Following the prior arrangement, Hikigaya carried his tray to the lower-right corner of the cafeteria.
He had assumed he was already late, but after scanning the area, he found no trace of the three he was expecting. Shrugging, he picked an empty seat nearby and sat down.
They were probably delayed by something—maybe chatting with friends or the like.
Just as he took his first bite, Horikita appeared before him.
"Good evening, Hikigaya-kun. This seat isn't taken, right?"
"Mm, no, it's not."
"Then, I'll take the liberty."
Horikita seated herself across from him. Strangely enough, she was alone—none of the usual suspects accompanied her.
"If you're looking for Kushida or Matsushita, they're not with me," Hikigaya pointed out.
"I wasn't— I never asked that…"
A bit guilty, Hikigaya averted his gaze, but he caught something odd in her words.
"Wait a second. You said they're not with you. Does that mean you guys aren't in the same group?"
"…That's right." Horikita's expression darkened as she clenched her fists. "Not that I should be saying this, but some girls are just so damn annoying. They keep complaining over something as trivial as group assignments—'This doesn't work for me!' 'That's unfair!'— I swear, I want to punch them."
"Uh… tough luck."
While there had been some disputes among the boys, it seemed things were far worse on the girls' side—even Horikita, of all people, was reaching her limit.
The teachers must have anticipated this sort of chaos, which was why they gave the students so much time to sort things out.
Hikigaya had briefly entertained the thought of Horikita forming an all-star female team, but thankfully, he abandoned that idea before suggesting it.
"So that means your large group hasn't been finalized yet?" he asked.
"Yeah, we have to wait until 8 PM… Wait, don't tell me the boys are already done?" Horikita suddenly caught on.
"Yeah, we wrapped everything up before noon."
"…Must be nice."
Horikita sighed, looking genuinely envious.
"I think I finally understand what Hirata-kun and Kushida go through. Managing class relationships is exhausting… One wrong move, and the stress just piles up."
Only those who had experienced it firsthand could grasp how draining it truly was.
In that sense, this special exam might prove to be an invaluable learning experience for Horikita.
Speaking of stress, Hikigaya couldn't help but worry about Kushida's situation… Actually, he was more worried about himself.
Recently, Kushida had been complaining to him much less, but with this exam lasting an entire week and all sorts of troubles bound to arise, there was a good chance her stress levels would skyrocket again.
The only solace was that their only scheduled meeting time was the one-hour dinner break.
In a crowded cafeteria like this, she wouldn't be able to corner him to badmouth others, right?
…But once the exam was over and they returned to school?
Yeah, that was a problem for future me.
Just as Hikigaya was escaping from reality, Kushida and Matsushita approached.
Without so much as a greeting, they casually sat on either side of him.
Wait… was he surrounded?
A sense of discomfort settled over him. Yet, neither of them spoke a word, making it hard to gauge the situation.
"Uh… you guys okay?"
"Heh… Of course, I'm fine," Kushida replied, flashing a sinister smile. "I absolutely don't mind those obnoxious pigs at all. No, really. I don't care one bit if they keep whining, throwing tantrums over not being in the same group as their friends, openly rejecting my kind suggestions, or pretending not to hear me. Nope, not at all."
"…That sounds rough."
The sheer level of resentment in her voice was beyond concerning.
Hopefully, Kikyou-chan wasn't plotting anything…
Matsushita chuckled awkwardly. "Ahaha… Yeah, Kushida-san really got the short end of the stick this time. We originally wanted to form a group to go for first place, but so many people see students from other classes as enemies. Some were even outright hostile, refusing to cooperate no matter what. In the end, the three of us were split into different groups."
By the end of her explanation, her tone had grown eerily calm—almost as if she had already given up.
A classic case of realizing that no amount of effort would change the inevitable.
It seemed the girls' clique dynamics were more troublesome than he had imagined.
"By the way, how about you, Hachiman-kun? Everything going smoothly?" Matsushita asked.
"Mm, more or less."
Hikigaya briefly summarized the boys' groupings. Upon hearing his explanation, the three of them looked astonished.
"You're the only one placed in a different group… and all four classes agreed to it?" Horikita was stunned before sighing. "Must be nice. That would never happen on our side. The best we could do was a three-class grouping… Even though forming a four-class group would maximize our benefits, they just don't get it."
"Well, it's hard to spend a week living with people you don't know. Not many girls would be willing to do that," Matsushita pointed out.
Then, as if recalling something, she turned to Horikita with concern. "Speaking of which, Horikita-san, you're the only one from Class D in your group, right? Will you be okay?"
Before Horikita could answer, Kushida cut in.
"Oh, she'll be fine. She's already used to being an outcast in class, so it won't make a difference wherever she goes."
"Can you not say things like that? I chose that group because it was the most logical arrangement. Someone had to balance out the numbers."
Rather than prioritizing victory, Horikita had chosen to accommodate the feelings of her classmates, taking on the responsibility others avoided.
Given how arbitrarily the groups had been formed, even winning first place wouldn't yield many class points.
