Chapter305: Kushida Volunteering as a Tool
"I..."
"Do you like it?"
"Li... Like what?"
"Meany~ Hachiman is already looking at me with such lecherous eyes."
"Sorry, then I'll stop looking." Hikigaya apologized sincerely and promised not to do it again.
"Huh?!"
Kushida Kikyo kicked him with a face full of anger: "Are you saying I'm not good-looking?"
"..."
"Then why aren't you looking?"
"Didn't you say you hated it?"
"Idiot! When a girl says 'I hate it,' she doesn't actually hate it!"
Is that true?
Hikigaya clearly remembered back in middle school when, in a fit of passion, he asked the female class representative for her contact information, only to be scolded with: "Can you please not do that? I really hate it."
Could it be that she didn't actually hate him and was just being shy?
"Hey! You're thinking about another woman again!!"
Kushida Kikyo's face darkened once more.
"No, no. By the way, has anything happened over at the girls' dormitory?"
Hikigaya changed the subject.
"You want to ask about the situation with Shiina-san's group, right?"
Kushida narrowed her eyes, keenly seeing through his thoughts.
"...." Hikigaya couldn't refute it.
"Honestly! To care about another girl right in front of me.
In Hachiman's heart, what exactly am I to you?"
Kushida gritted her teeth, looking at him with eyes full of sadness.
"No, no, no. In my heart, Kikyo-chan has always been an angel!"
Hikigaya used his usual sweet-talking tactics, but this time it didn't seem so easy to coax her.
"Do you think I'll fall for your verbal nonsense every time?"
Kushida's expression remained ugly: "This is too much! We haven't had a chance to talk properly lately, and now that we've finally met tonight, you actually want to talk to me about other girls..."
She seemed truly angry.
What should I do?
Hikigaya immediately broke into a cold sweat, his brain racing.
Since flowery words weren't working, he had to resort to physical action!
"Hachiman, are you listen— Eh?!"
Just as the dissatisfaction in Kushida's heart was about to reach its peak, Hikigaya stepped forward quickly and pulled her into a hug.
"Forgive me, Kikyo."
"You... hmph! Don't think that just because of this, you can—"
Feeling the masculine scent washing over her, Kushida couldn't help but take a few greedy breaths.
Whatever dissatisfaction she had left vanished into thin air.
"Mm~ I forgive you~~" Kushida transformed from a yaksha to a cute girl in a split second, her arms tightly hugging his firm back muscles.
"Phew~" Finally managed to soothe her. Hikigaya let out a long sigh of relief.
Afterward, he continued to hold Kikyo's hand, their fingers interlaced.
Hikigaya took the opportunity to probe for information and finally managed to find out what was happening in the girls' dormitory.
Tonight Ikari Momoko used the daytime labor class and the excuse of "cleaning not being thorough enough" to hold a public trial against Tachibana Akane.
She pinned the label of "the dead weight dragging down the large group" onto Tachibana Akane's head.
Shiina Hiyori stood up to argue logically. Incensed, Ikari Momoko splashed the juice in her hand toward her.
At the critical moment, Shiraishi Asuka pushed Shiina Hiyori out of the way and took the splash instead; her clean clothes were stained.
This act, which wasn't physically harmful but was highly insulting, completely ignited the conflict within the large group!
The first-year girls from the four classes immediately united to strongly denounce the third-years.
Morishita Ai took a piece of hidden snack cake and slammed it hard onto Ikari Momoko's head from behind.
This caused the conflict between both sides to escalate further, looking as if a fight was about to break out. At the critical moment, the patrolling teachers arrived, putting an end to the farce and claiming they would severely punish the entire large group!
To protect the big picture, Tachibana Akane did not report the targeted behavior of Ikari Momoko and the others, which to some extent reduced the points deducted from the group.
In the end, as a warning, the teachers made all members of the large group stand in the hallway as punishment. It was equivalent to a public execution, letting the entire girls' dormitory know about the conflict in this group.
"Just as I thought." Hikigaya's expression was cold.
He had long expected that Nagumo Miyabi would not honestly keep the agreement to have a one-on-one frontal confrontation with Horikita Manabu.
The target he truly wanted to strike was Tachibana Akane!
After tonight's incident, Horikita Manabu would surely be able to see that Nagumo Miyabi was secretly aiming for Tachibana Akane. But knowing is one thing; whether protective measures can be taken is another.
Having lost his student council privileges, Horikita Manabu—as a member of a third-year boys' group—simply couldn't intervene in the conflicts of the girls' dormitory.
"Hachiman, what do you want to do?"
Is there anywhere you need to use me?"
Kushida Kikyo very considerately took the initiative to act as a "tool."
"No, I don't want to get you involved..." Hikigaya expressed his refusal.
"No! I want to be involved!
Please, by all means, use me as a convenient tool!"
Kushida's expression was serious, her voice haunting as she spoke: "Just as long as you don't throw me aside like trash after you're done using me..."
"How could I? I promise you!
No matter what happens in the future, I will never leave you behind!"
Hikigaya made a solemn promise. "Mm~ Hachiman, with those words from you, I'm at ease." Kushida chose to believe him.
The third day of the forest school exam.
While making breakfast, Hikigaya told Horikita Manabu everything that had happened the night before.
"I understand the situation." Horikita Manabu had also heard some rumors.
"Does Horikita-senpai have a counter-strategy?" Hikigaya inquired.
"Mercenaries."
Horikita Manabu planned to use points to hire members of the girls' dormitory to counter Ikari Momoko.
"Comparing points with President Nagumo, who controls the resources of the entire second year, is probably not a wise choice." Hikigaya shook his head.
It was simple logic: if you spend points to hire people, others will also spend points to hire people, and the opponent's point reserves are much larger than yours!
"This is just a strategy of diversion.
Starting today, I will lead people to block Nagumo."
Although the rules of the forest school exam prohibited private fighting between large groups, it didn't say they couldn't have "friendly exchanges."
For example, during meditation class, intentionally making noise to disrupt the other's seated meditation. In PE class, interfering with the other's running path. In short, there were plenty of ways to find trouble!
"But all of this can only cause trouble for Nagumo.
The impact on the girls' group is limited, unless..."
At the end of his sentence, Horikita Manabu locked his gaze on him. With just one look between smart people, they could understand each other's strategy.
"As for Akane's side, I'll leave it to you.
I will pay you a sum of points.
At the same time, consider this a favor I owe you."
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