Chapter 312: Sakayanagi is Going for Something Big!
The Mixed Training Camp had come to an end. However, the aftermath was something no one had predicted.
Ryuen Kakeru, who ruled Class C as a tyrant, actually chose to step up and save Tokito Yuya from expulsion. It cost him 20 million Private Points plus a deduction of 300 Class Points. For Class C, this was a massive hemorrhage.
Furthermore, despite being the one targeted for expulsion, Ryuen didn't act out of spite to retaliate against Class D. This showed he had truly grown. Even though he had been ruthlessly played by Ayanokouji Kiyotaka during the wild boar attack incident, Ryuen swallowed his pride and followed Ayanokouji's advice.
He negotiated with Classes A and B, using "withdrawing the expulsion" as leverage to force them into signing unequal contracts, extorting a massive amount of points. Overall, he managed to claw back a fraction of the losses.
The current Class Points were as follows:
Class A: 1072 Class B: 972 Class C: 450 Class D: 248
In short: Classes A and B remained relatively stable; Class C lost big points but managed to suck some "blood" from A and B; and Class D emerged as the biggest winner.
"Hell yeah!"
"Next month's allowance is going up again!" The students of Class D were ecstatic.
"If I knew we'd win, I would've volunteered to be the group leader too."
Quite a few people cast envious glances at Hikigaya. The leader of the first-place group received an extra 1 million Private Points—though to Hikigaya, that amount didn't mean much anymore.
"Hikigaya, thank you." Horikita Suzune showed a rare, gentle smile and stepped forward to take his hand.
"Uh, you've already thanked me, haven't you?" Hikigaya recalled the image of her proactively kissing him a few days ago.
"That... that was..." Horikita stammered, her face turning crimson as she lowered her head in embarrassment.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Kushida Kikyo shouted three times, forcefully breaking the romantic tension.
"Horikita, are you running a fever? That expression does not fit your character design!"
After snapping at Horikita, Kushida turned a sharp gaze toward Hikigaya.
"Hikigaya, what exactly did you mean by 'already thanked me'?"
"..." Hikigaya's eyes darted around. Noticing several other sharp gazes directed his way, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"I was just thanking Hikigaya for helping my brother. What does that have to do with you?" Horikita responded, trying to act calm.
However, her cheeks were flushed like sunset clouds—suspicious by any standard.
"Hmph! You've got a lot of nerve," Kushida mocked, chin held high. "I put in plenty of effort regarding your brother's situation too. Unlike a certain someone who was completely useless!"
"Effort?" Horikita was confused and looked at Hikigaya for clarification. Hikigaya had to explain that Kushida provided the key intel used to dismantle Ikari Momoko's plot against Tachibana Akane.
"I see. Then I thank you, Kushida-san," Horikita said with sincere gratitude.
"If you really want to thank me, then stop clinging to Hikigaya," Kushida said coldly.
"No," Horikita rejected her instantly.
"What? Then what kind of 'thanks' was that?" Kushida was fuming.
"I'll consider it a favor I owe you. But it cannot involve Hikigaya," Horikita said, shaking her head.
"Other than Hikigaya, what do I have to talk to you about?" Kushida made it clear she didn't care for the favor.
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The Mixed Training Camp was over. The students of Advanced Nurturing High School returned to campus and resumed normal classes.
Hikigaya sat crookedly, resting his cheek on his hand, looking lazy and content. Listening to Chabashira-sensei's familiar high heels clicking as she held her textbook and lectured on dull Classical Chinese was a luxury.
Compared to the torturous zazen meditation at the camp, this was a breeze! Plus, he didn't have to wake up early to make breakfast, and there were no "labor classes" that felt like prison. If every day was just normal classes, life would be grand.
However, reality proved that this school never lacked people looking for trouble. During the break, Hikigaya was napping at his desk. Although he had no interest in gossip, the whispers around him drifted into his ears.
"Hey~ you heard, right?"
"About the rumors regarding Ichinose-san."
"The one about her having wet dreams in the dorm?"
"No, there's an even bigger scoop!"
"I heard... Ichinose is a criminal!"
"For real?"
"She doesn't seem like that kind of person..."
"Heh! She's loud in bed; you really think she's some pure, innocent girl?"
"You can't judge a book by its cover. Who knows what she's doing behind people's backs!"
Hikigaya raised his head and looked at the small group of girls gossiping.
"W-What? It's not like I started it... everyone is saying it!" Shinohara Satsuki said, somewhat intimidated by his reputation as a Disciplinary Committee member, but she doubled down anyway.
"Did I say it was you? Ugly people sure love making scenes," Hikigaya muttered, glancing at her coldly.
"Wh-Who are you calling ugly?" Shinohara's face flushed with anger.
"Oh? You don't seem convinced? Then tell me, Shinohara, out of the people sitting here, who is uglier than you?" Hikigaya scanned them with his dead-fish eyes.
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together; the girls around Shinohara weren't exactly prizes.
Upon hearing this, the other girls immediately distanced themselves from Shinohara, terrified she might name one of them.
Hikigaya had used this same tactic on Shinohara during the uninhabited island exam. The same logic still applied: almost no girl is indifferent to an evaluation of her looks.
Shinohara's face turned from blue to white, and she eventually had to swallow her pride and shut up.
After dealing with the gossips, Hikigaya looked at Horikita in the neighboring seat. "Suzune, have you heard about the Ichinose situation?"
"I have. It's clearly a smear campaign," Horikita replied, focused on her book.
"The wet dream rumor doesn't seem like a smear, though," Kushida chimed in, leaning over and staring seriously at Hikigaya.
"Ah~ there's no need to discuss dreams," Hikigaya said, forcing himself to stay calm as he changed the subject.
