Kushida would definitely explode.
Her goal was to be friends with everyone.
And she was working towards that goal.
And then.
After wanting to be friends, there would naturally be a price to pay.
That is, you have to pay attention to this person, assist them, and the other party will treat you as a good friend and tell you various stressful secrets, and so on.
These were all a build-up of pressure.
And Kushida certainly couldn't bear it all, which is why she had the outlet of kicking the railing and cursing.
And now.
Does Ike Kanji want to confess to Kushida?
"Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom."
Hachiman excused himself from the meal first.
Then he took out his phone and sent a message to a specific person, Kushida Kikyo.
[Are you free now?]
"?"
Kushida was probably very free.
So she replied instantly.
[Kushida, actually, I want to ask you out.] Hachiman continued to send the message.
"No way… I'm watching Shakespeare's play with Miu…"
But Kushida replied even faster this time.
He didn't know how fast her typing speed was, but she sent the message within ten seconds.
Or was it that she instinctively wanted to refuse immediately?
So.
He was on Kushida's dislike ranking.
She didn't even need to think.
Although he had known for a long time that Kushida was not a pure white lotus, he was still a little disappointed.
However.
Hachiman also didn't think any cute girls liked him.
So his heart was quite firm.
This wouldn't defeat him.
Then.
Since she chose to hurt him, he would hurt Kushida a little too.
[Actually, Ike wants to confess to you! So he asked me to set up a meeting for you.] Hachiman sent the message.
And on Kushida's side.
Hachiman looked at his phone, which kept showing "typing…".
But no message came for thirty seconds.
She probably wrote something and then deleted it.
And at the 34th second.
Kushida's message was ready.
"Huh!? That kind of idiot wants to confess to me?"
Hmm.
It could be confirmed that Kushida was definitely alone now, otherwise she wouldn't use words like "idiot".
She really was a very dark person.
She deliberately interacted with Ike, whom all the girls in the Class disliked, treated him gently, making him feel kind and cute, but deep down, she hated him to the extreme.
It was just a disguise, just an act.
So, what exactly do you want?
Even if you dislike someone, you still interact with them.
Hachiman felt that Kushida was probably sick; if you lack validation from others, do you want validation even from some terrible classmates?
Normally, this is a mental illness, but most of Hachiman's Class were such bombs.
Moreover.
It's not like if you point it out, the other person will change.
So, instead of doing something that won't succeed, it's better to make good use of the other person.
So it's a pity.
Hachiman chose Karuizawa for assistance because he felt the need to protect her; it was a transaction.
But.
With Kushida.
It seemed that bullying her a little didn't cause any psychological burden.
This was truly a subtle emotion.
And after that.
Kushida said.
"When Ike Kanji comes over, just give me a call, I need to find an excuse to say I already have a boyfriend, to make him give up."
Although she was displeased and disliked Ike for not knowing his place, Kushida still chose a gentle way to refuse.
I already have a boyfriend before you even confess.
Then, I can refuse you without hurting you.
In other words, even if Kushida wanted to refuse someone, she wouldn't be so straightforward.
But.
Kushida, Ichinose has already used this trick. And most of the classmates in the Class think he and Horikita are dating.
So who would believe you if you said that?
However, Kushida only invited him to call, not directly ask him to confess to her.
So it wasn't a problem.
Thus.
That night.
"Confessing is really a tough thing."
"The risk is too great."
"Ike almost made a fool of himself."
Back in the ship's cabin, in the assigned room, Yamauchi said this.
Because Ike had asked Kushida to the deck, but before he could even start confessing, Kushida received a call from her boyfriend.
And so, the romance that hadn't even started ended like that.
"Hey, hey…"
"Hikigaya, what kind of person do you think Kushida's boyfriend is?" Yamauchi pressed, chattering like a sparrow.
"..." Hachiman.
What kind of person is Kushida's boyfriend?
As the one responsible for calling Kushida to make excuses, Hachiman himself didn't know what kind of person he was.
Just that.
To genuinely be in a relationship with Kushida Kikyo, who possesses a dual nature, it's indeed hard to imagine what kind of person such a strong-willed boy would be.
Thus.
He probably did something incredible.
