Chapter 225: Linked Dream—Best Friends Under One Blanket!
The training session ended. Hikigaya spent dinner with Sakura Airi and Hasabe Haruka.
"It's still early. Hachi-kun, why don't you invite Airi and me to your dorm to hang out for a bit longer?"
"No thanks. Tonight, I have to study with Suzune."
"What! Late at night, a man and a woman alone in a room together... how suspicious!"
"Do you even hear what you just said in the previous sentence?" Hikigaya felt powerless to retort.
"Hachiman-kun, we'll see you tomorrow." Sakura Airi was very well-behaved and didn't press the issue.
"Airi is the sensible one after all." Hikigaya couldn't help but reach out and pat her head; she was just like a little hamster.
"Mhm~ Airi is just too obedient.
She's easily fooled by men. I have to keep a good eye on her for her own sake!"
Hasabe Haruka stared at him meaningfully.
"Listen to you. Does that mean if Airi finds a boyfriend in the future, you have to 'test' him out first?" Hikigaya teased.
"Of course!" Hasabe Haruka nodded seriously.
"Eh?" Sakura Airi's face was filled with shock.
"I'm done talking nonsense with you two." After a few laughing insults, Hikigaya turned and left.
.
.
.
In front of Room 404. Horikita Suzune stood there like a statue, imposing and motionless.
"Sorry, Suzune.
I'm not late, am I?" Hikigaya quickened his pace.
"..." Horikita Suzune looked down at the time on her phone. "There are still 10 seconds until our appointed time."
Calculating down to the second—she certainly had a strong sense of punctuality.
"My, my~ I truly envy Suzune's future boyfriend. She definitely won't be late for dates." Hikigaya took out his keys and opened the door.
"Thank you.
But at this stage, I have no desire to be in a relationship." Horikita Suzune skillfully put on the slippers that belonged to her.
An expected answer.
"Is that so?
That's quite a pity then." Hikigaya turned and went to the kitchen to brew some black tea.
After he finished and came back out, he found Horikita Suzune staring fixedly at him.
"Suzune?" Horikita's eyes flickered, and she suddenly looked away.
"It's nothing."
'What's up with this girl again... She has the conflicted look of a young girl?'
Hikigaya didn't think too much of it. After serving the tea and snacks, he pulled out two sets of math exams.
Once she entered "study mode," Horikita Suzune transformed back into the familiar, strict top-student teacher. Hikigaya's brain was filled with a massive volume of practice problems, leaving him no time to think about idle matters.
At 10:30 PM.
"It's about that time.
Suzune, do you want to head back and rest first?" Hikigaya suggested.
"It's fine. I'll wait until you finish the last two major problems." Horikita Suzune looked focused.
'You're far too dedicated, Horikita-sensei!'
11:00 PM. Hikigaya burned his last bit of brainpower and finally completed all the questions.
"Suzune... uh..." Turning his head, he found that Horikita Suzune had already slumped over his desk, fast asleep.
Truth be told, a sleeping Suzune really did look like a gentle and lovely "girl next door."
"I won't wake her for the time being."
Hikigaya estimated she was just taking a nap and would wake up on her own. After all, being in a strange environment—especially a boy's dorm—she should still have some level of alertness.
Hikigaya casually took a coat and draped it over Suzune's body, then climbed onto the bed himself.
"Suzune, head back yourself when you wake up.
Don't wake me... yawn..." Hikigaya let out a yawn, and a wave of drowsiness instantly hit him.
-
-
-
The dream returns.
"Ohayou~ Ka-kun."
"Good morning, Airi."
"..."
The two girls, having just woken up, blinked and looked at each other. Their brains were a bit sluggish.
"Eh?!" Airi looked bewildered. "Why am I sleeping in the same bed as Ka-kun?"
"That's my question too." Haruka rubbed her sleepy eyes, equally confused.
However, right then, a familiar voice came from between them.
"You two woke up quite early." Hikigaya sat up in bed.
"???" "!!!"
He found the two girls on either side of him looking at him with looks of utter disbelief.
"What? Don't recognize your own man?" Hikigaya swept his arms out, pulling both girls gently into his embrace.
"...Eh??" Airi's mouth hung open, her cheeks rapidly overheating. She turned into a "Steam Girl," unable to speak.
"W-what's the situation here?" Haruka's capacity for endurance was a bit stronger, and her brain worked fast to process the current situation.
"Yeah. Every day I wake up, it's like a dream."
As his palms felt the heavy weight of the "left peak and right bud," a look of supreme comfort appeared on Hikigaya's face.
Seriously, after having so many dreams, the Airi + Haruka combo was definitely the best, best, best dream of all!
"Like a dream..."
"Ah, so it is a dream. That explains it."
Haruka looked down at his roaming hands; her body couldn't stop sending tingling, numb sensations.
What was the deal with Airi? She glanced over at her best friend, who had stars in her eyes and had completely lost the ability to think.
Fine.
Even the "Steam Girl" attribute was perfectly replicated—this dream was too realistic!
"Hachi-kun? Honey?" Haruka tested the address.
"I'm here. Do you want more?" Hikigaya gave her a slight squeeze with his palm.
"...!" Haruka endured the strange sensation and continued to ask, pretending to be calm: "Want what?"
"Truly a greedy little glutton." Hikigaya chuckled.
"...You already know I'm a glutton...
Why is Airi here too?" Haruka's brow twitched as she began to fish for information.
"Hmm?" Hikigaya cast a weird look at her.
"W-what? Is there something wrong with my question?" Haruka pouted. Even if it was a dream, it had to follow some basic logic!
"Ka-kun, you're bullying Airi because she's an honest girl." Hikigaya narrowed his eyes and gave her a slight pinch with two fingers as punishment.
"Wh-what?!" Haruka felt she had reached her limit of endurance, but to get a definitive answer, she held on.
Unexpectedly, Hikigaya's next sentence made her lose her composure completely!
"You're clearly the one who, as her best friend, is 'stealing snacks' from her boyfriend."
"I... I... I'm 'stealing' Airi's boyfriend?!" Haruka was instantly struck as if by lightning.
"No, no, no, how could I do such a thing!
Airi and I are the best of friends!" Haruka shook her head like a rattle, firmly denying it.
"Heh~Didn't you say it yourself?
Best friends for life—under one blanket."
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