Hikigaya held Gabriel's small hands with both of his, speaking earnestly and sincerely.
How could he possibly put effort into studying? His intention to slack off was all about getting Gabriel to take care of him.
His ultimate goal had always been to become a stay-at-home husband, and now having Gabriel help him achieve this seemed great. He didn't even have to think about studying anymore. All he needed was for the endlessly kind Gabriel to save him.
Hiss... Why did this feel like he was about to fake it till he made it? Was he really going to fall so low...?
Sensing a genuine inclination toward sloth from Hikigaya, Gabriel, who had been somewhat doubtful about whether his thoughts of degeneration were truly because of her, suddenly felt her heart sink.
"…Hikigaya-san, please study seriously. Don't think about taking shortcuts or straying from the proper path," Gabriel said sternly, pulling her hands out of Hachiman's grasp. Her small face turned serious as she scolded him earnestly.
How did it turn out like this? This was way too strange.
All she had done was put in her own effort—how did it result in Hikigaya becoming so demotivated?
But judging from the current situation, it really seemed like she had influenced him to this state of decline.
Indeed, there must have been a reason why Heaven sent them to the human world for tempering and practice.
However, as the valedictorian of this year's Heavenly Academy, she was determined to save Hikigaya. She would not let him sink into depravity like this.
'This move... seems solid, right?'
Hikigaya looked at Gabriel, who always wore a smile, now putting on a serious face to lecture him. It seemed that she had taken his matters to heart.
Although Gabriel had rejected him for now and even insisted he strive harder, as long as he continued slacking off, given her current personality, she wouldn't be able to just sit back and watch him spiral downwards.
Especially now that Gabriel knew his slothful behavior stemmed from being overwhelmed by her brilliance.
Even if Gabriel's elder sister, Gaelle, were to come, she probably wouldn't understand his approach.
Falling into laziness wasn't good, of course. At first, his goal had merely been to be a stay-at-home husband; he hadn't really planned on dedicating himself entirely to a slacker lifestyle.
But the thought that his sloth might end up saving a soon-to-fall little angel brought Hikigaya some peace of mind. He was willing to embrace degeneration first, treading Gabriel's path to leave her without options.
For the sake of little angel Gabriel, what's a bit of slothful degeneration, really?
With Gabriel around, his slacking might even turn out to be more comfortable than his previous life.
"..."
Gabriel, having just resolved to save Hikigaya, suddenly glanced to the side. She noticed that Hachiman seemed to have also reached some kind of resolution.
What was going on?
Hadn't Hikigaya just declared he was giving up on trying?
This kind of determined faith shouldn't be used on slothfulness...
Because he had arrived quite early today and there was still some time before morning classes began, Hikigaya didn't idle away. Instead, he continued chatting with Miura Yumiko and her group.
Now that Gabriel knew he intended to slack off and find a wife who could earn money to support him, he had to take action accordingly. Otherwise, his sloth would appear insincere.
Hikigaya looked at his neighbor to his left, Miura Yumiko, the golden-haired queen. Then he glanced at Kitagawa Marin, the golden-haired gyaru sitting in front of her, and at Ichiji Nijika, the golden-haired angel at the desk in front of him. He secretly nodded to himself. They were all quality options.
Miura Yumiko came from a very well-off family. Though not as prestigious as Yukinoshita's, a renowned family of noble lineage, or as aristocratic as Tsubaki Rurikawa's family, Yumiko was still financially secure, enjoying plenty of pocket money and never needing a part-time job. Her only concern was deciding where to have fun each day.
He wasn't very clear about Ichiji Nijika's family situation, but her older sister ran a live house, so her family background was probably decent.
Even Kitagawa Marin, from a single-parent household with relatively poor finances, was diligent. She had a part-time job as a reader model. Without it, she wouldn't be able to afford cosplay outfits to indulge her hobby.
Although he wouldn't actually treat them like ATMs—even degeneration didn't mean doing nothing. He could go out and earn some money himself before returning to lie down again.
Still, since he had declared to Gabriel that he was giving up and choosing to slack off, he couldn't ignore the many quality options around him. If he were to degenerate in the future, they were all viable companions.
But... why were they all golden-haired beauties?
Hikigaya looked at Miura Yumiko, Kitagawa Marin, and Ichiji Nijika, then at Gabriel sitting to his right—the real golden-haired little angel. He felt surrounded by yellow-haired figures.
