CH. 75 - The Night of the Cultural Festival

In November, the class sits silently as Samuel starts the class. She slams her hand against the chalkboard with big words written on it. 

 “Alright! The time has come for us to put together our own project for the Cultural Festival!” She says with a serious look and smile on her face. The class stares for a moment in silence.

 “That shouldn’t be too hard.” Daiki says.

 “Honestly, the play was probably much worse.” Kitaro says too.

 “There was a festival this year?” Alice asks as Touma shrugs in response. Samuel sweats and is shocked by the class’s lack of excitement.

 “Come on, guys! It’s time for the Cultural Festival! Aren’t you excited?” She asks enthusiastically. The class has a neutral response. Samuel droops as she turns a bit. “Well, I used to love them in highschool…” she says before facing the class and clearing her throat. “Anyway, we, as a class, have to come up with a themed experience to participate in the festival that will be open to the public. We only have a short time to prepare, so let’s start brainstorming!” Samuel tells the class. Alice instantly stands up enthusiastically.

“I know! Let’s have a Shayblade tournament! We’ll provide the blades!” She says while holding four between her fingers confidently.

 “Yeah, I don’t think so.” Samuel immediately and casually disregards her.

 “Shot down immediately!” She yells, stunned. 

 “Why don’t we just set up a videogame room?” Kitaro proposes as uninterested as he could possibly be.

 “Kitaro, you always want to play videogames!” Hisana says, pouting a bit. The class argues back and forth for a bit, no one proposing an idea that everyone enjoys, before Kuzan suddenly speaks up, cooly from his seat.

 “Why don’t we do a maid cafe?” He offers. Everyone stops and looks at him as he smirks at their reaction.

 “Don’t you think that’s a bit overdone?..” Lucy asks, obviously not liking the idea.

 “Yeah, and other classes are definitely gonna think of that idea.” Haru points out.

 “People do like seeing girls in maid outfits though.” Suiyoubi says, trying to find the upside to the idea when Kuzan cuts them off.

 “No.” he says. Everyone is surprised as he opens his eyes and looks sharply at the entire class. “The guys are the maids.” He says boldly. Everyone is stunned by this idea as the guys sweat.

 “Maybe not…” Ryuji says softly.

 “I don’t think that-” Hikigaya tries to speak up but is suddenly interrupted by three girls, Alice, Chizuru and Hisana, absolutely screaming in excitement.

“YES!” they all shout as they stand up and nosebleed or steam and blush. They start gushing over this proposition as Daiki sweats.

 “Don’t we get a say in this?” he asks as Airi interjects.

 “Don’t act like you weren’t down for the girls doing it.” She says with a sharp tone. He sweats and laughs a bit, trying to shift attention. Samuel wants to debate the idea but sighs and smiles.

 “Alright alright. It sounds like the class has made a decision. So let’s go with Kuzan’s idea. Now come on, let’s get started with development.” Samuel tells the class as she starts writing up on the board the ideas of the students speaking. From cafe design to clothing preparation, the class gathers and gives many ideas to Samuel. Kitaro then approaches Kuzan with a cartoonishly angry look.

 “I hope you don’t think you’re not dressing up too. I’ll make sure you-” Kitaro says intensely before being interrupted.

 “On the contrary, I look forward to it.” Kuzan says with sharp eyes. Kitaro sweats and stares at him before turning around upset.

 “Whatever.” He mumbles as he walks away. As the class talks, Shiori writes in her notebook when Chizuru approaches her and leans on her knees next to her with a smug look.

"So. I noticed you didn't really react when we decided to put the boys in maid outfits." Chizuru says. Shiori closes her eyes as she doesn't bother to look at her smug face.

"Nope. I don't really care that much." Shiori says. Chizuru only leans closer and looks smugger.

"Oh? So you don't even care that includes Hikigaya dressed up all cute just to serve?" she teases. Shiori blushes as she looks away a bit.

"I know what you're trying to do. I'm not gonna think about it." Shiori denies.

"Why not? I know you wanna~" Chizuru teases more and more until Shiori eventually gets so flustered she snaps.

"Fine, I wanna see him in a maid outfit! Is that what you wanna hear? I want to see him dressed up on his knees begging to serve me like a good little maid from those erotic romance stories. Is that good enough for you?" Shiori says rather loudly and flustered, but not so loud she's heard by everyone over all their conversations. She was just loud enough, however, to be heard by Haru talking to Hikigaya and a couple others. He smirks and bumps Hikigaya's shoulder.

