The competition ended.
Tsube Hitomi didn't seem to have decided on her request yet.
She planned to save it until after returning to school.
After a few rounds of skiing.
Hikigaya said goodbye to the others and searched for Kushida Kikyo's figure on the intermediate and advanced slopes.
By the way, he asked people from Class B in the chat group to help search.
Eventually.
The camp at the bottom of the mountain.
Hikigaya saw her from afar.
Kushida Kikyo was sitting on a bench, currently watching the crowds flying down the slopes with an indifferent expression.
He observed while skiing for a moment.
After roughly thirty minutes, Kushida Kikyo showed no signs of moving; as a rest time, it was far too long.
Clearly.
Kushida Kikyo wasn't resting; she was merely standing there observing the others.
And so it was.
As a loner, one can feel joy from being alone.
However.
Kushida Kikyo was clearly not that kind of person; instead, she enjoyed the trust of those around her.
Even if it was tiring or even felt disgusting.
But compared to being alone.
Kushida Kikyo definitely still preferred being with friends.
Most likely she had skied a few laps alone and then found it boring.
Unfortunately.
That kind of opportunity was already gone.
The unanimous exam exposure had caused people to distance themselves from her; they only dared not say much because of the dirt Kushida Kikyo held on them.
Maybe this wasn't right.
The opportunity actually still existed.
If what Kushida Kikyo desired was merely a superficial friendship, it actually wasn't very difficult.
As long as Kushida Kikyo apologized.
Even if she said some insincere words of regret.
The number of people willing to re-accept Kushida Kikyo was likely not small.
Maintain a hypocritical friendship until graduation.
Then start over.
This itself was not a difficult task.
However.
Kushida Kikyo thought she had no chance and chose to give up on herself.
Not necessarily.
Perhaps she felt she wasn't in the wrong.
After all, having acted as an emotional trash can for the people around her for so long, she had also put in a lot of hard work for Class D.
Her grades weren't bad either.
In the end.
And they wanted her to apologize?
For what?
There could be many reasons.
But the final result was.
Wearing an ugly face all day long, making those who wanted to care about her not know how to approach.
These matters.
Hikigaya had also heard from Hasebe Haruka; her words some time ago also contained concern for Kushida Kikyo.
However.
This kind of concern was undoubtedly fading slowly.
To be honest.
Hikigaya also didn't really want to approach Kushida Kikyo; whenever he ran into her at school, he basically walked around her.
After all.
Every time he encountered Kushida Kikyo.
His heart felt a bit of guilt.
His original goal was just to give Horikita Suzune a lesson; Kushida Kikyo was undoubtedly an involved party.
If it weren't for him.
With Kushida Kikyo's ability, she should have been able to get through it quite well.
"Sigh..."
Hikigaya sighed.
Tomorrow is the trip.
Although he didn't know the rules, he should deal with Kushida Kikyo first.
He didn't expect Kushida Kikyo to stand on his side, but at least he wanted to avoid some unnecessary disagreements.
Thinking of this.
Hikigaya pushed with both hands, skied to Kushida Kikyo's side, and stopped steadily.
He sat down beside Kushida Kikyo.
However.
Seeing this scene, Kushida Kikyo couldn't help but move outward, pulling away as if something dirty was approaching.
After all.
The things Hikigaya and Kamuro Masumi did were way too perverted.
However.
After hesitating for a moment.
Kushida Kikyo didn't turn around and leave, but she didn't speak either; she just quietly watched the ski slope in front of her.
Hey
Seeing this.
Hikigaya felt somewhat helpless.
Although he didn't care anymore, being distanced like this still inevitably made him feel a bit sad.
Did she hate him that much?
Silent for a moment.
Hikigaya just stood there beside her, watching the ski slope ahead together with Kushida Kikyo.
During this time.
Although his academic ability hadn't improved much, it was mainly because Sakayanagi Arisu required him to read psychology books.
Even if he was still immature.
It was still somewhat useful.
Strictly speaking, his relationship with Kushida Kikyo was neither close nor distant, neither friend nor foe; it was better to keep the initiative in his own hands.
In front of them.
People arrived at the finish line from time to time.
Finally.
Kushida Kikyo couldn't help it.
"You shouldn't be here to rest, right? What do you want with me?"
"Um... I'm sorry..."
Hikigaya looked straight ahead and answered irrelevantly.
"Ha?"
Kushida Kikyo couldn't help but look sideways, her eyebrows tightly knit: "What do you mean? Why are you apologizing to me?"
"Because..."
Hikigaya gave a couple of dry laughs.
"Because of me, the unanimous exam in Class D was exposed, causing you to be distanced by those around you and preventing you from properly enjoying the school trip. I just feel... sorry..."
"Unfortunately, I am enjoying it very much."
Kushida Kikyo crossed her legs, folded her arms, and said with some disdain:
"And, you exposing Class D's business was to use that to dismantle Class D, so Class B could rise to Class A. There's no need for an apology."
"Well..."
Hikigaya nodded; that was indeed one of the reasons.
This point alone.
Was enough to doom Class D.
He had seen it clearly last night; competition is competition, but Class D had been isolated by the entire second year in daily life.
However.
Horikita Suzune seemed to have not told Kushida Kikyo the true reason.
There wasn't anything that couldn't be said.
"I don't deny that was one of the reasons, but the primary reason was accepting the personal points from Horikita-senpai."
Hikigaya recounted the matter of Horikita Manabu roughly once.
"So mainly I wanted to let Horikita see the consequences of doing that, and it happened to affect you, so I'm sorry."
"Hmm?"
Kushida Kikyo was stunned for a moment.
She hadn't expected it.
There was actually such a reason; Hikigaya's reason for apologizing was this.
"If it's to make yourself feel better."
Kushida Kikyo said with a cold smile on her pretty face: "Then there's no need to apologize to me. Usually at school, you seem to actively avoid me when you see me, right? There must be other reasons."
Hikigaya felt a bit embarrassed.
Although he didn't seek the other party's cause—since both sides were enemies to begin with—the apology was indeed to make his heart feel better.
"Tomorrow is scheduled for sightseeing; I hope you can cooperate more then. Of course, Kushida-san, you can also give opinions, but don't deliberately make things difficult, how about it?"
However.
All of that was irrelevant.
Hearing him apologize, with Kushida Kikyo's personality and past, she would inevitably care about one point.
"Heh."
Kushida Kikyo gave a cold laugh, leaned back against the chair, and toyed with the hair near her ear with her right hand without responding.
As expected.
This was the real reason.
Machida Koji obviously wanted to deliberately stir up trouble and work against Hikigaya.
Moreover.
When disagreements occur, everyone definitely has their own thoughts and reasons.
And.
As the boyfriend of Kamuro Masumi and the others, Hikigaya would definitely lean more toward their ideas.
In case.
When the time comes, Sotomura Hideo and Tokito Hiroya.
Those two feel Machida Koji is more reasonable and stand on the opposite side.
Hikigaya might not necessarily have a headache.
But the group would certainly waste a lot of time.
Furthermore.
He didn't even know the rules for tomorrow; he came ahead of time to give her an "insurance," hoping she would cooperate.
However.
Kushida Kikyo had another point she cared about.