Chapter 27: Chance Encounter at the Library
The first week of May, with Golden Week about to end, saw temperatures rising day by day. During the break between classes, the students' chatter added to the heat in the classroom.
There was nothing more irritating than a class break.
The classroom was noisy. Everyone was released from the pressure of the lesson, chatting intimately with friends, discussing after-school plans and club activities. The conversations all around sounded like a foreign language—they entered his ears but carried no meaning.
Normally, at this time, Hikigaya would still exchange a few barbs with Yukinoshita-san, engaging in a boring, tit-for-tat struggle where he occasionally had no retort left to offer. In other words, they'd reopen old wounds and pour salt on them. Sakayanagi-san would usually sit quietly on the side, smiling and listening to the two—mostly Hikigaya's dark history.
But today, Sakayanagi-san and Yukinoshita-san had gone together to the Student Council to submit the application for establishing the Service Club. Bored, Hikigaya propped his face up with one hand, watching his classmates in a nearly-asleep posture. Because he had slept enough last night, he wasn't sleepy at all now, but he had been spending class breaks like this for a long time, and his body would reflexively feel drowsy.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz—" The groggy Hikigaya suddenly felt a few light vibrations from the phone in his pants pocket.
Hikigaya took out his phone and saw a brief message: "Are you free tomorrow afternoon?— Shiina Hiyori."
'Huh? Shiina-san, what's wrong? You haven't gotten confused from reading, have you? Selecting the wrong recipient can cause trouble, you know.'
Honestly speaking, this situation is really dangerous! If the Hikigaya from middle school had received this message, he definitely would have been deceived by this suggestive, meaningless text message, only to end up with a heart broken without a trace!
But Hikigaya had already learned a lesson in blood.
A well-trained loner doesn't stumble in the same place twice. Whether it was the confession made to me during a Truth or Dare after losing rock-paper-scissors, or the fake love letter penned by a girl and delivered to me by a guy—none of them can fool me anymore.
I am a strong person who has been through hundreds of battles.
When it comes to repeatedly failing but still fighting, who in the world is stronger than me?
Hikigaya was immersed in strange, baseless confidence, even suddenly having the peculiar and contradictory thought: 'When it comes to my inferiority complex, I am unrivaled. I'm truly superior.'
He was about to delete the message when his phone vibrated twice again.
"Hikigaya-kun, you clearly saw it, so why aren't you replying?"
'What's going on? Shiina-san's message sounds so heavy! And that last message... i-it was actually meant for me? '
OK, Hikigaya, calm down. In this situation, the safest method is to pretend you didn't see it... No, I've already seen it. There's no choice; I'll have to see what the situation is first and then make up an excuse to muddle through.
"Shiina-san, is there something you need?"
"Hikigaya-kun, tomorrow is the weekend, so we don't have classes. Let's go to the library together."
'Huh? What kind of terrifying thing is this girl saying? She's not only nonchalantly inviting a high school boy out but also planning to take up Hikigaya's weekend time.'
"...Why?"
"Because the library received a batch of new books yesterday, and I wanted to share this information with you as soon as possible, and then read together."
Even though it was only a text message, Hikigaya seemed to see the other person's excitement and anticipation through the screen. However, this didn't mean Hikigaya had to go out on the weekend. The weekend is a person's most precious time alone, and Pretty Cure also airs on the weekend.
Speaking of which, since the start of the school year, Hikigaya hasn't been out much outside of class. To use Komachi's words, he's a "NEET Nii-chan." Ah, that sounds a bit like a Pokémon.
Just as Hikigaya was considering how to refuse, Shiina-san sent another message.
"Also, suddenly learning the rules of this school, I've developed some small doubts and confusion about a few things. Besides my classmates, I think you're the only other person I know... So, could I ask you to consult with me?"
'Shiina-san, life counseling really doesn't fit your character profile.'
"..."
'And for some reason, it feels even heavier...'.
.
.
On Saturday afternoon, Hikigaya arrived near the secluded, long table in the library, the agreed-upon meeting spot with Shiina-san.
Hikigaya looked up and scanned the surroundings but only saw a beautiful girl whose demeanor and appearance closely resembled Yukinoshita-san. She was sitting there silently memorizing a word list. As if noticing Hikigaya's gaze, she glared coldly at him. Beside her sat a brown-haired guy looking down at his phone and texting. Hikigaya couldn't see the guy's face, but for some reason, Hikigaya's intuition was setting off a super intense danger alarm.
"Ah, Hikigaya-kun, you've arrived."
Just as Hikigaya wanted to leave quickly, Shiina-san appeared.
With soft, silver hair flowing down her back, Shiina-san gave Hikigaya a pure smile.
Her skin was snow-white, her eyes were beautiful as a painting, and her bright, limpid gaze, like autumn waters, shone with a smile that gently spread across her smooth cheeks.
She wore a striped white collared shirt on top and still had a white short skirt paired with gray stockings on the bottom. She held several books in her hands, radiating the gentle aura of a literary girl.
"Hikigaya-kun, the new books that just arrived are on that bookshelf over there. I've already picked out mine. You hurry and go; I'll wait for you here."
"Shiina-san, wait a moment... Um, I find the light over here a bit glaring. How about we go to the other table?"
Because his intuition kept sending warnings, Hikigaya's brave personality made him decide to switch locations without the slightest hesitation—to follow his gut.
"Oh, really... Okay, then I'll wait for you at the long table over there."
Shiina-san smiled and nodded, turning to walk cheerfully toward the distant long table.
Hikigaya breathed a sigh of relief, sped up his steps, and left the line of sight of those two people, walking toward the bookshelf.
Just then, Hikigaya suddenly felt a gaze.
'What's going on? Did that guy with the strangely dangerous aura follow me?'
Hikigaya took a deep breath and slowly turned his head, only to meet the gaze of an unexpected person.
This person was tall, with black, lustrous hair like a cascading black waterfall. Perhaps to avoid direct sunlight, she wore a cardigan draped over her shoulders and black tights under her skirt. She looked somewhat livelier than when she wore her school uniform, but still fresh and moving, and the watch on her wrist added a touch of elegance.
Yukinoshita Yukino, Hikigaya's former desk neighbor.
Hikigaya knew she also liked to read, but he hadn't expected her to show up here.
"..."
"..."
Hikigaya and Yukinoshita didn't say anything, just stared at each other for about two seconds, but that was enough time to recognize each other.
Yukinoshita gently placed the book in her hand back on the shelf and walked away without looking at him again.
"I-Ignored..."
Hikigaya was ignored with extreme thoroughness.
'Wait, this goes beyond ignoring, doesn't it? This is looking right through me.'
Staring at each other for two seconds from less than a meter away and still being ignored... This is Yukinoshita-san's style. In comparison, the usual neglect from my classmates seems like a cute little gesture; they only ignore me because they don't recognize me!
'Ah, no, that's hurtful enough, too.'
However, most of the new books the school received were extracurricular reading. The two books Shiina-san just had were mystery novels. So, what kind of classic literature would an excellent student like Yukinoshita-san enjoy reading outside of class?
Hikigaya thought this as he glanced at the bookshelf, only to see an unplaced cat photo album.
"..."
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