Hikigaya's well-intentioned suggestion was immediately approved by Nagumo, and the reflection letters would be publicly posted on the forum alongside the official review documents.
Of course, the purpose wasn't to encourage repentance—it was purely to humiliate them.
After this incident, both Ryuuen and Ayanokoji would undoubtedly become the subject of gossip over meals.
Fighting over a woman—who already had a boyfriend, no less... What kind of absurd shoujo protagonist drama was this?
But for Karuizawa, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She had always relied on associating with men to elevate her status, and now, with three admirers vying for her, she was in an even more favorable position than before.
"Alright, that concludes today's session. Good work, everyone."
Nagumo stood up, gathering his belongings to leave.
"Oh, Hikigaya, stay behind to handle the follow-up matters. Also, you'll be responsible for overseeing the reflection letters."
"Understood."
Although it sounded like a hassle, Hikigaya had at least enjoyed a good show—so it wasn't a total loss.
In fact, no one really lost anything from this whole ordeal.
Ayanokoji demonstrated his overwhelming ability to take on four opponents at once, Ryuuen uncovered X's true identity and even got a few punches in, while Karuizawa gained two devoted followers.
Calling it a loss would be absurd. Even a minor victory wouldn't suffice.
This was a scenario with medium wins, big wins, and super big wins—just like a Starbucks menu.
"Hikigaya-kun, how do you think I did?"
For some reason, after the review session ended, Shiina approached him with an expectant look, as if awaiting praise.
Ahaha, this girl talks so strangely.
Hikigaya stiffly nodded, enduring the icy stares piercing him from the side. "Yeah... You did great."
"Hehe, then don't forget what you promised me."
With that, Shiina stood on her tiptoes and leaned close to his ear, her warm breath carrying a sweet scent.
"I assume you'll be busy on Christmas Day, so save Christmas Eve for me."
"O-Oh..."
Hikigaya had no recollection of ever agreeing to anything, but in this situation, refusing seemed impossible.
Besides, he didn't have any plans for Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, on the other hand, was reserved for student council duties... Wait, could that person over there stop grinning already?!
"Ibuki, could you stop smirking to yourself?" Hikigaya reminded her. "Don't forget—you need to submit your reflection letter too. Send it to the student council's email within three days."
"Tch, fine, I'll write it. No big deal."
Ibuki clicked her tongue in annoyance, looking like someone who was far too familiar with writing these things—just like Hikigaya.
Ah, this reminds me of my middle school days when I was constantly forced to write reports for Hiratsuka-sensei... No, wait! That's not a fond memory!
"Even if Ishizaki, Albert, and I write ours, there's no way Ryuuen's going to comply. I'd love to see how you handle that," Ibuki said with schadenfreude.
Normally, she'd be right. Getting someone like Ryuuen to write a reflection letter was almost impossible.
However, this posed no problem at all.
"Don't worry about it. I guarantee I'll receive Ryuuen's reflection letter," Hikigaya said meaningfully.
As if that weren't enough, he turned toward Ayanokoji and offered some friendly advice. "Make sure you write yours properly. You can't half-ass it. Do you know the four key elements of a reflection letter? Time, location, people involved, and a sincere acknowledgment of your mistakes. Most importantly, you need to thoroughly analyze the entire situation and demonstrate your remorse. That's the only way to pass."
"Where do you even learn stuff like this?" Ibuki asked, dumbfounded.
"From experience, of course," Hikigaya replied smugly.
As for where that experience came from... best not to dig too deep.
—
By the time everything was settled, it was already one in the afternoon.
It shouldn't have taken this long, but considering that Ryuuen was injured yesterday and probably couldn't write for the next three days, a certain someone had thoughtfully prepared a reflection letter on his behalf.
It would be uploaded to the forum along with the others.
After checking over his masterpiece, Hikigaya nodded in satisfaction and stretched lazily.
Now that he thought about it, he was getting hungry.
Since he was in a good mood, he decided to indulge a little. Maybe head to the Keyaki Mall and treat himself.
Something nice, like conveyor belt sushi... or yakiniku.
Steak could work too.
As he wandered through the mall searching for a restaurant, he unexpectedly ran into someone.
"Fancy seeing you again, Hikigaya."
"Yeah..."
He hadn't expected to see Ayanokoji twice in one day—especially with Ayanokoji being the one to initiate the conversation.
So much for that good mood.
"You should be done with your work by now, right?" Ayanokoji glanced at his phone before letting out a sigh and putting it away. "Thanks to you, I'm probably about to become the most talked-about person in school. That little article you wrote was a masterpiece—it's almost like you were there in person."
