"Right, I was calling you, could you come over for a second?"
Hachiman looked at the four who had all turned toward his call, nodded, and then glanced at the last familiar short-haired black girl in the office, Nanase Aoi, thought for a moment, and decided not to call her over.
"As for Nanase… never mind, you don't need to come."
There were already enough people now, enough to show Kirisu Mafuyu his network, so there was no need to pull Nanase over just to fill seats.
"Goodbye, Manager Hikigaya. Goodbye, Sensei."
Nanase almost thought she was going to be called over too; hearing Hikigaya's words, she let out a big sigh of relief, hurriedly excused herself to the teachers, and dragged the still-confused purple twin-tailed girl, Yuzuki Yukari, out of there.
She didn't fully understand what had happened, but having witnessed that shocking scene in the changing room with her own eyes, she didn't dare get close to Hikigaya anymore.
Even knowing Hikigaya hadn't been lying, that Samachi Sakura's grades really had skyrocketed after Hikigaya's special training, she still didn't know how to face the temporary manager of the women's swim club.
"What's up, Hachiman? Do you need my help with something?"
Yamada Ryou munched on her snack as she came up to Hikigaya, looking at him curiously after he'd suddenly called her name.
Usui Makoto and the others also looked at Hikigaya in confusion.
Although they were already quite close, they rarely showed affection at school, at most they greeted each other. Only in private, in special places, did they become intimate with one another.
"Nothing much. Kirisu-sensei thinks I don't socialize well and is worried I won't make friends."
Seeing the puzzled looks on Usui and the others' faces, Hikigaya smiled and offered an excuse.
"So I want you to help explain things for me, so Kirisu-sensei won't worry too much."
Although he could have given Kirisu Mafuyu a reasoned explanation himself, she had a prejudice against him. So the best way was to let her see his strengths with her own eyes. Conveniently, there were a few girls he was friendly with in the teachers' office right now.
"I see. Don't worry, Kirisu-sensei. Me and Hikigaya-kun are good friends. These people around him are his good friends too, right, Saki?"
Usui Makoto understood Hikigaya's intention immediately and shot Asai Saki a look, then began to explain on his behalf.
In many people's eyes, the disciplinary committee and Hikigaya were at odds. The disciplinary committee opposed Hikigaya the campus troublemaker and even had a special blacklist for him.
But only the disciplinary committee girls knew that their "special blacklist" was really just set up for Hikigaya.
Though that was only to make it convenient for a bunch of disciplinary committee members to appear around Hikigaya without arousing other students' suspicion.
"Yeah, last week Hikigaya actually helped us stop a case of bullying on campus in time!"
Asai Saki nodded repeatedly. Although she was pervy, she wasn't dumb, she was actually quite sharp.
Putting aside her uncontrollable carnal desires and her perverted fantasies about becoming Hikigaya's sla*e, Asai Saki was basically a model student with good grades and conduct.
"Manager Hachiman looks out for us a lot, helps us improve our training results. The captain and vice-captain of the women's swim club are all good friends with Manager Hachiman."
Uenohara Ayano softly agreed. If she could, she wanted to be Manager Hachiman's one and only good friend. Too bad he was just too impressive.
Kirisu-sensei actually suspected Manager Hachiman of having no friends? She really wanted Kirisu-sensei to see how many real friends he had.
"Um, I, Nijika, and Bocchi-chan are all Hachiman's girlfriends. Last Saturday Hachiman helped our band with their first live performance; Nijika and the others were excited all night."
Yamada Ryou, the only one among the four who wasn't long-haired and black, saw no one contradicted her and, after pausing, slowly agreed.
"???"
"Wait, you and who are his girlfriends?"
Asai Saki and Uenohara Ayano, who had been in unified agreement moments before, were instantly dumbfounded by Yamada's explanation.
What's going on, weren't they all just Hachiman's good friends? Who snuck ahead? Or is it several of them?
Usui Makoto, who knew that her longtime friend Kaede had been with Hachiman the longest, and even knew that the aristocratic miss Rurikawa Tsubaki could only be his lover in comparison, stayed calm.
