Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 191: Which Layer Is She On?

In the library.

Although the final exams had already begun, today was still the first day, so the scene everyone imagined of people studying hard didn’t actually appear.

And Hachiman received a loan note.

[“I, Shiina Hiyori, on behalf of all students from Class D of the first year, borrow 1 million private points from Hachiman Hikigaya, to be fully repaid by March.”]

Signature.

Hachiman had said before that if Shiina ever contacted him, there would only be one reason.

That reason was that Class D had run out of money.

Since the beginning of the school year, apart from the first month when the Ryuen class had a 100,000-point allowance, they had been living in dire straits.

During the preferential treatment exam, they were each given 100,000 points.

But now, two months had passed, and most of that money had already been spent.

So, this month had just started, and it was now a situation where Class D had 0 class evaluation points and 0 income.

“Ding!”

“Your personal account has been credited with 1 million points. Current balance: 1,019,700 points.”

“……”

From the notification tone, it was clear that Shiina didn’t have much money.

“We had originally considered collaborating with your class, Hikigaya.”

Shiina continued, “Both our classes are not particularly strong in academics, so in a normal exam, both of our classes would suffer significant losses. The only way to avoid both failing is to exchange and leak questions.”

“However, after learning the exam rules this morning, Class C contacted me and offered us 400,000 points, asking us to battle against Class B.”

This meant that Shiina was hinting at Hikigaya that Class C, or more specifically, Sakayanagi Arisu, might be preparing to launch some sort of attack.

And she was warning him to stay alert.

But clearly, she was thinking too simply.

Because.

Sakayanagi Arisu was quite a decisive person. Previously, she had immediately boarded the plane transporting the backup smartphones when she found out that Hikigaya had applied for them from the school.

Now.

It seemed like Sakayanagi was already working with Kushida and possibly attempting to cultivate Kushida as a spy for Class A.

But.

Hikigaya picked up the book he had borrowed after arriving at the library.

“I don’t think you need to remind me of this,” Hachiman said.

There was no need for Shiina to remind him.

Because Sakayanagi Arisu had already started attacking.

She had directly contacted Kushida.

Although Kushida had cleverly played a little trick by making a phone call during her conversation with Sakayanagi, it wasn’t a coincidence that Kamuro Masumi also called at that exact moment.

At that time, Sakayanagi Arisu was talking to Kushida while Kamuro was calling him.

This wasn’t a coincidence.

Rather, it was likely that Sakayanagi had already seen through the tactics Kushida would use and even turned them to her advantage.

She knew that Kushida would contact him.

So, she deliberately talked loudly in front of Kushida, letting him hear it all, ensuring that he knew that she was taking his pieces.

So.

In this round, Kushida’s performance could barely be considered on the third layer.

But Sakayanagi was definitely on the fifth layer.

Sakayanagi should know that Kushida was his accomplice and now was trying to make a move on Kushida in front of him. This meant that Sakayanagi Arisu was provoking him.

So, would Hachiman respond?

……

On the other side, someone was waiting for his response.

Kushida had arranged to meet Horikita at her usual spot, and after Horikita Manabu served as the witness, he had left.

Horikita and Kushida stayed at the location.

Kushida spoke first.

“Earlier, you secretly contacted Hikigaya Hachiman, right?”

“How could that be—”

Horikita widened her eyes in surprise. How did she know?

Or was she just trying to deceive her?

“Hikigaya isn’t here.”

Horikita said, trying to be stubborn.

“I know he isn’t here.”

Kushida smiled sweetly. “Because an hour ago, he still made plans with me. Right now, he’s probably alone in the cinema, talking to you on the phone.”

“……”

Horikita didn’t respond, lowering her head in silence.

“Want to know how I figured it out?”

Kushida’s pretty face showed a hint of pride as she continued smugly, “Because ever since I met Horikita, I’ve been trying to contact Hikigaya. But the phone kept telling me that the line was busy.”

