Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 189: Kushida’s Strange Behavior!

After School in the Afternoon

“Are you here to help too? Your Japanese is quite strong.”

In a café, Horikita looked somewhat puzzled at the boy sitting beside her.

Class C’s challenge against their Class A had already been accepted by the school and could not be changed.
Even if they didn’t want to, they had no choice but to face Class A.

According to the rules, they needed to create exam papers for eight subjects for Class A students.

While anyone could contribute to making the tests, there weren’t many top students in Class A, so the high achievers had to take on the burden.

That was why Hirata had called Horikita to meet here.

However, upon arriving at the designated meeting spot, Horikita noticed a familiar figure also present.

It was Hikigaya Hachiman.

As a top student who studied for ten hours every day, Horikita was well aware of Hikigaya’s academic strengths and weaknesses.

To her surprise, his Japanese scores were probably even higher than hers.

Just like Wang Mei-yu always scored perfect marks in English, Horikita thought Hikigaya might as well handle the Japanese exam papers.

“No.”

Hachiman flatly refused.

“I’ve already achieved my entrance goal. Now that Class D has moved up to Class A, I’m taking this chance to relax.”

Getting Class D promoted to Class A had drained countless brain cells from him.

Besides, “conquering a kingdom is easy, but defending it is hard.”

Hachiman managed to lead Class D to Class A, but he didn’t think they could hold their position.

Not even with him in the class—

More importantly, he didn’t believe the school would allow Class D to stay in Class A for long.

Just looking at the exam point values made that clear.

He had asked Kushida to investigate the senior students’ exam scores during this period.

The conclusion?

Last year, at this time, there was also a paired exam.

However, the questions were set by the school, and while the rules differed slightly,

The point value was only 50 points.

The winner took 50 points from the loser.

Which meant—

The school had already decided to eliminate Class D.

And beyond just this exam, the school might introduce other measures as well.

For example, Hachiman had previously assumed the penalty system for rule violations was abolished, but it could very well be secretly reinstated.

And if that happened—

Class D would burn through all their points within a month.

Hachiman was sure of it.

—

“If you’re not here to help, then why are you here?”

Horikita frowned, confused.

Hirata had invited the top-scoring students from Class A to discuss how to create the exams.

Since they couldn’t rely on weaker students, the burden fell on a small handful of top students.

Which meant it was a heavy responsibility.

Well—

Even after four months, while Horikita had grown to some extent, even learning to share her lunch,

She still had areas to improve in social interactions.

Otherwise, a blunt “If you’re not here to help, then why are you here?” could easily ruin a friendship.

“I just came here to drink coffee.”

Hachiman made no effort to hide his intentions and answered seriously.

“Right now, I don’t have many goals, so I want to take some time to simply enjoy school life.”

“Later, I plan to go watch a movie.”

Horikita hadn’t expected him to prioritize enjoying school life like this.

“Speaking of which, there seem to be more customers here than before.”

Hachiman glanced around and nodded.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Horikita calmly looked at the other customers and replied matter-of-factly,

“This month’s private points have already been distributed. Except for Class D, every class received over 100,000 points.
It’s only natural that people are spending more freely. However—”

Horikita paused before continuing.

“That said, after four months at this school, most students probably won’t spend recklessly anymore, right?”

“Maybe.”

Hachiman gave a vague answer, though inwardly, he wasn’t convinced.

If it were other classes, they might save their points.

But his own classmates?

They would definitely spend it all.

Some might even struggle to not spend over 100,000 points in just a month.

As for the other classes—

Ryuuen’s class was most likely broke.

This month, Ryuuen hadn’t even repaid his debt to Hachiman.

Hachiman still had Ryuuen’s 8-million-point IOU.

And Class C—formerly Class A.

Originally, the class had been split into the Katsuragi faction and the Sakayanagi faction.

Neither group focused on saving, but they regularly handed their points to their respective leader.

Which meant—

This was one of the reasons Sakayanagi had so much money and never worried about points.

She had multiple sources of income.

So, while private points gathered in either Katsuragi or Sakayanagi’s hands,

Now that Katsuragi had relinquished his leadership to Sakayanagi,

The points naturally flowed to her as well.

A clear sign of this—

After declaring war on Class A today, Sakayanagi seemed even more extravagant.

Even the food Kamuro ordered for her had become more expensive.

—

And then there was Class B, Ichinose’s class.

