The conflict between Class A and Class B was most likely related to what Katsuragi had mentioned that morning.
Although Hikigaya wasn't clear on the exact details, he could already imagine it must have been something extreme—otherwise, the boys from Class A wouldn't be so agitated.
He could barely make out parts of their argument from a distance.
"We weren't the ones who started it! We only heard it from somewhere else, so why are you taking it out on us?"
"Stop making excuses! Who else could it be but you?!"
"Then tell me—where exactly did Ichinose get all those personal points from?"
...Personal points?
Why was this being brought up all of a sudden?
Just as Hikigaya was wondering about this, Horikita hesitated before asking, "Hikigaya-kun, have you heard anything about... Ichinose from the boys?"
"Unfortunately, I hardly talk to them."
Aside from Ryuuen, Katsuragi, and Ayanokoji, most of his interactions with other boys weren't exactly pleasant.
Well, mostly because the other party didn't find them pleasant.
"Though, I did hear some rumors floating around. What exactly are they?" Hikigaya added.
"...There are some things I'd rather not say out loud."
Horikita pulled out a small notebook and a pen from her pocket and started writing.
She carries these around...?
Then again, considering this exam had a written portion focusing on ethical dilemmas, it made sense for Horikita to have study materials on hand.
She is diligent...
She quickly finished and handed the notebook to Hikigaya. Written inside were phrases like:
1. Involved in a past violent incident.
2. Engaged in compensated dating.
3. Committed theft and robbery.
4. Has experience using illegal substances.
These were essentially the same rumors Kushida had mentioned before, just phrased more tactfully.
For some reason, the phrase "compensated dating" was circled.
"What's with the circle?" Hikigaya asked, puzzled.
"It means this is the most frequently discussed one." Horikita sighed. "Remember last semester? Ichinose was already accused of using unethical methods to gather personal points. Now someone is deliberately linking that incident with these new rumors—and even involving upperclassmen in the story. It's disgusting."
"I see..."
Hikigaya had already thought Ichinose's handling of the previous situation was unwise—it was only a matter of time before it backfired. He just didn't expect it to happen so soon.
Back then, the one who spread the rumors was Ayanokoji. The school quickly dismissed them, and the whole thing died down without much resistance.
That set a dangerous precedent.
Because Ayanokoji wasn't punished at all, Sakayanagi now felt emboldened to act without restraint.
Meanwhile, the argument between Class A and Class B had settled down, thanks to Kanzaki and Katsuragi stepping in to mediate.
But there was no way this was truly over.
Gossip about one of the most popular girls in school was the hottest topic possible in this enclosed forest school setting.
A second-year student getting attacked by a wild boar? Compared to that, this was far more engaging.
With that in mind, Hikigaya couldn't help but wonder—aside from Sakayanagi, could Ayanokoji also be fanning the flames?
As long as everyone focused on Ichinose, fewer people would pay attention to the boar attack.
"How is Ichinose reacting to all this?" Matsushita suddenly asked Horikita.
"She seems fine on the surface, but I think she's forcing herself."
If the rumors were only about compensated dating, Ichinose might not have cared at all.
But the accusations of theft—those struck at her deepest wound.
This is why people shouldn't do bad things… Or at the very least, if you must do something bad, you should lower your moral standards first. Otherwise, you're just torturing yourself.
"Hmph, those guys are disgusting," Horikita muttered as she overheard the ongoing whispers around them.
"The school already debunked this last semester. Are their memories as short as goldfish?"
"Let's be real here, you already know what kind of place our school is." Hikigaya sighed.
"Scammers don't get to lecture others about credibility."
From the very beginning, ANHS had been deceiving students. Last summer, they even tricked them into an uninhabited island. At this point, nobody trusted the school—especially when it came to special exams. No matter how well something was worded, students always suspected there was a hidden trap.
Some Western countries operate the same way—when a government has zero credibility, the more they deny something, the more people assume it's true.
Then again, Japan wasn't much better. Most people didn't believe politicians, either. As long as they could live comfortably, they didn't care.
As for me, the only things I care about are Chiba and my little sister.
"This is unexpected." Matsushita looked at Horikita with an amused smile. "I thought you wouldn't care about other students—especially ones from different classes. But you're defending Ichinose. Did this exam make you two friends?"
"No, we're not close. I just find this whole thing distasteful." Horikita answered flatly.
"Heh, you could just admit it. It's not a bad thing. Besides, the school wants us to form friendships across class lines—otherwise, they wouldn't have structured the training camp this way."
Matsushita wasn't wrong.
Even though the school encouraged competition between classes, it didn't want students to see everything in black and white. They needed to learn how to be flexible.
