I arrived at the mall with two goals in mind.
Buying some expensive noise cancelling headphones. Why not earbuds?
The reason was simple. They were more showy. This meant that if I did wear them the chances of someone approaching me to start a conversation was much more unlikely.
Another reason was that more often then not, the sound quality and the noise cancelling were of higher quality.
The next goal. Browsing the camera shop for cheap, small, and decent quality cameras.
I wasn't going to buy them just yet, but nothing wrong with just window shopping.
Getting the noise cancelling headphones was much more faster than I initially thought.
I was more than satisfied with the quality and battery life.
I left the electronics shop a happy shopper.
I quite liked music. There was a time where I enjoyed playing games and watching anime and reading manga, but such things slowed down. Sometimes, there was nothing more relaxing than just reading words off a paper and understanding what they were saying.
It was why I'm so good at both Classic Literature and Modern Literature. Math and Science was a harder thing to get down, but with formula memorization, it was much easier if you just knew the steps and the mathematical jargon to the problem.
I made my way into the shop, but one of my 108 skills passively activated: Vibe Detection. This immediately prompted me to take my phone out to possibly record and simultaneously activated Stealth Hikki to reduce my presence.
Hiding behind a shelf that showed film for sale, I started recording and made my way to the counter.
When I arrived, there was something revolting happening.
The staff was obviously ogling the girl at the counter.
I was disgusted. Pedophiles and perverts were on my personal hitlist.
There was nothing wrong with liking sexual stuff, but people who ruined other livelihoods just to satisfy their urges should be immediately castrated.
I pointed the camera at the two, watching the interaction.
I didn't want to reveal myself yet, so I hid.
Personally, getting attention by doing something that obviously did nothing was pointless.
I decided to help after I had enough proof.
Better to just report it to the student council or staff.
After I was satisfied with my evidence I got a cheap battery to buy before making my way to the counter.
"Excuse me, are you done yet?"
The girl who was clearly uncomfortable looked back at me as if she saw her savior. It was uncomfortable.
The store clerk glared at me for interrupting his "ogling" session before snapping back.
"Can't you see that there's someone infront of you? Be patient."
I glared back.
Seems like the clerk had less guts than I thought, because he flinched, and I could see him start to sweat.
"What's taking so long then?"
"None of your—"
I glared at him much harder, before changing my expression when I looked back at the frightened girl.
"Hmm?"
"O-oh… I just wanted to get a camera but h-he s-said that he had to inspect it before s-selling it…"
'Communication Disorder?'
"I see~"
I said cheerfully, before looking at the store clerk with another glare.
"Do you think I'm fucking stupid?"
The clerk flinched again. Bro is flinching too much from a high schooler. Easier for me.
"Sell it to her already. Get a new one from storage. I'll give you 30 seconds before I report you for sexual harassment."
The clerk didn't say a word, as I kept my glare on him watching as he scrambled back into storage.
The girl flinched when she glanced at my face, before quickly looking down.
Oi oi oi, I know I have dead fish eyes but there's no way that it's that scary.
My feelings…
Watching as the clerk came back, he quickly rang up the camera, and the process immediately went by faster.
"T-Thank you for the purchase…"
"Fuck off."
I hate pedophiles. Period.
I led the girl out of the store.
"Sorry about that, he was taking a little too long."
She nodded slowly.
My job here was basically done.
"Then I'll head back first. Don't go to the store for the next few days. Later."
I didn't bother waiting for a response. It was just common courtesy to help people.
Now while there was a sudden obstacle in the way, I managed to finish my goals…
I completely forgot to go to the library today…
I looked at the time to see that it was already pretty late.
'I'm kind of hungry…'
Getting a bento at the convenience store should be fine for the first day.
'Getting a good diet is also pretty important.'
I was extremely weary of the possible 'Events' that might happen. There was nothing that stopped them from doing something that required physical ability.
While I had some pride in my physical abilities, they could obviously be improved on.
I had a few long term goals.
20,000,000 Points. I was already a tenth of the way there.
Good Diet. This was a work in progress, but I could just search up meal prepping.
Working Out. This wasn't urgent but it was high priority.
Study. Not urgent in any way but neglecting it was bad.
Making my way towards the convenience store once again for a different purpose, I bought some mayo tuna onigiri and a bottle of sweet lemon tea.