"I think they're talking about you." he says as he nods towards Shiori and Chizuru talking. Hikigaya looks confused.

"Wait, what? Really?" he asks before stepping towards the girls. "Were you guys talking about me?" he asks. Chizuru looks at him surprised as Shiori blushes and glares at him.

"No, I was talking about someone else." she says firmly. Hikigaya sweats as he smiles awkwardly.

"Oh. R-right…" he says before turning around with an almost disappointed look. Shiori blushes as she pouts when Chizuru leans in close with a smug look. Shiori glares at her before pushing her face away.

"Shut up. This is your fault." She says as Chizuru giggles. Hikigaya looks at them from over his shoulder with a soft stare as his eyes portray almost a sense of jealousy. Just like that, the class continues their rather passionate development of this idea.

 As the days go on and the class continues their development of the event, a day comes where Shiori writes in her notebook, not so interested in the festival, before getting a frustrated look and letting out a huff. She closes her notebook in frustration and lays her head down, blushing as she looks to her side. Hikigaya notices her frustration and looks at her for a moment, thinking. He squints subtly as a thought crosses his mind, encouraging him to speak up.

 “Hey Shiori, you okay? You seem distracted.” he says. She sits up, a bit surprised by his question, and looks at him.

 “What? Oh yeah, I’m fine, just… thinking.” She says shyly. Hikigaya looks at her as if examining every little detail about her response before prying further.

 “Thinking about what? It must be pretty big if it’s distracting you from writing.” Hikigaya says when Alice and Daiki walk into the classroom with big piles of supplies.

 “You could be helping us if you need something to focus on.” Daiki says with some attitude as Lucy glares at him.

 “Leave them alone. Shiori wrote the play. She can sit out of the pre-production of the festival.” Lucy says as Daiki nods.

 “Right, right...” he says with a compliant sigh as they fade off into the background. Hikigaya chuckles a bit at the reaction as Shiori looks at the back of his head with a blush, pouting a little. She thinks for a moment before perking up just a bit with an idea and getting a little embarrassed.

 “Well, if you really want to know… I’m thinking about.. my crush.” Shiori says to him with a blush. Hikigaya turns around with wide eyes as he stares at her.

 “Eh?” He is stunned as he stares at her with a frozen smile. “Your… crush?” he asks. She nods softly. Hikigaya stares for a moment but quickly snaps out of it and smiles at her. “Oh, yeah. Of course! Just because you gave up on Ryuji doesn’t mean you’d never fall in love again! Silly me!” He bonks his head a bit as Shiori gets a little upset at his reaction.

 “I’m just thinking of ways I could ask him out. Or maybe just talk to him about it.” Shiori says, looking at Hikigaya with very particular eyes.

 “Well, you know I always got your back. If you need help with anything, just let me know!” Hikigaya says with a bit of a sweat but a big, supportive smile on his face. This reaction again causes Shiori to look even more upset before she closes her eyes and looks away.

 “Sure, you can help me.” She says. He looks surprised before she looks at him again with an angry look. “By shutting up and not talking anymore!” She shouts while throwing a book at his face, causing him to fall out of his chair from the impact. Chizuru is surprised by the act but smiles warmly at them.

 “You guys are so cute together.” She says with a blush. Hikigaya sits up from the floor as Shiori turns to her with blushes on their cheeks.

 “We are not together!” They shout while blushing as Chizuru giggles.

The days go by fast as the class works hard on their event, building the set and costumes, gathering supplies, and doing all the necessary prep work needed for the Cultural Festival. Each and every one of them doing their part, and soon, the day of the festival begins.

 Shiori walks to school like any other normal day, but the look on her face isn’t a normal one. She looks a bit anxious, as if she has a lot of thoughts running through her head. Her thoughts don’t spill into words, though, as Chizuru approaches her.

 “Good morning, Shiori!” Chizuru says happily as Shiori smiles at her.

 “Hey Chizuru.” Shiori says. Chizuru leans forward with a smile as she looks at Shiori.

 “So, you excited for later?” She asks. Shiori nods a little.

 “Yeah, I suppose so. The festival sounds like it’ll be fun even if we spend most of the night cooking for guests.” Shiori says as Chizuru looks at her smugly.

