Hikigaya had found it strange for a while now. Katsuragi, who was usually fond of lecturing others, had barely said anything when Hikigaya clashed with the second-years.
If it had been the old Katsuragi, he would have considered Hikigaya's rudeness beyond saving and reprimanded him accordingly. Yet, now he seemed to be seriously contemplating Hikigaya's intentions.
So, he finally understood, huh? Simply being a model student wouldn't allow someone to stand out in this school.
"Katsuragi, you went out of your way to talk to me. Don't tell me you're just making small talk?" Hikigaya asked.
"I have no interest in your affairs with the seniors," Katsuragi smirked slightly. "But if this means you'll start taking your role as group leader seriously and show proper respect to the upperclassmen, that would be for the best, wouldn't it?"
Tch, this guy…
Though Katsuragi hadn't said anything outright threatening, his intentions were clear.
He probably didn't know exactly what Hikigaya was up to, but the fact that he chose such a roundabout way to probe the seniors meant that he didn't want others to know either.
Rather than aiming for good results, Katsuragi likely just wanted Hikigaya to stop stirring up trouble.
Honestly, Hikigaya felt a little guilty about that. His actions had undeniably disrupted the group's atmosphere.
But some things had to be done.
"Katsuragi, as the leader, I will take responsibility. But as for anything beyond that—like strengthening group cohesion—I'm simply not in a position to make it happen."
It wasn't just about being in different classes. Most of Class B's students simply couldn't bring themselves to trust him.
Or rather, it would be a miracle if they did.
Hopefully, Katsuragi wouldn't misunderstand that point and let it cloud his judgment.
"I never expected you to go that far."
"In that case, you're not being very responsible." Hikigaya shook his head. "For most students, just passing the exam safely is enough, and that's fine. But as part of your class's leadership, shouldn't you at least think about aiming for first place?"
Anyone familiar with the situation would call him shameless.
After all, Hikigaya was the one who had taken Katsuragi down from his leadership position in the first place. And now he was bringing this up? He was practically asking for a beating.
But Katsuragi didn't seem particularly offended—just puzzled. "You should know I've already given up on leading the class."
"I said 'leadership,' not 'leader.' Even if you've failed before, you're still one of the most capable people in Class B. Right now, you're the only guy in your class who can take charge."
Machida could barely manage, but he had chosen to antagonize Hikigaya from the start, humiliating himself in front of the entire class in the process.
After losing his authority, regaining it wouldn't be easy.
"Hikigaya… What are you after?" Katsuragi frowned. "Ever since you guys insisted on joining our group, something has felt off. Then Ryuuen kept pestering me with nonsense, too. What exactly are you trying to do?"
"If you're so suspicious, why haven't you told anyone else?"
Katsuragi fell silent at Hikigaya's question, his expression complicated.
After a long pause, he finally replied, his voice carrying a mix of reluctance and resignation. "I no longer have a say in my class. I was ordered to follow instructions this time."
So that's how it was.
Hikigaya nodded to himself. No wonder Yahiko, Katsuragi's former lackey, wasn't grouped with him. Most of their group members weren't from his old faction, either.
But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Sakayanagi might have broken Katsuragi's spirit, but she didn't have what it took to control him. That meant she wasn't as good at reading people as she thought.
As for getting Katsuragi back on his feet… well, he just needed to stick the pieces back together.
"You wanted to know what I'm doing, right?" Hikigaya smiled. "It's nothing much. I just plan to help you take back what you lost."
"…Do you even know what you're saying?"
"What, you think I'm joking? Or do you think I can't do it?"
"No, I don't doubt that you have the ability. But you have no reason to do this."
Katsuragi wasn't fooled by Hikigaya's sweet words. If anything, he seemed even more wary.
"If you plan to use me to disrupt Class B, you're wasting your time. I have no intention of fighting Sakayanagi anymore. Our class has already fallen to Class B—we don't even have the luxury of internal conflict. No, we never should have had it in the first place."
Back when Class A had a 300-point lead, they had felt secure enough to fight among themselves.
But not even Sakayanagi had foreseen how things would turn out.
"Whoa, you're overthinking things." Hikigaya sighed. "Katsuragi, you have your strengths, sure. But when it comes to mind games, you're way behind Sakayanagi. You were completely played, and you didn't even realize it. I wouldn't bother using you for something like that."
Even though Hikigaya had bluntly called him out, Katsuragi didn't get angry. Instead, his expression just grew even more unreadable.
"Then why are you doing this? Your actions make no sense."
Fair enough. Even Ryuuen wouldn't be able to guess Hikigaya's real motives without an explanation.
But now wasn't the time to tell Katsuragi.
"Just think of it as a whim." Hikigaya shrugged. "Anyway, as group leader, I'm delegating the management of the group to you. Make sure to do a good job."
