23 Chapter 23

Normally Horikita wouldn't attend a trivial outing like this with the class, however, she was informed that the 3 Class D idiots would be putting cameras in the locker room. Not only was this disgusting but the idiots would also be expelled if they were caught which could affect the class. Horikita waited impatiently outside the locker room when suddenly she felt someone pull her. Only after she pulled away from the locker room could she look up. It was Ayanokoji.

"What is so important that you had to drag me over here?"

Ayanokoji would usually never do something like this, especially to Horikita, but the situation was urgent. 

"I heard the class B guy, Hikigaya, on a call with your brother."

When the mention of her brother came up, Horikita immediately stiffened. Who was this guy and how could he get the recognition of Manabu that she had to be trying to obtain so far? Speaking of Hikigaya, Horikita was also confused about why Class B was acting so buddy-buddy with him. Last time, Hikigaya had been hiding from the same students.

Ayanokoji, snapping Horikita out of her thoughts, continued.

"Your brother knows some first-years are trying to do something in the locker room, and he sent him here to stop them"

"... this is bad"

"If he catches those 3, they will 100% be expelled"

Since the trial incident, Class B and D had been in a cooperative relationship, but at the same time, Hikigaya was acting as part of the student council right now, not as part of Class B. She also saw his indifferent attitude, and knew that he wouldn't hesitate to expel her 3 classmates if they got caught. 

One of the three perverts was Ike, the one Horkita personally used private points on to save after the final exam, and now he repays her by doing something like this? Horikita suppressed her inner anger and asked Ayanokoji.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"You distract Hikigaya, I'll take care of Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo."

At that moment, the pair could see Hikigaya awkwardly adjusting his swimming pants while walking out of the locker room. Ayanokoji left Horikita to join the 3 idiots, so Horikita rejoined the group of Class B and D students.

Once everyone was done changing, Ichinose took the lead and announced.

"Let's have a Class D vs B volleyball game!"

Kushida and Ichinose led the group to the volleyball court while the two loners, Horikita and Hikigaya walked at the rear end of the group in silence. Upon reaching the court, the two classes split up as Hikigaya joined Class B on the right side.

Not knowing at all how to play volleyball, Hikigaya went to the back of the court as he assumed that the people in the back would probably have to do the least. Ichinose pulled out a ball from her bag, and in a swift motion, threw it up and hit it across the net. After the shot, murmurs could be heard on Class B's side.

"good shot Ichinose!"

"What are you bad at, Honami-san"

"You're amazing"

All she did was hit a ball? Hikigaya looked at his classmates in disbelief, they were in the middle of a round, yet they still stopped to compliment Ichinose on a simple serve. Was it really that impressive?

A student from Class D received the ball, and Kushida promptly hit the ball back over the net, right in Hikigaya's direction. Hikigaya, who didn't even expect to touch the ball, looked in disbelief as the ball headed straight for him.

Before the game started, Hikigaya imitated Kanzaki, who had 2 hands interjoined in front of him. Looking at the volleyball approaching him from above, Hikigaya stepped back to ensure the ball landed on his hands and waited for the ball. Surprisingly, the ball hit Hikigaya's hand, but it bounced off his hands right at Ichinose, who sent the ball upwards. Shibata jumped into the hair and sent the ball down to Class D's side.

"1-0!!! We did it"

"Good job guys"

Hikigaya stared downwards at his hands in disbelief. Was he some sort of prodigy? Waking up Hikigaya, Kushida stopped the game for a second and began talking to one of her classmates.

"Ike, do you know where Yamauchi went? He's not here"

"n-no, h-he pr-probably went to the restroom"

"Should we go look for him?"

"n-no, h-he'll be fine"

Hikigaya overheard Ike and Kushida's conversation and thought that this was his perfect chance to leave to investigate. From Ike's constant stuttering and nervousness, he had deduced that this Ike was covering for Yamauchi, who was probably in the girl's locker room or something. He also recalled that Yamauchi, who was conveniently missing, was the one carrying the suspicious dark black duffel bag.

Hikigaya was getting ready to raise his hand to volunteer to search for him. He doubted that the idiots came up with a backup plan, so he could go find Yamauchi, report him to the student council president, and get back to the safety of his dorm room.

Horikita gulped and she saw Hikigaya slowly start to raise his hand. What did Ayanokoji expect her to do?

"Hey Kushida, I'm feeling a bit tired already, so I can go search for him while you guys play."

Kushida turned around from Ike and faced Hikigaya.

"Are you sure? This is the one day we have at the pool, you should enjoy it with your class."

"haha, don't worry, I'll be back with him before you know it"

Ike was visibly sweating after hearing Hikigaya's suggestion to volunteer. He knew that they were screwed if someone found out about their plan. 

Kushida, ignoring Ike sweating bullets behind her, responded.