 “Nooo, I meant about seeing Hikigaya in a maid outfit.” Chizuru teases as Shiori looks at her a bit shocked.

 “Why would I be excited about that?” Shiori asks before suddenly both Chizuru and Shiori are grabbed around their necks by Lucy playfully jumping on them.

 “Oh, come on! Isn’t it obvious? When else are you gonna get a chance to see him like this?” Lucy asks as she looks at Shiori before smirking at Chizuru and tugging her tightly a bit. “Even Chizu here is excited to see Touma like that, right?” Lucy teases. Chizuru looks surprised and gets embarrassed as she blushes.

 “N-no! I mean, yes! I mean, well, not just him. I just think because he’s so big and strong, it might be extra cute on him…” Chizuru admits shyly, pushing her fingers together as she looks away.

 “Yeah, but didn’t you, like, choose the exact outfit he’d be in?” Lucy asks as they think back during the previous days.

 Chizuru is helping fold something when Touma shyly approaches her.

 “Uh.. Chizuru? Could you help me with something?..” he asks timidly, holding his phone in his two hands. Chizuru looks at him and smiles.

 “Of course!” she says. They’re then sitting at their desks pushed together as they look at Touma’s phone.

 “Oh, oh, this one! Wait, this one would probably be better on you. No, wait, definitely this one! This is the one we gotta go with!” Chizuru says excitedly as they swipe through different maid outfit pictures on his phone. Touma smiles and nods as she happily helps him. “I’m so excited. You’re gonna look so cute in this!” Chizuru says with a blush and a cute smile. Touma just smiles back as the memory fades.

 Chizuru looks embarrassed as they bring up this happy thought. Lucy smiles warmly before she sighs a bit with a smile.

 “Yeah, it’s too bad I don’t get to see Ryuji in one though since he’s the only one in the class who can really cook…” Lucy says disappointedly before looking at Shiori. “At least you get to see Hiki in one. Speaking of, where is he?” Lucy asks, leaning off of them a bit and looking around.

 “He came early with the other boys to bring some stuff and make sure the outfits fit properly. Suiyoubi should be with them.” Shiori says casually as the girls walk into school together.

 As they walk down the hall, Shiori looks a bit anxious again before she speaks up to her friends.

 “Guys? I got a question.” She says. Lucy and Chizuru look at her. Shiori hesitates as she blushes but soon opens up. “How would you go about hinting to a guy that you like him?..” Shiori asks softly. Lucy is surprised as Chizuru lights up.

 “You just go up to him and say that you love hi-” Chizuru says excitedly before Lucy grabs her lips tightly, shutting her up.

 “Hoo~ you’re asking the wrong girls that question. I didn’t even really confess to Ryuji and Chizuru here has no idea when it comes to getting partners.” Lucy says as Chizuru struggles behind her trying to free herself. Shiori looks a bit upset that she couldn’t get any advice as Chizuru finally breaks free.

 “Wait, Shiori, are you trying to drop hints for Hikigaya??” Chizuru asks excitedly. Lucy looks surprised, realizing that too, and looks at her.

 “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” Lucy asks as Shiori rubs her bangs together, embarrassed.

 “Yes?.. No.. Agh I don’t know! I’ve never really had anyone like me before, let alone having a b-b-bo...” Shiori slowly stutters out.

 “Boyfriend.” Lucy says, smirking at her. Shiori nods. Chizuru giggles happily. “Well, Hikigaya is kinda dumb, so your hints would have to be big and direct if you want him to catch on.” Lucy says.

 “What happened to playing it cool?..” Shiori asks her timidly. Lucy thinks for a moment before answering.

 “Yeah, well, I’m not your mom. You can do what you like. Just don’t blame me if things go south with him.” Lucy says casually, scaring Shiori a little.

 “Lucy! It won’t go south. They’re totally in love!” Chizuru says to her.

 “Oh yeah? And what makes you so sure?” Lucy asks with lip as she raises an eyebrow at her, but before they can discuss more, they hear a scream. The three of them look shocked before rushing to the scream, their classroom.

 Once they get there and through the doors, they stop when they see Suiyoubi with a distraught look and the others gathered around her.

 “What happened?” Daiki asks.

 “You alright?” Sugawara asks.

