Chapter 39: Non Exploding Reality
After such a tiring day, Hikigaya felt as if he had never experienced a more exhausting lifestyle. During almost every break between classes, a steady stream of classmates came over to exchange contact information with him.
Today alone, Hikigaya had typed so much that he was convinced smoke would start rising from his phone. For someone who dreamed of becoming a quiet, peaceful househusband, such intense finger labor was practically torture.
And to make matters worse, Hikigaya wasn't even used to using his phone much. His typing speed was terrible, and he constantly worried about accidentally butchering someone's name. "Hikigaya" might turn into "Hikiku" at any moment. That fear only made him slower.
His "achievements" even spread to other classes. During breaks, students from outside Class 1-D wandered over just to get a glimpse of him. By the end of the day, Hikigaya had somehow become a campus celebrity.
Collapsing onto his bed that evening, he stared at his phone as it vibrated endlessly with new messages. For a moment, he genuinely considered hurling the cursed object out the window.
---
Aniverse
Even Yukinoshita herself seemed puzzled as she watched.
"…Is this really Hikigaya?" she muttered. "That same guy with the dead fish eyes and twisted personality? He's… actually making friends?"
Yuigahama's jaw dropped wide. "Ehh?! Is it really possible for Hikki to be this popular? I'm not dreaming, right?"
Hikigaya groaned. "It's just a video, anything can happen."
"Even so, this is way too scary," Yuigahama insisted. "Aki can't even communicate normally half the time…"
Her wide-eyed disbelief left Hikigaya speechless. Truly, this was a nightmare disguised as a dream. He thought things like this would never happen to him—yet here it was, playing out in front of his eyes.
---
Back in video, Hikigaya's phone was still buzzing nonstop. The unread messages had already hit 99+, and he didn't even want to look anymore.
A "reply-to-all" button was exactly what he needed right now. Just type a single "OK," blast it to the entire contact list, and be done with it.
So he did. One simple "OK!" later, Hikigaya flopped back onto his bed with a sigh.
"In one day I've collected nearly the entire class's contact info… This is horrible. May I never live through such a thing again."
But just as he began to drift toward blissful unconsciousness, the devil himself struck again.
This time, the phone rang.
"Hello…" he muttered weakly.
"…It's me."
"Who are you?"
"Horikita Suzune."
"Oh. Just say that from the start."
Hikigaya grumbled under his breath, but Horikita chose to ignore his complaints entirely.
"Meet me at the library after class tomorrow afternoon."
"What—"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The line cut off before he could say another word.
"…Great." Hikigaya sighed, realizing once again he had no room to object. That strong sense of being used brought him crashing back to reality.
And yet… it didn't feel all that bad.
Without further complaint, he forwarded the news of tomorrow's "study session" to Yamauchi, Sudou, Ike, and Kushida, before finally succumbing to sleep.
---
Sudou: "If I remember right, last time Horikita ran a study group she scolded us nonstop, and we left on really bad terms."
Ike: "Yeah, I still get chills just thinking about it…"
Horikita: "Of course you do. A big reason it failed is because you three are just too stupid."
Yamauchi: "Ugh, she's not wrong… even now, I can already sense the doom coming."
Kushida Kikyo: "…But maybe, if Hikigaya's there this time, it might go better?"
Meanwhile, Ayanokōji observed silently. The scene unfolding matched his memory exactly. If not for that failed study group, he and Kushida wouldn't have resorted to buying past exam papers from the seniors.
Back then, he couldn't allow anyone from Class 1-D to drop out. Not if he wanted to keep manipulating Horikita into aiming at Class 1-A. That was why he spent 100,000 points to protect Sudou.
If a classmate had been expelled, Horikita would've realized she couldn't gamble without fully understanding the school's rules.
Now that past was resurfacing.
Ayanokōji narrowed his eyes at Hikigaya. Would he succeed in holding this study session? And if not, what would he do about Sudou?
Not only Ayanokōji, but Class 1-A's Sakayanagi, Class 1-B's Ichika Ichinose, and Class 1-C's Rokusen Rokusen Ryuen were also watching closely.
[What kind of surprise will he bring this time?]
---
The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.
Though Hikigaya stepped into the classroom nervously, it seemed the situation had returned to normal. Everyone had calmed down after a night's rest.
Sure enough, he thought, I was the only one who cared about this nonsense.
Compared to yesterday's chaos, today's class atmosphere was much smoother. The apology from earlier must have eased tensions, because his classmates no longer treated him as an outcast.
He still had no friends, but at least many students waved or greeted him when he entered.
Other than that, nothing had changed.
"…Could this be… the power of real life?" Hikigaya muttered.
He had attracted attention without even realizing it. Casual greetings weren't so bad, but if someone actually started a conversation with him—
What do I do?!
Hikigaya's face went pale. This was the one scenario he feared the most.
Thankfully, aside from Sudou, no one else tried to talk to him that morning.
As expected, self-righteous expectations were the absolute worst.
Still… the disaster he feared most never came. And that, in itself, was enough.