Chapter 361: Should I Treat a Cute Kouhai as a Substitute?
"Er, sorry..."
Hikigaya retracted his hand and shifted his gaze away from Amasawa Ichika. Her rejection was only natural; after all, in her eyes, he was just a senpai she had only met once or twice.
"Strange." Amasawa Ichika's eyes narrowed slightly, her tone tinged with a mix of testing and inquiry. "Did Hikigaya-senpai and I know each other before?"
"That, is absolutely impossible."
Hikigaya's response was crisp and decisive, without a moment's hesitation.
"Absolutely... impossible..."
Amasawa Ichika immediately caught the subtle flaw in his words, her lips curving into a faint arc.
"Most people wouldn't be so absolute, would they?
Or is it because of some reason that makes Hikigaya-senpai so certain that we couldn't possibly have known each other?"
'This girl, she's really too sharp!'
Hikigaya exhaled slowly, regaining his composure.
"Say, Amasawa-kouhai, aren't you being a bit too self-conscious?"
"Self-conscious... that's a rather unpleasant way to put it!"
Amasawa Ichika frowned slightly, then shook her head gently, her tone playful.
"Alright, maybe I'm overthinking it... but Hikigaya-senpai, your eyes are full of charm—once you see them, you can never forget them."
"Your tastes are certainly eccentric."
"Pfft~ Hikigaya-senpai, you're roasting yourself, you know."
"It's fine. I'm the kind of gamer who would strap C4 to my car and drive right into the enemy to go down with them."
"What? That sounds like so much fun! It's a shame I've never played online games."
"The ingredients are bought. Can we head back now?"
"Wait a second. I still need to buy kitchenware."
"As for kitchenware, I have some in my room."
"No, I want exclusive kitchenware. Hikigaya-senpai is only allowed to cook for me."
"Aren't you being a bit unreasonable?"
As the two chatted casually, they wove through the aisles. Amasawa Ichika picked out an entire set of brand-new kitchenware.
"Oh, right, and this."
"It's for cutting fruit."
Amasawa Ichika specifically chose an imported fruit knife with exquisite craftsmanship and a high price tag. If he wasn't mistaken, this fruit knife was her true purpose for this trip, wasn't it?
"A fruit knife this expensive... there probably aren't many people in this school who would buy it."
"Ah~ one of a kind. Don't you think that's romantic, Hikigaya-senpai?"
"I don't see what a fruit knife has to do with romance."
"Hi-hi~ Don't waste time, Hikigaya-senpai. Let's hurry up and pay."
"Why do I have to foot the bill for your kitchenware?"
"If Hikigaya-senpai is going to be that calculative, then I might have to calculate the 'fees' for partnering with Senpai for the exam!"
"You win."
Hikigaya ultimately paid the bill, spending over 20,000 personal points in one go.
"Wow~ over 20,000 points spent just like that without even blinking. Hikigaya-senpai is really generous."
Amasawa Ichika's eyes brightened suddenly as if she had caught a new lead, and she asked with great interest, "Or is it that Senpai originally has a large number of personal points on hand?"
"Hardly. I'm in Class 2-D; I'm dirt poor." Hikigaya told a bald-faced lie.
"Then can you let me see your point balance?" Amasawa Ichika made a rather excessive request.
"Sure."
Hikigaya displayed his balance without reservation: 8,860. After all, the vast majority of his personal points were stored in a hidden account.
Although Amasawa Ichika was clever, she had just entered the school and didn't know enough to realize the concept of a "hidden account" existed.
"Is it really only this much?
Even though you aren't exactly well-off, you're willing to spend so many points on me.
Hikigaya-senpai, you wouldn't be trying to make me feel guilty, would you?"
Amasawa Ichika locked her gaze directly onto him, her cunning eyes full of doubt, unable to penetrate the latter's true thoughts for the time being.
"That's right.
I hope that you, Amasawa-kouhai, will go all out in the upcoming exam." Hikigaya said bluntly.
"Ayy~ Since Hikigaya-senpai said so, it looks like I can't be lazy even if I wanted to." Amasawa Ichika sighed helplessly.
Exiting the mall, the two carried the heavy groceries and the set of kitchenware back to Room 404.
"Wow, so this is Hikigaya-senpai's room?
It's unexpectedly neat and tidy."
Amasawa Ichika looked around with curiosity, inspecting the room's decor.
"That's only natural. After all, my dream is to become a stay-at-home husband."
"Stay-at-home husband? Hikigaya-senpai is joking... right?"
