"Phew."
Hikigaya sat exhaustedly on a chair, opening a MAX Coffee and taking a sip.
With the competition progressing this far, his stamina was inevitably flagging.
Currently, the women's obstacle race was taking place.
The first group had two familiar faces: Horikita Suzune from Class D and Himeno Yuki from his own class.
The two were quickly overtaken by two unknown girls, falling into third and fourth place.
It seemed that after he questioned whether she was hiding her strength, Himeno Yuki's results became quite ordinary, generally landing between third and fifth place.
However, since Hikigaya himself was slacking off, he didn't see any problem with her performance.
Achieving excellent results would indeed be better for the class, but it would also bring more expectations.
Expectations are things that only grow larger; once you fail to meet them, people only feel disappointment.
To avoid disappointing others, the person being expected of has to work even harder.
This pain and responsibility are borne alone by the one being expected of.
Meanwhile, those who project expectations and then feel disappointed when their expectations aren't met bear no responsibility at all.
Isn't it strange to force pain onto someone else without any responsibility?
Therefore, Hikigaya wouldn't have any expectations for Himeno Yuki, nor would he criticize her actions.
The group quickly crossed the balance beam.
Horikita Suzune was gradually closing the gap, trailing the second place by only a sliver, with Himeno Yuki following behind them.
But as he watched, Hikigaya felt something was wrong; those top two girls looked familiar.
It seemed these two were often in the same group as Horikita Suzune, as if she were being targeted.
He didn't pay much attention to Horikita Suzune; he only watched the matches occasionally when he was bored during breaks, so he wasn't very sure.
If that were really the case, it could only mean that Class D's participation list had been leaked.
In the previous boys' cavalry battle, Class A had experienced an obvious internal rift, likely on Sakayanagi's orders.
Class A shouldn't have the spare energy for this.
Since Sakayanagi was determined to deal with Katsuragi first, there was no need to pay attention to other classes' participation lists; she just needed Class A to lose.
That leaves Class C.
However, thinking of this, Hikigaya felt even more strange.
The two girls in front could suppress Horikita Suzune, so their athletic ability was clearly not bad.
Since he already knew Class D's participation list, wouldn't it be better to avoid Class D's strong players? Why did Ryuen put two athletically gifted girls in the same group as Horikita Suzune?
Isn't that a waste of his own advantage?
Unless Ryuen has a bigger plot!
Terrifying...
Hikigaya shook his head inwardly; these leaders clearly all had their own schemes.
Anyway, it had nothing to do with him or Class B. Hikigaya just treated it as watching a show.
Just then, he noticed Horikita Suzune squeezed into second place during the final straight sprint, and then she repeatedly looked back to observe her opponent.
That caused her speed to drop, and she was caught up by the person behind her. They ran side-by-side and then collided violently, both falling to the ground.
Himeno Yuki, who was originally fourth, glanced at the two of them and easily took second place.
Whoa, that looked painful.
Hikigaya watched the drama unfold and quickly looked away.
Let that self-righteous woman act smug; she deserves it!
Soon, Himeno Yuki, having finished the first group, returned to the Class B area early.
She looked at Hikigaya, who was leisurely drinking MAX Coffee, and glared at him in frustration:
"You sure are leisurely. Didn't think to buy one for me?"
"Why should I buy one for you?"
Hikigaya retorted unceremoniously.
Since there was no one around, Himeno Yuki showed her unpleasant personality.
"Heh heh, is it really okay to talk to me like that?"
Himeno Yuki sat down beside Hikigaya teasingly, snatched the MAX Coffee he had been drinking, took a sip, and her eyes lit up:
"Oh, this is actually pretty good."
"I say..."
Seeing Himeno Yuki's rosy lips touch the spot where he had just drank, Hikigaya's face flushed:
"Doing that can easily make a guy misunderstand. Please show some respect."
"No way~ Only a pure boy like you, Hikigaya, would think that."
Himeno Yuki's smile was somewhat disdainful.
Why would she drink something another boy had drunk from?
"Oh."
Hikigaya wanted to talk back stubbornly.
He wasn't pure; the truly pure one was Shibata.
But he felt he would immediately be counter-teased by Himeno Yuki and driven into a corner.
[Self-promotion text for a novel group]
A loner wouldn't fall in the same place twice.
Hikigaya had learned his lesson.
He had to admit he couldn't win against Himeno Yuki in this area.
He honestly conceded.
"Why can't I talk to you like that?"
Hikigaya took another bottle of MAX Coffee from his shoulder bag to change the subject.
Fortunately, he had already finished more than half of the previous bottle, otherwise it would have been a big loss.
"Oh~"
Himeno Yuki said disdainfully: "I saw it; you were totally slacking off during the Pole-Toppling competition."
"So you saw it..."
Hikigaya was slightly embarrassed but quickly defended himself: "Anyway, I held back one person, so what does it matter?"
Although I was slacking off with Onizuka-Daimajin, my side lost one person and the opponent side lost one person.