On my way back to the dorms I looked at the clear night sky and admired it for a few seconds, before arriving at the dorms.
The dorm room was pretty cozy, with it's own kitchen and bathroom. It was basically a one room apartment when it came to formatting.
This was pretty nice.
I also did my good deed for the day.
—+—
I made my way to the school quite early, with a few things in mind. I also hoped I wouldn't forget anything like I did yesterday.
My schedule was relatively packed.
Before school started I would report the clerk with evidence to my teacher, ask some questions, then during lunch I would "investigate" the lunch options and if they were worth or not, then after school I would probably get invited as a class to attend the Club Interest Meeting so I'll ask the student council president a few questions, and then I go to the library to check out a few books, with my side quest investigating the camera locations and the movements of the more volitile students.
There's no rest for the wicked, it seemed.
Entering the school, I already had a destination in mind.
I made my way to the teacher's room, looking around for Hoshinomiya-sensei, and we locked eyes at the same time.
Making a gesture to approach her, I ignored the pointed looks that I was getting from the other teachers in curiosity.
I got to her desk, taking out my phone.
"So what's up Hikigaya-kun? Let me guess, you want to get my number~?"
I thought for a few seconds.
"That wouldn't be bad."
The other teachers looked at me with surprise, Hoshinomiya-sensei with a similar expression.
"What a charmer~ I wouldn't mind giving my contact~"
"Sure."
We shared contact information, to the befuddlement of the other teachers.
"So what'd you actually need?"
"I wanted to report a staff member at SIVCAMERA at the Keyaki Mall for Sexual Harassment."
She blinked for a few seconds, before registering what I was saying, expression turing serious. A common feeling shared with the other teachers.
"I have evidence too."
I handed my phone over to her so she could watch the video, witnessing her frown deepen.
After watching the rest of the video she shared it with another female teacher, and she made a phone call, presumably to management.
"Thank you for reporting this, but did you do nothing after recording?"
I raised one of my eyebrows in a questioning expression.
"Obviously not, I got her out of there immediately after I finished recording."
Hoshinomiya and the other teachers looked with approval.
"Thank you for reporting this, is that all?"
I looked around at the other teachers.
I didn't know which teacher was the homeroom teacher for D Class, so I couldn't just say I was gunning for their student.
Leaning into her face, I whispered into her ear.
"Is there a private room?"
I took my head back waiting for a response.
Unusually, she looked shell shocked, before giving a cough.
"Follow me, Hikigaya-kun,"
She led to me to separate room, before closing the door.
I looked at her reddened ears in disbelief.
'This woman has no resistance?'
For a devil in human skin, this was surprising.
I felt a bit of kinship.
"So, what do you need this time?"
"Where can you get a burner phone?"
She looked at me with a confused expression, before seemingly coming to a realization.
"Ahh. I can get you one no worries."
That easy? Well, I'd rather not look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Can I ask another question?"
She looked at me with a pointed expression that gave the message "Seriously?"
"Can you give me the name of the red haired fit man in D Class?"
Her expression morphed into one of excitement and… arousal?
The hell? Is this woman crazy?
I coughed for emphasis as she got her expressions together.
"I believe you're looking for Sudo Ken."
"I see… Thank you, Hoshinomiya-sensei, that's everything."
"No problem, Hikigaya-kun~ I'll see you later during homeroom~"
This woman is pretty scary.
—+—
I arrived at the classroom, and as I expected, there was no one around.
While arriving early has much more cons than just arriving normally, the appeal of an empty classroom in the morning is also a good thing.
I looked around the classroom, taking the time to memorize the seating chart, eventually making my way toward the window, watching as the sakura petals moved around.
It was as if they were dancing for a crowd, gracefully following the spring wind.
"Hikigaya-san?"
A familiar voice.
I turned around to see the summer fairy in front of me.
Watching as the wind caused her hair to fall out of place, Ichinose in response putting locks of her hair behind her ear.
All in all, it was extremely picturesque.
"You're very asthetically pleasing to look at, Ichinose-san."
I calmly said. There's no reason to hold back in shamelessness. I'll probably never see these kids after I graduate.
"Uh… thanks?"
A tint appeared on Ichinose's light colored skin, her slight blush evident amongst the contrast.
When starting a pseudo-interrogation, it was way easier to fluster the person first, lowering their defenses.
