Chapter 21: Just a Hikigaya
Bang!
In Class D's classroom before the exam, a thin male student wearing glasses slammed the desk and stood up.
"Why should we, the good students, cooperate with those underachievers and aim for low scores? And Chabashira-sensei never said anything about whether the top scorers would get a reward or not. What if there is one?"
The failing line for the midterm exams was discovered by Horikita Suzune based on what Chabashira-sensei had said during the last quiz—it was calculated as half of the class average for each subject. To be safe, Horikita stood at the podium and shared this deduction with the class.
"It's obviously not going to be class points. Every class has a top scorer, so that's impossible," Horikita calmly rebutted Yukimura Teruhiko. "At most, it would be a few personal points. Compared to the risk of having classmates potentially expelled, I don't think I need to spell out which one is more important."
"Isn't it their fault for doing badly in the first place?" Yukimura insisted, holding firmly to his position. As the top scorer of the quiz, he equally looked down on all underachievers. "Are you saying I, the top-ranked student, am in the wrong?"
"You four-eyed freak, what's so great about doing a little better in school?"
"No wonder no one wants to hang out with you. Are you depressed and just spouting nonsense?"
In response to the rude remarks from Sudo and Yamauchi, Horikita showed no mercy.
"The ones dragging the class down now are you two. If you have the energy to talk, why not memorize a few more questions?"
"You're just a pretty face, huh." Yamauchi muttered quietly and lowered his head.
Just as Horikita was about to say more to Yukimura, who was red-faced with anger, Hirata Yousuke stepped in with a solution.
Since Yukimura was after the possible personal reward, Hirata offered to personally provide personal points to those who made it into the top ranks if the exam ended up offering such rewards.
Neither Horikita nor Yukimura were happy with Hirata's proposal, but with the exam time drawing near, both had to compromise and agree.
Yukimura was displeased because Hirata's approach made him look like he was being unreasonable. The girls who admired Hirata also began looking at Yukimura more coldly.
Horikita, on the other hand, was unhappy with how indulgent Hirata was being toward Yukimura. If every disobedient student was given special treatment, how could the class ever manage them all?
As the school bell rang to signal the start of class, everyone could only calm their emotions and focus on the upcoming exam. Soon, Hikigaya Hachiman also received his test paper.
He knew the answers to every question. Score control was also ridiculously easy. Since his name had an "eight" in it, he decided to aim for exactly 88 points.
The morning exams quickly ended. After handing in his paper, Hikigaya lazily headed to the cafeteria to have lunch with Ichinose, planning to nap in the classroom afterward.
"Cut it out, Shiho."
Just after parting ways with Ichinose at Class B's door, two girls from Class C came walking toward Hikigaya.
The brown-haired girl with twin ponytails was resisting the playful teasing of another girl who gave off a "gyaru" (gal) vibe similar to Karuizawa Kei. Since both of them were holding uncovered drinks, Hikigaya chose to walk close to the wall, keeping his distance.
"I said stop it."
As he passed by the two girls, Hikigaya suddenly felt warmth on his back—something hot had been spilled on his jacket. As expected, it was one of their drinks.
Because the school uniform jacket wasn't very thick, the heat was strongly felt. He immediately took it off and held it in one hand, then looked at the two girls who had now stopped in front of him.
"You should be more careful. It'd be bad if someone got hurt."
"Sorry," said the girl with fuchsia hair clips—Shiho—wearing a haughty expression. "We'll take it to get dry-cleaned immediately, that okay?"
"No need. I'll wash it myself."
"This was our fault, Hikigaya-kun. Please let us make up for it. If we get points deducted from our class over this, Ryuen-kun will beat us up."
The brown-haired twin-tailed girl forcibly took Hikigaya's jacket from him.
"I'm Yamashita Saki from Class C, and this is Manabe Shiho. We'll return it to you soon."
Since student discipline was always being monitored, the possibility of class points being deducted was real. Hikigaya had no choice but to let them take his jacket to clean it.
A coincidence?
Back in the classroom, Hikigaya lay his head on the desk and closed his eyes. The expressions of Yamashita and Manabe didn't seem unnatural, and their logic made sense. But since this involved Class C, he decided that when he got the jacket back, he'd examine it carefully.
When it came to underhanded tactics, Ryuen Kakeru was a true expert.
If the jacket ended up with a cheat sheet hidden inside and someone reported it, even if Hikigaya survived, his skin would be peeled off.
Two minutes before the final exam, Yamashita Saki returned his now-dry-cleaned jacket. A strong scent of laundry detergent wafted from it.
He thoroughly searched the jacket—inside was only his dorm key card, and no signs of cheat sheets.
Was it really just a coincidence?
Still harboring doubts, Hikigaya finished the last exam and walked over to Horikita Suzune.
"I remember you usually cook dinner yourself, right?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Do me a favor. Buy a bit more food and come cook at my dorm tonight. After I finish some student council business, I plan to treat the president to dinner."
Leaning down close to her ear, he placed the room keycard on her desk.
"So sudden!"
Horikita's expression showed a mix of anticipation and anxiety. She was excited to serve her brother a homemade meal, but wasn't confident she could cook something he'd be satisfied with.
"If you say no, I'll just serve him instant noodles. Maybe I'll throw in a sausage."
"You wouldn't dare!"
Horikita glared at Hikigaya and grabbed the keycard off the desk.
After getting Horikita on board, Hikigaya quickly messaged Shiina, asking her not to eat dinner yet and wait for him.
Since the room still lacked a dining table and seat cushions, he also transferred 50,000 personal points to Horikita.
'The room still needs a table and some seat cushions. Please buy them. You can have the supermarket deliver the table. I sent you points, so buy whatever you like.'
"You're getting a little too smug for a mere Hikigaya,"
Horikita said, punching him hard in the stomach.
"Consider that my payment."
Ignoring the doubled-over Hikigaya, Horikita picked up her bag and briskly left the classroom.
Not expecting Horikita to actually hit him, Hikigaya stayed hunched over for a while before slowly straightening up—only to meet Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's indifferent gaze.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine."
"That's good."
Saying no more, Ayanokoji walked over to the Class D trio, who were happily chatting, and seamlessly joined in on their conversation.
Even though just yesterday they had confronted him about hiding his true abilities, he now acted like nothing had happened at all.