Year 1, Class B.
Lunch break ended, and the students of Class B gradually returned to the classroom.
"Everyone, have you heard?"
Kobashi Yume rushed into the classroom, clutching the doorframe with a face full of tension.
"Anyway, Kobayashi, please calm down first."
Kanzaki stood up, his expression heavy. "Whatever it is, speak slowly."
"Yeah."
Kobashi Yume breathed a sigh of relief, walked into the middle of the crowd, pulled out her phone, and showed the screen to everyone.
"I heard from a friend in Class D that rumors are spreading outside that Ichinose caused a violent incident in the past."
"Is it Class A's move again?"
Immediately, someone stood up in dissatisfaction. They had long since had enough of being slandered like this.
"I'm not quite sure."
Kobashi Yume shook her head, feeling somewhat indignant.
"But this rumor seems to have quite a bit of detail. It says Hikigaya and Ichinose were classmates in middle school."
"Supposedly, because Hikigaya was caught threatening girls in class by Ichinose, he eventually attacked her out of shame and anger, only to be beaten into submission by Ichinose. That's what caused the violent incident."
"Moreover, the previous rumors about Ichinose were also intentionally spread by Hikigaya because he wanted revenge."
Fortunately.
This was a closed-off school.
No one could investigate the truth of the matter.
Even if someone knew, it wouldn't matter.
People were more willing to believe that Ichinose was a good person and that Hikigaya—who ignored the group's feelings during the forest camp—was a despicable fellow.
The despicable Hikigaya, disregarding his class's existence, wanted to take revenge on Ichinose, so he deliberately spread rumors everywhere.
This kind of topic was easier for them to accept.
"This..."
The people of Class B were momentarily stunned. A girl said with a complicated expression, "I just heard about it too."
"Impossible."
Kanzaki knit his brows tightly. "Setting aside everything else, Hikigaya and Ichinose clearly didn't know each other when school started, right?"
"Furthermore, we've already confirmed that Hashimoto and the others have been spreading rumors in the clubs. How could it be Hikigaya spreading them?"
"I think so too!"
mako said with some concern, "Then what's with this rumor? Is Class A's original goal actually Hikigaya, and they want to retaliate against him?"
"Hmm?"
The people around her couldn't help but look at her.
It was indeed possible.
After all, during the forest camp, Hikigaya had gone all out to drag Class A down, causing them to take last place in the exam.
It was only natural for Class A to want revenge on Hikigaya.
"Impossible."
After some thought, Kanzaki shook his head in denial.
"If Class A's goal was to retaliate against Hikigaya while also trying to crush Class B, the timing is clearly wrong."
"Shifting the target to Hikigaya now would instead move Ichinose out of the spotlight. It's putting the cart before the horse."
"If they really wanted to deal with Hikigaya, they should have waited a bit longer—until Ichinose could no longer handle it—before shifting the topic to Hikigaya."
As the second-in-command of Class B.
Kanzaki easily arrived at the correct answer.
After all.
Doing this provided Class A with no benefit at all; instead, it helped Class B.
Although Hikigaya was also considered a comrade, his importance to Class B was clearly not on the same level as Ichinose Honami.
"Could it be..."
Himeno Yuki pursed her lips, her expression complicated. "That Hikigaya spread it himself?"
"What do you mean?"
"No..."
Feeling everyone's confused gazes, Himeno Yuki pursed her lips. "Didn't he say that Honami-chan might return to school tomorrow?"
"This..."
As soon as these words were spoken.
Kanzaki and the others were instantly stunned.
Clearly, Hikigaya had anticipated all of this. Given his personality, it was possible he had spread it himself.
There would no longer be rumors about Ichinose in the school.
In that case.
Ichinose might indeed return to school.
Hikigaya had helped the class in this way, but at the thought of this, the expressions of Shibata and the others grew even heavier.
As class was about to start.
Hikigaya left the clubroom.
He usually took his lunch breaks here.
He returned to the classroom.
The moment he walked in.
Hikigaya felt everyone staring directly at him.
"Wh... what's wrong?"
"Hikigaya..."
Kobashi Yume's face showed hesitation. "Do you know about the rumors outside right now?"
"Yeah, the rumor about Ichinose causing a violent incident?"
Hikigaya asked, appearing slightly confused.
As expected, the gyaru Karuizawa acted with excellent efficiency. In less than a lunch break, Class B already knew.
In that case, the whole school must know by now.
"Yes."
Shibata looked at Hikigaya with a complicated expression. "And there are rumors about you, saying you and Ichinose were middle school classmates. You spread that rumor, didn't you?"
"I suppose so."
Hikigaya nodded.
At this stage, there was no point in hiding it. With the abilities of Kanzaki and the others, they could likely guess it anyway.
"Why..."
Kobashi Yume's eyes reddened slightly. "Hiki-gaya, why did you do such a thing?"
"Why?"