I chuckled at the innocent reaction.
"No need to take it to heart, Ichinose-san, just describing what I'm looking at."
Her blush creeped up to her ears.
This was way more effective than I imagined, but I didn't want to risk anyone walking in, so the teasing had to stop.
A small smile on my face, I redirected the question.
"Sorry for leaving so suddenly yesterday, my stomach wasn't feeling well, I was probably too nervous."
A lifeline given, Ichinose immediately took it.
"N-no problem, Hikigaya-san, I can help introduce you some people if you want,"
What a kind person. She's the real deal.
She obviously has discrepancies regarding her past if she isn't in A Class, so it's probably her past.
I should use one of my 108 skills: Human Observation for this. It's basically cold reading though.
"I'm fine. My junior high experience wasn't… the best."
A flash of understanding appeared on Ichinose's face.
'It has something to do with her past, then. It probably isn't bullying and she doesn't look like someone who did inappropriate actions. Stealing?'
"Ah… I won't force you then, Hikigaya-san."
Ichinose Maji Tenshi.
But fuck it, I'll find out from this last sentence anyways.
"No, I feel like I needed to say this to someone."
Ichinose looked empathetic and probably felt bad.
"I was bullied for the entirety of a last years, and then the final straw was when I got framed for stealing…"
Ichinose flinched. It was extremely subtle, but it was there.
"So yeah I can't really find it in me to trust so easily. I'm rooting for the class though, so don't worry!"
I raised a fist in a mini supportive action.
Bingo. I'm not going to use it though, that'd be too heartless. But for now, I can confidently say I've read Ichinose to a solid extent.
She looked at me with pity and understanding, her eyes shining as if she was going to cry.
To be honest, nothing of what I said was a lie.
It's just that getting framed from stealing wasn't the last straw.
I looked at her with the best pity inducing look I had.
"You're a nice person, Ichinose-san, so I believe in you to lead the class, I'll follow you all the way."
Another miniature flinch from Ichinose.
Like hell I will.
But this means that my intentions regarding getting to class A is more on hold.
I'm just too nice.
I'll back out when Ichinose becomes too passive, and the likelihood of an event happening is extremely high.
"Don't worry about me, If I trust someone enough to make friends, maybe I'll even introduce you to them!"
I had a small smile on my face.
"Y-yeah!"
Ichinose responded with an even brighter smile, which was even more picturesque.
"…You really are visually appealing, huh. I'm a little jealous, haha. I have to use the restroom, so I'll see you later in class,"
I made my way away from the window side I was standing to the door, before I got stopped my someone holding onto my sleeve.
"I-I can be your friend!"
I was almost blinded by the sheer visual power that had.
Now that her background was the window side, it was extremely blinding for me.
"Really…?"
Ichinose nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah!"
"I-I'm not good with people and large groups, a-are you sure?"
"No problem!"
"I-I'd feel bad if I was forcing you to my pace—"
"It's completely fine!"
Dang this girl is persistent!
"O-okay then…"
"Let's trade Line!"
"I-I don't really use Line…"
I showed her my apps, Line not a part of them.
"That's fine, here's my contacts!"
We swapped contact information.
"If you ever feel lonely, you can count on me!"
She smiled again.
This is either an elaborate hoax or she's fallen in love.
"Roger that, Ichinose-san,"
I'm leaning toward elaborate hoax. There's no way that someone falls in love that quickly. Also, from my cold reading, Ichinose's the type who falls in love from a single action and that bud slowly builds up…
This is getting a little too accurate for my liking.
But she's probably also the type who likes someone who helps her when she's at her lowest, so that isn't me.
Safe!
I returned her smile with one of my own.
"Then I'll be heading out to the restroom, Ichinose-san."
"I'll see you later!"
This really isn't that deep…
I walked out the classroom, before my expression slowly defaulted back to my original expression.
When she flinched at when I said I got framed for stealing, it was probably wasn't because she was framed, rather she was probably the culprit.
Of course this is pretty easy to tell from the average witness, so it really isn't Ichinose's fault.
Using the Barnum effect in order to gauge reactions that applied to a large group of people is more light work then actually interrogating someone.
—+—
Sakayanagi Arisu POV
How scary…
She arrived at school a tad early because she wanted to find the time it would take to go the school with her condition, but she didn't expect to run into a real specimen.
