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

Chapter 15: My Little Sister is Just This Cute

“I am Hashigami, and I serve as the captain of the archery club…”

At this moment, on the stage in the center of the gymnasium, a girl dressed in an archery uniform was introducing her club to the audience.

Next up was the leader of the school’s premier sports clubs, including the captain and catcher of the baseball team, Miyuki, the captain of the volleyball team, Ikawa, the captain of the swimming team, Tachibana, and so on.

Aside from these popular sports clubs, there were also many lesser-known or niche clubs, such as flower arranging, tea ceremony, calligraphy, and Karuta (a traditional Japanese card game).

Among them was a particularly unique competitive card game club—mahjong!

When Hikigaya traveled back in time, aside from changes in his personal relationships, the outside world had also undergone some transformations. For instance, the globally popular competitive mahjong sport, or the currently booming era of all-girls’ bands—both of which were things completely different from the worldline Hikigaya originally came from.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the gymnasium suddenly grew a bit strange. Both of them instinctively looked toward the stage, where only a boy with glasses remained.

The aura surrounding him was entirely different from the previous club representatives—much more serious. Hikigaya noticed how the senior students who were responsible for recruiting for the clubs earlier seemed unexpectedly serious and attentive, which was clearly where the sudden pressure came from—the senior on stage.

The subtle shift in the air wasn’t something everyone could sense. Many freshmen didn’t notice it and even laughed, calling them out as the foolish duo who had no clue about the atmosphere!

That’s right, Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo had also come to the club recruitment event, and notably, they were accompanied by the stoic-faced boy and the icy girl. So, their relationship was that good?

But soon, many people began to notice the change in the surroundings. The once noisy gymnasium seemed to have been silenced with the push of a button. The whole space seemed to be under the control of the senior on stage. After a few seconds, the senior finally began to introduce himself.

“Horikita Manabu, Student Council President, huh?”

Hikigaya couldn’t help but think, no wonder this person had such a strong presence—he must be the student council president of this school.

“…The student council and club activities, in principle, do not allow students to participate in both at the same time. Students who are interested in joining must be aware of this.”

“The school has granted the student council the right and mission to alter the regulations…”

“We will fairly evaluate the value of each student, so the student council does not welcome those with naive ideas…”

“We only welcome students who understand this!”

With that, the imposing third-year student council president left the stage, and after a few dozen seconds, the gymnasium returned to its usual noise.

“Interesting.”

Hikigaya murmured. The student council president’s speech was short and simple, but the information conveyed was worth pondering.

If one couldn’t understand the truth about this school, it would be difficult to comprehend the true meaning behind the president’s words. Not only that, but the speech from Teacher Chabashira on the first day of school and the rules in the student handbook all seemed to hide some secret waiting to be uncovered.

Clearly, compared to the silent senior students, most of the first-year students were unaware of this. However, there was one exception.

“Yukinoshita, are you planning to join the student council?”

Seeing the faint smile on Yukinoshita’s face, Hikigaya couldn’t help but feel a sense of certainty, as if Yukinoshita already knew the truth about the school.

However, Yukinoshita didn’t answer Hikigaya’s question and instead said to herself, “Hikigaya-kun, did you know? This is a Holy Grail that can grant any wish! Don’t you have any wishes or ideals you’d like to fulfill?”

A wish to fulfill…?

Hikigaya froze for a moment, then a bitter smile appeared on his face, though there was no change in his expression. “If I had to say a wish… I guess it would be to become a stay-at-home husband.”

It might have been a mere illusion, but Yukinoshita’s smile seemed to momentarily flicker, as if something was broken.

“My ideal is to be a stay-at-home husband. Of course, if that ideal can’t be realized, then I will have to work hard and eventually become a typical office drone,” Hikigaya said, not feeling any shame at all as he spoke.

“Uh… how should I put this… that’s a rather unique ideal.”

“It’s fine, if you want to laugh, go ahead,” Hikigaya said without any expression.

As soon as he finished speaking, Yukinoshita couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore, even tears were forming at the corners of her eyes.

“Hey, is it really that funny? Give me some face!”

“Honestly, I’ve never met anyone as interesting as you. Saying ‘I want to be a stay-at-home husband’ is totally a social death sentence!” Yukinoshita said while catching her breath and holding her chest in admiration.

“Huh? So, ideals are expectations, aspirations, right? If you can’t even speak up for your own, then not even the gods can help you achieve them.”

In reality, Hikigaya didn’t hate work, and he wasn’t really aiming to be a kept man. He simply loathed social interactions in the workplace, the careful navigation of relationships with colleagues, clients, and superiors.

The reason ideals are called ideals is because they exist in contrast to reality. So Hikigaya’s ideal of becoming a stay-at-home husband didn’t conflict with the reality of potentially becoming an office worker who spends every day squeezed into a crowded train and working long hours, from 9 to 9 or even 9 to 5.

He knew better than anyone the distinction between ideals and reality.

“Tsk, tsk, saying ‘I want to be a stay-at-home husband’ in front of a girl will definitely cost you points. Is this the real reason why Hikigaya-kun is not popular with girls?”

“If love and marriage need lies to sustain them, then I’d rather remain single forever. As long as I have Komachi, it’s fine!”

The dead-eyed boy had gone through numerous “social deaths” regarding girls and love, like mistaking that a girl liked him only to be rejected, or being misunderstood as a stalker when walking home with a girl he simply shared a route with. After these experiences, he no longer entertained foolish thoughts like “Does anyone like me?”

“I have to ask… Komachi is…?”

“Of course, she’s my… little sister!”

Yukinoshita widened her eyes in surprise and covered her mouth. “Did I just learn a secret I shouldn’t know? No! Should I be calling the police right now?”

Hikigaya’s face darkened, and he pretended to be calm as he said, “I—I have an absolutely pure sibling relationship with Komachi! Loving your little sister is justice! There’s nothing wrong with that, so… you can’t just randomly slander my innocence!”

Then he silently added to himself: Of course, this can’t be known by my dad, who’s a diehard daughter-lover. He’d never let me live it down!

“Indeed, loving your little sister isn’t wrong. But wait, why are you proudly saying ‘Loving your little sister is justice!’ in such a siscon-like manner! At this time, you should deny it three times and then immediately apologize by kneeling!”

Facing Yukinoshita’s righteous condemnation, Hikigaya showed no sign of reflection or shame, and it seemed as if he had the words “My little sister is just this cute” written all over his face!