It seems He is Destined to Cry

After the changing room event, the Physical Education class started. The male populations of the class were constantly stealing glances towards Higashi, which he promptly ignored. There wasn't much point in paying attention to the gazes of others.

After some warming up everyone was told to partner up with a fellow classmate. Higashi instantly turned his gaze towards one person in particular.

"Hikigaya, let's pair up."

Hikigaya Hachiman was the pessimistic main protagonist of Oregairu series. He absolutely will not gain a partner anyway considering his identity as a loner, so Higashi might as well pair up with him. The two began helping one another do sit-ups.

"Hey, Hikigaya."

"Mm?"

"Are you a breast person or a butt person?"

The pessimistic youth choked on his spit at those words. Well, he supposes that was the natural reaction when someone they barely knew asks them such a question. After a while, Hikigaya calmed himself down and continued his sit-ups.

"…No response huh. Well, I personally don't discriminate. Put it another way then I have no particular interest in any body part specifically."

Hikigaya continued to do his sit-ups without saying a word.

"Not to say I prefer men though. I am certainly interested in the female body, just no specification on the body part."

Hikigaya was finally done and it was time to switch.

"I think it is more about the overall figure than any body parts in specific. It would be strange to see a child with overwhelming curves."

Sit-ups were pretty easy when one has 180 points in the Physique stat.

"Of course that doesn't mean I only judge by appearance. Personality and interest certainly matter."

He was doing about one sit-up every second, and he feels like he could still go even further. Overdoing things wouldn't do him any good however and he held himself back. Not like there is any prize for doing the task quickly.

"Speaking of personality is there any particular type that you prefer?"

Sit-up completed. Moving on to the next exercise.

"The frosty princess-type? The kindhearted cheerful classmate? The devilish kouhai? Or maybe the beautiful yet lonely teacher?"

"…If Hiratsuka-sensei heard that she will beat you to death, you know?"

Hikigaya muttered out in response. He was focusing on doing the stretching more so his words came in pauses.

"I didn't mention any names. If she assumes I was talking about her then that is her own matter to deal with."

"…How sly."

"By the way, how is it going with Yukinoshita?"

"Yukinoshita Yukino? What about her?"

From his reaction, Higashi concluded there were two possibilities. Either he is playing dumb or the two have yet to make contact with one another. Considering they are still in their first year, the most likely possibility is that they simply haven't met yet since the story starts in their second year.

It was obvious honestly. But hearing a confirmation is still good. Who knows if this is an Alternate Universe kind of tale? Oh, and Hikigaya seems curious as to what he meant. Better make an excuse.

"Hmm… from your reaction it seems she hasn't told you yet huh."

"Told me what?"

That she had her car run through him in the past. Well, saying that within such conditions won't benefit either of them in any way, so he might as well stay quiet for now. Wait, has it even happened? He remembered the car hitting Hikigaya was on the first day of school, but whether that meant during their first or second year is questionable.

"If she won't say it then I'll stay quiet as well. Just wait for her to contact you about it. Pushing her won't get you anywhere unless you do it physically rather than metaphorically. Then you'd be going to jail."

"Jail is but a room."

"Haha! True enough." Higashi smiled. "You're a fun person, Hikigaya."

"…That's the first time I've heard those words spoken to me."

"Oh? Are you touched?"

"It feels great. Like letting out a fart in public places."

"…You're quite the vulgar person as well."

"Fine by me."

Higashi smiled towards his PE partner.

"…What?"

"Nothing."

The two continued their exercises without any words. Soon enough they were all gathered up and told to run the tracks while being timed. After a bout of contemplation, he decided to hold back just a tiny bit. Hiding his skills won't really do him much, to be honest, but having a faster time than the world record won't do him good either. That would just bring unwanted attention to him.

Better hold back just a tiny bit. From what he remembered world record for 100m dash was around ten seconds, or maybe nine seconds plus some. Taking about eleven seconds should be fine.

"Start!"

And he ran.

"Time!"

The average of his class seems to be around fourteen seconds. A three-second difference is might seem small, but that is actually an unbreachable gap which-

"1-10.42 seconds!"

The entirety of the class suddenly turned their heads towards him.

…Needless to say, a 0.5-second difference is very large when it comes to 100m running. Crap now his time is definitely within the 1-second range of the world record. Well, at least that confirms it. He can beat the world record if he put his mind into it.

There was a small commotion in the class after that. He decided to just scratch his head before returning to his previous position. They were freaking out badly.

He decidedly ignored them and opened his Quest Screen while waiting for them to calm down.

[Quest]

[Level Quest: Get to the Friend level with two women] (COMPLETE)

[Oregairu Quest: Go to school] (COMPLETE)

He clicked the complete on both Quests.

