Chapter 268 Mind Games? They Don't Care at All
"Don't be silly, neither of you are good at English, right?"
"It'll be fine if Hachiman teaches us!"
"Sorry, I learned 'mute English.'"
Although Hikigaya's English grades were in the upper-middle tier, it was limited to written exams on paper. His spoken English was clumsy; anyway, he had no plans to study abroad in the future, so speaking ability wasn't really necessary.
"What does it matter? As long as we can just muddle through English class, it's fine."
Hasabe Haruka clearly wasn't actually looking to practice her speaking.
"If that's the case, then I—"
Hikigaya thought that made sense and was about to agree.
"Hold on!"
"Wait a minute!"
Kushida Kikyo and Horikita Suzune spoke at the same time. The two exchanged a glance, seemingly reaching a sort of tacit understanding.
"Sakura-san, I'll practice with you. My speaking is okay."
Kushida Kikyo, with a friendly face, took hold of Sakura Airi.
"Uh... then I'll leave it to you, Kushida-san."
Sakura Airi had no reason to refuse and could only accept the other's kindness.
"Then I will teach Hasabe-san. You can ask me anything you don't understand."
Horikita Suzune was uncharacteristically enthusiastic.
"Wow~ I'm so happy... to be personally taught by the top student, Horikita-san."
Hasabe Haruka's expression was a bit subtle. She wondered when these two arch-enemies, Kushida and Horikita, had learned to join forces.
"What about me?"
Hikigaya pointed at himself.
"You go practice with Mashima-sensei yourself!"
Horikita gave him a sharp, annoyed glare.
"Give me a break... Japanese-style English against a London accent—it's practically a public execution!"
Hikigaya felt like crying. It was just like how people from Kansai, when in Tokyo, subconsciously hide their accents.
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Class ended.
After school, Hikigaya had another troublesome task added to his plate. However, he didn't take the Student Council matters to heart and went to the Martial Arts Club first.
"Hachiman?
Didn't you join that Student Council thing?
I thought you weren't coming!"
Ibuki Mio was surprised by his arrival, a flash of joy crossing her brow.
"I was just asked by someone to go in and be a slacker," Hikigaya responded nonchalantly.
"Go in and be a slacker?"
"You make it sound so easy." Ibuki Mio wore a strange expression.
"You have no idea. After the school assembly this morning, Ryuen called an emergency class meeting to discuss ways to send someone into the Student Council."
"Heh~ that guy really has nothing but class competition on his mind."
Hikigaya complained while doing push-ups to warm up. Ibuki Mio took the opportunity to plop down right on his lower back.
"Mio, what are you doing?"
Hikigaya's body sank, but fortunately, she was petite and not very heavy.
"Hmph! I'm helping you train your waist strength!"
Ibuki Mio gave a soft snort and then reached out to pat his butt.
"Don't slack off, keep going!"
"If you did this and the genders were swapped, the police would be coming to arrest you!" Hikigaya said, speechless.
"Shut up!
What's the point of saying that between us?"
Ibuki Mio crossed her legs, looking bold and unconstrained.
"Fine, my female bro."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Hikigaya's face. Getting along with this straightforward, blunt girl was actually quite nice.
"Shouldn't this be called a 'male bestie'?"
Ibuki Mio corrected him solemnly, then suddenly had a brain blast: "Wait? You, you aren't trying to hit on me, are you?"
"How on earth did you reach that conclusion?"
Hikigaya's eyes widened; he really didn't know how her brain worked.
"Isn't that how it goes in those popular short dramas on TikTok lately?
A boy wants to get close to a girl, uses the name of 'friend' to make her let her guard down, and then takes advantage of the moment to push her down..."
Ibuki Mio spoke with great interest.
"Mio, watch fewer of those brain-dead short dramas in the future.
You weren't that smart to begin with; you're going to get even stupider," Hikigaya advised earnestly.
"Who are you calling not very smart?"
Ibuki Mio immediately flew into a rage and raised a foot, stomping toward the back of his head!
Incidentally, she had taken her shoes off and didn't use much force. This showed that while Ibuki Mio had a bit of a temper and liked to get physical at the drop of a hat, she at least knew how to show restraint.
"An opening!"
Hikigaya reached back and grabbed her foot, yanking it to his side and pulling her off his back. Immediately after, he flipped over and, in a dominant position, pinned Ibuki Mio to the ground.
"Cunning man!
You use a sneak attack during a spar?"
Ibuki Mio wouldn't give up without a fight and threw a punch at his abdomen.
