Chapter 13: Chapter 13: To Make Hikigaya Handsome
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Service Club.
Since Hikigaya arrived earlier, only Saki Hayase was present in the Service Club room. The second-year classrooms were closer to the special building.
"President? Th-this is my application to join the club."
Noticing the door open, Saki Hayase, who was examining the clubroom, saw Hikigaya walk in. She quickly rummaged through her shoulder bag, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to him with both hands while bowing deeply.
"Uh... just sit down for now."
Upon seeing Saki Hayase, Hikigaya was at a loss for words.
While he had indulged himself earlier at noon, he still felt awkward afterward. He only wanted to earn the system reward, not take things further with Saki Hayase. [T/N: Indulged himself might mean mast*rbating.]
The female leads in this 2d World were not entirely trustworthy in his eyes. After all, he had no means to protect himself yet. His unwavering goal remained focused on the black-haired, straight-haired type.
It was either Yukino Yukinoshita or that snow woman who had saved him when he was in danger before.
That was his plan, but when faced with temptation, his willpower wasn't as strong as he'd imagined...
However, seeing that Saki Hayase didn't seem to dwell on it and still maintained her timid, introverted demeanor, he felt relieved.
Oh, wait, no, he shouldn't feel relieved. He wanted Saki Hayase to become independent and self-reliant, not remain in this bullied, weak state.
Hikigaya glanced at Saki Hayase's club application. Since it seemed fine, he set it aside, planning to take it along with Yukino Yukinoshita's for Hiratsuka Shizuka's approval and, hopefully, request some activity funds.
In just three days, he'd solved the problem of the Service Club's lack of members and even organized a group activity to beat up a minotaur. By all accounts, the club showed potential for development. Surely he could get some activity funds.
"No, no need. President, you should sit instead."
Saki Hayase waved her hands quickly, looking at the only clean and tidy chair in the room.
How could she sit before the president? If anyone were to sit, it should be him.
"Really not sitting?"
Seeing her hesitation, Hikigaya walked over and took the seat himself. However, as he sat, watching Saki Hayase stand timidly with her head lowered, he was reminded of the incident earlier that day.
Unable to shake the thought, he stood and walked to the window, opening it to let the breeze into the room. He then turned to Saki Hayase.
"Saki... um, Hayase, may I call you that?"
"N-no problem."
Saki Hayase was momentarily stunned, then shook her head.
"Have you told anyone else about what happened today?"
Hikigaya asked again.
"Told someone else? N-no..."
Saki Hayase hesitated but shook her head again.
She had no friends. After returning to class in the afternoon, she'd only attended class. After school, she had come straight here. She hadn't even had time to tell her childhood friend, Fukuyama.
"Then act as if nothing happened today. If anyone asks, you don't know anything, no matter who it is."
Hikigaya spoke seriously, his expression stern. He planned to take care of Miwa tonight.
However, if their earlier confrontation was discovered, he'd be a prime suspect.
Although he had thought of ways to clear his name, it would still be troublesome. It was best if no one found out about what happened at noon.
"Oh..."
Seeing Hikigaya so serious, Saki Hayase misunderstood, thinking he wanted her to forget about the club incident earlier. She silently lowered her head.
Once she agreed, Hikigaya found himself at a loss for words.
Neither he nor Saki Hayase knew each other well. She was a timid, introverted girl who wasn't good at conversation. He had no idea how to break the ice.
The atmosphere between them froze momentarily.
But just then, there was a knock at the clubroom door.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Come in,"
Hikigaya said after a moment of surprise.
As soon as he spoke, the high-ranking flower of Sobu High, Yukino Yukinoshita, entered the room with her shoulder bag.
The Service Club was now fully assembled.
The slender flower with an average figure, the curvaceous girl with nothing else going for her, and the dead fish-eyed second-year with chuunibyou tendencies.
"Yukinoshita? How did you all come here together?"
Hikigaya was about to welcome the new member but noticed three familiar faces behind Yukino Yukinoshita.
A cheerful girl with pink hair over her shoulders, Yuna Shirosaki.
A sharp-eyed girl with brown shoulder-length hair, Rin Nijo.
And the most energetic of the group, blonde-haired Yuina Kosaka, with her jacket tied around her waist.
"Ah... we came to discuss something with you..."
Yuna Shirosaki glanced awkwardly at Saki Hayase and Yukino Yukinoshita beside Hikigaya.
"I saw them sneaking around behind you, so I brought them along."
Yukino Yukinoshita cast a glance at Hikigaya and Saki Hayase before calmly sitting in the only chair in the room.
"Th-that's the president's seat..."
Saki Hayase instinctively blurted out.
Japan's hierarchical system was deeply ingrained. Since there was only one chair in the room, it was naturally for the president.
Although she was a second-year, and everyone else present was a first-year, she clearly didn't feel it was her place to sit.
"If neither of you will sit, I'll take the seat. No need to waste resources."
Yukinoshita Yukino shook her head, placed her single-shoulder bag on the desk, took out the club application form, handed it to Hikigaya, and then looked at the three girls who had followed her here, Shirosaki Yuna and the others.
"Rather than questioning the seating arrangement, we should first ask why these three are stalking our club president."
"President? Are you saying Hikigaya-san is your club president?"
Nijo Rin and Kosaka Yuina were both stunned upon hearing Yukinoshita Yukino refer to Hikigaya as the president.
