Monday.
Year 2 Class C.
Reward.
Punishment.
Hikigaya sat in his seat checking his phone.
The OAA showed that 157 pairs had already been formed. From now on, the focus would likely shift to the written exams.
In other words.
Including him, only six people remained unpaired.
Among them, only he was a second-year student; the remaining five were all first-years.
After all, there were three expulsions in the second year, and not every first-year could find a matching teammate.
In this regard.
The school also had countermeasures.
First-years who couldn't pair up would have their own scores multiplied by 2, but they would have to bear a 5% deduction penalty from their exam results.
To avoid this penalty.
Someone would likely take the initiative to seek his cooperation starting now.
Although the first-years had the advantage in this exam and the second-years bore the risk of expulsion.
But now.
He was the only "lone seedling" left among the second-years!
The tables had turned!
It was his turn to pick others!
Even if the remaining people were all academic slackers with poor grades.
They were all first-years with Academic Ability D or C.
The fact that they hadn't found a teammate yet meant their communication skills were also extremely lacking.
They wouldn't even need to meet; as long as he sent an invitation on the OAA, the other party would likely accept with tears of gratitude.
Hikigaya also took the opportunity to check Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's teammate.
Housen Kazuomi.
It seemed to be the person who was called to the Student Council room with him.
If Housen Kazuomi's goal was to drag Ayanokouji down, the reward of 20 million private points would be just enough to cancel out the expulsion penalty.
He really wasn't sure how the two ended up together.
Forget it.
Regardless of whether Housen was someone brought in by Tsukishiro.
It had nothing to do with him anyway.
Whether Ayanokouji Kiyotaka got expelled was his own business.
After school.
The school corridor.
"Ken, I'm telling you, can you walk a bit faster."
Ike Kanji turned around to urge him. He was followed by several boys from Class D.
"Sigh."
Sudou Ken was somewhat speechless: "Is this really necessary? This has nothing to do with us, right?"
"How can you say that?"
Ike Kanji and the others were a bit angry: "Isn't Ichinose our friend? Now that she's being threatened, how can we not help?"
"Exactly. It's fine for Ken now that he has Horikita, but you can't just leave Ichinose to die."
"Are we still brothers?"
"Go, go, go."
Several people hauled Sudou Ken toward Class C, and the latter followed helplessly.
Although he felt it had nothing to do with him.
He couldn't withstand his brothers' desire to help Ichinose.
Maybe they had only met a few times, perhaps they were just nodding acquaintances, but they had already treated Ichinose as a friend!
How could they watch Ichinose fall into a quagmire and do nothing?
Last week they were just caught off guard by the special exam, but now that the pairing issue was resolved.
Ike Kanji and the others immediately wanted to act as "flower-protecting knights"!
In front of Year 2 Class C.
Ike Kanji found a Class C student.
He asked the student to pass a message politely.
Over the past year, they had changed more or less; at least they had become much more polite, not looking like Class D students at all.
Within moments.
Ichinose, Himeno Yuki, and others were called outside.
"Yah-hoo! Sudou-kun, Ike-kun, is something the matter~?"
Seeing the seven or eight boys in front of her, Ichinose greeted them energetically.
"Ichinose, we're here to help."
Standing beside Sudou, Ike Kanji felt more confident. He promised with a serious expression:
"We heard that you and Himeno-san are both dating that guy Hikigaya. You must have been threatened, right?"
"Don't be afraid. Call that Hikigaya guy out and let us have a few words with him. We'll definitely stand up for you!"
"Yeah."
"Ichinose, don't worry!"
"We absolutely won't let that shameless guy Hikigaya hurt you!"
Several boys beat their chests in assurance.
After all.
Hikigaya had a "criminal record" of coercing girls.
Not just the rumors from middle school, but last time on the cruise ship, Kushida was also made to cry by Hikigaya.
Ike Kanji remembered it very clearly.
He had already made a judgment in his heart.
Whether it was Ichinose or that girl named Himeno, they must have been threatened by Hikigaya using dirty tactics.
