Farewell to Ichinose and the others.
Hikigaya was called aside by Horikita Suzune. Looking at the Horikita Suzune before him with her arms crossed, he was somewhat helpless.
"I still need to go buy clothes for the school trip. Is there something?"
"It's been almost three months. Do you still plan to continue hiring Ryuuen to do these meaningless things?"
Horikita Suzune crossed her arms, holding her phone, her expression flat.
Right now, she had a nude photo of Hikigaya.
It had to be said.
Even someone as dull as her had noticed.
Class D's problems indeed made Horikita Suzune feel they were a bit troublesome.
Whether it was being aggressive or yielding.
No matter what was said, the atmosphere in Class D was still as bad as ever.
It was meaningless.
Even Ike Kanji, who was originally responsible for heating up the atmosphere in Class D, was now slowly becoming silent.
Hikigaya must be made to stop hiring Ryuuen.
Otherwise.
She would use this photo to force Hikigaya to comply.
Being targeted like this, being endlessly blamed for the Unanimous Voting Exam.
There was no doubt.
It was because Hikigaya used personal points to hire Ryuuen.
Only by stopping Hikigaya from continuing to hire Ryuuen could the matter be truly resolved.
"That..."
Hikigaya slightly observed the Horikita before him.
By now.
Horikita Suzune had likely noticed some problems; this wasn't a problem that could be solved by personal ability.
Actually.
Ryuuen had already approached him about this, hoping he would continue to provide personal points.
Money that was so easy to earn.
Who wouldn't like it?
Only Hikigaya naturally refused.
The personal points left by Horikita Manabu were only 27 million; transferring Sakura Airi cost 20 million, and hiring Ryuuen took another 3 million.
The remaining 4 million.
He had to save some for himself.
Mainly.
It was no longer necessary.
Even without hiring Ryuuen, Class D had already been beaten down to the lowest level.
Even without him now.
The people around would still treat the people of Class D as punching bags.
"Don't worry, regarding that, I've already refused. I won't be hiring Ryuuen from now on."
"Eh? That... is that so?"
Horikita Suzune was suddenly stunned.
She had originally wanted to use the photo to get Hikigaya to stop, but suddenly realized it was no longer necessary and didn't know what to do.
"A... a wise judgment. Continuing to hire Ryuuen would only be a waste of personal points."
"Oh, if there's nothing else, I'll leave."
Hikigaya was too lazy to deal with her and turned to leave.
"Wait!"
Horikita Suzune couldn't help but grab Hikigaya's wrist. Once he turned around, she quickly let go and said with some complexity:
"Do you hate me that much?"
"..."
Hikigaya stared at the girl before him with a puzzled look.
He didn't quite understand which of this person's wires was crossed.
He still said frankly:
"Not really, I'm just keeping a respectful distance. If there's nothing else, I'm leaving. See you tomorrow."
"Oh."
After speaking.
Hikigaya turned and left.
It wasn't that he hated her.
After all, Horikita Suzune seemed truly foolish, not understanding the consequences of her own actions.
He was simply keeping a respectful distance.
Naturally, he wasn't doing it for Horikita Suzune's sake.
He was merely laying out the possible consequences before Horikita Suzune; as for what she would choose, it was entirely her own decision.
Although he wanted to pull Horikita Suzune back.
The final choice still rested with Horikita Suzune herself.
Watching Hikigaya's departing back.
Horikita Suzune pursed her lips and lowered her head without responding.
She felt some difference now.
In the past, it was she who didn't need socialization, feeling that social interaction was a waste of time; now, she was being ostracized by those around her.
The nature of this difference was entirely distinct.
It was only natural.
Betraying trust and backstabbing friends.
To be friends with cold-blooded leaders like Horikita and Ayanokouji, any normal person would probably think twice, right?
Although it didn't rule out those who still wanted to contact them.
But they were ultimately a minority.
As for what Ayanokouji and Horikita thought.
It didn't matter.
If you can't afford to provoke them, you can still afford to hide from them.
Simply seeing if this was what she wanted, Horikita Suzune picked up her phone and opened that photo of Hikigaya with some hesitation.
She hadn't expected it.
Things would actually go so smoothly.
Since Hikigaya had already refused to employ Ryuuen anymore.
This photo had lost its meaning; it wouldn't matter if she just deleted it like this.
But after hesitating for a moment.
Horikita Suzune stared at the image on the phone, her small face flushing red.
She still chose not to delete it.
Perhaps there would be chances to use this photo in the future.
There was no need to delete it now.
On the morning of the school trip day.
The second-year students boarded the buses according to class order. The school carefully checked whether students had forgotten items like coats and gloves.
Dream.
Hikigaya, wearing a down coat, sat in the aisle seat, with Ichinose sitting inside, while across from them were Himeno Yuki and Kobashi.
Sitting in the front, Sakura Airi was kneeling on her seat, leaning over the backrest with a brilliant smile.
"It's really great to be in the same group as Hiki-kun."
"Yeah..."
Hikigaya's expression was a bit strained as he forced a smile.
He looked down at the group member list in his hand.
He had been assigned to Group 10, with a total of nine members including himself.
Class A: Machida Koji, Kamuro Masumi.
Class B: Hikigaya Hachiman, Tsube Hitomi, Sakura Airi.
Class C: Tokito Hiroya, Ibuki Mio.
Class D: Sotomura Hideo, Kushida Kikyo.
Hikigaya's expression immediately became even more strained; he really wished he were in a group with Ichinose.
Class B had a total of three people.
Mainly because there were currently 157 people in the whole school, which wasn't enough to divide evenly.
The extra Sakura Airi must have been assigned to this group.
It couldn't be helped.
There would always be one group with an extra Class B student.
Hikigaya no longer remembered the detailed rankings.
Just looking at it generally.
They were basically people who weren't very popular in the 2nd year, or rather, relatively unpopular, belonging to the lower-middle level.
Kushida Kikyo used to be fine.
But after her true face was exposed, her evaluation crashed straight to the bottom.
Rather.
Being able to enter this group.
Did it mean Kushida Kikyo still had some popularity?
It was probably relying on her looks; at least her large chest attracted attention, and there would always be some simps who wouldn't fear death and continue to vote for Kushida Kikyo.
As for himself...
While his evaluation in Class B should be quite good, his evaluation across the entire second year was probably extremely poor.
Whether it was Class C or Class D.
Most people likely ranked him last.
Strictly speaking.
In a group with five unfamiliar people, and with a difficult existence like Ibuki Mio.
Hikigaya only felt that the road ahead was full of hardships....