Chapter 205: Kiryuin Fuka
Looking at the arrogant and extremely self-confident silver-haired senpai before him, Hikigaya couldn't help but frown. She reminded him of a certain man in his own class.
"Those words are a bit too arrogant, Senpai."
"Oh? You don't think this lady is beautiful?" The silver-haired senpai brushed her long hair back with a hand, confidence radiating from her every gesture.
"From an objective standpoint, you are indeed very pretty," Hikigaya spoke the truth.
These words made Ibuki Mio's expression turn sour: "Hikigaya, you..."
Hikigaya shifted his tone: "However, if you say you are the most beautiful, I cannot agree with that."
"Interesting~ Go on." Far from showing displeasure, the silver-haired senpai looked at him with renewed interest.
"Take Ibuki-san here next to me, for example," Hikigaya gestured with a hand.
"I don't think she's much inferior to you at all."
"Dead-fish-eye kouhai, did you forget to wear your glasses?" The silver-haired senpai crossed her arms, lifting her ample 'assets.'
"Tch!" Ibuki Mio bit her lip in frustration. There was nothing she could do. In terms of being 'well-rounded,' the other girl completely crushed her!!
"If I may be blunt, among the first-year girls I know, there are three who have even more 'heart' (assets) than you, Senpai." Hikigaya held up three fingers: Sakura Airi, Hasabe Haruka, and Ichinose Honami.
"You actually know three...?" The silver-haired senpai narrowed her eyes and reached a conclusion: "A big-chest complex?"
"Hikigaya, you superficial bastard!!" Ibuki Mio stomped her feet in anger.
"No, you've misunderstood.
My point is that a woman's charm isn't determined by a single body part," Hikigaya said solemnly.
"I see. So it turns out the dead-fish-eye kouhai wants everything."
'Dammit! Why does this senpai love twisting people's words so much!'
"In any case, regarding the 'cute' attribute, I believe Ibuki-san ranks higher than you, Senpai."
"!!!" Ibuki Mio's eyes widened, and her cheeks gradually turned scalding hot.
"The basis for your evaluation?"
"My evaluation is the basis." The silver-haired senpai was taken aback for a moment, then fell into silence.
"Cuteness is a subjective personal evaluation. If you're asking me, then I think Ibuki is simply cuter than you." Hikigaya spoke with total conviction.
"...That's just sophistry." The smile gradually vanished from the silver-haired senpai's face, replaced by a look of irritation.
"Yeah, so what?" Hikigaya shrugged, his voice decisive.
"Even if you're the school's universally recognized belle, in my eyes, you're just not as cute as Ibuki."
"!!!" The silver-haired senpai took a critical hit, her body instinctively recoiling a few steps.
'Heh, can't handle it?'
Hikigaya smiled triumphantly.
"Dead-fish-eye kouhai, I advise you to say those kinds of things less often."
"Why?"
"Because if you keep talking like that, the kouhai next to you is going to have eyes like melting honey."
"Huh?!" Hikigaya turned his head.
He found Ibuki Mio staring at him intensely, her face flushed with a suspicious crimson glow.
"...
Wait, buddy? That was a metaphor! A metaphor!" Hikigaya explained hurriedly.
"Urusai (Shut up)! I know that..." Ibuki Mio's eyes darted away, and her breathing became rapid. Despite her best efforts to suppress it, she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from curling upward.
'This is bad! This simpleton has been hooked and reeled in!'
Hikigaya broke into a cold sweat, feeling that things were spiraling in an uncontrollable direction.
"Hehehehe~ You really are too interesting, dead-fish-eye kouhai." The silver-haired senpai placed a hand on his shoulder and laughed out loud.
'How is this interesting? You're just a crazy senpai!'
"Second-year, Class B: Kiryuin Fuka.
Before asking for someone else's name, you should provide your own, shouldn't you?" Kiryuin Fuka watched him with narrowed eyes.
Left with no choice, Hikigaya introduced himself: "First-year, Class D... Hikigaya Hachiman."
He noticed that when she heard he was from Class D, her expression didn't change at all, as if she didn't care about the class hierarchy.
From this alone, it was clear that this Senpai Kiryuin was anything but ordinary! In a school that preached "meritocracy" and fostered class competition, Kiryuin Fuka's thinking transcended the limitations of her class.
" Hikigaya Kouhai, is it? I'll remember you." Kiryuin Fuka turned, whipped her long hair around, and departed coolly.
"What a strange person..." Hikigaya shook his head helplessly.
"Hey, Ibuki, come back to earth." This girl was strange too. Just because he used a few metaphors to praise her, look at how smug she's getting.
"Ah?" Ibuki Mio snapped out of it, looking at him with a dazed expression.
"Don't space out, it's almost time for class." Hikigaya waved a hand and left the field.
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Ring ring~
Hikigaya reached the classroom just as the bell rang.
"Hikigaya, you almost late. Be earlier next time!" Hirata Yousuke's tone was icy.
'Why do you care? I wasn't late anyway.'
Though he wanted to snap back, Hikigaya chose to back down to avoid being pestered by troublesome people: "Next time for sure."
Hirata Yousuke frowned, seemingly looking for a fault to pick, but he couldn't find a suitable reason at the moment.
Returning to his seat, Horikita Suzune was staring intently at her book, pretending not to notice his arrival.
Seriously, he couldn't understand women. Just this morning, she had demanded to use first names in the name of friendship.
Why was she acting like a stranger again in the blink of an eye?
'It couldn't be that Horikita Suzune is actually shy, could it?'
The first period was Japanese. Today's lesson was on the ancient Chinese poem "Liangzhou Song." Hikigaya had read the related stories before, so for him, it was already mastered knowledge. In that case, it should be fine to zone out a bit, right?
Hikigaya rested his chin on his hand, his dead-fish eyes narrowed as his mind drifted into space. Chabashira-sensei, teaching at the front, noticed Hikigaya's wandering mind and knitted her brows. While explaining the poem, she suddenly asked: "'Fine wine in luminous cups, about to drink, the lute urges them on horse.'
What kind of scene is being depicted in these lines...?
Which student would like to stand and answer?"
When Chabashira Sae asked this, most of the students instinctively lowered their heads. Even Yukimura Teruhiko, who was at the top of the class academically, was frowning deeply while pondering the answer.
Ancient Chinese poetry was simply too difficult for Japanese high schoolers. But for an international student whose native language used those characters, it was so easy!
"Sensei, I..." Wang Mei-Yu tentatively raised her hand.
"Hikigaya, you answer." Chabashira Sae acted as if she hadn't seen her and called out his name first.
"Huh?!" The summoned Hikigaya finally snapped back from his daydreaming. His expression was awkward; the main problem was that he didn't even know what the question was.
Just as Hikigaya was at a loss for how to respond, Horikita Suzune, sitting next to him, suddenly stood up.