Chapter 360 Amasawa Ichika: I'm Here to Join You
To maintain campus order, standardize student behavior, and ensure the personal safety of all students, the Student Council Disciplinary Committee, following an investigation into the violations that occurred on campus yesterday, hereby issues the following announcement regarding the situation and the resulting disciplinary actions:
Yesterday, Housen Kazuomi, a student of Class D, First Year, went to the Second-Year floor without authorization to provoke conflict and committed a violent assault against others. His behavior severely violated school regulations, undermined the harmonious atmosphere of the campus, and caused serious negative repercussions.
Ryuen Kakeru, Albert, Ishizaki Daichi, and Ibuki Mio, students of Class C, Second Year, were subjected to the attack and, in order to protect their own safety, took self-defensive measures to counterattack. Upon verification, their actions fall within the scope of legitimate self-defense and will not be penalized.
In accordance with the relevant clauses of the Advanced Nurturing High School regulations, the following penalties have been issued to the involved individuals and classes:
Housen Kazuomi of Class D, First Year, for serious violation of school rules, shall have all private points in his personal account deducted and be suspended from school for one week; Class D, First Year, shall bear joint liability for the student's violation, resulting in a deduction of 100 class points.
We hope all students will take this as a warning to strictly abide by campus regulations, respect others, interact in a civilized manner, and collectively maintain a safe, orderly, and harmonious campus environment.
Hereby announced.
Chairman of the Student Council Disciplinary Committee: Hikigaya Hachiman
The announcement caused quite a stir across both grades.
Although the second-years were surprised, the moment they saw Hikigaya's name in the signature block, they felt everything was perfectly normal! As expected of the "Great Demon King," he had easily sanctioned the troublemaker from the first year.
The first-years, while shocked, felt a certain degree of schadenfreude.
"That guy Housen actually got sanctioned?"
"Heh! That guy deserves it!"
"Who told him to be so arrogant?"
"Was the person who took him down Ryuen-senpai from Class C, Second Year?"
"Looks like he's also a ruthless one!"
"But isn't the school's handling of this a bit strange?"
Normally, schools generally treat fighting incidents by punishing both sides equally. A good school might assign responsibility based on the cause of the incident and issue varying degrees of punishment to both parties. But this time, the outcome completely exceeded everyone's expectations.
The instigator, Housen Kazuomi, received the maximum penalty, while Ryuen and his group, who claimed "self-defense" despite beating others until they were bloodied, faced no consequences at all.
This was very intriguing!
"There isn't even a judgment of 'excessive defense.' In any light, this looks like favoritism from the Student Council."
"But didn't President Nagumo hint at the opening ceremony that we are allowed to use a certain degree of force?"
"Look at the name of the person handling it..."
"Disciplinary Committee Chairman, Hikigaya Hachiman?"
The clever ones began to realize that the Student Council was not a monolith.
Having witnessed Hikigaya's influence, Class A, First Year, decisively accepted the cooperation. To curry favor with him, they even sent an A-grade academic achiever for Hikigaya to assign a partner. Thus, Hikigaya had finished finding exam partners for Karuizawa Kei, Sato Maya, and Hasabe Haruka.
"As expected of Hachiman-kun~ You helped us find partners after just one day!" The three girls let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't think about slacking off. The exam ultimately depends on yourself.
From today on, you three will faithfully attend the study sessions!" Hachiman sternly admonished.
"Eh~ Alright." Although reluctant, the three followed Hachiman's orders obediently.
"Study sessions are so boring... Can we study in Hachiman's room?" Hasabe Haruka's proposal immediately received nods of support from the other two.
"Mm-hmm~ With Hachiman-kun here to teach us, we'll definitely get twice the result with half the effort~~!" Sato Maya said with an excited face.
"You mean 'half the work for twice the result,' right?" Hachiman's mouth twitched.
"Oh, oh~ As expected of Hachiman-kun, you know so many characters!"
"If possible, I hope you learn a little more."
"Then Hachiman-kun has to teach us a little more, hee hee~"
"Don't giggle..." Hachiman sighed helplessly, clutching his forehead.
In the end, the trouble still fell on his shoulders.
