Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 183: The Leisure After the Promotion!

Inside the student council office.

Because Hikigaya had learned that Horikita Manabu was also someone who cared for his younger sister, he found him more likable.

So, he told Horikita the reason for Horikita’s injury.

It was a feigned injury.

Voluntarily injured.

“It seems like Suzune has grown as well,” Horikita Manabu, who had been sitting at the student council president’s desk, writing something with a pen, paused and set the pen down after hearing this.

“Then I should go see her,” Horikita said. “Class D has managed to rise up step by step, even setting a school record. It couldn’t have happened without you.”

“But now it seems like Suzune has also shown some results.”

Indeed.

Hikigaya agreed with that.

During the sports festival this time, Horikita had gathered information about Ryuen Plan’s and then turned it back on Ryuen.

Actually, Ryuen was willing to offer an agreement with Class A to make a trade, mainly because Hikigaya had recorded a conversation where Ryuen was the mastermind.

Ryuen hadn’t made just one mistake.

And Hikigaya had deliberately reported Ryuen during the horseback battle.

So, with these two matters reported, Ryuen was stubborn and might face direct expulsion as punishment.

Ryuen must have understood this, which was why he had no choice but to admit defeat.

However…

“Horikita-senpai, you didn’t call me here just for this, right?” Hikigaya asked.

“…” Horikita Manabu.

“Then take a look at these numbers,” Hikigaya said.

When Hikigaya entered, Horikita Manabu had been writing something with a pen in his notebook across the desk.

When Horikita picked up the notebook, Hikigaya saw the scores from the sports festival for the four classes in the third year.

Third-year Class A: 2154 points

Third-year Class B: 1730 points

Third-year Class C: 410 points

Third-year Class D: 0 points

“This time, in the Red and White competition, the White team managed to directly counter and win against the Red team, which wasn’t a fair outcome,” Horikita Manabu said. “It was the second-year students who made the problem.”

“Meaning…”

He paused.

“It was Nagumo who interfered.”

“Nagumo’s philosophy is different from mine. I personally don’t agree with him becoming the student council president, but this school’s philosophy values power above all else. So if he truly wants to take the position and has the ability to do so, I won’t stop him.”

“And now Nagumo is indeed making a move.”

He had directly manipulated the entire grade, changing the result of the Red and White competition.

What was the goal of altering the Red and White results?

There was only one.

Nagumo himself was in the Red team, so messing with his own team wouldn’t make sense.

Therefore.

His goal was to prevent third-year Class A from gaining the additional 200 points for winning the Red and White competition, and instead to deduct their points while adding points to third-year Class B.

He was supporting third-year Class B.

He wanted to make third-year Class B a threat to third-year Class A, and then Nagumo could use this leverage to pressure Horikita Manabu.

He could gain his votes.

“And Hikigaya,” Horikita Manabu said, “I hope that day never comes.”

“If the worst-case scenario happens,” Horikita Manabu continued, “Hikigaya, I hope you can assist me then.”

“I’ve already prohibited Nagumo from directly influencing the third-year exams. Back then, he could have manipulated the entire grade’s actions during major exams.”

And if it were a grade-wide joint exam, Hikigaya’s first-year class would also be involved.

So if Nagumo wanted to stir up trouble, Hikigaya could assist in some way.

Was Horikita Manabu asking for help?

Hmm.

So he had specifically called Hikigaya here because, as the third years were about to graduate, they had worked hard all this time, but they might falter at the very end.

Indeed.

This school was highly competitive. Class A started at the top, and all the way to graduation, they were expected to stay there, going through dozens of special exams without being defeated.

It was a constant struggle, always walking on thin ice.

However.

Hikigaya had also observed the performance of third-year Class A from the stands.

The quality of third-year students might not be as high as their current class, with many students from third-year Class A seeming more like those from Class B.

And Horikita Manabu had maintained 39 students until now.

At the same time, Hikigaya had analyzed it before and thought that Horikita Manabu was like a stronger version of Ichinose.

Because, even in the third year, his class still had 40 students, which meant he was the type who would never give up on any student.

