There is something wrong with Hikigaya’s classroom of the Elite, as expected

Chapter 14: The Popular Person

After leaving the life guidance room and returning to the classroom…

“What are you staring at?” Hikigaya noticed someone’s gaze and quickly covered his blushing cheek, defending, “I-I just tripped and fell earlier!”

“Tsk!”

The iceberg girl, Horikita, clicked her tongue, but her gaze didn’t shift.

It was all that violent teacher’s fault, Hikigaya felt a surge of anger. Teacher Shizune had a habit of pinching his cheek when scolding him, and she always did it so hard. Didn’t she know how thin-skinned he was?!

But luckily, it was lunchtime, so the ‘cool’ students like Hirata, Karuizawa, and others, along with the fool duo and the like, had gone to the school cafeteria or convenience stores. Very few students stayed in the classroom. Unfortunately, the iceberg girl, Horikita, was among them, and the ostrich girl sitting beside Hikigaya—Sakura, was also staying behind.

Actually, Hikigaya had noticed something. Most of the students who stayed in the classroom during lunch, apart from those gathered at tables eating bento, were the ones who didn’t fit in. You could tell this from their performances during the self-introduction session yesterday.

Of course, Horikita didn’t need any explanation. Beside her, the ostrich girl, Sakura, was also extremely shy and socially awkward. Even Hikigaya himself was among them, all of them genuine outcasts.

The fool duo, along with people like Sudo, might not be very popular, but they knew how to “group up.” As for the remaining students, they either chose to join the group or were pushed to the bottom tier, becoming someone even lower than them.

“Truly a clear hierarchy in relationships,” Hikigaya sneered. He wasn’t disparaging any particular person, nor was he criticizing the emergence of this phenomenon. Most people, either actively or passively, made choices to protect their own interests and integrated into the ‘group atmosphere.’

This was a human social instinct, and it couldn’t be called wrong. But what Hikigaya truly found wrong was… using this as a tool to ‘assimilate’ or ‘exclude’ others.

How could one avoid falling to the bottom of the class?

Would it be to change oneself and earn others’ recognition?

Correct… but not very effective.

So the answer… is to create a stepping stone that is even lower than yourself.

Just one day had passed, and by this morning’s break, various bad rumors about Hikigaya had already begun circulating. The instigators were none other than the fool duo. Hikigaya knew full well their purpose: by ridiculing and mocking him, they had successfully branded him as “the worst” in the class, and thus, they would be saved.

It was the same for Horikita, who seemed to be rejected by the girls’ group. The others probably faced the same fate.

The afternoon classes quickly passed, and soon it was time to leave. As soon as the bell rang, the teacher packed up and disappeared. The small girl groups in the class began discussing plans to shop and hang out at the Keyaki Shopping Center. It looked like not many were interested in the club recruitment.

At that moment, Hikigaya overheard Horikita and the emotionless Ayanokouji talking. Ayanokouji, the emotionless guy, seemed very interested in the club recruitment and actually invited Horikita to join him? Then, the two started arguing intermittently from lunch break onwards, even spiraling into some weird life philosophy debate.

Hikigaya thought Ayanokouji’s invitation would end in failure, but when he saw the two of them leave the classroom together, Hikigaya’s expression turned strange.

Two strange people.

Hikigaya thought to himself.

Back in his previous world, until he joined the Service Club, club activities were a completely unfamiliar term to Hikigaya. He had always been a veteran member of the Homecoming Club.

As a long-time member of the Homecoming Club, Hikigaya’s main leisure activity was reading, which was his most important mental food. He read a wide range of books, so his performance in humanities subjects was excellent.

Reading broadened a person’s ‘experience,’ and Hikigaya’s ‘maturity’ was closely related to his reading volume. Of course, this wasn’t because “he had no friends to hang out with outside and thus stayed at home reading books”—that reason was simply laughable.

Originally, Hikigaya had planned to visit the school library after school. He had already discovered that the school library was big and luxurious. Given that there weren’t many entertainment options, he was quite excited.

However, given the awful situation in his class today, Hikigaya could already predict that next month’s personal points distribution would be significantly reduced, and it would likely continue for a while.

For this reason, Hikigaya had to prepare in advance. Since he couldn’t rely on his classmates to make any changes, he would have to find ways to ‘increase his personal points’ on his own.

“Maybe I can find a clue in the school’s club activities.”

This was Hikigaya’s first thought. Of course, he had no real interest in joining any club.

