First-year Class B.
After Hoshinomiya-sensei finished explaining the rules, the people of Class B gathered around Ichinose. Hikigaya also slowly stood up and walked toward the window side.
Seeing this.
Several boys on the outer edge instinctively made a path for him.
"What do you mean?"
Hikigaya was a bit confused. Are you guys automatic sliding doors?
"Hm?"
One of the boys asked with some confusion: "Hikigaya, aren't you going in?"
"Well... yes..."
Hikigaya responded somewhat awkwardly, walking through them to get to Ichinose and the others. Someone even moved a chair to his side.
Reliance.
Although he preferred to stand on the periphery.
It seemed Class B already viewed him as Ichinose's deputy.
Promoted!
Now he was the fourth-in-command of Class B, Hachiman Hikigaya!
Hikigaya sat in his seat. To his left and right were the third-in-command Shibata and the first-in-command Ichinose, and across from him was the second-in-command Kanzaki.
"As expected, Ichinose should be the commander, right?"
"Yeah, there shouldn't be any other choice besides Ichinose."
"I agree too!"
"..."
The surrounding people spoke up one after another, and Hikigaya couldn't help but nod along.
After all.
Defeat meant expulsion.
Ichinose, who possessed the Protection Point, was indeed the best choice for commander, and her leadership was trustworthy.
No problems there.
"Then..."
Ichinose turned to look at everyone and said: "Next is deciding the opposing class."
Just then.
A phone ringtone sounded. Ichinose took out her phone, browsed for a moment, and then furrowed her pretty brows.
"Honami-chan? What happened?"
asakura stood aside and asked with some concern.
"It's nothing."
Ichinose put away her phone, shook her head, and smiled: "How about making Class C our opponent this time? As for the events, we can decide those later."
The opposing class.
The commanders would have to go to the multimedia classroom later to decide by lottery.
But discussing it beforehand was fine.
"Yeah."
Kanzaki lowered his head in thought and couldn't help but nod:
"The current leader of Class C is Kaneda. I feel there shouldn't be any problem."
"I agree too."
Shibata couldn't help but smile: "And our class's grades are quite a bit better than Class C's. As long as we pick our events, we should have a great chance of winning."
"The only problem is."
Kanzaki frowned with a bit of a headache: "We aren't the only ones who know that. I'm afraid other classes also hope to have Class C as an opponent."
"That can only depend on luck."
Ichinose nodded and looked at Hikigaya beside her: "Hikki? Any opinions?"
"None..."
Hikigaya couldn't help but feel a bit awkward.
Sorry, he was just a useless fourth-in-command.
However.
Hikigaya truly didn't have any opinions.
After all.
Class D and Class B were in a cooperative relationship, so choosing Class C wasn't an issue as long as they didn't pick Class A.
In his eyes.
Whether it was Class D or Class C, they were both soft targets. As long as they could squeeze a soft target, it was fine.
Never mind that Kaneda was currently the leader of Class C.
Even if Ryuuen were there, Hikigaya still felt Class C was a soft target!
Therefore.
He couldn't give any particularly insightful opinion.
"That's good."
Ichinose couldn't help but sigh in relief.
Just hearing Hikigaya nod somehow made her feel at ease.
"Then I'll go vote first. Everyone, keep discussing the events!"
Saying that.
The surrounding people made a path, and Ichinose smiled, nodded, and left the classroom.
"Then next is deciding the events."
Shibata then laughed: "As expected, should we choose written tests, which we're good at? What do you think?"
"Yeah."
Kanzaki didn't have any objections either: "That way, as long as we don't run into Class A, we should be certain of victory. If we do run into A, we'll just have to consider other events."
"Oh?"
Just then, an ethereal voice sounded.
"It seems I've come at a bit of a bad time."
"Hm?"
Hikigaya couldn't help but look toward the door, though his view was blocked by several classmates. Still, someone let out a cry of surprise.
"Sakayanagi?"
What!
Hikigaya was startled. He quickly stood up and merged into the crowd, feeling that she was 80% likely there to find him.
"What are you doing here?"
"Don't be nervous."
Sakayanagi leaned on her cane and walked slowly toward everyone, an elegant smile on her face:
"I'm just one person; what could I possibly do? I'm just here to find that Hikigaya-kun to say a few words."
Saying that.
Sakayanagi came before several people. The boys of Class B instinctively moved aside, revealing Hikigaya in the middle of the crowd.
"Um..."
Hikigaya looked left and right, barely managing to squeeze out a smile as he looked at Sakayanagi.
"Sakayanagi-san, is there something you need?"
