The atmosphere during the break was relaxed. As soon as the bell rang, small groups naturally gathered together.
"Hikigaya, still haven't found a small group that suits you?"
Leaning against the wall, Ren looked lazily at the various groups in the class. He had thought that with his lead, a guy like Hachiman Hikigaya would at least find a group to join and fix that awkward personality of his.
But as soon as class ended, Hachiman remained in his seat as usual, making no move to get up and talk to anyone else.
"No. They don't fit."
Hachiman mimicked Ren, leaning against the wall with his hands on Ren's desk, staring expressionlessly at the scene before them. It wasn't that no classmates had invited him to join their groups; Hachiman had simply given them all polite refusals.
Hachiman knew exactly why they were inviting him. The interactions between the classmates and Ren were all as plain as water; he was the only one whose relationship with Ren could be considered "solid." Those students only wanted to pull him into their circles as a roundabout way to pull Ren in as well.
Hachiman saw through it clearly, so he refused. Setting aside whether Ren would even be pulled in, Hachiman himself didn't want to blend into a group through such means. It made him feel disgusted.
There was no need to force himself into a circle where he didn't belong. Hachiman felt that things were fine as they were; he was no longer a stranger to his classmates, and everyone was on nodding terms. There were no interests involved, and no need to help each other out when things happened. It was perfect.
"What about you, Katsuragi?"
"Aren't you going to find a group? Or why don't you just start one yourself? If you start one, I'll definitely join."
Hachiman turned to look at Ren, who was yawning with a bored expression, and spoke half-jokingly, half-seriously. The joke was that he didn't think Ren would go out of his way to create a circle; the serious part was that if Ren really did, he would definitely be there.
Ren was the first person to proactively try to help him integrate into the class, and Hachiman kept that kindness in his heart.
"Is that so? If Ren started a group, I'd go too."
The voice that suddenly rang out beside Ren gave Hachiman a start. He looked closer and found the source was Ren's seatmate, Megumi Kato. Hachiman patted his chest to calm down. "Kato, when did you get here?"
"Megumi has always been here. Hikigaya, what kind of weird question are you asking?"
Taking out a few candies and placing them in Megumi's hand, Ren also tossed a few to Hachiman. Ren, who could always notice Megumi's presence, treated her like a normal person and never felt that people around her would sometimes forget she existed.
"Ren, I baked cookies yesterday."
"This is a return gift for yesterday."
Taking the candy Ren handed over and putting it in her pocket, Megumi took a small bag of cookies from her desk and placed it in Ren's hand. There was no expression on her face, and her voice had no fluctuation, as if this were a very ordinary thing.
"Then thanks, Megumi."
Pulling the string on the small bag, Ren took out a cookie and put it in his mouth. "It's delicious."
Megumi's handmade cookies were just like her—plain and ordinary, but with their own character. The chocolate chips scattered over the cookies showed the level of care their owner put into making them.
"I'm glad Ren likes them."
Seeing that Ren was satisfied with the cookies she made, a faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of Megumi's mouth.
"Katsuragi, give me some more candy."
Tossing the candy wrapper into the trash, Hachiman continued to ask Ren for more, feeling unsatisfied. Hachiman felt no psychological burden when it came to mooching off a rich guy.
This scene was witnessed by Hina Ebina, the class's resident fujoshi.
[So... so stimulating!]
Hina Ebina excitedly gripped Yumiko Miura beside her, as a stream of bright red blood slowly flowed from her nose.
"Hina..."
Yumiko Miura, looking helpless, took a small pack of tissues from her bag and pulled one out to wipe the nosebleed for her friend. This friend of hers was usually fine, but she couldn't help the fact that her mind was truly rotten; every time she saw the handsome guys in class chatting, her mind would start wandering.
Before, she shipped Hayato Hayama with other male students; now she had moved on to shipping Ren x Hachiman. Yumiko Miura really had a headache.
Hina Ebina's nosebleed got worse, almost soaking the entire tissue. Yumiko Miura had to lean in and whisper in her ear, "Hina, who do you think is the Bottom?"
"Obviously Hachiman—"
Hina Ebina tried to answer without thinking, but before she could finish, she noticed her non-stop nosebleed and hurriedly took the tissue Yumiko handed her.
"Hehehe, thanks, Yumiko."
Plugging her nose, Hina Ebina finally snapped out of her fujoshi state.
"Hina, just think about those things to yourself. Don't say them out loud or make it too obvious."
"After all, Ren... you know."
Yumiko Miura gave Hina a timely reminder. The incident of Eriri Spencer Sawamura being hung up at the start was still making the rounds; everyone in class knew that Ren took an "equal opportunity" approach to such matters.
To avoid seeing her best friend hanging from a tree one day, Yumiko Miura was worried sick. And it wasn't just for Hina Ebina, but also for herself. If Hina really got hung up by Ren, should she go save her or not?
If she saved her, she'd end up hanging there with her. If she didn't, Yumiko felt that wouldn't be right either. After weighing it, she decided it was best to just warn Hina.
Under normal circumstances, Ren was actually quite easy to talk to.
Once a person is full, they start thinking too much; Hachiman was currently in this state. His usual dead-fish eyes became deep in this moment. In his "sage mode," Hachiman asked Ren a very philosophical question.
"Katsuragi, what is the greatest pleasure in life?"
"Lewd stuff."
"You misunderstood me, Katsuragi. I'm saying the world is so big, there must be something that can shake the soul."
"Doing lewd stuff personally."
Hachiman asked, and Ren answered. Through this exchange, Hachiman began to doubt Ren.
"Katsuragi, can you fucking be serious for once? I'm trying to have a serious discussion with you, and every sentence out of your mouth is about lewd stuff."
"Then, Hikigaya, do you want to do lewd stuff?"
"..."
"Yes."
Though he really didn't want to admit it, Hachiman chose to be true to his heart.
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