Hachiman Hikigaya, who returned from his studies after completing his training.

Two weeks later, Hikigaya still hadn't received a reply from Sakayanagi Arisu, and the classroom was still filled with Chabashira Sae, the disqualified teacher.

After class, Hikigaya boredly took out his phone to surf the internet. He had already finished the book that Shiina had recommended to him yesterday. With Horikita Suzune as his new love interest, the intervals between Shiina recommending books to him had also lengthened.

"Actually, Sakura confessed her feelings to me."

After paying money to ensure safety and feeling that nothing had happened for a while, Yamauchi became active again, and would go crazy with his cronies Sudo and Ike as soon as get out of class was over.

He didn't notice the girls' disdainful looks at all and chatted endlessly about comparing the breast sizes of the girls in the class. After pointing out the top three, Yamanouchi started spewing nonsense, saying that one of them, Sakura, had confessed to him.

"Huh? Really? Yamauchi, you bastard!" Ike Kanji grabbed Yamauchi by the neck.

"Really, really, but of course I dumped her, after all, she's so unsophisticated."

Since Sakura and Hasebe went to the toilet together, Yamauchi didn't care about anything else, but he forgot that Sakura's friend Hikigaya was behind him.

Hikigaya pulled Ike Kanji away from Yamauchi, grabbed Yamauchi's collar with both hands and lifted him into the air. "It's not good to boast about yourself and affect other people's reputation, don't you think?"

Yamauchi's actions reminded him of his dark past. In junior high school, when he was of low social status, he confessed his love to a girl in public, and this incident became a weapon for other girls to attack the girl he had confessed to.

'So-and-so got confessed to by Hachiman, that's hilarious.'

This is a sore spot for him. He can tolerate being mocked by others, but the girl is innocent.

Yamauchi lied that Sakura's confession to him and subsequent rejection was even worse than what he had done before, and that he was now very angry.

"Let go! Hachiman, what are you doing?"

While talking, Yamauchi twisted his body and tried to struggle, but after being shaken a few times like a doll, he calmed down.

"Why don't you take a piss and look in the mirror? How could Sakura confess to a piece of trash like you?"

"Ken and Kanji, you two, please save me!"

When Yamanouchi, who was being lifted high up, realized that all the students in the class were looking at him, he felt so ashamed that his face turned red and he immediately asked his friends for help.

"Hikigaya..."

"Shut up!"

Having been beaten up by Horikita for two weeks, he showed no mercy to Sudo when he got angry, and Yamauchi wouldn't be coming down unless he apologized.

"Hachigaya-kun, let's talk this out and let Yamauchi-kun down first."

After a short while, Hirata, the kind-hearted man, came over and put his hand on his shoulder, trying to calm things down.

In response, Hikigaya put pressure on him directly, saying, "If Yamauchi doesn't apologize for his lies, I'll make him apologize even if it means using my fists."

Hearing him say that, Hirata had no choice but to turn his gaze to Yamauchi. "Apologize, Yamauchi-kun. As long as you apologize, Hikigaya-kun will forgive you."

"I...I..." Yamauchi, his only hope gone, lowered his head, his face ashen. "I'm sorry, I...I lied just now. Sakura never confessed to me."

After Yamauchi apologized, Hikigaya simply let go of him, causing Yamauchi to fall into his seat and look down at him, saying, "One should know one's place."

"I...I understand," Yamanouchi said, turning his head away from his imposing manner, not daring to look at him.

Just as they were about to return to their seats, Sakura and Hasebe, who had finished using the restroom, returned to the classroom through the back door. Everyone's attention immediately shifted from Yamauchi to Sakura, one of the people involved.

"W-what happened?"

Sakura, trembling with fear of being stared at, hid behind Hasebe, feeling very uncomfortable under everyone's gaze.

"Let me explain the solution to this problem."

Standing in front of Sakura, Hikigaya told her about Yamauchi's inappropriate remarks, and that he had already cleared things up for her and made Yamauchi apologize in public.

"Hachi is great." After praising Hachi, Hasebe launched an attack on Yamauchi, "You're not even trash. How could Sakura confess to a liar like you?"

"You're number one on the list of the most hated boys in the class."

“Airi is a former model, you’re not good enough for her.”

Hasebe, deeply concerned for her friend, said something that made the students in the class very concerned, and Sakura quickly covered her mouth and pulled her back.

"Really? This is possible?" Chi said, making an inappropriate remark.

Because Sakura always dressed herself in a rustic and unfashionable way in class, the other students didn't really believe her, which is why Yamauchi dared to say that Sakura had confessed her feelings to him.