Class B’s Financial Situation

Class B had always maintained a good atmosphere, so over the past few months, they had likely accumulated a considerable amount of wealth.

Each student probably had over 200,000 points by now.

And it was very likely that these points had flowed toward Ichinose or Kanzaki.

Of course—

It wasn’t that Ichinose and Kanzaki forcibly collected them.

Rather, once their classmates understood the importance of points, they began taking it seriously and saving up.

This strengthened their class’s foundation and risk management ability.

Although this seemed like a positive strategy,

It was also why Hachiman had initially wanted to sell the agreement he obtained from Ryuuen regarding Class A to Sakayanagi for a fixed price of 20 million points.

His goal was to drain the massive amount of points held by Sakayanagi Arisu,

And weaken her class’s ability to handle risks.

However, he hadn’t expected his own class to rise to Class A so quickly.

So now, there was no longer a reason to go against Sakayanagi Arisu.

As he was thinking this—

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Horikita-san, Hikigaya-kun.”

A young man with short, light green hair walked in, looking at them with a slightly apologetic expression.

It was the mild-mannered Hirata.

“Not at all, we just got here.”

Since he had been directly addressed, Hachiman greeted him as well and then noticed the other people following behind Hirata — Wang Mei-yu and Yukimura.

The thin, glasses-wearing boy gave a small nod in acknowledgment.

If Hachiman, Koenji, and Ayanokoji were excluded, then Yukimura was the smartest male student in the class.

He also had a strong sense of class honor and was a top student.

Under normal circumstances, he should have been one of the class’s pillars.

Unfortunately, his brilliance had been overshadowed by even brighter talents.

As for Wang Mei-yu, she was a petite girl with deep blue twin tails, also known as Kushida’s best friend.

She was a prodigy in English, and it was said that she had never scored less than 100 on an English test.

Additionally, based on Kushida’s casual complaints when venting, it seemed that she had a crush on Hirata.

“Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t show up, just like Koenji.”

Hirata smiled as he walked over, looking relieved.

“But I’m really glad you’re here to help. That makes things—”

“No, I think you’ve misunderstood, Hirata-kun.”

Before the misunderstanding could deepen, Hachiman quickly raised a hand to interrupt him.

“I actually just came here to drink coffee.”

Then, Hachiman seemed a little surprised and asked,

“Kushida didn’t come?”

Creating test questions for the class—something that served the entire group.

Hirata, being the class mom, would naturally take on this responsibility.

And Kushida, who cared deeply about maintaining her image, would never refuse either.

In fact—

She wouldn’t just agree but would likely be eager to participate.

She loved these kinds of situations where she could shine and feel useful.

“I already talked to Kushida about it, but she had something to take care of and couldn’t come.”

Hirata quickly explained.

“However, she arranged for things to be handled.”

“Since it would be difficult for just the four of us to create all the test questions, Kushida convinced Matsuhita Chiaki to help.

The two of them will take care of two subjects.

For the remaining six subjects, I’d like Wang Mei-yu and Horikita to handle two each, and Yukimura and I will take care of the other two.”

As expected, Hirata believed that boys should be considerate and let the girls take the lead.

“Do whatever you want.”

Hachiman half-heartedly waved his hand and said,

“Horikita, see you tomorrow.”

Even though Hirata said Kushida was absent due to other commitments,

Hachiman didn’t believe that she would skip such an important meeting.

Which meant—

She must have been doing something even more important.

—

“Oi.”

After leaving the café, Hachiman immediately called Kushida without hesitation.

“Hello, Hikigaya-kun.”

Kushida answered, her tone slightly cold.

Despite being calculating and manipulative, Kushida was surprisingly easy to read.

If she had been around other people, she wouldn’t let her true personality slip.

Even if she hated someone, she would still pretend to be friendly.

She would use a sweet voice to greet them.

And if she wasn’t in a good mood, she would intentionally lower her voice.

But right now, her cold tone meant she was alone.

“Where are you right now?”

“…The dorm.”

Kushida still responded coldly.

“Then, do you want to come to the shopping district?”

Hachiman directly proposed, “The school’s cinema has recently released several new films. You can choose the one you like, and I’ll choose the one I like, then we can meet outside the cinema after we finish watching.”

“…No.”

Kushida rejected firmly, “I have other things to do, so I don’t have time to waste with you.”

“Really?”

Hachiman replied leisurely, “This is a transaction, as part of the deal for your betrayal of the class. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee that Ryuuen won’t say something he shouldn’t.”