If the phone is busy and you hear the message saying that the user is busy, then there are only two possibilities.

Either the other person is indeed on a call, or they’ve blocked you.

But Kushida was confident that Hikigaya couldn’t have blocked her.

So, the more likely situation was… he was actually on the phone with someone else, and the only person in Hikigaya’s social circle who could be constantly on the line, talking without hanging up, had to be Horikita Suzune.

“And as far as I know, Hikigaya doesn’t have many friends. When he talks on the phone, it usually doesn’t last more than two minutes, even with girls. But you, Horikita…”

Kushida raised her slender finger to her lips and smiled faintly. “You’ve been wearing a Bluetooth headset since earlier, haven’t you? Don’t deny it. Because you haven’t made any gestures to fix your hair since we started talking. It’s because your hair covered the headset, and you didn’t want me to see it, right?”

Horikita fell silent. Just now…

Because her long black hair was not tied up, the wind blowing made it hit her face. The feeling was uncomfortable, so she had the habit of occasionally pushing her hair back.

And indeed, during their conversation just now, she had subconsciously moved her hair but had forced herself to stop.

Perhaps it was this unusual behavior that caught Kushida’s attention.

“So, he could only be talking to you, Horikita, right? And since he was listening to our conversation, he hasn’t hung up the phone.”

Kushida looked absolutely certain, her face glowing with the smile of a victor as she proudly stood tall.

“Impressive, Kushida.”

After a long pause, Horikita spoke softly, “Since you have such keen observation skills, why are you still betting with me?”

“You can protect yourself, after all,” Horikita Suzune said.

“Heh—”

Kushida just chuckled in response.

In reality, if she could protect herself, she would have done so long ago.

She wouldn’t have been caught by Hikigaya after kicking the railing, and she wouldn’t have been grabbed by Sakayanagi Arisu.

Although Sakayanagi probably didn’t know the full details of her dark past, just the fact that she, Kushida, was excellent in every area but had a dark secret would be enough to affect her reputation.

After all, she had always presented herself as the shining angel in front of everyone.

So, if her dark side was exposed, it would have a huge impact.

And Sakayanagi Arisu, at least, was one of the representatives of the former Class A and might even be the next student council president.

Kushida didn’t really think she could win.

At the same time, although it was only the fourth month of school, she had to consider the possibility that the new students next year might already know about her dark history.

So, gathering help was necessary.

And she thought the best person to help her… was Horikita Suzune.

Horikita might still treat her like a friend, but Horikita was also very realistic. The way she treated her was that of an ordinary friend. There was no way Horikita would help her with too much, especially not protect her.

That’s why Kushida had the idea of pulling Horikita into her camp and using her as a tool for protection.

Moreover, Horikita might know her dark past, but Kushida hadn’t tested this yet, so she could try to test it now.

It was like hitting multiple birds with one stone.

Kushida felt that today, she had used all of her brainpower.

And in the bet she had deliberately proposed, she wouldn’t lose.

Because.

Because she had been blackmailed by Sakayanagi, accepting Sakayanagi’s orders. She had purposely come to target Horikita Suzune. Following Sakayanagi’s advice, she directly approached Horikita for a bet.

And since Class C was challenging Class A, Sakayanagi would have the exam papers. So, Kushida could get the papers from Sakayanagi and definitely score higher than Horikita, who was a top student.

So, in her mind, she had already won.

She was essentially getting Horikita Suzune as a free tool to protect her.

And this was also because she thought Horikita Suzune was a naive person.

But things took an unexpected turn.

Horikita Suzune was, in fact, the current student council president’s sister.

Hey, hey, hey.

Hikigaya had never told her about this.

And she had actually thought of bullying someone who was connected to the student council president—how scary was that?

Because, after four months of school, she wasn’t a newbie anymore and knew very well that this school valued strength above all else, and the student council president was at the top of that hierarchy.