"Hahaha, well, because I wasn't there, I had more creative freedom to embellish the story."
Hikigaya chuckled at his joke.
"But I was only following President Nagumo's orders. He doesn't seem to like you."
"That's probably true."
Ayanokoji didn't deny it. He likely saw no point in debating the issue.
Hikigaya didn't know why Ayanokoji was here, let alone why he was bothering to strike up a conversation. But he wasn't in the mood to waste time on this.
Seriously, he was starving.
"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be—"
"Want to chat for a bit?" Ayanokoji suddenly interrupted. "Honestly, I have a lot of questions for you. And I'd imagine you have a few things you'd like to ask me as well."
"Nope, not really."
Hikigaya shook his head without hesitation.
Then, however, he smirked slightly.
"Well, I'm in a good mood today, so I don't mind chatting with you for a bit."
"Ah, that's a big help."
"It's just… standing next to a celebrity like you is a little too conspicuous. Let's find a place to sit first."
"And whose fault do you think that is…"
Ayanokouji sighed as he followed Hikigaya into a nearby café. They chose a secluded outdoor seat.
Due to the cold weather, most of the customers were sitting inside, making the outside a better place for a quiet conversation.
Each of them ordered a cup of coffee, and Hikigaya also got a sandwich to satisfy his hunger.
"Haven't had lunch yet?"
"Mm… just ask whatever you want." Hikigaya replied, speaking unclearly as he took a bite of his sandwich.
"Then I'll get straight to the point. Were you the one who called President Nagumo to the rooftop yesterday?"
Honestly, Ayanokouji's question wasn't particularly clever.
Even Horikita could have figured that out—was there really a need to ask?
Hikigaya lazily responded, "If you think so, then sure."
"So, you teamed up with Ryuuen?"
"Oi, oi, I didn't ask you to act dumb on purpose."
Hikigaya was speechless at Ayanokouji's probing.
This guy wasn't an idiot like Ibuki. If he was playing dumb, it could only mean he had another motive.
"If I had actually teamed up with Ryuuen, things wouldn't have ended in mutual destruction. All I had to do was wait for you to knock out Ibuki, take a picture of the scene, and send it to the homeroom teacher. That way, you and Class D would've faced severe punishment."
"That's true." Ayanokouji nodded in agreement. "But you must have said something to Ryuuen. Otherwise, he wouldn't have held back like that."
"Held back, huh… Heh, maybe that's how it looks to you."
Hikigaya looked at Ayanokouji with a faint smirk.
"You're probably wondering—why, when Ryuuen had more than enough time to interrogate Karuizawa, he ultimately didn't lay a finger on her, right?"
"Uh…"
At that moment, Ayanokouji felt a faint, needle-like sensation at the back of his head—an old 'memory' from the White Room.
He exhaled slowly and said, "If you predicted that far ahead, why didn't you just tell Ryuuen? He could have made a better plan."
The reason Ayanokouji lost this time was that Ryuuen hadn't acted against Karuizawa. If he had, no matter how things unfolded afterward or how Class C tried to argue in court, there was no way they could have escaped punishment.
But even now, Class C wasn't really benefitting from this outcome—they were just being laughed at along with everyone else.
"Tsk, didn't I already say I didn't team up with Ryuuen?" Hikigaya swallowed the rest of his sandwich in one bite. "I only gave him a piece of advice—told him why targeting Karuizawa would be a bad move. Whether he listened or not was up to him. That's why I arranged for Hirata and Nagumo to be there. If he hadn't listened… well, he might've already been expelled by now."
Beating up Ayanokouji could still be considered a fight. But if the target had been Karuizawa, it would have been outright bullying.
"Then, can I assume that your arrangements weren't actually aimed at me?"
"Nope. You and Ryuuen are the same." Hikigaya's expression turned sharp. "Remember that nonsense you told me the other day? About how you wouldn't do anything unnecessary from now on?"
He decided to lay it all out.
"I didn't believe a single word of it. But if you had actually kept your promise and stayed away from the rooftop, Karuizawa wouldn't have suffered. And even if you did go but managed to endure without fighting back, your true strength wouldn't have been exposed… In the end, you're nothing more than a stronger version of Ryuuen."
"…Should I take that as a compliment?"
"Suit yourself."
There was no need to hide things anymore. Hikigaya had no intention of concealing his thoughts.
The third semester had other matters to deal with—this was the perfect chance to put a tight grip on Ayanokouji's throat.
