Manabe was well aware of the incident where Ryuuen was "entrapped" under the guise of law enforcement. Back then, she and her friends had mocked both Ryuuen and Ibuki for being so easily deceived.
Then, they themselves had fallen for the same trick.
And now, Manabe was being played yet again.
The worst part? She didn't even know where exactly she had been caught this time.
"You…! How can you be so shameless?!" Manabe pointed at Hikigaya's nose and shouted.
"Go ahead and curse all you want. That's your right."
As he spoke, Hikigaya deliberately twirled the recorder in his hand before stating expressionlessly, "But whether or not I send this recording to Ryuuen… well, that's my right. I'm kind of curious—last time, when you betrayed your own class, Ryuuen forgave you, didn't he? But what if it happens again? Do you think he'll forgive you this time?"
"Ugh…"
Manabe's expression twisted several times before, in an instant, she flashed a bright smile and sidled up to him, hooking her arm around his.
"Ara, Hikigaya-kun~ I was just joking! No need to be so petty~ You should be a little more generous with girls, you know?"
Her overly saccharine voice was enough to make anyone want to punch her.
"That change in attitude was way too fast," Hikigaya said, exasperated, as he unceremoniously shook off her arm. "And cut the act—I'm not falling for it this time."
The same trick doesn't work on a Saint Seiya!
Last time, he'd been overwhelmed when suddenly surrounded by four girls. Who could stand against that?
Thankfully, this time, there was no such nightmare. Dealing with one or two was manageable.
"Tch! What the hell do you want, dead eyes?!"
Seeing that seduction wasn't working, Manabe instantly reverted to her usual arrogant self.
Yeah, this attitude suited her much better.
Hikigaya got straight to the point. "Manabe, I need you to do something for me. If you accept, I'll pay you 500,000 personal points."
"Heh, who wants your stu—wait, five hundred thousand?"
The moment money was involved, Manabe's stance softened noticeably.
After all, Class C wasn't exactly rich, and as a high school girl in her prime, there was no such thing as having too much spending money.
"Y-you should've just said so from the start! Why go through all the trouble of threatening me?"
That response was an indirect agreement. After all, 500,000 points was no small amount.
"It's simple—I don't trust you." Hikigaya stated bluntly. "If you leak this Nagumo-senpai, it'll be a huge hassle for me. That's why I need leverage over you to ensure my safety."
Threatening people to do work for you isn't a great approach. The smart way is to use both the carrot and the stick.
"Huh? What does Nagumo have to do with—wait… what exactly do you want me to do?"
Sensing that things might be more complicated than she'd anticipated, Manabe instinctively wanted to back out. But she just couldn't let go of that 500,000.
"It's nothing too complicated—I just need you to put your skills to use."
"Huh? What skills?"
"The ones you used when you bullied Karuizawa. You know, bullying the weak and fearing the strong."
At the mention of that incident, Manabe's expression immediately darkened.
That was probably the most humiliating experience of her life. Not only had she fallen into Ayanokoji's trap, but she had also been exposed by Ryuuen in front of the entire class.
Even though Ryuuen had said he wouldn't pursue the matter, her status in the class had plummeted ever since.
"I was set up by that bastard Ayanokoji! He was the one who manipulated me into targeting Karuizawa! And besides, Karuizawa isn't exactly—"
"Alright, alright, no need to explain yourself to me." Hikigaya interrupted impatiently. "I know the whole story, and I don't think you're innocent. By the same logic, I also don't particularly care. As far as I'm concerned, you and Karuizawa both got what you deserved."
Setting aside Ayanokoji's role, the incident had started because Karuizawa cut in line and deliberately knocked over Fujitō Rika from Class C. Manabe, wanting to stand up for her friend, had gathered a few others to beat up Karuizawa when she was alone.
Of course, hitting someone was wrong. But Karuizawa had never once apologized for her actions either.
That girl had been flaunting her relationship with Hirata to act high and mighty, even stirring up trouble with girls from other classes. Getting payback was inevitable.
So whether or not Manabe's actions counted as bullying was debatable.
If they had repeatedly targeted Karuizawa over time, that would be one thing. But labeling a single altercation as "bullying" felt like a stretch.
Had Manabe reported everything to Ryuuen immediately, he probably would have used Karuizawa's personality as a weakness and argued that Manabe and the others were merely acting out of loyalty to their friend. The most likely consequence would've been a short suspension at worst.
Hell, Ryuuen might've even used the situation to expose Ayanokoji earlier than planned.
Unfortunately, at the time, Manabe had been completely intimidated by Ayanokoji.