But when she met Hikigaya's incredibly serious expression, her words stalled, and her tone turned to one of pure shock: "...You're serious?"
"Truly."
"Eto~ I feel like the knowledge I've studied in the past isn't quite enough anymore." Amasawa Ichika held her forehead in helplessness, her face filled with incredulity.
"Knowledge from books is shallow; one must practice to truly understand." Hikigaya recited a poem not found in the textbooks.
"..."
"The knowledge learned from books is limited after all; only through practice can one comprehend more."
Amasawa Ichika pondered for a moment and quickly grasped the deeper meaning. This showed her academic foundation was solid; she simply lacked real-world practical experience.
"Amasawa-kouhai, what would you like to eat?" Hikigaya changed the subject at the right time.
"Hmm... then Tom Yum Goong!
I've only seen it in books and pictures before. I've always wanted to taste it." Amasawa Ichika's eyes sparkled with genuine anticipation.
"Fine. I've made it for Komachi before." Hikigaya was indeed quite skilled at this dish.
"Komachi-senpai?"
"That's my younger sister."
"Oh, so it's 'Komachi-kouhai'."
"Don't joke around... Komachi would absolutely never be your kouhai."
"Eh~ Little Sister, won't you go to the same high school as Hikigaya-senpai?"
"Hmph! This crappy school isn't worthy of my cute little sister."
"Sister-con?"
"Mind your own business."
"Hee-hee~ With little sister-chan away, Hikigaya-senpai must be lonely, right? Should you treat a cute kouhai as a substitute?"
Amasawa Ichika sat on the edge of his bed without reservation, swinging her legs casually.
"In your dreams!
To delusionally think of becoming a stand-in for the world's cutest little sister—Amasawa-kouhai, you're too thick-skinned."
Hikigaya delivered a ruthless, sharp roast as he walked into the kitchen to prepare the meal.
"Is, is that so... That's truly a pity!"
The smile on Amasawa Ichika's face stiffened, and a trace of hard-to-detect irritation flashed in her eyes.
'That damn dead-fish-eyed guy!!'
The emotional control she had practiced for years in the White Room nearly collapsed completely at this moment.
Half an hour later.
Hikigaya placed a steaming pot of Tom Yum Goong steadily on the dining table.
"Wow~ It smells so good... and the flavor is so sharp!
It's just like how it was described in books!" Amasawa Ichika's eyes lit up immediately.
"Consider yourself lucky, Amasawa."
"..."
"Besides Komachi, you are the first person to eat Tom Yum Goong made by my own hands." Hikigaya said indifferently.
"Itadakimasu!"
Amasawa Ichika didn't stand on ceremony anymore and began to dig in. A moment later, she leaned back in her chair, patting her rounded belly in satisfaction.
"Ugh~ That was so satisfying!
Thank you, Hikigaya-senpai."
Amasawa Ichika's eyes were filled with tears of gratitude—though, in reality, it was because it was spicy.
"As long as you're satisfied. You can leave now." Hikigaya was about to stand up to clean the dishes.
"Wait a second. Who chases someone out right after finishing a meal?
Besides, please leave the cleaning up to me." Amasawa Ichika snatched the dishes from his hands.
Hikigaya watched her back as she cleaned in the kitchen. To create an opportunity for her to "make a move," he said deliberately, "Amasawa, do you want some coffee?"
"Sure! The same kind as Hikigaya-senpai's will do."
Amasawa Ichika's tone was light and cheerful. As her peripheral vision caught Hikigaya turning around, the look in her eyes suddenly flickered unsteadily.
She quietly took the newly bought imported fruit knife out of the shopping bag. She rubbed her fingertips against the cold blade and hesitated for a moment, but eventually, she silently put the knife away again.
After finishing the after-meal coffee:
"It's getting late, so I'll head back now."
Amasawa Ichika took the initiative to leave, her eyes curving into a playful smile. "By the way, some schoolgirls will be coming to hang out with Hikigaya-senpai later, right? I won't disturb your fun~~"
Facing her teasing words, Hikigaya couldn't be bothered to argue; he just waved his hand casually, signaling her to leave as soon as possible.
"Oh~ right, I'm taking the fruit knife with me.
I bought apples this morning. I still need to go back and peel them."
Amasawa Ichika said it lightly, as if it were just a passing comment.
Hikigaya's gaze lingered for a moment, watching her depart in silence.
"Plan... cancelled?"
From the moment Amasawa Ichika specifically bought an expensive imported fruit knife, Hikigaya had sensed that her motives were impure.
