Under Hikigaya's resentful stare, Aoki felt a bit wronged.
He glanced at Hiratsuka, puzzled.
After "Aoki, you escort Hachiman," she continued,
"This kid doesn't take me seriously—at all. I told the class to write an essay titled 'Looking Back on High School Life,' and guess what he turned in?"
She paused for the prompt.
Aoki looked at Hachiman and obliged, "What?"
"'Youth is a lie, and a sin. Those who praise youth deceive themselves and others. Even if they commit heinous acts, they call it a symbol of youth and inscribe it in their memories. For example, if they steal, or join a biker gang, they call it youthful folly…'"
"Tell me! Is this what a high schooler should write? 'Hate youth, hate normies'—is this a criminal declaration and a suicide note?!"
She'd grabbed his essay off the desk and read, then tore into it with acid precision.
Aoki didn't butt in; he wasn't sure whether his own "Aspiring to Become a Government Vampire" essay would be next on the chopping block.
But he figured his was logical and clear, and since she hadn't brought it up—maybe safe…
Before he drifted farther, Hiratsuka went on:
"So I'm sending him to the Service Club. Since you're a member there, you'll escort him."
Escorting Hachiman wasn't hard, and he wouldn't have to stay for activities afterward.
But one tiny problem—
Hikigaya's pitiful look pricked Aoki's conscience…
"No problem, right, Aoki?"
"…"
He looked from Hachiman to Hiratsuka.
Betraying a friend…
This kind of thing…
He nodded hard. "Understood, Sensei."
Silently, he apologized to Hachiman.
Under the "I knew you were untrustworthy" stare, Aoki led him out.
…
Hiratsuka said she'd leave it to Aoki, but she wasn't that irresponsible—and she worried he might abuse power—so she came along to brief Yukinoshita.
The office was on the second floor, same as 2-F. The club room was at the far right on the third floor.
It took three minutes to get there.
At the door, Hiratsuka slid it open with a whoosh.
Yukinoshita, reading, frowned and looked up. Seeing Hiratsuka, she sighed.
She'd given up urging Hiratsuka to knock; Aoki also loved to swing in without knocking—and she'd gotten used to it.
Habit is terrifying.
But still—habit or not—she kept her frosty tone.
Seeing Hiratsuka, Aoki, and a strange boy, she lifted her eyes from her bunkobon and said coolly,
"Hiratsuka-sensei, bringing the 'rank-two' and… the 'dead-fish-eyes' to the Service Club—what is it?"
"Rank-two" was Aoki. "Dead-fish-eyes" was Hikigaya.
The nicknames were apt. Hiratsuka snorted.
She smoothed her face, coughed, and explained,
"This kid's a problem child—scary personality, gloomy and hopeless, no friends at school. If we leave him be, he'll become a parasite harmful to society… So, I'm asking the Service Club to reform him. Consider it your contribution to the public good."
Before Hachiman could react, Yukinoshita responded.
She glanced at Aoki, then at Hachiman, and said,
"Sorry, Sensei—no. Taking in Aoki has already had a great impact on me. If we add this dead-fish-eyed classmate, we may as well dissolve."
"…"
Hachiman's mouth twitched.
The verbal aggression from both of them was a bit much.
"Harmful parasite," "scary," "gloomy," "dead-fish-eyes"…
Too cruel. Find gentler words, please.
And "no friends"? Excuse me, Aoki and I are the best of buddies…
His urge to "break off" with Aoki evaporated, and he grumbled silently.
Also—what is the Service Club?
He had that thought, then glanced at Aoki.
"Aoki, what's the Service Club do?" he whispered.
Aoki didn't answer at once; he was planning his counter to Yukinoshita's not-so-friendly jab.
"Rank-two" was a provocation. The exams hadn't even started; he wouldn't accept it.
He took a breath and spoke so she could hear:
"The Service Club—bearing the motto 'with great power comes great responsibility'—self-appoints as the strong helping the 'weak'… It's a twisted club."
He looked at her; his voice wasn't lowered—a deliberate provocation.
This guy just wants to get even.
Hachiman almost felt touched—until Aoki added,
"Even if Hachiman is a harmful parasite with a scary personality and gloominess, and yes, has dead-fish eyes—if the 'strong' sneer at a 'weak' person they've only just met… that's a bit much, President Yukinoshita."
Yukinoshita lifted her gaze from the book and said, flatly,
"The harmful parasite, scary personality, and gloominess are what Hiratsuka-sensei told me. I only said 'dead-fish-eyes' out of a desire to avoid harm and protect myself. Aoki, you needn't blame me for all of it."
She flicked a glance at Hiratsuka and went on,
"Also—if Sensei's description is accurate, Aoki, are you defending him because you're friends? Birds of a feather?"
The aggression level ticked up a notch.
Hachiman turned green and shrank into a corner, wanting to talk to no one.
Hiratsuka didn't know how to break in. Feeling bad for him, she tried to comfort:
"I was exaggerating. He's not that bad…"
But they ignored her.
The bout continued.
After Yukinoshita spoke, Aoki paused—
Like charging a super for a fighting game—then, with no change in tone, as if reading lines:
"Friendship doesn't require dwelling on each other's flaws. As the Chinese say, 'Be strict with yourself and lenient with others.' If your temperaments fit and the other's character is sound, you needn't fuss over minor defects."
He looked at her.
"So, to sum up… President Yukinoshita—do you have very few friends?"
…
Aoki's words were sharp. Armed with meta knowledge of the anime Yukinoshita, he went straight for the throat—like Lü Bu at Hulao Gate.
Except his "Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Liu Bei" was a sixteen-year-old girl…
Yukinoshita froze.
After a quiet beat, she didn't answer.
Silence fell. Hiratsuka and Hachiman looked at Aoki in surprise and at Yukinoshita with sympathy.
Realizing he'd gone too far—truth hurts—Aoki prepared to apologize.
But before he could, Yukinoshita spoke, voice cold and full of battle:
"Aoki, I hope you can maintain your current state after next week's exam."
"…"
He swallowed the apology. He shouldn't show weakness now.
Looking at her confidence, Aoki felt a twinge of doubt.
She read bunkobon in school, but who knew what she did at home? Maybe she burned midnight oil until three, and the books at school were smoke bombs…
He squashed the paranoia.
Even if shaky, he had to keep a calm front.
He snorted lightly and said, airily,
"I return the wish to you, President. May you keep that confidence after next week."
He sounded a touch blustery.
She didn't care. She looked at him for a few seconds, then lowered her eyes to her book.
After a moment, she added,
"I accept your commission, Sensei."
…
Ten minutes later, Aoki left.
Hiratsuka went after him, and Hachiman, not wanting to linger in that wound-salting place, followed too.
Downstairs, Hachiman peeled off. Aoki was about to go when Hiratsuka called him back.
At her desk, she held up a sheet crammed with text.
Smiling sweetly, she said,
"'Aspiring to Become a Government Vampire'… Aoki, are you Aoki Zongsai?"
"…"
He froze, then relaxed.
He deflected: "Ah—you've seen that anime too…"
-------
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