Before Katsuragi could protest, Hikigaya continued, "Don't worry. If anyone in your class steps out of line, I'll handle them. And I'll take care of the upperclassmen, too. You just focus on leading the group to first place."
Right then, a male teacher walked in, signaling the start of class.
Katsuragi had no choice but to push his concerns aside for now. Even someone as cautious as him had no idea how to respond.
If there was some scheme behind this, all Hikigaya had asked was for Katsuragi to manage the group.
Nothing more.
Ignoring him was an option. But if the group continued like this, they wouldn't achieve the desired results.
And the ones who would lose the most points would be Class B.
Yet if he followed along, he risked walking straight into Hikigaya's trap.
The dilemma left Katsuragi so distracted that he spaced out in class.
…
The morning class was on public speaking.
In the real world, being able to convey your opinions was crucial, so communication skills needed to be honed.
This was also part of the exam. Each grade had a different topic, but the evaluation criteria were the same—volume, posture, content, and delivery.
For someone like Hikigaya, who hated social interaction, just hearing about this was enough to give him a headache.
And to make matters worse, they had to give speeches in front of the entire group every day.
What kind of humiliating punishment was this?!
The exam itself wasn't hard, but dislike was disliked. Nothing would change that.
The worst part? The first-years' topic was what they had learned this year and what they planned to study next.
Honestly, Hikigaya felt like he hadn't learned anything except how to mess with people.
If he had to say something, maybe… trying to accept goodwill from others?
Yeah, like he could say that out loud.
Meanwhile, the second and third-years' topics were about future goals and careers. Now that was something he could handle.
After all, his future only had two options: househusband or corporate slave. No third path.
Too bad he was stuck with the first-year topic.
In the end, he had no choice but to make something up—like learning to get along with classmates or something.
…Let's just not dwell on that.
And also, Ryuuen, what the hell are you laughing at?
Finally, after finishing this class, lunch was over, and it was time for PE.
Though, that description isn't entirely accurate. To be precise, it was just basic physical training—not like in school, where you could at least play some ball games. Here, it was just long-distance running, and on the final day, there would even be a relay race exam.
This was probably the only test that required teamwork.
When it came to physical endurance, Hikigaya was somewhat confident. His stamina and endurance were decent.
After all, he had been thoroughly trained by Horikita-senpai… or maybe "overtrained" was the more accurate word.
However, things weren't looking too great for some members of the group.
Machida was already panting after running for just a short while—and this was on a flat track.
In a few days, they would have to run up a mountain, which would undoubtedly be even more difficult.
Class B may have placed second in the Sports Festival, but that was only because Class C and Class D were too busy fighting each other, allowing them to pick up an easy win.
In reality, their class had quite a few people who weren't good at sports. They might even be weaker than Class D in this aspect.
But with Katsuragi taking care of things, it should be fine, right?
At a time like this, no matter how much one disliked Katsuragi, it would be embarrassing to complain when you were dragging the group down yourself.
Hopefully, this would be an opportunity to improve their relationship.
After finishing the afternoon meditation class, the day finally came to an end.
Maybe because it was the first day, aside from the long run being a bit exhausting, the rest of the classes were mostly just explanations about the school and the week's schedule. Before they knew it, the day was over.
Pretty relaxing and enjoyable—
But not everyone was as optimistic as Hikigaya. Especially during the final meditation session, many people's legs had gone completely numb, making it impossible to move.
"Hey, dead eyes, how are you feeling? Are your legs numb?"
Ryuuen asked as he deliberately poked at his thigh.
Unfortunately, Hikigaya stood up like it was nothing, showing a disdainful smirk.
"Hmph, something this minor wouldn't faze me. You should be worrying about Machida instead—his face has been looking pretty bad for a while now."
"Hey, hey! Wait a second!"
Machida hunched forward, twisting in pain, his miserable state making it hard to watch.
But the more he struggled, the more tempting it was to mess with him...
"Heh heh heh, no worries. Just rub it a little, and it'll be fine."
"Hands off! I don't need your help!"
Just as Ryuuen was about to reach out his "wicked" hands, he was unexpectedly stopped by Katsuragi.
"Enough, Ryuuen. There's a limit to how far you should take your pranks."
"Oi, oi, why are you acting all high and mighty—oh wait, never mind, you are high and mighty."
Ryuuen stared at Katsuragi for a moment before suddenly laughing.
"Katsuragi, you're barely standing right now, aren't you? I saw how much you were struggling during meditation."
"That has nothing to do with you."
"Come on, no need to be like that—we're teammates now, after all."
Despite the tension between him and Class B, Ryuuen had no trouble blending in seamlessly.
…This guy was way too quick to adapt.
Hikigaya ignored the whole scene and left the dojo, heading toward the cafeteria. Unexpectedly, Ryuuen caught up with him halfway.
"…What do you want?"
