Chapter 357 New Wife in a Dream: Hikigaya Ichika
"Amasawa-san..." Ishigami Kyo's eyes flickered.
That expression—how should one put it? It didn't look like he was seeing a cute, beautiful girl; rather, it looked like he was seeing a dangerous creature.
Hikigaya noticed this, and his gaze toward the girl became a bit more scrutinizing.
"..."
Amasawa Ichika?
OAA Data:
Amasawa Ichika, Class 1-A Academic Ability: A (87) Physical Ability: A- (83) Adaptability: D+ (38) Social Contribution: C+ (57) Overall Evaluation: B (68)
It was a fairly excellent stat sheet, but the "Adaptability" (flexible thinking) score was a bit low. Was she just socially inept? Or did she intentionally hide her strength during the interview?
"Hee-hee~ I just got back from the gymnasium.
Ichinose-senpai from Class 2-B said she'd unconditionally let senpais with excellent academic scores pair up with us."
Amasawa Ichika spoke of the exchange meeting's results in a relaxed tone.
'Providing help unconditionally... that certainly sounds like Honami's style.'
However, while she said that, it wasn't as if there were zero benefits. At the very least, Class B would gain the trust of the first-year students—an intangible asset. After all, since the start of the new semester, special exams had been completely reformed; exams involving cross-class or even cross-grade cooperation would gradually increase.
The favors Class B handed out would surely have a chance to be collected in the future. Of course, this might not be Ichinose Honami's original intention, but "good deeds bring good rewards" counts as a rare bit of positive energy in this school.
"Besides that, I heard quite a few interesting rumors about Hikigaya-senpai from the second-years~~" Amasawa Ichika watched him with great interest.
"Those are all rumors and slander!" Hikigaya reflexively argued.
"Ara ara~ I haven't even said what the rumors are. Why is Hikigaya-senpai in such a rush to deny them?" Amasawa Ichika tilted her head, revealing a playful smile.
Hikigaya's eyelid twitched.
He thought to himself: 'This person is essentially the same breed as Sakayanagi Arisu.
From today on, I'll just call her the "Bratty Kouhai"!'
The best way to deal with someone like this is "neglect play." As long as you ignore them, no matter how well they act, they'll just be stuck in an awkward one-man show!
"Trading information for top students—you guys aren't losing out on this deal." Hikigaya looked steadily at Ishigami Kyo.
"That is true..." Ishigami Kyo looked solemn and didn't agree easily. "However, Class A needs to have an internal discussion."
"Fine, then you'd better hurry up."
Hikigaya directly applied pressure: "I'm going to go ask Classes B, C, and D now."
Hearing this, Ishigami Kyo took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I will give Hikigaya-senpai an answer as soon as possible!"
"Eh~ Hikigaya-senpai, you're leaving already?
Since you're here, why not stay a bit longer?
Do you want your cute kouhai to show you around?"
Amasawa Ichika proactively approached, attempting to reach out and grab his arm.
「Ugh! Since you said you were going to see Ayanokouji-senpai... then to stop you, I'll play along a little.」
Hikigaya calmly dodged, raised his hand to adjust his glasses, and intentionally put on a cold, arrogant expression: "There are simply too many girls who want to accompany me. Amasawa-kouhai, you should go stand in line first!"
"Eh...?" Amasawa Ichika's smiling expression instantly froze.
The other girls in the classroom burst into laughter: "Hikigaya-senpai is so cool!"
Even though the words were arrogant, coming from a handsome guy, it was called "having personality"! Additionally, a secondary reason was that Amasawa Ichika's cute and sweet looks naturally drew jealousy from her own gender.
'With this, she should be thoroughly disgusted with me, right?'
Using his intuition as a "Human Observer," Hikigaya faintly felt that Amasawa Ichika was no ordinary high school girl; her trouble level was at least four times that of Kushida Kikyo!
Out of an instinct to seek benefit and avoid harm, Hikigaya decided to intentionally lower Amasawa Ichika's first impression of him, thereby achieving the goal of making her stay away.
However, things seemed to develop beyond Hikigaya's expectations.
"Hee-hee~"
Amasawa Ichika laughed instead of getting angry, saying with a happy face: "So what Hikigaya-senpai means is... you've taken a fancy to me!"