[Level Quest completed. Lv +1, SP +10]

[Level Quest updated. Please go to the quest screen for details.]

[Oregairu Quest completed. +10SP]

He ignored the Level Quest update and opened his status screen instead.

[Higashi Murasaki]

[Lv: 2]

[SP: 10]

[LP: 70]

[Academic: 50/100 Adept Level]

[Physique: 60/100 Master Level]

[Visual Art: 18/100 Novice Level]

[Musical Art: 20/100 Intermediate Level]

[Literature: 50/100 Adept Level]

[Charisma: 54/100 Adept Level]

[Luck: 50/100 Adept Level]

[Perks]

[Academic Enthusiast I], [Academic Genius I], [Physique Enthusiast I], [Physique Genius II], [Musical Enthusiast I], [Literature Enthusiast I], [Literature Genius I], [Charisma Enthusiast I], [Charisma Genius I], [Luck Enthusiast I], [Luck Genius I]

[Skills]

[Learning], [Training], [Communicating]

[Relationship]

[Hiratsuka Shizuka: 40/100 Friend]

[Ebina Hina: 52/100 Friend]

He decided to spend his SP first. Five into Academics, two into Visual Art, and three into Charisma.

[For using SP +5 Academic]

[Thanks to Academic Enthusiast I additional +5 Academic]

[For using SP +2 Visual Art]

[For using SP +3 Charisma]

[Thanks to Charisma Enthusiast I additional +3 Charisma]

Done. now his stats are…

[Academic: 60/100 Master Level]

[Physique: 60/100 Master Level]

[Visual Art: 20/100 Intermediate Level]

[Musical Art: 20/100 Intermediate Level]

[Literature: 50/100 Adept Level]

[Charisma: 60/100 Master Level]

[Luck: 50/100 Adept Level]

He wants to raise all his stats to 100. Considering there are 5 skills in each stat category that assumedly means +50 on each category after buying the skill thanks to Enthusiast I perks. Therefore he now only needs to raise his Visual Art and Musical Art to 50 with his SP to attain MAX stats after becoming Lv5, the gains from skills not included.

He got a pop-up congratulating for reaching Master–level in Academic and Charisma. He opted for the upgrade to the Genius II perk in both cases. And he also reached Intermediate-level in Visual Art so he got Visual Art Enthusiast I. As for the LP, he decided to save them for now. All the Tier 2 skills which cost 40LP apiece are now unlocked, but he will leave them for later.

It was at that point he snapped back into reality.

"U-um, will you please join the track club?"

A cute girl asked him. He wasn't familiar with her, but if he remembered correctly her name should be Asai or something like that. He knew because of the roll call in the morning.

"…Sorry, for now, I have no interest in joining the track club."

"A-ah, I see…"

What a meek girl. He somehow feels bad for blowing her off just like that, but he really has no interest in the field and track club. Those kinds of things should be left to people who are actually passionate about it.

Everyone was still rowdy and all that. He decided to return by Hikigaya's side and take a small rest. Neither of them spoke anything as they watched the crowd quiet down. Hikigaya was quiet because he was Hikigaya and Higashi because he was thinking about how to get himself out of this mess.

This way he will become a bit more famous within the school ground. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but that most likely means more things to take care of. And he was busy enough as it is with his needs to 'capture' girls.

Soon enough everyone started to calm down. There were a few people who praised him, to which he just smiled in response. Thinking back his Charisma is already at an effective amount of 180 so he was actually about twice as handsome as most charming human possible. Reassuring people to calm down is easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

Well, no matter. After a while, the class ended and it was finally lunch break.

Finding his way towards the cafeteria wasn't hard considering he only needs to follow the endless wave of students. There were quite a few stalls at the cafeteria itself.

He took a seat at one of the tables after buying simple yakisoba bread. He wasn't in the mood for eating properly right now for whatever reason.

"Hey you, is it okay if we take a seat with you?"

He turned around to see who was speaking.

Long violet hair and striking purple eyes.

Hell no

"…Feel free."

"There we go. Let's sit, Ryou, Tomoya."

Fujibayashi Kyou. Fujibayashi Ryou. Okazaki Tomoya.

Three characters from the legendary anime and visual novel which will make you cry.

"Sorry to impose on you."

That was Fujibayashi Ryou. She was the younger of the twins. Timid and meek, she was constantly protected by her sister. Likes fortune-telling.

"Don't say that, Ryou! You make it sounds like I'm a bad guy or something."

That was Fujibayashi Kyou. She was the older of the twins. Bold and aggressive, she is popular among the female students. Might be lesbian.

"You two never tires of you antics huh?"

And that was Okazaki Tomoya, the main character of Clannad. He is a delinquent who likes to skip classes and arrive at school late, though he doesn't have a tendency for violence.