The fact that the lowest-ranking boy in the class is paired with the lowest-ranking girl has some credibility.

"Let Sakura decide for herself," Hikigaya stopped Hasebe this time, just as she was about to get agitated again.

Chapter Thirty-One: I'll Wait for You

"I'm sorry, Airi."

In a corner of the school cafeteria, Hasebe Haruka clasped her hands together and bowed to apologize for exposing Sakura's past as a model.

After Sakura told her not to worry about it, he immediately hugged her and called her "love you" in a sickeningly sweet tone, revealing a lovestruck expression.

After receiving Sakura's plea for help, Hikigaya also came to her rescue, saying, "Hasebe, how can Sakura eat if you're holding her like this?"

He usually eats lunch with Ichinose, but today he's eating with Sakura because Sakura is treating him to thank him for stopping Yamauchi from talking nonsense.

"It's time to call me Kaka, isn't it? Hasebe's too formal." Hasebe let go of her hand and made a sad face. "Airi also wants Hachi to just call her Airi, right?"

"Eh?!" Sakura's shoulders twitched, but she didn't say anything in response, only looking at him expectantly.

You got teased by Kushida because you can't maintain a proper distance with your friends. Hachiman recalled that Kushida once revealed that Hasebe was too shameless to call her by nicknames after just a brief chat.

Moreover, the nickname "Jiajia" is a bit too embarrassing. He's not a girl, so how can you use a reduplicated word?

"Then I'll call you Haruka from now on, and Sakura will be called Airi."

Having already rejected Hasebe once, Hikigaya couldn't very well refuse again and had to compromise. After all, he still had a good impression of both of them; they were both good people who would drop out of school for each other.

“Great, Airi, how about you call me Hachiman Hikigaya together?”

"I...I'll still call myself Hachiman," Sakura, who had moved a little closer to Hasebe, said, looking at him expectantly. "Is that alright?"

Seeing the shy expression behind Sakura's glasses, Hikigaya naturally agreed, and Sakura showed a happy expression upon receiving the affirmative reply.

After dinner, Hasebe told him about Sakura being harassed by blog fans in the comments and showed him Sakura's blog. Sakura could usually ignore the general verbal harassment, but there were a few comments that she absolutely could not ignore.

Did you notice us making eye contact? I did.

Isn't it too much to ignore me? Or perhaps you just haven't noticed?

What are you doing right now? I really want to see you, I really want to see you.

The comment was posted within the last few days, and based on this fan's previous comments, Hikigaya realized that there was a high probability that this person was from this school.

"Since Xiao Ba is so smart, is there any way to find him?"

"Let me think about it," Hachiman said, resting his chin on his right hand and closing his eyes.

He ruled out the possibility that the fan was a student or a staff member of the school, and based on the comments, Hikigaya could determine that he could not see Sakura often and did not have the identity to enter the school.

This narrows down the possibilities to staff at the Beech Tree Shopping Center. Although there are quite a few staff members at the shopping center, most of them can be ruled out through surveillance footage.

Currently, the blog posts mentioning a meeting with Sakura only cover the past two days. By checking CCTV footage based on Sakura's movements at the Keyaki Shopping Center on that day, the pool of suspects can be further narrowed down.

"I've got a solution. First, after school, Airi, come with me to the student council and report this." Hachiman opened his eyes after deciding what to do. "Solving this requires the student council's help."

The student union has the authority to check surveillance footage, but there must be a reason. The student union also has an obligation to address instances of staff harassing students.

.............

The room was filled with the smell of smoke, and hundreds of screens in the monitoring room were broadcasting surveillance footage. A dozen or so staff members immediately sat up straight after Horikita entered.

After informing the person in charge of the monitoring room, Horikita Manabu left.

Having connections makes things easier. After school, I reported Sakura's situation to his respected chairman, who quickly approved the report and put it under his care. The only difference was that an additional accountant, Ichinose, had to handle it.

"Hachigaya-kun and Sakura-san are very close."

After instructing the surveillance personnel which time period's footage they needed to view, Ichinose approached him closely.

"I am a single person, and Airi and I are just ordinary friends."

Because Sakura couldn't handle Horikita Manabu's sharp gaze during their time in the student council, she always hid behind him. The two did look quite close, and at that time, Tachibana Akane looked at him as if he were a scumbag.

In contrast to Hikigaya's words, Ichinose responded with a resentful look, "That's nice, I also want Hikigaya-kun to call me Honami."