But she was a little concerned about Mizuho Kagami, who sat beside Kirisu-sensei. That sitting posture… wouldn't Hikigaya sitting opposite notice it?
"Oh, my mistake. Not girlfriends. Good friends. Nijika and I are lifelong good friends with Hachiman."
Yamada Ryou looked at the stunned group, secretly counted the money Hikigaya had slipped her behind his back with her hands behind her back, and calmly corrected herself.
The past few days' meal money had been settled, more next time.
As long as she kept an eye on Hachiman, she wouldn't have to eat grass anymore.
Hikigaya glanced at the smug Yamada beside him.
"..."
Asai Saki and Uenohara Ayano exchanged glances, both speechless. They didn't buy Yamada's nonsense at all. Girlfriend and good friend are worlds apart, how could she miss the difference so extremely?
"Miscalculation…"
Kirisu Mafuyu didn't care much about the girlfriend/good-friend distinction, but she stared at Asai Saki, Uenohara Ayano, Usui Makoto, and Yamada Ryou; their pretty faces looked somewhat stiff.
Whether girlfriends or merely good friends, aside from Yamada, they were all students whom many teachers praised as model students.
The first class break was peak time for turning in homework; it wasn't strange to see many top students in the teachers' office.
It was just, she'd never expected Hachiman, who didn't pay attention in class and skipped lessons all the time, to be on such good terms with so many girls from other classes, apparently even helping them a lot.
Stopping bullying, serving as manager of the women's swim club, helping a band succeed at their live show…
It had only been a little over a month since school started, how was Hikigaya's life already so rich and busy?
And from Uenohara and Yamada's descriptions, it wasn't just these few girls who were close to him, it was just that they happened to be in the teachers' office.
Where was the mistake? This shouldn't be happening.
Could Hikigaya be spending all class time flirting with girls? But they had class too, where would he find the time to flirt?
Even the disciplinary committee is on good terms with him now? He's always skipping class! How is the disciplinary committee handling him like this?
"Kirisu-sensei, about the recent home visit, my father is pretty busy. I wonder if it's possible—"
At that moment a striking girl walked in: fair skin, a teardrop beauty mark under her left eye, long blue hair down to her waist, wearing a white headband, she moved lightly across the room straight to Kirisu Mafuyu's desk.
But when she got closer and saw the crowd around Kirisu, the words she'd meant to say got stuck in her throat.
What's going on, didn't class bell just ring? Why are there still so many people in the teachers' office?
"Furuhashi, you're not also one of Hachiman's good friends, are you?"
Seeing another of her problem students suddenly appear, Kirisu Mafuyu stood up sharply and fixed her gaze on Furuhashi Fumino.
Furuhashi was also a problem student, she often slept in class, but she was still a top student, extremely one-sided in ability: a humanities genius and a science weakling. In Kirisu's impression, Furuhashi shouldn't have had any connection to Hikigaya. If Furuhashi, who merely slept during class but never skipped, was also friends with the always-skipping Hikigaya, then Kirisu was truly speechless.
"Ah? H-Hikigaya?"
Completely unaware of the situation, Furuhashi Fumino blinked her large brownish eyes in confusion at Kirisu's sour expression.
'What is this? What good friends?'
"You don't know Hikigaya, right? Good, then that's fine, that's fine."
Staring at the clear confusion in Furuhashi's eyes, Kirisu Mafuyu let out a heavy sigh; the terrible thought that had just flashed through her mind slowly faded.
It was true that Usui, Asai, and the others were Hikigaya's good friends, but that was probably just because they happened to be in the office. There couldn't be so many good friends from every class and grade, otherwise Hikigaya wouldn't have hurried to call people over to prove it.
There was no way Hikigaya had built such terrifying social skills across every class and grade. Someone who could do that wouldn't only want to be a househusband. Impossible, impossible.
"Kirisu-sensei… what exactly is going on? When you say Hikigaya, do you mean—"
Furuhashi looked at Kirisu, who was calming herself by talking to herself, then scanned the room hesitantly; her gaze landed on Hachiman sitting opposite Kirisu.
