Hiratsuka Shizuka left. Hikigaya Hachiman did not leave, but it felt like he was about to leave.
Reading Comprehension Test: Please explain the different meanings of the three "leaves" above and what emotions of the protagonist they express.
Mori Shinra saw that after Hiratsuka Shizuka left, Hikigaya's expression was constantly changing—at times ferocious, at times fawning. He looked like he had a split personality. It was clear his problems were not small.
"Anyway, have a seat for now." Shinra gestured for Hikigaya to sit. For the sake of the Wish Points, he even personally moved a chair for him.
"Thank you." Hikigaya was a bit reserved, his voice sounding unnatural. After seeing Shinra move a chair for him, he was even more apprehensive, quickly taking the chair and sitting down.
It was worth noting that Hikigaya placed his seat very far away, almost at the other end of the classroom. It seemed only this distance could make him feel at ease.
Yukinoshita merely glanced at Hikigaya and then seemed to lose interest. After Hiratsuka had gone, she had focused all her attention on the book in her hands, showing no intention of making small talk and leaving everything to Mori Shinra.
Who was it that wanted him to stay, anyway?
Yukinoshita Yukino even had a mischievous thought: if she were to tell Shinra right now that the person sitting near him was one of the 'culprits' who caused his senseless disaster, she wondered what kind of expression would appear on his face.
Of course, she was just thinking about it. Because compared to Hikigaya, she was the direct culprit who had made him lie at home for two weeks.
Speaking of which, the composition of her club members was far too strange. From the president to the two members, all were related to a single car accident. Rather than the Service Club, it was now more like a traffic police accident liability assessment team.
"By the way..."
Hearing Mori Shinra speak, Yukinoshita, while appearing to read, was actually secretly pricking up her ears. She could read the book anytime, but an interesting scene like this was a rare sight.
Judging from his earlier performance, it seemed Hikigaya had already recognized Mori Shinra. After all, apart from a single glance at her when he first entered, his attention had been almost entirely on Shinra.
It wasn't that Yukinoshita was boasting, but she considered herself an exceptionally beautiful girl with a strong attraction to the opposite sex. Any boy with a normal sexual orientation would usually pay more attention to her than to Mori Shinra beside her.
From this point alone, it could be concluded that Hikigaya recognized Shinra. As for whether Shinra recognized Hikigaya...
Yukinoshita's eyes narrowed slightly. She finally stopped peeking from the corner of her eye and, under the pretense of being thirsty and wanting to drink tea, openly observed Shinra's expression and actions, while also listening to how he planned to complete Hiratsuka-sensei's request.
"By the way, Hikigaya-kun, do you know what kind of club this is?"
"A socialization training camp?"
"Do you think you're a cat or a dog, Hikigaya-kun?"
"Sorry, I'm a human." Hikigaya crisply apologized to his instructor, indicating his preference to remain a human.
So he knew the correct way to say my name! Which means he was deliberately mispronouncing it before? That's bullying, right? It's definitely bullying!
Mori Shinra nodded upon hearing this. Self-awareness, check. Ability to communicate normally, check. This request shouldn't be too difficult.
"Then, may I ask what club this is?" Shinra asked again.
This time, Hikigaya didn't joke around. His brain started working at high speed. Suddenly, he saw the book in Yukinoshita's hand, and an idea came to him.
"It's a literature club, right?"
"Oh... why do you think so?" Shinra asked back with great interest, while mentally confirming that the other party possessed normal logical thinking abilities.
"Because it doesn't require a special environment or equipment, and it won't be disbanded even with too few members. In other words, this club doesn't need funding. And I saw her reading just now. The answer was obvious from the start."
The more Hikigaya spoke, the more confident and certain he became, as if possessed by a certain glasses-wearing elementary school student, just short of saying, "There is always only one truth!"
"Congratulations... you're wrong."
When Hikigaya heard the word 'congratulations,' a victorious smile had already appeared on his face. However, the 'you're wrong' that followed immediately froze his smile in place.
Since I'm wrong, why congratulate me?
Hikigaya seriously suspected that the other party had already recognized him and was now just 'toying' with him like this, like a demon.
"Need a hint?"
See? That tone, like a demon seducing someone step by step into depravity. What could he be if not a demon?
"An occult research society?" Hikigaya felt that it was perfectly reasonable for a demon to be in an occult research society. After all, both Mori Shinra and the girl next to him, Yukinoshita, were so good-looking they didn't seem like normal humans.
Needless to say, Yukinoshita was publicly acknowledged as Sobu High's number one beauty, and as for Mori Shinra, even Hikigaya, a member of the same sex, thought he was very handsome.
It is a well-known fact that when one man praises another man as handsome, he must be genuinely handsome.
"Hmm, you're getting closer," Shinra said, surprisingly not refuting him.
A Wish Power system and superpowers should count as supernatural, right?
"This is not a research society of any kind." Yukinoshita, at the side, had to interject. She didn't want her club to be misinterpreted as something with an unclear purpose.
"An o-occult research club!"
"Wrong! Hmph, how could such things exist in the world? You're a grown man..." Yukinoshita's gaze towards Hikigaya was filled with contempt.
Sorry, but on this point, I'm with Hikigaya.
Mori Shinra silently cheered for Hikigaya in his heart, but on the surface, he still sided with his club president.
"I give up. I can't guess at all." Hikigaya decided to end this boring guessing game. In the end, he had been forced to join a club without even knowing what it was. This was all that woman's fault!
Mori Shinra looked at Yukinoshita, his eyes clearly asking—You want to tell him, or should I?
Yukinoshita Yukino sighed and spoke in her cool, clear voice: "The rich, with a heart of compassion, give to the poor. This is what is known as public service. Things like providing aid to developing countries, feeding the homeless, allowing unpopular boys to talk to girls—extending a helping hand to those in difficulty, that is the activity of this club."
As she spoke, Yukinoshita stood up from her seat and walked to the middle of the classroom. She looked down at Hikigaya from a commanding perspective, like a lord addressing a newly arrived serf. "Welcome to the Service Club. I am very unhappy that you have joined."
"Um... normally, isn't it 'I'm very happy that you've joined the club'? A slip of the tongue?"
"No, I meant it literally."
After saying this, Yukinoshita sat back down. Then, with a completely different expression, like a lord treating his most valued subordinate, she said gently to Mori Shinra, "He's all yours."
For the first time in his life, Hikigaya Hachiman witnessed what it meant to flip faces faster than flipping through a book.