Chapter 366 I Want to Be Hikigaya Kikyo for Once
"Although the weapon is mine, it is now you who has stabbed yourself.
So, it's checkmate, Housen Kazuomi."
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka pulled the fruit knife out of his palm. Blood flowed down his five fingers onto the ground, yet he was still able to declare victory with an expressionless face.
"Ayanokouji-kun! You're injured! You're bleeding so much!"
Hirata Yousuke was the first to rush forward after snapping out of his shock.
"It's not a big problem. It's just a superficial wound; it didn't hit the bone," Ayanokouji said dismissively.
"..."
Sudo Ken was too shocked to speak. Although he frequently got into fights, those were just brawls between troubled youths using fists and feet. Where had he ever seen a scene like this?
"Tsk! Ayanokouji Kiyotaka... Just what kind of holy being are you, guy?"
Housen Kazuomi felt chills running down his back. He had seen tough guys, but he had never seen anyone who could be so ruthless to himself!
"So, what are you going to do now? If you can't explain this, in your current state, you won't just be expelled; you'll be sent to a specialized correctional facility."
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka calmly spoke these highly threatening words.
"You bastard...!"
Housen Kazuomi was anxious and furious, like a wild beast caught in a trap, capable only of letting out powerless growls.
"Give up, Housen-kun. This is what I told you before: blindly resorting to violence will not lead to success."
After witnessing the scene where blades were drawn, Nanase Tsubasa's face still didn't show much fluctuation. This was simply because she had seen real death—the tragic scene of a human body falling from the thirty-second floor and hitting the cement ground.
"Since Ayanokouji-senpai didn't call the school security to intervene, this means there is a willingness to negotiate, right?" Nanase Tsubasa turned her gaze back to Ayanokouji's group.
"I have two conditions." Seeing this, Ayanokouji no longer beat around the bush and directly laid out his objectives:
"First, our Class D must form a mutual aid relationship of equals.
Second, for this special exam, I want you to be my partner."
The first point was to win the class competition. The second point was because Ayanokouji believed that Housen Kazuomi, who acted so high-profile, could absolutely not be a member from the White Room. By binding himself to the guy, he could prevent the other White Room assassin hiding in the shadows. At the same time, he also had the goal of winning the individual ranking for the special exam to obtain the large amount of points rewarded by the school.
"Team up with me...Are you serious?
Aren't you afraid I'll intentionally throw the exam and get you expelled?"
Housen Kazuomi sneered.
"In that case, you would be expelled too."
First-years wouldn't be expelled for failing an exam, but if it were discovered that they intentionally threw the match, that would be a different matter.
"Don't compare me to you people. I don't care about some school.
If I get expelled, I'll just go back to working for the yakuza."
Housen Kazuomi really didn't care about schooling; the reason he entered Advanced Nurturing was because the yakuza had received a request from a certain politician to send him there.
"No, you won't do that.
You were crushed by Hikigaya in wits, and beaten black and blue by Ryuuen in martial arts.
Housen-kouhai, are you planning to tuck your tail and run?"
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was clearly using a provocation tactic. Housen Kazuomi knew the other party was provoking him, but even so, he couldn't choose to ignore it. In the yakuza world, face is everything. If the boss knew he had been stepped on in a school, he would surely look down on him from then on.
"Tsk! The look in your eyes is even more infuriating than that dead-fish eye!"
After weighing his options repeatedly, Housen Kazuomi finally chose to compromise: "Fine, I accept your conditions."
He then let out a wild laugh: "Ayanokouji-senpai, you are the first person I've met who makes me so excited!
I know now that it's not just people who are subdued by brute force that are fun.
I will kill you, and that dead-fish eye too!!
Just look forward to it!"
Leaving behind a few harsh words, Housen Kazuomi turned and left with a gloomy face.
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The following Monday. Class 2-D and Class 1-D completed their 100% partner pairing. While it was called mutual help and benefit, in reality, Class 2-D took more advantage of the situation. After all, Class 1-D had 13 students with an academic ability of B or higher, while Class 2-D had only 5 on the surface. Simply put, under this unequal treaty, Class 2-D was essentially sucking the blood of Class 1-D.
At Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's request, Hirata Yousuke and Sudo Ken both kept quiet about the negotiation process from the previous night.
