Hikigaya's Inner World of Spring

"You wouldn't dare!"

Backed against a tree, Miura gritted her teeth as she glared coldly at the three gyaru closing in on her. Her hands instinctively moved to shield herself, adopting a defensive stance.

"Oh? You think we wouldn't?"

"Blame yourself for becoming Hayama's girlfriend!"

The smirks on the two girls' faces turned wicked, their intentions clear as they advanced step by step.

"You all..."

Seeing this, Miura instinctively tried to back away, but there was no path behind her, only the unyielding bark of a tree.

"Do it," ordered the chestnut-haired girl leading the trio.

"Got it!"

Without a moment's hesitation, one of the girls grabbed Miura's chin in an iron grip. Meanwhile, another girl raised her right hand high into the air, poised to deliver a hard slap.

Terrified, Miura's body trembled, and her eyes instinctively shut tight. In that moment of despair, a certain blond-haired boy's face surfaced in her mind. She silently prayed that he would appear to save her.

"Hayama, help..."

"Wait!"

A voice suddenly interrupted, halting the raised hand in midair.

"Hayama?!"

Miura's heart leapt with joy, and she immediately opened her eyes, looking toward the voice's source.

However—

When she saw who it was, her face froze, and the hope inside her plummeted into disappointment.

"Hayama?"

The three gyaru turned, startled, and quickly looked in the direction of the voice.

When they saw it was just Hikigaya, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The leader of the group, the chestnut-haired girl, arched an eyebrow and gave Hikigaya a sinister look. "Who are you?"

As she spoke, the two girls beside her followed suit, eyeing him maliciously, as if ready to pounce at any moment.

"Uh..." Hikigaya broke into a cold sweat.

Wow. These girls mean business.

I'm a guy, for crying out loud! Don't tell me you're planning to rough me up too?!

"I'm Hikigaya, a student at Sobu High. Also..." He took a deep breath and introduced himself calmly, "I'm a classmate of the girl behind you."

"Sobu High?"

"Her classmate?"

"Oh, I get it—you're secretly in love with her, huh?"

"Tsk, tsk... A pathetic simp, dreaming about a girl who's already been warming another man's bed—"

The trio sneered mockingly at Hikigaya.

Remaining composed, Hikigaya replied, "No, no, no! You've got it all wrong. I'm not here to play the hero. I just wanted to give you a little reminder."

"A reminder? About what?"

"Miura-san isn't Hayama's girlfriend. They're not together. In fact, they've never even kissed, let alone done anything else. So—"

"Shut up!!!"

Before the gyaru could react, Miura exploded with rage, glaring furiously at Hikigaya.

"Like I said," he continued, completely ignoring Miura's outburst, "you've misunderstood."

Then, addressing the leader directly, he said, "There's no point in picking on her. Hayama isn't dating her, and honestly, he doesn't even... really like her that much. You're just wasting your time here."

"HIKIGAYA!!!"

Miura nearly broke down when she heard him say that Hayama didn't like her. If her legs hadn't been injured, she might have lunged at him to teach him a lesson.

The three gyaru exchanged uncertain glances.

The leader, Nogami, glanced at Miura, who was still flushed with anger, then turned her eyes back to Hikigaya. After a moment of thought, she asked skeptically, "And why should I believe you?"

Calmly, Hikigaya answered, "I have Hayama's contact number. If you don't believe me, I can give it to you, and you can ask him yourself."

"You have Hayama's number?" Nogami's tone was full of surprise.

Miura's face immediately darkened. "Hikigaya... You're not giving them his number!"

Ignoring her, Hikigaya nodded and said, "Yes, I'll give it to you right now."

To Miura's utter disbelief and fury, Hikigaya coolly recited Hayama's phone number for the trio.

"Nogami, I've heard that Hayama's number ends with 21. This one seems legit," one of the girls whispered to the leader.

"Hmm."

Nogami nodded. Whether or not it was real could easily be confirmed with a quick call. But judging by Hikigaya's demeanor, it probably wasn't a fake.

"You're not bad at all, Hikigaya from Sobu High. Alright, I'll remember you." Nogami flashed a satisfied grin.

Hikigaya forced an awkward smile.

Phew, that was close.

They're Hayama's problem now, thank goodness. Please don't come after me!

A few minutes later, the gyaru trio finally left.

Hikigaya let out a deep breath, feeling a weight lifted off his shoulders.

Now it was just him and Miura.

Honestly...

Being alone with her felt a bit awkward.

Especially since Miura's face was now stormy with anger as she glared at him, looking like she might strangle him on the spot.

"Um, I'll get going now. Bye!"

I can't take this anymore! Time to run!

However—

"Wait!"

Miura suddenly called out.

Oh no.

She's going to kill me for giving out Hayama's number, isn't she?

"Is there something else?" Hikigaya turned back cautiously.

Miura's expression was still furious, but after gritting her teeth for a moment, she reluctantly muttered, "Tonight... Th-thank you..."

"Huh?"

Did Miura-sama just thank me?

Is the sun rising in the west today?

Ahem! Well, okay.

I guess Miura isn't such a bad person after all.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Hikigaya prepared to brush it off and leave.

But then he noticed something unusual—Miura was still sitting on the ground, holding her thigh.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Hey, what's wrong with your leg? Did those girls...?"

"No." Miura shook her head. After hesitating for a moment, she admitted, "It's my own fault. I tripped earlier while running."

"Running?"

"Yeah. I've been running for almost two hours," she said calmly.

"Two hours?!" Hikigaya's eyes widened in disbelief.

So this is the power of a true athlete.

No wonder she fell—running for that long, especially in the dark, was bound to lead to exhaustion.

Miura snorted. "Hmph! If it weren't for my injured leg and being so worn out, I wouldn't have been scared of them!"

"Uh..." Hikigaya wisely decided not to comment.

Those gyaru had been intimidating enough that even he, a guy, wasn't sure he could take them in a fight.

"So, um..." He hesitated before asking, "Do you need any help?"

"You? Help me? No, thanks!" Miura shot him a cold look.

"Even though I appreciate what you did earlier... Hmph! Just looking at you is irritating. The farther away you stay, the better. Otherwise, I might not be able to hold back from yelling at you!"

Hikigaya, who had originally planned to leave, found himself pausing.

Holding back from yelling at me?

Sigh. You're actually pretty kind, Miura.

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