My elite romantic comedy is wrong, as I expected.

VOL 2 Chapter 19 Phantom Asura

Ayanokouji POV

Several days have passed since Ryuuen withdrew the complaint, we are now on the eve of summer vacation, we were told that the school would give us a special cruise.

The Hikigaya group is meeting today in a cafe, ironically without Hachiman, he has been avoiding any kind of contact, of course, always keeping the formalities, looking for excuses not to meet us.

That leads me to the conclusion that what Ryuuen said is something that affects Hachiman's past quite a bit, although I'm not one to say, I'm not a big fan of my past either. That's why I thought it's also better to give him some space, however the mask he has is pretty bad, he looks distracted and taciturn.

I'm a human being too, so I can't stop curiosity from bubbling up.

While immersed in my thoughts, my friends are talking.

Haruka: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I'm glad you're okay Airi-chan, that bastard should just die.

Akito: I can only agree with Haruka.  I would have liked to hit him too.

Ken: Airi, if you had told us, the four of us would have kicked his ass.

Airi: Awawawa, that's precisely why I didn't want to tell you.

Haruka: There I have to correct you Airi, I also want to protect you, and that someone would try something like that makes me very angry.

Kiyotaka: I also agree with Haruka, we don't know what would have happened if Hachiman hadn't followed you.

Ken: Just thinking about it really makes me angry.

Akito: Yes, how can such a bastard be in our school.

The incident with Airi was really worrying for everyone, any normal person would have traumas, I wouldn't know what we would have done if something happened to her, in these days that we have been living together, I realized that they became my first friends, I wouldn't want to lose my place so soon. Besides this,Airi, I feel comfortable with her, maybe it's because of the social disorder we have, we fit in well, I consider her a little sister even though I never had one.

So it's a relief that nothing happened to her.

Haruka: You see Airi, we worry about you, it's a normal thing between friends. I really felt very helpless when you told us.

Akito: I'm very grateful to Hachiman who protected you.

Airi: He still hurt himself to protect me.

Ken: Huh? That idiot never told us.

Haruka: He always tends to keep a lot of things to himself, I guess he didn't want us to worry.

Kiyotaka: That's very typical of him.

Akito: Now that we're talking about him, have you noticed that he's been weird lately?

Ken: I thought I was the only one who had noticed it.

Haruka: No, I've noticed it too.

Airi: I think I did too.

It seems like the topic of conversation is becoming more problematic. I know the reason for those changes.

Ken: On several occasions he has turned us down to go out after school.

Akito: Yes, she has a strange aura, it's the first time since we met that I feel it.

Haruka: I would like to joke about it, but we are talking seriously about this, you seem to want to say something Airi-chan.

Airi looks hesitant about what to say, but her eyes become more determined to say it.

Airi: It's not my place to say it, but when the stalker attack happened, and he confronted that guy, he looked like a completely different person, he was very predisposed to the use of violence, i didn't blame him because of the circumstances, it's still very strange.

Ken: Earlier he told us that he had participated in several fights,maybe he is used to facing guys with knives.

Akito: No, no, Ken, you don't understand, even for a criminal to face a knife is very scary, even more if you are unarmed, that's why most conflicts were solved with fists or blunt objects.

Haruka: Hey, Kiyopon, you know something, don't you? After all he started acting strange ever since he told us he was going to meet you and Horikita-san.

Tch, that he mentioned it leaves me stuck at a crossroads.

What should I do in this situation?

As his friend what is the right decision?

Respect their privacy? Or should I tell them?

As a person I want to respect their boundaries after all they have a lot to think about.

But........

As a person who cares about him, I want to support him, is this what friends are? Those who intrude into your life to help you? Even at the cost of you want to push them away?