After everyone in the Service Club had exchanged contact information, a knock on the door sounded again.
"Knock--knock--knock---"
Yukino, who had just put away her phone, frowned slightly and looked towards the front door of the classroom. What kind of day is this? On usual days, the Service Club might not see a visitor for three or five days, but today people keep showing up.
She smoothed out her thoughts, not thinking too much about it, and responded, "Come in."
"Click—"
The front door of the classroom was pulled open, and in walked the sunny, blonde, handsome Hayama Hayato, bringing with him his characteristic aura of popularity.
As he walked in, he said, "So this is the Service Club? Hiratsuka-sensei said that if you have any concerns or need someone to talk to, you should come here. I have a little problem that I could use some help with..."
But when his gaze landed on the smiling and serene Hoshimi, Hayama's words abruptly stopped.
"Yo~ Mr. Nice Guy, we meet again~" Hoshimi stood up, smiling warmly as he approached Hayama.
"Hello, Hoshimi-san, it's been a while..." The expression on the blonde, handsome Hayama froze for a moment before quickly returning to his usual, natural demeanor.
He walked over to the white wooden table, placed his sports bag on the ground, and then reached out his hand towards Hoshimi across the table.
"Hmm?" Hoshimi made a nasal sound, tilting his head slightly to express his confusion.
Why the handshake out of nowhere?
"Hoshimi-san, you play tennis really well," Hayama said sincerely, not a hint of insincerity in his tone.
Hoshimi realized, extending his hand to respond to Hayama's handshake and politely replied, "You played well too, Mr. Nice Guy. Just a little short of my level, but keep at it, and you'll beat me one day."
Hayama was momentarily stunned. Can you really respond like that? Not a trace of modesty...
He smiled wryly and complimented, "Hoshimi-san, you're really straightforward."
"Hehe~" Hoshimi chuckled, withdrawing his hand before asking, "Mr. Nice Guy, you're not here to just exchange pleasantries, right? Go ahead, tell me what's bothering you and give me a good laugh."
Upon hearing the first part, Hayama started to weigh his words, ready to share his troubles. But after hearing the second part, Hayama was momentarily dumbfounded, and the words he had carefully considered instantly scattered.
"Haha~ Just kidding. Mr. Nice Guy, let's sit down and talk," Hoshimi laughed conspiratorially, pulling out a chair to sit down and gesturing for Hayama to take a seat as well.
"..." Hayama stared at Hoshimi for a while before finally pulling out a chair and sitting down across from him.
As soon as he sat down, Hayama couldn't help but sigh, "Hoshimi-san, you might be suited for rakugo."
"Rakugo?" Hoshimi waved his hand nonchalantly, "I'm not good at that. That's solo comic storytelling; I need someone to play the straight man for me to really shine. So I'm more suited to manzai. Speaking of which..."
Hoshimi looked at Hayama, his tone playful, "Mr. Nice Guy, why don't we form a manzai duo? During the school festival, the two of us can do a comedy skit. With our looks, even if we bomb, the girls will still cheer for us."
Hayama's smile stiffened. He forced himself to maintain a smile and asked, "Hoshimi-san, what exactly is manzai?"
"Hmm? Mr. Nice Guy, you don't know? Manzai is a form of comedic dialogue that originated in..."
Just as Hoshimi was about to launch into a lengthy explanation, Yukino, who couldn't stand it any longer, walked over, placed a hand on Hoshimi's shoulder, and interrupted him.
"Hoshimi, that's enough. If you keep this up, Hayama-san will forget why he came here in the first place."
With a slight smile on her lips, Yukino's eyes were curved, and she seemed to be in a good mood.
"Alright then, Mr. Nice Guy, go ahead and tell us what's troubling you." Hoshimi gestured for Hayama to start speaking freely.
"..." Hayama was silent, unsure of what to say. For a moment, he couldn't remember why he had come.
He looked at Hoshimi and once again felt just how tricky this Hoshimi-san could be.
Meanwhile, Yukino pulled out a chair and sat down next to Hoshimi.
From his spot on the single sofa, Hikigaya clicked his tongue. This was the first time he'd seen Hayama, who stood at the top of the popular crowd, being played like this by a peer.
Hoshimi-kun is truly terrifying, to the point that people wouldn't want to approach him lightly...
"Hayama-san, why aren't you saying anything?" Hoshimi asked with a smile.
Hayama forced a smile and finally managed to remember the problem he came with: "Well, something a bit troublesome happened recently."
Hayama took out his phone, navigated to his email, and then handed the phone to Hoshimi.
Hoshimi took the phone and placed it between himself and Yukino, their heads coming close together to read the email.
"Hoshimi-senpai, I want to see too~" Seeing a juicy story in the making, Kotoko quickly slipped behind Hoshimi, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other on Yukino's, forcing her head between the two.
"Um, I'm also a member of the Service Club..." Yui meekly explained as she moved forward and leaned in next to Yukino to look at the email.
With four people trying to read from a small phone screen, their heads were practically touching.
Seeing this, Hachiman, still on the single sofa, silently decided to suppress his curiosity.
To make it easier for Yui to see, Hoshimi shifted the phone slightly towards Yukino.
Then, the four of them focused their attention on the small screen.
"Tobe is a delinquent from Inage Ward and he picked a fight with the students from Nishi High School in the game hall."
"Yamato is a shameless playboy dating three girls at once."
Hoshimi's eyelid twitched, but he kept his expression neutral as he scrolled down.
"Ooka used excessive force and injured the ace player from another school."
Scrolling down further, the emails continued with similar slanderous content, all targeting three people: "Tobe," "Yamato," and "Ooka."
Notably, most of the emails came from different locations, with the senders' names appearing as random gibberish, indicating the use of disposable email accounts.
However, a smaller portion of the emails appeared to be from F-class students, with more concrete sender names.
Hoshimi paid special attention to these emails and noticed they all contained similar coercive phrases at the bottom, like:
"If you don't forward this to five people within three days, bad luck will befall you."
"Pass this on to three others, or Sadako will visit you tonight."
"Chain emails with slander?" Hoshimi handed the phone back to Hayama, stroking his chin with interest.
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