Cote:002

Chapter 2

Yuigahama cast a somewhat resentful look at Hachiman. Her gentle demeanor stood in stark contrast to everyone else's.

Another girl in the club spoke up, "Oh, senpai, you're so mean. Look at how pitiful this old lady is."

Hikigaya Hachiman immediately saw through the clumsy ploy, but he couldn't understand why he appeared in that video.

"It's just a video," Hachiman replied nonchalantly.

Meanwhile, Class D and other first-year classes also began playing the same video.

Sudou broke the silence in his classroom: "I've never seen this guy before. He's definitely not in our grade."

His comment sparked a wave of discussion among the classmates, but no one seemed to recognize the boy in the video.

Horikita Suzune stared at the footage in disbelief. She distinctly remembered the person sitting next to her at the time was Ayanokouji Kiyotaka—the same person currently seated beside her.

Since Horikita, Kōenji, and Kushida Kikyo also appeared in the video, the three of them became the center of attention.

However, no matter how much they racked their brains, none of them could recall such a person ever existing.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka sat calmly in the corner of the room. While others struggled to place the mysterious figure, he understood perfectly. The person sitting in that seat had been himself. Could it be that this is a killer sent by the White Room... someone trying to erase my existence?

As this thought crossed his mind, the boy's expression, usually void of emotion, turned noticeably darker.

If you're from the White Room, come at me.

---

On the bus, Kikyo Kushida's questioning failed to stir the crowd.

Hachiman felt as if a hundred needles were piercing his heart. Though everyone else pretended to ignore the situation, just like him, what was happening around him was still his concern. He couldn't simply sit back and watch.

Adjusting his posture, Hachiman propped his chin on one hand and smirked faintly.

"If no one's willing to give up their seat, I will. But if I have to give up the seat I earned by waking up early, only to be laughed at by everyone here... that's too much. You see, we're all the same—we're all selfish."

His words weren't loud, but in the quiet confines of the bus, they carried effortlessly to every ear.

"Well, if you don't mind, please take my seat," he added with a casual shrug.

Under Kushida's guidance, the elderly lady finally sat down. As she passed Hachiman, Kushida Kikyo glanced at him briefly and gave a faint smile.

She saw through me...

No further words were exchanged on the bus, but Hachiman could feel the weight of various gazes directed toward him.

---

When Yukinoshita Yukino saw this unfold, she let out a deep sigh of exasperation.

"No matter where you are, your behavior doesn't change, does it?"

Her slightly angry expression made it clear she didn't agree with Hachiman's actions.

To her, such self-destructive behavior was unacceptable. Though he often helped others in this manner, Yukino understood that he was ultimately harming himself.

Hachiman didn't respond. To him, this approach was the most efficient and practical solution.

Whenever something happened around him, he couldn't simply stand idly by, but unlike Hayato Hayama, he lacked the ability to change his surroundings. This was his weapon, and now, others denied it.

Sure enough, he couldn't change.

---

The bus eventually came to a stop, and students wearing the same school uniform began filing out. They whispered among themselves and occasionally shot disdainful glances his way.

Hachiman trailed behind the crowd, keeping a noticeable distance as they made their way toward Tokyo Metropolitan Koukou Ikusei High School.

However, a girl stopped abruptly, causing him to halt as well.

She was the same girl who had been seated beside him on the bus. Her jet-black hair reminded him of another equally beautiful and proud girl.

But compared to that person, the girl in front of him was slightly different.

"I'm not interested in you," she began. "But your clumsy provocation on the bus? It won't work on me. If anything, it'll only bring you trouble. You're such an idiot."

"I missed hearing sharp remarks like that," Hachiman replied with a smirk. "Let's call you Yukinoshita No. 2."

"Either way, I won't easily give up something I've already claimed."

After delivering her parting words, the girl turned and strode confidently into the school.

"I've already been warned, and school hasn't even started," Hachiman muttered, bemused.

He didn't take her words to heart. Glancing at the high school gate, which looked nothing like Sobu High, he followed the rest of the group inside.

---

Back in Class D, Horikita Suzune once again became the center of attention due to the conversation between herself and the boy in the video.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall ever saying those words, let alone having that exchange. And it was supposed to have happened at the beginning of the school year...

Despite her silent denial, Class D's excitement only grew.

