The next morning.
Watching Ayanokouji Kiyotaka standing at the dormitory entrance, Sakura Airi hesitated slightly before greeting him with a smile.
"Good morning, Kiyotaka-kun."
"Good morning."
The once intimate form of address had long ago been appended with "student" (kun/san); one wonders if Ayanokouji noticed.
Perhaps he noticed, but simply didn't care.
Sakura Airi's value had long been exhausted; the effort required to regain her trust was completely disproportionate to the gain.
After speaking.
Ayanokouji turned to look at Hikigaya and Ichinose.
"Sorry, Hikigaya, do you have a moment to talk privately?"
"Hmm... okay. You guys don't have to wait for me, go ahead."
"Understood, see you at school then."
After Ichinose and the others left.
Hikigaya and Ayanokouji went to a roadside vending machine.
In any case, the current punishment for being late was not very severe, so it didn't matter even if he was late.
"You already know about our class's exam situation, right?"
"I suppose so, I heard about it from Kei and the others."
After saying that, Hikigaya added another sentence: "Besides, the whole school has been talking about it lately."
After all.
Ayanokouji was indeed a bit terrifying.
He was like a machine with no emotions at all.
If the agreement was broken, it wasn't impossible for him to directly view Karuizawa and the others as threats and have them expelled.
However.
Ike Kanji's expulsion had already been shown on the OAA, and the school had been discussing Class D's situation recently.
Even without Karuizawa and the others, a basic judgment could be made.
"..."
Ayanokouji stared at Hikigaya expressionlessly.
He could easily see the other's fear, the worry that he would use Karuizawa and the others as threats.
That possibility couldn't be ruled out.
When necessary, he indeed could do so.
But for now.
That wasn't what Ayanokouji wanted.
If Hikigaya was unable to focus on the confrontation because of this reason, it would also be a regret for him.
"Don't worry."
Ayanokouji said with a flat expression: "As long as you don't have thoughts of making them betray the class, I won't move against them."
"That's good then."
Hikigaya looked relieved on the surface.
Inwardly, he didn't believe a word.
Did he think he was like Ike Kanji and those others, so easily trusting? Ayanokouji's promise had no credibility whatsoever.
"Let's get back to the main topic?"
Ayanokouji asked with some concern: "What is going on with Sakura lately?"
"..."
Hikigaya sighed inwardly.
Although it was Acting Chairman Sakayanagi's request, it was also just the most ordinary act of kindness.
Something that exceeded expectations.
Probably not just Ayanokouji, but even Class D would have suspicions.
Suspecting whether he was trying to set them up.
Facing Ayanokouji.
There was no need to lie, since his identity wasn't necessarily hidden anyway.
"It's Acting Chairman Sakayanagi's request."
Hikigaya said helplessly: "The Nagumo Miyabi matter made him worry about Class D's mental state, so he asked me to do something."
.
Ayanokouji's dark eyes stared at Hikigaya's expression.
After all.
This was beneficial to Class D.
It indeed sounded like something that Acting Chairman would do.
To actually interfere in matters between students because of concern for their mental state.
However, Ayanokouji was still somewhat skeptical.
"It's really not like your style. In previous exams, you didn't seem to care much about the school rules either."
"Haha... after all, the situation is different now."
Obviously.
This was baiting for information.
Hikigaya naturally wouldn't confess that he had exchanged for the design rights of two complete exams, and that even this exam was designed by him.
"After all, he's basically my dad now..."
"I suppose so..."
Ayanokouji nodded.
From Hikigaya's standpoint, he could no longer view the other party simply as the Chairman.
Ayanokouji had zero understanding of how Hikigaya interacted with family.
"You sought me out just to ask this?"
"That was just in passing."
Ayanokouji finally got to the point:
"Wang Mei-Yu has always wanted to apologize to Sakura, but she doesn't know how to face her and is afraid of being told harsh things."
"I hope you can talk to her and create an opportunity for the two of them to speak. This should be good for Sakura too."
"Her... no problem."
Hikigaya nodded.
After all, this indeed had benefits for Sakura as well.
Being able to receive an apology from someone in Class D—Hikigaya believed that even if Sakura Airi no longer cared, she would feel much better.
However.
Wang Mei-Yu...
Hikigaya had some impression of her.
The last time she said she wanted to apologize was already several months ago.
She had dragged it out until now...
He had a rough idea of what kind of person she was.
After school.
Palette Cafe.
Looking at Wang Mei-Yu, whose expression was wavering, Hikigaya sat down in front of her nonchalantly.
"So, what do you want me to do?"
"That..."
Wang Mei-Yu said with some hesitation:
"That... I still feel I should apologize to Sakura-san. Hikigaya-kun, what do you think?"
"Then just go directly, why ask me?"
Hikigaya said indifferently.
"But..."
Wang Mei-Yu became even more hesitant: "Will she forgive me?"
"I don't know..."
Hikigaya did not respond.
Although he felt Sakura Airi would likely forgive her, Wang Mei-Yu was truly exasperating.
"..."
Wang Mei-Yu bit her lip.
Unlike Ayanokouji who would consider things for her, Hikigaya wouldn't consider her feelings at all.
"Then Hikigaya-kun... could you tell Sakura-san in advance?"
"No."
Hikigaya rested his chin on his hand and said casually:
"While I think Airi doesn't care anymore, if I interfere, then that forgiveness definitely won't be sincere. Besides, do you really want to apologize?"
"I do want to apologize... I also know I did a very terrible thing to her, but..."
Wang Mei-Yu was on the verge of tears, with teardrops swirling in her eyes.
It truly made Hikigaya feel a slight bit of pity.
"If you wish, I indeed can go and speak to Airi first, but Wang-san, is this what you want?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's not like someone will come to help you every time you cry."
Hikigaya said in a casual tone.
Her desire to apologize might be real, but this girl was truly unpleasant to look at.
"What exactly is your own thought?"
"I want to apologize..."
"Then go say it yourself."
Hikigaya looked straight into Wang Mei-Yu's eyes.
"Wang-san, if you just want to push the problem onto others to make yourself feel better, that's fine too. But let me be clear: whether you apologize or not isn't actually that important to me or Airi."
"..."
Wang Mei-Yu was instantly stunned.
To be frank.
This girl had zero autonomy.
She liked to consult others just to push the problem onto them.
That's why she evaded the problem.
To the point that every time, she would just follow the crowd and cast a "yes" vote.
She only wanted to hear what she wanted to hear.
If things didn't go her way, she would use crying to solve the problem.