It was true that Ichinose possessed a large number of personal points. Not only was this known among students outside of Class A, but it had also been publicly exposed before.
Previously, during the incident involving Sudou's fight, Ryuen had set her up, which led to this fact being revealed.
However, these points were not obtained through any illegitimate means.
On the contrary, her methods were more upright than anyone else's—something that would have been impossible for students from other classes to achieve.
Although the signature on the letter was Ryuen's name, Hikigaya immediately recognized it as an attempt to frame.
It was true that such a move wouldn't be out of character for Ryuen.
But there was no way he would be foolish enough to write his name on it—wasn't that just too dumb?
This was not Ryuen's style.
He preferred manipulating people from the shadows rather than openly challenging them like this.
Eliminating Ryuen as a suspect, the other students from Class C weren't worth considering either. They wouldn't dare act without permission, let alone impersonate Ryuen.
That left only the students from Class D who were present at the time.
Hirata, Kushida, Horikita, Sudou, and Yamauchi—none of them were capable of pulling something like this off.
Or rather, their way of thinking wouldn't even lead them in this direction.
By the process of elimination, the only person who would resort to such underhanded tactics was that guy.
But... why?
To be honest, if Hikigaya hadn't known the "Masterpiece"'s true nature since the start of the school year, it would have been difficult for him to suspect him.
On one hand, he had maintained his disguise exceptionally well—most people still believed Ayanokoji was just a student who happened to be good at running.
On the other hand, the things he did were so intricately designed that it was difficult to deduce the cause and effect.
It was like how he had manipulated Manabe and her group into bullying, someone, just so he could secretly record the scene.
On the surface, it appeared to be an attempt to plant a traitor within Class C.
But in reality, it had been a trap for Ryuen.
And even now, Ryuen probably still believed he had caught X slipping up.
This situation was the same.
At first glance, there seemed to be no clear purpose behind this move.
Neither the falsely accused Ichinose nor the impersonated Ryuen would suffer any real consequences from this.
For a moment, Hikigaya even wondered if he was wrongly accusing the "Masterpiece"...
No way, right?
"Hey, Ryuen just showed up."
At that moment, someone spotted Ryuen entering through the doorway.
As soon as he appeared, the male students from Class A aggressively surrounded him.
"Ryuen! What the hell is this supposed to mean?"
"Hah? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb! This letter—you've been spreading these all over the place!"
Ryuen seemed genuinely unaware, but the students of Class A, having already made up their minds, refused to believe him and assumed he was merely putting on an act.
...This wasn't good.
Hikigaya shook his head slightly.
No matter how bad Ryuen's reputation was, they shouldn't have confronted him so recklessly.
Just a little bit of thought would reveal that this whole situation was filled with inconsistencies.
Yet the students of Class A acted as if they had abandoned all logic, blindly defending Ichinose instead.
Rather than seeking the truth, they seemed more intent on venting their emotions.
Of course, Ichinose was the most popular girl in the entire grade, so it was only natural that her classmates—especially the boys—would come to her defense.
But in an environment like ANHS, that wasn't necessarily a good thing.
One day, this might turn into a weakness for their class.
Ryuen glanced at the letter, then smirked as he shrugged.
"Oh, so you're talking about this? Hah, pretty interesting, huh?"
"What's interesting about this?! There are things you can do and things you can't!"
"Then prove it to me. Prove that 'Ichinose didn't use improper methods to collect points.'"
"..."
Faced with Ryuen's provocation, the students of Class A hesitated.
It wasn't that they doubted Ichinose.
Rather, they were hesitant to answer because it involved their class's strategy.
That said, Ryuen never actually denied the accusation...
Looks like Ayanokoji has completely figured out his personality.
Because he craved excitement, he was obsessed with uncovering X's true identity.
And so, even if someone impersonated him, as long as the situation was entertaining, he wouldn't bother denying it.
Just then, Ichinose arrived as well, having heard about the commotion.
Ryuen held up the letter and asked, "So, Ichinose, can you prove it?"