"Yumiko, how did you become so familiar with Hikigaya?"
Ichiji Nijika, sensing Hachiman occasionally glancing their way, curiously asked Miura Yumiko.
Though Nijika herself had no particular interaction with Hikigaya and didn't dislike him, Yumiko was a different matter.
Yesterday, Yumiko had still been openly disdainful of Hachiman. Why was she now ignoring his gazes, even occasionally exchanging a word or two with him?
Although Yumiko's tone wasn't exactly friendly, this level of interaction was already rare.
Normally, Yumiko couldn't even be bothered to talk to the boys in their class.
"Uh... Yesterday, I chatted with Yuina and the others and realized this guy's not too bad. Anyway, we'll be deskmates until next year when classes switch. Might as well not ignore him all the time."
When asked about her relationship with Hikigaya, Miura Yumiko stiffened slightly. Awkwardly, she glanced at Hachiman, who wasn't saying much but frequently looked their way.
She couldn't possibly admit she felt bad about "bullying" him yesterday with Yuina and Minami, which led her to treat him a little nicer now.
Even though Yuina and the others claimed that Hikigaya had agreed to it voluntarily and had made some sort of deal with them, so it was no big deal, she still couldn't bring herself to mention what happened in front of her close friends.
She had always looked down on the boys in her class, but she wasn't so bored as to go around bullying people. The reason she had joined in yesterday was mainly because Yuina and the others had dragged her along. In the end, seeing Hikigaya's poor attitude towards her, she acted on impulse and joined in the teasing.
"Is that really all there is to it?"
Ichiji Nijika blinked in confusion and exchanged a puzzled look with Kitagawa Marin, who was chatting and playing on her phone. Both of them felt that something wasn't quite right.
Yumiko's personality was generally pretty decent. She just liked bossing people around, but other than that, she was easy to get along with and didn't usually cause any conflict.
However, that was only true for her close friends. When it came to other girls, Yumiko often gave them the cold shoulder. As for boys, they didn't even warrant consideration.
Among the gyaru group led by Yuina, Yumiko got along best with Yuina herself, while Minami and Rin often had minor conflicts with her.
"Ahem, what's so interesting about that guy anyway? Let's talk about something else. Nijika, weren't you looking for new members for your band yesterday? How did that go?"
In an attempt to avoid further questioning from the two, Miura Yumiko quickly changed the subject.
"Oh, that… Well, I checked with the students in the music department. Their skills are pretty good, but most of them play piano. Not many are into guitar or bass, and there's even less interest in joining our band."
Talking about recruiting band members made Ichiji Nijika a little distressed.
When she said "less," she actually meant "none."
The underground band they were trying to form didn't exactly have the best reputation and wasn't particularly well-received by the music students.
But they weren't that kind of band. Theirs was more playful in nature.
Her older sister ran a small venue for live performances, so they could just perform there without worrying about other issues.
It was a pity, though. The time for their performance was approaching, and she'd hoped to recruit some strong new members to create a great show. She hadn't expected to fail to attract even a single person.
'So Nijika had gone to the music department to find people? Gotou Hitori, also known as Bocchi-chan, hadn't met Ichiji Nijika yet?'
Hikigaya listened to Ichiji Nijika's troubles, silently contemplating.
He had previously received a system notification about the appearance of Gotou Hitori's (Bocchi-chan's) character card. However, there had been so many notifications at the time that he hadn't paid much attention to this socially anxious and introverted girl.
Now that he thought about it, wasn't Bocchi-chan's academic performance quite terrible? Despite her efforts, studying didn't seem to yield results. How on earth did she get into Sobu High?
Sobu High was the top school in Chiba in terms of deviation scores. For Bocchi-chan to enter, she must've had an incredible stroke of luck to perform extraordinarily well in the entrance exam.
But then again, Nijika had just mentioned the music department. Maybe Bocchi-chan was admitted as a music-specialty student.
Sobu High, despite its high academic standards, did accept specialty students in music, arts, and sports. It was quite a balanced institution.
Hmm… Speaking of sports specialty students, Hikigaya suddenly thought of the cuckolds.
There were too many sports club doujins. Considering the situation in this world, if not for Sobu High's strict discipline and numerous surveillance cameras, the school might have turned into something completely different by now.
However, the strict discipline posed another issue. The cuckolds were cautious and wouldn't easily act out, making it hard for him to expose them without concrete evidence.
