So what are you saying, Ichinose?
Hikigaya immediately looked at the girl with the beautiful rose-gold long hair.
The girls in this school had very high Appearance, and by general standards, if you were to rank them, Sakayanagi might be the cutest in the entire school, and Karuizawa could take second place.
But if you were to distinguish by beauty, then Sakura and Horikita could stand at the top of the list.
It's just that.
Ichinose was also of the same caliber.
Rather, due to her personality, Ichinose Honami was perhaps the most popular girl in Grade 1.
And now, the most beautiful girl in the entire grade, the girl everyone called the Great Angel, was actually going to confess to him?
This kind of thing…
"It'll be over soon," Ichinose said. "I…"
"I might be confessed to here!"
Hmm.
So that's how it is.
If you're going to be confessed to, then don't say things that cause misunderstandings.
Because coming to such a secluded place and then saying something similar to a confession, in an instant, Hikigaya felt his heart almost give out.
After all.
This was a confession from the prettiest girl in the school, who… would find it hard to resist.
Moreover, there were quite a few points.
He had helped Class B twice, and he had also helped her avoid the advances of Nagumo from Grade 2. And if you consider the accumulation of goodwill…
It's all a lie.
Hachiman felt he almost wavered.
Gentle girls, as expected, are the easiest to misunderstand.
"So," Hachiman said. "The reason you're looking for me is… you don't want to accept the confession?"
It probably ended before it even began. Hikigaya's mind was incredibly clear now.
He quickly analyzed the reason Ichinose had invited him over.
She was pretty, had a good personality, was gentle, had many friends, and there should be quite a few people who liked her. She should also be very experienced in being confessed to.
So she could skillfully refuse.
But she still needed someone to intervene.
In other words.
"Is it a confession that can't be refused?"
"Or is it…"
"Is the person confessing of a unique status?"
"Or…" Hachiman pondered. "Although you want to refuse, you still want to maintain a friendship?"
"Nya!" Ichinose let out an inexplicable sound of surprise.
"Hikigaya…"
"You really think a lot," she said. "Actually…"
"This time's confession is indeed different."
Saying this.
She somewhat meekly pulled out a pink love letter.
It was called a love letter because its seal had a heart pattern. It was also slightly decorated on the envelope.
Only the sour smell of love could make teenagers and young girls with abundant youthful hormones spend time doing such things.
"But I don't want to develop things with that person, and at the same time, the other party is very timid, so I want to refuse without hurting them."
Oh.
I see.
That is indeed very difficult.
It's just that you already have a lot of experience rejecting people, but now you still need to be so careful.
And when facing a boy, although you are gentle, you should also know that long pain is not as good as short pain.
"Is it Kanzaki?" Hachiman asked.
"Eh?" But Ichinose was surprised, seemingly not understanding why Kanzaki's name suddenly appeared.
Hachiman continued, "Then… is it a girl?"
"Eh?!"
But this time, Ichinose was truly surprised.
"W-why, why do you think it's… a girl?"
"If it were a boy, then you wouldn't be so troubled," Hachiman said. "And although it's not good to say this, boys have stronger endurance. If they're rejected once, they'll be sad and disappointed, but it's not like they can't get over it."
Of course.
These inferences were false. If his confession were rejected, Hachiman felt he'd just want to crawl into a hole.
And then he'd still have to see them every day, it would be hell.
So, he would never confess to anyone again.
Because.
Once a confession was made public, he might even be made fun of by the class.
He didn't want to experience that again.
"It's Chihiro, Shirabo Chihiro," Ichinose said. "The girl I usually play with. I thought she saw me as an older sister, but… yesterday she wrote me this letter."
"And she made an appointment to meet here and confess," Ichinose said.
Then she showed a troubled expression.
Clearly.
The flower has intentions, but the flowing water is heartless. Ichinose had no such feelings for Chihiro.
But they were friends, they usually played together, and it turned out the other person had such feelings for her.
