They didn't stay affectionate for long; Ren soon let Mahiru head back.
With her face flushed red, the moment Mahiru returned to her class, she was surrounded by her female classmates. Unlike the boys, who were consumed by jealousy, the girls were far more interested in the gossip—especially since it involved the "Angel."
"So, Ren, you weren't lying to me before. You really do have several girlfriends?"
Hachiman emerged from his "invisible" state only after Mahiru had completely left. His voice was filled with a complex mix of emotions.
"Hmm? Is the next period Hiratsuka-sensei's class...?" Ren gave a non-answer.
The murderous intent and malice surrounding Hachiman were practically solidifying. Ren decided not to rub salt in the wound.
"You bastard! Answer me." Hachiman didn't care what Ren was thinking; he stood up, grabbed Ren by the collar, and wore a fierce expression.
This was the rage of a perennially single human toward a scumbag normie.
He was envious, so envious he could die. How had Ren done it? Hachiman was extremely curious. Was this guy really not afraid of the headless end?
"If you're so envious, Hikigaya, why don't you try finding someone yourself?"
Without a hint of anger, Ren looked at Hachiman with calm eyes. Hachiman's looks weren't actually bad; it was just his natural dead-fish eyes and that reclusive personality that made him look so gloomy.
Based on Ren's observations, Hachiman might even be a bit... afraid of women?
He didn't know how Hachiman became this way, but without a doubt, Hachiman was another "cake" that could help Ren complete an emotion.
It would have been better if Ren hadn't mentioned it. The moment he did, Hachiman instantly deflated. He let go of Ren's collar and slumped his entire body against the tree.
"Katsuragi, have you ever been rejected by a girl? I bet you haven't."
"I'm not like you. I'm not that handsome, and I'm not that sunny. My childhood was spent being rejected and embarrassed by girls."
"Who wouldn't want a girlfriend? But I just can't get one..."
"I fucking want one too, but every time I confess, it turns out I was just overthinking it!"
Hachiman's tone was one of self-abandonment. Generally speaking, when people discuss such things, they use the "I have a friend" excuse to avoid losing face. If it were the old Hachiman, he might have done just that.
But things were different now. After a solitary beast finds a companion who proactively approaches it, it will open its heart to its only partner. It was foolish, naive, but also pitiful.
That's how lonely people are: if someone gives them just a little bit of warmth, they'll pour their heart and soul out to that person.
Everything in the world has a counter, and extremes often lead to their opposites.
Hachiman, having experienced all those incidents in his childhood, should have been rational. Yet, when he was with Ren, he began to grow fragile, sentimental, and stopped calculating his gains and losses. The interior beneath that hard shell was soft.
Did Hachiman not want to laugh and chat with friends, play games and brag, or squat by the road with a best friend to discuss which girl was cute? Was it that he didn't want to? Or was it that he couldn't?
It was that he couldn't.
Without friends, everything he did was always done alone. In such a state, he could only take loneliness as his companion. He'd smile bitterly and say he wasn't lonely because loneliness was always with him.
Now that he had Ren as a good friend, the boy naturally became a vent for Hachiman, a hollow in a tree. He began to pour out the bitterness he had accumulated in his heart for so long.
"Overthinking? Isn't that just a display of your courage, Hikigaya?"
"There's no such thing as being able to 'get' someone or not. If you like someone, chase them. If you feel the time is right, confess."
"If the confession fails, move on. Start your next relationship."
"Nine times out of ten, life won't go your way. As long as you have the courage to confess to the girl you like, you're a success."
"Don't worry about the final result. Your confession is just because you like her; her rejection is just because she isn't your future half."
Ren took out his phone and pulled Hachiman—who had just lifted his head to look at him—close. Placing one hand on Hachiman's shoulder, Ren set his phone to selfie mode and held it up.
Under Hachiman's dazed expression, Ren flashed an extremely bright, sunny smile: "Cheese~"
Click—
One "sunny" character and one "gloomy" character; one bright boy and one somber boy. Two boys who logically should have never crossed paths appeared in the same photo.
"You're actually pretty handsome, Hikigaya."
"You need to smile more. Look at that long face of yours, it's hideous."
Flipping through the photo they just took, Ren looked at the Hachiman in the picture who hadn't reacted at all and laughed while patting his shoulder. After saying that, Ren even held up this fresh piece of "dark history" in front of Hachiman for some live public shaming.
This move by Ren actually made Hachiman laugh out of pure annoyance. If he didn't know that Ren's combat power was higher than Hiratsuka Shizuka's, Hachiman definitely would have given him a punch.
"Do you like a girl right now? I'll take you to confess."
"If she dares to say no, I'll hug her leg in front of the whole school and beg her to accept you."
"If she still refuses, I'll wipe my snot and tears all over her pants."
Seeing that Hachiman was fine now, Ren teased him.
"Screw off, Katsuragi. That's disgusting."
"Then you take me to confess, and after I get rejected, you go hug her leg."
"I don't have time for your crap! Don't pull on me, I'm going to go talk to Saika about the tennis club!"
Completely unable to handle Ren's teasing, Hachiman shook off the hand on his shoulder and stood up to run away.
"Ooh, Saika~"
"This is your first time talking, right? And you're already calling him Saika."
"Hikigaya, you haven't started liking boys because you got rejected by girls too much as a kid, have you?"
Ren didn't miss a single chance to dig at Hachiman.
"Urusai!" (Shut up!)
After shouting the curse, Hachiman left the shade of the large tree without looking back.
Ren's expression froze. He stopped teasing. Normally, if a guy heard his friend say he liked men, his first reaction—even if it wasn't to hit his friend—should be a fierce denial.
Hachiman just said, "Urusai..."
The feeling of amusement vanished instantly. Ren watched Hachiman's retreating back with a grave expression.
If Hachiman really was starting to like the same sex...
I... should be fine, right?
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