Even though they didn't fully understand why the video was suddenly shown, many speculated it might be part of a special school exam. Regardless of the reason, the students were thrilled.

Such an unusual and dramatic test was a welcome change from the monotonous paper exams. The enthusiasm in the room soared, with everyone glued to the video—except for Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who remained calm in his corner.

If the White Room's assassins are as pathetic as this, it's truly disappointing, he thought.

They're trying to erase my presence through this video, replacing me entirely so I'll have no place left in this school. Ridiculous.

His gaze shifted to the girl seated beside him. Ayanokouji vividly remembered their first meeting when school began. It wouldn't be long before the boy in the video seemingly took his place, and the class erupted into chaos.

After processing everything, Ayanokouji resolved to remain still, observing and waiting for the next move.

---

After confirming that his class was Class D, Hikigaya Hachiman followed the signs to his classroom.

Now, he couldn't confirm the difference between the so-called Class D and other classes, but based on his judgment, if there were four classes in total as written on the bulletin board, then Class D must be the class with relatively poor comprehensive strength in all aspects.

Logically speaking, there's no problem with this. After all, he has not done anything great since he was born, nor has he made any contribution to society. The only subject he is good at is Japanese literature. If he has done any good deeds, as far as he can remember, when he first started school at General Affairs High School, he once rescued Yuigahama's dog and was hospitalized for several days.

It's only natural that he would be assigned to Class D.

Although he didn't know the difference between these so-called A, B, and D classes, if he just wanted to live a peaceful three years, it didn't matter which class he was assigned to.

It is said that once you enter this school, you will not be able to leave within three years because the school has very complete infrastructure. Since it is a government-supported public school, in addition to the teaching buildings, dormitories, gymnasiums, etc. that normal schools have, it is also equipped with various entertainment venues such as cafes, cinemas, playgrounds, shopping malls, and karaoke.

However, Hikigaya didn't care about these things. After all, if nothing unexpected happened, he would choose to spend his holidays in the dormitory.

Hikigaya Hachiman was quite resistant to this kind of waste of energy.

By the way, the dormitories here seem to be single rooms, which is the design that Hikigaya is most satisfied with. It is simply the most genius design in the world. However, such a school can no longer be simply called a school. It's not an exaggeration to call it a small commercial district.

Hikigaya was walking on the way to Class D's classroom. In fact, he had just counted that there were only about 25 people in a class. There were three grades in the school, 12 classes in total, and only 300 students. So, most of the people walking on this street were not students, but store managers in the commercial district?

With that said, it's no wonder that there are cameras everywhere. After all, since they are not students in the school, a lot of security and video recording are needed to ensure that certain evidence is available in case of conflicts.

However, Hikigaya Hachiman believed that he was not the kind of person who stirs up trouble. This kind of camera may be able to protect his personal safety. In order to spend three peaceful years of high school life, anyway... just make this small effort.

In a good mood, Hikigaya followed the notice on the bulletin board and learned that freshmen should first go to the gymnasium for the opening ceremony and then report to their respective classes.

Having said that, the so-called opening ceremony is nothing more than listening to a bunch of useless nonsense.

However, Hikigaya Hachiman still recognized the 'bad woman' Horikita Suzune, who had shown him power at the beginning of the school year. She was standing next to him at the moment. This guy must be deliberately turning a blind eye to him, even though she had just talked to him. Although he was also very aware of his low presence, this guy was definitely doing it on purpose. Absolutely.

Could it be that the student council president on the podium was too fascinating? This was too incredible.

Amid such muttering, the opening ceremony finally came to an end. If one had to point out one aspect of the opening ceremony that was a success, it was that they were not tortured by the sun and exposed to its rays.

It's worthy of being a private school!

According to the instructions of the student council president, Hori, their classes were all in that teaching building, and according to the map in the freshman handbook, Hikigaya quickly arrived at the sign marked Class 1-D.

"I will spend the next three years in this class. I hope I won't encounter any difficult guys."

After praying hard, the boy finally stepped into the class. It seemed that he had come relatively early. After all, he was not attracted by those useless business circles on the way here, and he didn't have a particularly strong desire for the new school. If possible, he just wanted to stay at home and be a lifelong househusband.

Following the instructions on the podium, his seat was at the back on the far left.

"Great! This way, even if you do something else secretly, you won't be discovered by others. Those who can sit in the last row are really lucky."

