Chapter 232: Youth is Great.

After accepting Katsuragi's request, Hikigaya first checked the related rules. Then, he confirmed the process with Tachibana Akane and Horikita Manabu before finally feeling reassured. 

He was 99% sure Katsuragi was telling the truth, but there was still that 1% chance of a trap. If something blew up in his face, he'd be the one paying the price, so he had to be extra careful. 

Because of the summer Inter High tournament, the school's sports clubs had to travel for competitions. Every time they went out, the school arranged special buses and assigned staff to monitor them the entire time. The schedule and timing were strictly regulated, and everyone had to wear tracking devices. Even the rest areas at the competition venues were completely isolated from the outside world. 

The school had a well-established and mature system for handling this. As a student council member accompanying the basketball team, Hikigaya wasn't monitored as strictly as the players, but he still had to follow many protocols. He needed to report things in advance, and because he was in the student council, he had to be extra cautious. 

This time, Hikigaya was traveling with the basketball team as a student council representative. ANHS High School was in Tokyo, and as everyone knew, the competition for Tokyo's spots was incredibly tough. 

The schools participating in the summer IH tournament were all champions from their respective regions. Tokyo had over 200 high schools, but there were only two available spots, making the competition brutal. 

That's why the selection rounds for the summer IH tournament had started as early as June. ANHS High School was in East Tokyo, and both East Tokyo and West Tokyo had only one qualifying spot each. 

ANHS High School's basketball team had always been strong. This year, they made it to the East Tokyo finals and secured their place in the summer IH tournament by defeating their opponent. 

Now, ANHS High School had reached the quarterfinals, with today's match determining who would move on to the semifinals. 

On the team's bus to the competition venue, everyone's expressions were tense.

Because ANHS High School made it to the quarterfinals, their opponent was Fukuoka Ohori High School, a strong team from Fukuoka Prefecture and the defending champion of last year's IH Summer Basketball Tournament! 

Since ANHS's match was in the afternoon, Hikigaya took the opportunity in the morning, while the team was practicing, to explain his request to the accompanying teacher. He also handed over a stamped document he had prepared in advance at school. The teacher glanced at Hikigaya, then pulled out a phone and began verifying the information. 

About ten minutes later, the teacher returned and nodded, indicating that everything was in order. Then, the other person took a palm-sized mini phone from a box and handed it to Hikigaya. 

"This is a real-time tracking device. It will also record everything. Your movement range is limited to two kilometers, and your time is one hour. If any violations are found, you'll be expelled immediately. You understand what counts as a violation, right?" 

Hikigaya nodded. He had already learned all the rules back at school. Although this was his first time purchasing "off-campus activity time," it wasn't his first time leaving the school, so he remained calm. 

After Hikigaya left, another teacher standing nearby came over and curiously asked, "I remember this student is just a first-year, right?" 

"That's right. Very few students qualify to buy 'off-campus time.' It's rare to see even one in two or three years. And for a first-year to do it? That's even more unusual." 

"A first-year? If I remember correctly, purchasing 'off-campus time' from the school costs at least two million private points, right? He's only a third of the way through his first year—where did he get that many points? Even my monthly salary isn't that much!" 

"That's not something for us to worry about." 

… 

After leaving the gym, Hikigaya hurried across the street to a family restaurant. The moment he stepped inside, he immediately spotted a girl sitting in a booth by the window. 

Just then, she also noticed him. She jumped up from her seat, waved excitedly, and shouted, "Onii-chan, over here!" 

Seeing Komachi's face after such a long time, Hikigaya didn't care about the curious stares around him. He was too happy and quickly walked over. 

"Hahaha! I told them Onii-chan would definitely be super excited and happy to see Komachi!" 

As soon as Hikigaya reached the booth, he heard Komachi proudly boasting to the two people sitting with her. 

Hikigaya: "..." 

He looked at the other two. Shizuka-sensei needed no introduction. If not for her help in arranging everything, there was no way he could have met Komachi in just one hour. 

"Hey~" 

Shizuka-sensei gave him a small wave. 

Then, Hikigaya looked at the other person—a girl, to be exact. She wore a red hoodie, had short, boyish black hair, and was staring down at her cup. Even though her drink was already empty, she kept biting the straw, acting as if she hadn't noticed him. 

"Nishimiya?" 

Hikigaya was surprised and blurted out, "What are you doing here? Don't tell me you skipped class again?!" 

The girl, who had been chewing on her straw, instantly looked up with wide eyes and glared at him. She puffed up her cheeks and said, "I did NOT skip class! And it's summer break, you know!" 

But the next second, she suddenly deflated like a balloon, lowered her head, and mumbled softly, "I promised you, didn't I? That I wouldn't skip anymore… So I'm really going to attend properly this time." 

"Alright, alright." 

Shizuka-sensei stepped in to smooth things over. "Nishimiya is telling the truth. She's been attending every day this term. Hikigaya, come on, you finally get to leave school, and the first thing you do is tease her?" 

"Exactly! My dumb Onii-chan doesn't understand girls at all! And to think Komachi specially made you a bento… I might as well take it back for Dad! He kept asking me yesterday if I got a boyfriend—so annoying!" 

Komachi chimed in as well. 

"Uh…" 

Hikigaya scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry, Nishimiya. It's been a while since we last met, so I just wanted to joke around." 

"let's just ignore this him. He doesn't understand girls at all. You were looking forward to today for so long, and you even dragged me along to help make the bento. And now he's gone and ruined everything." 

Komachi pouted. 

"Ah, Komachi, don't say that~" 

Nishimiya panicked and tried to cover Komachi's mouth. "I-I wasn't looking forward to it that much! I just… It's been a while, so I was kind of a little excited, that's all!" 

Shizuka-sensei watched this scene quietly and couldn't help but smile. 

"Ah, youth is such a beautiful thing."

一 一 一 一 一

You can read 30 advanced chapters on

pat reon.com/GMadman

一 一 一 一 一