Chapter 79: 18+ Cavalry

  On the other side, after driving away Hikigaya, Ishizaki and Ibuki quickly left, afraid that staying even a second longer would result in getting caught by the irritated Hiyori. Naturally, they didn’t notice that the girl had already disappeared from sight.

  However, since they left the library, Ishizaki had seemed a bit strange and silent.

  "Hey, Ibuki!"

  Suddenly, Ishizaki stopped and called out to the blue-haired girl in front of him. She gred back at him impatiently, as if telling him to hurry up and say whatever he needed to say.

  "Did you hear what that guy Hikigaya said in the library just now?"

  Ishizaki scratched his head and looked at Ibuki with an inquisitive gaze.

  Ibuki remained silent, and upon seeing this, Ishizaki’s face lit up. He quickly said, “So you heard it too! So, it turns out the school has hidden a method to use past exam papers. If we get our hands on the previous years’ test papers, we won’t have to worry about failing the exams and getting expelled!”

  Of course, the more important reason was not having to study so hard every day, escaping the hardships, and heading toward a happier life. But he didn’t want to say that aloud, as it would make him seem like a total scker.

  Ishizaki expected Ibuki to be just as excited as he was, but to his surprise, Ibuki looked extremely annoyed. “So what! Even without the past papers, I could still pass the exams on my own. I’m not interested in cheating like that!”

  "Huh?"

  Ishizaki, with his confused expression, asked, "Why not? Didn’t that guy say that the school doesn’t have any explicit rules about it? That means it’s a loophole everyone can use. If we don’t use it, then the people in Css D will definitely use it, and if anyone in our css gets expelled, we’ll lose 300 css points, and we might even end up dropping to Css D!”

  With such an easy shortcut, why not use it? Ishizaki couldn’t understand Ibuki’s reasoning.

  Ishizaki’s logic wasn’t wrong. This rule was there, and higher-ranked csses naturally looked down on using it, but for lower-ranked csses like C and D, they had to consider it. If C css “prides itself on integrity” and refuses to take shortcuts, Css D won’t hesitate to use it, and the consequence could be C css being overtaken by D css!

  Ibuki understood this reasoning from the perspective of css interests, but on a personal level, she wasn’t happy about it.

  "Hey, Ishizaki, haven’t you considered that this might be a trap?"

  Without hesitation, Ibuki threw a bucket of cold water on his excitement. "Don’t forget, the one who mentioned it was that dead-fish-eyed guy. He could easily be setting something up."

  "Huh? A trap?"

  Ishizaki froze for a moment but then shook his head. "No, that’s not right. Just like that dead-fish-eyed guy said, we can confirm this with the senior students. We can’t think that every senior student is in on it, right?"

  "If it’s Ryuen, he would definitely agree without hesitation!"

  Ishizaki was full of confidence, as Ryuen was the de facto ruler of Css C. As long as Ryuen agreed, no one would object.

  "Hmph! If you want to do it, then go ahead! I’ve already warned you. What happens next is none of my business!"

  Ibuki understood that once Ryuen spoke, there would be no suspense, so she decided to ignore it. With that, she left after throwing out her words.

  Ishizaki ignored Ibuki’s attitude and excitedly took out his phone, ready to report the matter to Ryuen. But just as his finger was about to dial, he suddenly stopped and chose to contact another person.

  "Hello, Albert? I need you to help me with something..."

  ...

  At the Keyaki Shopping Center, in a café called RH, the dead-fish-eyed boy was sitting uneasily, the complete opposite of the girl sitting across from him, who was flipping through a rabbit-themed menu with excitement.

  Hikigaya looked around the café, unsure of which one it was in the Keyaki Shopping Center, but it was clear that it had a very cutesy, feminine style. The café was filled with lots of bunny elements, so its main audience was girls who liked cute styles.

  In fact, the female-to-male ratio in the café was extremely high, which was exactly why Hikigaya was feeling so uneasy.

  At the same time, Hikigaya encountered someone he didn’t expect—Koenji!

  From a distance, it seemed that Koenji was on a date with a senior girl. The two of them were acting all lovey-dovey and shamelessly engaging in various intimate actions in public, including but not limited to drinking from the same straw, feeding each other food, the girl sitting on his p, and even kissing? Kissing on the lips?!

  This scene was way too steamy for a loner like Hikigaya. He could even see Koenji’s hands being rather unrestrained. The senior girl even winked and made some ambiguous noises.

  This definitely needed an 18+ rating. Oh, and let’s add the cavalry system to that!

  "Hikigaya-kun, what are you looking at?"

  "No, nothing!"

  Hikigaya quickly looked away. Actually, this wasn’t the first time he’d seen Koenji on a date with a girl. He’d occasionally seen such steamy scenes in the school hallways, and the girls were never the same!

  A real “sea king”!

  These girls were mostly uppercssmen who were about to graduate. Hikigaya could more or less guess what they were thinking. Since they couldn’t be strong, they might as well be realistic and pursue what was practical.

  "This bunny café is really popur among the girls. I’ve heard the girls in css say that their Blue Mountain coffee and chestnut yokan are famous..."

  Hiyori excitedly flipped through the menu, looking very different from the calm and quiet girl in the library. She was clearly much more lively now. Hikigaya could feel her mood swings quite clearly.

  Suddenly, Hikigaya had an idea and his face turned strange. "I say, Hiyori, you didn’t bring me here just because you really wanted to come, did you?"

  So all that talk about defying Ryuen and apologizing was just an excuse?

  The smile on Hiyori’s face froze immediately, and she slowly buried her head in the menu, too embarrassed to make eye contact with Hikigaya.

  "Sorry, I... I’ve been hearing the girls in css talk about how popur this pce is, so I’ve always wanted to try it when I had the chance, but..."

  Hiyori’s voice was shaky, and it was clear that she was feeling guilty.

  In some ways, Hiyori and Hikigaya were very simir—neither had friends or social connections, so they were both oddly "afraid" of going to a café alone.

  It was like how a girl would rather go to a convenience store than go shopping alone at a mall, or how ramen shops are completely off-limits for girls.

  Hikigaya completely understood what Hiyori was feeling at that moment.

  "Next time, you just need to ask, and I’ll come with you."

  Hikigaya couldn’t help but say softly.

  "Huh! Really?"

  Hiyori suddenly peeked her head out from behind the menu and looked at Hikigaya with surprise.

  Hikigaya kept his expression bnk and nodded stiffly. Hiyori couldn’t help but let out a joyful cheer.

  After the awkward tension was lifted, Hiyori seemed much more lively, and while waiting for their food, she curiously looked around at the café’s décor and the students around them.

  For some reason, Hiyori’s face slowly began to turn red, and her excited smile gradually faded into silence. She lowered her head, not daring to look at Hikigaya.

  Her sudden change in mood caught Hikigaya’s attention. Just as he was about to ask her what was wrong, he froze and his face suddenly became odd. After a moment of silence, he awkwardly spoke.

  "Hiyori, how about we go somewhere else?"

  Hikigaya showed an embarrassed expression.

  "B-but..."

  Hiyori’s face showed reluctance, but... the atmosphere in the café was too ambiguous!

  No wonder the girls in css kept saying how popur this café was!

  No wonder Koenji chose to have a date here!

  It wasn’t until now that they both realized... this café was a couple café?!

  Hikigaya and Hiyori’s gazes met at the same time. The next second, they both quickly looked away, and the atmosphere between them grew increasingly strange.

  Hikigaya decided to do something about it...

  "Hiyori, have you ever heard of Q-chan? Oh, you might not know about it, but it’s actually the Pretty Cure!"

  "?"

  Bckghosts