Hikigaya was naturally very satisfied with this seating arrangement. Not only could it reduce other people's attention on him, but it also allowed him to pay attention to every classmate in the class at any time. For him, who was not good at socializing, this was one of the few sources of information.

In short, after knowing his seat, the boy did not stay in the conspicuous position on the podium but quickly came to his seat, skillfully hung his schoolbag aside, and sat down directly.

Even though not all the students in the class were present and most of them were sitting alone, Hikigaya always felt that the atmosphere in this strange classroom was terrifying.

The boy with golden hair put his feet directly on the table, looking at his nails narcissistically, with an air of arrogance. Similar to him was a boy with red hair. Although his muscle mass didn't seem to be much different, his face made people keep away from him at first glance.

In addition, there was a beautiful girl with a blonde ponytail who seemed to be full of estrangement. She was also good at socializing with Yuigahama and had started making friends with her. She was the short-haired girl he met on the bus. Although the classroom was not quiet, but... who was sitting next to him had always been a question he was curious about.

'I hope he's not a particularly troublesome guy...'

**

Sudou: "This is our class, right? I'm not seeing things."

Kikyou Kushida: "When did such a person appear in our class? I have never seen him before."

Even a social butterfly like Kushida Kikyo confirmed that she had never seen the boy in the video, and the people in the class were even more convinced that they had never seen this person in the class.

Although they didn't spend much time together, and many of them couldn't even be considered real acquaintances, as long as they lived in the same class together, it would be impossible for them to completely forget about the existence of that person, no matter how weak their presence was.

Hirata: "Why, why is this guy named Hikigaya sitting in Ayanokouji's seat?"

Hirata was already the core figure of Class D, and his words instantly made Ayanokouji the focus of the class. At this moment, his seat was exactly where Hikigaya Hachiman had sat in the video.

However, his reaction was the same as Horikita Suzune's—he just shook his head slightly. Although he usually did not have a strong presence in the class, his shaking of his head at this time did not disappoint everyone.

Should I say it or not? Because I don't have any expectations, I won't be disappointed, right?

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka looked at Hikigaya Hachiman, who had completely replaced him, and his expression remained unchanged.

**

"So, what should I do?"

Hikigaya Hachiman held his chin with one hand and closed his eyes slightly but at the same time looked at everyone in the class.

'He is so narcissistic and yet he doesn't care about other people's opinions. He releases himself wantonly. It seems that he is a hidden person.'

"She seems to be very good at dealing with people, but she seems to be a little different from Yuigahama. Did she receive some kind of shock that made her like this? For example, she feels insecure if she doesn't call him a friend..."

"He doesn't dare to initiate conversations, but he wants to echo other people's conversations. Not only that, he also wants to maintain a certain degree of initiative. Could it be that... he has been subjected to violence in the past, at home or at school? What a pathetic parasite..."

"Such a pretty and lovely girl should definitely appear in the entertainment industry. Why is she using such a clumsy method to hide her true appearance? No one should be able to see through it."

"This sick way of solidarity is exactly the same as that of a guy named... No, maybe even sicker than Hayato Hayama. This is pure hypocrisy."

Hikigaya Hachiman opened his eyes slightly and looked at everyone in the class. No matter who the person was, he could get a glimpse of them through sufficient observation.

And Hikigaya is an expert in this job.

He roughly guessed the personalities and even thoughts of everyone in the class. Although he could not confirm whether they were correct, as long as he verified it through future interactions, he would be able to roughly confirm whether the other person was consistent with his guess.

However, now he was still quite curious about what kind of guy sitting next to him was like.

If everyone is as scary as these people, it would be too terrible to stay here for three years. I really hope it is a simple and lovely guy, preferably an angel like Sayaka...

Just as Hikigaya was fantasizing like this, a familiar and somewhat arrogant figure slowly walked into Class D of the First Year.

"No, it's such a coincidence... It can't really be this guy."

The appearance of the black-haired girl made Hikigaya feel a little uneasy. It must be said that every time this girl appeared, Hikigaya felt a familiar yet strange feeling.

She is dark, arrogant, and sharp-tongued. Every aspect of her appearance fits the description perfectly, yet she is completely different from the girl in his impression.

**

T/N: It's wayyyyy toooo longgggg....