"Heh." Without answering Ishizaki's question, Ryuen sneered:
"Do you think if you do this, I will let Karuizawa go?"
"Who knows." Hikigaya pressed his arms down, gesturing for the big black guy to lower him a bit.
It was actually quite tiring to stand on his tiptoes; he hadn't expected the other party to actually follow along—he really was a kind fellow.
However, since he couldn't run and posed no threat, putting him down didn't make much of a difference.
"You've already poured water on her, it wouldn't be strange if you did anything else."
Maintaining his position while being held, Hikigaya said helplessly: "However, when the time comes, I will definitely report it to the school."
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Hikigaya quickly added: "After all, if this becomes a school where people are bullied, it would really affect the learning environment."
"..."
Ryuen ground his teeth, looking at the guy in front of him; he really wanted to punch him.
"You think reporting to the school is the end of it? I regret to inform you that the surveillance equipment here has been tampered with by me. Even if we are suspected, there is no evidence to prove we bullied her."
At this, Hikigaya glanced at Karuizawa, who looked hopeful. I already told you not to look at me like that.
I'm really not the good person you think I am.
This girl...
Clearly, she had suffered from severe bullying before.
She probably doesn't dare to speak up.
That's precisely how Ryuen and the others caught her weakness, and now she's come to the rooftop alone to be bullied.
To be honest, Hikigaya felt she kind of deserved it.
Saying she deserved it might be a bit too harsh; at the very least, she was a bit of a silly girl.
After all, he had never had such worries.
On the contrary, he didn't understand why Karuizawa didn't dare to fight back, but it was enough to know that most bullied people in the world are like this.
"There is evidence." Hikigaya tilted his chin toward Karuizawa: "There."
"Hmm?" Ryuen turned back and looked at Karuizawa, somewhat confused: "You mean her?"
"Are you an idiot?" Ishizaki thought it was laughable: "This girl clearly doesn't dare to speak."
"Not quite." Hikigaya glanced at Ishizaki and the others, speaking nonchalantly: "You've misunderstood the essence of it. It's not that she doesn't dare to speak; it's that she doesn't dare to let others discover the fact that she's being bullied, which would cause her to fall to the bottom of the class."
To be honest, Hikigaya had seen too many people like this.
To protect their place in the class, they would use any means necessary—such as mocking others, talking behind their backs, spreading rumors, and so on.
Other than enjoying some vanity, Hikigaya truly didn't understand the point of it.
He could only think they enjoyed maintaining their sense of superiority by belittling others.
In other words, they do it just to make themselves more popular, which actually makes them seem a bit cute.
"Ha, so what's the difference?" Ishizaki asked, looking confused. Doesn't that still mean she doesn't dare?
"The difference is huge." Feeling Ryuen's frowning gaze, Hikigaya said with some smugness: "What she fears isn't you guys, but this non-existent thing called 'atmosphere.'"
Karuizawa looked up at the man in front of her, her gaze blank. Could she not know her own situation?
Ryuen and the others were already terrifying enough.
What kind of nonsensical things was this guy saying?
"The witness is Karuizawa," Hikigaya said indifferently. "If Karuizawa doesn't act as my witness, I'll expose the fact that she's being bullied. If you guys don't let her go, I'll expose the fact that you're bullying her."
"If I put it that way, do you understand?"
Have these guys still not grasped the situation?
Since I already know that Ryuen is afraid of the incident being exposed...
From that moment on, both sides of you have become pawns for me to threaten each other!
The person in control right now is me!
No one really thinks I, Hachiman Hikigaya, am some kind of good person, right?
Huh?
Karuizawa was instantly stunned.
An uncontrollable fear spread through her entire body.
It turned out that she really wasn't the person who knew herself best; the man in front of her actually knew her better than she did.
Both sides were using the threat of exposing her past to blackmail her.
At the thought of this, tears welled up in Karuizawa's eyes, and her heart was filled with terror.
What was she supposed to do? Whom should she listen to?
"Aren't you here to save her?" Ibuki Mio said with eyes wide open.
She originally thought he was just another do-gooder like Ichinose, but now she realized her judgment might have been wrong.
"Well... sort of," Hikigaya said a bit sheepishly.
"Preventing bullying is the duty of every student, after all."
"But before protecting others, one must know how to protect oneself. Besides, I don't even know that person; why should I drag myself down for her?"
Indeed.
"Don't mistake me for a do-gooder like Ichinose."
Ryuen narrowed his eyes, a fierce glint appearing in them: "Class C has planned this for so long, and you think I'll just give up because you messed it up so easily?"
Uh...
It seems that since the end of the Sports Festival, Ryuen has been searching for that suspect X. After wasting so much manpower and physical effort, he likely wouldn't give up so easily.
"Then how about this?" Hikigaya raised his arm, seemingly softening his stance due to Ryuen's tone—or perhaps because he was too much of a loser, Albert didn't stop him either.