"No matter what I say here, I doubt you'd believe me, Ryuen-kun."
"Yeah, since whether or not it was improper should be judged by the school."
"That's true."
Saying this, Ichinose turned to the gathered crowd with an air of composure.
"Everyone, I apologize for this strange accusation. But don't worry, I'll report this to the teachers today and prove that this is all a misunderstanding from Ryuen-kun."
"Oh? And how exactly do you plan to prove it?"
"I'll report the details to the school—how many points I have and how I obtained them. Would that be enough for you?"
"Why not just explain it here?"
"If I do, would you believe me?"
"Of course not. Humans are liars, dirty creatures who spew nonsense as easily as they breathe."
Listening to Ryuen's shameless drivel, Hikigaya could hardly stand it.
What kind of lowlife was this?
To put it bluntly, what gave Ryuen the authority to even question this?
If he had actual evidence, that would be one thing.
But when all he had was a few pieces of paper, Ichinose didn't even need to respond.
"That's why I'll have the school verify it. That way, there won't be any room for lies."
Ichinose patiently continued her reasoning.
"They'll investigate, and if I used improper methods, everything will be made public."
"There's no guarantee you'll report it to the school, is there?"
Ryuen's shamelessness knew no bounds.
Of course, he only dared to bully someone as kind-hearted as Ichinose.
If it were Hikigaya, he would've easily ridiculed Ryuen into running away in embarrassment.
"Well then, Ryuen-kun, why don't you report it yourself? Just like this letter suggests."
Ichinose finally made a small counterattack.
"Heh... You sure are confident. Fine, I'll be waiting for the results."
Ryuen chuckled mockingly and walked past the crowd toward his classroom.
...This guy was disgusting.
But Ichinose was far too naive.
Her response seemed proper, but in reality, it only exposed her weakness.
Clearing up the rumors was fine.
But at the same time, she needed to fight back against the one who spread them—to formally accuse them to the school.
Even if the school didn't take any serious action, the message had to be clear: bad behavior must come with consequences.
But no matter how much Hikigaya advised her, it probably wouldn't matter.
Because of the mistakes she made in middle school, she carried a sense of guilt, and a need to atone.
No matter how unfairly she was treated, she would likely choose to endure it.
And given her overly kind nature, she would never pursue retribution.
Hikigaya had a bad feeling that Ichinose would suffer greatly for this one day.
But he wasn't sure what to do.
Just then—
"Oh my, if it isn't Hikigaya-kun. Good morning."
Someone suddenly called his name.
"Wasn't the commotion over already? Why are you still standing here?"
"Sakayanagi... When did you get here?"
Standing before him was none other than the scheming white-haired Sakayanagi, watching the show with an amused expression.
Standing before him was none other than Sakayanagi, the cunning white-haired schemer, wearing an expression that suggested she was enjoying the show.
She had likely witnessed everything from start to finish.
"Hehe, I've been here for a while," Sakayanagi said with a pleased smile. "Ryuuen-kun's words were quite interesting just now. His attitude seemed to suggest that he was convinced Ichinose-san possessed a large number of points."
"Who knows...?!"
A sudden flash of insight struck Hikigaya.
He had finally grasped the true purpose behind the Masterpiece's actions.
From Sakayanagi's words, it was clear that she didn't suspect Ichinose of using any improper means. However, she was interested in the possibility that Ichinose possessed a vast amount of points.
That was the crucial piece of information.
In simple terms, Ayanokoji wanted to shift Sakayanagi's attention away from himself and make Ichinose act as his shield.
Even if it was only temporary, as long as he successfully lured Sakayanagi into launching an attack, he could gather valuable intelligence. No matter how it played out, he wouldn't lose anything from this.
Not a bad plan.
Unfortunately, Hikigaya had come to the same conclusion—but the opponent he had prepared was far beyond someone of Sakayanagi's level.
After all, when dealing with the Masterpiece, only the man who controlled the entire grade was qualified to challenge him.
"Sakayanagi, let me give you a piece of advice."
