Long.
"Hikki..."
Seeing that everyone had fallen into deep thought, Kobashi Yume tugged on Hikigaya's sleeve again.
"Do you have any ideas?"
Feeling everyone's expectant gazes, Hikigaya's face stiffened.
Twenty million was indeed no small number.
They were still six million short.
In the whole school, there probably weren't many people who could produce that kind of money.
The most reliable method.
Would be to ask Horikita Manabu for a loan. After all, that person was upright, considerate, and cared about his comrades. He really was a good senior.
But.
Graduation was approaching.
Just as Asahina had said, the third year was also at a critical juncture.
There were many places where they needed to use personal points!
Risk.
Even if Horikita Manabu were willing to leave personal points for his juniors after graduation, he certainly wouldn't put his own comrades at risk for the sake of juniors.
Borrowing personal points from Horikita Manabu probably wasn't realistic.
Hikigaya also didn't really want to owe favors.
What was left was Nagumo Miyabi of the second year. That scumbag was an immediate PASS, and the second year he controlled was also an immediate PASS.
That left only the first years.
Class D probably couldn't even produce six million. Arisu Sakayanagi of Class A certainly wouldn't lend personal points to a clear rival like Class B either.
That left only Ryuen.
"How about him...?"
Hikigaya said without much confidence: "That guy should have made a lot during the VIP exam. Plus, he's currently being abandoned by Class C and is on the brink of expulsion. There might be a chance, right?"
"That's it!"
Shibata and the others' eyes lit up, and Kobashi Yume and the rest immediately showed expressions of joy.
Even if they didn't really like Ryuen.
But if it were a matter of mutual assistance, it would at least be better than making Ichinose sacrifice herself.
"Phew..."
Ichinose gave a heartfelt sigh of relief.
She suddenly felt her heart pounding; he had saved her once again.
Even if it was just her own one-sided feeling.
The sensation was definitely not fake.
Ichinose's beautiful eyes shimmered as she looked at Hikigaya.
"Hikki, at noon, could you and Kanzaki come with me to find Ryuen?"
"I think I'll pass."
Hikigaya quickly waved his hand.
With Ichinose and Kanzaki, the two of them should be enough.
"Let's go together."
Kanzaki frowned and thought for a moment before saying: "Neither Ichinose nor I are very good at dealing with Ryuen. Having you there would make things feel more reassuring."
"Yeah, Hikki."
Kobashi Yume and the others grabbed Hikigaya's sleeve and said somewhat helplessly: "Just consider it as helping Honami-chan."
"..."
Can you please stop pulling my sleeve? Feeling everyone's gaze, Hikigaya nodded somewhat helplessly.
"I'm not very good at dealing with Ryuen either. I can only watch from the side."
"It's fine, that's enough."
Ichinose's pretty face was completely flushed. She felt that as long as Hikigaya was by her side, she was fearless.
...
At noon.
Hikigaya followed Ichinose to the first-year Class C, immediately attracting many people's attention.
Several girls called out greetings with a smile.
"Oh, isn't this little Honami~"
"Good afternoon, Shiho-chan, Saki-chan, Nanami~"
"Long time no see, Manabe-san, Yamashita-san, Yabu Nanami-san."
Ichinose and Kanzaki exchanged greetings respectively.
Undoubtedly, they knew Hikigaya probably didn't know anyone, so they introduced them in this subtle way.
"What brings you guys over here?"
The leader, Shiho Manabe, greeted them with a smile, her eyes inevitably landing on Hikigaya.
Just as Hikigaya was about to nod in greeting, he felt their evaluating gazes, and a mocking expression inevitably appeared at the corners of their mouths.
Forget it.
Given his current reputation, it wasn't surprising they'd act this way.
Addressing themselves as "we" and "you guys."
As expected, the territorial sense of gyarus is very strong.
They completely treated Class C as their own territory.
Finally, he saw girls who were vying for campus hierarchy.
Hikigaya only felt a sense of familiarity.
"It's like this."
Ichinose gave an open smile: "We have something to talk to Ryuen-kun about. Shiho-chan, could you help us call Ryuen-kun?"
"Eh? That guy isn't in class right now."
"I see. May I ask where he went?"
"Who knows~"
Shiho Manabe turned back to confirm with her companions: "After all, it's that Ryuen, right?"
"Yeah, who would care about a guy who's about to be expelled?"
"Maybe he went to find a place where no one's around to cry?"
Toward the former tyrant.
The several girls spoke with blatant mockery and laughter.
Class C had probably already decided on the person to be expelled, and since it was Ryuen Kakeru, they could face the exam with such ease and leisure.
"However."