From that perspective, her decision wasn't wrong.
"Speaking of which, isn't Ichinose-san in the same position? She also joined a leftover group, right?" Matsushita suddenly mentioned. "I heard she even clashed with Sakayanagi over it. Apparently, it almost caused a fight between Class A and Class B."
"…Sakayanagi?" Hikigaya reacted to the name.
"Yeah. Technically, it was Kamuro who said she didn't trust Ichinose and wouldn't let Class A join. But let's be real—everyone knows Sakayanagi was behind it."
"I see."
According to Matsushita, Kamuro and Sakayanagi were in a group with nine students from Class B, three from Class C, and three from Class D—fifteen students in total.
Luckily, Kushida and the others weren't in that group. Otherwise, Sakayanagi might have caught onto their plans.
Still, for Sakayanagi to openly reject Ichinose like that… Was this the start of her move?
"Honestly, this whole thing feels off to me," Horikita said with a puzzled expression. "No matter how much people trust Ichinose-san, there will always be some who don't. That part makes sense. But what does Sakayanagi gain from openly antagonizing her? I doubt many would take her seriously—it just makes her look petty."
Indeed, if there were a vote on the most trustworthy student in the first year, Ichinose would win by a landslide.
But then, Kushida suddenly chimed in.
"Not necessarily. I've heard some rumors lately—about Ichinose doing some shady things back in middle school. Stuff like compensated dating, shoplifting, even bullying."
"Bullying? That seems unlikely," Horikita scoffed.
"Why not?" Kushida smirked. "A lot of popular students end up being bullies without even realizing it. To them, it's just harmless fun with their peers… Oh, but I suppose someone like you—who's never had friends and only knows how to study—wouldn't understand that concept. Guess I wasted my breath."
"Kushida-san… That was bullying just now, wasn't it?"
"Nope, just a little joke between friends~"
These two seriously couldn't go a day without bickering… Were they secretly best friends?
Hikigaya sighed.
This was still just the beginning. If those rumors kept spreading…
Would Ichinose be able to handle it?
…Well, in this exam, there wasn't much he could do.
Moreover, Ichinose might not necessarily lose this time.
"Alright, before dinner time ends, let's get back on topic," Hikigaya said. "Does anyone here know about Tachibana-senpai's group? Who is she grouped with?"
Matsushita immediately responded, "I made a point to look into this. Tachibana Senpai's group was one of the leftovers, and she was the only one from Class 3-A there. The leader of her group is Momoko Igari from Class 3-B."
"So it turned out like this…"
Hearing this, Hikigaya rubbed his temples in frustration.
He had already anticipated this issue before the group assignments were made. Even though he had warned Horikita Manabu, there was still no way to feel at ease.
The reason was simple—while Horikita Manabu held significant influence among the third-year students and could keep the male students in check no matter what tricks they tried to pull, that didn't mean Tachibana Akane could do the same with the female students in her grade.
Even if Tachibana had made prior arrangements to prevent Class 3-A students from being split up, if the others refused to cooperate, then for the sake of the overall situation, the students of Class 3-A would likely have no choice but to compromise.
It was just like how Hikigaya had banded together with three other classes to isolate Machida and his group—only this time, the target was Tachibana.
Nagumo must have realized that this strategy wouldn't work against Horikita Manabu, so he shifted his focus to the female side instead.
"At noon, during the group selection, President Nagumo officially declared war on Horikita-senpai. They're competing based on the rankings of the larger groups. But that's not his real objective—he just wants to divert Horikita senpai's attention to the competition so that he won't have the energy to worry about the girls' situation."
In reality, even if he wanted to intervene, it would be almost impossible. After all, they only had one hour each day to communicate, and Tachibana probably wouldn't want to trouble Horikita Manabu either. She would most likely endure it in silence.
If no third party interfered, this was already a deadlock.
"Hikigaya-kun… if it's too much, maybe it's best not to get involved," Horikita Suzune said softly, recognizing the difficulty of the situation. "No matter what, this is their battle. Just reminding him is already more than enough. There's no need for you to take on extra responsibility."
Kushida and Matsushita remained silent. They had only gotten involved because of Hikigaya, and they weren't particularly invested in the matter to begin with.
Hikigaya was well aware of this, which was why he hesitated to ask them for help.
However, this might be a good opportunity to lay everything out in the open.
"Do you remember what I mentioned before? That Nagumo would likely target Tachibana-senpai? Even though she isn't the leader this time, don't forget about the collateral responsibility rule. If my guess is correct, the people in Tachibana senpai's group will intentionally sabotage the exam, and then Igari will drag Tachibana-senpai down with her."
Based on the information Kushida and Matsushita had gathered, Momoko Igari held a certain status in her class—it was hard to imagine someone like that voluntarily sacrificing herself for the sake of the class.
"If a student is expelled from this exam, rescuing them requires 20 million private points and 400 class points. Class 3-B must have received 20 million from Nagumo, or else they wouldn't have agreed to carry out this plan. And to save Senior Tachibana, Senior Horikita will likely have to gather the same amount from his class."