"What? When did I ever say..." Hikigaya was dumbfounded.
This woman's ability to lie through her teeth was actually more skilled than his own!
"Senpai told me to 'wait in line.' That means you're interested, doesn't it?" Amasawa Ichika blinked her bright eyes, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly. "As long as I stay in line, it'll be my turn sooner or later, right?"
This logic... seemed to hold no flaws.
But would a normal person interpret it that way?
'I've already shut you out, yet you're still forcing your way in. What are you trying to do?!'
.
.
.
After finally shaking off that bratty kouhai, Amasawa, Hikigaya turned toward Year 1 Class B and Class C.
He basically used the same routine: entering with glasses on, using the "handsome guy buff" to win over most of the kouhai girls, then using his status as the Student Council's Discipline Committee Chairman to intimidate, and finally proposing an equal trade of information for top students.
Ultimately, Class B and Class C agreed one after another, each providing one top student with an Academic Ability of B to follow Hikigaya's pairing arrangements.
Class A hadn't replied yet, but Hikigaya felt the possibility of them agreeing was high; he would just wait.
Finally, there was Year 1 Class D.
"This year's newcomers are really...
But then again, this is very much in line with Class D's style."
Hikigaya stared coldly at the empty classroom in front of him. Just then, a familiar and annoying voice came from behind.
"Yo~ If it isn't 'Dead Fish Eyes'?
Aren't you usually busy mingling with a crowd of women? How do you have time to run over to the first-year floor?"
Ryuen Kakeru walked over with his hands in his pockets, swaggering with a gait that screamed defiance.
"You're slow, Ryuen." Hikigaya turned around.
"?"
Seeing Hikigaya's face, Ryuen Kakeru froze for a moment, then couldn't help but clutch his stomach and laugh loudly: "Hahaha!"
"Dead Fish Eyes... no, I should call you 'Four-Eyed Bastard' now!
Aren't you a bit too greedy? The women of the four second-year classes aren't enough for you to play with, so you have to lay hands on the first-year newcomers too?
Aren't you afraid that one day some psycho will knife you?!"
Ryuen mocked him while making a throat-slitting gesture.
"Ivory doesn't grow in a dog's mouth," Hikigaya rolled his eyes. "Because you're wearing yellow-tinted glasses, everything you see is yellow (filthy)."
"I'm not wearing glasses."
"My glasses are on my face; yours are on your heart."
"Bah! Full of crap..."
Ryuen knew he had no chance of winning a war of words with him and walked past him with a look of disgust. A few seconds later, he came back, annoyed.
Hikigaya took the chance to mock him: "Didn't I say it? You're too slow, Ryuen."
"Hmph! The situation with Year 1 Class D—I've already grasped it clearly.
Coming here now was just to confirm it with my own eyes."
Ryuen wasn't boasting; it seemed he really had predicted the current situation in advance.
"Is that so," Hikigaya's tone was calm.
"What? Aren't you curious?" Ryuen said with a smug look. "If you ask me sincerely and honestly, I wouldn't mind..."
Hikigaya interrupted: "Nobody's asking you."
Ryuen's voice choked, his lines stuck in his throat, looking very uncomfortable.
"Are you stupid?
You know full well I'm not interested in the class competition."
Hikigaya had zero interest. Ryuen instinctively asked back: "Then what are you doing here?"
"I just came to help my girl—help a friend find a partner," Hikigaya explained.
"I see, so you're helping those idiot girlfriends around you?" A look of realization appeared on Ryuen's face.
'Why are you blurting out the truth?' Hikigaya was too lazy to respond.
"Speaking of which, even though the first-years just started school, they are exceptionally well-behaved."
Compared to when their own year had just entered: Class C was running a human fighting pit, and Class D were all cosplaying as Teletubbies. No matter how you looked at it, this was unusual.
"Bastard glasses, you're in the Student Council—have you heard any rumors?" Ryuen asked.
"Is that the attitude of someone asking for a favor?" Hikigaya glanced at him.
"How about I get Shiina to come over and beg you?" Ryuen said with a half-smile.
"You're threatening me!" Hikigaya's face darkened, then his tone shifted instantly. "Fine, since you asked sincerely and honestly..."
"I didn't ask."
"You just did."
"I don't want to ask anymore."
"Hi~ why so polite with me, Ka-chan~~?"