 “The maid outfit! It’s missing!” Suiyoubi says, looking at one missing out of the small lineup of the others. Everyone starts looking around frantically.

 “But it was here just a moment ago.” Airi says.

 “Aw man, it was mine too...” Hikigaya says with a droop.

 “You seem rather disappointed.” Touma says quietly. Hikigaya goes to say something else but stops with a surprised look before slowly turning around with a squint at Touma.

 “You know, no one will believe me if I say you were trying to be funny.” Hikigaya says to him as he just smiles back.

 “It must have been stolen!” Alice proposes with a wide stance. Airi looks at her with an annoyed look.

 “Stolen? Why would anyone steal a maid costume?” Airi asks as Shiori notices something out of the corner of her eye. She turns around to see a fourth year slowly walking away with the maid costume, trying to be sneaky. She stares at him before realizing and shouting.

 “Hey! That guy’s got it! He’s stealing it!” Shiori shouts as the fourth year student tenses up. Alice looks at Airi smugly as Airi rolls her eyes.

 “Get him!” Hikigaya shouts before taking off after him. The student runs off down the hall with a worried look as a few others take chase too. The student rushes down the hall past many other students and classrooms until he comes to the stairwell and rushes down it. Hikigaya slides to a stop just before the stairs, but before he can go down, Shiori, who was chasing behind him, gets tripped up by a student coming out of a classroom due to the commotion. She narrowly avoids the student but in doing so, almost trips and tries to catch herself but can’t.

 “Hikigayaaa! Watch out!” She shouts, causing Hikigaya to look at her before they suddenly collide into each other and go falling back. The student peeks from the stairwell and chuckles out loud.

 “Huehue! Better luck next time, nerds!” he shouts before rushing off. Lucy, Alice and Touma follow but stop when they see Shiori and Hikigaya on the ground. Lucy puts her hands on her hips before speaking.

 “Really guys? Now’s not the time for that.” She says as Shiori and Hikigaya sit up only to realize she’s sitting on his lap. They blush hard as Alice gets excited and rushes out from behind Lucy.

 “Oh, I want a part of that action!” Alice says with her tongue out while diving forward at them, but Shiori and Hikigaya quickly stand up in a flash, leaving Alice to slam onto the floor.

 “R-right! Sorry!” they say together, looking away from each other as Lucy shakes her head with a smile.

 Somewhere else down a different hall, the fourth year student sits on the ground holding the maid costume in his hands with a pervy smile.

 “Huehuehue... that class is filled with all kinds of cute girls. I bet they were working so hard practicing in this...” the student says to himself before he takes a big sniff of the costume and lets out a sigh of relief. “Ah~ whoever she is, she smells so cute!” he says before some shadows appear over him. He looks blankly as the group surrounds him with upset looks.

 “So you’re a pervert.” Lucy says.

 “I don’t care what he is. Get your hands off the outfit!” Hikigaya says before grabbing it and pulling it away from the student, but he refuses to let it go as they struggle over it.

 “Nooo! Just let me borrow it for like 5 and a half minutes!” the student says before eventually losing to Hikigaya, who takes it with a huff.

 “No way, you creep! Keep your hands off my stuff!” Hikigaya says before turning around and marching off with a huff. The student stares for a moment with a shocked look before his eyes grow wide.

 “Huh? Wha? No way..! It can’t be..! That was his the whole time..?” he seems absolutely traumatized by this fact as he suddenly grabs his head. “I can’t believe this! Noooo!” the student screams as the others walk off.

 “What’s his problem?” Alice asks as Shiori and Touma shrug. Despite this minor setback, the class soon gathers as originally planned and gets everything in order for the festival to come. The classroom is set up, the students are dressed, and everyone is ready for the festival to begin.

 Almost instantly, the school is filled with students, family and friends alike. Many people walk the halls of the school with happy faces all around, the school buzzing with laughter and joy. In a second year classroom, Tsuki sits at a desk by the entrance of his class wearing a fake moustache, a top hat and cape. He sighs as he lays his head on his gloved hand.

 “This sucks…” he groans as Milo pokes her head out from the curtain blocking the view of their classroom. The words “Magic Show!” on a sign pointing to their classroom.

 “Let me guess, you’re bummed cause you can’t be with Shiori right now?” Milo asks with a slight glare. Tsuki doesn’t even bother to look at her as he responds.