Horikita's hand paused briefly as she turned a page. Kushida opened her mouth to speak, but for some reason, she reconsidered and stayed silent.
"Hikigaya-kun, look at the news we gathered." Karuizawa Kei and her two friends approached excitedly with their phones.
Two flanked him, while the third wrapped her arms around his neck from behind.
...Are you guys addicted to playing the 'gal' role?
Hikigaya's attention was quickly drawn to the information on the screen. It listed Ichinose Honami's "crimes" one by one: embezzling public funds, being a "fake" girl, a homewrecker stealing men, theft... all sorts of malicious labels.
Only the "theft" part was actually true—a classic "nine lies and one truth" strategy. The mastermind's malice was palpable.
"This was sent from a hidden account. Almost every freshman received these messages of unknown origin," Karuizawa Kei said, gritting her teeth, a flash of fear in her eyes.
She was clearly remembering her own past of being bullied and smeared.
"It's so classless, sending mass messages like this just to blacken a girl's name!"
Sato Maya said indignantly.
"The strange thing is, Ichinose herself hasn't reacted to these rumors at all," Matsushita Chiaki added thoughtfully.
"If... I'm just saying 'if'..." Kushida's mind suddenly flickered with a thought. "Could one or two of these messy rumors actually be true?"
Because she had spent her middle school years listening to people's secrets, she held a massive amount of "dark history."
The girls who looked like "good girls" but did compensated dating... the "plastic" best friends who stole each other's boyfriends... those who stole class funds to support a delinquent boyfriend...
"Without evidence, we shouldn't gossip about others behind their backs," Horikita said with her usual upright attitude, which made Kushida feel physically uncomfortable.
Internally, Kushida cursed her for being a hypocrite.
"Hikigaya-kun, what do you think?" The girls' eyes focused on him.
"The truth isn't important. What matters is that someone has launched an attack on Ichinose," Hikigaya said parasitically.
Actually, he knew about Ichinose's dark history, but he wasn't sure if the mastermind knew it too. Just as he was beginning to suspect the mastermind's identity, the person in question delivered herself to them.
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After school, Sakayanagi Arisu arrived at Class D's classroom.
"Sakayanagi-san?" A boy in the front row stood up to talk to her, but then he remembered something and said with a helpless expression, "You're here for Hikigaya, right? He's over..."
"Excuse me, I'm actually here for Shinohara Satsuki-san today. I wonder if she is in?" An unexpected name! The students of Class D turned collectively toward Shinohara in surprise.
"?" Shinohara was caught off guard. "Sakayanagi-san... what do you want with me?"
As a bottom-tier student of Class D who at most led a small clique in the "trash pile," there was a clear class divide between her and the leader of Class A. The gap was like a high-class city lady versus a trashy country girl. It was hard to imagine what overlap they could have.
"It's like this. I'm here to deliver a letter on someone's behalf." Sakayanagi pulled an envelope from her pocket. The handwriting was a bit messy, but the name on it was eye-catching.
"Th-This is from Satonaka-kun?!" Shinohara's eyes widened in delight. The other girls in Class D gasped.
"From Satonaka-kun?!"
"C-Could it be a love letter?!"
"For Shinohara?"
"No way!!!"
Satonaka Satoru of Class A was a famous hottie. At the start of the first semester, he was ranked #1 in the girls' "Most Wanted Boyfriend" list. Purely based on looks, he was even higher than Hirata! Although his grades and athletic ability were mediocre, earning him some "all show and no substance" criticism, his handsome face still won over many look-oriented girls.
"Yes, Satonaka-kun is quite shy, so he asked me to deliver it for him," Sakayanagi said, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead and lying through her teeth with a straight face.
The crazy thing was, Shinohara actually believed it!
This stupid woman had zero self-awareness; her level of delusion was the female equivalent of Yamauchi!
Hikigaya suddenly remembered: during lunch one day at the training camp, he saw Shinohara bump into Sakayanagi and knock her down... Tch, this bratty loli really is petty.
Her revenge came fast!
"Wait a moment, Sakayanagi-san!" Horikita stood up and called out.
"My, Horikita-san, are you jealous of Shinohara-san?" Sakayanagi provoked immediately.
"!!!" Shinohara clutched the love letter to her chest, glaring at Horikita with suspicion.
"Stop this ridiculous joke!" Horikita said with disgust.
"This so-called love letter is clearly a trap!"
"I think a boy's feelings are very important," Sakayanagi countered solemnly.
"Horikita-san, please do not interfere in other people's romances."
"Using romance as a cover for deception... that's the worst kind of person!" Horikita analyzed logically.
"In the first place, Satonaka writing a love letter to Shinohara is an anomaly by any standard. I have reason to suspect this is a plot you designed to frame Class D..."
Before Sakayanagi could argue, Shinohara started shouting. "Horikita, what nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean 'Satonaka-kun writing a letter to me is an anomaly'? That's incredibly rude!!"
'Satonaka-kun... calling him so affectionately already.'
This stupid woman was already acting as if she were Satonaka's girlfriend! Even though Hikigaya knew she was delusional, he still felt his skin crawl.
"You actually believe it's a love letter... is there something wrong with your brain?" Horikita sighed, holding her forehead.
"Shinohara-san, please calm down," Hirata Yousuke said with a frown. "The rumors about Ichinose-san are likely the work of Class A. It's possible this letter is also targeting you."
"Hirata-kun... are you jealous?" Shinohara giggled, completely ignoring the warning.
"Huh?" Hirata was stunned. Was that even something a human would say?
"The battle of the hotties. I get it, hee-hee~" Shinohara entered her own fantasy world.
"Finally, a good man who appreciates my inner beauty~~"
'What do you 'get'? Where is this inner beauty?'
The sheer number of points to roast was so high that Hikigaya was left completely speechless.
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