"Urgh~"
Hikigaya took a sharp breath, using the physical defense techniques he had recently learned from Horikita Manabu. He controlled his abdominal muscles to tighten, tanking Ibuki Mio's straight punch.
"Not bad, Hachiman.
Your skills have improved again."
Ibuki Mio's eyes lit up in praise.
"Strengthening the body while being prepared for anything."
Hikigaya believed that with Nagumo Miyabi taking office, the intensity of the class competition would increase significantly. There would surely be people who liked to solve things through violence.
This was the fundamental reason why Hikigaya insisted on coming to the Martial Arts Club every day!
After practicing for about an hour, Hikigaya briefly washed his face and changed out of his sweat-soaked clothes. He left the Martial Arts Club and headed to the Student Council.
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"Too slow!"
The late-arriving Hikigaya, saw that all the members of the Student Council were already seated in an orderly fashion.
"Sorry, I just went to participate in a club activity..."
Hikigaya gave a brief explanation.
"Hmph! In the end, is the Student Council more important, or are club activities more important?"
Kiriyama Ikuto was the first to attack him.
"Theoretically, the Student Council is indeed more important.
But aren't all of you excellent senpais from Class A here?
My absence as a mere Class D student shouldn't affect anything, right?"
By using self-deprecation, Hikigaya thoroughly disgusted Kiriyama Ikuto!
"Hikigaya-kouhai needn't be so modest.
Someone who is so highly regarded by Horikita-senpai—how could you be a mediocre person of average ability?"
Nagumo Miyabi gestured for him to take a seat with a kind expression.
'This guy really isn't that easy to fool.'
Hikigaya had no choice but to follow the other's lead and sit down.
"Alright, everyone is here now.
The topic of today's Student Council discussion is how to deeply intervene in the competition between classes."
Nagumo Miyabi spoke words that made everyone present unable to remain calm, then his gaze shifted: "Hikigaya, why don't you tell us your thoughts?"
"Oh? I don't have any thoughts at all."
Hikigaya shook his head, expressing his lack of interest.
"Why? As long as we can interfere in class struggles, even Class D might be able to climb up," Nagumo Miyabi incentivized him verbally.
Hikigaya remained unmoved: "Is there a possibility that the people in Class D simply don't deserve it?"
"To look down on your own class like that—do you even understand what collective honor means?"
Kiriyama Ikuto gritted his teeth. On the surface, he was talking about Hikigaya, but his eyes looked as if he were seeing someone else.
'This kid's personality is so bad it's practically on par with that Kiryuin!'
"Yeah, yeah..."
Hikigaya snorted at Kiriyama Ikuto's high-sounding words: "Kiriyama-senpai is so focused on unity, why don't you try uniting with Kiryuin-senpai first?"
Based on the relay race deployment during the sports festival, he could see that Kiryuin Fuka was being ostracized by her classmates. To be precise, she was being deliberately suppressed by Kiriyama, the leader of 2nd Year Class B.
He had specifically arranged for students with average athletic ability to compete, ultimately causing Kiryuin to lose the relay.
From this point, it was clear that Kiriyama Ikuto was a narrow-minded person. If he couldn't even win over the strongest person in his class, talking about "unity" was a bit abstract!
"You actually know Kiryuin?"
Kiriyama Ikuto's face immediately darkened. He internally cursed that they were indeed birds of a feather!
"Yeah."
"I heard Kiryuin-senpai is rank one in academic ability and an all-rounder in athletics. She's the senpai I respect the most."
Hikigaya was telling the truth; in terms of individual ability, Kiryuin Fuka was arguably even above Nagumo Miyabi.
Kiriyama Ikuto opened his mouth, suddenly stuck for words. No matter how much he disliked Kiryuin Fuka, he couldn't disparage her strength.
Nagumo Miyabi seemed to catch the underlying meaning in Hikigaya's words and raised an eyebrow: "Kiryuin's strength is indeed very high, but that's limited to individual combat. When it comes to mind games, I won't lose to her. The fact that I am in Class A and she is in Class B today is the best proof!"
'Mind games?
Is there a possibility that she simply doesn't care?'
Would the young miss of a financial conglomerate care about a so-called guaranteed spot from Class A? Give me a break.
"President Nagumo is right, you win!"
Hikigaya didn't feel like arguing.
"..."
Nagumo Miyabi faintly felt that Hikigaya was brushing him off, but if he were to persist, it would make him look like he lacked character.
"Forget it, let's return to the original topic.