So.

Occasionally, when observing third-year Class A students, Hikigaya noticed that their eating habits were also quite ordinary, even frugal.

This meant that, in order to keep the class together and prevent any students from being expelled, they had actually been spending money carefully over the past three years.

It was indeed a difficult class to manage.

“Since President Horikita has asked me so earnestly,” Hikigaya said, “can you agree to one condition?”

“What do you want?”

“I want a candidate slot for the student council president,” Hikigaya replied.

“You want to run for student council president?” Horikita Manabu looked at him.

“…” Hachiman. “Not necessarily me.”

“It’s just that, sooner or later, it’ll be a battle between Sakayanagi and Nagumo. If someone has money and confidence, they could sell this candidate slot to the highest bidder.”

“…” Horikita Manabu.

So you want to do business, huh?

However, now that the class was in a situation where they really needed stability, Horikita didn’t have extra points to use to buy Hikigaya’s cooperation.

If the candidate slot has value, then there’s no harm in it.

So they came to an agreement.

But…

“President Horikita, do you have any plans for the future after graduation?” Hikigaya suddenly turned back when he was about to leave the student council.

“I’ll probably continue my studies,” Horikita Manabu said. “I want to become a lawyer or enter politics.”

“I see.”

So, the store that you’re running still belongs to Horikita, huh?

Hachiman said his farewells and left.

…

The sports festival ended.

Hikigaya left the student council, but didn’t head back to the dorm right away because the students were planning a promotion celebration at the shopping street.

It was probably already starting.

Going from Class D to Class A was truly ridiculous.

It was definitely worth celebrating.

As for this kind of celebration, where each student shared the costs, Hikigaya didn’t mind, but he couldn’t be too late. Otherwise, all the good food would be eaten by others.

When Hikigaya arrived, his classmates were indeed already getting lively.

Mama Hirata had reserved a buffet restaurant.

Hikigaya searched around and quickly found Horikita Suzune.

And as soon as Hikigaya entered, Horikita Suzune was the first to approach him.

“You went to the student council, so…” she said.

Hmm.

She must be asking about the student council.

Actually, she was probably asking about her brother.

“Your brother saw our class’s registration list,” Hikigaya said. “So he had some doubts about why you registered but didn’t end up participating.”

“I see…” Horikita Suzune nodded.

“And then, he also congratulated us on getting promoted to Class A.”

“You’ve earned his approval,” Hikigaya said. “He took back what he said before about you being worthless.”

“Mm.”

Those words made Horikita Suzune remember when she was still a weak little sister, being scolded by her brother and told to leave school because she was useless.

It had only been three months, but it felt like a long time ago.

She herself felt that she had changed a lot.

At the same time…

“Well…”

Horikita Suzune seemed a bit embarrassed. “Hikigaya-kun, as a thank you, would you like to come to my room for a meal?”

Oh?

So, it’s a private meal?

Although the buffet restaurant had a lot of dishes, Hikigaya felt that accepting Horikita Suzune’s invitation to eat in her room wasn’t a bad idea.

Mom always said, if a meal is free, take it.

Hikigaya immediately agreed.

However…

“Like you said, someday you’ll leave the class, and now that the class has been promoted to Class A, when do you plan to…” Horikita Suzune seemed a bit hesitant, but still asked.

Hikigaya had proven his abilities.

Then, he also had the points to move to another class.

Although their class had managed to climb to Class A, Horikita Suzune didn’t think it could last long. It would probably drop back down soon.

And Hikigaya wouldn’t take on the responsibility of leading every special exam anymore.

So, now that their goal had been achieved, he might start slacking off.

That meant he could possibly move to another class.

“As for that…” Hikigaya pursed his lips. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t know?”

“Yeah,” Hachiman nodded. “The setup of our class, although there are many problem children, some slack off, some hide, and some explode, so it’s not the best setup.”

“Going to any other class would have fewer problems.”

“However, I won’t leave this class because I decided to. It will be because other classes decide it.”

“You mean?” Horikita seemed to have understood a bit.

