—so he might as well borrow a few more novels.
As Hikigaya wandered between the shelves, he spotted a beautiful girl sitting on the floor, hugging a book and reading.
Hey, your panties are gonna show if you sit like that.
The girl had long silver hair like Sakayanagi's, but her entire aura was light and soft.
She was very cute. She wore the school uniform on her upper body, a skirt on the bottom, and pale over-the-knee stockings that made her fair thighs look even whiter in contrast—highlighting that irresistible "absolute territory."
She was squatting on the floor, gazing intently at her book with her violet eyes.
Seemingly struck by something in the story, she gently closed the book and murmured as if savoring the sentence:
"If a person has a place where they belong, they don't have to turn into a star and face a tragic end, burning themselves out…"
"Kenji Miyazawa's The Nighthawk Star?" Hikigaya couldn't help but respond when he heard her muttering.
He had read that book before and remembered it clearly. He loved the story—it was so sad that he'd cried when he finished it, especially the parts where the nighthawk was rejected by everyone.
The girl stood up quickly upon hearing his voice, looking at him with some surprise.
"Ah, sorry. Did I disturb your reading? I'll be going now…"
"Um… can you wait a moment?"
"Uh, sure. What is it?"
"Hello. I'm Hiyori Shiina from Class 1-C. Nice to meet you."
Shiina held the book to her chest and blinked gently at Hikigaya. Her long silver hair fell behind her back, and she radiated a soft, literary calmness.
"Ah, I'm Hikigaya Hachiman, from Class 1-A."
He had only casually mentioned the book title—why had it turned into a self-introduction? He should just borrow a couple of books and get out of here.
"Hikigaya-kun, you've read this book?"
"Yeah, it's really well-written… especially the part where the nighthawk flies into the sky and turns into a star. I cried when I read that…"
Hikigaya had started off just trying to be polite, but once he got talking about a topic he liked and was knowledgeable about, he couldn't stop himself.
While Hikigaya was going on and on, Shiina just hugged her book and quietly listened to his soft-spoken analysis.
When he finally realized he had been monologuing at length to a girl he'd only met five minutes ago, a wave of embarrassment washed over him.
Crap—I just delivered a whole lecture about a book! Ahhh, someone open up a hole in the ground so I can crawl into it!
She must hate me now. I wanna die.
"Hikigaya-kun, you really love reading! I'm so glad I met you!"
"Huh?"
"When you talk about books you love, your eyes really light up. Not many people our age read anymore—at least not in my class. So meeting someone like you, who's willing to share their thoughts on books, makes me genuinely happy."
It was like someone flipped a switch in Shiina—her eyes sparkled as she leaned closer to Hikigaya.
Was she about to shoot laser beams? She's so cute.
"Hikigaya-kun, have you read any detective novels? I recommend the Earl Peter series. Once you read a bit, you'll definitely want to finish the whole thing!"
Shiina seemed completely unaware that she had leaned all the way into Hikigaya—so close he could hear her breathing.
He could even smell the faint fragrance coming from her.
Whoa—too close! Domain expansion! Infinite void! Infinite void!
This girl had no sense of personal space at all…
Hikigaya couldn't help but step back a little.
Noticing his reaction, Shiina looked at him, a little disappointed. "Sorry… have you already read that series?"
No no no, that's not the issue here you know?!