Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

"Eh?"

"After discussing with Kushida, we decided that the whole class must prepare food for the final sprint, but since it's raining today, it's best to go together."

"This……"

Hikigaya was stunned at first when he heard Horikita's words, but then he immediately understood what the other person was thinking.

Horikita Suzune is obviously worried that someone will find out that she is sick while collecting food, so she plans to work with Hikigaya, who knows the truth, to cover up her weakness during the process.

In a sense, this was exactly what Hikigaya wanted, this way he wouldn't have to work rigidly with classmates who disliked him.

"Okay, I'm fine."

"Eh?" When she heard Hikigaya agree to Horikita's invitation, Kushida Kikyo's expression became strange. She silently glanced at the two people in front of her, and then pretended to care and said, "Can you join me? I also want to go looking for food with you."

"Kushida, you too...?"

Hikigaya didn't expect Kushida to take the initiative to invite him. Surprise was evident on his face. After all, the other party was not a lone ranger like him and Horikita, who usually worked in a team with others.

"You're coming with us, what's going on? What happened to your usually close little group?"

Horikita directly raised her doubts, not understanding why Kushida did this.

In other words, she actually wanted to dissuade Kushida from following her around and not let him see through her illness and cause trouble.

"Ah--well, uh, that's because..." Kushida seemed to mind the presence of boys, and whispered to Horikita, "Actually, Komi-chan got her period today... and she seems to be quite uncomfortable. She always feels very uncomfortable when it comes, so her other friends are staying with her in the tent."

Although Kushida spoke in a very low voice, Hikigaya's hearing was sometimes so good that even he found it abnormal.

That Xiao Min should be a girl in Kushida's group. I didn't expect that it would be so uncomfortable for a girl to have relatives come, but why have I never seen it in Horikita?

"Rather than saying it's a physical discomfort, it's more like a physiological phenomenon." After listening to it, Horikita said silently, "Although you seem to have a good reason, why did you go out of your way to act with us? Logically, you should have other options."

Horikita showed a sharp attitude towards Kushida's arrival.

It was obvious that her hostility towards Kushida had not completely disappeared until now, and she still had obvious tension and wariness towards him.

Hikigaya knew the source of Horikita's hostility towards Kushida a long time ago.

However, he didn't have a very clear idea about why Horikita hated Kushida.

Horikita basically hates other people, but among many people, Kushida Kikyo seems to be the one she particularly hates.

According to Horikita, the reason why this happened was that the other party seemed to feel that Kikyo Kushida hated her, so she developed a hostile reaction towards Kushida like a stress response.

But from Kushida's side, Hikigaya couldn't find any reason why the other party would actively dislike Horikita Suzune.

There seemed to be something in the relationship between these two that Hikigaya himself did not understand.

While Hikigaya was lost in thought, Kushida Kikyo was not at all dissatisfied with Horikita's attitude.

"I think this is a rare opportunity, so I want to talk to you, Horikita-san. You see, we didn't talk at all during this trip, right? And you fell asleep right away at night."

Even though Kushida knew that she was disliked, and even though she hated him too, she still wanted to have a good relationship with Horikita.

"I'm not so idle as to attend to unnecessary matters."

"You are really mean, Horikita-san. Your face is so cute when you sleep."

"..."

Horikita seemed to be completely annoyed by Kushida Kikyo who didn't back down at all. She turned her head away helplessly, not wanting to pay any more attention to her.

"Hey, are you guys going to collect food?" At this moment, Yamauchi and Ayanokouji came over from a distance. After seeing Kushida, Yamauchi immediately came over with a licked face, "Take us with you."

"..."

Faced with the increasing number of people, Horikita showed impatience.

But in order to hide the fact that she was sick, she had to keep it to herself.

"Ibuki, do you want to come too?"

As everyone was leaving, Ayanokouji suddenly spoke to Ibuki who was resting under the shade of a tree.

"I……?"

Not only Ibuki, but Hikigaya was also surprised by Ayanokouji's sudden action and didn't understand why the other party suddenly did such a thing.

"Today is the last day of the exam. If you don't want to, I won't force you." (Today is the last day of the exam. If you don't take action now, you will have no chance)

"That's right. I'm also indebted to Class D for their help... I understand. I'll help." (I'll seize this opportunity)

The conversation between the two seemed ordinary, but it sounded completely different to Hikigaya's ears.

He felt clear subtitles appearing in front of his eyes, presenting the conversation between the two in another form.

"Oh──Isn't this great! Isn't this great! It feels like I'm starting a harem!"

Seeing the increase in the proportion of girls, Yamauchi's interest suddenly increased and his face was full of excitement.

Under such circumstances, Horikita Suzune had no reason to refuse and could only silently agree to expand the team.

Hikigaya took it all in, with obvious curiosity in his eyes.

What exactly does Ayanokouji want to do?

Just let me take a good look.

Chapter 304: Hikigaya and Horikita's relationship is indeed unusual

"The dark forest is always a little scary... Should I say the hot and humid air is also scary?"

Hikigaya and his group walked into the forest, but because of the cloudy weather, the forest looked completely different from what it was yesterday and the visibility was quite poor.

Kushida Kikyo acted panicked and moved closer to Hikigaya.

Hey, hey, hey, if you are scared, then you are scared. Why are you coming near me?

It's a bit too close.

