71. Hikigaya's Invitation to Join
Hikigaya could understand what Saotome Mary was feeling at that moment.
After all, gambling is similar to magic.
For someone like Saotome, who designs gambling games that rely on probability rather than cheating, being exposed would indeed provoke a sense of shame and anger.
The person who loses would think: "If I had just done a little more calculation, I would have known this was a scam with a disadvantageous first move, so why did I even bet?"
And thus, they shift the anger born from their own stupidity onto the initiator of the gamble.
That was the dilemma Saotome Mary was now facing.
Hikigaya could fully imagine that scene—Mibuomi Aoi mercilessly exposing Saotome Mary's gambling design in public, and the blow it would deal to her reputation, causing the Second Library to once again fall into disuse as a gambling den.
He could also imagine how Mibuomi Aoi would manipulate Saotome after doing all that.
Just by looking at the folds on that check, Hikigaya could sense the immense pressure Saotome had endured at the time.
It was nothing more than using the connections of the student council to discover that the check worth 310 million yen was in Saotome's possession, pushing her into the abyss while also showing her a path.
That path was to betray him—Hikigaya Hachiman.
If Saotome wanted to take that check for herself, there was nothing Hikigaya Hachiman could do about it. Furthermore, Saotome could take this opportunity to join his Full-Bloom Association, and with Mibuomi—the immensely popular "normie king"—helping her, she could recover the reputation she had lost.
Aside from the pangs of her conscience, Saotome Mary wouldn't suffer any loss.
On the contrary, she could use this defeat as a stepping stone to an even greater height in life. But all of this depended on Hikigaya Hachiman not retaliating.
Fortunately, Saotome had upheld her moral boundary.
Hikigaya Hachiman wasn't a good person in the traditional sense, but he was even less a bad one.
Since Saotome had resisted the temptation from his enemy and had still been thrown into the abyss, how could Hikigaya Hachiman remain indifferent?
And so, he extended an invitation:
"Are you really okay with being casually crushed like an ant?"
"Are you just accepting Mibuomi's attitude toward you, or are you eager to become Juraku's lapdog?"
"Don't provoke me! I didn't even know anything…" Saotome Mary clenched her fists, but then helplessly loosened them. "Someone like me, just an ordinary student—how can I possibly get revenge? You don't know what it feels like to lose to Mibuomi."
"I clearly had the upper hand, but he had money. He crushed me with a stake I couldn't even hope to match—do you know what that feels like?!"
"I did my absolute best, and still lost to his background."
"People are born at different starting lines, and I just can't catch up anymore!"
Saotome Mary choked on her words, tears sparkling in her eyes.
"You did your best? Hah, don't be ridiculous, Saotome."
"If you can't bring down Mibuomi himself, then go after his underlings. He's a towering tree—so dig up all his roots. Make him feel your fury, make him fear people. Only when you've fought him to the death can you say you truly did your best!"
"Courage is humanity's hymn."
Hikigaya Hachiman took a deep breath. "If you still don't have the courage to vent your rage, then let's just leave it at that."
"I'll give you another two million so you can escape your livestock status."
After speaking, Hikigaya turned around to leave, not giving Saotome Mary the slightest chance to continue being sentimental.
Fortunately, he hadn't misjudged her after all.
"You said to get revenge on his subordinates—how do we do that?!"
Heh—
The corner of Hikigaya's lips curled up in a satisfied smile.
When he looked at Saotome again, he could sense that her golden eyes now flickered with a crimson light, just like Jabami's. The purest anger buried deep in Saotome Mary's heart had been personally ignited by Hikigaya—and it was burning ever fiercer.
He spoke, slowly letting three words escape his lips: "Full-Bloom Association."
Saotome frowned. "He did invite me to join the Full-Bloom Association that day, but I don't know much about what's going on inside. How do we make our move?"
"I don't know either," Hikigaya said honestly.
"Huh? We don't even know who works under him, so how the hell do we get revenge?"
"I don't know—but that doesn't mean others don't." Hikigaya showed a meaningful smile. "Your arch-enemy will give us the answer."
Arch-enemy?
Saotome frowned, probing cautiously: "You mean… Aiura-san? But why would she help us?
Even if you beat her in the exam gambling match… shouldn't she hate you?
I had a conflict with her when I first entered school. After I defeated her, she has been thinking about revenge on me..."
Hikigaya picked up on what she was implying—that Aiura wasn't a good person, and not someone who could be trusted.
"She'll agree," Hikigaya said confidently.
Seeing how certain Hikigaya was, Saotome didn't press further, but after hesitating a bit, she still asked: "Hikigaya, do you… also have a grudge against Mibuomi?"
"I heard that when he came to the class that day, there was already some conflict between you two."
"If you're doing this just for me, then that's too—"
"No. Of course I'm not doing this just for you," Hikigaya cut her off. "All you need to know is, for me—he must die."
Hikigaya's icy tone made Saotome instinctively feel afraid.
The usually gentle and non-oppressive Hikigaya, in that instant, felt like a wild beast before her eyes.
"So scary…" she muttered.
.
.
.
Today, Class 1-A seemed to have returned to its former calm. Except for the few people who had previously spoken rudely to Hikigaya and Jabami Yumeko, all of them now, without exception, wore dog tags.
Hikigaya understood clearly.
This was a benefit that Juraku Sachiko had paid him in advance.
She randomly found an excuse to force them into gambling, then had Juraku's exclusive little lapdogs act as dealers and cheat—making these people, without exception, become dumb dogs.
They were no longer as arrogant as before, now timidly enduring the mockery of their former "comrades" while doing the lowest menial work in the class.
Sweeping the floor, mopping the floor, taking out the trash, cleaning the blackboard...
The same methods they used to bully others were now being used on them.
In truth, Hikigaya was also curious—weren't these bullies afraid of being on the receiving end of revenge someday... or were they just living in the moment?
It was exactly like the mindset of modern Japanese people, and Hikigaya held nothing but contempt for it.
"As expected, Japan has no future."
With such a rotting group of people around, even the Momobami clan at the top would be helpless.
And in Hikigaya's plan, there was a version of the future where—if one day he really did win in the end—he would take everything he gained in Japan and move his entire family to live in another developed country.
Someone as globally renowned as him would live well anywhere.
Of course, that would be the worst-case scenario. Hikigaya still wanted to live on the land beneath his feet—the land where he grew up.
His eyes soon locked onto Aiura, who at this moment had also been given a "stray cat" tag, unable to repay the 10 million yen she owed Hikigaya Hachiman.
Right now, she was surrounded and mocked by several other girls.
Hikigaya slowly walked toward her.