Unable to withstand Ichinose's resentful gaze, Hikigaya could only look at the staff who were adjusting the surveillance footage. After Horikita Manabu left, those people had become lazy again, working slowly, taking so long to adjust the surveillance footage.

Get back to work, you pay thieves!

After complaining for a moment, Hachiman could only respond to Ichinose's words, "Sorry, I'm not ready for this yet."

Hasebe and Sakura are called by these intimate terms because of their friendship from a previous life.

He's a complicated person. Ichinose isn't considered a friend by him yet, even though he knows Ichinose does.

Ichinose has many friends, and he is just an ordinary one among them, only nominally labeled as her boyfriend.

"I'll wait for you, Hikigaya-kun," Ichinose said with a smile, responding to his cold reply.

"There's no need for that."

"Yes." After a simple and firm reply, Ichinose greeted the person in charge who had finished adjusting the surveillance footage with a smile.

"..."

The surveillance footage was only available for two or three hours. In the fast-forwarded video, every time a new face appeared, Hikigaya would find his name on the list of staff at the Keyaki Shopping Center, check it off, and record the time.

Sakura didn't run around, and the school's surveillance cameras with facial recognition were a huge help. After two hours of taking turns recording with Ichinose, a list of key suspects finally appeared.

There were fewer than ten people who saw or were able to see Sakura on those two days, and the suspect should be among them.

"Thank you all for your help, you've worked so hard."

After thanking the staff in the monitoring room and leaving the building where the monitoring room was located, Hachiman realized that it was already pitch black. The closed environment of the monitoring room reduced his sensitivity to the passage of time.

"What would you like to eat, Ichinose? It's on me."

The canteen is already closed at this time, so the two of them can only go to the center of the beech tree to find a restaurant to eat at or go to the supermarket to buy groceries and cook, but by the time they finish buying groceries and cooking, they'll be starving.

"Let's just go to the place that Hachiman likes to eat," Ichinose said, stretching lazily with her arms raised high, her proud and upright figure clearly visible.

"I like any place that Hachiman chooses."

With an angelic smile, Ichinose said something that would make any boy's heart flutter.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Miscellaneous Fish and Hachiman

Two hours before school ended, two students were already sitting at an outdoor table in the Beech Tree Shopping Center coffee shop.

The boy was wearing a school uniform, and the girl was wearing a pure white off-shoulder dress. There was a drink on the table with matching straws, making them look like a couple skipping class for a date.

"It feels like we're a couple."

Sakura, having taken off her glasses, also untied her old-fashioned braids. A blue headband divided her smooth, bright red hair into two sections that hung down her back, and her bangs no longer obscured her eyes.

Sakura transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan simply by taking off her glasses and changing her hairstyle.

"After all, we're just pretending to be a couple." Hachiman played with a screaming chicken toy in his hand, which would make a piercing sound if pressed lightly.

Once the suspects are identified, the fishing plan begins. The suspects will all pass by this coffee shop for different reasons, and he will press the screaming chicken in his hand to make sure they all pay attention to this place.

Then you'll see a girl wearing the same clothes as the idol and model 'Shizuku' in her blog update yesterday, and then you'll realize that it's her.

No extreme sasaeng fan could remain completely unmoved by their idol dating a man.

Not long after, as the first suspect's footsteps approached from behind, Hikigaya pressed down on the screaming chicken, and Sakura also made eye contact with the suspect who had been looking over at that moment.

"No." A few seconds later, Sakura looked away and breathed a sigh of relief.

Hikigaya nodded to Sakura and waited for the next suspect to approach, preparing to press the screaming chicken. Just when he thought he would have to press it several more times if he was unlucky, Sakura screamed.

"Hachiman!"

The footsteps behind him grew heavier and faster. When Hikigaya saw Sakura's panicked expression, he immediately stood up and turned around. A middle-aged man with short hair and a mustache was rushing towards him with a ferocious face.

It seems that the middle-aged man recognized his idol from afar as he was on a date with some unknown guy, but the man's act of rushing up to hit him was more extreme than he had expected.

Saying a few words of abuse is fine, but hitting someone will land you in jail, sir.

With a sigh in his heart, Hikigaya steadily caught the fist thrown by the mustachioed man with his right hand. After training with Horikita, this obviously amateurish straight punch posed no threat to him.

"Uncle Kusuda, you're so old, you shouldn't be chasing after celebrities."

With his right hand, which had grabbed the fist, Hikigaya pulled it forward and delivered a powerful left hook that struck the unbalanced man hard in the face, knocking him to the ground.

According to my information, this person was a camera shop employee, over thirty years old, and still obsessed with idols. He deserves a beating.