She didn't know this Hikigaya's first name, but it was unique enough that she would figure it out on her own regardless.
From what she overheard from the conversation, this Hikigaya person's ability to garner empathy was scarily efficient.
While she had originally believed that her only match would be the Fake Genius, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, another interesting specimen suddenly appeared on the palm of her hands.
She didn't know the intent of Hikigaya's conversation, but he seemed to be trying to gauge reactions from what she overheard.
'Cold reading?'
While Sakayanagi knew of the concept of Cold Reading to an extent, it was quite the spectacle to see someone do it with such brutal efficiency at her age. This Ichinose probably didn't even know she was being probed.
She watched as this Hikigaya ended the conversation, and he walked out the door, not paying attention to her.
Observing Hikigaya's side profile, Sakayanagi had to admit in her head, that Hikigaya could be considered visually attractive as well.
His face was well proportionate, and he while he had some sharp features, there was also a small combination of feminine features, giving the overall feel of his face a mix between soft and sharp.
His jawline was much more pronounced by the low amount of fat on his face and neck, which accentuated his admittedly small adams apple. It was a contrast to his suprisingly deep voice when she was overhearing on their conversation.
His eyes were placed more in a lazy manner, giving the illusion that he was always tired or uninterested, further shown by his dead fish eyes.
She could see how some people could be put off by his sharp, dead fish eyes, but she saw the appeal and she had to say that she liked what she saw.
Hikigaya filled out his uniform suprisingly well, and when he turned in the other direction to use the restroom, she saw how his uniform had stretched along his back, the fabric taut, implying the existence of his wide back, so he probably exercised, either often or for a long time.
She decided on the former. Hikigaya's suboptimal posture could imply that he hadn't worked out for a long time and wasn't used to it.
Sakayanagi continued to look at Hikigaya's back as he walked out of sight after turning at a corner.
She almost felt… disappointment.
This was a unique feeling, but she didn't dislike it.
—+—
Hikigaya Hachiman POV
I activate another one of my 108 skills: Thought Deceleration. This is just a complicated way to say that I was daydreaming while simultaneously subconsciously absorbing the information from the lectures.
This of course reduces the effectiveness of information absorbtion, but it reduces the usage of my internal battery.
The subjects that the school taught fell under 5 categories: Literature, Science, Math, Social Sciences, and English.
There were exceptions such as weekly swimming classes until summer break.
I have an inkling on why they chose swimming classes, but those questions will probably be answered when I ask the student council after school.
I was extremely confident in Literature, Social Sciences, and English. Science and Math were a little more difficult but it was doable.
I had a hypothesis that getting good scores on any exam like the midterm could result in an increase in class points.
Again, I was planning to Cold Read the Student Council President the normal way.
I didn't have any connection to the Student Council President so there was no reason to appeal to his empathy.
Another thing, now that I direct communication with Ichinose Honami, who'll probably be defacto leader in around a week and a half, I can prevent too much Class Point loss.
I just had to wait until after school.
Thankfully, the bell rung for lunch, so I made a quick escape using the advantage of me being placed directly next to the door to go to the canteen.
Investigating meal options was obviously a good thing. If the meal sets were worth it, then less food can be made, and variety is more easily introduced.
If the meal sets aren't worth it, I can reduce costs on lunch and make food in bulk, but while it's cheaper, it introduces less variety, solely due to my reluctance in constantly cooking.
Cooking three meals is basically around 2 hours a day cooking, and it can be reduced by meal prepping.
I swiftly made my way to lunch, not before getting a glance into Class A's situation.
Using one of my 108 skills: Popularity Detection, I could assume that the baldie and the rather petite girl were the two powers in the class.
I gave a glance to the petite girl, taking in her features, and creating a profile of her in my head.
The lilac haired girl seemed to sense my eye contact, as her pupils of similar color went straight to my own.
I saw a sliver of a smile on her face before I passed the classroom.
What was that? Scary.
From what I saw, she was rather short and was accompanied by a cane.
This suggested that she probably had a health condition.
I wasn't too knowledgeable on health, so I couldn't conclude anything, but she probably will be at a disadvantage whenever physical activity would be needed.
That was quite unfortunate for her.
But I didn't really pity her.
If she's in Class A, there's probably a reason she's even there, despite her physical ability.
Probably her academic ability and smartness was probably up there.