"hmm, there are a lot of restrooms in this area. Why don't you take someone with you? I c-"

Horikita interrupted Kushida and raised her hand.

"I'll go with him"

Horikita knew that the 3 idiots would definitely be caught, so the only way for her to distract Hikigaya was to go with him.

Hikigaya looked at the two Class D students and almost laughed. He saw Kushida's expression change for a second when Horikita spoke, yet she still maintained her nice girl persona. He didn't think too much of Horikita volunteering as he knew that she also had no friends, so she was probably trying to escape this hub of social interaction.

"Oh ok, Horikita and Hikigaya, good luck!"

Horikita joined Hikigaya, who was walking back to the locker rooms, but before going, she stole a glance back at the court. She could see Ayanokoji giving her a thumbs up. She was going to kill that guy for making her do this.

The two students walked awkwardly in the direction of the locker room, but inward Horikita was stressed. If he went back to the locker room, Yamauchi would be caught, but she also had no way to stop him. At times like this, she wished could be convincing and talkative like Kushida.

Taking a shot in the dark, Horikita broke the silence by saying.

"... hey, you think I could get a drink before we go. Yamauchi will probably be back without us looking for him"

Hikigaya, who wanted to get back to his dorm room as soon as possible, looked at Horikita in silence for a moment. In the first place, he was surprised that Horikita had come to the pool, but now she was sticking with him. Knowing that Horikita's nickname was the "Ice Queen," he assumed that she was using him to escape and that she would leave him when they were out of sight from the others. Contrary to his expectations, she was sticking with him, and now asking his permission to get a drink. Couldn't she just get a drink herself? Why was she asking him?

"Why don't we split up? You go get your drink, and I'll go look for him."

He knew that this would come off as weird as he was looking for a student from the class he previously extorted, but Hikigaya thought that Horikita would use this opening to escape.

However, Horikita responded.

"a-actually, I'm fine, let's just go get Yamauchi"

Why was she so intent on sticking with him? Was she suspicious of him? It would make sense, after all, that he was probably a top-tier villain in Class D's eyes, but he also didn't think that Horikita was the type of girl to care about her classmates. Hikigaya couldn't deny her straight up as it was her classmate that they were searching for, so he continued walking with her toward the locker room.

Horikita was even more stressed now. They were now fast approaching the locker room, and it was clear that Ayanokoji hadn't acted yet. She looked at her surroundings and saw 3 different pools.

In front of the locker room and closest to them was the freeplay pool in which students were splashing around in, and besides that pool, there was the lap pool. At the very edge of the building, there was the diving pool with a water slide that seemed to reach the sun.

She looked at the pool right beside Hikigaya and the nearing locker room entrance. It was now or never. She calmed herself down and ignored any feelings of embarrassment. It was to save the class.

She purposely placed her foot in front of Hikigaya, who clearly wasn't paying attention. Hikigaya's right foot made contact with Horikita's foot, and Horikita lost her balance. She fell onto Hikigaya, who then fell into the pool beside them. 

On the other side, Hikigaya was already thinking about what game he would play when he got back to the dorm. He was salivating thinking about the instant ramen that would be awaiting him. It seemed he forgot that the whole reason he got into the situation was because there was no instant ramen left in his dorm.

Suddenly, his foot made contact with something, he looked down and saw Horikita's foot in front of him. In an instant, he was no longer on the ground as he looked up and saw Horikita, who was falling on top of him. In a scene that could only be described as a comedy skit, the two fell into the pool. Hikigaya fell into the pool and then got pushed further downwards into it by Horikita's body, which was above him.

After a second, Hikigaya grasped the situation, so he quickly returned to the surface. Looking around, he saw Horikita beside him with a face that could only be described as a tomato.

The pair swam to the exit of the pool and got out. Upon getting out, the two immediately started shivering. Ignoring Horikita, who was still as red as a tomato, he pointed towards a towel station and said.

"Let's get a towel, and then go to the locker room to find him"

Horikita gave him a simple nod and headed to the towels. Hikigaya was slightly angry at this point. Right now, he should be in the locker room catching Yamuachi, but instead, he was drenched with cold water. He turned to his right and saw the cause of this problem, Horikita. She was wrapping a towel around her body while completely ignoring him. Not even an apology? Was she doing this on purpose? Was this her form of revenge?

After wrapping a towel around the lower half of his body, Hikigaya was about to get up and leave Horikita to head towards the locker room. He doubted that this girl would have the audacity to follow him after that embarrassing incident. Yet, Horikita surprised him yet again as she continued to follow him. Why were girls so confident in this school? First, Kamuro dragged him around in public, then Sakyanagi who basically took over his dorm room, and now Horikita.

[A/N: Working on a new book, so there'll be 2 chapters for that tomorrow if you're interested. This fanfic will still get 1-3 updates / day though.]