However, her target was Ayanokouji Kiyotaka; by making him buy a "one-of-a-kind" knife, she was simply trying to drag him into it! But for some reason, Amasawa Ichika suddenly called off the operation.
"Surely she couldn't have been moved by a pot of my Tom Yum Goong?" Hikigaya felt very surprised.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong~
The doorbell rang. Standing outside were Karuizawa Kei, Sato Maya, and Hasabe Haruka. As soon as they entered, they rushed into the room impatiently, rummaging around like they were conducting a carpet search.
"Hey, what are you looking for?" Hikigaya's forehead was full of black lines.
"Looking for the homewrecker!
Where is that Amasawa hiding?"
Karuizawa Kei even lay flat on the floor, peering under the bed.
"She left after dinner." Hikigaya said, feeling speechless. "Instead of caring about these little things, why not spend more time grinding through some practice problems?"
"Eh~ we went through so much trouble to come over, are you going to press us to study as soon as we meet?"
"Hachiman, let us relax and play for a while, okay?" Hasabe Haruka immediately put on a spoiled expression.
Unfortunately, this tactic was completely ineffective on Hikigaya.
"Thump!"
Hikigaya took out three thick piles of workbooks. His gaze was sharp, and his tone left no room for doubt: "Tonight, if you don't finish these problems, don't even think about going back to sleep!"
Two and a half hours later...
The three girls' heads were dizzy and swollen, their bodies listless, as if all their energy had been drained.
"Whack!"
Hikigaya, wielding a wooden ruler, professionally struck each of their backs with just the right amount of force.
"Sss~ It hurts!"
"Don't fake it. This amount of force would, at most, only leave a red mark on your body."
"Leaving a red mark is already painful, okay?"
"It feels a bit kinky... is Hachiman-kun an S?"
"Whack!"
"Don't get distracted! Focus on the problems!"
Hikigaya's tutoring was extremely strict. He clearly understood that for students, learning should always come first! Class rivalries were just a competition game for Class A and Class B. The "defective products" of Class D had no qualifications or possibility of getting a recommendation quota. Their only way out was to take the entrance exams like most ordinary high school students.
Three hours later...
"Finally finished!"
"So fast? Shall we do another set?"
"No, no, no! I have an appointment with Airi to take a bath tonight to strengthen our girl-bond!" Hasabe Haruka waved her hands frantically and rushed out of the dorm as if escaping.
"I'm done too!
Chiaki is waiting for me to study fashion magazines, so I'm leaving too. Kei, good luck on your own..."
"Wait for me, you guys!"
Watching Satō Maya leave, only Karuizawa Kei was left, pacing anxiously. Her grades were the worst, and she was the slowest at completing the problems.
"Kei, don't even think about running away." Hikigaya pushed her back into her seat.
"Woo-hoo-hoo~ I want to go to the washroom..."
"Take the English vocabulary book inside and read it while you squat."
"Are you a devil!!!"
Four hours later—
Karuizawa Kei finally finished the last set of exercises.
"I, I'm going back..."
"Unfortunately, curfew has already passed. You can't go back."
"Th-that means... I have to stay... stay over at Hachiman-kun's place tonight?!"
A glimmer of hope flashed in Karuizawa Kei's tired eyes.
"The night is long; how about grinding through a few more sets of problems?" Hikigaya brought out a new set of workbooks.
Thump.
Karuizawa Kei's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the floor.
"I'm just kidding." Hikigaya flashed a gentle smile.
"I don't care...
Hachiman-kun is bullying me!" Karuizawa Kei threw a tantrum on the floor.
"Yes, yes, it's my fault."
Hikigaya knelt, patted his thigh gently, and gestured for her to lie down.
"A mere lap pillow, do you think I..."
"So, does Kei want it or not?" Hikigaya glanced over with his dead-fish eyes.
"...Damn it... this is so unreasonable.
Although I'm super unwilling... but, I want it!" Karuizawa Kei said, looking aggrieved, but she still obediently moved over.
Her head rested steadily on his warm thigh, the scent of the boy's clean, crisp aura lingering at the tip of her nose. Her nerves, which had been stretched tight for days, finally relaxed completely without her realizing it.
"Kei, you've already worked very hard."
Hikigaya's fingertips landed lightly on her forehead, massaging it gently.
"Don't worry about the special exam.
No matter what happens, I won't let you be expelled.
Kei just needs to focus on studying, do your best, and the results don't matter."
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