Chapter 25

"Then, let's close HR."

Chabashira-sensei says that and leaves the classroom, so I get ready to go home and leave the classroom as well.

And then I was walking down the hallway.

"Hikigaya-kun, do you have some time?"

Ichinose speaks to me with a mysterious expression on her face. It doesn't look like the always smiling Ichinose.

"What? Are you talking about a violent incident at this timing?"

If that's the case, I'll refuse it. I won't deny that Ichinose took care of me during my study period, but I have no intention of helping Sudo.

But my prediction was wrong.

"It's not that. I have something else to discuss with you, so can you spare some time?"

"I don't have any particular plans."

"Then I want you to come with me."

Ichinose says that and starts walking, so I follow her. I was guided to the back of the gymnasium.

"So? What's your purpose? You're not going to beat me here, for fondling your breasts, right?"

If we talk about it behind the gym, it's all about confessions, fights and blowjobs.

"Eh... No, that's not true. Actually, I have a request for you, Hikigaya-kun...Um, could you please pretend to be my boyfriend?"

"Turn down"

I'll answer right away. Honestly, I instantly remembered my middle school days and got annoyed. Well, Ichinose doesn't know anything about my junior high school days, so I won't give her the best shot.

Ichinose, on the other hand, is at a loss for words for a moment and then tries to open her mouth, but I did so before she can.

"I'm sorry, but I have no intention of interfering with other people's love affairs. I've seen pain in the past because of it."

If I were to play the role of Ichinose's boyfriend, there was a possibility that something beyond trouble would happen.

That only happened when I was in middle school.

Ichinose must have decided that there was no room for negotiation with my attitude, so she apologized.

"I'm sorry for asking you an unpleasant request."

"I don't really care."

If Ichinose apologizes, I won't say anything more.

"If you're asking me such a request, then someone must have given you a love letter or confessed to you, right?"

Otherwise, there's no need to ask me to play the role of your boyfriend. If there is another reason, it may be because they want a couple-only discount or a couple-only menu, but in that case there is no need to take them to the back of the school building.

"Yes, I received a love letter."

While saying this, Ichinose brings out a cute love letter. I don't look at the contents because I feel bad for the sender, but as far as I can see the notepaper, it doesn't look like a love letter from a man.

"I guess. Shouldn't you ask someone from class B to play the role of your boyfriend?"

"The person who gave me the love letter was a B class student."

I see, that means...

"You decided that it would be better for me to play the role of boyfriend and get her to give up, than for you to dump her and make her feel awkward."

"Yeah...I don't know much about love, so I don't know what to do without hurting the other person, and how can we be good friends?

"Don't be so naive."

"Huh?"

I can't help but speak in a strong tone. Ichinose, on the other hand, opens her eyes and looks at me.

"I'm sure the other person will be hurt if we can't date each other. Generally speaking, even if I were to play the role of your boyfriend, I don't think we'd be able to get along well in the future because of your personality."

"Hikigaya-kun..."

I know Ichinose's personality, but it will definitely be awkward. It would be fine if that was all there was to it, but if they found out that she had arranged for me to play the role of her boyfriend, her relationship with that girl would definitely break down.

Ichinose is thinking about not hurting the other person, so she should want to avoid that.

"I'll give you one piece of advice. If you involve a third party in your love life, things will get messy."

I remember the school trip, and me, Hayama, and the service club shouldn't have been involved at that time either.

If no one got involved, Tobe would have been rejected, but that was the natural outcome.

I didn't get in trouble that time, but if I play the role of her boyfriend this time, there's a possibility that not only me but Ichinose and the person confessing her feelings will get in trouble, and Ichinose won't be able to solve this problem.

"...Sorry, I was wrong. Hikigaya-kun, you can go home now."

Ichinose has a serious expression on her face and lowers her head. This should be fine. I was relieved because I don't want Ichinose, who I'm good friends with, to be mentally exhausted due to a romantic relationship.

"I see. See you then."

After saying that, I leave the back of the gymnasium and start walking towards the main school building.

At the same time, a girl with boyish features came towards me with a nervous look on her face.

I don't think so, but will this girl confess her feelings to Ichinose?

When I put a question mark on my head, the girl seemed to notice me and turned her eyes towards me with hostility.

Bingo, this woman is the one who gave Ichinose the love letter. Ichinose said that she received a love letter from someone in the same class as her, but since there are a lot of people in B class, especially girls, who view me as an enemy, she is the one sending the love letter most of the time.

In any case, there was no real harm done, so I ignored her glare and walked past her.

Well...I don't feel like taking a detour today, so I'll just go home.

I headed towards the dormitory instead of towards the shopping mall.

