Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 169: Horikita, I Will Leave This Class

Chabashira and Hoshinomiya were both former students of this school. They had climbed from Class D together, but ultimately, they could only graduate from Class B.

It was quite incredible that they ended up staying at this school together.

And now…

“Chie, I’m sorry, my class has moved up,” Chabashira said.

“Huh? You care about that?” Hoshinomiya Chie lightly blinked, showing a cute expression.

Unlike Chabashira’s cold and stern demeanor, Hoshinomiya Chie was in the cute category.

If Chabashira were to describe her, she would say that Hoshinomiya was similar to Kushida Kikyo from her class.

At the same time…

Chabashira also knew that her best friend, like Kushida, had a cute exterior, but there was also an unknown side to her that came out during their time at this school.

Chabashira had once accidentally gone near the railing by the artificial lake and discovered someone kicking the railing while cursing.

It turned out that the person was the usually well-liked Hoshinomiya.

And she had been saying quite a lot of bad things about Chabashira.

Despite all that, it was from that moment onward that Chabashira and Hoshinomiya became best friends.

They truly got to know each other’s true selves and were able to accept one another.

So Chabashira was very aware that Hoshinomiya’s current attitude was likely not sincere.

After all, Hoshinomiya was originally in Class B, but now that Chabashira’s class had moved up, Hoshinomiya was now a teacher in Class C.

Her treatment had clearly dropped.

But they had come this far, and Chabashira wanted to see if Hachiman and the others could accomplish what neither she nor her best friend could.

…

On the other side…

Hachiman and Horikita walked out of the staff office.

“I feel like there’s something off about the homeroom teacher of Ichinose’s class,” Hachiman suddenly said.

“Hmm?” Horikita Suzune gave him a puzzled look.

Because they had just had a brief encounter, and now Hachiman was already making a judgment about them?

Although she wasn’t great at reading the atmosphere, she could tell that the teacher from Ichinose’s class had been smiling the entire time.

“The homeroom teacher from Ichinose’s class gives me a feeling similar to Kushida,” Hachiman said. “Not exactly the same, but there are some similarities.”

“…”

Horikita was confused.

“You’re saying Kushida has a problem, right?” Hachiman’s words seemed to imply that.

“So, what do you think of Chabashira-sensei?” Hachiman asked.

This thought had come to him after seeing Chabashira from his class and Hoshinomiya from Ichinose’s class.

“Chabashira-sensei…” Horikita furrowed her brows slightly. “At first, I thought she was not serious about teaching, just following the textbook, but then she signed the agreement with you.”

“And she tries her best to assist…”

“If you want me to give an evaluation…” Horikita seemed to be searching for the right words.

“I’m not asking for that kind of evaluation,” Hachiman interrupted.

?

Horikita looked at him in confusion.

“Don’t you think Chabashira-sensei and you are somewhat alike?” Hachiman asked.

“Both of you have long black hair and a cold demeanor,” he added. “And both of you like wearing black stockings.”

…

Horikita was speechless.

She found it strange that Hachiman was focused on such details.

However…

“Are you saying I’ll grow up to become Chabashira-sensei?” Horikita responded, already a bit different from her usual self.

“You both share a similar aura,” Hachiman said. “But I certainly don’t want you to become Chabashira-sensei.”

“Why?” Horikita was somewhat surprised.

Because during classes, especially when it came to Chabashira’s lessons, Horikita had occasionally noticed that Hachiman seemed to be staring at Chabashira’s hands or legs.

So, naturally, she thought that Hachiman had some kind of interest in Chabashira.

“Chabashira made a huge mistake when she was a student,” Hachiman said. “And it’s something that’s stayed with her since. I don’t want you to make the same mistake while we’re still in the same class.”

…

Horikita fell silent.

Hachiman’s words sounded like he was saying, Horikita, I’m going to leave this class.

No.

He had points in hand, and also the agreement with Chabashira.

It seemed like he would be leaving the class soon.

…

Perhaps realizing something unexpected, after they collected the keys, Horikita’s emotions seemed to become a bit heavy.

But the task of testing the students’ physical abilities still had to go on.