"Eh? About that matter."
Ichinose scratched her hair a bit awkwardly, while Himeno Yuki's expression beside her suddenly turned stiff.
These past few days.
Class C hadn't taken this matter to heart anymore and seemed to have accepted it. They thought the matter had long passed.
"Ike-kun, thank you for your concern."
Ichinose nodded and explained generously: "Actually, you've misunderstood. Yuki and I are together with Hikki voluntarily, and he isn't what you imagine..."
"What did you say?"
Before Ichinose could finish, Ike Kanji and the others were dumbfounded.
A somewhat chubby boy said with an anxious tone:
"No... that's impossible. Ichinose, you must be lying to us, right? Don't be afraid, don't worry, we will definitely protect you and never let that guy Hikigaya harass you again!"
"You can tell the truth. We have Sudou here. If it doesn't work, we'll give that Hikigaya a beating."
"Yeah, Ichinose, you don't have to be afraid."
"We know it. That guy Hikigaya is a shameless bastard. You don't have to defend someone like that."
"Yeah, speak out boldly!"
"We will protect you!"
Several boys hurriedly chimed in, their words revealing a trace of desperation, or perhaps deep down they also felt that Ichinose wouldn't lie.
"No."
Ichinose waved her hands quickly: "What I'm saying is true."
Himeno Yuki's face beside her was quite ugly, but she didn't say much.
The events of the past few days.
Gave Ichinose an illusion.
Class C was her own class, so there was no need to say more. Class A also had high standards, and perhaps Katsuragi was there to soothe things in the middle.
Therefore.
Class A wouldn't say much, or would only mock them behind their backs.
Things had gone much more smoothly than Ichinose and the others had imagined!
However.
Class D was different.
They had never experienced true malice.
Compared to other classes, Class D was more self-centered.
Just like Himeno Yuki and Karuizawa.
Himeno Yuki would still consider the other party to some extent and take others' feelings into account.
But Karuizawa.
Mostly considered only herself; as long as she was happy, it was fine.
Even if she considered others, it was mostly from a self-interested perspective to maintain her status in the class.
This was the biggest difference between the two classes.
Hearing Ichinose's words.
The expressions of several boys turned stiff and somewhat distorted.
If Ichinose and Himeno Yuki were being threatened, they could naturally understand.
But now.
The two were actually dating Hikigaya voluntarily?
The goddess in their hearts who could only be viewed from afar was actually willing to date the same man together with someone else?
It felt like a massive betrayal from the depths of their hearts.
"And here we were, so worried about you."
Ike Kanji pointed at Ichinose and cursed bluntly:
Persona collapsed.
"Ichinose, I didn't expect you to be such a shameless person. I totally misjudged you. I didn't expect you to be so cheap."
"To actually date three people at the same time... ptooey! There should be a limit to how much face you can throw away."
"I heard you're from a single-parent family. No wonder you turned out like this."
"Ptooey, disgusting!"
Several people pointed at Ichinose's nose and cursed without restraint.
From childhood until now, she had never felt such naked malice. Ichinose's face instantly froze and turned pale, her eyes reddened, but she couldn't speak.
Most importantly.
Ichinose knew in her heart that what Ike Kanji said was the truth.
Hoshinomiya Chie was right.
Dating multiple people at once wasn't rare. Those wealthy young masters changed women like they changed clothes, and even playing together was normal.
But it was immoral.
You can do it, but you can't talk about it.
Even if you really do it, you must hide it well.
Therefore.
Standing on the moral high ground.
The curses from Ike Kanji and the others were impossible to refute.
This was the price she had to pay for failing to stop Himeno and for wanting everything.
She originally thought she had prepared herself psychologically.
She didn't expect.
That it would be this painful when it actually happened.
Himeno Yuki's expression beside her was equally ugly. Fortunately, Ike Kanji and the others basically didn't know her.
Ichinose took all the fire.
But the cursing was too harsh.
The ear-piercing curses suddenly startled the people in Class C. Hikigaya and others poked their heads out.
"What's going on?"