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Chapter 15: All Normies Can Go Die
🕑 Added 2025-07-30 20:15:00 +0000 UTCDetermined that if necessary, he’d totally slip Yukinoshita Yukino something on the day of finals, Aoki Kei followed Hiratsuka Shizuka to Class 2-F once the bell rang.
After a brief self-introduction, Hiratsuka assigned him a pretty decent seat.
Interestingly, when Aoki Kei walked over with his bag, he noticed that the person sitting directly in front of him was none other than the infamous "great teacher"—Hikigaya Hachiman.
Aoki Kei was mildly surprised but kept his expression neutral.
He placed his bag down, pulled out his Japanese textbook for Hiratsuka’s class, and shifted his focus to the front of the classroom.
...
During break, he was quickly surrounded by a bunch of normie classmates who bombarded him with what felt like a police interrogation.
But after getting only vague, disinterested answers, they lost interest and backed off.
The rest of the morning passed without incident, all the way until lunch.
As students broke into groups to eat, a couple of guys tried to invite Aoki Kei to join them.
But he politely declined, saying he was used to being alone.
And so, the only two people eating lunch solo in the whole class were Aoki Kei... and the guy sitting in front of him—Hikigaya Hachiman.
For Aoki Kei, eating alone wasn’t about being antisocial; he simply found socializing exhausting.
Between work and school, he had little mental bandwidth left.
Wasting even more energy on blending into normie cliques just wasn’t worth it.
As for Hikigaya... well, that guy was just plain weird and didn’t have many friends.
In the end, the two of them quietly eating lunch one in front of the other became a slightly awkward but oddly fitting sight in Class 2-F.
Their quiet solitude also made Hikigaya take notice of his new neighbor—a guy who, weirdly enough, seemed a lot like himself.
Quiet, distant, maybe even antisocial.
After lunch and a couple of uneventful afternoon classes, the bell rang to signal the start of club time, and Shuchiin Private High School was officially out for the day.
Unlike Shirose High School, Shuchiin ended their class earlier but made up for it with an extra hour of club activities.
Aoki Kei, currently a proud member of the "Go-Home Club," had no intention of joining any real clubs.
So the moment the bell rang, he packed up and headed out.
He turned down two more invitations to walk home together, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and exited the classroom.
As he walked down the corridor and descended the stairs, he thought maybe just maybe—his first day here would end on a quiet, uneventful note.
But right as that thought crossed his mind, he spotted two girls walking side-by-side down the first-floor hallway.
And at that exact moment, one of them have a pink-haired and familiar—locked eyes with him.
...
Up until the moment she got dragged into the livehouse, Gotou Hitori had been totally dazed.
She didn’t understand what was going on, didn’t know what was about to happen, and was shaking from the mere thought of performing live.
For someone with serious social anxiety, her reaction was totally understandable. It was natural she’d panic and want to avoid playing.
Fortunately, after some gentle encouragement from two members of Kessoku Band, Gotou Hitori summoned the courage to throw on the "Well-Done Mango" box and stepped onto the stage.
But even though she made it up there, her first live show ended in disaster—she just wasn’t in sync with the rest of the band yet.
Still, for someone who’d always been alone, with no friends and no support, the care she received afterward left her deeply moved.
Especially after learning that Nijika had gotten to know her personality through the upperclassman who’d brought her to the livehouse...
Gotou Hitori felt, for the first time, that she really wanted to thank that person.
Unfortunately, when she finally worked up the nerve to ask Nijika for their contact info, all she got was, "Ah... I don’t have it either."
She figured she’d never see that upperclassman again unless fate stepped in.
Who would’ve guessed?
As she stared down the hall and saw a boy descending the stairs—Gotou Hitori froze for a second.
Then her brain caught up.
Startled, she instinctively grabbed Kita Ikuyo’s sleeve and stammered, “Th-that, th-that senpai, the one... who t-took me to the... to the livehouse... th-that...”
She was so nervous her words barely made sense.
Aoki Kei tilted his head slightly, giving her a puzzled look.
Then he smiled and said, “What a coincidence, Gotou-san. We meet again.”
After a pause, his gaze shifted to the girl beside Gotou, Kita Ikuyo, who’d been pulled to a stop by her sleeve.
Noticing his attention, Kita gave a slightly awkward smile and waved politely. “Hi there! I’m Kita Ikuyo, Class 1-A.”
“Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Aoki Kei from Class 2-F. I met Gotou-san before.”
“Oh, so you’re the senpai,” Kita said.
Not quite sure how to respond to that, Aoki Kei let the silence fall between them.
Gotou was still frozen with nerves.
Kita, trapped by Gotou’s grip, wasn’t sure what to say either.
The atmosphere turned awkward—until suddenly...
A soft blue screen popped up right in front of Aoki Kei’s vision, obscuring everything else.
After days of silence, the “Love Obstacle Simulation Game” was back online.
Just like before, the moment the screen appeared, the game presented him with three choices.
————————————————————————
[The heroine, Gotou Hitori, wants to thank you but is too nervous to speak. Right now, you decide to—]
[Option 1]: Ignore her feelings, say you’ve got something to do, and excuse yourself. (Reward: None)
[Option 2]: Ask if she has something she wants to say and suggest chatting at a nearby café over drinks. (Reward: 200 points + random proficient-level skill)
[Option 3]: Ask if she has something to say, and if yes, invite her to go to [STARRY] with you again. Tell her she can think about it on the way. (Reward: 200 points + 50,000 yen)
————————————————————————
He scanned the options quickly.
Option 1 was immediately ruled out—no reward, no point.
Option 2 offered a decent prize, but the random nature of the skill made it risky.
It might be something useful... or it could be something completely useless like "Expert-Level Mouth Breathing."
Plus, taking a socially anxious girl to a normie hangout like a café? Not likely to go well.
Option 3, on the other hand...
Fifty thousand yen and 200 points? That was way too good to pass up.
After a moment’s hesitation, Aoki Kei made his choice.
Closing the screen, he turned to Gotou and said, “Gotou-san, did you want to say something? If so, why don’t we head to that place I took you before—STARRY? You can think about it on the way.”
And just in case she was about to refuse, he added casually, “I was planning to head there anyway.”
Gotou blinked.
The knot of anxiety in her chest loosened just a little.
Her mind spun wildly.
‘Senpai is so thoughtful... He must’ve said that on purpose because he knows how I get.’
‘I’ve got to properly thank him... I have to...!’
As she got lost in thought, she gave the tiniest nod.
“Shall we get going, then? Kita-san, would you like to come too?” Aoki turned to her.
Originally just tagging along to learn more about guitar, Kita nodded without hesitation.
And so, the three of them headed out of the school building.
————————————————————————
Back in Class 2-F, Hikigaya Hachiman, having watched Aoki Kei leave, sat at his desk deep in thought.
Judging by the way this transfer student ate alone and declined walk-home invites, he seemed like someone with a similar personality—quiet, reclusive, maybe even a fellow loner.
A kindred spirit?
Hikigaya winced as he reflected on his own lonely, joyless teenage years.
No friends. Always alone.
If not for Komachi’s support, he might’ve drowned long ago in the sea of loneliness.
Feeling more and more sympathetic, he made a silent decision:
‘Tomorrow, I’ll invite Aoki to eat lunch with me.’
‘Like Stand Users attracting each other... maybe loners are the same.’
With that thought, he stepped out of the classroom and headed for the stairs.
Then, at the end of the hallway—
He saw Aoki Kei chatting with two incredibly cute girls.
“Normies… can all go die.”
[TL Note – wwwwwwwwwwwwwww]