 “Mhm. I know I said I’d get over her, but I can’t help it. Her class is doing a maid cafe right now. What I’d give to see her in a maid outfit…” Tsuki says as he daydreams about her in one as Milo looks at him confused. 

 “Really? I heard they were doing an all male fashion show.” Milo says. Tsuki looks at her, confused by her words.

  In their classroom, Hikigaya, Kitaro and Touma stand next to each other, each in their own maid outfits. Hikigaya and Kitaro look upset and not having fun as people walk all around them.

 “This is totally lame.” Kitaro groans.

 “These costumes aren’t very comfortable.” Hikigaya says.

 “I don’t know, it feels rather freeing for me.” Touma says while flexing in a couple different poses. Suiyoubi then rushes to him as he flexes his arm.

 “Touma! I told you to be careful! These were made as a rush job and are tailored exactly to your bodies! If you flex too much, you might-” Suddenly, a tearing sound is heard along the sleeve of his uniform. Suiyoubi is stunned as Touma sweats.

 “Sorry…” Touma apologizes softly. Suiyoubi sighs.

 “It’s alright. Luckily, I thought of this. Come on.” She says as she pulls out a needle and thread while they walk to the back. 

 “I don’t know what you guys are complaining about, you chose the designs.” Daiki points out to them when Kuzan rushes past them holding two plates of food.

 “Come on, guys, these tables aren’t going to serve themselves.” Kuzan says rather enthusiastically as he skips along. Hikigaya and Kitaro sweat as Haru approaches them while looking around.

 “Have you guys seen Suga?” Haru asks when suddenly excited screams from a mix of girls, boys and others are heard. There is a small crowd gathered around Sugawara, who stands there embarrassed as people with heart eyes take pictures of him, saying how super cute he is.

 The girls of the class are running the food service stand as Alice stares at Sugawara getting swarmed by the people. Chizuru and Shiori prepare a plate of food behind her when Alice speaks.

 “It must be hard being that cute. Not like I’d know what that’s like.” Alice says before turning with a smile. “But whatevs! I don’t really care about that stuff, anyway.” She says while looking forward as Hikigaya approaches the stand.

 “Table four still needs their buns.” Hikigaya speaks with an embarrassed look. Alice’s eyes suddenly jump into hearts as he speaks.

 “Hubba hubba! Who is this cutie?!” she shouts with her tongue out as Hikigaya blushes and gets more embarrassed.

 “It’s still me! Just give me my damn food!” Hikigaya shouts. Alice hands him a small basket of buns, giggling as Hikigaya takes it with a huff. Shiori watches him leave with a subtly upset look. Chizuru notices her look as they continue to plate food delivered from a window behind them.

 “You okay, Shiori? You’ve been pretty quiet tonight.” Chizuru asks softly. Shiori slowly looks down at the plate in front of her before she answers.

 “Yeah, I’m fine.” She says. Chizuru stares at her for a moment more as Shiori starts to blush a bit with a sweat. Chizuru smiles smugly.

 “You like Hikigaya in the maid outfit, don’t you?” Chizuru asks. Shiori blushes harder and looks away.

 “...a bit…” she says softly.

 “You’re so cute.” Chizuru giggles. In the makeshift kitchen, Ryuji cooks as Lucy and Airi help and prep.

 “Could one of you ask how many people are still left?” Ryuji asks while focusing on the cooking. Lucy nods before poking her head out of the curtain.

 “What’s the guest count looking like?” Lucy asks. Hisana steps up and looks outside.

 “Uh, there’s at least eight more, but the line goes pretty far.” Hisana says. Lucy sweats a bit before going back into the kitchen.

 “Hisana says the line is still going long outside.” Lucy says with a concerned look. Airi sweats as Ryuji nods, a determined look on his face.

 “I’ll have to pick it up then.” He says before swiftly flipping between pans and pots while manipulating ingredients. Airi is shocked.

 “So fast!” Airi says. Lucy smiles warmly.

 “My loving cook. Come on, Airi. Let’s provide support!” Lucy says, pulling up her sleeve.

“Right!” Airi says with a confident smile before helping him cook.

 In the classroom, people enjoy themselves as the boys in their maid uniforms continue to serve. People take pictures with some of the nervous boys while Kuzan, Touma and Haru serve happily. After a while, things begin to slow a bit. Chizuru looks over with a smile at Shiori.