According to Hachiman’s plan…

The target for this sports festival was Ryuen. As long as Ryuen used underhanded methods and they could catch him in the act, to avoid being expelled as punishment, Ryuen would only have one choice—money.

So they just needed to wait for Ryuen to make a mistake.

Of course.

Ryuen is not an idiot, so a few decoys need to be set up for him.

Hachiman plans to make their class look presentable, so that other classes will feel pressured, and then have Kushida leak the competition list to Ryuen.

This will make Ryuen think he can control the situation.

Of course.

After yesterday’s meeting, there was an unexpected turn of events.

The result of the red-and-white rivalry now has a 50% chance for either side.

The reason is simple. Sakayanagi Arisu’s actions on the student council put Vice President Nagumo in an embarrassing position, so he might take actions to force Horikita, the president, to compromise.

Nagumo has the ability to do so because a single class cannot control the victory or defeat of a large group. But don’t forget, Nagumo has control over an entire grade.

So, how the sports festival will unfold is really anyone’s guess.

Therefore, Hachiman’s white group will not necessarily lose.

In that case, the class might even get an unexpected advantage and move up.

…

The class applied for a storage room from the teacher.

Hirata instructed some students to fetch the equipment.

Then the boys and girls started to split up.

This way, the testing would be more efficient.

However…

“Eh, we’re splitting up with the girls? I mean, if the girls were around, my results would be higher.”

“Maybe Kushida would look at me differently then.”

“Yeah, yeah, I feel the same way.”

“I actually held back my strength earlier.” After Koenji had skipped out on class, the rest of the boys stayed behind.

However, while waiting in line for the grip strength test, occasional complaints could be heard from the queue.

Hmm.

It’s better to just ignore these words. No need to pay attention.

Because at their level, having the girls know would just embarrass them.

Rather, if they could find other boys who excelled in sports, the class might still be able to participate in the sports festival normally.

“My running speed is decent, so I think I can join the recommended event for the relay race,” said Yamauchi Haruki.

“Haruki, it’s probably not a good idea for you to join. You’ve had bad luck, so I don’t think you can handle that kind of event,” someone quickly voiced their opinion, putting Yamauchi down.

That was Ike Kanji.

Surprisingly, Ike’s relationship with Yamauchi had soured ever since the uninhabited island incident.

Sometimes, even Yamauchi noticed that Ike would directly target him.

It was really too much. He had once considered Ike a friend.

But…

Soon enough.

“72kg!”

Hirata had started the grip strength test, and the first in line for the boys was Sudo.

After Koenji forfeited, Sudo became the class’s representative in physical activities.

Although he loudly proclaimed that he would participate in every event to gain points, his energy seemed boundless, and maybe he really could take on all the events.

Hachiman was also in the queue for the grip strength test among the boys.

Since they had borrowed two grip meters, they were split into two lines.

Hachiman was near the front. Ahead of him was a student with a very low presence.

However…

Suddenly.

“Hachiman-kun. What’s the average grip strength for boys?”

At this moment, the student in front of him turned around.

He had calm eyes and a refined appearance.

This was Kiyotaka Ayanokouji.

He was also the hidden boss of Hachiman’s class, as Chabashira had informed him.

Now…

Ayanokouji was asking him?

“I think it’s around 60kg,” Hachiman replied.

“60?” Ayanokouji nodded.

Then, under Hachiman’s gaze, Ayanokouji took the grip meter and started applying force.

0.12, 34.45.56.59—60.

The needle stopped at 60.4.

He immediately reported to Hirata.

“The needle’s not moving anymore.”

“Huh? What’s the result?”

“60.4kg.”

“Eh!? Ayanokouji-kun, you’re pretty strong!” Hirata seemed a bit surprised. “Because most boys only have a grip strength of around 40 or 50 kg.”

“?”

At that moment, Ayanokouji noticed that the data on Hirata’s notebook was for Ike.

42.6kg.

He immediately realized what had happened and quickly shifted his gaze toward Hachiman.

However, Hachiman had already taken the grip meter and started his own test.

The needle stopped at 61kg and didn’t move.

“…” Given his level, 60kg seemed about right. He wasn’t lying to him.

“Ayanokouji-kun, is there something wrong?” Hachiman asked as he went to report his result to Hirata.