Students in Class D seemed to be still struggling to find exam partners. Hirata Yosuke and Horikita Suzune were trying their best to coordinate, and Kushida Kikyo, in order to maintain her "little angel" persona, had to help as well.
Surprisingly, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, for unknown reasons, also volunteered to help.
Probably scheming something bad again? But none of that had anything to do with Hachiman.
After school—
"Then, let's go to the mall together!" Karuizawa Kei suggested happily.
"Wait, Kei? I remember telling you guys to come over to study, right?" Hachiman said, speechless.
"Oh my~ We need to eat while studying... And snacks, soda, and fashion magazines!"
'Are you sure you're not just here to play?'
Unable to withstand the soft pressure from the three, Hachiman finally conceded. He was surrounded by the three as they headed to the mall to buy groceries. Along the way, they encountered quite a few first-year freshmen buying daily necessities.
"That's Hikigaya-senpai..."
"Actually dating three pretty senpais at the same time? That's too exaggerated, right?"
"Looks like the rumors about the Great Demon King are true!"
Facing the gazes of envy, jealousy, and fear from those around him, Hachiman chose to ignore them all.
"Oh my, looks like Hachiman is already famous among the first years."
"Only for infamy, right?"
"Hmph, isn't that just perfect? It saves those clueless kouhai from clinging onto you!"
"I think you guys are overthinking it." Hachiman shook his head: "What do 'handsome guys with glasses' have to do with a dead-fish-eyed guy like me?" He wasn't wearing glasses right now.
However, at that moment, a playful and cute voice rang out from behind him.
"Ah la la~ Isn't this Hikigaya-senpai? What a coincidence~~"
Amasawa Ichika popped her head out from the other side of the shelf, blinking her curious eyes and staring fixedly at his face: "Eee! Not wearing glasses today—those charming eyes make a man's appeal jump even higher!!!"
Hachiman opened his mouth. Remembering "Hikigaya Ichika" from his dream last night, he didn't know what to say.
"Hey, hey! Who are you?"
"Can't you see we're on a date?"
"You really don't know how to read the room!" Karuizawa Kei put her hands on her hips, aggressively trying to drive the other party away.
Unexpectedly, Amasawa did not retreat. Instead, under the gaze of the girls, she brazenly approached Hachiman.
"Hee hee~ A date with four people is too interesting~~ Can I join in, too?"
As she spoke, Amasawa reached out, attempting to take Hachiman's hand. Hachiman avoided it.
"Huh?! You inexplicable kouhai! Who gave you permission to join us?" Sato Maya was very angry, reaching out to push the other party away.
The result was that she couldn't move her at all—Amasawa's seemingly slender and delicate body hid astonishing strength!
"Oh? You spicy girl-senpai, are you trying to bully me?" Amasawa's eyes narrowed into a dangerous arc. With a flick of her arm, she brushed off Sato Maya's hand and quickly threw a punch at her!
"Pak—"
Hachiman moved quickly, intercepting Amasawa's fist. With a surge of force, he gripped it firmly in his palm: "What a bold kouhai."
"What's this~ Hikigaya-senpai is really skilled in that area, isn't he?
I love strong men the most!!" Amasawa's eyebrows curved, an inexplicable excitement appearing on her face.
The brief exchange between the two ended in an instant. Karuizawa and the others only reacted after the fact.
"Are you crazy? Attacking people out of nowhere!" Karuizawa Kei scolded sharply.
"No need to be nervous, Karuizawa-senpai. I was just making a little joke just now," Amasawa said casually.
"Starting a fight just because things didn't go your way, where did this violent girl come from?" Hasabe Haruka spoke up in condemnation. Although they fought among themselves in class, they remained united when facing outsiders!
"So I apologize. To show my sincerity, let me pay for the groceries tonight," Amasawa said, taking several packs of beef from the shelf and putting them into Hachiman's shopping cart.
"Hey! What do you mean by this? Who invited you to eat with us!" Karuizawa Kei and the others expressed their opposition.
"Hikigaya-senpai invited me."
"I don't recall such a thing."
"Did he? It doesn't matter, Hikigaya-senpai is a busy man with a bad memory; it's not too late to invite me now."
