When she saw the bread in Hikigaya's hand—a premium item priced at several hundred points, far beyond her budget—Airi Sakura froze, and then, unable to hold it in any longer, burst into tears.
"I... I..."
She stared at the bread for a long time, hesitating before finally speaking in a whisper, "I still have a few points left. I can pay... a little."
"..."
Her words caught Hikigaya off guard. He hadn't expected that, even now, Sakura would insist on paying—willing to spend all her remaining points just to buy that one piece of bread.
"...Alright, then."
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Hikigaya nodded slightly, then began leading her slowly toward the convenience store's checkout counter.
"Why are you so short on points?" he asked, unable to stop himself.
"Last month... I didn't think I'd run out later, so I kind of splurged. And also..."
Sakura trailed off abruptly, her unfinished sentence leaving a strange ache in the air.
"And also what?"
Something about her expression made Hikigaya feel uncomfortable, his voice unintentionally louder than usual.
"I... I lent my points to someone else."
"You lent them out?"
Hikigaya blinked in surprise. His mind drifted back to the day the class point system had been revealed—when all hell broke loose and people with zero points were scrambling to borrow from anyone they could, desperate just to survive the coming weeks.
Even Yamauchi Haruki had tried peddling his PS Vita to him, a pitiful flailing in the face of complete desperation.
So thinking back on it now, it wasn't hard to imagine that someone had approached the timid, nearly invisible Airi Sakura for points. And Sakura, being who she was, wouldn't have had it in her to say no. Maybe, deep down, she even hoped that by helping others, she could earn their attention—maybe even friendship.
But reality doesn't work like that.
She wouldn't know it, but friendships aren't something you beg for. In modern lingo, what she'd done was textbook simp behavior.
Even if she did lend them points, odds were she'd get nothing in return. Hell, she might not even get her points back.
The thought alone left Hikigaya with a gnawing discomfort in his chest.
Because it reminded him too much of himself in middle school.
"..."
With a hardened expression, Hikigaya quickened his pace toward the register.
Sakura was startled by his sudden coldness. Confusion and fear immediately spread across her face as her steps slowed, unsure of how she'd just triggered such a shift.
"Hey, if you don't come over, how are you supposed to pay for it?"
"S-sorry..."
Though his tone was relatively even—Hikigaya doing his best to mask the anger simmering beneath the surface—Sakura still shrank back instinctively, her voice trembling, head ducking like she expected to be scolded.
Hikigaya found it bizarre. He wasn't used to being the one others were afraid of—normally he was the one hunched over, talking like that.
They soon reached the register. Hikigaya stepped aside, gesturing for her to hand over the bread so it could be scanned and paid for.
Sakura moved slowly, carefully—every motion filled with a tentative nervousness.
It was obvious. Only now did she begin to realize just how reckless she'd been. Regret crept across her face as she clutched the bread like someone offering a priceless artifact for judgment, forced into a foolish display of pride she couldn't walk back from.
But it was too late. She had no way to undo her decision. All she could do now was gingerly hand the bread to the cashier and, hands trembling, pull out her phone to pay.
"That'll be 750 points," the cashier said blandly.
Sakura's shivering intensified.
Her entire balance was under a thousand points.
Buying this so-called premium bread meant she'd be eating basic veggie meal sets for the next month—if she was lucky. There was no guarantee she'd even get any more points next month.
"...Sigh. I'll get it."
Hikigaya had already predicted this outcome.
He smoothly presented his phone to the cashier, then picked up the bread and turned toward the exit.
Seeing this, Sakura rushed after him, hugging his school bag tightly to her chest.
Wherever Hikigaya walked, she followed.
When he stopped, she stopped.
How is there someone even weaker than me?
Hikigaya had always considered himself pretty spineless. When facing people like Sakayanagi or Horikita, he was practically a defenseless lab rat.
But next to Airi Sakura?
She wasn't even an animal—she was a plant. A weed on the roadside. A passing sheep could probably nibble her up without a second thought.
The shift in social dynamics made him deeply uncomfortable.
No, wait a minute—
What am I, a masochist? Why am I even bothered by this?!
With that thought, Hikigaya silently continued walking toward the dorms, Sakura trailing behind him.
Under the dim streetlights, he glanced to the side and saw the glasses-clad, countryside-looking girl nervously fiddling with her shirt hem, head hanging so low she might as well be looking straight through the pavement.
The sheer pitifulness of the scene filled him with a bizarre sense of guilt, like he was the one bullying her.
But the thing was—he hadn't done anything.
After a short while, the silhouette of the dorm building came into view.
Suddenly, Hikigaya turned his head, eyes narrowing as he asked, "If I said nothing and just went back to my dorm with the bread, what would you do?"
"I... uh…"
Sakura's gaze darted around as she tried to imagine that outcome.
Finally, her head drooped further as she whispered, "I wouldn't mind... You've already helped me, Hikigaya-kun, so... it's okay."
"...I see."
Hikigaya finally grasped just what kind of place Sakura held in their class.
It wasn't hard to imagine: no matter how badly someone treated her, or how much they made her suffer, she'd simply comfort herself quietly and lick her wounds alone.
Because even among the loners, Airi Sakura was at the very bottom of the food chain.
The fact that someone like him could push her around so easily said everything about just how fragile her personality truly was.
If it had been Horikita Suzune in her place—even though she was also a loner—she would've chopped him with a hand strike on the spot and yanked the bread right out of his hands. A total brute.
Honestly, he was starting to wonder if she was secretly Hiratsuka-sensei's alternate account.
With that thought drifting through his head, Hikigaya looked at the helplessly weak Sakura, who resembled nothing more than a trembling little white rabbit—and sighed.
"Give me back my bag."
"O-okay!"
She handed it over without hesitation.
The moment he got his bag back, Hikigaya turned on his heel.
Sakura flinched, assuming he was about to walk off with both the bag and the bread, leaving her with nothing.
But then, Hikigaya paused, slapped his forehead lightly, and muttered, "Oh right, I've still got leftover snacks in my room. And honestly, I don't even like yakisoba bread. You can have this."
Without waiting for a response, he shoved the bread into her hands—then turned and fled the scene like a hit-and-run driver.
"..."
Airi Sakura stood frozen in place, stunned by the unexpected turn of events.
She clutched the bread in her hands, utterly bewildered, caught in the wind like a girl lost in a dream.