COTE: Hikigaya's Rejection of the Strength-First Philosophy

"Big brother, you need to make at least ten friends, no, a hundred friends, by the time you finish high school!"

The day before starting his new life at a boarding high school, my little sister barged in, dropping this outrageous challenge on me.

Remembering the way she nonchalantly said, "Ten friends should be easy, right?" Hachiman Hikigaya couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

"Ten friends? Komachi, do you really have that much faith in your brother? You might as well ask me to lose my parents and become Batman, saving the world!"

As someone fully embracing the "loner" lifestyle, with an introverted personality to match, Hachiman was absolutely confident that making ten friends was utterly impossible.

Confident that three years would pass without a single friend to show for it.

After all, friends you buy or make out of convenience don't really count as true friends, do they?

And as for a girlfriend... let's just leave that to the realm of science fiction movies. That's not happening in this timeline.

Still, in some way, Hachiman did care about his little sister. He wasn't a sister-obsessed freak or anything, but seeing her disappointed after finding out that he remained a complete loner after three years wasn't something he wanted.

Again, though, not a sister-obsessed freak.

The thought of being kicked out of the house and never being able to talk to Komachi again seemed worse than being hit by a truck and sent off to another world.

Though, let me reiterate—he wasn't a sister-obsessed freak.

"Anyway, I'll give it a shot, for Komachi's sake."

After all, failure is the mother of success, right?

Hachiman braced himself for the inevitable disaster but resolved to at least try, as his sister had asked. He would somehow make ten "friends" during his high school life.

The next day, Hachiman officially embarked on his journey to high school.

For the record, Hachiman wasn't attending school in his hometown of Chiba. Instead, he was headed to Tokyo, which was quite a distance away.

The school was called Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. Not only was the name long, but the journey there was equally exhausting. After winding through twists and turns on a crowded bus, Hachiman was feeling more than a little carsick.

Notably, the bus ride became even more uncomfortable when an elderly woman nearly fell as the bus lurched. A short-haired girl with an impressive... well, chest, kindly asked a blond guy sitting in a priority seat to offer it to the elderly lady.

The blond guy, who looked like a villain straight out of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, had no intention of giving up his seat. Instead, he started arguing with the girl, turning the atmosphere in the bus thick with tension.

Already feeling queasy from the ride, Hachiman, in a desperate bid to breathe some fresh air, stood up and gave up his seat without a word.

As a result, the well-endowed girl thanked him sincerely, while the other passengers shot him cold, indifferent glances as if he were an idiot.

To most people, staying silent in such situations would be the easiest way to avoid trouble.

After all, what could Hachiman possibly gain from acting nice in that moment?

Hachiman was thinking the same thing. The only thing he got out of the situation was a sense of personal satisfaction and access to fresh air by the window. Other people's issues didn't concern him in the slightest.

Even though the girl was now calling him a "hero," he couldn't care less.

By the time the bus ride ended, it was all over. No one paid attention to Hachiman anymore, and the whole thing quickly faded from memory.

Hachiman didn't mind. If anything, he regretted not asking for the girl's name. Maybe then, they could've become friends.

To be honest, even if it meant becoming her servant, that kind of relationship would probably count as "friendship," right?

If that doesn't count, then sorry, Komachi—your brother is hopeless...

Hachiman let out another sigh.

Walking from the station to the school, the entrance came into view—a large gate fashioned from natural stones. Boys and girls in their uniforms, fresh off the bus, were streaming through.

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.

It was a school established by the government to cultivate the future leaders of Japan, and from today, it would be Hachiman's new world.

In other words, this was a place for elites. Hachiman could already see the soul-crushing future of his adult working life ahead of him.

If he hadn't taken his middle school teacher's advice and chosen this school, if he had just gone to Sobu High instead, would his life have turned out differently?

Lost in thought, Hachiman was about to enter the campus when he felt someone's gaze on him.

"…"

If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move either.

Pretending not to notice, Hachiman kept walking.

"Are you ignoring me?"

A clear voice rang out. Reluctantly, Hachiman turned to see a girl with long, jet-black hair, looking at him with piercing eyes.

He hesitated before responding, "Uh, do you need something?"

"Why did you give up your seat to that old lady?"

What kind of question is that?

Hachiman began to wonder if he had encountered some kind of weirdo.

What am I, the protagonist of some anime? This is way too on-the-nose...

"Sorry, I was just curious," the girl continued, seemingly noticing his confusion. "I could tell you didn't really want to give up your seat, and it wasn't like you expected anything in return. So, why did you do it?"

"Uh… does something like that need an explanation?"

Hachiman's mind immediately supplied an excuse: carsickness, of course. But his mouth struggled to form a response.

Ah, the curse of the introvert. Faced with a cute girl, words just… fail.

Hachiman considered himself relatively competent, though. If it had been his middle school friend Zaimokuza in his place, the guy would be frozen in place by now, unable to say a single word.

"Hmph, I see what kind of person you are."

The girl smirked, apparently drawing her own conclusions. "Well, whatever. I hope I won't have to deal with someone like you again."

Same here.

Hachiman silently agreed. He couldn't imagine any scenario in which his pathetic self would ever cross paths with this arrogant, self-absorbed girl again.

That is, until he reached his classroom.

Standing there, with mixed feelings, Hachiman found himself walking up to the long-haired girl and hesitantly speaking:

"Uh… Horikita-san, do you want to be friends?"