Shiho Manabe grabbed Ichinose's small hand and glanced at Hikigaya with a somewhat concerned tone:
"Little Honami, it seems you're having a hard time over here too. Are you okay?"
"Eh?"
Ichinose tilted her head, somewhat confused: "What are you referring to?"
"Him, of course."
Shiho Manabe pointed her chin at Hikigaya and said disdainfully:
"Little Honami, you keep this kind of guy by your side and watch over him strictly because you're afraid his spirit will collapse from the fear of expulsion and he'll cause some kind of trouble, right? How exhausting."
"Hmm?"
Hikigaya frowned.
He didn't remember ever meeting the other party, or bumping into her by chance, or if she had specifically investigated and observed him just to mock him.
Every girl who can obtain a position in the campus hierarchy.
Is essentially a master of palace intrigue.
The fact that she dared to mock Ryuen, combined with the way the boys in the hallway specifically detoured around Shiho Manabe and her group.
Undoubtedly showed that Shiho Manabe's status in Class C was not low.
At least.
She had a lot of say among the girls.
It was concern in name, but in reality, it was a hidden dagger meant to provoke Hikigaya.
If it were a normal exam.
In the eyes of outsiders.
The person in Class B who would be expelled would inevitably be Hikigaya. Ichinose keeping him by her side was likely for strict supervision.
To prevent him from acting out or sabotaging the class due to the pressure of expulsion.
Shiho Manabe was provoking Hikigaya.
She wanted him to resent Ichinose, to challenge Ichinose's position, so she could pull Ichinose down from the school's top tier and take the opportunity to rise herself.
What deep scheming.
This is why Hikigaya doesn't like dealing with these people; it's just plain exhausting.
Of course.
Maybe he was overthinking it, and Shiho Manabe just simply wanted to make fun of him along with Ichinose.
But wouldn't that mean the other person's "palace intrigue" had already become an instinct?
Isn't that even scarier?
How terrifying.
Hikigaya immediately decided to keep them at a respectful distance.
"That's not it at all."
Ichinose Honami's expression became serious as she took Manabe Shiho's hand.
"Shiho-chan, you must have some misunderstanding about Hiki-ga-ya-kun because of the rumors. He's actually not the kind of person you imagine; that rumor is false."
"Eh!?"
Manabe Shiho's expression turned awkward as she forced a smile. "Is that so?"
"Yes."
Ichinose nodded earnestly and took a deep breath.
"You know I took a few days off back then, right? Hiki-ga-ya-kun only spread that rumor to solve my problem because he didn't want me to stay trapped in my room alone. In reality, I was the one who had an incident with shoplifting."
"Eh?!"
Manabe Shiho and her group looked even more uncomfortable. "So that's how it was... Sorry about that, Honami-chan. If you're looking for Ryuen, you can go ask someone else. We have things to do, so we'll be leaving first."
With that, they quickly turned and hurried away as if they were escaping.
"As expected, Honami-chan is so kind. She actually fabricated a rumor disadvantageous to herself just for the sake of a classmate."
"Yeah, that Hikigaya should be grateful he's in Class B."
"If he were in Class C, I would have punched him a long time ago."
Even as they moved away, snippets of Manabe Shiho and her group's discussion drifted back.
They didn't care about the truth.
They only wanted more explosive topics to bring them entertainment.
If the truth were exposed now, wouldn't it make them look incredibly foolish for being manipulated by rumors?
Therefore, even if Ichinose wasn't the criminal behind the violence, she had to be the "righteous criminal" now.
People like Manabe Shiho would constantly deceive themselves and those around them to maintain their status and their seemingly clever but actually foolish intelligence.
And people like that are the majority.
Even a lie will gradually become the truth.
The misunderstanding cannot be cleared.
"Sorry. I put you through an unpleasant experience."
"It's nothing. Aren't we supposed to be looking for Ryuen? Let's go."
A smile appeared at the corner of Hikigaya's mouth as he didn't take it to heart at all, glancing toward the Class C classroom.
At least Manabe Shiho hadn't lied to them about Ryuen's location.
As they left the hallway, Ichinose bit her lip, looking puzzled.
"Mume and the others were able to understand so quickly. Why can't Shiho-chan and the others? They are clearly all very gentle people."
From Ichinose's perspective, she probably only saw the good side of people.
Hikigaya didn't want to comment too much on that.
"Don't worry," Ichinose's face regained its determination. "It must be that they still know too little about Hiki-ga-ya-kun. I will definitely clear up this misunderstanding."
"You don't need to care that much; I really don't mind," Hikigaya said indifferently.
It was clear that Ichinose had been working hard in places he didn't know about. Realizing this, Hikigaya felt somewhat moved.
At least Manabe Shiho and her group weren't wrong about one thing: being assigned to this class was indeed a lucky thing.