He hadn't remembered much about the heroines or plotlines from those doujins, let alone the blond-haired guys. Thankfully, he had the "Love Life System," which alerted him whenever someone on his romance list encountered danger.
While sighing internally, Hikigaya began pondering whether he should avoid Gabriel during his hunts for cuckolds. Would hunting them be considered not making progress? He didn't want Gabriel to stop managing him, thinking he'd abandoned his slacker persona.
If that happened, wouldn't his effort to slack off and lie flat go to waste?
He still hoped that Gabriel and Vignette, the angel-demon duo, would come to his house to "save" him from his downfall.
"Um… Hikigaya-kun…"
Suddenly, as Hikigaya was lost in thought, he heard a familiar voice coming from the back door of the classroom.
"Iris? What are you doing here… Uh, do you need my help with something?"
Hikigaya turned toward the voice and saw the elven princess Iris standing there with her bodyguard Aegis. He was initially puzzled, but upon noticing Iris nervously twisting her hands and shyly looking at him, he immediately understood why she was there.
So… Iris was already assigning him tasks this early in the morning…
"Um… Could you come with me to see Hiratsuka-sensei? I have something I'd like to discuss with her."
Iris blushed as she quietly hinted at her request, her embarrassment growing under Hikigaya's gaze of realization.
"Alright, Iris, just wait a moment. I'll come with you."
Hikigaya sighed inwardly. Iris was indeed a diligent princess. Coming to find him for breakfast this early in the morning was one thing, but now she wanted him to accompany her to Hiratsuka-sensei.
"Gabriel-san, could you let the teacher know I was called away by Hiratsuka-sensei when she arrives?"
Though skipping class first thing in the morning didn't seem great, it perfectly aligned with the slacker persona he'd established in front of Gabriel.
Iris, the future queen of the elves, was a wealthy heiress. If he could have a child with her, he'd become the husband of the next queen and the father of the one after that.
Even if the elven race had fallen on hard times, they were still royalty. Marrying someone like Iris was like hitting the jackpot.
"But the next class is Hiratsuka-sensei's…" Gabriel muttered, watching Hikigaya prepare to leave with Iris.
"Well, I'll just go directly to her now. No need to trouble you, Gabriel-san. See you later!" Hikigaya casually waved her off and followed Iris and Aegis out of the classroom.
Since Iris wasn't in the same class as him, it made sense that she wouldn't know the next lesson was Hiratsuka-sensei's. But considering that fact, there was even less to worry about.
They could head straight to Hiratsuka-sensei and borrow her office.
"… …"
Gabriel watched Hikigaya's figure disappear through the doorway. When she turned back, she noticed Kitagawa Marin and Miura Yumiko's curious expressions. Without saying much, she quietly picked up her pen and continued studying, though her focus was scattered.
'The elven princess Iris…'
She had already come looking for Hikigaya once yesterday. By the time he returned, an entire class period had passed.
Initially, Gabriel thought Hikigaya had been summoned by Hiratsuka-sensei. But given the situation, that didn't seem to be entirely true.
Remembering Hikigaya's declaration of giving up and lying flat, Gabriel couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
'Is Hikigaya planning to pursue the elven princess and have her support his dream of becoming a stay-at-home husband?'
'If his goal is to be a stay-at-home husband with a wife to earn money for the family, then pursuing the elven princess isindeed a brilliant move.'
'As the future queen of her race, Iris won't have any financial issues. If Hikigaya really managed to win her over, he could relax and focus on being a homemaker without worrying about anything else.'
Even though Iris was an elf from another world, the interdimensional portal hadn't been completely sealed. If Hikigaya gave up and decided to follow her to the other world, there wouldn't be much resistance.
Wait, wasn't her goal to motivate Hikigaya to get his act together, not help him find a girlfriend?
She needed to get Hikigaya back on track.
Putting down her pen, Gabriel abruptly stood up and left the classroom. She'd decided to give Hikigaya a hand.
The other world wasn't as safe as this one. If Hikigaya followed the elven princess there, he'd face significant risks. As an ordinary human, he was far better off staying here.
In the student guidance office—
"Hiratsuka-sensei, could we borrow the office for a moment?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka, who had been about to head to class, suddenly saw Hikigaya, Iris, and Aegis enter. Hearing their request to borrow the office, her expression darkened immediately.
These two were at it again? Last time, they'd even asked her to stand watch.
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