“…”

Suddenly, there was no sound from the other end of the phone.

But Hachiman was sure that Kushida was probably gripping the phone tightly, with a slightly gloomy expression, clearly unhappy.

Because it was he who arranged for her to be a spy, but now, he was the one threatening to report her.

In other words, he was really trying to find a way to hold something over her.

“I got it!”

Kushida shouted angrily, “Just wait there, I’ll come in half an hour!”

Kushida angrily hung up the phone, and Hachiman heard the busy signal before heading directly to the cinema.

“Hello, please give me one movie ticket.”

Hachiman walked up to the counter and spoke to the ticket saleswoman.

“Sure.”

The saleswoman smiled gently, “What kind of movie would you like?”

“Mm, the most empty one.”

Hachiman answered seriously, “Preferably the one with no one in it.”

“Well, that’s all of them.”

The saleswoman smiled even more brightly, “The cinema only has one screening room, and no one ever comes to watch movies. So every time we watch a movie, it’s like a private screening.”

“…”

Hachiman was momentarily speechless, unsure of what to say.

Although the school’s entertainment facilities were abundant, whether it was the bathhouse or the ice skating rink, the attendance rate was also something that needed attention.

When he was drinking coffee earlier, Hachiman had been thinking.

Since he already had a large sum of money,

Should he convert it to cash, or keep the points, perhaps use them for investment?

Like, opening a shop in the shopping district?

Although students were not allowed to work, it wasn’t stated that they couldn’t open a business.

Spending around 10 to 20 million and making a profit of 100,000 to 200,000 points per month didn’t sound bad at all.

But now, seeing this cinema, he thought that investments should be made cautiously, or else you risk losing a lot.

For example, this cinema.

You could walk in and directly get a private screening.

But then again, movie tickets weren’t cheap,

And the environment wasn’t particularly ideal, with not many people in the school.

Moreover, cinemas were generally places where couples went on dates, and in a school environment that values strength above all else, having a girlfriend/boyfriend was a luxury.

With all these factors, it would be a surprise if the cinema had any business.

“Then, when is the next movie?”

Hachiman asked.

“Mm.”

The saleswoman checked and softly replied, “There’s a screening right now, and the next one will be in half an hour.”

“I see.”

Hachiman looked at the time, “Can I go in and watch this one first?”

“No, you can’t.”

The saleswoman smiled lightly, “During the screening, entry is not allowed.”

“Then I’ll wait.”

Hachiman sighed, “For the next movie, please give me a ticket.”

“Sure.”

The saleswoman smiled, “What kind of movie would you like?”

“Huh?”

Hachiman looked confused, “Isn’t it just the next movie?”

“Because not many people watch, the movie is usually selected by the customer.”

“Is this a private cinema?”

Hachiman complained, “What if there are a lot of people watching?”

“Then it follows the normal screening order.”

“What about the seat numbers?”

“Sit anywhere, it won’t be full anyway.”

“You said the movie is playing right now, is anyone there?”

“Yes.”

“Is it just one person?”

“Yes.”

“…”

So, during his free time, Hachiman went to buy a pair of Bluetooth headphones and returned to the cinema.

However…

After waiting for half an hour,

The golden-haired little angel, Kushida, finally…

Changed her mind.

[Someone’s looking for me, I’ll let this one go, but next time for sure.] by Kushida.

Hachiman raised his hand to look at the email Kushida sent, and sure enough, she had stood him up.

“Can I get a refund?”

Hachiman looked up, wanting to ask that question.

But no.

Because he was a man who wasn’t short on money, he couldn’t do such a degrading thing.

So, he decided to watch the movie alone.

After all, it wasn’t free, right?

Besides—

He was also curious about whether a single dog watching a movie alone was the same as him.

When he walked in, he immediately spotted a girl with short blue hair sitting in the center.

“Eh?”

Hachiman was slightly stunned, and the girl noticed him as well, her gaze a little strange.

“Ibuki Mio?”

“Hachiman Hikigaya?”

Both of them shouted each other’s names simultaneously, both surprised.

“What a small world.”

Hachiman greeted her and then sat down two seats away from Ibuki Mio.

“Mm.”

Ibuki Mio turned her head away, her expression cold. She didn’t say whether she minded his actions or not.

She didn’t like Hachiman because whenever she encountered him, she always felt a sense of humiliation, as if she had been tricked.

During the island exam, Ibuki, as a spy sent by Ryuuen, had infiltrated Class C, trying to cause some trouble.