Hikigaya tried his best to avoid physical contact with Kushida, but because of this, his walking posture became unnatural.

At the same time, after walking for a while, Haruki Yamauchi grabbed his sportswear and fanned it front and back as if in annoyance because sweat was oozing from his armpits.

"Kushida, aren't you hot?"

In order to kill time, Yamauchi tried to strike up a conversation with Kushida.

However, when he spoke, his eyes were focused only on Kushida's chest, as if he wanted to see if the other person's chest would appear strange due to sweating, or even see the underwear.

"No, I'm not hot."

Kushida Kikyo noticed Yamauchi's eyes. On the surface, her expression did not change at all and she still had a smile on her face. However, she leaned her body and almost leaned on Hikigaya.

"If you're hot, you can take off your coat and I'll get it for you."

"That's not necessary, and I can ask Hikigaya-san to get it for me."

"..."

Hikigaya, who was harassed by Kushida's behavior that was close to sexual harassment, felt deeply helpless.

He knew that the other person must hate Yamauchi in his heart, but even if you hate him, you should not bring it upon yourself.

In fact, Yamauchi Haruki was indeed somewhat dissatisfied with what Kushida said.

He looked at Kushida and Hikigaya leaning against each other with a little anxiety, and said casually: "Hikigaya was really too much yesterday. He actually said that to Hirata. Kushida, no matter how gentle you are, there is no need to be so nice to someone like him."

"How is that possible? Everyone just misunderstood. Hikigaya-san is not as bad as you think."

Kushida Kikyo stood next to Hikigaya and spoke for him.

However, the more she acted towards Hikigaya, the more it irritated Yamauchi, causing Hikigaya's hatred value to increase for no reason.

Hikigaya witnessed the whole thing and thought that girls were really scary.

No wonder there is an old saying in China that even a hero cannot resist the temptation of a beautiful woman.

Of course, a guy like me is not a hero at all.

"Yamauchi-san, we are here to collect food, not to let you date girls." Horikita Suzune saw the situation and suddenly interrupted, "If you don't behave yourself, you will be punished."

“I’m… sorry!”

After what happened yesterday, most people, including Yamauchi Haruki, are now in awe of Horikita Suzune.

After all, Horikita was the one who successfully tried Hirata Yosuke and forced Hirata to step down.

As long as they were students in Class D, no one could easily ignore such a fact, so when facing Horikita afterwards, most of the students in Class D were very nervous and did not dare to make any jokes.

"Yamauchi, maybe we should pay more attention to places like trees. There may be fruits on the trees. We who are taller must confirm this."

At the same time, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka actually spoke up and persuaded Yamauchi to be more obedient.

This scene surprised Hikigaya.

It also made him more certain that Ayanokouji's sudden trip out this time must have some special purpose.

"That's it, okay then."

Yamauchi seemed to enjoy Ayanokouji's way of speaking, which was both open persuasion and hidden praise. As soon as the other party opened his mouth, he decisively quieted down and stopped making noise.

All I can say is that after such a long time since the start of school, Ayanokouji has become accustomed to conversations with the three idiots and knows how to deal with these troublesome guys.

The crowd was then able to collect food seriously.

"Dark clouds are approaching from the southwest. The weather may get worse sooner than I thought."

During the process, Horikita Suzune looked at the weather and frowned.

She was the one who was most worried about rain and bad weather, because now her illness could barely be sustained thanks to the high temperature.

But if it rains and the weather turns cold, her condition could immediately worsen. If she can't hold on and is noticed by others, Class D, which has finally stabilized, might be at risk of chaos again.

In addition, rain will also bring many other troubles. For example, if some students are stuck in the forest due to rain and cannot return to the camp normally, they will lose a lot of points and the class will completely collapse.

"You have to be careful."

Hikigaya nodded and deliberately slowed down his pace to walk side by side with Horikita Suzune.

His purpose was to prevent Horikita from being noticed for being weak during the process. If he was there to watch over her, it would at least be possible to prevent the worst from happening.

Normally, Horikita Suzune would probably be quite repulsive to such things, but now because of her illness, she silently accepted Hikigaya's unnecessary care and tried to get as close to him as possible.

"you……"

While looking for food, Kikyo Kushida keenly noticed the change in the distance between the two people, and her expression showed obvious contemplation for a moment.

"What's wrong with you?" Horikita noticed Kushida's expression and asked as calmly as possible.

"Nothing, I was just thinking that Hikigaya-san and Horikita-san are really close, but I can't understand the reason behind it."

"Indeed."

After hearing what Kushida said, Ayanokouji beside him couldn't help but join in the conversation, "Why are you so close?"

"..."

This guy is here to test me again, right?

And why did Kushida ask this out of the blue?

Are you causing trouble?

Don't blame me for punishing you severely in private later...

Hikigaya sighed and was about to speak, but Horikita Suzune beside him spoke first: "My relationship with him is not good at all, so don't create unnecessary misunderstandings."

"Really?" Kushida Kikyo stroked her chin, "But from my perspective, you two have a very good relationship."

"What's good?"

Hikigaya and Horikita Suzune said in unison.

At this moment, even Haruki Yamauchi next to him noticed it. He first glanced at Hikigaya, and then at Horikita Suzune.

Because of his overly focused gaze, Horikita's expression suddenly showed disgust and he slapped her.

"Snapped!"

The merciless sound hit Yamauchi's face.