 “Shiori, why don’t you take a break first? We can handle it here.” Chizuru offers as Alice agrees.

 “Yeah!” She gives a thumbs up as Shiori nods a bit before stepping into their “break room”. She sits down and exhales in relief as Hikigaya steps in. They stop when they see each other before they both blush. Hikigaya timidly takes a seat next to her as they sit in silence for a moment.

 “You look cute…” Shiori says with a soft, embarrassed smile, so quiet is sounds like a whisper. Hikigaya smiles awkwardly as he rubs the back of his head.

 “Thanks, but can we not talk about me right now? This is a bit embarrassing…” he says softly. Shiori’s smile slowly drops at his words.

 “Right, sorry…” she says. They sit in silence again before Hikigaya perks up a bit.

 “Oh yeah, how about we talk about your crush?” He asks, trying to get more info from her. Shiori looks at him, blushing a bit, but gets timid and looks down.

 “Oh yeah, that.” She says softly.

 “So who is he? Is he in the class or does he go to a different school, I just don’t know him?” He jokes with a slight laugh. She looks at him and chuckles a bit despite his lame joke.

 “You’re so stupid.” She says with a disappointed smile before looking back down, her smile dropping slowly. “It’s not like that… You do know him.” She says.

 “Oh yeah? Well then, this should be easy, unless he has a childhood crush like Ryuji did, haha!” Hikigaya says trying to be supportive. His words don’t offer support, though, only seeming to make her more upset the more he speaks.

“Well, he sort of does. At least, Chizuru mentioned he did.” She says softly, thinking back to that moment. 

 “Does Hikigaya have any other crushes you know of?” Shiori asks Chizuru as they sit together at lunch alone.

 “Well, he does have this crush on a girl he met a long time ago.” Chizuru says with a finger on her chin as she looks up. Shiori is shocked.

 “Like a childhood friend??” Shiori asks, almost worried. Chizuru looks at her casually.

“I guess so. But I forgot I shouldn’t mention that to you, so forget I said that.” Chizuru says with her tongue out and a knock on her head as Shiori sweats. Chizuru giggles as the memory fades back to the present.

'Although I don’t know what she meant by that…’ Shiori thinks to herself. This moment of thinking gives Hikigaya a moment to contemplate as well. He puts his hand on his chin trying to think.

 “That may complicate things… but I’m sure we can figure it out.” He says, giving her a reassuring smile. “So why don’t you tell me his name?” Hikigaya asks as Shiori is stunned and blushes in embarrassment.

 “Uh... well, I don’t really want to say that yet.” Shiori says, diverting the question’s direction. Hikigaya looks at her confused.

 “Huh? But you want my help, right?” he asks. Shiori looks at him with a conflicted and flustered look.

 “Yes, I do.” she says.

 “It’ll be a little hard if I don’t even know who he is. If you’re worried about what I’ll think, don’t be! I won’t judge.” Hikigaya says supportively.

“It’s not that, it’s-” Shiori tries to explain the best she can, but Hikigaya interrupts and keeps speaking.

 “You can tell me anything. We are bestfriends after all!” Hikigaya says. Shiori blushes a bit at his words but focuses on the subject with a more upset look.

 “No, Hikigaya- It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just more complicated than that-” she speaks again, but Hikigaya doesn’t seem to be truly listening. Wrapped up in his own head, in his own emotions, he just keeps talking.

“If you’re worried our relationship might affect it, don’t be! I’ll make it clear you don’t care for me at all and he has nothing to worry about. We would never be together like that!” he says with a big smile despite the feelings in his chest screaming quite the opposite, each word hurting him just as much. ‘I don’t want to help her with her crush. Does that make me a bad person? I’m not even sure why not. I just... want her all to myself.’  Hikigaya thinks as he speaks, an intense feeling of jealousy and pain building in his chest. Shiori hears his words and almost winces, frustration and anger spiking in her soul along with a rush of other emotions flooding her.

 “Hikigaya!” she shouts, standing up suddenly. Hikigaya stares at her, shocked by her reaction and uncertain as to what to do. She gets an upset look before rushing out of the room without another word. Hikigaya watches her leave, sitting there too stunned to think.

 “What did I say?..” He asks himself before quickly getting up and chasing after her.