Originally, they had followed Hikigaya to this large, desolate building where no one else came. Upon seeing the school's famous, top-ranking "untouchable beauty" Yukinoshita Yukino and a pretty second-year girl both appearing here with this "classroom ghost" Hikigaya, they were already quite shocked.
Just moments ago, seeing Yukinoshita Yukino's commanding demeanor, they had assumed Yukinoshita Yukino was the president.
Who would have thought that Hikigaya was actually their president?
This was just too shocking.
Even more shocking than when they discovered Hikigaya was super handsome.
Faced with their astonished confusion, Yukinoshita Yukino calmly glanced at Hikigaya without saying a word.
However, Hikigaya couldn't shake the feeling that Yukinoshita Yukino was inwardly suppressing a smug, mocking laugh directed at him.
'Hachiman, admit it.'
'I'm the real president of the Service Club.'
'Unbelievable. Why does everyone instinctively think Yukinoshita Yukino is the president? Yukinoshita Yukino must have deliberately misled them.'
"As you can see, our club's name is the Service Club, and I am the president of the Service Club."
Even though he was inwardly stabbing a mental doll of Yukinoshita Yukino with pins, Hikigaya outwardly remained calm as he introduced the club to the three gyaru who had come for unknown reasons.
"Our club's mission is 'Born in darkness, heart for the light.'"
"Uh… to put it simply, we lend a helping hand to those in need. We accept all kinds of commissions from students at the school."
"Any commission can be accepted?"
Blond gyaru Kosaka Yuina's eyes lit up, and Shirsaki Yuna and Nijo Rin also felt a spark of interest.
Although they didn't quite understand the reasoning behind the strange name "Service Club," if it accepted all kinds of commissions, it fit perfectly with what they wanted to do right now.
"No, rather than giving a man a fish, it's better to teach him to fish. The Service Club only offers a helping hand, providing support where it's needed. For unreasonable commissions, we will refuse them. But once we accept, we commit to seeing it through to the end."
Sitting in her chair, Yukinoshita Yukino, observing Shirosaki Yuna and her two companions who seemed to be seeking help, added to the explanation.
Her intent in creating the Service Club was not to help for the sake of helping but to effect change in others and thereby change the world. Naturally, not everything would be undertaken.
"Then what if we want him to become handsome?"
Shirosaki Yuna, Nijo Rin, and Kosaka Yuina exchanged glances and then, in unison, turned to Hikigaya and said together.
[Ding~]
[Character Mission Triggered—The Gyaru's Boyfriend Development Program]
[Mission Reward—Steady Progress]
[Daily Mission Feature Activated]
[Complete daily missions, gain +1 random attribute]
"Wait... I don't think I quite caught what you just said."
Yukinoshita Yukino frowned slightly, doubting if she had misheard what Shirosaki Yuna and her companions had said.
'To make Hikigaya handsome?'
'Is that the reason they had been stalking Hikigaya?'
This sounded even more unbelievable than Hayase Saki sacrificing her purity to a campus delinquent because of a childhood friend competition slot.
"Uh... well, actually, it's like this: we played with an app today and thought Hikigaya-san has great potential to be handsome, so we wanted to encourage him to work on becoming handsome."
Seeing that Yukinoshita Yukino seemed skeptical, the pink-haired gyaru Shirosaki Yuna hesitated, then took out her phone, opened her photo album, and showed Yukinoshita Yukino a picture.
"See, if Hikigaya-san's gaze were sharper, and his jawline slimmer, he would give off a completely different vibe."
"Maybe with some muscle, he'd look even better," suggested Yuina, the blond gyaru.
"Yuina, are you suggesting he strips for you?"
Brunette gyaru Nijo Rin gave Yuina a sideways glance.
"Don't be so dirty-minded. You can tell with clothes on, okay? Rin, don't you think such a handsome guy would look better with a bit of muscle?" Yuina retorted, annoyed. Just like how guys like looking at girls' figures, girls like looking at guys' too. [T/N: Really?]
However, for them, looks mattered more. If the face wasn't attractive, a good figure didn't mean much.
"I think it would be better if his skin were a bit lighter; muscles don't really matter," Nijo Rin rolled her eyes. They weren't looking for a boyfriend, just someone good-looking.
"Hikigaya-san is a guy. Rin, you can't hold him to the standards of a girl," Shirosaki Yuna sighed helplessly. Hikigaya isn't dark-skinned, but his complexion couldn't compare to Rin, who loved skincare products, which was probably why she thought he needed to be fairer.
"Either way… the change would be drastic..."
Hayase Saki, unable to contain her curiosity, secretly leaned over to look at the photo with them. Hearing their conversation, she murmured softly.
You wouldn't know unless you looked. Once you did, it was startling.
She had never been particularly focused on looks, but when she saw the edited picture of the president on the phone, her first reaction was how handsome it was.
Clearly, his facial structure hadn't changed much from real life, but the sharpness and spirit in his eyes made him incredibly attractive.
The features and appearance were the same, yet just the change in gaze shifted the aura completely to opposite extremes: one an isolated, gloomy loner and the other a bright, radiant heartthrob.
No wonder they had stalked the president...
She suddenly felt she could understand their thoughts. However, if it were her, she definitely wouldn't have dared to follow him.
"..."
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