Hikigaya decided to test the waters a little while also fanning the flames just a bit more.
"While you're busy keeping an eye on Class A, you might want to watch your back... Also, if you have some free time, make sure to tutor Kamuro properly."
Normally, there was no reason to worry about a Class B student's academic performance.
But this time, things were uncertain. However, Hikigaya didn't care about the others—so long as Kamuro could pass smoothly, that was enough.
"You're quite rude, you know. Masumi's grades aren't that bad. There are just a few subjects that are a bit worrisome."
Sakayanagi's words carried a hint of condescension as well.
"Besides, it's not that I look down on Class D, but isn't Horikita and Hirata's group in charge of making the test questions this time? I don't think they're capable of making anything too difficult for our class."
"There's indeed little chance of winning." Hikigaya didn't deny it. "But what about others besides them? Don't forget—Class D has someone even stronger."
"You mean Ayanokoji-kun?"
Sakayanagi let out a small sigh as she spoke.
"Unfortunately, based on my previous encounters with him, he's not the type to go all out at the moment."
"Oh? Are you really that confident? You'd better be careful not to get caught off guard."
Hikigaya's blunt provocation made Sakayanagi pause for a moment. Then, a fearless smile appeared on her face.
"Is that so? Then I'll look forward to it."
"Yeah, just wait and see."
This time, the outcome was sure to leave everyone stunned.
While most students were feeling the monotony of their daily studies, they were also growing increasingly anxious about the looming judgment day.
Paper Shuffle was unlike previous exams. Normally, when the school designed the test questions, they at least considered the students' knowledge base. As long as they studied properly, passing wasn't an issue.
However, with the questions being created by other classes this time, no amount of preparation felt reassuring.
In this situation, some students even wished their lessons would last longer—something unimaginable under normal circumstances.
Yet, there were also those who felt time was moving too slowly.
One such person was Ayanokoji. Lately, he had been looking forward to the study sessions with his group after school more and more.
At first, he had reluctantly accepted Horikita's request, but after spending time with that group, they turned out to be surprisingly easy to get along with. Unlike Yamauchi, they didn't treat him like an errand boy.
It was a comfortable atmosphere.
Recently, they had even formed a fixed study group, chatting enthusiastically in their group chat every night.
That was something Ayanokoji had never imagined before.
However, with good things also came troubles.
During the morning break that day, Ayanokoji was chatting with Miyake, one of his group members, when Chabashira-sensei suddenly appeared at the classroom door.
She didn't step inside. Instead, she simply called out, "Hikigaya, I need to speak with you. Come with me."
"Uh…" Hikigaya didn't say a word, just kept his head down and quickly followed.
The students in the class exchanged puzzled glances.
This wasn't the first or second time something like this had happened.
Since last week, Hikigaya had been frequently called out—sometimes even in the middle of lessons.
At first, people suspected he had done something to get himself into trouble, but if he was being pulled out during class as well, then it was clearly something more serious.
Naturally, this kind of situation made the class uneasy.
"Kiyotaka, if I remember correctly, Hikigaya is your partner, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Well… do you think everything's okay? His grades are always good, at least."
Despite saying that, Miyake made no effort to hide the concern on his face.
Anyone could tell that Hikigaya didn't seem "okay" at all.
Hirata, Kushida, and Matsushita had all asked him about it multiple times, and even Horikita had subtly probed him. But each time, he brushed it off skillfully.
Whenever someone pressed too hard, he even seemed on the verge of losing his temper.
Fortunately, he always managed to hold it in. But the truth remained unknown.
Ayanokoji had already sensed something was off with Hikigaya last month.
At the time, he didn't think much of it. But now, he couldn't afford to be so optimistic.
If this started seriously affecting Hikigaya's condition, and he failed the exam in the end…
That wouldn't be a joke.
A failing partner meant both of them would be expelled—no exceptions.
Just as Ayanokoji was preparing to take action himself, Hikigaya, who had been called away by Chabashira, didn't return for the rest of the school day.
…What the hell is going on?