After school.
In the hallway outside the Class B classroom.
Hachiman leaned against the wall. Ichinose stood beside him like a little follower, nodding as she spoke on the phone before hanging up.
"He seems to be at Saizeriya. He just arrived not long ago. If we head over now, we should still make it."
"Got it~"
Hachiman nodded and got up, ready to head out for his mission.
"Hikki, good luck~"
Hachiman waved dismissively as he walked away.
He didn't usually make promises easily, but now that he had agreed, he would take responsibility for it.
Besides, he had a certain level of confidence; failure was not an option.
Fortunately, it seemed that currently, nobody in the school understood the true nature of this exam.
At the Keyaki Mall, Saizeriya restaurant.
As soon as he walked in, Hachiman was drawn to a reflection—he saw that shiny bald head under the lights, and a boy sitting across from him.
Katsuragi's recognizability was truly unmatched.
"Um... can I sit here?"
Hachiman walked up to Katsuragi and asked the boy sitting across from him.
"Huh?"
The boy's brow immediately furrowed: "Why is it you? Can't you see someone's already here?"
Hachiman couldn't remember everyone from the forest camp group, except for Katsuragi and that short-haired, hot-tempered guy, Morishige Takuro.
"Calm down, Totsuka. Letting your true emotions show so easily is a bad habit of yours."
As he spoke, Katsuragi glanced at Hachiman and said:
"Take a seat. You must have some business with me, Hikigaya."
"Oh, thanks."
Hachiman nodded and sat down next to Totsuka, feeling a bit strange for some reason.
"Big Bro Katsuragi."
Totsuka stood up and pointed at Hachiman, complaining: "This guy caused us no small amount of trouble during the forest camp. He's a shameless bastard."
"Totsuka."
Katsuragi folded his arms, his expression composed:
"That was just Hikigaya standing on Class B's side and making the best choice to achieve victory. It has nothing to do with his character."
"If my words still mean anything to you, sit down. If you really don't want to see him, you can sit at the side for a while."
"I understand..."
Totsuka glared at Hachiman and sat back down, clearly unsatisfied. He was a very easy person to read.
"So."
Katsuragi turned his attention back to Hachiman.
"I heard you saw Sakayanagi at noon. You must be here for me now. What is it?"
"Hmm?"
Hachiman looked at him with a bit of surprise.
"No need to be so surprised," Katsuragi said calmly. "Sakayanagi doesn't tell her plans to anyone; she treats the people in Class A like chess pieces. So, I only know that you went to see her at noon."
"Terrifying..."
Hachiman frankly stated his impression. It didn't hurt to say it again.
"I want to buy the praise votes under your control."
"You bastard!"
Totsuka slammed the table, grabbed Hachiman by the collar, and yelled:
"Are you looking for trouble on purpose?"
"Eh?"
Hachiman was a bit confused: "What do you mean by that?"
"You..."
Totsuka was full of indignation, glaring at the guy in front of him:
"Most of the first-years know by now that Big Bro Katsuragi is going to be expelled, and yet you still come to buy praise votes from him. If you aren't here to pick a fight, then what are you here for?"
Knowing the other person was about to be expelled, coming specifically to buy praise votes indeed felt a bit like gloating or kicking a man while he was down.
"Hmm?"
Hachiman turned to look at Katsuragi. He really didn't know. Katsuragi nodded.
"Um... sorry..."
"Totsuka, let go."
"Hmph..."
Finally, Totsuka let go.
Hachiman still looked at Katsuragi with doubt. The man looked very calm, as if he had already accepted the fate of being expelled.
"Um..."
Hachiman asked tentatively: "Is this Sakayanagi's decision?"
"That's right."
Totsuka slammed the table again, gritting his teeth in hatred:
"It's all because of that wretched woman. Otherwise, there's no way Big Bro Katsuragi would be expelled here."
Upon hearing this, Hachiman frowned.
To be honest, although he hadn't had much contact with Sakayanagi, in Hachiman's eyes, she was definitely an elite who had been carefully groomed as a leader since childhood. She was clearly an absolutely rational, decisive, and capable leader.
She also seemed to enjoy that role.
She was just someone who liked playing with others for fun.
At the very least, she was a competent leader.
Now that Sakayanagi had effectively taken control of Class A, she surely wouldn't expel an excellent talent like Katsuragi just to eliminate a dissident, would she?
Otherwise, her magnanimity would be too small for her to ever become a true leader.
As the former leader of Class A, Katsuragi's strength was beyond doubt.
During the uninhabited island exam, Katsuragi found a cave to use as a base and implemented a perfect defensive strategy, while also sending out Class A students to occupy most of the school's resource spots.
Furthermore, he had Class A use points to buy off students from other classes to sow discord.
He wasn't just a leader focused on defense.
In Hachiman's eyes, Katsuragi was actually the most qualified and worthiest leader to follow.