“Definitely not because of Yukinoshita’s invitation. It just happened to be a coincidence,” Hikigaya muttered to himself.

.

.

.

“There are more people than I expected!”

As soon as Hikigaya entered the gym, he was surprised by the number of freshmen. When entering, each student was handed a pamphlet with information on the various clubs.

“The quality of the clubs is really high!”

Hikigaya noticed that the sports clubs in particular were of a very high caliber. There were many national-level clubs and competitors, with some even having won championships at the IH tournament.

At that moment, Hikigaya suddenly felt a chill behind him. Before he could react, a voice rang in his ear.

“Yaho~ Isn’t this Latecomer-kun? What a coincidence.”

Yukinoshita walked up to Hikigaya with her hands behind her back, smiling sweetly.

Hikigaya instinctively tried to flee, but before he could, Yukinoshita’s body blocked his path, as if she had already anticipated his movement.

“Am I really that scary? Or are you hiding something from me, Hikigaya-kun~?”

“… Absolutely not!”

“Then why the sudden hesitation?”

“…”

Hikigaya took a deep breath and said, “Yukinoshita-san, may I ask why you’re looking for me? I’m just a student from Class D; I don’t think I’m that valuable. Is this is about what happened in middle school?”

“About that, it’s really unfortunate for me, but I’m not really interested in digging deeper.”

Then, Yukinoshita suddenly wore a meaningful smile. “But what’s surprising is that you, Hikigaya-kun, think so lowly of yourself? Forget about your ‘great feats’ in middle school—just by entering this school, that already means you have some value. That’s what the teachers say, you know~”

The dead-fish-eyed boy answered flatly: “Lowly? Well, someone who was late on the first day of school is naturally going to face various criticisms and strange looks from classmates. Add to that my solitary personality, I naturally can’t blend into the small groups or make friends. Just like middle school, I’m a ‘worthless person’ in class, someone who could be easily forgotten.”

“So, Hikigaya-kun, are you angry because you’re upset about not being liked?” Yukinoshita suddenly seemed to understand.

“… No, I’m not!”

“Tsk, tsk.”

At the same time, Hikigaya noticed the increasing number of people around them. He realized that he and Yukinoshita were standing a bit too close. He instinctively pulled away and stiffened his face, saying, “I’m sorry, but I don’t expect things like that, and whether or not I’m welcomed isn’t something I can control.”

“So, Hikigaya-kun, are you the kind of person who shifts the blame onto others? Being overly stubborn will only backfire. If you’re willing to make changes, things will get better, won’t they?”

“I thank you.”

“Hehe, but you look like you’re not convinced.”

“No, absolutely not!”

Yukinoshita initially thought it was just a small joke, but Hikigaya kept retreating further, and this ‘stubbornness’ started to irritate her for some inexplicable reason, something even she didn’t notice.

“Is this the reason Hikigaya-kun is disliked by others? Sticking to your own opinions is a good thing, but sometimes it can become an obstacle for others to understand you. Don’t you think so?”

This time, Hikigaya surprisingly didn’t retort. After a brief silence, he nodded. “Your point makes sense. But is the recognition of others… real? Changing myself to gain others’ recognition, to become a popular person, is that truly who I am? In the end, I would just be a symbol that fits what ‘everyone’ expects—a person who understands the atmosphere and the air, but that’s a fake version of me.”

Becoming the ‘good classmate’ in the eyes of your peers, the ‘good student’ in the eyes of your teacher, the ‘good son’ in the eyes of your parents, and the ‘good employee’ in the eyes of your company… In the end, you never become your true ‘self.’

“Hikigaya-kun, your thinking is quite dangerous.”

Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the dead-eyed boy before her. “You’re denying your own potential for growth! People cannot live outside of society. Someone like that will only be drowned by their ideals. According to your logic, does that mean popular people have no value of their own?”

“I don’t deny that,” Hikigaya replied, “but there’s a difference between changing to become popular and changing to be accepted. The two are not the same.”

“So, are you saying that Hikigaya-kun thinks that by making changes, he’ll become a popular person?”

“No… I’m the type who, even if I change, will just end up being even less popular.”

Yukinoshita couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Haha, now that I think about it, you’re right.”

In this worldline, Hikigaya and Yukinoshita had only met twice, and yesterday they were still strangers, but when they interacted and talked, they got along unexpectedly well. Both of them seemed unaware of this.