Given Horikita Manabu's personality, he wouldn't go out of his way to help every single classmate.
He would only lend a hand if the student had made significant contributions to the class and if their expulsion wasn't due to their incompetence.
If it were some slacker getting expelled, Class 3-A would never pay a hefty price to save them.
Nagumo must have anticipated this—that's why he targeted Tachibana.
"Hikigaya-kun, what exactly are you trying to say?" Horikita asked, puzzled.
"It's simple." Hikigaya smiled slightly. "If we successfully help Horikita senpai avoid this crisis, we'd be saving him 20 million points. Isn't it only fair that he gives us a small portion as a reward?"
If they were going to exploit Kushida and Matsushita's efforts for free, even Hikigaya would feel guilty about it. Horikita would as well—otherwise, she wouldn't have tried to persuade Hikigaya to give up.
But since those two refused to accept Hikigaya's money… if the payer was Horikita Manabu instead, there'd be no problem at all.
"That makes sense," Kushida was the first to respond. "We've been running around for your brother's mess since winter break. Tell him to send the money already."
"Hehe, Kushida-san, you're such a money-grubber. Maybe be a little more subtle?" Matsushita chuckled.
"Fine, then let's just ask for a token payment of one million."
"That's not subtle at all. But, you know, there's a saying—'split half when you meet.'"
"You're even greedier than me…"
Seeing the two of them working together to plan an extortion attempt on her brother, Horikita didn't get angry. Instead, the heavy expression she had been wearing began to lighten.
Just as Hikigaya had expected, Horikita, who wasn't good at socializing, also wasn't good at owing favors.
But if it was just a business transaction, then there was no issue at all.
"I understand. I'll talk to my brother. But in return, I won't hesitate to make full use of you guys, okay?" Horikita smiled, then shifted to a more serious tone. "First of all, if we want to help Tachibana-senpai, one of our groups needs to be assigned to the same large group as her. That way, we can obtain first-hand information as quickly as possible."
"I think you should be the one to do it. After all, you're Horikita-senpai's sister."
"…Understood."
Horikita quickly grasped the implication behind Hikigaya's words.
If anyone else were to get too close to Tachibana, and the girls in her group reported it to Nagumo, he might suspect that Horikita's faction had caught on to the truth and had enlisted outside help.
However, because Horikita Suzune was her brother's sister, she could easily brush it off with an excuse.
The simplest explanation would be that Senior Tachibana had feelings for her brother… which was practically common knowledge at this point.
"But that brings up another issue," Hikigaya continued. "Remember Manabe? It's possible she was deliberately assigned to the same group as Tachibana-senpai under Nagumo's instructions."
"Ah, I just so happen to be in the same group as Manabe."
"In that case, I'll leave this to you, Matsushita. If she suggests anything, find a way to turn her down. Also, keep an eye on her actions."
"No problem, leave it to me."
Matsushita cheerfully made an "OK" gesture.
"And finally, the most important point: the 20 million points that Student Council President Nagumo gave to the third-year Class B… is it in Igari Momoko's hands?"
"Hm? Is that important?" Kushida asked in confusion. "Wouldn't it be her holding onto it? Nagumo met with her frequently over summer break, and she's the one taking on the risk of expulsion."
"Yeah. Even if Nagumo doesn't fully trust Senior Igari, he must have made a contract before handing over the points, probably with conditions on how the money must be used."
Matsushita's reasoning made sense, but there was still a potential problem.
"Let's assume such a contract exists. But if Igari were to go back on her word and use the twenty million points to buy her way into Class A, what do you think Nagumo would do?"
"He'd report her to the school and hold her accountable," Matsushita immediately replied.
"That's right. Normally, that would be the logical course of action," Hikigaya nodded. "But if that happens, their contract will be exposed, and Nagumo's entire plan will fall apart. And if Igari has already spent all her points by then, it would be nearly impossible to reclaim them."
To put it in real-world terms, it would be like a bank approving a loan for a developer to build houses, only for the developer to violate the contract and invest the money elsewhere, losing everything in the process.
Sure, the bank could sue, but recovering the funds would be another matter entirely.
"In short, if I were Nagumo, I would never hand over the full twenty million points to Igari. But I can't be completely certain, so I need you guys to investigate."
Hearing Hikigaya's request, the three girls all nodded in agreement.
By the time their discussion wrapped up, dinner was almost over, and only a few students remained in the cafeteria.
Just as they were about to part ways, Kushida suddenly tugged at Hikigaya's sleeve.
"Hey, Hachiman…"
"What?"
"I heard something about tonight… No, never mind. I'll tell you in a couple of days."
Without offering any further explanation, Kushida hurried off.
…What's with her?
But now wasn't the time to dwell on it. Just as Kushida and the others had a person to probe, Hikigaya also had someone he needed to test.
As long as he confirmed who held the 20 million points, the solution to this whole situation would come into focus.
—Run, Melos.
Hikigaya suddenly recalled the play from his middle school days.
This time, he would play the role of the cunning and tyrannical king.