I would much rather prefer fighting meatheads then cunning people.
Intelligence is what gave humans the edge against predators after all.
But my thoughts regarding the beauty standards at this school was even more affirmed after looking at the petite girl.
It was as if I was suddenly transported to a light novel or something.
—+—
Lunch was unsurprisingly boring.
The meals weren't really worth it regarding price. It was probably more efficient to just make some himself.
I had extra money so I got the Seafood Set, but it was a little lackluster, like the taste felt like it was reheated.
While I don't mind reheated food, some foods taste a little wonky if one reheated it. I firmly believe that seafood is one of the foods that tasted wonky when reheated.
I sat near the seniors, away from my own year, planning on eavesdropping on their conversations while using one of my 108 skills: Stealth Hikki.
Paired with my little bit above average looks, I looked like the background character.
It felt like the seniors were weary of me, which meant that they weren't supposed to expose anything to us, as I felt like I didn't do anything to make them weary of us.
'So staying here's basically pointless.'
I quickly finished my food, before making my way out.
I shared eye contact with Ichinose on the way but I just gave her a small smile and a nod, which she happily returned.
This kinda has a secret romance vibe…
But I won't be fooled by a nice girl once more.
I make my stand! I'll never be the one to ask anyone out!
It's too scary!
Wait.
I just thought of something.
If I can buy anything, couldn't I just buy the locations of all the cameras on campus from Hoshinomiya-sensei?
New location locked.
Arriving at the Teacher's lounge, I got the attention of Hoshinomiya-sensei, who looked to be munching on sweet bread for lunch.
She waved me over.
There was no one else in the room, so it was even more optimal.
"Whatcha need Hikigaya-kun~? More student info?"
She asked, taking a sip of her soy milk.
"No, but how much is it for the camera locations on school grounds?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"You wouldn't be up to anything, right?"
"No, just curious."
Hoshinomiya-sensei put her hands on her lip as if in thought.
"500,000 Points."
It was quite steep. But it gave me information that most people wouldn't have yet. It was only the second day of school.
"Deal."
She looked at me in confusion.
I took out my phone to show her my 2,000,000 points.
"What the—!"
I covered her mouth before anything else could be said. I didn't want to reveal my monetary status so freely, but a transaction is a transaction.
She looked at me with a sly expression, added onto the fact that I was covering her mouth, it looked quite sexual.
I quickly retracted my hands, before coughing to try and get the conversation back on track.
"Sorry~ I almost revealed your cards."
"…Just sell me the info already."
We quickly exchanged points and I had a file on my phone labled [Camera Locations]
I tapped on it and saw a map with marks on it.
I would have to investigate to see the accuracy, but for now, this was perfect.
While the schoolwide extortion plan was something for the far future, I had to extort money from Class D before they gain sentience.
Class A was automatically out, and Class C was too scary.
Unless I accidentally find a blind spot in the other classes, Class D were my current targets.
"Thank you, sensei."
"No problem~ Is that all?"
"Yep."
I quickly made my way out, eager to gain some distance against Hoshinomiya-sensei.
Truly a devil in human skin.
A/N: I do admit that I feel like Hikigaya is a little off character this chaper. But I have some excuses. Bro probably recently got over the junior high event.
This means he has minimal trust in nice woman. But hachiman understands that there is a class competition, so he knows that Ichinose's traits are a valuable trait in a leader, so he predicts that she's a high value piece, which is the reason beind their interaction this episode.
We all know that hikigaya wants to be a househusband in the future, so while getting class a is a bonus, it isn't particularly his main goal. He just believes that an extreme surplus in private points is just a better place to be in compared to not having it. This is because I believe that hiki gaya is a cynical person, so he always would prepare some type of backup plan just in case.
additional disclaimer: some 108 skills are just jokes. But hikigaya's ability to read into people's facades and personality is one of his defining traits, and cold reading seemed on brand on regarding how he would extract information, similar to ayanokoji.
I also like Ichinose as a character. Sakayanagi was also introduced. I feel like both girls do have similar personalities to the light novel.
This is also a disclaimer. Some characters might be a little different.
I think i said this earlier that it'll probably be a harem.
To the people who hate it. Idc. There's too many good female characters in this light novel it's actually crazy.
Another disclaimer: vocab might be baked because i dont want to edit it.