Afternoon.
Approaching dismissal time.
Shibata and the others from Class B sat in their seats, exhausted. There was one final vote left today.
Yet this voting seemed to have no end in sight.
Every time they felt the pitying and regretful looks from the teachers, Ichinose and the others felt physically and mentally drained.
They had disappointed the teachers.
However, even so, these emotions couldn't compare to their feelings for their companions. Since Hikigaya was so certain, they had to continue.
Just as the next vote was about to continue, a flurry of footsteps came from outside the classroom, and Hoshinomiya quickly ran in.
"Teacher Hoshinomiya, what are you...?" Onodera couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Pardon me, Teacher Onodera," Hoshinomiya nodded with a smile: "I'll take it from here. Thank you for your hard work".
"I was just sitting here, it wasn't hard work. In that case, I'll be going".
Hearing this, Onodera stood up, nodded, and turned to leave the classroom.
Although he didn't know what had happened, since Hoshinomiya appeared, it must be the arrangement from above. One should not ask more about arrangements from above.
"Teacher..." Shibata and the others couldn't help but speak out, their eyes once again gleaming. After all, this teacher looked much cuter.
That Teacher Onodera was simply too scary.
"Everyone!" Hoshinomiya walked to the podium holding a notebook, a radiant smile on her face.
"Congratulations on holding out until the very last moment! More than ten people tied, triggering the hidden rule!".
"Hidden rule?" Shibata and the others were suddenly a bit dazed.
"Yes!" Hoshinomiya explained with a smile: "For this exam only, as long as you pay half price—meaning ten million personal points—the expulsion penalty can be cancelled!".
"Is that true? Teacher!".
Ichinose suddenly stood up, leaning on the desk, a brilliant smile appearing on her face. Shibata and the others also stood up in shock.
"Of course~" Hoshinomiya watched the scene before her, the smile on the corners of her mouth becoming even more radiant.
"How could the teacher lie to you? You don't need to continue voting tomorrow~".
"Oh!".
Hearing this, Shibata and the others raised their hands and erupted into cheers. Many girls had tears welling up in their eyes.
For them, becoming "bad children" in the teacher's eyes might indeed have been too cruel, but for the sake of their companions, it was all worth it!.
"Hikki..." Ichinose threw herself into Hikigaya's arms, her sapphire-like eyes containing tears of joy.
"Thank you, Hikki".
"Yeah," Kobashi Yume and the others also clenched their fists and said with some admiration: "Hikki, you are truly amazing".
"It wasn't a big deal".
Feeling the soft body in his arms, Hikigaya spread his hands with an awkward look, indicating he wasn't touching her.
He couldn't get carried away.
He had to always remember their position.
They were just a group of poor wretches begging for the school's mercy.
However, even as those in power, one cannot ignore the opinions of the masses. This is the basic rule of how society operates.
"Hikki," Okakura Asako and Shirami Chihiro also said with smiles: "How on earth did you guess there would be such a hidden rule?".
"Well, I guessed..." Hikigaya looked down at the pinkish-gold hair in his arms and couldn't help but smell that orange-like fragrance again.
Speaking of which, could you please get up soon?.
Although he knew that no one being expelled made Ichinose very happy, could she please get up soon? It was really awkward.
"I mostly felt like there would be a hidden rule, and I didn't expect it would be this kind of rule".
Hikigaya explained with some deflection.
He could guarantee that this crappy hidden rule was absolutely made up on the spot by Tsukishiro.
The real hidden rule was likely a rule to force a decision when two expellees were tied.
Only, Tsukishiro probably didn't expect such a thing to happen and made one up on the fly. Anyway, it wasn't hard for him.
This ten million was just to make them pay a price. It was roughly exactly the amount of personal points Class B could afford to pay.
"Here we go again," Shibata sighed, watching Ichinose leaning in Hikigaya's arms, feeling a bit bitter yet helpless.
However, he could also understand why Ichinose was so happy.
"Seriously, how did you guess it?".
"He didn't guess it at all".
Hoshinomiya Chie was somewhat speechless and leaned over to Hikigaya, poking his cheek with her finger.
"I'm only now discovering that Hikki is actually such a bad boy".
To actually dare to resist the school authorities—that was undoubtedly being a bad student. Hikigaya estimated his own evaluation among the teachers likely wouldn't be good either.
However, it was enough for Hikigaya himself to know this. He was the mastermind behind this incident after all.
Except for Ichinose, who knew a little, the rest of Class B were in the dark. They likely wouldn't be affected much.
"But, Teacher doesn't hate bad boys like that~"
Hoshinomiya Chie patted Hikigaya's head, a brilliant smile on her face.
"In fact, as expected, bad boys are more popular with girls."
"Um..."
Hikigaya shook his head, trying to escape Hoshinomiya's clutches while still holding Ichinose in his arms.
"Isn't it time to start the vote?"
"Oh, right."
Ichinose finally stood up, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.
Hoshinomiya pulled her hand back and said, "We'll just vote here in the classroom this time!"
"Is that okay?"
"Of course."
"Um..."
Hearing this, Ichinose and the others froze for a moment. They exchanged looks with Shibata and the rest, realizing they hadn't even considered this issue yet.
Although they didn't have to worry about anyone being expelled, if they voted directly like this, the person who ended up in last place would surely feel extremely depressed.
"Everyone," Kanzaki said with a smile on his face. "We've been voting for two days straight. I'm sure everyone is tired. Just concentrate the criticism votes on me to avoid wasting time."
"No, I should be the one to do it," Hikigaya said, quickly standing up. It was best for him to handle this; after all, it was impossible for Kanzaki to be the last person in the class rankings.
