SWNOVELXO Chapter 102
Chapter 102: Kushida’s Negotiation
“Hehe, Hikigaya, do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you?!”
Kushida’s voice had a rough, hoarse quality, completely different from her usual sweet and gentle tone. Right now, she looked as if she was on the verge of losing control.
“Kushida, how did you even get in here? Don’t tell me you’re planning to—”
Suddenly realizing something, Hikigaya hastily covered his chest with both hands as if saying, “This time, there’s no way you can force me to stamp my fingerprint!”
“Hiki! Gaya!”
Seeing his bizarre reaction, Kushida’s emotions flared up again. “Why do you always—always—try to piss me off?!”
“Uh… how about a cup of coffee to calm down first?” Hikigaya tentatively suggested.
Kushida took several deep breaths, gradually suppressing her agitation. She nodded, then, without another word, walked into Hikigaya’s room and sat down directly on his bed—without even asking—as if declaring, “From now on, I own this space.”
Fortunately, Hikigaya was relatively tidy. His room was practically bare, aside from the books with library tags stacked on his bedside table and desk, making it a rather minimalist space.
After opening the balcony window, Hikigaya took two canned coffees from his mini-fridge. He pulled up a chair by his desk and sat down, quietly waiting for the girl across from him to speak.
Earlier, Kushida had been fuming, cursing Hikigaya in her mind, running through a million ways to punish him when she finally saw him. But now, faced with his completely calm demeanor, her anger inexplicably felt like it had been doused with cold water.
Especially when she recalled what he had said last night—every single word of his had hit her deepest insecurities with pinpoint accuracy. The scariest part was that she couldn’t even find a way to refute him. It was as if he had already seen through her completely, as if she had no secrets left to hide. That unsettling feeling—fear, helplessness—had kept her awake the entire night.
Noticing her shifting expressions, Hikigaya finally spoke. “Kushida, you came to talk about last night, didn’t you?”
Kushida didn’t answer, but the hostility in her eyes said it all.
“After cooling down overnight, you should have realized one thing: there’s no actual conflict of interest between us. The best way to handle this is to stay out of each other’s way. No matter what you do, it won’t affect me. And even if I were to expose you for being a ticking time bomb, no one would believe me.”
Hikigaya spoke with complete composure.
Kushida had remained relatively calm—until she heard him call her a “ticking time bomb.” Her expression immediately turned terrifying, her forehead nearly breaking out in veins.
“Hikigaya, do you have any idea how much I want to strangle you right now?”
She took several deep breaths. “Every damn time—you always try to get under my skin!”
“Uh… sorry. If the truth is too painful, I’ll try to be more careful next time.”
“You!!!”
Kushida felt an overwhelming urge to storm out of the room. But her rational mind stopped her. She couldn’t afford to act on impulse. She had to settle this once and for all, or else this “weakness” of hers would haunt her for the next three years.
It took her a long time to suppress her emotions. Finally, she spoke in a forcedly calm tone. “You’re right about one thing. You’re just some bottom-feeder, an outcast whose words no one would ever believe. But—”
Her eyes darkened as she glared at him. “But I can’t take that risk. And more importantly, I don’t trust you.”
Hikigaya Hachiman—this guy was a despicable liar!
The events of last night were still fresh in her mind. She had thought she had him completely under her control, that she had him cornered with the “fingerprint press” move. But at the last second, he had faked submission, lured her into lowering her guard—only to betray her with a counterattack that left her drenched.
Just thinking about it made her want to scream.
She hated liars the most!
“I see.”
Hikigaya wasn’t angry at Kushida’s words; instead, he had an expression that seemed to say, just as I expected.
“In the end, Kushida, it all comes down to your lack of a sense of security, doesn’t it?”
He took a sip of his coffee and spoke slowly. “In your eyes, I hold leverage over you, yet you have no way to deal with me. That extreme unease, combined with your naturally… explosive—ah, sorry, I mean difficult—personality, makes it impossible for you to trust anyone.”
“What do you want? Personal points? Something else? Or… are you after my body?”
Kushida stared at Hikigaya coldly. Then, without hesitation, she reached up and undid the top button of her blouse. As if releasing a sealed force, a dazzling expanse of white skin instantly came into view.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Hikigaya nearly choked on his coffee, barely managing to stop himself from spitting it out. The thought of coffee stains splattering onto Kushida’s clothes and the chaos that would inevitably follow made his stomach drop.
Seeing his reaction, Kushida felt a sense of Hah, so men really are all the same. At the same time, the unknown fear she had toward him seemed to dissipate a little.
“Kushida, is it really necessary to go this far just to protect that mask you wear?”
“Shut up!”
Her expression suddenly turned agitated. “You don’t know anything about me! Don’t act like you understand me with that disgusting, self-righteous look! That condescending, preachy attitude—it’s absolutely infuriating!”
Surprisingly, Hikigaya didn’t get angry at her outburst. Instead, he simply looked at her deeply, his cold gaze making Kushida involuntarily tense up. Forcing herself to suppress her unease, she demanded, “So, what the hell do you want?! If you’re a man, then say it straight—stop dragging it out!”
Suddenly, Hikigaya stood up.
Kushida had thought she was mentally prepared for anything, but his abrupt movement still startled her. Her body instinctively jerked backward—until she lost her balance and fell onto the bed.
The scene that unfolded was almost too suggestive. In the otherwise simple and minimalistic room, the atmosphere suddenly grew thick with tension.
But the scenario Kushida had imagined never happened. Instead, Hikigaya pulled out his phone, tapped a few times on the screen, and then handed it over to her.
Frowning in confusion, Kushida took the phone.
The moment she saw the screen, her eyes widened in shock. She lifted her gaze back to Hikigaya, utterly stunned.
“You…”
Displayed on the screen was the personal points balance.
Over one million personal points!