So.

She was actually a little scared now.

That’s why she was waiting for Hikigaya’s reply.

Meanwhile, Horikita Suzune, noticing Kushida’s strange behavior, had called Hikigaya’s phone during their conversation to let him know.

She was also waiting for his response.

However.

Both of them waited until 7:00 PM, but Hikigaya still hadn’t replied.

And this was to be expected.

Hikigaya put down his phone.

Kushida had sent him a bunch of junk messages.

He also asked Kushida.

[Was it your idea to bring the student council president as a witness, or did Sakayanagi suggest it?]

[Sakayanagi.] by Kushida.

“Okay.”

Hachiman felt that he could put down his phone now. There was no need to reply anymore.

Because Kushida and Horikita, these two idiots, had just joined Class A and already started squabbling among themselves.

Even though they had brought the student council president as a witness, they were only standing on the second and third floors.

Take Kushida, for example.

Did she really think she could win a bet with Horikita?

Kushida’s academic ability wasn’t bad, but compared to Horikita Suzune, she was inferior.

So, Kushida probably thought she could win because she believed she could get the exam papers from Sakayanagi Arisu.

But…

Would Sakayanagi really give her the correct papers?

Sakayanagi had leaked exam questions before, so this was a tactic she had used once.

And in the bet, if her score in math was lower than Horikita’s, according to the terms of the bet, Kushida would have to drop out.

Moreover, since the witness was the student council president, it would be hard for her to back out.

And Sakayanagi herself was the daughter of the chairman, so it was impossible that she didn’t know Horikita Suzune was the sister of the current student council president.

So…

Kushida had been tricked.

She had been manipulated by Sakayanagi into entering a bet she couldn’t easily win if she didn’t cheat. And the punishment for losing the bet was absolutely detrimental to her.

So…

Kushida Kikyo might end up being made to drop out by Sakayanagi.

Hachiman thought that Kushida should be more worried about this.

And this was also a provocation from the malicious Sakayanagi Arisu.

She was testing whether Hachiman would save Kushida.

…

The next morning, when Hachiman entered the classroom, he found that Hirata had already brought a list with him.

“After organizing things, we’ve come up with a reasonable pairing for the upcoming exam.”

It seemed that because they had become Class A students, Hirata and others, who were all top students, were very proactive about the exam.

Even Horikita had joined in the categorization and summary of the class students’ academic levels.

Their plan was to help everyone pass this exam, so they divided the students’ academic levels and would organize study sessions for nearly a month after.

However, even though he was also a top student, the handsome Koenji had his hands behind his head, looking at everyone.

He seemed disinterested in this matter.

He was the only son of the Koenji family, and both his identity and academic ability were outstanding. His goal was probably to graduate from Class A.

And since he was already in Class A, it was only natural for him to maintain this position.

But he didn’t, and this probably meant he believed this class wouldn’t be able to maintain its position for three consecutive years. So now, helping the class was simply a waste of time.

And that was also why Hikigaya hadn’t done anything.

He had already fulfilled his promise to Chabashira-sensei by getting from D to A, so he didn’t owe her anything anymore.

Naturally, there was no reason for him to maintain this class.

The class ranking score had reached the Class A standard, but unfortunately, none of the students had actually reached the Class A standard.

Perhaps someone might say they could grow, but that would require opportunities, guidance, and their own potential.

But who was willing to provide those?

Or rather, how many resources would it take?

Anyway, even though Hikigaya had given up, Hirata still tried to do something, so now Hirata was announcing the pairings for this exam.

“Kasukabe and Kushida.”

“Mei-yu and Miyake Akira.”

“Yukimura Teruhiko and Ike Kazuhiro.”

“Sotomura and Matsuhita Chiaki…”

“…”

It seemed like they were following a pattern where the top-performing students were paired with the weaker ones, like a support system.

This way, the overall probability of the class passing the exam seemed very likely.