After all, in the real world, two competing companies could suddenly become business partners overnight.
"There are no eternal friends or eternal enemies—only eternal interests."
Everyone knew this saying, yet few could follow it. Most people let emotions cloud their judgment.
"You're overthinking it," Horikita denied. "I don't intend to be friends with Ichinose. She's Class A's leader. Sooner or later, our class will be her enemy. Half-hearted friendships only get in the way."
Matsushita smiled knowingly. "That's fair. But in that case, shouldn't you be happy about these rumors? If Ichinose suffers, isn't that good for us?"
"No, you're wrong. These kinds of baseless rumors don't affect her school standing. It's just petty jealousy at work. The people spreading them only make themselves look pathetic."
So, Horikita's objection was based on her standards... or maybe not entirely.
At the very least, she must have some level of respect for Ichinose—otherwise, she wouldn't bother talking this much.
"But what if the rumors affect the exam results?" Matsushita pressed.
"That's even less likely. Ichinose is the only Class A student in her group. Even if she's emotionally affected, it won't change the overall outcome of the test."
Horikita saw this as just another case of a popular girl being targeted by jealousy—something she might have experienced herself in middle school.
After all, she did give off that 'aloof ice princess' vibe back then.
"Hikigaya-kun, you're thinking something rude, aren't you?" Horikita suddenly shot him a sharp look.
"...Nope." Hikigaya turned away and changed the subject. "You're forgetting something—the impact on the other Class A boys."
Seeing Horikita's puzzled expression, he clarified, "Remember what happened during the Sports Festival when Hirata had his breakdown? Think about how the girls in our class reacted."
Horikita's eyes widened. "You're right... I didn't consider that."
She immediately flipped open her notebook and jotted something down.
Hikigaya had no idea what she was thinking, but she soon handed the notebook back to him.
"Hikigaya-kun, this is my prediction for the training camp results. Could you take a look?"
"Hmm, well… I guess I can."
As expected of Horikita, her dedication was truly impressive—she even took the time to write everything down.
Her analysis was pretty much in line with what Hikigaya had in mind. On the boys' side, Ayanokoji's group was predicted to come in last, while Shibata's group was second to last. That must have been the part she had just revised.
But what she was most concerned about was probably the ranking of Class D's main group.
Hikigaya decided to be upfront about it. "For Hirata's group, I'd say their goal is to secure fourth place, but they might aim for third."
"…There's no point in securing fourth place," Horikita said, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache. "But I can't really blame him. Rather than winning, Hirata-kun is more focused on protecting his classmates… Matsushita, how's it looking on your end?"
It seemed she was hoping the girls would make up for the boys' shortcomings.
Matsushita shook her head. "We're doing okay, I guess. But since our leader is Manabe, our class won't be earning that many points. You'd be better off asking Kushida. Her group seems like they have a good shot at first place."
"Yeah, I think so too… but I don't want to ask her. If I do, she'll just mock me."
At least Horikita had some self-awareness in this regard—she was starting to understand Kushida's personality more and more.
"Ahaha… I really can't argue with that." Matsushita let out a wry laugh, then changed the subject. "By the way, Hachiman-kun, speaking of Manabe, where should we call her to? And what time exactly?"
Hikigaya had already made up his mind about that. "At eleven o'clock tonight. Right here in the cafeteria."
"And under what pretense? I've talked to Manabe a few times, but calling her out late at night probably won't work."
"Just use Ayanokoji's name."
Hikigaya casually dropped an unexpected name—one that neither of his two listeners, who were well aware of X's identity, would have predicted.
"Wait, you're saying Ayanokoji-kun?" Matsushita looked baffled. "But if I remember correctly, didn't he threaten Manabe before, forcing her to betray her class?"
"Exactly. That's why she'll probably show up."
As things stood, Ayanokoji still held onto the photos of Manabe and her group bullying Karuizawa.
What Manabe didn't realize, however, was that if this matter ever came to light, Ayanokoji himself would be exposed as the mastermind behind it. And that would be far worse than bullying.
Simply put, he couldn't actually use those photos to threaten anyone—he could only rely on deception.
…And that's why an idiot was an idiot. He couldn't even grasp such a simple concept.
Still, that kind of straightforward and forceful idiot was exactly what Hikigaya needed.
Speaking of Class C, there's another similar person—Ibuki.
But last time, Hikigaya got completely stood up by her, which was seriously unpleasant. Better to stay away from such an unreliable person.
No way he was going to suffer twice at the hands of the same person.
"One more thing… Horikita, if it's convenient, can I borrow your pen for a moment?"
"Ah, sure."
Horikita was momentarily stunned but handed over the pen without hesitation.
"But why do you need this? Didn't the school already provide one?"