I plan to apply to the school for the Student Council to have access to the school's surveillance network."
As soon as Nagumo Miyabi said this, it immediately drew the intense focus of the Student Council members.
"Accessing the school's surveillance network... wouldn't that be crossing the line a bit?"
The high-tech surveillance cameras of Advanced Nurturing were everywhere in the school. Usually, only the school administration could view them; the Student Council could apply for temporary access when needed. Nagumo Miyabi's move—wanting direct, constant access—was incredibly bold!
"Advanced Nurturing advocates for students to compete with students and tries to minimize direct interference."
"So, having the Student Council manage the surveillance isn't unreasonable, is it?"
Nagumo Miyabi tapped his finger on the table, secretly observing the reactions of the others. There was no doubt that based on the common interests of the Student Council, while the others couldn't say they completely agreed, they at least wouldn't oppose Nagumo's proposal.
"I object."
Hikigaya's sudden public opposition caused the atmosphere in the Student Council to freeze.
"Oh?"
"Does Hikigaya-kouhai have some opinion on my approach?"
Nagumo Miyabi's gaze became dangerous.
"Of course I have an opinion.
This will greatly increase our workload. That's not good, right?"
Hikigaya's words sounded less like an opposition to Nagumo and more like a complaint.
Hearing this, Nagumo Miyabi actually felt it made sense and subconsciously said, "If we're short-handed, we can just recruit more people into the Student Council..."
"That would be great!
Please be sure to allocate some personnel to me.
As the Disciplinary Committee Chairman, I can't exactly be a leader without any troops, can I?"
Hikigaya said.
'This kid is blatantly trying to build his own team, isn't he?'
Nagumo Miyabi gave him a deep look.
"Wait a minute!
Hikigaya, you're just a newcomer who joined the Student Council. Wanting to be a leader yourself is a bit too arrogant, isn't it?"
Kiriyama Ikuto refuted in a heavy voice.
"Kiriyama-senpai, what are you talking about?
My position is Disciplinary Committee Chairman, not a disciplinary officer."
Hikigaya responded calmly, arguing his point: "As everyone knows, Advanced Nurturing emphasizes both literary and martial arts."
"If I go to enforce discipline alone and end up being ganged up on, what then?"
Although these words sounded a bit ridiculous, if one thought about it carefully, it was something that could actually happen. Even though school rules explicitly forbade fighting, everyone sitting there was a seasoned veteran from the second or third year; which one of them hadn't experienced a "physical struggle"?
However, even though Hikigaya's request was reasonable, Nagumo Miyabi didn't want him to get his way so easily.
"Hikigaya-kouhai is overthinking it.
There are cameras everywhere in the school. Who would dare to lay a hand on someone from the Student Council?"
Nagumo Miyabi was clearly brushing him off.
"No matter how many cameras there are, there are blind spots. That's a loophole the school left on purpose.
I'm just looking out for my own personal safety," Hikigaya retorted.
"Hmph! If you're afraid, then don't be the Disciplinary Committee Chairman!" Kiriyama Ikuto sneered.
'You think I want to be? If it weren't for that ten million points, I wouldn't do this!'
"How about this, Hikigaya-kouhai. Let's put this matter aside for now and let me think about it.
Once the application for surveillance rights is settled, I will give you a satisfactory answer."
Nagumo Miyabi used a stalling tactic.
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Walking out of the Student Council office.
The sky was getting dark; it was dinner time. Hikigaya planned to head to the cafeteria to eat. He immediately spotted a familiar figure. Don't ask why—this was the weight of the Law of Universal Gravitation!
"Ichinose, and a... senpai?"
Hikigaya's face showed a hint of surprise.
Eating with the opposite sex at dinner time was easy to misunderstand. Considering the other person's looks were quite shabby, the possibility of them being on a date was very small. However, that had nothing to do with him.
Hikigaya walked past inconspicuously.
"Tomioka-senpai, I'd like to consult you about past special exams.
Of course, I understand the rules. I will pay you a sum of points."
Ichinose Honami had taken the initiative to meet this senpai for the purpose of gathering intelligence.
"You want to ask about special exams? I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint the cute Ichinose-kouhai~"
"The special exams at Advanced Nurturing are varied and numerous. To prevent senpais from leaking information to kouhais, they basically rotate every three years."
"In other words, the first-year special exams I took are completely different from yours."
Tomioka was a two-hundred-pound fat man. His eyes, the size of mung beans, were currently leering at Ichinose Honami.
"By the way, Ichinose-san, how about we go see a movie together after dinner?"
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