When I returned to my room in the dormitory, no one was there. It's only 4 o'clock now, but there's almost an hour until Hiyori gets home.

(Would you like to take a little break?)

I don't mean to blame Ichinose, but I was reminded of the darkest part of my junior high school days, and I was mentally exhausted.

As Hiyori said before, the Sobu guys won't be involved in this school, so let's get some rest.

As soon as I got into bed, sleepiness came over me and I closed my eyes without resisting it.

________________

"No"

"Oh, Hikigaya's awake, let's start the fire."

Fire?! What the hell is going on?!

"Okay. Then, Shiina-san, please prepare the drinks."

"Sakayanagi, please sit down."

"Thank you for your concern. Masumi-san, please help me."

"Yes, yes"

When I woke up, a lot of people were talking. Then, when I looked around, I saw Hashimoto and Sakayanagi near the table with a pot in the center of the room, and Hiyori, Ichinose, and Kamuro in the kitchen.

What's this? What's the situation?

As I was looking around with a question mark, Hiyori came towards me with a drink in hand.

"Are you awake? It's almost ready, so please sit down and wait."

"...Ah. But why are there so many people?"

It's no wonder that Hiyori, who is half-living with me, is here. Sakayanagi also has a duplicate key, so Kamuro must have gotten involved with Sakayanagi.

However, the presence of Hashimoto and Ichinose was completely unexpected.

Two of them have come to my room before, but I was surprised to see five of them gathered together.

It was Sakayanagi who answered my question.

"When Masumi-san and I were walking through the shopping mall, we met Shiina-san who was shopping for ingredients, so we went with her. While we were buying ingredients, we met Hashimoto-kun and asked him to go to Hikigaya-kun's house. When I went to Hikigaya-kun's room, Ichinose-san was at the door.''

Oh. Was it because of a coincidence that this happened?

What an amazing coincidence.

As I was secretly impressed, Ichinose and Kamuro came from the kitchen, and Ichinose raised her hand.

"Ah, Hikigaya-kun. I see I'm bothering you. Thank you very much for earlier."

"I didn't do anything special. I just said what was obvious."

"I'm grateful that you helped me,  I was able to reject her. And she said that starting tomorrow, things will be as usual."

"...I think that would be difficult."

It must be tough for those who were dumped to do the same thing the next day.

"Maybe so. Maybe it's selfish, but I just want to spend my time as usual."

Well, that's natural for a human being, so I don't care to say anything about it.

Before that, it is Ichinose herself who decides her actions, so I have no intention of getting into it any further than necessary.

"What are you two talking about?"

Hashimoto seemed interested and asked questions, and Sakayanagi and others were also interested.

"Ah, yeah. Actually..."

Ichinose prefaced this and then began talking about what happened today.

She, of course, withheld the name of the person who confessed to her.

When Ichinose finished speaking, Sakayanagi nodded.

"I see. That's correct. If a third party is involved in a romance, people who are not good at it will become violent."

Sakayanagi glances at me, but I'm sure she's talking about Hiratsuka-sensei.

When I heard on the news that she had been arrested by the police, I laughed out loud.

"Well, we can talk about the details while eating, so let's eat."

My stomach growled when Hashimoto said that. It looks like I got really hungry while I was sleeping.

"Well...I'll have it."

"I'll enjoy having this"

Everyone greets each other and eats the meal. All members from A class to D class are present here, but the meal will end peacefully.

That's what I thought...

________

"Hachiman-kun, ah."

"Ah, thanks Hiyori."

"Hikigaya-kun, mine too."

"...." Ichinose.

"haha…you get along so well."

"Hikigaya-kun, eat mine too!" Ichinose also started shaking.

"He's just acting like a nuisance."

"Aren't you going to do it too, Kamuro?"

"There's no way I'll do it."

______________

"What? Is this a maid outfit? And three outfits?"

"That's me, Masumi-san, and Shiina-san. Hikigaya-kun loves maid costumes, so we wears them occasionally. How about Ichinose-san?"

"Don't invite Ichinose there, idiot!"

"It's rude to call me an idiot. I think it would suit Ichinose-san."

"That's right. Even, Kamuro took the time to add magic to the pot."

"It's annoying!''

"Haha!"

"Please don't bully Hashimoto-kun, Masumi-san..."

"....." Kamuro-san.

"Magic? What are you talking about?"

"..." Kamuro-san had a long face.

"You don't need to know, Ichinose!"

There was no class-related dispute, but they clashed over things that didn't matter, causing rifts.

I feel more tired than before I went to bed...

My day ended even more tired than before I took the nap, but when Hiyori kissed me goodnight before I went to bed, my tiredness disappeared in an instant.