"What do you mean? I'm going to eat." Ryuuen grinned. "Or am I interrupting your date with Kikyo and Suzune? If so, just say it—I'll take the hint and back off."
"Date your head… Anyway, how's your side of things?" Hikigaya decided to ignore him and focus on the real issue.
But Ryuuen simply shrugged. "Nothing much. Like I said before, I'm letting them handle it themselves this time."
"…Ever heard of 'honesty is the best policy'?"
"Oh? You don't trust me, do you?"
"If you could get out of bed at night without waking me up, then maybe I'd believe you."
Hikigaya didn't bother wasting words and directly exposed Ryuuen's little tricks.
Since the dorms had no bathrooms, getting up at night to go to the restroom was normal. But Ryuuen's problem was that his steps were way too quiet.
If he were just going to the restroom, he wouldn't go out of his way to be that careful.
He was probably sneaking off to secretly meet with his subordinates—most likely Ishizaki and Albert. The way those two deliberately avoided Ryuuen during the day was probably just to keep the teachers from noticing.
Considering that the Manabe situation was still unresolved, Ibuki might also be involved.
Sigh, this guy was already making moves on the very first day.
Meanwhile, someone else was still sleeping the day away...
"Heh, no idea what you're talking about. Can't a guy just go to the bathroom?"
Ryuuen was still playing dumb, but Hikigaya had no intention of prying further.
He just wanted to offer a small piece of advice.
"Ryuuen, honestly, I'm glad you've moved away from solving everything with your fists. But let me give you some advice: if you're going to act, do it thoroughly. You need to be even more intimidating than pure violence—otherwise, the rest of your class will just see you as a paper tiger."
"Mind your busin—wait, what's a 'paper tiger'?" Ryuuen looked genuinely confused.
"A paper tiger is… never mind."
Hikigaya had intended to explain, but after thinking about it, he decided it wasn't worth it.
Those who understood, understood.
Now that he thought about it, Ryuuen was like a paper tiger. He had always made a big fuss about exposing X, acting like he was some unbeatable powerhouse.
If Hikigaya hadn't given him a JUMP magazine to use as a shield, he would have been knocked out by Ayanokoji's punch ages ago.
Come to think of it, since his name was Ryuuen, shouldn't he be a "paper dragon" instead? …Paper dragon?
"Anyway, just think about your next move carefully. Before we move up to second year, you need to completely crush some people's little ambitions."
"Tch, yeah, yeah, I got it."
Maybe because he felt like Hikigaya had seen through him too much, Ryuuen waved his hand impatiently and walked off on his own.
…Weird. I thought he was coming to eat with me.
Well, whatever. Hikigaya still had things to confirm with Horikita and the others—no time to worry about Ryuuen.
At the cafeteria, he met up with Horikita and the others. After some small talk about the first day of class, Kushida got to the main topic.
"Hachiman, I did some digging. That Igari girl most likely didn't get the full twenty million, and I think she holds a grudge against Nagumo."
"Hmm, as long as she doesn't have it, that's fine."
Hikigaya wasn't surprised. Igari's attitude was completely understandable.
After all, she was the one who carried out the self-sacrifice tactic. Logically, the twenty million should have been entrusted to her. But Nagumo didn't do that, making it clear he didn't trust her.
"Hikigaya-kun, even if we know this, how does it help us solve the problem?" Horikita asked.
"Well… I just want to see something. When it comes to saving a 'willing sacrifice,' will a certain someone rush to the scene in time? Or will he just play dumb and pretend he didn't see anything?"
Hikigaya gave an answer that seemed off-topic.
Kushida and Matsushita exchanged glances, not quite understanding. But after thinking for a moment, Horikita soon smiled knowingly.
"I see. You want to become a ruthless king, Hikigaya-kun."
"Oi—where'd the literary girl come from?"
Seeing someone who understood his plan, Hikigaya couldn't help but feel a little happy.
It was like someone had caught the joke he threw out—what a great feeling.
"Since you understand, then you should know what I'm going to do next, right?"
"I can indeed guess a little, but…"
"Remember, the ones who saved Horikita-senpai this time were your younger sister, Horikita Suzune, and you—who saw through the trick while being in the same large group as Tachibana-senpai."
Just in case, Hikigaya thought it was necessary to coordinate their story in advance.
"If there's a chance, we should also deal with Ayanokoji—ouch?!"
Before Hikigaya could finish his sentence, a sharp pain shot through the top of his foot.
And not just one foot—both of them hurt!
What the heck is going on…?
He glanced to his left at Kikyo-chan, who was smiling sweetly, then to his right at Matsushita-san, who maintained a gentle smile. A sudden chill ran down his spine.
Uh, ladies?
We're discussing serious matters right now. If you want to throw a tantrum, at least wait until we get back to school, okay?
Also, just a heads-up—stepping on someone's feet like that will only get your shoes dirty!