Chapter 222: Sakayanagi Hachiman, Absolutely Impossible!
"Could it be... you've seen them?
Or have you touched them?"
Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly leaned forward a step, her burning gaze locking onto him as if trying to pierce through his true inner thoughts.
'Seen and touched? I've even tasted them!'
Though, only in a dream.
However, Hikigaya wouldn't dare say his inner thoughts out loud.
"Sakayanagi, please do not make such blood-curdling, baseless accusations."
Hikigaya countered with righteous indignation: "I am not some kind of perverted foot-fetishist!"
"Mhm~ Well, that's not for certain."
Sakayanagi Arisu continued to stare at him fixedly, searching for any flaw. However, Hikigaya had been through the challenges of various dreams; his heart was long since tempered.
Would he really show fear because of a mere "loli brat's" stare?
Hikigaya said with a straight face: "Sakayanagi, this is sexual harassment."
Sakayanagi's eyelid twitched. The expression on her face almost broke, and the corners of her mouth twitched uncontrollably: "Hikigaya, you really have a nerve...!"
"Why wouldn't I? I'm speaking the truth." Hikigaya feigned a look of confusion: "The moment you see me, you tell me to 'reflect,' acting as if I did something to you. Then, without evidence, you slander me as a foot-fetishist. If this isn't sexual harassment, what is?"
Hikigaya's chain of rebuttals was so well-reasoned that it left the other party with absolutely no grounds to pick a fight.
"..." Sakayanagi Arisu opened her mouth, but was speechless.
Holding in a stomach full of frustration, she used her cane to try and speed up her departure. Unfortunately, her movement speed was slow; she couldn't outpace Hikigaya's normal walking pace at all.
"Stop following me!" Sakayanagi Arisu was very angry.
"Is it possible that I'm simply going to school?" Hikigaya was quite speechless.
The route to school was the same; why could she walk it but he couldn't?
"..." Sakayanagi Arisu pursed her lips, wondering how she could be so stupid. It must be that strange dream from last night affecting her!
Sakayanagi Hachiman or whatever... is absolutely impossible!!!
.
.
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Following the latest schedule adjustment, the first class of the morning was Physical Education. The Class D group gathered in the gymnasium.
"Attention.
Today we will conduct physical fitness testing. Your test levels are an important indicator for the various events you will participate in during the sports festival."
The PE teacher blew his whistle, directing everyone to line up for the tests.
First was the grip strength test, an important indicator of upper-body strength. "Listen up. Just use your dominant hand to squeeze this machine with all your might. We'll take the average of two tries.
Then, just tell me the number on the display. Who's first?" the teacher instructed.
"Oh! I'll go first!" The one who volunteered was Sudo Ken. Likely because opportunities to showcase his self-worth were rare, Sudo was exceptionally excited.
"Everyone, watch closely—this is my true power!"
"Oraaaaa!!"
With a powerful shout, Sudo squeezed the dynamometer with his right hand. As his arm muscles bulged, the numbers on the machine soared, quickly breaking past 50, 60, 70... and finally displayed a value of 81.6kg!
"Whoa!"
"For real?"
"Is Sudo really that strong?"
Everyone expressed their shock.
In their eyes, Sudo appeared tall and had a violent temper, but in several previous physical altercations, he hadn't gained the upper hand.
Being dominated twice by Hikigaya and suppressed once by Hirata Yousuke had led people to mistakenly believe he was all bark and no bite.
"Haha! Impressive, right? This is the result of my daily training in the basketball club!!"
Having finally gained a moment in the spotlight, Sudo was naturally very excited.
'This big dummy actually has pretty high base stats.'
Hikigaya glanced at him with slight surprise.
Considering he was only 16, his physical strength still had room to grow. If he kept training, a future as a sports-specialized student wasn't out of the question.
Of course, it wasn't as if no one in Class D could surpass Sudo.
Thinking of this, Hikigaya glanced at a certain "pseudo-human" in the front row. The latter still wore a blank, poker-faced expression, but Hikigaya could detect a hint of bewilderment from his micro-expressions.
'This guy... could it be...'
"Hmph! Your turn, Ayanokouji." Sudo Ken unfriendlily tossed the dynamometer to him. During the peeping incident over the summer, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's "defection" had led to the expulsion of Sudo's friends, Yamauchi and the others. Although he knew his friends were in the wrong, emotionally, Sudo still couldn't forgive Ayanokouji's "betrayal."
"Um, Sudo, you know a lot about sports, right?" Ayanokouji Kiyotaka spoke thoughtfully.
"What do you want to ask?" Sudo didn't want to pay him any mind, but when sports were mentioned, he couldn't help but show off.
"What is the typical grip strength level for a high schooler?"
'How the hell would I know?' Sudo had never cared about other people's business before.
However, to save face, he just blurted out a random value: "Probably half of my level, around 40kg."
'Believe it or not, he actually guessed right!'
The grip strength of an average male high schooler is roughly between 35kg and 45kg, while for girls, it's between 25kg and 35kg.
"40kg..." Ayanokouji's eyes shifted; he had finally obtained the necessary common sense. However, just as he was preparing to exert precise control over his strength, a sneer came from behind him.
"Sudo, don't you think you're underestimating your own level?
Your physical score is an 'A,' top five in the whole grade. Naturally, your grip strength would far exceed others." Hikigaya was dead-seriously messing with him.
"Is... is that so? Haha! So I really am that amazing!" Sudo scratched his head proudly.
Ayanokouji paused. He thought to himself: I almost got screwed over by that big dummy! But... would Hikigaya be kind enough to remind him?
"Hey! What are you dazing for? Hurry up and test!" the PE teacher urged.
Compared to Sudo's IQ, Ayanokouji was more willing to believe Hikigaya.
Ayanokouji squeezed the device slightly. Unlike Sudo, the numbers on the machine rose at a steady speed, eventually stopping at the number 24kg.
"Sigh... I did my best." Ayanokouji feigned a hand to his brow to wipe away sweat.
'That acting.'
Meanwhile, the girls were also undergoing grip strength testing. "25kg... Wuuu~ I'm so weak." Wang Mei-Yu covered her face in shame.
"It's okay, Mei-chan. You're right on the passing line," Kushida Kikyo soothed kindly.
"Yeah, and there's a boy over there whose strength is even lower than yours," Matsushita Chiaki added meaningfully.
"..."
At that moment, all eyes in the hall focused on Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
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