"Hello, Furuhashi. I'm the Hikigaya Kirisu-sensei was talking about, Hachiman."
Seeing Furuhashi still utterly bewildered, Hikigaya greeted her proactively.
Kirisu was here; she'd heard of Furuhashi Fumino, also from We Never Learn, known as the sleeping beauty of the literature circle and an extreme one-sided prodigy. But Furuhashi didn't skip class like Hikigaya; at most she dozed during lessons and didn't seem to belong to any club, so Hikigaya almost never met her at school.
Of course, not seeking her out didn't mean he didn't like literary girls like her and Yukinoshita Yuki. Big-breasted but empty-headed girls often made him irritable; chatting with a literature girl was more peaceful.
"Usui, you and the others can go back to class. Hikigaya, stay behind."
Seeing Hikigaya really didn't know Furuhashi, Kirisu told Usui, Asai, and the others to leave and kept only Hikigaya behind. If it had been an ordinary student, the preparatory bell would have rung by now and they'd be sent back to class. But given Hikigaya's history, if she let him go, there was a high chance he'd skip class again.
Better to keep him here and have him receive a bit more instruction than let him run off.
"Goodbye, Kirisu-sensei. Goodbye, Mizuho-sensei."
Uenohara Ayano and Asai Saki could only take their leave. Usui Makoto shot one more curious look at the slightly open-legged Mizuho Kagami sitting opposite Hikigaya.
A full, sexy figure; strong, rounded legs; a youthful, cute face.
Mizuho Kagami was one of the prettier young female teachers. But Usui didn't recall Mizuho joining the Service Club, was she a new member?
"Furuhashi, is there something you needed?"
Kirisu, sitting next to Mizuho Kagami, hadn't noticed anything odd. The large teachers' office had quieted; she turned to ask why Furuhashi had come by during class time.
"Well, this week you were going to do a home visit, right? My father's been pretty busy and can't get away. I don't really have any issues, so maybe you don't need to come to my house?"
Furuhashi glanced at Hikigaya, who hadn't left yet, then, since it wasn't a private matter, asked directly.
"Furuhashi, your father is a professor in the math department, right? Is he busy with some research? We could reschedule for a time when your father isn't busy, but we can't skip it entirely. Your subject imbalance is something I need to discuss with your father."
Kirisu Mafuyu rejected Furuhashi's request without hesitation. Although she'd taken the home visit assignment because of her problem student Hikigaya, once she accepted that duty she had to fulfill it for all students equally.
Especially for a problem student like Furuhashi, who was severely imbalanced and planning to take university subjects in her weak area. It wasn't something she could let slide.
"All right… then I guess that's fine…"
Seeing she couldn't cancel the home visit, and having her weak-subject issue brought up, Furuhashi forced an awkward smile and looked over at Hikigaya to change the subject.
"Kirisu-sensei, what did Hikigaya do? Why does he have to keep receiving your instruction even during class?"
Although Kirisu might seem cold and unfriendly, those who often interacted with her knew she actually cared about students' academics and did things meticulously, she didn't hate students. This was the first time Furuhashi had seen a teacher keep a single student behind for further education like this. Normally such guidance would happen in the student counseling room, not in the public teachers' office.
"When he and you entered, your entry tests were similar: strong in humanities, weak in sciences. He's not as extreme as you, but his future path still worries me."
Hearing Furuhashi's question, Kirisu looked at the still-unbothered Hikigaya in front of her and sighed helplessly.
"You want to go into a science university; he wants to be a househusband. He skips class all the time but claims he's 'studying' househusband skills."
Although Furuhashi was abandoning her strong subjects to pursue her weak ones, a waste of talent that worried Kirisu, at least she was working hard and striving for her ideal.
Hikigaya, on the other hand, was absurd: not studying at school and instead skipping class to make friends. Where was the effort in that?
"Eh? Skipping class to study househusband skills?"
Furuhashi blinked, amazed. This was the first time she'd heard of a student more stubborn than herself.
"Yeah. To find more girls willing to work and support me, I'm diligently studying househusband skills. Of course, if the girl's family is rich, that's fine too."
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