There is something wrong with Hikigaya’s classroom of the Elite, as expected

Chapter 154: Nagumo, the Bully Who Preys on the Weak

After hearing Hikigaya’s words, Nagumo fell silent for a moment before suddenly clapping his hands and bursting into laughter.

“This year’s first-years are really interesting!”

Nagumo’s face appeared delighted, as if he had encountered something truly amusing. “Indeed, a student representing our school in competitions should be judged not only by their ability but also by their character. If other schools find out that a formally suspended student is playing as an official team member, it would damage our school’s reputation on multiple levels.”

“Exactly. The basketball club only considers a player’s skill, but the student council has to think about more than that,” Hikigaya continued. “So, I believe Coach Souseki will understand the school’s position. However, regarding the now-vacant official roster spot, what does Vice President Nagumo think?”

Hikigaya gave Nagumo a meaningful look.

Nagumo chuckled lightly. “Me? What opinion could I have? I trust the coach will make the appropriate decision.”

“I’ve heard that two second-year students from Class 2-A are quite skilled in basketball. It seems that this newly available spot should be put to good use,” Hikigaya remarked.

Nagumo smiled again but did not respond directly. However, the look on his face made it clear that he was in a rather good mood. He adjusted his clothes as he prepared to leave.

“By the way, I’ll give you a little heads-up—during summer break, the school will be organizing a survival game in the wilderness. Make sure to have fun.”

Nagumo flashed a meaningful smile.

“Oh, and let’s just pretend I was never here tonight.”

With that, Nagumo waved his hand and walked away.

Watching Nagumo’s departing figure, Hikigaya couldn’t help but smirk coldly.

Nagumo had just been preaching about “upholding the rules,” but in reality, he was the one who loved trampling over them the most.

Hikigaya had seen through Nagumo’s true intentions from the very beginning. On the surface, Nagumo had been pressuring him about the club’s travel slots and the so-called “unspoken rule” of seniority, making it seem like he wanted Hikigaya to submit to the established system. But if one carefully analyzed his words, there were inconsistencies and contradictions.

To put it bluntly, Nagumo had come looking for a bribe.

His implied message was clear: “You’ve taken two travel slots that originally belonged to second-years, so shouldn’t you compensate somewhere else?”

That’s why the conversation had taken the turn it did. Nagumo’s parting words—”Let’s pretend I was never here”—were the final confirmation.

He talked about following the rules, but as soon as he got something in return, his attitude completely changed.

As Hikigaya had mentioned earlier, he was merely a low-ranking member of the student council, a glorified errand boy. Even the student council president wouldn’t have the authority to dictate the decisions of a major club’s head coach.

Thus, Sudo’s spot on the official basketball team roster was nothing more than a bargaining chip for Hikigaya. The only reason he had managed to secure the two travel slots for Komiya and Kondo was by leveraging Sudo’s place on the team as an exchange.

No matter how long Sudo’s suspension lasted, as long as he had been formally punished, his spot on the official team roster would never be approved. As Hikigaya had just pointed out, the school would never allow a suspended, ill-mannered student to represent them at the Inter-High Summer Tournament—this was about protecting the school’s reputation.

Besides, Sudo’s selection as a first-year for the official roster had already stirred controversy within the basketball club.

So Hikigaya had proposed trading two travel slots for one official team roster spot—a compromise that gave first-years a learning opportunity while also giving second- and third-years a fair shot at playing time.

A win-win situation that left most people relatively satisfied.

As for Sudo?

Well… he had only himself to blame for getting caught making trouble.

The basketball club’s head coach also believed that since Sudo’s situation couldn’t be changed, this proposal was the best option available, so he agreed to it.

Of course, a large part of the credit went to Handa-senpai.

At the same time, as Hikigaya was conversing with Nagumo earlier, he had already noticed something odd—why did Nagumo specifically come looking for him?

Nagumo was the vice president of the student council. While his power wasn’t as great as Horikita Manabu’s, he still had significant authority. On the other hand, Hikigaya was just a minor student council member. Logically, there was no reason for Nagumo to personally seek him out for such a matter.

Simply put—this was beneath him.

Moreover, throughout their conversation, Hikigaya could clearly sense Nagumo’s arrogance and self-importance. That made it even stranger that Nagumo had suddenly sought him out to discuss the external activity slots.

With the level of authority Nagumo held, he shouldn’t have had trouble dealing with just a few external activity slots. That meant there was only one possible explanation—

He simply didn’t have the power to do it.

Or rather—Nagumo had no influence over club-related matters. That was why the whole situation had unfolded the way it did.

Following this train of thought, everything began to make sense. Nagumo, despite being the vice president, had very limited influence—a large part of that was due to Horikita Manabu’s suppression.

Horikita had kept Nagumo completely boxed in, restricting his authority to second-year affairs only.

This also explained why Nagumo had little influence over students from other grades.

When it came to club-related matters, those were primarily handled by Handa-senpai, a third-year student. Even Horikita Manabu rarely intervened in that domain. Hikigaya had once privately asked Tachibana Akane about it, and her response was that Handa-senpai treated everyone the same—he gave no special favors to anyone.

No wonder Tachibana had described him as an independent, self-reliant person.

If Horikita Manabu couldn’t sway him, then Nagumo certainly had no chance.

Even though Handa-senpai held the same ordinary student council position as Hikigaya, Nagumo, the vice president, still couldn’t control him. This highlighted one of the downsides of having so few members in the student council—when individual members had too much personal power, it became difficult for anyone to order them around.

As a result, Nagumo’s situation was one where he had the title of vice president, but in reality, he couldn’t command or control students like Handa or Hikigaya.

That was why Hikigaya easily figured out why Nagumo had come to him in private—because Handa didn’t give a damn about him. Having no other choice, Nagumo had set his sights on Hikigaya, a first-year student.

“Heh, classic bully behavior—picking on the weak while fearing the strong.”

Hikigaya couldn’t help but sneer. Nagumo had targeted him precisely because he was a first-year, assuming he didn’t fully understand the internal workings of the student council. On top of that, Nagumo tried to pressure him by flaunting his vice president title.

However, from the very beginning, the so-called official slot list had never actually been finalized. Hikigaya had merely exploited this information gap to mislead Nagumo.

Unexpectedly, he had also picked up a key piece of information from the so-called vice president.

“Summer vacation, deserted island trip… wilderness survival game?”

Hikigaya muttered to himself.