Chapter 003: Could It Be That She Likes Me?!
Ichinose Honami was like a little sun; even just standing beside her, one could feel a sense of warmth. Hikigaya Hachiman experienced this firsthand from the moment they left the school building and arrived at the cafeteria.
However, it was warmth in a physical sense. Because... Ichinose was incredibly dazzling. It wasn't just her breathtaking figure, but also her kind, cheerful personality and her helpful nature.
These traits had earned her immense popularity, and people constantly greeted her along the way.
Consequently, as the person "going to the cafeteria together" with her, Hikigaya Hachiman also received a physical level of attention. Both the boys and the girls seemed very concerned about this boy following beside Ichinose.
Upon discovering that this guy was actually standing so close to her, Hikigaya received a multitude of dirty looks.
It seemed that this Ichinose Honami, just like in the original story, possessed a succubus-like charm; both boys and girls liked her.
"I'm sorry, Hikigaya-kun. I was busy greeting everyone just now and seemed to have ignored you a little—"
As they were about to enter the cafeteria, Ichinose Honami, who was walking slightly ahead, suddenly turned around and spoke.
"It's nothing," Hikigaya Hachiman said. "Don't mind me."
Is that so? I shouldn't mind? However, Ichinose Honami's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Because... Throughout the walk, Hikigaya-kun had been constantly saying:
'Ichinose really is popular. As expected of the school beauty; this boy likes her, that boy likes her, and even this girl... she actually likes her too. Ichinose, you truly are a sinful woman!
But compared to Ichinose, I think maybe Yukinoshita is more beautiful?
Though Yukinoshita probably couldn't be as cheerful as Ichinose. Then again, being a bit cold like Yukinoshita is perfectly fine too; everyone has their own unique traits and doesn't need to copy others.
Of course, Horikita Suzune is the exception—she absolutely must learn from others.'
While she didn't know who this "Yukinoshita-san" in Hikigaya-kun's heart was, she must be some very popular girl. Unlike her. Ichinose didn't believe she was that great.
As for the name Horikita Suzune, Ichinose seemed to have some impression of it, as if she had heard it somewhere, but she couldn't recall it for the moment.
However... Ichinose hadn't come here simply to eat. If it wasn't a case of her and Shiranami Chihiro having a simultaneous hallucination, then they were both hearing Hikigaya-kun's inner voice.
In fact, during these first ten days since enrollment, she had been very satisfied with her current class, but she also felt the school was treating them almost too well.
Being treated with such luxury made her feel uneasy. There is no such thing as a free lunch, so she felt that under such generous conditions, the school would surely demand something from them.
Moreover, based on the inner voice she heard from Hikigaya-kun earlier, she felt that if they didn't prepare or intervene, things would end up very badly.
So, she might have to apologize to Hikigaya-kun in her heart, because she intended to fish for the information he knew. Ichinose harbored this sense of guilt.
Then... Ichinose noticed that while they were lining up for food, Hikigaya-kun seemed to be looking around with curiosity.
'This cafeteria is huge; it actually has three floors. As expected of a school with financial backing in the original story, it's quite grand. I wonder if they have the food I like.
The cafeteria probably won't sell Max Coffee, but there should be ramen. I wonder if they have that specific dish, honey-fried peanuts? There should be, right? I think I can smell the fragrance.'
Okay. Now I know you like honey-fried peanuts, Max Coffee, and ramen. But... if he liked them so much, why didn't he order them?
Ichinose noticed that the set meal Hikigaya chose was very expensive and lavish. In comparison, her meal—a simple one-meat, one-vegetable dish—suddenly didn't seem as appetizing.
'Is that all Ichinose is eating? And the meat dish is the cheapest one. Even though her family situation isn't great—a single-parent household—there's really no need to be this frugal.
Forget it. I was planning on a big spend today anyway. I'll just order more, and later I'll give her a portion on the pretext that I can't finish it and can't return it.'
Ugh. Ichinose hadn't expected that Hikigaya-kun ordering so much actually included a portion for her.
However, she hadn't told her classmates that she was from a single-parent family or that they relied solely on her mother's hard work. Furthermore, she hadn't seen any familiar middle school classmates in the first-year group.
So, if Hikigaya-kun knew these things, it meant... the things he said in his heart earlier were all true?
Then... Chihiro-chan likes her? And, she was actually a "mistress"...
No, no, no. She had only been enrolled for ten days; how could she possibly be a mistress? Besides, she would certainly never do something so immoral. But as for Chihiro-chan, how could she tactfully reject her confession without hurting her?
Ichinose realized that before she could even start fishing for information from Hikigaya-kun, she had fallen into a mess of her own thoughts.
'Besides, being this frugal is useless. It's all going to be spent anyway.
Expellees will still appear, and the class will still drop to Class D.
Simply relying on "reducing expenditure" won't allow you to survive in this special school. If you want to survive, the only way is to "increase income."'
"Hikigaya-kun!"
While Ichinose was still lost in thought, hearing Hikigaya's voice made her subconsciously reach out. By the time she realized what she was doing, she had already firmly grabbed Hikigaya Hachiman's left wrist.
"Wha... what's... wrong?" Hikigaya was also startled. His gaze fell upon the hand of this blonde girl gripping his wrist.
"Ugh... well..." How was Ichinose supposed to explain? Could she say she was suddenly triggered by hearing about "expellees" and Class B dropping to Class D?
"Um, do you think the phrase 'there is no such thing as a free lunch' applies to this school?" Ichinose asked.
Originally, she had planned to pretend it was an accident and fish for information on the way back to the classroom after finishing their meal.
But now, she had no choice but to be direct.
However, she noticed that as she said this, Hikigaya-kun's eyes seemed to... brighten slightly. And within his gaze... there seemed to be a hint of affirmation.
Is he affirming me? Ichinose found that her heart was actually leaping with a bit of joy. Previously, everything she had heard from Hikigaya-kun's heart was either about her being liked by a girl, her leading the class downhill, or her being a mistress—nothing but negative evaluations.
Except...
'Has this girl Ichinose finally realized? As expected of the Class B representative.
She really does have decent insight. Has she already observed the special nature of this school? To be able to bring up the 'no free lunch' theory, it's certainly impressive—not like
those 'stinking fish and rotten shrimp' in Class D who take the school's generous treatment for granted.
A quick calculation is all it takes to know that if the school is giving students this much allowance, the finance department would definitely have something to say about it.
And if you observe carefully, you'll see that if the school truly pampered its students, it wouldn't mind supporting a few more useless ones. Yet the number of senpais is constantly decreasing because a portion of them has already been expelled.
Then look at the senpais eating here in the cafeteria; most of them are being very frugal. They either eat very cheap food or eat the foul-tasting free set meals. To put it bluntly, they have no money.
I remember Ichinose's highlight was during the VIP exam. It made people think she was extremely smart, but after that, she turned into a 'love-brain' and her intelligence plummeted.
It really is great that the current Ichinose Honami doesn't have a 'love-brain' yet.
It seems I don't need to remind you; you can discover the special nature of this school on your own.'
Hikigaya's mind was very active, and it seemed to carry a sense of approval toward Ichinose.
Waaaaah. But Ichinose felt like she had been stabbed by a sword from behind. And then stabbed by another from the front.
Because... she actually hadn't thought that much, and she definitely hadn't observed that much.
However, the fact that Hikigaya-kun knew a vast amount of information was undeniably true.