He scratched the back of his head and said:
"Anyway, the suspect X you're looking for doesn't know what's happening here. Whether Karuizawa is here or not doesn't make a difference—he'll come if he's going to come, and he definitely won't if he shouldn't."
"In addition, I'll tell you my guess as well. How about it?"
"Your guess?"
"Yeah, I think the person you're looking for is probably that guy Ayanokoji, right?"
"Evidence?" Ryuen raised an eyebrow.
This coincided with his own thoughts; he was one of several subjects he strongly suspected.
"None," Hikigaya said speechlessly. "Because he's the only guy I know who seems relatively suspicious."
Dammit.
Ryuen narrowed his eyes, really wanting to give this guy a beating.
You don't even recognize everyone, yet you're boasting to me.
Isn't this intentionally muddying the waters?
"Well, if you want a reason, there actually is one," Hikigaya said somewhat awkwardly. "During the pole-toppling competition at the last Sports Festival, I wanted to find someone to slack off with. I originally thought he'd be a good opponent."
"Who knew he'd just push me—it really didn't fit the characteristics of a loner. Rather than saying he's hiding his strength, it's more like he lacks a bit of common sense?"
In any case, Hikigaya had nothing to hide.
Just let Class C and Class D fight like dogs.
The more they fight, the better.
By telling Ryuen about Ayanokoji, it would be easier for him to accept.
Meanwhile, Karuizawa's pupils shrank.
She hadn't expected that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had been discovered by the man in front of her so early.
But this man clearly has such ability and can even convince Ryuen; why had she never heard of him before?
On another note, she had already made so many calls to Ayanokoji.
That guy clearly said he would protect her, yet he never picked up. In the end, it was a complete stranger who came to save her.
Thinking of this, Karuizawa pursed her lips, looking at the man before her.
Clearly total strangers.
Even when facing people like Ryuen, knowing he was no match, he still chose to step in and save her.
If she had met someone like Hikigaya in middle school, would she have avoided becoming like this...?
"Whew..." Ryuen exhaled lightly.
He truly didn't know how to evaluate the man in front of him anymore.
Clearly possessing such excellent insight, yet in competitions, he only thought about slacking off and had zero ambition.
Furthermore, he seemed to have no intention of hiding it; he just slacked off openly.
However, this guy's words really made sense.
Whether Karuizawa was there or not...
The suspect X will come if he wants to, and he won't if he doesn't.
The only thing lost was the hand of exposing Karuizawa's past—anyway, she had refused to speak just now. It didn't seem to make much difference whether he let her go or not.
Furthermore, the man's judgment seemed to have some basis; he would just have to keep an eye on Ayanokoji and test him a few more times later.
However, Ryuen narrowed his eyes and focused on Hikigaya.
To be able to consider the incident so comprehensively and achieve such a result while having no prior knowledge—he even took the feelings of Class C into account.
Before this, he had indeed underestimated this guy a bit.
"Hikigaya." Ryuen walked up to Hikigaya, gripped his shoulder, and said with a cold laugh: "Why don't you stop hiding in the back and come out to play with me?"
"That... it hurts." Hikigaya's face showed pain. This guy's strength was truly too much.
Is he still going to make a move on me?
Then there's no choice.
He could only prepare to be beaten and drag Class C and Class D down with him.
"Get lost."
"Ah, yes!"
Hikigaya immediately agreed and hurriedly gestured to Karuizawa.
Glancing at Ishizaki and Ibuki Mio nearby, Karuizawa hesitated for a moment before tremblingly getting up and jogging to Hikigaya's side.
Seeing this, Hikigaya quickly made a small waving motion to signal they should leave, then took the first step to depart.
What a joke.
He didn't want to stay in this godforsaken place for even one more second.
Just then, Hikigaya felt his neck suddenly grabbed. Ryuen gripped the back of his neck and leaned into his face, saying coldly: "I don't care what you're thinking. After I deal with that suspect X, just watch how I fix you and Ichinose."
"Uh..." Hikigaya's face stiffened, and he quickly said: "Fixing Ichinose is fine, that's just class competition. But if you try to fix me, I'll expose what happened today. We'll each mind our own business..."
What a joke.
This time, the timing just happened to be right, and the situation was in his favor.
If Ryuen were to target him deliberately, how could he possibly be a match for Ryuen?
He wasn't about to sacrifice himself for Karuizawa's sake.
Karuizawa would have to take responsibility for this.
"..."
Ishizaki and Ibuki Mio were both stunned.
It's okay to target Ichinose but not you? Where did that courage from just now go?
"I'll be..." Ryuen gripped his neck, his teeth itching with hatred.
"Get lost."
Under the gaze of the others, Hikigaya quickly turned and fled the rooftop as if running for his life. He even seemed to think Karuizawa was walking too slowly, waving his hand to urge her to hurry up.
Ryuen had truly realized it now.
Not only did he threaten the person he saved into silence, but he also used Karuizawa's weakness to protect himself.
There could actually be such a despicable and shameless person in this world.