"How could that be?"
Kanzaki gave him a flat look. Ichinose, Kobashi Yume, and the others shared a smile and returned to their seats to prepare for the vote.
Watching everyone return to their seats, Hikigaya felt a bit helpless.
As expected, his opinion wasn't going to be accepted by anyone.
Fine. Given the personalities of Ichinose and the others, they wouldn't break their promise. They wouldn't wait for an expulsion to happen and then go back on their word. It didn't really matter who was in last place.
Hikigaya returned to his seat and began to fill out the formal ballot. He found the task surprisingly difficult.
The person most deserving of praise...
That was definitely Ichinose Honami, followed by Kobashi Yume, and finally Shiranami Chihiro.
After all, during this past year, every time he was about to fall asleep in class, Shiranami Chihiro would tirelessly wake him up. She was a truly good person.
As for the person most deserving of criticism...
To be honest, everyone in this class was so kind and excellent that Hikigaya couldn't think of anyone. But he had to write something.
In desperation, Hikigaya wrote down the names of Kanzaki Ryuji, Shibata Sou, and Himeno Yuki.
There was no helping it. Although the pure-hearted Shibata was a decent guy, he always inexplicably viewed Hikigaya as a rival.
As for Himeno Yuki...
All he could say was sorry. That girl was either having a headache or was on her way to having one.
Most deserving of criticism!
Hikigaya honestly didn't know many people. He only knew a guy named Watanabe, a "megaphone" named Hamaguchi, and someone named Nakanishi whose full name he didn't even know. He really couldn't write them down.
He could only choose between Himeno Yuki and asakura mako
Soon, everyone handed their completed ballots to Hoshinomiya. She quickly counted the votes in front of them.
"Last place—Kanzaki Ryuji, thirty-nine criticism votes!"
This was the result of everyone's discussion. All criticism votes were concentrated on Kanzaki. Since he was taking on that 0.1% risk, it wasn't a surprise.
"And... uh..." Hoshinomiya said, looking a bit helpless.
"There are two people in first place. Ichinose Honami and Hikigaya Hachiman both have thirty-nine votes. It's a tie!"
"Eh?"
Hikigaya was slightly stunned. He wasn't surprised about Ichinose Honami, but how did he end up with thirty-nine votes?
He quickly stood up. "Teacher, is there a mistake?"
"No mistake!"
Hoshinomiya put her hands on her hips, her eyes looking a bit resentful.
"It's too much trouble to hold another round of voting. You two should just decide quickly who gets this Protection Point."
Originally, Acting Director Tsukishiro had sent her to resolve this exam quickly. She hadn't expected another tie. It was simply ridiculous.
"Then let's give the Protection Point to Hikki," Ichinose said with a casual smile. "After all, this exam's success is entirely due to Hikki's efforts."
"No way." Hikigaya waved his hands quickly. "Ichinose is the class representative. The Protection Point will definitely be useful in the future, so it's most appropriate for Ichinose to have it."
"Indeed..."
Kanzaki nodded and said with some helplessness, "Stop arguing. Let Ichinose have it. Besides, have you all forgotten something?"
"Oh..."
Ichinose and the others finally reacted, looking a bit flustered.
"Right, right! Hoshinomiya-sensei, I'll transfer the ten million points to you right now to cancel Kanzaki's expulsion penalty."
"No need to be in such a hurry," Hoshinomiya laughed helplessly. "Then it's decided. Kanzaki's expulsion is cancelled, and the Protection Point goes to Ichinose. Hikki, you don't have any objections, right?"
"None!" Hikigaya shook his head.
Wait, was it really appropriate for Hoshinomiya to call him "Hikki"?
Ichinose shook her head helplessly. Although she knew Hikigaya didn't want to be a class leader, she truly felt the point was better suited for him.
Nothing could be done about it.
The transfer was completed quickly.
"Everyone, Teacher is going to report back now. Don't stay out too late~"
--- PAGE 3 ---
With that, Hoshinomiya Chie waved her hand and left the classroom. The members of Class B sat in their seats, faces tired but filled with smiles.
These past two days, even though Hikigaya hadn't taken it to heart, it must have been truly exhausting for them.
As he breathed a sigh of relief, a smile naturally touched Hikigaya's lips.
This time, he hadn't just resolved the class's exam. He had also acted as a middleman and earned four million private points.
More importantly...
Little Sakayanagi!
Haha.
Oh man, thinking about that, Hikigaya really wanted to laugh. For some reason, he really wanted to see the expression on Sakayanagi's face right now.
Honestly. If you're going to take action, don't talk so much.
You wanted to give me a declaration of war? You wanted to give me a reason I couldn't refuse?
I struck first, giving her a reason she couldn't even make a move. Go back to your internal strife.
Hikigaya felt extremely pleased.
You want to deal with me? Not a chance!
For some reason, he really wanted to share this joyful mood with others. After all, it was thanks to this exam that he had such an opportunity.
Looking at the exhausted but smiling members of Class B...
They were the biggest contributors to this success. If not for the unparalleled cohesion of Class B and everyone's persistence against the school, this wouldn't have been possible.
If even a few people had betrayed the plan and secretly changed their votes, any scheme would have been in vain.
This was a miracle that would be impossible in any other class!
"Everyone, do you want to go eat eel rice tonight?" Hikigaya suddenly spoke up, acting a bit showy. "I'll pay! My treat!!!"
"Really?"
"Oh!"
Shibata and the others burst into even louder cheers.
Hikigaya couldn't help but smile. It was fine. Anyway, the money would just be deducted from the five million he got from Ryuuen.