Ichinose watched the girl leave, her face tinged with loneliness.
It was clear she genuinely wanted to maintain a friendship with Shiranami, but matters of sexual orientation weren't something that could be changed through sheer will.
"Hikigaya-kun, please don't be too hard on Chihiro-chan," Ichinose said with a wry smile.
"I think I made a mistake again. When Chihiro-chan confessed to me before, I thought about finding someone to pretend to be my boyfriend to let her down gently. But, thanks to Ayanokouji-kun's advice, I realized that was the wrong approach and finally rejected her properly."
"…I see."
Hikigaya was a bit taken aback. He hadn't expected Ayanokouji's name to come up.
Ichinose lowered her head, releasing a deep sigh. "
Back then, I was worried it might strain my relationship with Chihiro-chan. But when she acted the same way the next day, I felt relieved... Now that I think about it, wasn't I just lying to myself? How could Chihiro-chan not be hurt? I was just pretending not to notice... How pathetic."
Hikigaya couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Chihiro. The girl she liked had just turned down her confession, saying they should stay friends. Then, to make matters worse, she secretly met with another guy during lunch—a misunderstanding of epic proportions...
No, I can't let myself get too wrapped up in this. Who could handle that?
Even though it was just a misunderstanding, from Chihiro's perspective, it was a different story. High school students are generally pretty sensitive. If a boy and a girl go out together on the weekend, people automatically assume they're dating. Let alone sneaking off to chat in a secluded corner…
Wait a minute. Does Chihiro think they're dating?
And she didn't even mind Hikigaya's dead fish eyes? Better not dwell on this, or I'll end up misunderstanding too.
Speaking of which, it seems like more and more people know about this "secret spot"... It's not even a secret anymore.
Just as Hikigaya was lamenting the desecration of his sacred ground, Ichinose suddenly looked up at him.
"Hikigaya-kun, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Suppose... suppose it were you," Ichinose hesitated.
"If someone you didn't like confessed to you, but you still wanted to stay friends, what would you do?"
Hikigaya was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"I don't know. I've never been confessed to."
"Yeah, it's hard to answer, isn't it?" Ichinose gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"Sorry for asking something so weird—"
"But if I were a third party, I might have a solution," Hikigaya interrupted her.
"Huh? What is it?"
For some reason, Ichinose sensed a peculiar change in Hikigaya's tone, but she was eager to hear what he would do.
"I would confess to you in front of Chihiro."
"Really... Huh?!"
Ichinose froze for a moment, her face turning a deep shade of red.
"W-wait a minute! Hikigaya-kun, do you even know what you're saying?"
"...Let me finish," Hikigaya replied, slightly exasperated. Was there a need for her to get so worked up? A beautiful girl like her must have been confessed to countless times—she should be used to it by now. The only reason this situation was troubling her was because Chihiro's case was a bit unusual.
"I'd confess to you in front of Chihiro, and then you would reject me," Hikigaya continued.
"You could say you don't want to date anyone right now because you're focused on leading the class to victory. That way, Chihiro would back off too."
Yes, just like during the school trip before. If you can't solve a problem, eliminate it.
Sometimes Hikigaya would wonder about trivial things, like what if a god gave him another chance, letting him go back to that bamboo path on the day of the school trip. What would he do? Would he still go against Yukinoshita's wishes and try to maintain the group's harmony?
The answer was yes.
Because Hikigaya Hachiman only knew how to handle things in the worst possible way—
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"...Huh?"
Hikigaya was stunned by the way Ichinose's eyes were shining. Amazing? Who?
"Um?"
"Hikigaya-kun, you're really amazing!" Ichinose said excitedly.
"You come up with ideas that no one else would even think of! If we did that, Chihiro-chan wouldn't get hurt, right? But..."
Her voice grew softer as she looked up at him.
"But wouldn't that be unfair to you? There's no reason you should have to play that role."
"Uh..." Hikigaya fell silent as if his mind had crashed. It took a while before he managed to reboot.
"You misunderstood. I was just giving you advice, not volunteering to help."
"Huh? So that's how it is!"
Ichinose exclaimed in surprise. She did have a knack for sarcasm.
Beep beep—
At that moment, Hikigaya's phone chimed with a message. He opened it to find it was from Sakayanagi, and he could already feel that nothing good would come of it... no, he was certain of it.
Hikigaya sighed and said to Ichinose, "Sorry, I've got to go. Don't forget about the uninhabited island."
"Got it! Thanks so much, Hikigaya-kun!"
Ichinose could tell he had other things to do, so she simply bowed and left.
Hikigaya opened the message and sighed again.
It was just a photo. The guy in it looked both familiar and unfamiliar, and though the girl's face wasn't visible, Hikigaya recognized her instantly as Haruno.
Sakayanagi... she really couldn't wait, could she?
Even though he knew this little devil would stir up trouble, Hikigaya had still hoped she'd have some restraint.
Well, there's no helping it. I'll have to negotiate.
Hikigaya: [Yes it's me. What are you trying to do?]
Sakayanagi's reply came quickly.
Sakayanagi: [Hehe, are you just going to admit it?]
Sakayanagi: [I thought Hikigaya-kun would try harder to deny it.]
Hikigaya: [...Would denial even work?]
Sakayanagi: [No, but it would make me happy.]
—Idiot! I knew it would make you happy, that's why I didn't deny it on purpose!
Hikigaya mentally cursed Sakayanagi, though it was more of a way to comfort himself. It did help him feel a bit better.
Sakayanagi: [By the way, Hikigaya-kun, you haven't come to play with me lately.]
Sakayanagi: [As compensation, meet me in the library after school today. You're not going to skip, are you?]
Compensation for what? What was she even talking about?
This was clearly a threat!
Furious, Hikigaya typed out a long message, cursing Sakayanagi in every way he could think of.
Then he hovered his finger over the send button... and pressed delete instead.
Hikigaya: [Got it.]
...Sigh, more torment awaits.