Hachiman's first night on the cruise ship, he unexpectedly dreamt of Kushida Kikyo.
In the dream, Kushida married him and woke him up, then urged him to go to work.
He probably felt it was a nightmare.
So Hachiman woke up with a start.
...
Early morning.
Hachiman came to the deck.
Then he yawned and stared blankly at the sunrise over the sea.
Since it was only close to six o'clock, still very early, there were no students on the deck at this time.
He was enjoying the beautiful sunrise over the sea all by himself.
"You seem to be in a bad mood." Just as Hachiman was looking at the sky, a voice came from behind him.
It was a girl's voice.
And this girl's voice was not unfamiliar; it was an acquaintance.
Hachiman turned his head slightly and indeed saw a cute girl with a beautiful golden ponytail.
Kei Karuizawa.
Seeing Karuizawa, he found her appearance cute.
Hmm.
As long as she didn't show her rude gyaru expression, she was indeed very cute.
However, because she was so cute, it always reminded him of Sakayanagi Arisu, who was even cuter than her.
At this hour, Sakayanagi was probably in the school dormitory.
Hachiman thought.
"Probably had a nightmare." Hachiman said. "By the way, how did you know I was in a bad mood?"
"You've been sighing alone here for over ten minutes." Karuizawa said.
Is that so?
Since she had already noticed him sighing, why didn't she come over earlier instead of waiting for ten minutes?
Or was it that she wouldn't take initiative unless given an order?
Hachiman deepened his evaluation of Karuizawa as an M-type.
"But why are you up so early too?" Hachiman asked.
"Ah… mm, I'm the type to shower in the morning, so I woke up after a shower." Karuizawa said.
Is that so?
Morning shower, huh?
Indeed, some people do that.
Some even shower twice a day, but that would be too much for the skin, wouldn't it?
Moreover.
Hachiman focused on Karuizawa.
Perhaps because she had just showered, there was a fresh, moist feeling about her. She also smelled fragrant.
Indeed, a girl fresh out of the bath is the most alluring.
Therefore.
Dreaming of marrying Kushida was truly a nightmare; if he were to actually get married, he thought Karuizawa wasn't bad either.
Since she was an M, she would probably take good care of him.
Of course.
None of this was very likely.
After all, Hachiman's goal was to become a househusband.
And neither Horikita, Kushida, nor Karuizawa could support him.
Eh!
Rich women are hard to find.
Or does he have to earn money himself and become rich?
...
Because he had a nightmare, Hachiman didn't feel like putting in effort today.
The cruise ship was still sailing.
There were no signs of docking yet.
So there was still some time.
Considering Horikita's health, Hachiman didn't disturb her at noon.
But he was invited by someone.
Actually, it was the problem child of the class, Yamauchi, who seemed to have invited Sudo and Ike.
The purpose was to hold a breakup consolation party for Ike.
So then.
Why would this happen?
Birds of a feather flock together; associating with people with bad reputations would lower his own reputation. Hikigaya didn't want his reputation to decline.
However, he was also worried that these people would cause super dragging-down incidents before rising to Class A.
So, he should quickly strive for Class A, and then just slack off.
Hikigaya thought to himself.
"Hikigaya, don't look so unhappy!"
A tall, thin boy with red hair patted Hachiman's shoulder.
"It's rare for us to invite you to eat together."
Accompanying Sudo were Ike, who was unpopular with girls, Yamauchi, a pure otaku, and VILLAGE, who had bought a computer from the start and was good with laptops—three people in total.
There were 5 people altogether.
"I don't think I fit in here." Hachiman said.
He wasn't really interested in Ike or Yamauchi.
He also didn't want to participate in their activities.
"Didn't you help share stories about confessions?" Yamauchi said. "So come along! And if you get dumped, we'll celebrate that too."
Is that so?
But Yamauchi, you seem pretty happy, don't you?
Is it because Ike's confession failed?
And then you're cursing him to get dumped too?
Hachiman felt that Yamauchi didn't know how to act.
If there were a expulsion exam and he could keep Hirata's mother stable, then Yamauchi would be the first to be sacrificed, wouldn't he? That's a situation everyone would be happy to see.
Hachiman thought to himself.
Since everything on the cruise ship was free, they could use and eat whatever they wanted.
