Chapter 112 Ntr in Plain Sight, Bullying Ibuki for Her Lack of Culture
"..."
Hikigaya was momentarily speechless, stiffly retracting the hand that had been tilting Shiina Hiyori's chin. His eyes darted around, trying to find an excuse to smooth things over.
Unexpectedly, Shiina Hiyori suddenly stood up and sat on the table. The light from above shone on the tips of her hair, creating a silver halo, while Ibuki Mio stood dumbfounded in the shadows of the doorway.
"Darling~"
Shiina Hiyori leaned down slightly, stroking Hikigaya's cheek with her hand in a very intimate manner.
"Uh... Shiina-san?!"
Hikigaya was also completely dazed. Which play was she acting out now? However, he had a feeling he had read this plot somewhere before...
"Hey! What are you two doing?" Ibuki Mio couldn't help but ask again.
Shiina Hiyori didn't say a word; she simply stared straight into Ibuki Mio's pupils with a winner's gaze, a smile that was almost pitying playing on the corners of her mouth.
"!!!"
This silent provocation was like a heavy hammer smashing into Ibuki Mio's chest, causing her to instinctively take a step back. A mist of water appeared at the corners of her eyes, and she said with a dejected expression, "It seems I didn't come at the right time."
"No, you came at exactly the right time... Pfft!
Sorry, I really couldn't hold it back."
Hikigaya couldn't suppress his amusement. "Shiina-san, you're really bullying Ibuki for not being well-read!"
Shiina Hiyori's series of bizarre actions came from the Italian author Alberto Moravia's Contempt.
There is a plot point where a husband has an ambiguous affair with a female subordinate and is discovered in person by his wife. Instead of showing restraint, the female subordinate arrogantly sits on the office desk in front of the wife, caressing the husband's face and looking at the wife with provocative eyes.
To put it simply, it was "Ntr in plain sight!"
"Eh? You could actually make that connection?
I originally wanted to see Hikigaya-kun look flustered."
Shiina Hiyori puffed out her cheeks helplessly, showing the frustration of someone whose prank had been seen through.
"Hmph~ A bad girl trying to trick me? No way!"
Hikigaya slapped Shiina Hiyori's hand away with feigned anger.
"Wh-What?!
The two of you actually teamed up to tease me!"
Ibuki Mio finally reacted. Although she still didn't quite understand what these two were doing.
"Ibuki, I told you to read more often. It's to prevent you from being deceived by intellectuals!" Hikigaya lectured her earnestly.
"Urusai!" (Shut up!)
"Baka! Hachiman!"
Ibuki Mio, filled with shame and anger, slapped Hikigaya heavily on the back.
"Sss~"
Hikigaya couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. His back stung like it was on fire; there were definitely five bright red finger marks left there!
"It seems Ibuki-san isn't like Emilia; she cares about Hikigaya-kun quite a lot~" Shiina Hiyori smiled gently. (PS: The wife in the book responded to her husband's infidelity with silence.)
After the joking was over, the three of them finally sat down quietly. Hikigaya ordered a plate of pasta, Shiina Hiyori asked for a salad, and Ibuki Mio ordered a sandwich.
"Class C is having a victory banquet. Is it really okay for you guys to be here?" Hikigaya couldn't help but ask.
"I'm not going."
Shiina Hiyori was clearly still angry about Ryuuen Kakeru's actions.
"I'm not in the mood either... I feel pretty bad for the people in Class B." Ibuki Mio took a bite of her sandwich.
"Why? Oh, it seems the people in Class B were very good to you these past few days." Hikigaya quickly figured out the reason.
According to Ryuuen's plan, Ibuki Mio pretended to fall out with Class C and went off to wander alone. The kind-hearted people of Class B accepted her and took care of her every need. In the end, Ibuki Mio backstabbed them. It sounded quite a bit like "The Farmer and the Snake."
"If I had known it would be like this, you might as well have come to Class D," Hikigaya said.
"For what? You really wanted to see me?" Ibuki Mio's lip curled.
"No, if you came to Class D, you might have been warmly welcomed by the boys at first. But with your temperament, you probably wouldn't have given them any face. Seeing that they couldn't suck up to you, they would have excluded you..."
Hikigaya made a well-reasoned deduction. "Then in the end, when you screwed over Class D, you wouldn't have felt any psychological pressure."
Ibuki Mio was speechless. "You really don't care about your own class at all!"
"But Class D got a pretty good score in this special exam," Shiina Hiyori said pointedly.
"That's because there's a certain 'X' playing the role of a behind-the-scenes big boss." Hikigaya curled his lip with a look of distaste. He really wasn't a fan of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's methods.
"Is there really an 'X' like Ryuuen said?" Ibuki Mio still wasn't quite convinced.
"I actually have a bit of a lead on who this 'X-kun' might be." A sharp glint flashed in Shiina Hiyori's eyes.
"Who?" Ibuki Mio asked curiously.
"It's just a guess for now. I need to observe more specifically." Shiina Hiyori was cautious and wouldn't make random guesses without evidence.
"What? Teasing me again." Ibuki Mio, annoyed, picked up her fork and swirled away a clump of pasta from Hikigaya's plate.
"You can be angry, but why are you stealing my noodles?" Hikigaya's eyes widened.
"You can 'steal,' so why can't I eat?" Ibuki Mio said righteously.
"What 'steal'? You're a mysterious person..." Hikigaya was speechless.
"Hmph! I'm going to eat!" Ibuki Mio, as if out of spite, stabbed her fork into Hikigaya's plate again, stirred it around, swirled away a large portion of pasta, and devoured it triumphantly.
"Are you a child?" Hikigaya frowned, feeling somewhat troubled. With only half left, he wouldn't be full, but if he ordered another portion, he wouldn't be able to finish it. Even though all food on the ship was free, adhering to the good character of not wasting food, Hikigaya wouldn't take extra.
"Hikigaya-kun, if you don't mind, you can try mine."
'How does this girl understand me so well?'
"Thanks, but I'm full..." Hikigaya wanted to keep acting tough.
But Shiina Hiyori across from him had already taken action, carefully selecting lettuce, tuna, red cabbage, and avocado, skewering them on her fork and holding it up to Hikigaya's mouth.
"Hikigaya-kun~ Aaaah~~"
With food being brought to his mouth, Hikigaya had no reason to refuse, so he honestly opened his mouth.
"Is it good?" Shiina Hiyori looked at him expectantly.
"Feeding-play... it feels like being a kept man. Not bad!" Hikigaya couldn't deny it.
"!!!"
Ibuki Mio suddenly felt that the stolen pasta didn't taste good anymore.
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