Class 1-B. When Hikigaya Hachiman arrived at the classroom, a group of people from Class B were gathered around Ichinose chatting. He felt like they glanced at him. Don't worry, I understand. Hikigaya looked away, returned to his seat, put on headphones, and slumped onto the desk—the whole movement was seamless.
Once small groups are formed, it's hard for others to join. That girl "Yuki's" attitude yesterday had already made it clear they didn't welcome him. Don't worry, Hachiman is a man who won't cause trouble for others.
Sure enough, no one bothered him again. From Ichinose's side, sounds of laughter and joy rang out once more.
Hikigaya opened a tiny slit of his eyes to observe secretly. Ichinose was truly impressive. In just one day, she had become the central figure of the class. Most incredible was that she had successfully crossed the gender barrier; both boys and girls surrounded her. With someone like her, reaching Class A should be just a matter of time.
How lucky, Hikigaya thought privately. He was glad to be in Class B. With Ichinose around, he could take his time saving up twenty million points, or maybe not even save at all.
But he still intended to save. From childhood until now, no matter the time or place, he was always alone. No matter what happened, he overcame it alone. While others were talking big and comforting each other, he faced everything alone. This was the mark of a true powerhouse!
A slight smile tugged at Hikigaya's lips as he looked to the other side. If Ichinose was the center of the girls, then Shibata was the center of the boys, with several girls even surrounding him. A damn "normie" (riajuu) at a glance. I won't look!
Rather than focusing on them, it was more important to think about how to get the school to add MAX Coffee. As the bell rang, a middle-aged teacher entered, and students returned to their seats. It had to be said, Class B was excellent. Even though the teacher seemed relaxed, almost everyone maintained an attentive posture, with only a few whispering occasionally. They were much better than him.
Of course, it wasn't that he was slacking off. Since there was no division between arts and sciences yet, he couldn't give up on science, so he listened seriously. He only studied useful things. But for liberal arts subjects like Japanese... honestly, he was extremely confident in those. As long as he piled on flowery language and wrote high-sounding praises, he could always get high marks. He was simply too lazy to listen.
During English class, Hikigaya felt himself getting drowsy. It was worse than self-study. His eyelids began to fight, and he finally fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he felt someone poking his back—constantly poking. It was truly annoying. Hikigaya opened his blurry eyes only to find that someone really was poking his back!
Looking back, a girl with short white hair was poking his back with a ballpoint pen. Feeling his gaze, her face turned red, and she quickly lowered her head to look at the floor. He remembered her name was "Shiro-something"... her name tag had been moved. He didn't remember her full name, but he recalled her being called "Shiro-chan" (Little White), so Shiro-chan it was.
Hikigaya's gaze was resentful. Shiro-chan looked up with a flushed face, then quickly looked down at the aisle. He followed her gaze and saw an eraser lying quietly in the middle of the floor. Oh, so her eraser fell.
That's a relief. Being bullied by such a shy person would have made him want to die. But he also had experiences of crushing defeat. In elementary school, he once kindly picked up an eraser for someone; the girl behind him wiped it incessantly with a tissue and finally cried, saying she didn't want it anymore.
Hikigaya had forgotten how he survived that moment. He didn't have such a strong heart now. If Shiro-chan said something like that, he might actually want to die. So, he turned to his neighbor, whose name was "Hime-something-Yuki"—he remembered her as "Koyuki" (Little Snow).
Feeling his gaze, Himeno Yuki looked over. Seeing Hikigaya signaling to look down, she glanced at the floor, then looked back up at the blackboard. No way, for real? Just pretending not to see?
Hikigaya was stunned. What kind of person was this? Was she a demon who liked to steal lollipops from children? She was even hesitating to pick up an eraser. Oh, wait, I'm the one who should pick it up. Never mind.
Helplessly, Hikigaya bent down, picked up the eraser, and placed it on her desk. Fortunately, Shiro-chan picked it up with both small hands, held it to her chest, and nodded with a blushing face. Good. If she had taken out a tissue, he might have actually cried.
Only... Shiro-chan, aren't you dropping your eraser a bit too often? Hikigaya remained expressionless. During one English class, she dropped it more than a dozen times, and he kept picking it up for her. This was just too much! This was definitely intentional! Could this be some new form of bullying? It was only the second day of school, and he was already being picked on. How tragic.
He wanted to die. Finally, after class ended, Hikigaya collapsed on his desk and closed his eyes. If Shiro-chan kept poking his back like that, he'd become neurotic. Most importantly, he was dying without MAX Coffee.
"Hikigaya-kun, are you still awake?" A high-energy whisper sounded in his ear. Hikigaya's body tensed up while he lay on the desk. It sounded like Ichinose's voice—she had been standing near Shiro-chan all morning.
Is it bullying? It's definitely bullying, right? Shiro-chan called her companions because they wanted to bully him in the most terrifying way! Shiro-chan, oh Shiro-chan, who would have thought you were so vicious at such a young age. I misjudged you.
Offending the central group of the class on the first day? It was over. Hikigaya kept his eyes closed, pretending not to hear. If they asked him to go to the bathroom with them, what should he do? He could only plead for forgiveness this way and try to escape for now.
"Hikigaya-kun." However, the other party did not plan to let him go. Hikigaya felt someone gently shake his shoulder. Sigh, being bullied by the center group—there's no escaping it.
Damn it. Then don't blame him for being rude. He was still a guy; handling two women shouldn't be much of a problem. Moreover, he had experience in this area; he hadn't escaped being bullied in middle school either. In this situation, the only way was to strike first!
Stand up and give them two slaps to show his fangs. Only then would he not be stepped on. Thinking of this, Hikigaya steeled himself and stood up abruptly!