Sometimes, reality does inspire the worst kinds of doujin scenarios…
"Anyway, that's all in the past," Hikigaya said indifferently. "I just need you to channel that same energy again. No need to resort to violence this time—just scare the target a little."
"…Who's the target?"
"A third-year student from Class D. A girl named Yajima. Do you know her?"
"Yajima… You mean the one in the same group as Tachibana-senpai?"
Manabe recognized the name. But that made sense—Nagumo had instructed her to join the same large group as Tachibana Akane, so she must have done some research beforehand.
"Good. That makes things easier," Hikigaya continued. "I need you to act as Tachibana-senpai's… let's say, 'ally.' Get Yajima alone and warn her to take the exam seriously."
The large group led by Tachibana mainly consisted of third-year students from Class B and D, with only two members from Class C—who weren't important.
Yajima, the de facto leader of the third-year D-class girls, wasn't participating in this exam for the sake of her class. Their class points had already fallen below 100—there was no hope of recovery.
She was only in this for Nagumo's bribes.
Manabe furrowed her brows. "This is so random… Why do you even care?"
Simple—neither Horikita nor Matsushita had the presence to intimidate someone. And while a "darkened" Kushida might work, Hikigaya preferred not to involve her in such shady business.
No wonder big corporations love outsourcing.
Thanks to Matsushita's meddling during the group formation, Manabe hadn't been placed with Tachibana. As a result, Nagumo hadn't given her much attention, nor had he shared much information with her.
Still, she at least knew that Nagumo had plans involving Tachibana.
"Wait… are you planning to betray Nagumo-senpai?"
Perhaps a rare spark of intelligence hit Manabe, as she grinned like she'd just found someone's weakness.
In response, Hikigaya simply twirled his recorder again, immediately deflating her.
"Tch. You're just as shameless as Ayanokoji!" Manabe gritted her teeth.
"Yeah, but Ayanokoji wouldn't pay you 500,000, would he?"
"Well… that's true… Wait, no! That's money you stole from our class!"
Technically true. But pointless to argue now.
After some grumbling, Manabe finally sighed. "Fine, whatever. It's just a small task, so I'll help. But you better not tell Ryuuen-kun, and you better not back out of the payment!"
"Relax. I wouldn't cheat you out of such a small amount."
500,000 wasn't exactly a trivial sum, but Hikigaya's tone somehow made it sound like it was pocket change.
Manabe's eyes lit up at the thought of how she'd spend it.
Then, Hikigaya suddenly asked, "By the way, there's something I've been curious about."
"Huh? What?"
"You knew Ayanokoji couldn't blackmail you anymore. So why did you still come to meet him?"
"Isn't it obvious? I just wanted to cuss him out—"
Hikigaya hadn't expected this girl to be so petty—it seemed like he'd been holding in his frustration for a while.
Might as well make use of that.
"You seem pretty mad at Ayanokoji."
"Of course! I'd love to tear him apart!"
"In that case, there's a chance to get revenge right now. Want to give it a try?"
As he spoke, Hikigaya flashed a sly grin... Strange.
Why did he feel more and more like a villain?
The seventh day of the forest school exam had arrived. Tomorrow would be the final assessment.
However, instead of the tense atmosphere one might expect, the girls' group had been in an uproar since morning.
The reason? A sensational rumor had spread throughout the school.
[Apparently, some guy named Ayanokoji Kiyotaka ran into the forest, provoked a wild boar, and even got an upperclassman injured in the process.]
Originally, that didn't sound like a big deal, but as the rumor passed from one person to another, it got more and more ridiculous.
Some versions claimed Ayanokoji was so bored that he went to fight a wild boar, and in the process, even beat up the upperclassman who tried to stop him.
Others said that since no human was worthy of being his opponent anymore, he had to challenge a wild animal instead. Just as he grabbed the boar to test his strength, two upperclassmen saw him, so he decided to silence them.
There were even wilder claims—after enduring a week of frustration, Ayanokoji's pent-up urges had him seeing a female boar in an entirely different light, and then… well. [T/N: *Ayanokoji banging noises* Hahaha!]
And of course, the rumors didn't stop there. People started calling him "Wild Boar King," saying he was wrestling wild boars and engaging in all sorts of bizarre acts with them.
In the end, the story escalated to the point where just making eye contact with Ayanokoji would supposedly make any female instantly pregnant.
Honestly, when it came to dirty jokes, girls could be even worse than guys.
As the mastermind behind this chaos, Manabe was feeling immensely satisfied.
That bastard Ayanokoji had played her for a fool before, but now? She had single-handedly turned him into the laughingstock of the entire school!