"I bet you want to know—how I saw through your plan?"
"…The recording from the sports festival?"
"Bingo."
At this, Hikigaya couldn't help but laugh.
"Ryuuen plotted his schemes out loud during a class meeting. When I pointed it out, his face turned blue with rage… But let's be honest, using that recording against him was just bullying an idiot. It was textbook entrapment, yet Ryuuen still foolishly thought he'd caught you slipping."
"He figured it out in the end, though."
Ayanokouji gave a slight defense of Ryuuen before honing in on the key point.
"But even if you realized I was baiting Ryuuen, how did you link it to Karuizawa? Did Ryuuen tell you?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Of course not—it was Hirata."
Hikigaya's words took Ayanokouji completely off guard.
"Hirata…?"
"If my guess is right, Hirata was shaken by Ike's expulsion, and you provoked him with words to get him to pull himself together, right?"
Seeing Ayanokouji nod, Hikigaya continued, "Then you should have expected this. Hirata is someone easily influenced. I noticed something happened between you, him, and Karuizawa back on the cruise. So I just did what you did—I gave him a little push. And he ended up accidentally revealing Karuizawa's past."
"…I see."
"After that, it was simple. Karuizawa, a girl who normally wouldn't cooperate with a nobody like you, suddenly chose to assist you in the VIP exam. That alone was suspicious. So I followed the thread back to the truth—what you did on the ship."
"I don't recall doing anything." Ayanokouji flatly denied it.
Hikigaya found his response incredibly dull.
"There you go again. Do you think being stubborn is fun? You manipulated Manabe and her group into bullying Karuizawa, then swooped in as her savior. You even took pictures to blackmail Manabe into betraying her class. Did you think I wouldn't figure that out?"
"Uh…"
Having everything he did laid bare, Ayanokouji struggled to find a response. His mind raced for a countermeasure.
Especially since his opponent was Hikigaya—there was no way he'd be as easy to deceive as Karuizawa.
"I originally planned to report it to the school and have you expelled. But that idiot Ryuuen wouldn't have it—he insisted on settling things with the mysterious 'X' himself." Hikigaya sighed dramatically, feigning helplessness.
"If you did that, those four girls from Class C would've been expelled too." Ayanokouji pointed out.
"True. But so what?" Hikigaya said bluntly. "They would've deserved it. And as you saw in today's trial, if I wanted to, I could've asked the school to investigate everything thoroughly. Even if you have photos, your anonymous messages to Manabe are stored on the server. They could easily prove the girls were accomplices. In the end, only you, the real mastermind, would've been expelled."
"Uh…"
A heavy silence filled the air, broken only by the sound of Hikigaya sipping his coffee.
"So… why didn't you?"
Ayanokouji lowered his head slightly, his expression unreadable. Probably his usual deadpan face.
"Because Ryuuen is too damn annoying. He said if I did that, he'd spend the next three years making my life hell."
Finishing the last sip of coffee, Hikigaya placed his cup down and gave Ayanokouji a faint smile.
"So, I had no choice but to play along. Just like you wanted to teach Ryuuen that violence isn't his exclusive weapon… I wanted to tell you—the underhanded tricks you love so much. You're not the only one who can play that game. I grew up surrounded by malice. Compared to that, your little schemes are nothing but child's play."
"…Ugh."
"Especially when you try to move me with sincere words, I can't help but want to laugh."
Hikigaya struck with precision, cutting straight to the heart.
"Do you take me for Hirata or Karuizawa? Do you think a few words are enough to manipulate me? There should be a limit to how much you underestimate people."
"Uh..." At this point, Ayanokoji had no choice but to remain silent.
Someone as sharp as him could surely hear the underlying message: If you dare cross my bottom line again, I can make you drop out anytime.
Even if Hikigaya hadn't explicitly said it, there was no doubt about what he meant.
Yet, looking at it from another angle, this guy was surprisingly tolerant.
After a moment of contemplation, Ayanokoji spoke. "Can I ask one last question?"
"Go ahead."
"How did you know I was lying? Or did you never believe me from the start?"
"Hmm..."
Hikigaya rubbed his chin, thinking for a long while before answering. "If I had to say, it was mainly because of that one line you said. It made me feel like you were completely untrustworthy."
"Which line?"
"'The only thing I want is to peacefully spend the rest of my school life with my friends.'"
Recalling those words, Hikigaya let out a bitter smile and shook his head.
"Friends? Are you serious? Ayanokoji, someone like you could never have friends."