"Nothing special."
Looking at the distressed Hikigaya, a smile bloomed on the corners of Sakayanagi's mouth: "I just wanted to come and see you."
This man before her.
Meek on the surface, but a heavy hitter in the shadows.
He had directly pushed her into such a dilemma.
"Haha."
Hikigaya gave a couple of dry laughs: "I'm not a magic mirror; why look at me?"
"Heh..."
A trace of a curve appeared on Sakayanagi's lips.
"Maybe I just wanted to ask you who the most beautiful person in the world is?"
"Sss..."
Hikigaya took a sharp breath.
Something was wrong!
Today's Sakayanagi was very off. He felt like this person was about to get serious.
"I heard Ichinose and the others call you Hikki."
Arisu Sakayanagi looked up at the man before her and laughed: "Then I'll call you that too."
"You really are something, being able to manipulate the praise votes from outside Class C and D. Just like that, you pushed me into a dilemma."
"Three times in a row, you've made me so pathetic."
"Hikki, you really are something..."
Three times?
Hikigaya was a bit confused and quickly explained:
"During the forest camp, that was just the most effective way to do it. It had nothing to do with me."
Sakayanagi just looked at the man before her with a beaming smile.
Regarding the forest camp, she naturally didn't take it to heart; after all, it was just a combat tactic during an exam.
She was talking about Hikigaya following them to the ramen shop, the Ichinose rumors, and this current incident.
Correct.
Sakayanagi was counting the ramen shop incident.
Even though she knew he wasn't following them, don't try to reason with a woman; in any case, Sakayanagi felt there were three times.
Each time, Hikigaya had made things very awkward for her.
"And..."
Hikigaya barely managed a smile: "This time was also just to avoid any expulsions. It was just a coincidence... a coincidence! You can handle Katsuragi easily one more time."
"Hehe..."
Sakayanagi laughed softly.
It was precisely because she couldn't that she was troubled.
During the forest camp, Class A fell into last place, which caused her prestige in Class A to waver.
This time, they lost the Protection Point.
And the duel with Ayanokouji couldn't afford any mistakes, so she couldn't move against Katsuragi.
She couldn't move forward or backward.
If this continued, she really might have to keep up the internal strife with Katsuragi.
And the timing was terrible.
A year had already passed.
If they kept fighting internally, once they dropped from Class A, there wouldn't be much time left for her to play.
And all of this.
Was thanks to the man before her!
"A coincidence?"
"It's not a big problem. Hikki, no need to be like that."
Sakayanagi leaned on her cane and came before Hikigaya, backing him into a corner. She looked up at the boy and laughed:
"You are undoubtedly a genius! Not only did you think of an 823-style way to pass the exam by forcing the school to back down, but you also conveniently threw the praise votes to Katsuragi, causing internal strife in Class A and pushing me near a dead end!"
Hikigaya's back was against the wall. He held his hands up high and looked at the people around him with a stiff face.
Shibata and the others scratched their cheeks awkwardly, while Yume Kobashi and others looked like they wanted to say something.
"Um... Sakayanagi-san, you're making Hikki troubled."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Sakayanagi laughed and took a few steps back, looking at Hikigaya, who breathed a sigh of relief, and said:
"Hikki, you are undoubtedly a genius!"
"No, no."
Hikigaya shook his head like a rattle and quickly said: "You're overthinking it. I can't even do math well; how could I be a genius? If you want an opponent, go find Katsuragi or Ryuuen!"
Image.
"No need for such modesty."
The smile on Sakayanagi's face became even more gentle:
"Genius is not determined by grades, but by their way of thinking. In your eyes, even the school is an object to be manipulated."
"This is something even I never considered. Based on this alone, you are undoubtedly a rare genius!"
Although she didn't show it.
Sakayanagi was truly shocked by this move.
Everyone else was thinking of ways and giving their all to complete the exam set by the school, while Hikigaya actually thought of how to manipulate the school and force them to back down.
This was undoubtedly a difference in the way of thinking.
In Hikigaya's eyes, whether it was class struggles or the school itself, they were all just pieces that could be manipulated.
Hikigaya's vision was far broader than hers or Ayanokouji's.
Well.
At least in Sakayanagi's eyes, it was.
Sakayanagi walked up to Hikigaya again with a beaming smile, reaching out her small hand to touch his cheek, but Hikigaya quickly dodged.
"And I, love geniuses the most!"
Sakayanagi looked at the boy and laughed dismissively.
She really wanted to crush the genius before her soon. Making a genius like that submit under her feet would surely be even more interesting!