A delinquent like Manabe had no trouble fitting in with the girls' social circles.
And Ayanokoji had been getting a bit too much attention lately—not only had he taken down four guys from Class C by himself, but he'd also openly tried to steal Hirata's girlfriend.
That had pissed off a lot of girls, so given the chance, they were more than happy to mock him.
For a brief moment, Ayanokoji's infamy even overshadowed the rumors about Ichinose being involved in compensated dating.
Even on the boys' side, Ryuuen had fanned the flames, making sure Ayanokoji was the hottest topic of discussion.
At last, the so-called "White Room's masterpiece" had shown his dominance at ANHS!
After lunch, Manabe followed Hikigaya's instructions and headed to an empty classroom on the third floor of the girls' dormitory.
Inside, Horikita was comforting Tachibana Akane.
"Senior Tachibana, please try to relax. You've been trembling this whole time."
"B-But… threatening people… I just can't do something like that!" Tachibana frantically shook her head at Horikita. "Horikita-chan, I appreciate all your encouragement, but this is too much. If we get caught, you'll be in trouble too! Horikita-kun definitely wouldn't want—"
"This has nothing to do with my brother. I'm doing this because I want to," Horikita cut her off firmly.
This left Tachibana Akane momentarily stunned. In her impression, the girl before her was someone who would always hesitate whenever her brother was mentioned.
When did she become so decisive?
"Besides, you've always supported my brother, Tachibana-senpai, so I wanted to express my gratitude to you."
"No, that's not right! It's Horikita-kun who's been supporting us!"
Tachibana Akane couldn't help but raise her voice, then, as if regretting her outburst, she slowly continued, "Even though we're students of Class A, we've always been dragging Horikita-kun down. Not only have we lost a lot of class points that we shouldn't have, but we've also forced Horikita-kun to sacrifice himself time and again to protect his classmates."
"My brother... protects his classmates?"
Horikita had never considered that possibility. She had always thought that her brother only had Tachibana Akane as his companion, and that everyone else was merely classmates at best.
Only now did she realize how little she truly understood about her brother—no, about Horikita Manabu as a person.
She had always seen him as an ideal, a goal to strive for, without ever considering his own thoughts and feelings.
"Yes." Tachibana Akane nodded firmly. "Horikita-kun has always been fighting alone. I heard that in this exam, Nagumo even challenged him to a duel, and we're completely powerless to help… At the very least, I don't want to add to his burden."
"So that's why you kept asking me not to tell my brother?"
"...Yes."
Perhaps embarrassed that a junior was worrying about her, Tachibana Akane wiped the corners of her eyes with her arm, on the verge of tears.
Seeing this, Horikita sighed. "Tachibana-senpai, self-sacrifice won't solve anything."
"But I—"
"It's precisely because my brother is being held back by Nagumo that I, his sister, am standing here, isn't it?"
Horikita lowered her head slightly, gazing at the senior who was even smaller than her.
"I won't claim to understand my brother completely, but there's one thing I can be sure of—he's just an ordinary student, too. He needs help and support from others. If you were to drop out, I think he'd be devastated."
"Horikita-chan…"
"Besides, you've been his classmate for three years, haven't you?" Horikita chuckled softly. "Even if you were expelled, do you think my brother would just sit back and do nothing?"
"B-But that's 20 million points! And three hundred class points!"
"Exactly. That's why we'll work hard to make sure that doesn't happen."
As Horikita encouraged Tachibana Akane, a girl leaning against the door finally spoke up, unable to watch any longer.
"Hey, what's with the whole 'I'm working so hard' act? You don't even get a chance to step in later, do you?"
"Can you not interrupt?" Horikita glared at her before turning back to Tachibana Akane.
"Tachibana-senpai, when the time comes, you just need to keep a straight face. There's no need to say too much... If you're not sure how to act, just think about what my brother looks like most of the time."
"Horikita-kun…?"
Having been the closest person to Horikita Manabu these past three years, Tachibana Akane had observed him the most.
After hesitating for a moment, her expression gradually stiffened, and her gaze sharpened.
"Horikita-chan, how about this?"
By the end, she was completely expressionless. Coupled with her calm tone, she exuded an icy, mountain-like aura.
Even Horikita was startled by her transformation and stammered, "A-Ah, yeah, that works."
The next moment, Tachibana Akane reverted to normal.
"B-But is this okay? And who is that girl…?"
"…She's someone Hikigaya-kun found to help," Horikita answered somewhat unwillingly.
She couldn't understand why they had to bring in this delinquent-looking girl—she could've done it herself.
"Alright, Yajima will be here soon. Go keep watch," Manabe said impatiently, waving her hand.