However, Ichinose didn't want to hurt the other person.
He somewhat understood her distress.
"Wait a moment," Hachiman said.
Saying this, Hachiman pulled away from Ichinose.
Then he pulled up Horikita Suzune's contact information.
"Test you. Shirabo Chihiro from First Year Class B, do you have information on this student?" Hachiman quickly sent a message.
"…"
But there was no reply from Horikita.
So, Hachiman sent the same message to Kushida.
And Kushida, perhaps being alone in her room at the moment, quickly replied.
Because her reply was unrestrained.
If she were with friends, she wouldn't be able to write such direct words.
And this was her reply:
[Shirabo Chihiro? That girl who's often with Ichinose? She's timid like a little chick. But she's interesting, sometimes the way she looks at Ichinose is strange.]
Is that so.
Then Kushida, you're amazing.
You can even see that.
Or… Kushida's public persona is similar to Ichinose's, like a little sun, so she's very popular.
If she can be popular with the opposite sex, she might also be liked by some of the same sex.
So, Kushida, you must have experienced it too… treating someone as a friend, only to find out they like you…
"It's just, why are you suddenly asking this? Did you witness Shirabo Chihiro's confession?"
Yes.
Although Kushida's intelligence isn't great, she's very strong in other areas.
Her intuition is also very strong.
But unfortunately, while there was a confession planned, it hadn't started yet.
Hachiman put away his phone and looked at Ichinose.
"I can help you with this."
"And what you, Ichinose, want is for me to pretend to be your boyfriend and for us to act lovey-dovey to make the other person back off, right?" Hachiman said.
"That's pretty much it," Ichinose said. "If it were someone from the same Class, it would be easily exposed, so choosing someone from another Class... Chihiro is less familiar, which would be more suitable."
"So, please, Hikigaya-kun."
Ichinose was about to bow in entreaty.
Indeed, such a method could make someone retreat. According to the information obtained, this Chihiro is rather timid, so it would be difficult for her to steal someone who already has a boyfriend.
But.
Ichinose, do you understand?
One lie requires many other lies to cover it up.
Furthermore.
Once you pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend, then the next time Shiranami sees you, you'll have to keep up the pretense.
Not only would this process become troublesome, but Hachiman's own social life would also be thrown into disarray.
After all, he and Ichinose aren't truly dating, but the students around them wouldn't think so.
Hachiman considered the best solution.
Indeed, faking an existing relationship could prevent someone who wants to confess from speaking, suppressing their feelings to maintain the usual relationship.
Yes.
Ichinose probably wants to maintain her friendship with Chihiro.
Because once a confession is made, even friends would find it difficult to continue, as both parties would become aware of "liking/being liked," and even returning to normal wouldn't be possible.
Because friends wouldn't have such thoughts.
However, doing so would plunge him and Ichinose into a constant cycle of lies.
And the only solution would be that one.
As Hachiman thought this, he noticed another girl approaching from where the sun had set.
Light green short hair. A petite figure.
Her features were delicate, giving her a pitiful aura.
And this was probably Shirabo Chihiro.
However, Shiranami's face was filled with surprise, "Ichinose, who is he?"
But this friend's eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
"Who are you?" But Hikigaya was already prepared, and he retorted to Shiranami.
"But it doesn't matter who you are," Hikigaya said. "Can you wait a moment? This is my moment."
Then he walked towards Ichinose.
Meow.
Ichinose watched Hikigaya approach.
She looked at him apologetically, then prepared to take his hand.
Because Hikigaya had just agreed to her request, hadn't he?
So now, in front of Chihiro, they would pretend to be a couple, making Chihiro retreat.
"Actually... Chihiro, there's something I wanted to tell you—" Ichinose was just about to speak.
Hikigaya suddenly acted.
He turned to Ichinose and said,
"I've liked you for a long time. Will you go out with me?"