"A sage within and a king without."
Taking care of his comrades internally while using lightning-fast, ruthless methods externally. He could use immoral tactics like sowing discord, yet he still maintained his own set of principles.
That was why he could accept expulsion so calmly.
Unfortunately, while Katsuragi's strength wasn't weak, encountering someone like Sakayanagi—who was powerful yet disregarded the class's interests—meant there was little he could do.
But still, Katsuragi's strength was real.
Would Sakayanagi really expel the powerful Katsuragi now just to eliminate a former rival?
Besides, Katsuragi had also served as the group leader during the forest camp without resistance.
Expelling him even when he was being so cooperative?
No matter how he thought about it, Hachiman felt suspicious.
"Um..."
Hachiman looked up at Katsuragi and asked: "Let me just ask, how many praise votes can you still command now?"
"Totsuka plus myself, two votes."
"..."
Only two votes.
But perhaps it was precisely because of Katsuragi's character that even at this stage, he still had followers like Totsuka.
Hachiman glanced at Totsuka beside him. Young man, I have a feeling the one who's actually going to be expelled is you.
Otherwise, if she truly wanted someone expelled, it would be much better to manipulate things secretly behind the scenes. Why would it be common knowledge throughout the whole school?
"Hmm..."
Hachiman pinched his chin, his brow furrowed.
Unexpectedly, another surprise had occurred at the second step.
Well, whatever.
Whether Sakayanagi's true target was Katsuragi or Totsuka, it didn't seem to matter much.
"You don't need to be like this."
Seeing Hachiman's furrowed brow, Katsuragi said with a slight chuckle:
"You shouldn't have to worry about being expelled, or are you worried about me? That shouldn't be the case, right?"
"No..."
Hachiman blanked for a moment before looking up at the two of them:
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to pick a fight, but could you still please sell those two praise votes to me?"
"You..."
"No."
Katsuragi smiled nonchalantly: "I don't think Ichinose would let someone like you be expelled. Besides, even if you hadn't said anything, I was already planning to give my praise vote to you."
"As for Totsuka's vote, if you really want it, just give ten thousand private points. That should be a reasonable price."
Even when facing expulsion, Katsuragi didn't forget to seek reasonable benefits for his companion. Hearing his words, Totsuka didn't say much more.
In any case, unless they were desperately needed by specific individuals, praise votes weren't worth much to begin with.
"Eh?"
Hachiman was stunned. Katsuragi actually wanted to give the praise vote to him?
"No need to be so surprised."
Katsuragi showed a nonchalant smile: "Although it's just my personal opinion, I think the only people most qualified to receive praise votes are you and Ichinose."
"Also, remember during the summer vacation? I said I owed you a favor. This is just a small return for that."
Clearly, Katsuragi had already planned to choose between the two of them, and he was more inclined to give it to Hachiman.
Destroying one's own reputation for the sake of the class's victory and his comrades... at least in Katsuragi's eyes, that was admirable.
In the entire school, no one was more deserving of this praise vote.
"Since Big Bro Katsuragi says so, I have no objections. Forget the private points."
Totsuka looked at Katsuragi with reddened eyes.
Anyway, ten thousand private points were nothing. It was better to treat it as a parting gift for Katsuragi. This left Hachiman, who was standing to the side, feeling quite speechless.
Forget it.
He didn't care what Katsuragi and Totsuka thought, as long as they were willing to sell the votes.
"Thanks."
Hachiman placed his hands on his thighs and bowed sincerely to thank them:
"However, I'm not asking you to give the praise votes to me, but to someone else."
"Hmm?"
Katsuragi frowned: "Who do you want to give them to? What do you mean?"
"It's nothing, just two girls who need looking after."
A bright smile appeared on Hachiman's face:
"Katsuragi, please give yours to Sakura Airi from Class D. Totsuka-kun, please give yours to Shiina Hiyori from Class C. How about it?"
With only two votes, these were the only two people Hachiman could think of first. As for himself, he felt Shiina Hiyori was more deserving of that praise vote.
"What are you planning to do?"
Katsuragi's expression immediately became solemn.
He could understand if they were for Hachiman himself or someone from Class B, but giving them to Class C and Class D...
Katsuragi truly couldn't understand.
Besides, what could a mere two praise votes even do?
"I won't do anything."
Hachiman used his dead-fish eyes to ask for their consent.
"This won't have any impact on Class A, will it?"
It was only two votes. The impact was small.
Hachiman was still trying his best to secure them. Since Sakayanagi's votes were already spoken for, he didn't need to worry about the rest of Class A anymore.
"Alright."
Katsuragi and Totsuka exchanged a glance and then nodded.
It didn't matter who the votes went to anyway.
"Then I'll take my leave."
Hachiman nodded and turned to leave.
Don't worry, Katsuragi. I'll give you a big gift when the time comes. As for whether you want that gift or not, that won't be up to you.