"You—what are you doing?!"
Horikita’s face changed as Hikigaya crouched down and grabbed her ankle. But before she could protest further, a sharp pain shot through her leg, making her suck in a breath.
"Ah...!"
"So you are hurt."
Hikigaya had already noticed something was off with the way she was walking. His suspicion was right.
Hirata, Kushida, and the others arrived to check on her. When Kushida saw Hikigaya examining Horikita’s injury, her expression darkened for some reason.
Sudou arrived late, and when he heard Horikita was injured, he immediately tried to convince her to rest. But Horikita shook her head, insisting it was nothing serious and that she could keep going.
"Go to the infirmary. Stop pushing yourself. Withdraw from the rest of the events."
Hikigaya’s voice was firm.
"I—I can still—"
Horikita started to argue but suddenly stopped. She could sense the absolute authority in Hikigaya’s tone. After staring at him for a few seconds, she looked away and gave a small nod.
Seeing this, Sudou felt something snap in his mind. His vision turned red. He was already angry from an earlier clash with Ryuen during a match. On top of that, he still resented Hikigaya for getting Ike expelled and causing him and others to be suspended. And now, this guy was getting close to the girl he liked—
Sudou’s heart pounded wildly, and a rage unlike anything he had ever felt before surged through him. It was like a barrel of gunpowder exploding all at once.
Without thinking, he grabbed Hikigaya by the collar and shouted, "What the hell was that attitude toward Horikita just now?!"
The sudden outburst shocked everyone around them. But Hikigaya, the one being grabbed, remained completely calm—almost cold.
"Let go. And apologize."
"You bastard! It’s all your fault that Kanji got expelled! And what the hell were you doing to Suzune just now?!"
Sudou’s face twisted in fury, like he had finally found an outlet for all the anger and resentment he had been holding in.
"I don’t repeat myself."
Hikigaya’s voice was ice-cold.
"Sudou, what are you doing? Let go of Hikigaya right now!"
Horikita’s expression changed drastically as she shouted.
"You bastard!!!"
Sudou, already burning with rage, completely lost his mind when he heard Horikita defending Hikigaya. He raised his fist, ready to punch Hikigaya in the face!
But in the next second, Hirata stepped in between them. Sudou’s fist landed directly on Hirata’s face. If Hikigaya hadn’t quickly caught him from behind, Hirata would have fallen straight to the ground. Even so, his lip was already busted, and blood started trickling down.
The unexpected turn of events made the surrounding students gasp. Sudou, seeing that he had hurt Hirata, seemed to snap back to his senses. With a panicked expression, he blurted out, "You ran into my fist yourself!" before fleeing the scene.
Word spread quickly through Class D that Sudou had hit Hirata. Many students who had expectations for Sudou because of his performance in the sports festival were now completely disappointed. Combined with the fact that he was already being shunned due to the peeping incident, the situation took a turn for the worse. Now that he had attacked Hirata, the most respected student in the class, both the boys and girls were furious, demanding that the matter be reported to the teacher so Sudou could be punished.
But Hirata was still Hirata. He quickly stopped everyone and calmed them down, saying that now wasn’t the time to focus on this. The sports festival was more important.
For now, the situation seemed to be settled, but anyone could see the hidden dangers. More importantly, Sudou was one of Class D’s key players in the sports festival, and this incident would likely affect his performance. This was a huge blow to the class.
"Hirata, I’ll go with you to the infirmary."
"Hikigaya, please... don’t blame Sudou. I believe he just lost control for a moment. You—"
Hirata’s words were cut off when he saw Hikigaya’s face. The cold, emotionless expression on Hikigaya’s face was so unfamiliar to him that he froze.
"Let’s talk about this later. We need to get to the infirmary first—your face is already swelling up."
Hikigaya then turned to Horikita, who looked a little lost. "You too."
For some reason, the aura Hikigaya was giving off made it hard for Horikita and the others to breathe. Kushida, who initially wanted to step in and act friendly in front of everyone, remained frozen in place. She knew this side of Hikigaya all too well. She unconsciously hugged her arms, recalling that night in his room. Her body trembled slightly, a strange heat rising within her.
Hikigaya glanced at Horikita, who was still standing there in a daze. He frowned slightly, then walked over and put her arm over his shoulder, supporting her.
"Y-You..."
Horikita was startled by his sudden action, her face flustered.
"Can you walk like this?"
Seeing Hikigaya’s expression, she realized he was just worried about her injury. But... being this close to a guy was a first for her. She didn’t know how to react, so she simply lowered her head, trying to hide her expression.
At the infirmary, the medical staff treated Horikita and Hirata’s injuries. Horikita’s ankle was badly hurt, meaning she wouldn’t be able to participate in any more events.
Hirata, on the other hand, had a swollen face and bloodstains on his clothes, clear signs of violence. The medical staff questioned him seriously, but Hirata insisted that he had fallen by accident, so they eventually dropped the matter.
With the morning events over, it was now lunchtime. Many girls came to visit Hirata, so to avoid disturbing others, he left the infirmary.
After Hirata and the girls left, the infirmary became quiet again. Just as Horikita was about to leave, a girl entered the room in a wheelchair. Her foot was wrapped in bandages—it was none other than Kinoshita Minori from Class C, the one who had fallen with Horikita during the obstacle race. Chabashira-sensei was with her.
Chabashira-sensei paused for a moment when she saw Horikita on the infirmary bed but quickly returned to her usual expression. She walked up to Horikita.
"You’re injured too? This isn’t the best timing, but since this is a serious matter, we have no choice. This is regarding Kinoshita’s accusation against you."
Horikita turned to look at Kinoshita sitting in the wheelchair.
Then, Chabashira-sensei began explaining the situation. The more Horikita listened, the darker her expression became.
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