My elite romantic comedy is wrong, as I expected.

VOL 4 Chapter 9 Cards

I'm on my way to the living room. But a sudden voice catches my attention.

Satou: Hikigaya   -  kun.

Hachiman  : Oh,   Satou  -san, are you also heading towards the living room?

Satou : Yes, if you want, can we go together?

Hachiman : I don't see the problem.

Satou : Thank you.

I don't see the need to thank me, it should be the opposite.

I notice that she wants to say something, but not being an avid conversationalist, she doesn't know what to say.

Hachiman : Do you have something to say?

Satou : Well….. it's a little embarrassing, I know it's past your birthday, I still wanted to give you something.

She hands me a box of candy.

Is my luck getting better and better? 
More and more people congratulate me. It's something unexpected. 

She asked me what the reaction of those two would be when they found out about that.

Hachiman  :   Satou  -san, thank you for remembering, but you shouldn't have done it.

Satou : No, no, no, I wanted to do it, after all the times that   Hikigaya   -  kun   has helped me it's impossible for me not to give him something, plus it's a bit late to give it to you, I would have liked to give you something better.

Hachiman : You can rest assured, the feeling is enough, I appreciate it. can I try them?

Satou : Huh? Of course you can.

I opened the box and took out a sweet, they are coffee gummies, it is a new experience, I really liked coffee, but trying it as gummies is really interesting. I offer   Satou   a sweet.

Satou : Thanks, I'll take one.

She takes it and tries it, from her expression I can tell that she is delighted.

Satou : How delicious.

Hachiman : If you're right, shall we continue going?

Satou : Sure.

With her statement we continue forward, she looks like a little rabbit jumping next to me, I guess she is happy to have wished me a happy birthday, maybe it is out of gratitude. Even so, it feels very good to be congratulated, it seems that I am really spending all the luck of my life, I hope something worse doesn't happen to me or put my life at risk, these last few days I have felt very happy.

Calm down, you must calm down, you are again about to enter a nest of snakes. I must concentrate.

Ike   is outside the room waiting for us.

Ike : Looks like you've already arrived.

Hachiman : Did you wait long? 

Ike : Not really, besides it's better that we go in as a class, I don't want to be alone with that guy.

Hachiman : You're right, another thing I want to clarify, I know I said to let me talk, but I don't know how to hold back on talking to the other classes.

Satou : We understand. But I'm worried about that guy from class D, he's being too hostile.

Ike : Yes, at this rate he will be everyone's enemy.

Hachiman : You can rest assured, just ignore his provocations, he can't do much right now.

With this said, we enter the classroom, this time there is only class A gathered.

Hashimoto: Oh? It seems that class B is the first to arrive.

Hachiman : Good evening.

Hashimoto: This…..  Hikitani-kun  ?

Somehow it bothered me.

Hachiman  : It's   Hikigaya.

Hashimoto:   ahh , sorry, my mistake.

Hashimoto is sitting at the table, while   Kamuro  ,   Yahiko   and Johan are on the couch, the latter fighting sleep.

Hashimoto: They are also with you   Satou-san and   Ike -  kun

So it was on purpose that he said my name wrong. How annoying.

They both nod.

Hashimoto: What do you think? I hope to have your help to get the best possible result.

Satou : Of course.

Ike : Yes, I want those points too. 
It's a good thing I didn't tell them about my identity, these two are very bad at acting.

Hashimoto: And you, Hikigaya  ?

Did he throw away the honorifics?

Hachiman : I'm also short on points, an extra change wouldn't hurt.

As we speak, class C and D arrive. I can feel a few stares wanting to pierce my skull.

Hashimoto: Very well, now that everyone is here, I would like everyone to come up with ideas for us to talk about.

Seong : Does that make any sense?

Seong   interrupts, he doesn't have his characteristic mocking and cruel tone, he feels like he's the voice of reason.

Amikura : Not you again, since we started you have only wanted to obstruct our path. Does that mean you're the VIP?

Seong   just smiles and says.

Seong : Yes, I'm the VIP.

That hits like a bomb for everyone.
Everyone is left speechless.

Hashimoto: Don't fall for such a cheap trick,   Amikura  -san.

Seong : It seems like you know how to catch a liar.

Satou : So it was a lie.

Yahiko :   Hmph , it was obvious that he was lying.

Shiina : You just wanted that if there were traitors in this group, they would suffer the penalties of answering the VIP incorrectly.

Himeno : So if   Amikura -san had fallen into his trap, our class would have had a penalty of 50 points.

Ike  : but what is the purpose   of lying   like this?

Hashimoto: Prove your point, I think I know what you mean.

Hashimoto puts on a sharp expression. Several of us have suspicions about him. 

Seong : You don't have to be a genius to know this, if the VIP wants to stay hidden he can easily pass himself off.

Furinji : You are unusually cooperative.

He just shrugs.

Hachiman : That doesn't mean he's right.

Everyone is surprised that I am the one giving him support.

Hashimoto: Even you say it   Hikigaya , can you explain better?

Hachiman : Sure. As he said, the VIP can be easily hidden, it is a title that was granted, so trying to debate who it is is a waste of time, what are we going to debate? It's obvious that we're not going to spend a full hour asking if you're the VIP. It's not like a   crime scene, where   other factors influence to catch the culprit, we don't have testimonies, we don't have a crime scene, we don't have evidence, the point I want to get to is basically that whoever the VIP is , we don't have a solid way to catch it.

Johan: That's what I thought too.

An unexpected intervention by class A supports me.

Johan: We're basically trapped for an hour with 12 innocent people and one liar. Hashimoto's is a waste of time so shut up and let me   sleep.

Hashimoto: Johan…..

He covers his face with his hand, it seems like he has someone problematic in his class.

Yahiko : You are always like that, it wouldn't kill you to help us.

Johan: Shut up, loser. People like you should just stay quiet when we talk.

Shut   Yahiko  's mouth brutally.

Johan: It's useless for us to try to look for the VIP, it only shows that he is a greedy person, if he weren't he would already be revealing his identity.

Shiina : Sorry, Johan-  kun , even if he VIP reveals his identity we don't know if someone will betray everyone.

Johan: You have a point. 
That is the crossroads, the existence of hidden traitors is quite complicated because anyone can be considered one. 

Seong : Do you see it now? We only go around in circles if the VIP doesn't show up.

Psychological pressure to force me to leave?

Sorry I'm scum, so that won't make me back down. Just advertising here will cause failure. There are too many hidden snakes to simply give that right.

Hashimoto: So……What do we do? There are still 45 minutes left of the required time.

And so a thunderous silence hangs over us. We couldn't make any progress.

Hachiman : I brought cards, does anyone want to play?

Everyone looks at me with surprised expressions. 

Did I say something strange?

Johan: Finally someone who isn't so boring. I'm in.

The same expressions are given for Johan.

Johan: What's wrong? Don't think I'm going to stay talking rubbish, I'd rather sleep in that case.

Furinji  : I would also like to play. 

Furinji   joins Johan.

Hashimoto: There is no other way.

He says it with a resigned expression. 

Seong : That sounds good,   Hikigaya.

And an unexpected and annoying participant joins in. He stands up from his seat, he is a few meters away from where I am, he places his left hand on the table while pointing with his right.

Seong  : Let's have fun   Hikigaya.

The provocative tone is back. 
There is a small table in the center, we form a circle around   it. I start   shuffling the cards, I was in a couple of places that took a bit of skill, so it became a habit to handle the cards , although of course I am far from the professionals. Let's play traditional poker. A game that is based on luck.

Each player will be given five cards and the one with the highest combination will be the winner.

I guess I'm going to relax for a while.