"I see."
Kushida Kikyo's lips curved slightly with some disdain:
Both reasons existed.
But the more important one was wishing she would cooperate a bit.
But Kushida Kikyo cared more about another point.
"It's just that I'm a bit confused. Having learned my past, shouldn't you feel disgusted? Why would you still think of apologizing to me?"
As she spoke.
Kushida Kikyo twirled the hair by her ear with her finger, hiding her inner unease, perhaps anticipating the answer she wanted.
She said somewhat mockingly:
"You should know I still hold your secret, you siscon..."
"..."
Hikigaya's mouth twitched.
So she still remembers; but to actually use that to threaten someone, isn't Kushida Kikyo a bit too childish?
Still.
As he had expected.
Compared to the objective, Kushida Kikyo cared more about the views of those around her.
It wasn't a big deal either.
After hesitating for a moment.
Hikigaya decided to just tell the truth.
"While I don't know what others think, I wouldn't call it disgusting. If anything, knowing your past actually made me feel relieved."
"Ha?"
Upon hearing this.
Kushida Kikyo lowered her head, her face flushing red instantly, and her heart began to throb like a drum.
Learning her ugly true face?
Yet he actually felt relieved.
How could that be possible.
Although her heart was extremely joyful, what came out of her mouth was:
"Do you think saying such nice things will let you fool me like you fool Sakura and the others?"
Kushida Kikyo lowered her head, her tone full of disdain.
"How could that be."
Hikigaya's lips curled up slightly, saying with some emotion:
"Although your jealousy seems very strong, making you want to pretend to be the most trusted person, from another perspective."
"In fact, you have been acting as an emotional trash can for everyone around you. Although I don't quite understand it, that must have been very hard, right?"
"At least, it's something I could never do."
"How could I hate you for that?"
As he spoke.
Hikigaya smiled and shook his head, saying:
"If anything, if I had known at the start of school that the real you was like this, I wouldn't have been as wary of you as I was then."
This was the truth.
He was wary of Kushida Kikyo only because he feared she might be a high-level "Green Tea Bitch."
If he had known Kushida Kikyo's true face at the start of school, Hikigaya wouldn't have been that wary.
After all.
What the other party wanted was just trust.
It was just his tiny, insignificant dark history.
"Ha?"
Kushida Kikyo was somewhat dumbfounded.
Knowing her true face actually allowed him to relax his guard even more.
However, Kushida Kikyo still didn't quite believe it.
"Aren't you afraid I'll spread your dark history all over the internet?"
"I'm not afraid."
Hikigaya tried to think about it:
"It might be a bit uncomfortable, but they're all strangers, so what's there to be afraid of?"
"Then tell me about the embarrassing things you've done in the past?"
Kushida Kikyo said somewhat playfully.
Could someone really not mind her past?
Knowing her true face, yet still willing to tell her their own dark history?
For some reason.
Kushida Kikyo's heart fluttered.
This might be the difference between true trust and false trust.
"Hmm..."
Hikigaya nodded without thinking and smiled:
"Then as an exchange, you cooperate more with the group tomorrow, how about it?"
"That depends on whether you're lying."
"Fine."
Hikigaya didn't force it and thought for a bit:
"Where should I start? I used to be a very unpopular person and was often given various nicknames."
"For example, in middle school, because the person a girl I occasionally spoke to liked had a name starting with 'H', I impulsively went up and confessed to her and was told I was disgusting, and also..."
As he spoke.
Hikigaya couldn't help but reveal a smile, recounting all the embarrassing things he had done in the past.
Why was it?
Clearly he came to win over Kushida Kikyo, but for some reason, Hikigaya himself felt a trace of pleasure.
Perhaps his mindset had changed.
Now.
He was no longer that unpopular guy from before.
Therefore, he could mock himself like this.
Telling the embarrassing stories he had experienced in the past without any burden.
The more he spoke.
The more excited Hikigaya became, recounting everything from childhood to the present.
Beside him.
Hearing his non-stop words, Kushida Kikyo lowered her head so her expression couldn't be seen, and couldn't help but cover her chest.
What was going on...
Kushida Kikyo's face was as red as a branding iron, and she could only feel her heart thumping fast.
Even knowing her true face, Hikigaya didn't care about her past and could even share his past dark history like this.
Is this the feeling of truly being trusted by someone?
It was simply.
Thousands of times more pleasurable than that fake trust from before.
"And then, I came to this school."
"Oh... oh oh..."
Kushida Kikyo said unclearly.
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, it's just that you used to be completely different from how you are now; it's a bit surprising."
"Indeed..."
Hikigaya nodded with a smile.
There was no need to ask if Kushida Kikyo was satisfied.
If she was satisfied, she would do it herself; if not, there was nothing to be done.
No need to ask more.
After all, it was just dark history from the past; for him, it was a trivial matter.
"What about you?"
Hikigaya turned to look at Kushida Kikyo beside him and asked curiously:
"To be honest, I've always been a bit curious. A small secret shouldn't be enough to make a class collapse, right? What secrets did you hold on them in middle school?"
Just casual chatting .....
After all, it's Kushida Kikyo's past dark history; even if she didn't answer, it wouldn't be a problem.
However.
After hesitating for a moment.
Kushida Kikyo still lowered her head and murmured a response.
"It was nothing, just some boys two-timing behind people's backs, and some girls doing compensated dating outside and getting pregnant, then coming to me to discuss what to do, or thinking someone was handsome and wanting to do it with them once, wanting to throw parties like in foreign blockbusters and so on."
"Then there was theft, fighting, and small things like that..."
Once these words were out.
Hikigaya's mouth hung open; he was simply stunned.
Although he had played around a lot with Kamuro Masumi and the others, this truly exceeded his worldview.
You're telling me these are middle schoolers?
No wonder the class collapsed just because a few secrets were exposed.
"Your middle school was really something..."
Hikigaya's mouth twitched as he frankly stated his thoughts.
It had to be said.
His heart was already strong enough that even the most bizarre things could be quickly accepted as normal.
"The prettier a girl is, the more she lies."
Kushida Kikyo couldn't help but speak up: "Most girls aren't as good as you think; you should pay more attention to Karuizawa and the others. That girl looks like she's played with quite a few boys."
"..."
Hikigaya was instantly a bit displeased.
However.
Thinking carefully.
Karuizawa's gal image indeed gave such an impression; Kushida Kikyo was actually worrying about him.
He could further test Kushida Kikyo's thoughts.
"Don't worry."
Hikigaya raised an eyebrow with some pride: "They already gave their first time to me. Kei isn't the kind of person you imagine; she's actually very pure."
"Is that so? That's a bit surprising."
"What about you?"
Hikigaya decided to go one step deeper.
"Growing up in such an environment, it must have been hard for you to stay untainted, right? Don't you find it disgusting?"
"How could that be."
Hearing this, Kushida Kikyo instantly showed some disdain:
"It is indeed hard to stay untainted, but it's not like there aren't ways to handle it. Besides, to gain everyone's expectations, one cannot maintain a relationship with a specific boy."
"Otherwise, those boys would instantly distance themselves and turn to look at other girls; you boys are all like that."
"True..."
Although it sounded a bit resentful, Hikigaya didn't refute it.
After all, it was a fact.
As long as the person they like has a partner, most boys will turn to the next target.
For the Kushida Kikyo who wanted everyone's trust in the past.
This was unacceptable.