The group chose a high-class restaurant.
Just that.
"By the way, can we really come to such a high-class place?"
Yesterday, they had all eaten udon noodles in the restaurant, but today, Ike discovered a high-class Western restaurant on the third floor, and upon entering, they found many unfamiliar faces, seemingly students from Class A.
No wonder there weren't many seats; it turned out Class A had booked the place!
But Hikigaya and his friends still found an empty table and sat down.
Menus were placed on the table, five copies in total.
So everyone could have one.
But such an elegant restaurant felt a bit intimidating for the group.
"What to order… what kind of dish is this…?" Sudo looked at the menu and then at Ike.
Ike, on the other hand, felt immense pressure, "Maybe… braised pig's head? With herb sauce?"
The menu was in English, so Ike had to translate it carefully.
However, it was actually just braised pork with vermicelli.
"Who cares… just order anything!" Yamauchi immediately shouted, "Excuse me, anyone there? We want to order!"
This was a Western restaurant, and there would be dedicated waiters to serve them, so even if they didn't shout, someone would come. Shouting, in fact, would make them seem uncultured.
So, in this restaurant full of Class A students, they were immediately attacked.
Not only did many people's gazes turn their way, but whispers also began to spread.
"That's Sudo, right? They say he killed someone. I don't know why he hasn't been expelled yet!"
"How can students from Class C come here?"
"By the way, they were originally from Class D, weren't they? As expected, they're very uncultured…"
Similar speculative and malicious gazes were cast their way, accompanied by sarcastic rumors.
These were the students from Class A.
Hachiman also noticed that the number of Class A students here was actually not large.
Only about 22 people.
At the same time, his familiar Kamuro Masumi was not here. Instead, Katsuragi, whom he had met once, and Katsuragi's follower Totsuka Yahiko were both here.
He had known before that Class A was very divided.
Sakayanagi had her own Sakayanagi Faction.
And now.
Although Sakayanagi didn't come for the exam on the cruise ship.
However.
Her classmates were also well-divided.
Because.
All the Class A students here now were from the Katsuragi Faction.
Students from the Sakayanagi Faction and Katsuragi Faction would not even eat together.
When Hikigaya entered, he saw the tall, bald Katsuragi sitting on one side, his movements elegant and calm, his expression serene and composed.
He was a steady person.
"I say… this isn't a place for trash like you!" a young man with a light green, somewhat ape-like face, sitting next to Katsuragi, suddenly said with a sneer.
His tone was condescending and self-satisfied.
This was Totsuka Yahiko.
He made no attempt to hide his disdain.
"Trash should go eat hamburgers!"
He said this.
Yet, he wasn't clear about the specific situation. Although the difference between Class A and Class B was over two hundred points, it wasn't completely safe.
Moreover, since they already knew this trip was an exam, they needed to be even more cautious.
So, was this kind of reckless provocation foolish and unused by anyone?
Or was it a probe arranged by Katsuragi?
To gain the support of half of Class A's students, Katsuragi was certainly not ordinary.
However, Hachiman really wanted to take points from Katsuragi this time.
Because Katsuragi was easier to deal with than Sakayanagi.
This was his first thought.
...
Let me promote a friend's book.
Xu Zong transmigrates to Teyvat at the start, gaining an all-transcending live stream God's Eye.
By playing famous scenes, he earns likes, coins, and rewards from audience Q&A.
So...
The video plays.
[The one who yearns for the gods' gaze!]
[Musou no Hitotachi!]
[May the Anemo God protect you!]
[I am Kamisato Ayaka's dog!]
[There's no place for you in this house!]
[Cross-dressing Kaeya!]
[Jean, the soul of the Knights of Favonius!]
Thus, the entire Genshin Impact world was shaken!
The beginning was already shocking enough, but what in the world was that later?!
Diluc: "Kaeya, I didn't expect you to be into that."
Barbara: "This isn't true… Venti is actually Lord Barbatos… Ah… Ah… QAQ!"
Jean: "N-Next time, please don't set such embarrassing titles."
Ganyu (crying like a coconut goat): "I… I'm not some Gulu Gulu Rolling Down the Mountain True Monarch."
------------------------------
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