Palette Cafe. The two found random seats and sat down. Hikigaya ordered cheese rice, as the cafe had limited options.
Actually, in the absence of ramen, he would have preferred curry and fried chicken. High schoolers' heads were full of junk food.
"Hikigaya, you're actually quite good-looking." Himeno Yuki ordered the pasta: "If you just dressed up a bit and acted more cheerful, you'd definitely be popular with girls. Why do you have a gloomy face every day?"
"Heh." Hikigaya's mouth twitched as he silently ate his cheese rice. This person was really too much. Setting aside the fact she called him "gloomy," "quite good-looking" in a girl's mouth could basically be equated with "average." Just like how a "good person" in a girl's mouth was 100% someone who was "fine no matter what." The evidence was himself! This was just his usual state; he wasn't intentionally pulling a face.
"Ah? You don't believe me?"
Mind reading? Did this person have mind-reading powers? Himeno Yuki easily saw through his thoughts, her tone slightly dissatisfied: "I actually cast a vote for you in the handsome guy rankings. Incidentally, I also cast a vote for you in the gloomy rankings."
"Eh?" Hikigaya said with some surprise: "Girls do that kind of thing too?" Although he didn't know if the guys in Class B did it, he had experienced it in junior high.
"What do you mean 'too'?" Himeno Yuki was stunned, then narrowed her eyes with murderous intent: "You guys aren't ranking the girls too, are you? How scummy."
"Hey, the girls are doing the exact same thing." This girl was truly double-standard.
"I don't know the specifics," Hikigaya explained somewhat speechlessly, then said with some pride: "You should know I was first place in the gloomy rankings in junior high." He wasn't sure if he was being ostracized or if the boys in Class B were indeed high-quality, but anyway, no one had come looking for him.
"First place in the gloomy rankings... I don't understand what there is to be proud of..." Himeno Yuki was even more speechless: "Normal people should care more about the handsome rankings. Do you want to guess what rank you are among the handsome guys?"
"Hmm." Hikigaya rubbed his chin and quickly gave an answer: "Around fifteenth place!" It wasn't narcissism. It was because his sister Komachi had said that if it weren't for the dead-fish eyes affecting his looks, he would definitely be a handsome guy.
"So you do have some self-awareness." Himeno Yuki was slightly surprised, then dealt a blow: "You're eleventh. However, you're ranked fourth in the gloomy rankings."
There were probably eighty boys in the entire grade. Eleventh place was actually not bad, though he wasn't exactly a "true" handsome guy.
"Really?" Hikigaya said, somewhat unconvinced: "I'm only fourth? Who are the three ahead of me?" It was hard to believe someone could be more gloomy than him.
"You really are a strange guy." Himeno Yuki took a sip of coffee and rolled her beautiful eyes: "First is Onizuka from Class D, second is Kito Hayato from Class A, and third is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from Class D."
"Uh..." Hikigaya became slightly dejected.
Onizuka and Kito were one thing; after all, they were part of the "Oni" (demon) clan, so it was only natural they were gloomier than him. No matter how arrogant he was, he wouldn't dare compare himself to the Oni clan.
As for Ayanokouji Kiyotaka... for some reason, the first thing that popped into his head was that "flying fish head" psycho. It seemed... he didn't lose unfairly. Even in gloominess he couldn't beat others; there were far too many excellent people in this school.
"Why did you get dejected..." Watching Hikigaya's shoulders sag slightly, Himeno Yuki was completely speechless; this guy's competitive spirit was far too abnormal.
"Ah, Himeno-san, what a coincidence."
Just then, a sweet voice rang out. Hikigaya glanced sideways, and a brown-haired beauty appeared before his eyes. She had short brown hair, skin as white as goat fat, and delicate features. Her wine-red eyes seemed to be sparkling, and her "giant pandas" (chest) were on par with Ichinose's. Most importantly, she gave off a feeling very similar to Ichinose.
"Kushida-san?" "What are you doing here?" Himeno Yuki instantly switched to a surprised and somewhat joyful smile, while simultaneously giving Hikigaya a warning look. "If you dare expose me, you're dead!"
"I came here to eat with friends and happened to see Himeno-san, so I wanted to come over and say hi." The girl named Kushida showed a sweet smile, glancing slightly at Hikigaya, and said hesitantly: "Am I interrupting you two?"
Hmm? Hikigaya imperceptibly narrowed his eyes; in any case, these dead-fish eyes wouldn't reveal it even if he frowned. Their position wasn't exactly hidden. If she really feared interrupting them, she shouldn't have come over at all. What was with this person? By the way, who was she?
"Of course not," Himeno Yuki quickly explained, "This is Kushida Kikyo-san from Class 1-D, and this is my classmate, Hikigaya Hachiman."
Thanks to Himeno Yuki's introduction, the relationship between the two was clearly stated. Classmates. The hidden meaning was telling Kushida Kikyo not to guess wildly.
"Hikigaya... Hachiman?" Kushida Kikyo was slightly puzzled, then her eyes lit up. She placed her hands against her chest with her fingertips together, looking very cute. "I remember now, your name is Hikigaya Hachiman~"
"Hello." Hikigaya was somewhat surprised: "Do we know each other?"
"You two know each other?" Himeno Yuki looked at Hikigaya in astonishment. Did this gloomy guy actually know someone else?
"Actually..." Kushida Kikyo's pretty face flushed slightly, and she explained with some shyness: "Actually, I was on that same bus on opening day. There was an elderly lady who had trouble walking, but no one was willing to give up their seat."
"Just as I was planning to help her, Hikigaya-kun was the only one who proactively gave up his seat. He didn't ask for anything in return and walked to the back. It's clear that Hikigaya-kun is a very gentle person."
"So... since that day, I've always wanted to get to know Hikigaya-kun." Saying this, Kushida Kikyo peeked at Hikigaya, and upon making eye contact, her face turned red and she quickly looked down.
If it were an ordinary boy, he would probably instantly think, "Does this girl like me?", proactively offer to exchange contact information, and then be totally entranced.
However, this could not escape the eyes of the "First-Class Green Tea Appraiser" Hikigaya. He hadn't expected that someone had seen what happened that day. Moreover, this girl spoke very beautifully. He who gave up the seat was a gentle person, so she who wanted to help was also a gentle person. Mixing her own agenda into truthful words to build her "gentle" persona.
Furthermore, school had been in session for over ten days; if she wanted to know him, she'd had countless opportunities. Clearly, in Kushida Kikyo's heart, getting to know him wasn't a priority. She shouldn't have this shy, nervous expression with watery eyes; she most likely treated him like any other ordinary male.
Clearly, this was a "green tea" among green teas. High-level green tea!