“Hikigaya and Sato.” Hirata was still reading out the names.

But Hachiman noticed that Karuizawa Megumi, who was sitting in front of him to the right, suddenly turned around.

Hmm?

Hachiman looked at Karuizawa, but Karuizawa had already turned her head back.

At the same time, he noticed that a girl with reddish-brown hair, sitting to the right of Karuizawa, glanced at him.

This was Sato Maya.

“…” Ah, Sato.

She was the person who had just added to Hachiman’s list of “black history.”

If they were paired up, they would likely have to continue interacting during the study sessions, which would definitely make the atmosphere awkward.

So, Hachiman spoke up.

“Hirata, I have an objection.”

“Oh?” Hirata looked at him with some surprise.

It seemed that Hirata might have thought that Hachiman was finally willing to take responsibility for the class and manage this special exam.

But unfortunately…

Hachiman didn’t raise his hand for that.

“I want to pair up with Ayanokouji.” Hachiman said.

“Huh?”

“Ayanokouji?”

Now, almost everyone’s attention was on the boy in the class who had a very low presence.

This was Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

Ayanokouji had showcased his abilities at the recently concluded sports festival, but now he seemed incredibly inconspicuous again.

However, the classmates also remembered that when Sudou ran away, Hachiman had brought up Ayanokouji, calling him a “secret weapon.”

And when this “weapon” was used, they had somehow been promoted to Class A.

“Ayanokouji is our class’s secret weapon,” Hachiman said. “And recently, some students from our class have been bought off by other classes, so I’m worried about Ayanokouji’s safety.”

“So, I want to team up with him.” Hachiman continued.

“…”?

!!!

A spy?

And right in the class?

Was someone trying to expel Ayanokouji?

The attention of the students in the class shifted again.

“Hachiman,” Hirata hurriedly said. “Please don’t say things like that.”

“There are no spies in our class.”

“However, I understand your concern for Ayanokouji. He helped a lot during the sports festival,” Hirata said, “So…”

Perhaps trying to maintain the class atmosphere, Hirata decided to rearrange Hachiman’s pairing.

He swapped him to team up with Ayanokouji.

So, he continued to announce the rest of the list.

At this point, Ayanokouji, who had always had very little presence, briefly glanced in Hachiman’s direction before turning his gaze away.

Hachiman continued to sit at his desk.

Teaming up with Ayanokouji was just an excuse.

Karuizawa had previously mentioned that Sato might have feelings for him and was planning to confess, only to later say that she wouldn’t.

It was all very confusing.

However…

If the confession became known by others and was brought up, it would be incredibly awkward and uncomfortable.

So…

Hachiman decided to avoid the awkwardness.

Thus, he used Ayanokouji as an excuse.

But…

[Your personal account has received a transfer of 10,000 private points. Current balance: 16,453,500.]

Later in the evening, Hachiman received a transfer notification on his phone.

The sender was:

[Unknown]

Normally, both regular and school transfers would display the sender’s information.

But this one didn’t.

This meant that the sender had hidden their identity, and it was an unusual transfer.

Hachiman’s social circle wasn’t large, so the few people who might send him money were limited.

First, Sakayanagi, who had been provoking him, definitely wouldn’t be transferring him money.

And it wasn’t anyone from his class either. The 392,000 from Ichinose and the 1.2 million worth of private points from Sakayanagi’s class had already been transferred.

So…

Looking at it, it seemed to be related to today’s events. The only thing that had happened today was that he had teamed up with Ayanokouji.

Ayanokouji’s identity was unique, and both he and Sakayanagi had predicted that Ayanokouji’s father wouldn’t let him off easily.

And now…

Was there someone from Ayanokouji’s father’s side here at the school?

“…”

But…

Looking at the points he had received…

Hachiman guessed that the sender wasn’t doing too well because…

The amount was only 10,000 points, the smallest amount he had ever received since coming to this school.