Then, like other boys, he extended his left hand towards Ichinose.
It seemed as if he would hold her hand if she agreed.
But.
"Eh...?" Hikigaya's action directly blocked all of Ichinose's words.
Because.
Originally, Shiranami was going to confess to her, and Ichinose didn't want to hurt the other party, so she entrusted Hachiman to pretend to be her boyfriend.
The result.
Why did it turn out like this?
Hikigaya, you're confessing to her!
Is it sincere?
Or... is it a plan?
But Hikigaya's expression became serious, not looking like acting.
In other words... could it be that he really likes her?
Ichinose is very gentle and often gives people the illusion that she likes them, but now... this feeling of not understanding the situation came to her.
In other words, does Hikigaya like her?
Eh?!
This was a development she had never considered!
Wasn't Horikita by his side? And some students also said he often ate with Sakayanagi from Class A.
So... neither of these two is his true love?
At this moment, Ichinose felt flustered.
"And Ichinose, you said what your reaction would be if I confessed to you here, didn't you?" Hikigaya said. "Then you must have already thought of your children's names."
"For a boy, let's call him Makoto, and for a girl, let's call her Sora."
Ah.
So why did it get to married life? And she didn't want two children; she only wanted one!
And at this moment.
"Beep beep!"
Ichinose noticed her phone vibrated, and her left hand held the phone, a text message flashing on the screen.
"[Reject me, this is also part of the plan. By the way, why are you hesitating?]" by Hikigaya Hachiman.
"..." Ichinose.
It was a plan.
Because she had just thought it was real...
"Um..."
And Ichinose wasn't stupid; she had so many friends, her emotional intelligence couldn't possibly be low, so she immediately understood.
If Hikigaya's confession was fake... and it also had to achieve the goal of preventing Chihiro from confessing.
Then this was the only outcome, wasn't it?
"I-I'm sorry, Hikigaya-kun."
She said, "I don't want to date anyone during my three years in high school, so whether it's a boy or a girl, or even a cross-dresser, I won't accept anyone."
"I'm very sorry."
Then she bowed in return.
"...Is that so?"
Hachiman looked as if he had been struck, "I see... indeed, studying is important."
As if he couldn't speak.
It's just, why did she specifically add "cross-dresser"?
Ichinose Honami, she actually understands a lot, doesn't she?
"Then... can we just be ordinary friends?"
Hachiman forced himself to say.
If dating wasn't possible, then becoming ordinary friends.
"...Of course we can! Weren't we already friends, Hikigaya-kun—"
That wasn't true.
Because Hachiman and Ichinose had only exchanged contact information as representatives of their respective Classes at most.
They were still far from being friends.
However, having such a shared experience might perhaps allow them to become ordinary friends.
Because true friends are too difficult to find, and Hachiman didn't believe he could find them.
But.
At this moment, he turned around.
"So, my turn is over. Do you want to use this area? Then I apologize," Hachiman said.
"Eh!"
"No, um..."
Shiranami had written a love letter to Ichinose, hoping to confess here.
But when she arrived and saw Ichinose was also there, she was happy, but there was a boy next to Ichinose.
This made her nervous, wondering if... Ichinose was already dating someone else.
But the actual situation was that they weren't dating.
This boy named Hikigaya was also here to confess.
And he was rejected by Ichinose.
And Ichinose's reason for rejecting him was... she wanted to study! And that she would reject anyone, only wanting to study.
As a student, studying is, of course, very important. And Ichinose's grades are also very good.
So, would her confessing now also disturb Ichinose?
"I have nothing to do."
Saying this, Chihiro immediately turned and ran away.
Chihiro probably had no idea how to handle the situation and ran away quickly.
"Wahhh—"
And a pink-haired girl in the corner became flustered.
Because she had only come to take selfies, but... she found someone had arrived first, and being introverted, she decided to hide. As a result, she heard some incredible news.
Hikigaya confessed to Ichinose from Class B.
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