Some people in the class noticed the bandage on Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's palm, but only a few felt curious and asked about it casually. Upon receiving the answer that he had accidentally cut his hand while cutting fruit, they rolled their eyes and lost interest.
Only the fools in the class would believe such a flimsy excuse.
Hikigaya could conclude that the injury on Ayanokouji's hand definitely had something to do with the negotiation with Housen Kazuomi. He guessed that the other party had used some extreme method, seized a handle on Housen Kazuomi, and eventually forced the other party to agree to cooperate.
'Really, is there any need to go this far?'
Hikigaya expressed that he really couldn't understand Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's thought process. Just for the sake of a measly special exam, he had to self-mutilate—he was practically sick!
Moreover, the bandage on the other party's palm was wrapped very thick, and blood would seep through from time to time, so the wound was quite serious.
'It couldn't be... that it was stabbed by a knife, could it?'
Hikigaya suddenly remembered that a few days ago, Amasawa Ichika had come to his dormitory to cook. Even though he had kitchenware there, she insisted on buying new ones, especially that expensive fruit knife. At that time, Hikigaya felt that Amasawa Ichika was trying to trap him.
For example, stealing his fruit knife and then lending it to Housen Kazuomi to do bad things. After the incident became a big deal, it would be easy to trace back and find that this expensive fruit knife belonged to him. Finally, it would be a logical step to splash dirty water on him...
This plan couldn't be called particularly brilliant; Hikigaya could think of at least ten ways to solve it with his eyes closed. It was just that for some reason, Amasawa Ichika changed her mind at the time and didn't steal his fruit knife.
The process of the event wasn't important; what was important was the result. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka won the confrontation with Housen Kazuomi. The issue of exam partners had been resolved. Next, he only needed to study in peace and prepare for the written exam.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka himself was as expressionless as always, attending classes as usual, and didn't even miss gym class. This made Hikigaya think of the "Root" in the Leaf Village from Naruto—ninjas within it were brainwashed, their personalities erased, becoming emotionless killing machines.
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Time came to the end of April, one day before the special exam.
"Kei, Maya, and Haruka, don't come over tonight; go back and sleep early."
After two weeks of high-intensity tutoring, they had learned everything they needed to; one night wouldn't make a difference.
"Yay!"
"Hooray!"
"By the way, have you told Amasawa-kouhai, Hachiman-kun?"
A hint of vigilance flashed in Karuizawa Kei's eyes.
"I've already sent her a message; no tutoring tonight."
Knowing the worries of the three, Hikigaya simply opened his phone to show the chat messages.
"Okay~"
"Then thank you, Hachiman-kun."
"We will definitely pass tomorrow's exam!"
Watching the three of them leave, Hikigaya thought he could finally get a good night's sleep.
Ding-dong~
The doorbell rang.
'What? Can't bear to leave? Still want to keep grinding practice problems, right?'
Hikigaya opened the door to see who it was and discovered that it was actually Kushida Kikyo. She was wearing an orange home dress, and the ends of her hair were still a little damp—did she just come over after taking a shower?
"Kikyo, is there something you need from me so late?"
"What else could it be? It's been a long time since we've had that!"
Kushida Kikyo squeezed through the door with a grin.
"A 'sounding board' is a 'sounding board,' don't make it sound so suggestive."
Hikigaya's mouth twitched, and he skillfully brought out some barley tea and snacks.
"Heehee~ Hachiman-kun is so thoughtful~~"
The smile on Kushida Kikyo's face became even brighter. After sitting down, she began her daily dumping of trash.
"That idiot Hondou actually said that the first-year girl paired with him might have a crush on him... it almost made me die laughing!
Inogashira was playing on her phone during the study session and was scolded to tears by Horikita.
And that guy Okita is so disgusting, he doesn't lose to Yamauchi at all! He actually dared to spread rumors about the teacher! Saying that on the weekend, he saw Hoshinomiya-sensei hugging an electrician... how could such a thing be possible!"
"..."
After half an hour of trash talk, Kushida Kikyo drank a cup of barley tea and continued to talk endlessly. Hikigaya leaned lazily against the sofa, occasionally chiming in to provide emotional support.
"By the way, Hachiman-kun.
Who is your partner for this exam?"
Kushida Kikyo asked casually.