Ryuen almost gagged, his face looking utterly revolted.
"It was that guy Nagumo. He leaked the school's mechanisms to the freshmen," Hikigaya said.
"Tch! As expected of that damn blondie!" Ryuen's face darkened.
With that, his plan to use the information gap to trick the first-years wouldn't work.
"Anyway, just do your best, Ryuen."
Hikigaya turned and left. Having secured two top students as partners today, it wasn't a wasted trip. The remaining two could wait until tomorrow.
After dinner, he returned to the dorm. After scrolling through short videos for a few hours, Hikigaya fell into a deep sleep.
-
-
-
Entering the Dream
"!!!"
An unfamiliar room, an unfamiliar ceiling.
"No way... How is there a new one...?"
Hikigaya couldn't help but hold his forehead. By now, he had long since grown accustomed to the setting of a "Dream Wife." However, previously, he had been cycling through wives he had already dreamt of.
After several months, a new wife had finally arrived!
"First, let's see what's going on."
Hikigaya began searching for information in the house. However, wasn't this place a bit too small? It looked to be barely over 50 square meters.
'In the future of this dream, am I doing that poorly?'
"Huh? Why are there so many Hanzi (Chinese characters)?"
To his surprise, Hikigaya found that the calendar, home appliances, and everything else in the room were exclusively in Traditional Chinese characters.
"Could this be China?"
Hikigaya picked up a uniquely styled phone from the bedside table.
"A foldable screen... it seems this really is China."
Hikigaya played with the folding phone curiously while confirming his location via the phone's IP address.
Hong Kong, China.
The housing prices here were among the highest in the world; 50 square meters converted to over 400 million Yen!! No wonder he could only buy such a small place.
Speaking of which, why on earth did he move abroad? Could it be that the dream wife this time was Wang Mei-yu? No, that shouldn't be right; he and Wang Mei-yu were just nodding acquaintances with no real history. Besides, he heard Wang Mei-yu was from Shanghai; why would she settle in Hong Kong?
Just as Hikigaya continued to rummage for useful info, the sound of an electronic lock opening came from the door.
"Good afternoon, honey~ I'm home~~"
Hikigaya froze.
The woman before him looked somewhat familiar—amber eyes, burgundy shoulder-length hair.
"You—you're that bratty kouhai!" Hikigaya blurted out.
"'Bratty kouhai'... what a nostalgic title.
Since Hachiman-senpai likes nostalgia, I'll indulge you."
Ichika gave a mischievous smile, grabbed two sections of her hair, and tied them into twin tails.
Certain areas had grown quite a bit...
'Bratty kouhai Pro Max!'
"Ahaha... ahaha..."
Hikigaya let out a forced laugh. Facing this unfamiliar and troublesome bratty kouhai, he truly didn't know what to say.
"Hachiman-senpai, what's wrong? You don't look very well."
Ichika took a step forward, stood on her tiptoes, and pressed her forehead against his to check his temperature. The beautiful face right in front of him and those rosy lips created a strong urge to steal a kiss.
Hikigaya relied on pure willpower to resist the fatal temptation.
"It's—it's nothing..." Hikigaya pulled his head back and looked away.
"Hachiman-senpai, your eyes look a bit lonely. Is it because you're homesick?"
Ichika's sharp mind saw right through him.
Hikigaya was startled, then nodded. At least in his current life plan, he had no intention of going abroad. At the thought of his beloved little sister far away in Chiba—2,900 kilometers away—his heart felt like it was breaking!
"Sorry~ Hachiman-senpai, it's all because of me that you had to leave your home and go abroad."
Ichika showed a look of remorse.
'Because of Ichika? This girl really isn't an ordinary high schooler!'
Hikigaya's expression became serious. Just as he was about to fish for more useful information from her...
Ichika suddenly spoke: "Oh no, it's getting late... we have to cook!"
Hikigaya grabbed her hand: "Cook what? I have more important things to discuss right now."
"More important things? Are you sure?"
Ichika gave him a strange look, then continued: "Today is the day Komachi-chan comes back from HKU (University of Hong Kong)!"
"What? Komachi is studying at HKU?"
Hikigaya was shocked, and then his broken heart healed instantly.
He suddenly felt that moving abroad wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Read ahead (160 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting