At the same time, the new rumors quickly spread through the school.
Currently, in Class D.
Even if one didn't want to know, these rumors would inevitably reach everyone's ears.
"I knew it! How could Ichinose be a bad person?"
Ike Kanji and the others gathered together, sighing in relief. "But that guy named Hikigaya is way too pathetic, isn't he? He can't even beat Ichinose and can only bully some little girls."
"What? You only just found out?"
Yamauchi Haruki held his head high, sounding somewhat proud:
"I've known all along that Ichinose couldn't be a bad person. And during the forest camp, I knew that Hikigaya was nothing good. It's totally normal for him to threaten girls."
"Who are you kidding?"
Sudo said dismissively, "Didn't you say just yesterday that you never expected Ichinose to be that kind of person, and that you'd totally misjudged her?"
"Impossible! You must have misheard!"
Even now.
The class was frantically discussing the matters of Class B.
"Ayanokouji, what's your take on this?"
Hearing them chatter incessantly, Horikita Suzune's brow furrowed as she looked at her seatmate.
"I don't know."
Ayanokouji also watched the girls' side expressionlessly. "I don't know much about that Hikigaya, but it looks like the matter is resolved."
As he spoke.
Ayanokouji focused on hearing keywords related to Hikigaya and fell into deep thought.
This was a method of resolution he had never imagined.
The rumors had been pre-defined by someone. Any further attempts to do anything would be useless.
The only trouble was.
That Hikigaya would inevitably fall to the very bottom of the school hierarchy from now on.
Such an act of hurting oneself to save the class.
It was truly unexpected.
Ayanokouji couldn't help but feel a spark of interest.
Originally, he was only curious about how the leaders of each class—Sakayanagi, Ichinose, Ryuuen Kakeru, Horikita Suzune, etc.—would grow.
Unexpectedly.
There was such a fresh existence in the school.
What was his philosophy of action? What was his motivation? And what was his goal?
Ayanokouji felt.
He could appropriately reach out to this guy.
"Indeed... I don't know much about that guy either."
Horikita Suzune knit her brows. After exchanging contact information, the money owed had basically been transferred.
The two hadn't seen each other for nearly half a year.
After pondering for a moment, Horikita Suzune said with some doubt:
"However, in my view, he at least isn't someone who would dare to threaten a girl. If you said he was being threatened by a girl, I might actually believe it."
"So, the rumor is fake."
Ayanokouji responded indifferently. "Is it possible he spread this rumor himself?"
"I'm not sure."
Horikita Suzune's face was calm. "If that's the case, it only shows that this guy is far too foolish."
"Indeed..."
Ayanokouji couldn't help but nod.
Whether Hikigaya did it for Ichinose or for the class, it could hardly be called a smart move.
"However."
Horikita Suzune glanced at him again and added: "Even so, he is willing to sacrifice for the class. I really wish a certain someone would learn from that."
"Regrettably, that is something I absolutely cannot do."
Ayanokouji's face remained flat.
Damaging one's own reputation—how foolish.
On the other side.
On a vacant bench in the school garden.
Sakayanagi Arisu was enjoying lunch alone. Just then, Kamuro Masumi hurriedly approached her.
"That's the situation..."
"Oh?"
Hearing the latest rumors.
Sakayanagi was slightly startled and then lowered her head in thought.
However.
The more she thought, the more troublesome she found it.
"Kamuro-san."
Sakayanagi looked up slightly and smiled. "If you were to continue spreading the rumor about Ichinose's shoplifting, how do you think others would react?"
"Hmm..."
Kamuro Masumi didn't think much of it and felt it was irrelevant.
"They'd probably think it was just a smear against Ichinose."
As she spoke.
She looked down at Sakayanagi and gave a small sneer:
"They'd probably also think, 'To think they'd only use such petty tricks, they must be really weak.'"
"It would indeed turn out that way..."
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't argue; a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.
Using the same tactic twice would likely only make others feel that the person was already out of options.
Moreover.
It would look like a sore loser of a child.
Insisting on arguing that "what I said is actually true."
Sakayanagi Arisu also disliked that kind of incompetent stubbornness.
If it were effective, that would be one thing.
But continuing to promote rumors about Ichinose would likely fail to produce results.
"So, what do we do next?"
Kamuro Masumi crossed her arms, acting like she didn't care. "Doesn't this mean what we did before was for nothing? And I even let Ayanokouji know about my shoplifting habit for nothing. Did you miscalculate?"
"Yes..."
A delightful smile appeared on Sakayanagi Arisu's lips:
"I truly didn't expect someone to interject in this way. However, this doesn't seem like a method Class B would use at all."
At least.
Sakayanagi was very clear on that.
She hadn't given any such order.
The news couldn't have come from Class A; that left only Class B.
But to save Ichinose even by sacrificing a comrade.
This was even less in line with her view of those "goody-two-shoes" in Class B. In fact, even Ichinose herself probably couldn't accept it.
"Who knows."
Kamuro Masumi didn't care. After all, the one who needed to think was the leader before her, Sakayanagi Arisu. She only needed to focus on completing the tasks assigned to her.
"That Hikigaya..."
Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her head and thought for a while:
"He's the one who followed us to the ramen shop last time, and then used a self-destructive method to hold us back during the forest camp exam, right?"
"He was following Mashima-sensei."
Kamuro Masumi rolled her beautiful eyes.
Although Sakayanagi could candidly accept defeat in major matters, she was stubborn about not admitting it in small things like this.
Unexpectedly, Sakayanagi had such a girlish side to her.
Anyway, they had originally intended to go to the ramen shop last time; Hikigaya only went to the ramen shop because he was following them.
Otherwise.
Thinking of how their side had mistakenly assumed things, been on guard, and then provocatively challenged him because of those assumptions.
Sakayanagi Arisu felt like it was embarrassing enough to explode.
"Since you say so, let's treat it as such for now."
Sakayanagi Arisu stopped arguing, clearly being a bit stubborn about it.
"That stuff doesn't matter anymore."
Kamuro Masumi didn't want to argue either. She gave a small laugh. "What about the current situation?"
"What about it?"
Sakayanagi Arisu picked up her cane and began walking slowly toward Class A.
Returning to the main topic.
A delightful smile appeared on Sakayanagi's face.
"I never expected to be checkmated by someone. Isn't this interesting?"
"Oh, you're admitting defeat?"
Kamuro Masumi's eyes widened, and she made a somewhat disdainful joke:
"Then why wouldn't you admit the truth about the ramen shop?"
"Because we really were going to eat ramen and just happened to bump into Mashima-sensei. Following Mashima-sensei is following me."
Sakayanagi responded a bit unhappily, then turned back to the main point.
"However, this time there is no way out. It truly counts as a loss. Fortunately, it didn't happen during a special exam period, so it shouldn't affect Class A's reputation."
"Maybe..."
Kamuro Masumi didn't care about that at all. Instead, she thought of the rumors.
"Now everyone's saying those rumors were spread by Hikigaya to get revenge on Ichinose. It doesn't look like Class B's style at all, nor does it look like something Ayanokouji would do. It must be that Hikigaya."
"Does that mean Hikigaya doesn't want to cause conflict with Class A, or rather..."
Kamuro Masumi looked at Sakayanagi Arisu as she walked ahead and said playfully:
"He just doesn't want to be noticed by you and doesn't want to have any relationship with you? It looks like he's really afraid of you."
"Hehe..."
Sakayanagi Arisu let out a light, ethereal laugh.
"He took it upon himself to interfere in the duel between me and Ayanokouji. How could he be afraid of me?"
"And."
As she spoke, a flash of amusement appeared in Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.
"I didn't expect Class B to have such an interesting existence. I won't let him have his way. Hikigaya-kun should be able to provide me with quite a bit of fun, right?"
"I have a feeling he'd just surrender outright, but I guess that doesn't matter anymore."
Kamuro Masumi toyed with her hands indifferently.
The rumors coming from Hikigaya's mouth undoubtedly showed he didn't want to interact with Class A, and even less did he want to be noticed by Sakayanagi.
He had clearly sensed Sakayanagi's danger long ago.
But if he were truly afraid, he should have just stayed out of it.
Since he had already interfered.
Given Sakayanagi Arisu's personality, she likely won't let him go now, even if Hikigaya wants to surrender proactively.
He will surely end up like the others in Class A.
Until he is tamed by Sakayanagi into a submissive dog.
However.
Thinking about the current rumors in the school, Kamuro Masumi couldn't help but feel curious.
From their last meeting.
She had only felt that Hikigaya was a cowardly, gloomy guy who was terrified of Sakayanagi.
She never expected.
That he would be willing to take the blame for someone else.
Even though Ichinose was the same as her.
Both were just criminals who had shoplifted in the past.
Now.
Ichinose had been turned into a "justice angel" who only used violence because she was forced to stand up for someone else.
Hikigaya—what kind of man was he?