"Nanase Tsubasa." Hikigaya replied offhandedly.
"What?! Actually that Nanase!!"
Kushida Kikyo's face changed, and her gaze instantly became sharp: "Speak! When did you hook up with her?"
"What kind of nonsense are you saying?
It was Nanase-kouhai who requested it."
Hikigaya told the truth.
"Ha? She requested it, and you just agreed!"
Kushida Kikyo kept pestering him.
"What's wrong with that?
The groups in the top ten total scores for the exam can receive 1 million, 500,000, 300,000, and 100,000 individual points respectively.
I think if I team up with Nanase-kouhai, the top three might be a bit difficult, but I still have a chance to aim for the top ten."
Hikigaya explained. Even though he wasn't short on points, who would complain about having too many?
"Hachiman, is it really just for the points?
Could it be that you are eyeing that cute kouhai?"
Kushida Kikyo looked suspicious: "After all, Nanase-kouhai's size is only one level smaller than mine."
"….With my eyes as a human observer, the quality of you two is at the same level." Hikigaya said firmly.
"You really were eyeing her 'oppai'!!!"
Kushida Kikyo angrily rebuked: "Next step, are you planning to reach out and touch them?"
"No way... You're thinking a bit too much, Kikyo.
I'm not familiar with her at all, how could I do something like that?" Hikigaya denied it point-blank.
In his view, although Nanase Tsubasa wasn't a member of the White Room, she was at least a related person. In short, she was also a troublesome woman.
"Hmph! Hachiman, do you have the nerve to say that?"
Kushida Kikyo put her hands on her hips and continued to blame him: "You weren't familiar with me back then either, didn't you do the same thing?"
"No, no, no, you were the one who forcibly took my hand and pressed it on, right?"
Hikigaya didn't want to carry this burden.
"But you squeezed."
This, Hikigaya couldn't deny. It was human nature, after all.
"Hachiman-kun, I know; boys at this age are all monsters of desire.
If you really can't hold it back, you can find me!"
Kushida Kikyo stared at him with longing, her feelings overflowing undisguised in the depths of her eyes.
How should he put it? Actually, Hikigaya already had a way to release his desires.
Suppression or whatever simply didn't exist!
"Now~ at this point, Hachiman should understand my feelings for you."
Kushida Kikyo stepped forward, took his hand, and pressed it hard against her heart.
"Even if it's a dream, I want to be Hikigaya Kikyo for once!"
The atmosphere had been built up to this point, how could he refuse? Just as Hikigaya was about to follow his heart, the annoying doorbell rang again.
Ding-a-ling~
Kushida Kikyo's expression stiffened and instantly became distorted: "Damn it! What kind of bitch is coming to ruin my good thing again!"
"Kikyo, calm down first. I'll go check."
Hikigaya looked through the peephole and saw that the visitor was actually Amasawa Ichika. His expression was stunned; how could it be her?
"Hikigaya-senpai, are you there?
You're there, right!
I heard your footsteps already!"
Amasawa Ichika seemed to notice that he was observing through the peephole and smiled, waving at it.
"Amasawa-kouhai, why are you here?
Didn't I tell you that you don't need to come for tutoring tonight?"
Hikigaya made a hush gesture to Kushida Kikyo behind him. Kushida Kikyo had thought it was some woman from the class, but found out it was a kouhai. To maintain her persona, she had to shut her mouth.
"No tutoring? Isn't that just perfect?
Tonight, I can exchange ideas with Hikigaya-senpai alone~"
Amasawa Ichika's teasing voice made Kushida Kikyo's blood boil. She couldn't help but curse under her breath: That damn bitch!!!
"It's too late, and there's an exam tomorrow; I want to go to sleep early."
Hikigaya turned off the lights and simultaneously tucked Kushida Kikyo's shoes into the shoe cabinet. Only after doing all this did he slowly open a slit in the door, but used his foot to brace it to prevent the other party from forcing her way in.
"Eh? Hikigaya-senpai, do you really want to go to sleep early?
Why do I feel like you're hiding a senpai in your room?"
Amasawa Ichika said meaningfully.
"How is that possible? That's a violation of school discipline!"
Hikigaya refuted righteously: "If you don't believe me, go ask Kei, Maya, and Haruka if they are here with me!"
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