With their strength, it was impossible they couldn't think of the reason. Hikigaya frowned but explained anyway:
"If I do this, there won't be rumors about Ichinose in the school anymore. Ichinose can return to school with peace of mind."
"Even if Sakayanagi wants to publicize Ichinose's past, it will only be seen as a smear against her. At that time, everyone will stand on Ichinose's side, and Sakayanagi won't be able to act easily."
"Moreover, if the initial rumors slandering Ichinose appeared to come from me, Sakayanagi shouldn't feel dissatisfied either."
"So there's no need to worry about it affecting the class."
"Is there a problem?"
Hikigaya believed he had considered everything thoroughly.
If the matter was disconnected from Class A from the start, Sakayanagi would have no reason to continue acting.
Of course.
The opponent was someone who lived for amusement and couldn't be judged by common sense. If she insisted on acting, she would only be seen as someone hitting Ichinose while she was down.
Sakayanagi would only receive negative evaluations.
Even if she stubbornly insisted on acting, he could just think of a countermeasure then.
At least.
Sakayanagi could no longer use the tactic of fabricating rumors against Ichinose.
There shouldn't be any problem.
"But, what about Hikigaya..."
Hearing his words, Kobashi Yume and the others were slightly dazed. After a long while, she said somewhat angrily:
"Now everyone outside is saying Hiki-paya is so pathetic for not even being able to beat a girl like Ichinose, and that you're too despicable. What should be done about that?"
"Oh, that..."
So that was it. Hikigaya nodded indifferently. "That doesn't matter. I don't care about those things. If anything, it's nice to have my presence acknowledged."
In any case.
He couldn't understand why Ichinose would shut herself away.
This kind of rumor meant nothing to Hikigaya. He certainly wouldn't shut himself away over something so trivial.
"Even so..."
Kobashi Yume's eyes were red and she looked ready to cry. Her voice became choked, but she stammered, unable to speak.
After all.
As long as Hikigaya himself didn't care, then there was no problem. He had considered every aspect.
Whether it was Sakayanagi, the people behind the scenes, or even the school.
No one could break this!
This situation was unsolvable.
Ichinose would be liberated from the rumors, and Sakayanagi could no longer interfere.
The incident ended here.
Why were they still making such expressions?
"Is there any other problem?"
Hikigaya asked with a frown.
"I can't explain it well..."
Kobashi Yume clutched her chest, her tears finally falling slowly. She sobbed:
"But I really hate Hiki-gaya's way of doing things..."
"Yume-chan..."
mako pressed her shoulder, softly comforting her. Her eyes, as she looked at Hikigaya, were also quite complicated.
To the side, Himeno Yuki, Shibata, and the others also fell into silence. Other Class B students lowered their heads, not knowing what to say.
All the problems had been solved.
Hikigaya Hachiman himself didn't care.
However, words of gratitude simply could not be spoken.
Hikigaya looked at the scene before him and couldn't help but clench his fists. He recognized this look—eyes filled with arrogance and pity.
Clearly, he had solved the problem.
Ichinose would be saved, Sakayanagi could not act, Class B didn't need to worry, and they didn't have to fear Sakayanagi's future retaliation.
Why were they looking at him like that?
But soon.
Hikigaya relaxed his hands.
He hadn't done it for a reward; he had simply taken it upon himself to do something for this class.
In that case.
It didn't matter how Kobashi Yume and the others viewed him.
The most important thing now was.
"Hurry and tell Ichinose about this. That way, she should be able to come to school tomorrow without worrying about the rumors."
Hikigaya walked back to his seat and spoke in a low voice.
Now the priority was getting Ichinose back to school and getting Class B back on track.
"How could we..."
asakura mako shook her head bitterly. "How could we have the heart to tell Ichinose about this..."
"..."
The people of Class B looked at each other, one by one showing bitter smiles.
No one was willing to tell Ichinose, because doing so would undoubtedly be equivalent to acknowledging that Hikigaya's method was correct.
Hurting one comrade to save another.
Class B was undoubtedly incapable of doing such a thing.
"Why..."
Hikigaya truly didn't understand, but he still said deeply: "Fine. Even if you don't say anything, Ichinose will find out soon enough. It will only be a day or two late at most."
With Ichinose's connections.
Even if she wasn't attending school, she would certainly learn about what happened at school very quickly. Someone would surely go to flatter or show concern for her.
At that time.
Ichinose would naturally learn about these things, stop worrying about the rumors, and return to school.
No one could stop it.
Not even Ichinose herself.
The only difference was the timing—giving Ichinose a chance to prepare herself mentally.
Fortunately.
"I'll go then. Help me tell the teacher in the afternoon."
Kanzaki, the class's second-in-command, walked to the classroom door, stopped suddenly, and turned to look at Hikigaya, speaking solemnly.
"Although I don't know what to say, Ichinose is truly important to Class B. Thanks."
With that, he walked away.
Kanzaki turned and left the class.
It was truly good that Class B had a second-in-command like Kanzaki.
Hikigaya couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
See? It was simple. A world where no one got hurt was complete!