“…” Ayanokouji, whose presence was minimal, shook his head. “No.”

He then walked off to the side.

…

“So, you blatantly tested Ayanokouji-kun like that?”

The next day, during the lunch break of the physical test, Hachiman was visited by a self-invited guest.

He wasn’t here to eat for free, though.

Hachiman had subtly shared some information with Sakayanagi Arisu.

It was about the boys’ grip strength test.

After hearing this, Sakayanagi asked in return:

“That wasn’t really a test, was it?”

“I knew he was something special, but I also knew I couldn’t easily get him to cooperate. It was impossible without the right opportunity,” Hachiman replied.

Previously, Hachiman had used Ayanokouji as a big boss to convince Sakayanagi not to join the competition.

However, after learning that Ayanokouji was also in his class, Sakayanagi had given up on joining.

It was clear that Sakayanagi knew some details.

So, perhaps he could pry more information out of her.

“Well, that’s really a shame,” Sakayanagi said. “What I can tell you is that if he gets serious, there might be no one in this school who can defeat him.”

“Not even the student council president?”

“Probably not,” Sakayanagi said. “Because they both grew up in completely different environments.”

So, Ayanokouji must have had a problematic upbringing.

Hachiman decided not to continue with that topic.

Instead, he turned to discuss the athlete arrangements for the competition.

The list of participants for the competition needed to be submitted a week before the sports festival, or at the latest, the day before the event started.

“Even though most of the class has undergone testing and it looks like there’s a lot of time to make the list, if we don’t plan properly and train accordingly, it won’t matter,” Hachiman said. “So, in the next two days, I’ll probably gather information on the seed players from other classes.”

“For example?” Sakayanagi asked.

Hachiman looked toward the door where a girl with long purple hair and long legs, Kamuro Masumi, had just walked in.

He had already had Hirata and Kushida compile the data from the physical test the day before.

He even arranged for Karuizawa’s team of “bad girls” to input the data into an Excel spreadsheet for analysis.

Of course, these girls wouldn’t be so obedient, but Hachiman had used them.

“Most of the class’s physical fitness isn’t ideal.”

“And if someone ends up at the bottom of the rankings after the tests, they might face some repercussions. So, helping out now means they can say they did their best if they get blamed later.”

Then these people got to work on that part.

They seemed quite aware of the situation.

Since there weren’t many reliable students in the class, Hachiman had to grab whatever help he could.

“Kamuro-san, what events will you be participating in?” Hachiman asked the girl who had just entered.

“How could I possibly tell you?” Kamuro responded in a cold tone.

She didn’t act like her usual self, the one who normally was passive.

In other words, now that it was the entire grade’s sports festival, it seemed like she had regained her pride.

“Well, could I ask for a favor then?” Hachiman said.

“A favor?” Kamuro looked at him warily.

“I have a friend who’s not good at sports, but with nearly three weeks left until the festival, after some training, she might improve,” Hachiman explained.

It wasn’t just that she wasn’t good.

His friend was Sakura Airi.

After collecting data from the entire class, Hachiman quickly realized that Sakura’s results were the worst across all tests.

But Sakura had been helpful multiple times and was an incredibly hardworking person.

So, despite his personal feelings, Hachiman still wanted to help Sakura improve.

“So, I was hoping you could help train my friend,” Hachiman asked.

“…” Kamuro looked at him, a little doubtful. “Do you think that’s even possible?”

She immediately wanted to refuse.

After all, Hachiman was from a different class, B class, while she was in A class, and the two classes had a tense relationship. If she trained a student from B class, wouldn’t it look like she was helping the enemy?

Her reputation wouldn’t be good.

And also…

Why should she help him with such a big favor?

His friend could train by herself.

Or was he offering to pay her? If he was willing to pay a high price, she might consider it.

She still remembered that Hachiman had sold her a test paper for 100,000 yen, which she didn’t end up needing, so she’d been hoping to get that money back ever since.

Then…

Kamuro heard Sakayanagi’s voice.

“Agree to him.”

And then, as if adding a supplement, “For free.”

“Well, aren’t you cute.”

Kamuro’s gaze instantly changed, becoming as sharp as Horikita Suzune’s.