'This girl is even more thick-skinned than I imagined!'
"You stop that! You're an unrelated first-year, what right do you have to eat with us?" Hasabe Haruka coldly blocked her.
"I'm not unrelated, you know." Amasawa patted her chest and said seriously: "Forgot to introduce myself—Class A, First Year, Amasawa Ichika. Academic Grade A. I'm a certain senpai's partner for this special exam!"
"Eh?!" Karuizawa and the others were instantly stunned.
"Amasawa, your class actually sent you?" A flash of surprise crossed Hachiman's face.
Considering the rules of this special exam, the higher a first-year student's academic ability, the more sought after they were by the second-years. Especially under Sakayanagi Arisu's intentional "price hiking," an A-grade achiever could even sell for over 300,000 points. Moreover, Academic A was a rare strategic talent that could be used to pull up an E-grade student's exam score.
Although Karuizawa and the others were bad at studying, they didn't exactly need a top scholar to pull up their scores.
"No, I volunteered to come." Amasawa tilted her head, putting on a cute expression: "So, I sacrificed 300,000 private points to help Hikigaya-senpai for free.
How about it? Do you feel like you've fallen for me yet?"
Blatant flattery and teasing.
"..." Karuizawa and the others were speechless. After all, she was here to help, so they couldn't just keep telling her to leave.
"Give me your account, I'll transfer the points to you now." Hachiman didn't want to owe favors.
"No way~ If Hikigaya-senpai feels bad about it, you can cook me a delicious meal with your own hands." Amasawa gave a playful smile: "I love men who are good at cooking the most."
"Then you're going to be disappointed." Hachiman said truthfully: "My cooking level can only be counted as above average."
"Can't I make it for you?" Karuizawa Kei said angrily.
"No way~ If it's not food cooked by Hikigaya-senpai himself, then it has no meaning." Amasawa turned her head to the girls: "By the way, if possible, can the three senpais step aside first?"
"Huh? Why should we!" The three reacted intensely.
"Because I want to spend dinner alone with Hikigaya-senpai.
Surely the three senpais should know how to read the room about something like this?"
She used the same tactics to counter-attack! Karuizawa and the others were practically furious.
"Kei, Maya, Haruka, you three step aside first.
After dinner, you can come again." Hachiman commanded.
"Wait a minute... Hachiman-kun?"
"Why!"
"Are you going to abandon us for this kouhai?" The three glared at him, gritting their teeth.
"It's just dinner, don't be willful." Hachiman didn't pamper them at all, saying righteously: "Who do you think I'm doing all this for?"
"..." The three were instantly dumbfounded and in the end, could only leave sullenly.
"Pak, pak, pak—" Amasawa couldn't help but applaud: "Amazing governing power. I originally thought that if Hikigaya-senpai had three boats at his feet, he would be troubled by a 'shuraba' (carnage of romance), but I didn't expect you to handle it with such ease!"
"Your perspective is too small, Amasawa-kouhai." Hachiman bullshitted seriously: "To be precise, I had already chained my ships together a long time ago!"
"Chained... ships...? If I remember correctly, that's an allusion from 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' right? What does that have to do with Hikigaya-senpai's love carnages?" Amasawa looked blank.
As someone with good academic ability, she naturally had read classics from all over the world. But she didn't seem to understand popular internet memes, let alone memes imported from abroad.
Hachiman could understand. He knew she came from the White Room, that dark, sunless laboratory.
Thinking of Amasawa's plight, Hachiman couldn't help but feel some sympathy. He couldn't help but reach out to stroke her head, saying softly: "The world is very big and wonderful; you should look around and travel more in the future..."
"!!!"
Amasawa's body stiffened. She suddenly looked up and stared at him intently with an inexplicable look in her eyes.
"Uh... sorry, I'm used to lecturing." Hachiman quickly withdrew his hand.
Unexpectedly, Amasawa grabbed his hand and gripped it very tightly: "Is this the method of the Great Demon King?
Using a 'head-pat' suddenly on an unsuspecting, ignorant girl—Hikigaya-senpai is truly cunning!"
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