From their clothes, he could tell they were still second-years in the school. That most likely meant the event of Clannad has yet to start. He needs to be careful to not say anything he shouldn't know. Thankfully they seem satisfied with just ignoring him.

The yakisoba bread he ate was tasteless as well, the same as the tea yesterday. Then again he wasn't a picky eater so he ate it without complaint. He wonders if the food just sucks or there was something wrong with his taste buds.

Considering the juice he bought was also tasteless he suspects it was his taste bud that has problems. What a troublesome thing. Maybe he should get that checked later. Not being able to taste the deliciousness of culinary art would certainly be a shame.

"Hey, you. Guys watch porn right?"

He blinked. That was Fujibayashi Kyou.

"…Are you talking to me?"

"Who else?"

…She was certainly a jokester, and one bold enough to breach such a topic, but he wondered how their talk would stumble upon such a topic in the first place, and why would she asks him of all people. If she wanted opinion then why not ask Tomoya? Nevertheless, he answered the question.

"Well, there are two types of guys in this world."

The three other students had their sight locked on him. What? He might as well crack something funny now that he has been given the chance.

"The first are ones that watch porn."

Kyou nodded at that, while Tomoya looked betrayed for whatever reason. Now it was time for the curveball.

"The second are those who lie and say they don't."

The three observer did not seem to expect that, all three of them left off guard by his words.

"Puhaha!" Fujibayashi Kyou laughed. "You're a funny one, first-year. What's your name?"

"Higashi Murasaki."

"Higashi is it? My name is Fujibayashi Kyou, nice to meetcha!"

"Ah, um, my name is Fujbayashi Ryou. Pleased to meet you."

"And I'm Okazaki Tomoya."

"…Nice to meet you all, senpai."

Nobody said anything for the next few seconds as they all ate their respective meals. Finishing his own bread, he decided to ask something he wanted to know. It might be fun so why not, right?

"By the way Okazaki-senpai, what kind of girl do you prefer?"

He smiled towards the visual novel protagonist who tilted his head.

"A popular tomboy girl of brash affection?"

Kyou perked.

"A meek and soft girl who believes in fortune-telling?"

Ryou perked.

"A tough transfer student with an amicable personality?"

He had a gut feeling that a silver-haired girl out there was sneezing.

"A long-forgotten genius childhood friend who doesn't talk much?"

He heard someone sneezing a few meters away from him. It was a girl with indigo hair styled into two horsetail.

"Or maybe a shy-yet-kind, sickly-yet-optimistic, anpan-loving selfless girl who likes Dango Daikazoku?"

Before Okazaki was able to say anything in response, someone called out to the table.

"Umm… May I sit here?"

"Feel free!"

Kyou chimed, seemingly a bit too eager. Maybe she was nervous because it was rather obvious that she was one of the options Higashi provided. He turned his head towards the newcomer who entered the table.

"Thank you."

She spoke. Short auburn hair, two ahoges, small frame, and two amber orbs.

Furukawa Nagisa.

He smiled. Now three out of five are here.

Fujibayashi Kyou, Fujibayashi Ryou, Furukawa Nagisa, Tomoyo, and Kotomi. He could not for the love of god remember the family names of the last two. Nevertheless, those five were the heroines of Clannad, and he just mentioned them all in his question to Okazaki-senpai.

"So, which is it, senpai?"

He decided to push. Okazaki definitely will not choose option one and two considering they share striking similarities with the Fujibayashi siblings. Therefore there was a one-in-three chance of hitting jackpot.

The visual novel protagonist scratched his cheeks.

"Well… The last one, I guess? I don't really get the question."

Jackpot. Come on everyone spell it with Higashi.

J-A-C-K-P-O-T

He hurriedly turned his head towards the newest member of the table, who was listening to the conversation while tilting her head.

"Nagisa-senpai, you look cute today."

"Eh? Ah, thank you. You look… nice as well?"

Shy yet kind.

"Nagisa-senpai, is your health okay?"

"Nn? Yup. I only fainted once this week."

Sickly yet optimistic.

"Nagisa-senpai, what is your favorite food?"

"Umm… Anpan?"

Anpan-loving.

"Nagisa –senpai, why are you obediently answering my questions?"

"It's good to be able to assist others."

Selfless.

"Nagisa-senpai, is there any particular mascot that you like."

"Dango Daikazoku!"

Likes Dango Daikazoku.

That pretty much completes the list of his statements about her. He was lucky she answered every question the way he thought she would. Was that thanks to luck or the Luck stat?

Ignoring that line of thought he turned his head towards Okazaki, who had his mouth just the tiniest bit agape.

"Well, I'm one with my meal so I'll be leaving. I will be rooting for you, Okazaki-senpai."

With those final words, he left the table.

"D-did he asks that on purpose?"

He could hear some mutterings from the table but decided to ignore them.