Farewell to Ibuki Mio and the others.
Hirata took a deep breath.
With a bright smile, he walked over to Ike Kanji and the others.
"Everyone, do you want to play in the snow too?"
"Forget it. It's something only kids play. That time would be better spent studying."
Ike Kanji and the others said dismissively.
Although they said that, their eyes couldn't help but drift toward the people having the snowball fight. Their bodies just sat there or wandered around the inn.
What remained was only stubbornness.
"Yeah, I don't want to play with those bastards."
Sudo said with a face full of disgust.
He had been nearly exploding with anger these past few days.
If his temper hadn't gotten a bit better, his former self would have already started a fight.
Although everyone is different.
There are strong ones like Sudo, active ones like Hirata, and lost ones like Wang Meiyu.
But there are more.
Ordinary people like Ike Kanji and the others.
"Don't say that."
Hirata still maintained his bright smile and said:
"It's already the last few hours. For the rare school trip, wouldn't it be a bit of a shame not to experience the fun of playing in the snow?"
"..."
Ike Kanji and the others hesitated.
To say there were no regrets would be a lie.
Never mind the school trip.
These few days had been spent in arguments and cold wars, completely without meaning.
Class D had fallen into a state of not wanting to do anything.
More importantly, they didn't know how to speak up.
Hirata naturally understood this point.
"I'll go talk to them. How about everyone joins then?"
"Well, if it's like that, we can try."
Ike Kanji and the others said with some hesitation.
Seeing this.
Hirata was relieved.
Looking around for a moment, he quickly ran over to Shibata.
"Shibata-kun, could we join in?"
"Eh? Hirata?"
Shibata looked back with some surprise. Seeing this, the boy from Class A also stopped and turned to the next person.
"This is a free-to-join project. We're just playing around; if you want to join, of course you can."
"Free-to-join, huh..."
Hirata was a bit surprised. He had originally expected a better way.
After all, Hikigaya had only done it to create the environment for Ibuki Mio and Horikita Suzune to duel; it was just for fun.
Although Hirata was unwilling to admit it.
He originally had many friends in school, but in this final moment, he still sought out Shibata.
For no special reason.
Only that Class B was a group of good people, the most kind-hearted.
At least.
They would have some sense of restraint when playing, so as not to cause something he didn't want to see.
"I see. Then Shibata, can we have a snowball fight with our classes as units, or see whose snowman can be built higher?"
"oh?."
Shibata tossed a snowball, saying with some surprise:
"Hirata, do you guys want a showdown with Class B?"
"No, it's just for fun. If the numbers don't match, it's fine if you have a few more people on your side."
Hirata maintained a bright smile on his face.
Knowing that causing a conflict now would be extremely disadvantageous for Class D, he avoided conflict as much as possible.
Shibata didn't think too much of it and said with a smile:
"I see, I don't have any problem with that. Then how about a snowball fight?"
"I have no objection. About how many people do you have?"
The two communicated simply. Hirata then returned to Ike Kanji and the others to organize the play, telling them to go a bit easy.
Soon.
A 9-on-7 snowball fight officially began.
Even though Class B had two more people, Hirata and the others didn't care; after all, they had Sudo on their side, so they might even have the advantage.
...
...
On the other side.
Pa pa pa.
Several snowballs flew this way. Hikigaya quickly avoided them, though he couldn't help but get hit twice.
"Hey hey, aren't you guys being too sneaky?"
Looking at the oncoming snowballs, Hikigaya said while running with his head covered, trying to find time to speak.
Standing in front of him were Ichinose, Himeno Yuki, Sakura Airi, Hasebe Haruka, Kamuro Masumi, and Karuizawa Kei.
There were even several girls from Class B, including Ando Sayo, Tsube Hitomi, and Shirami Chihiro.
Several people were throwing snowballs in arcs.
Though it didn't hurt.
He really had no room to fight back.
"Hee hee."
"Hikki~, are you admitting defeat?"
Karuizawa said with a face full of excitement while throwing snowballs.
The reason for this was simple.
It seemed they were complaining that he hadn't sought out Karuizawa, Haruka, and the others these few days.
It couldn't be helped.
After all, even with just his own affairs, Hikigaya was a bit too busy.
Just then.
"Isn't this being too cowardly?"
A shout attracted the attention of Karuizawa and the others. Hikigaya also walked over to Ichinose and the others and looked in the direction of the voice.
It was precisely Hirata and the others who were having the snowball fight with Shibata.
Shibata had also come to find them earlier, but Hikigaya hadn't wanted to get involved.
The person who just spoke seemed to be Ike Kanji, who was pointing at the people opposite and shouting.
The original 9-on-7 match.
Had somehow evolved into a 16-on-7 situation, with several boys from Class A and Class C naturally involved.
As expected, it turned out like this...
As an expert in being ostracized, Hikigaya naturally had some guesses.
It was probably something like "A snowball fight? I'll join too," and then they all stood on the opposite side of Class D.
After all.
Dealing with Class D was a zero-risk thing.
No need to worry about relationships being destroyed, no need to care about the other party's feelings, and one could even appear to be a good person.
Class D seemed to have become an existence everyone could step on.
"...What?"
Just then, someone said disdainfully: "If you can't afford to play, you don't have to play."
"You..."
Ike Kanji was simply exploding with anger. Hirata suddenly stood to the side with a dazed expression.
It was happening again.
It wasn't exactly the same as his situation in middle school, but it was similar.
This feeling of despair that no matter what one did, it was useless...
It almost crushed Hirata again.
However.
"Who says we can't afford to play?"
"Dammit, then don't blame me for being rude."
Sudo instantly threw a snowball back. Seeing this, Ike Kanji and the others followed suit, and only then did Hirata feel relieved.
Yes.
He was no longer alone.
On the other side.
"Hey..."
Kamuro Masumi leaned her arm on Hikigaya's shoulder and said playfully:
"Class D seems to have become more united. Is your method really effective?"
"Who knows? At least I don't think that's unity."
Hikigaya said dismissively.
Before them, Class D was starting the snowball fight again in a 7-on-16 manner. At a glance, they even seemed to have the advantage.
The specific reason was that Hirata was using his body to shield Ike Kanji and the others from the snowballs, probably wanting to let Ike Kanji and the others play to their hearts' content.
What a touching sense of companionship.
As if!
This was just.
Anger!
In Class D, there were indeed people who looked decent, like Hirata Yosuke and Wang Mei-Yu, but most were just ordinary people in human skin like Ike Kanji.
Letting out their anger might make them feel a lot more relaxed, but it was merely like drinking poison to quench thirst!
"Forget it, let's get started too."
Pop.
Just as he finished speaking, Hikigaya's head was hit again.
"Who was that? Attacking by surprise like that is too sneaky," Hikigaya said somewhat angrily, and then he was immediately subjected to a rain-like barrage of snowballs from the girls.
Even though they were both being "ganged up on," it was completely different.