But she ended up being used by Hachiman, and her plan failed.

It wasn’t until later, when Ryuuen explained it to her, that she realized.

Hachiman was the real big boss.

But by the time she realized, it was already too late.

At that point, Class D had become Class C, and now, it was Class A. Meanwhile, they were still in Class D.

“This is fine too.”

Hachiman looked at the girl beside him and let out a sigh of relief.

Although he had been stood up by Kushida, Ibuki was still a girl, after all.

So sitting together, outsiders would likely mistake them for a couple.

It was much better than being a single dog watching a movie alone, or two men watching a movie together.

However, just as Hachiman was about to focus on the movie,

“Ding dong!”

Ibuki’s phone suddenly made a sound, catching Hachiman’s attention. He looked at her.

When watching a movie, even if you don’t turn off your phone, it should at least be on silent to avoid disturbing others.

But the next moment, Ibuki directly handed him her phone, showing him the text on the screen.

【Shiina will come later, stay here and don’t move.】

“…”

Shiina.

That must mean Shiina Hiyori.

Hachiman had thought she was someone who only refreshed in the library, but now it seemed she was also an elite who could move on her own.

After thinking for a moment,

Hachiman took out his phone and typed something on the screen.

But typing like Ibuki did felt a bit silly to him, because if they were to communicate, he’d need to keep showing the screen to her.

So he quickly typed a string of numbers on his phone.

There was no special meaning to it; it was just his phone number.

【……】Ibuki.

Although Ibuki frowned, she still entered her phone number into her phone.

Then the two of them could talk on the messaging app.

[Shiina wants to meet me?]

[Yes, she told us to contact her once we find you.] Ibuki honestly typed.

I see.

Hachiman nodded. Today was the 1st, so he could understand why Shiina would be looking for him.

However.

The movie currently playing was really boring.

So.

[Do you like movies too?] Hachiman sent a message to Ibuki.

[Is that strange?]

Ibuki Mio asked back.

Even though the distance between them was less than fifty centimeters, they were still using texting to communicate.

If someone saw them, it would probably seem odd.

[No, I just thought your attention wasn’t very focused.] Hachiman replied.

[I don’t like this movie.]

Ibuki Mio quickly responded, [But I have my own goal, so I’m focusing on completing it.]

[???]

When Hachiman typed out the question marks, Ibuki Mio quickly replied again.

[My goal is to watch all the movies at this school.]

Ibuki Mio’s response was very serious, and her determination was clear in her words.

Hachiman, although a little confused, didn’t say much.

He simply nodded slightly.

After all, what Ibuki Mio was doing didn’t seem all that strange.

On the contrary, she was being more pure than he had expected.

It was similar to Kushida; she treated making friends as a task to be completed.

She didn’t care which class she was in, nor did she care where she would go to school in the future.

But she wanted to make friends, no matter which class they were from.

Even in Class A, she could approach students from Class D with a calm attitude and make friends.

It was like obsessive-compulsive disorder; making friends wasn’t as enjoyable as Kushida made it look—she felt a lot of pressure, which is why she became a ticking bomb.

On the other hand, Ibuki Mio had replaced making friends with watching movies.

Of course.

Just like some people enjoy collecting stamps, some enjoy collecting odd stones or shells.

Maybe it was due to an interest, or maybe it was because of an obsessive-compulsive need to complete tasks like writing 20,000 words tomorrow.

So there was nothing to criticize or stop.

[What happened between you and Ryuuen?]

But before Hachiman could reply, Ibuki Mio suddenly quickly typed a line.

[What do you mean?]

[C Class has become D Class, and the gap between us and the other classes is more than a thousand points. It’s almost impossible to make a comeback. Your goal has been achieved, hasn’t it? So why are you still targeting us, who have already become Class D? Right now, aside from the 10,000 yen per person for living expenses we got from Sakayanagi this morning, we have nothing left.]

Ah.

This blue-haired Ibuki was still so blunt in exposing her class’s secrets.

But.

As for her previous question, Hachiman could still answer.

[No, I think you misunderstood. I’m not targeting you.]

Hachiman spoke truthfully; he wasn’t targeting Class D, only Ryuuen.

And he wasn’t really targeting Ryuuen either, he just wanted Ryuuen’s money.

Hachiman continued typing on his virtual keyboard, but the next second, his phone turned black—

It wasn’t because it was off, but because someone was calling him.