"That won't do. The school-issued ones all look the same."
"Eh?"
"It's just for show."
This exam was conducted under the pretense of a trip, allowing students to bring snacks and entertainment items. Naturally, Horikita would be the type to carry paper and a pen, and the school hadn't prohibited it.
And since the target was that Manabe… tricking her shouldn't be a problem.
Besides, the best part of this trick was that if Manabe refused, she would only report Ayanokoji's name to Nagumo.
No matter how you looked at it, there was no downside.
After dinner, Hikigaya returned to the dormitory to take a shower.
He grabbed a change of clothes from his bag and walked toward the changing room.
As soon as he stepped in, he saw two familiar people talking—Kanzaki and Hashimoto. This was a rare combination.
The two didn't seem to mind being overheard, so Hikigaya acted as if he didn't notice and silently changed his clothes.
"Hashimoto, it's about time you told the truth."
"Come on, I already said—I don't know anything."
It seemed Kanzaki was questioning Hashimoto—probably about the cafeteria incident.
"Besides, it's not just our class discussing Ichinose. The boys from Class C and Class D are talking about her too. It just so happened that you overheard our class at the time."
Hashimoto's argument was reasonable. At least, there were no obvious flaws on the surface.
Then he chuckled and said, "Honestly, people are just killing time with some dirty jokes. Taking it too seriously means you've already lost. And don't assume girls are all proper ladies—when they talk about guys behind closed doors, it gets way more outrageous. You've heard about that girls-only voting site, right?"
Well… Hikigaya had to admit Hashimoto had a point.
Those nasty women were way too much… No, no, he had to stop listening!
If he kept going, his psychological trauma was going to resurface!
"That's a completely different matter," Kanzaki frowned.
"Heh, not really. The rumors started with the girls, and the boys just jumped on the bandwagon."
As he spoke, Hashimoto suddenly acted like he had just noticed Hikigaya and grinned mischievously as he approached.
"Hikigaya, say something fair here. Oh, and by the way, let me tell you a little secret—those girls talk a lot of crap about you. Stuff like, 'His dead eyes are creepy,' 'He looks like a zombie,' or even 'He's a player who messes with women.' Their words are sharper than knives."
"Uh…" Hikigaya ignored him. He didn't even want to ask where Hashimoto got this information.
Instead, he turned to Kanzaki and said, "Those rumors are Sakayanagi's doing. If you want to settle things, go after her."
"Cough cough! Wait a second!" Hashimoto nearly choked on air. "This has nothing to do with the princess! You can't just falsely accuse an innocent person!"
Hikigaya shot him a glare. "Well, you provoked me first."
"I was just letting you know how the girls see you so you could find a way to fix it."
"Go to hell."
"Hey, hey! I'm seriously looking out for you!"
Hashimoto protested loudly, even making things up as he went along. "And besides, you should know the princess well. She's always been pure and noble—there's no way she'd do something like that."
"Pure and noble… haha… hahaha…" Hikigaya couldn't help but laugh. "You seriously have the nerve to call Sakayanagi 'pure and noble'… Haha, are you doing this on purpose? Trying to make me laugh to death?"
"Ahh, well… haha, let's just say I had a moment of stupidity."
In the end, Hashimoto scratched the back of his head and laughed as well.
Only Kanzaki was left completely confused, unable to figure out what these two found so funny.
At that moment, a sudden shriek came from the bathroom, only to be abruptly cut off—as if the people inside had just vanished.
What now…?
The three of them exchanged glances before walking into the bathhouse together.
What they saw was a bizarre scene.
A group of guys, led by Albert and Sudo, were kneeling in front of Ayanokoji and Kouenji, their faces filled with regret and frustration.
…What the hell was wrong with these guys?
"You guys—what the… what the hell is this?!"
Hashimoto was about to ask what was going on, but then he noticed something in the steamy air. His expression immediately shifted from confusion to shock.
Ah… I see.
Wait, does that mean Ayanokoji and Kouenji are the same size?
Truly the masterpieces… Hold on, does White Room even rate that as a criterion?
Not just Hikigaya, but even Kanzaki instantly understood what was happening and felt utterly speechless at this childish competition.
He had always thought guys only cared about discussing breast sizes… But the Nankirou content here was off the charts.
Since Hikigaya never had male friends, he lacked experience in this kind of situation. But something told him staying here any longer was a bad idea.
Kanzaki seemed to have the same thought. The two exchanged glances and, pretending nothing was wrong, tried to quietly back away.
But just then, an annoying voice called out.
"Hey, you two—where do you think you're sneaking off to?"
Ryuuen leaned against the bath, flashing them a sly grin.
…Ugh, this guy is such a pain.