That equals nobody slacking off!
"Such sophistry."
"Ichinose and the others won't accept that."
Himeno Yuki patted Hikigaya's thigh and said with a mischievous smile:
"If you know what's good for you, hurry up and treat me to a meal as hush money!"
Hikigaya glanced at where she had patted and said flatly: "Congratulations, you just got second place."
The implication was: I also know you were holding back.
He truly lacked the strength. Even if he used his full power, he couldn't have changed the outcome of the Pole-Toppling competition; he had participated seriously in other events.
Moreover, they won in the end anyway.
I was slacking, and you were holding back.
We're in the same boat.
Think you can threaten me, Hikigaya Hachiman? Impossible!
"Whoa."
Himeno Yuki's face turned sour, and she said in disbelief: "You're actually threatening a woman; you really are more than a little petty."
"Heh heh, glad you know."
Hikigaya felt a bit proud.
Did she think just because she's a girl, he would give in?
In your dreams!
"Fine then."
Himeno Yuki gave a quiet "tch" and said helplessly: "Don't worry, I won't order anything expensive. Saizeriya is fine. Just treat me to a meal."
"No, why should I treat you to a meal?"
Hikigaya refused directly.
Even if it wasn't expensive, he had no reason to treat Himeno Yuki to a meal.
Himeno Yuki stared at Hikigaya with her beautiful eyes, so annoyed her teeth ached. How could this person be like a block of wood?
She couldn't possibly treat Hikigaya to a meal herself, right?
If she did that, wouldn't her intentions be exposed instantly?
"If you won't, then forget it."
Himeno Yuki turned her head away and said in a disdainful tone.
"Good."
Hikigaya watched the field indifferently.
He had no reason to treat her, nor any reason to eat with her.
However, speaking of which, Himeno Yuki had split the bill with him fairly before and didn't seem like someone looking for a free ride.
Had she finally exposed her nature as a mean JK (high school girl)?
Truly terrifying.
"I really don't see what's so good about watching this competition."
Himeno Yuki's tone was still a bit unhappy as she gazed at the field.
"Indeed..."
Hikigaya nodded in agreement.
It was just a bunch of show-offs shouting on the field. It really wasn't much to look at.
"But, if it's like your race just now where someone falls down, then it becomes interesting."
Hikigaya said nonchalantly.
After all, neither of them was a particularly good person, so they didn't have much to worry about when chatting.
"Hmm..."
Himeno Yuki knit her brows in confusion: "Speaking of which, that girl Kinoshita was shouting Horikita's name just now; she was really pushing hard for the race."
"Who is Kinoshita?"
"Someone from Class C, the girl who fell with Horikita just now."
"Oh."
Hikigaya glanced toward Class C.
As expected of Himeno Yuki, she knew far more people than he did.
"Come to think of it, during the tug-of-war earlier, Ryuen also intentionally let go to make the Class D people fall."
"Whoa..."
Himeno Yuki also looked over and teased: "Ryuen really has a knack for messing with people's minds. Those people in Class D must be furious."
"Furious? That Sudo guy was almost ready to start a fight."
Hikigaya shook his head with some lingering fear.
The two of them were talking bad about other classes without reservation, and Himeno Yuki's mood instantly improved.
However, thinking back to the tug-of-war.
Just as both sides were putting in their full strength, Class C, under Ryuen's command, suddenly let go, causing everyone in Class D to fall together.
Hikigaya didn't feel much; he was just watching the show.
However, the trick Ryuen used on Sudo was clearly different from the one used on Horikita Suzune.
It was just calling out a name.
Kinoshita also fell with Horikita Suzune, and both of them ended up in seventh and eighth place.
It was a total loss.
Would Ryuen really be so naive?
Perhaps being despicable enough, Hikigaya could easily guess Ryuen's thought process.
It was likely nothing more than threatening Horikita Suzune.
But he didn't think Horikita Suzune would give in so easily.
As for the process, Hikigaya really couldn't think of how the threat was made.
Forget it.
PAGE 7
Thinking about these things was pointless.
If something can't be done, it can't be done; leave it to those who are capable.
Although he didn't know how Ryuen would do it, he would likely go and threaten Horikita Suzune.
Hikigaya was just wondering if he could get some benefit for himself without affecting Class B.
This time, Class B and Class C both belonged to the White Team, so the two sides were in a cooperative relationship.
Class B and Class D were also in a cooperative relationship.
Wait, that's not right...
"Um, Himeno, are we still in a cooperative relationship with Class D?"
Hikigaya asked with some confusion.
"How should I know..." Himeno Yuki was a bit speechless and tilted her head: "But Ichinose didn't say the cooperation was canceled, so it should still be ongoing, right? I don't think she would make such a mistake."
"True."
Hikigaya nodded.
Ichinose indeed didn't seem like the type to make such a basic mistake.
However, Hikigaya was somewhat speechless.
What on earth was Ichinose doing?
How could she be in a cooperative relationship with all of these guys?
How was this supposed to work?