Chapter 439: Who is Rikka?
Chapter 439: Who is Rikka?
Her hair was styled in an elegant, beautiful, old-fashioned braid divided into three strands. Black-framed glasses sat neatly perched upon her dainty, straight nose. She had the dignified face of a “Yamato Nadeshiko,” radiating an indescribable air of intelligent beauty.
The person who had arrived was someone who hadn’t had any screen time in quite a while—
“Hanjo-san?”
Himekoji’s voice escaped his lips in a tone filled with astonishment.
Of course, there was actually another reason for his surprise.
That was—
He could never have imagined that the readers this time would be so unreliable—not a single one guessed correctly!
Hanjo Ayame, stepping into the Service Club room, heard Himekoji’s voice and turned her head towards him. She looked surprised too.
Unlike Himekoji, the girl’s surprise was tinged with a bit of delight.
“Justice-kun? What are you doing here? Long time no see!”
“Huh?”
Hold on!
‘Justice-kun’? Was she talking to him?
Himekoji tilted his head back in confusion, glancing behind him—there was no one there!
That meant Hanjo Ayame really was speaking to him.
But… when did he gain such a nickname?
Justice-kun…
It sounded much nicer than ‘Pervert-kun’, but it somehow felt even more embarrassing…
And anyway, he felt like he didn’t really match those two words.
Before Himekoji could voice his confusion, Yukinoshita questioned the nickname before he could.
“Classmate, are you mistaken? Perhaps I should correct you here; this is Pervert-kun.”
“No mistake, no mistake. He’s C-c-c, right? So he’s Justice-kun!”
Hanjo Ayame adjusted her glasses, adopting a knowledgeable and intelligent look, and explained very seriously.
Although, as for the logical connection, no one present could understand it.
“But, what’s the connection between C-c-c and justice?”
Yuigahama, ever the most curious one, stepped up again in that moment as the eager vanguard, raising her little hand and asking with great interest.
“Ahem! Because, Justice and Cock are the same thing.”
Hanjo Ayame gave a fake little cough and spoke as if stating an obvious, yet profound, truth.
“Justice and C-c-c are the same?”
Yuigahama looked at Himekoji, completely baffled, her forehead wrinkled in perplexity.
Yukinoshita and Hikigaya looked over too, copying her.
It seemed like they were trying to find some kind of answer by scrutinizing Himekoji.
Being stared at like this by everyone felt embarrassing and awkward. Himekoji cleared his throat uncomfortably.
…
“Justice and C-c-c are the same? …I’d agree that ‘Pervert’ and ‘C-c-c’ are the same.”
After scrutinizing him for a long while and thinking carefully, this was Yukinoshita’s only conclusion.
What really made Himekoji annoyed was that Yukinoshita sounded super serious when she said it!
It didn’t sound like teasing at all…
Hanjo Ayame seemed to have anticipated everyone’s confusion. Unhurriedly, she lowered her head and slowly removed her glasses.
“Ahem!”
She gave another little cough to draw everyone’s attention.
Hanjo Ayame began speaking again, her voice unhurried, crisp, and pleasant, yet filled with a strange, infectious intensity—
“Justice and Cock really are the same! Because, they can both make others happy!”
“Cough! Ack!”
Hearing this, Himekoji was the first to react. Immediately, as if choking on something, his face turned bright red and he coughed violently.
Hikigaya’s comprehension in such matters wasn’t far behind Himekoji’s. He understood almost instantly too, his signature “Dead Fish Eyes” rolling back until only the whites were visible.
Yuigahama and Yukinoshita, however, both frowned, genuinely pondering the statement.
C-c-c, Himekoji, Pervert-kun…
Can make others happy?
No, this guy only caused trouble for people, right?
Yukinoshita couldn’t understand it.
…
Hanjo Ayame’s lecture didn’t stop there.
As she spoke, she slowly raised her head. Her dazzling eyes, now uncovered by the glasses, shone with a bizarre and inexplicable light—so excited, so enthusiastic, so fired up, so charismatic.
“Although they can make others happy, forcing your justice upon someone, or forcing your cock upon someone, only brings misfortune.”
“Cherishing your own justice and cock is good. But looking down on others’ justice and cock greatly hurts them.”
“Someone who flaunts their justice and cock in front of everyone like it’s nothing? That sort of person isn’t a good person.”
…
Yuigahama and Yukinoshita only fully understood Hanjo Ayame’s risqué jokes at the very end, sweat-drops practically forming on their temples.
So, risqué jokes didn’t need to be delivered so seriously, so profoundly, and with such philosophical depth, right?
Yukinoshita and Yuigahama almost found themselves nodding along in agreement with Hanjo Ayame’s words…
So scary!
So terrifying!
Just what did such a terrifying person want at the Service Club?!
“So, everyone, from now on, when you show your Justice, be sure to treat it with the same care you would show your Cock!”
“W-We don’t have… those, though?”
Yuigahama had actually instinctively responded!
But, wait a minute!
What did she mean, we don’t have those things?
You don’t, but I do!
Himekoji really couldn’t agree with Yuigahama’s statement.
Luckily, the next second, Himekoji realized.
He was overthinking it.
Yuigahama’s “we” probably wasn’t referring to herself and Himekoji.
It was herself and Yukinoshita.
Well, good for them.
…
As the club president, Yukinoshita felt it necessary to step in now. Rubbing her temples and looking troubled, she spoke up:
“E-Excuse me… could I possibly interrupt for a moment? Classmate.”
“I’m Hanjo. Hanjo Ayame.”
She didn’t say yes or no. Hanjo merely gave her overdue self-introduction.
“Alright, Hanjo-san. May I ask why you’ve come to the Service Club?:
“Ah! I nearly forgot! I was a bit pleasantly surprised to see Justice-kun…” Hanjo’s voice trailed off as she spoke, especially on the word “pleasantly.” The look on her face turned completely worried.
She lowered her head. No one noticed.
“To see Justice-kun? Heh…” After hearing Hanjo Ayame’s long string of risqué jokes, Yukinoshita felt Himekoji’s new nickname strangely fit him rather well. “Fancy us having someone with such a rude nickname in our club, Pervert-kun… oh, pardon me, Justice-kun.”
Yukinoshita absolutely wouldn’t pass up this chance to mock Himekoji.
And judging by the way Yukinoshita’s mouth curved into a faint, smug smile, she seemed pretty pleased with that dig herself…
Himekoji was speechless. He could only mutter softly under his breath to vent—
“So, actually, isn’t the ruder one the person assigning the nickname…?”
“Hold on, you two are bickering again? Didn’t little Ayame come to talk about her request?”
On this day, it was even Yuigahama steering the ship in the Service Club…
This useless Service Club was definitely going down the drain sooner or later!
Hikigaya, sitting off to the side spectating as usual, had that thought flash across his mind…
…when he heard Hanjo Ayame’s voice suddenly shift to something low and utterly weary—
“Can you help me find Rikka?”
Her voice sounded like raspy smoke.
A stark, dramatic difference from her earlier high-pitched excitement.
Rikka?
The instant he heard that name, Himekoji’s body went stiff.
Rikka…
Who is that?
…
…