“My points are meant to be exchanged for cash or to buy the 20 million yen spot for graduating from Class A. I might give that spot to someone willing to support me and take her into class A.”

“So I don’t want to spend money to jump to another class.”

“…” Horikita Suzune.

And Hikigaya continued, “So, it’ll have to be other classes that offer money.”

“Since I can bring Class D to Class A, it’s also possible to bring a well-prepared class up.”

“So, I’m waiting for someone with an eye for talent.”

“Someone willing to pay to buy me,” Hikigaya said.

I see.

Horikita Suzune seemed to understand now.

Hikigaya is still the same Hikigaya—he teams up with her to share a lunchbox to save money, and to save money, he would rather accept the sponsorship of Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A.

But if asked to spend 20 million yen to change classes, he definitely wouldn’t be willing.

And even if he were willing to spend 20 million yen to let someone else change classes, they’d have to take care of him.

He doesn’t make bad deals.

“So, which class do you think is most likely to buy you?” Horikita Suzune asked, somewhat curious.

“About that, Sakayanagi has already made a proposal,” Hachiman said.

“I see.” Horikita nodded.

She immediately thought that Sakayanagi Arisu really had an eye for talent, and she acted decisively.

But Hikigaya said, “But she feels a bit strange, so I can’t easily accept such a big deal of points from her.”

“So the classes I could aim for are either Ichinose’s class or Ryuen’s class.”

“If it’s about the best atmosphere, then definitely Ichinose’s class. I would want to go there,” Hachiman said. “In Ichinose’s class, you definitely wouldn’t be excluded, and even when students are expelled, they wouldn’t be easily pushed out. They protect their own.”

It was well-known that Ichinose’s class was full of little angels.

Take the sports festival, for example—Ichinose’s class helped their class to prevent some students from being punished for ranking in the bottom ten. Ichinose’s class sacrificed some students and let Hachiman’s class’s athletic underperformers and academically weak students score some points.

The result was that it did make a difference.

If it weren’t for Shibata getting fourth place and scoring points in the 1200-meter relay, Ichinose’s class would have been in last place.

“If I work hard with Ichinose’s class, maybe I could graduate from Class A,” Hachiman said.

“But.”

“My favorite class is actually Ryuen’s class,” Hachiman said.

“Why?”

Horikita asked.

Because of Ryuen’s class now.

Class D of the first year, 0 points.

From the beginning of the school year, Class D’s class evaluation score was always low, and now it had dropped to zero again.

It’s likely that even eating will become a problem soon.

“Because the students in Ryuen’s class are very self-aware.”

“Although there are still some traitors and such,” Hachiman said. “But Ryuen should have dealt with them this time.”

“And the most attractive part is that most of the students in Ryuen’s class accept Ryuen’s exploitation and manipulation.”

“You mean…” Horikita seemed to understand.

“Exactly. Since the students in Ryuen’s class have been trained and obediently follow orders to complete tasks, and they accept being exploited, then if you create profits in that class, wouldn’t you get a lot? For example, if the class evaluation score is 4000 points, you could give the students in Ryuen’s class only 500 points and take the remaining 3500 points as profit. They probably wouldn’t say anything.”

“…” Horikita Suzune.

Hmm.

Suzune suddenly thought that her brother might have overthought things.

Hikigaya was heading in a direction she couldn’t keep up with, but his direction was always toward money.

However, Hikigaya’s life goal was to become a house husband, meaning he didn’t want to work.

So, the more money he gathered, the more secure he would feel.

Suzune felt like she understood now.

At that moment…

Ding ding!

Hachiman looked at his phone.

“Looks like I won’t be able to make it to the buffet,” Hachiman said. “So, I’ll leave dinner to your little kitchen.”

As he said this, he raised his phone.

He let Horikita see the information on the phone screen.

[See you at the usual place] by Chabashira-sensei.

Oh.

Horikita Suzune nodded.

Because Hikigaya and Chabashira-sensei had a 10 million yen bet on their class promotion.

And now.

The class had been promoted.

So, Chabashira-sensei’s 10 million yen would need to be paid out.