Horikita ignored her and continued speaking to Tachibana Akane. "Just treat her as a pawn. If things get out of hand, I'll step in to help."
"…Alright. Thank you, Horikita-chan."
Saying that Tachibana Akane patted her cheeks firmly, forcing herself to calm down.
Not long after Horikita left the classroom, a girl with braided hair walked in.
It was Yajima—the leader of the girls in Class 3-D.
"Tachibana, you wanted to see me? Huh? You look so serious… And who's this? She looks like a first-year."
Yajima was expecting to meet only Tachibana Akane, so seeing an extra person present naturally made her wary.
"Yo, you're Yajima-senpai, right?" Manabe greeted casually. "My boss here has something to say to you, so do us a favor and listen, yeah?"
"Huh? Your boss?"
"Of course, I'm talking about Tachibana-senpai right here."
"Haha, what are you—ow?! That hurts!"
Just as Yajima laughed, Manabe suddenly yanked her braid and dragged her forward.
"Who said we're joking around?" Manabe glared at her fiercely. "What, you think we don't know what you've been up to? You just keep pushing people's buttons, hoping I'll take things seriously and mess you up, huh?"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about! Tachibana, say something… Tachibana?"
To Yajima's shock, the usually kind and gentle Tachibana Akane was now standing there coldly, silent and expressionless.
"Tachibana! Say something! Stop her!"
"Quit whining, or I'll mess up that face of yours," Manabe sneered.
From just a few exchanges, she had already determined that Yajima was the easily bullied type—a little intimidation was all it took to make her shrink back.
After all, having been in delinquent circles since middle school, reading people was a basic skill.
Sure enough, Yajima's voice immediately softened. "I-I'm your senior! How dare you treat me like this! If I report this, you'll regret it!"
"Hmph. You mean report it to Nagumo, the one you're working with?"
"Wh-What? I don't know what you're talking about."
Although Yajima tried to feign ignorance, Manabe grinned.
"Drop the act. You guys are targeting Tachibana-senpai, aren't you? Nagumo bought you all off—along with that pig, Igari—so she could be in charge and drag Tachibana down with her in this exam. You're nothing but accomplices."
As Manabe spoke, Yajima's expression stiffened.
"…I don't understand what you mean. Stop making things up."
She forcefully pried Manabe's hand off and took a few steps back, full of caution.
"I don't know what you're talking about… I'm leaving."
She turned to go, but before she could take a step—
"Ahh—!"
Manabe pushed her against the wall.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Grabbing Yajima's bangs, Manabe pressed her down.
"Tell me, senpai, do you know why a first-year like me is standing here?"
"…Huh?"
Yajima, who was about to cry out in pain, was stunned by the question.
Why was a first-year here?
Not only did she seem to know about Nagumo's plans, but she was also siding with Tachibana.
"I got paid a hefty sum to handle this matter," Manabe grinned. "After all, what you guys did pissed off Horikita-senpai."
"H-Horikita-kun…?"
"Heh, so you do know exactly who I'm talking about."
Manabe locked eyes with Yajima and saw it—fear.
Then, following what Hikigaya had taught her, she continued speaking.
"Looks like you've finally understood. Horikita-senpai had already seen through your plan from the beginning."
"Huh?!"
"Compared to me, that Horikita-senpai is at least ten thousand times scarier, right?"
Even though her words were vague, they were enough to shake someone with a guilty conscience.
Yajima tried to avert her gaze, but Manabe forcibly held her in place.
"Your Class 3-D has received quite a few benefits from Nagumo, haven't you? I get that you all want more personal points—after all, you're just a bunch of rejects from Class D, struggling to get by every day in poverty."
"Uh…"
"But now that graduation is around the corner, is it worth taking the risk of getting targeted by some terrifying people just for a few more points?"
"…W-What?"
"Still don't get it?" Manabe sneered as she pinched Yajima's cheek. "Even if you manage to get Tachibana-senpai expelled this time, in exchange, you'll have to face someone's wrath. Don't think that just because graduation is near, it doesn't matter. If they want you gone before you graduate, trust me—they have the power to make it happen."
"You're lying…"
Yajima's resistance crumbled. Her weak rebuttal barely carried any strength.
"This is the truth. If you graduate as a student of ANHS, I'll have to call you 'senpai' when I see you outside. But if you drop out now, you'll just be plain old Yajima."
"…No, I was just forced into this."
"Then you should know the right choice to make now, shouldn't you?" Manabe smirked. "Oh, and by the way, Igari-senpai has already given up. If you don't believe me, you can go ask her yourself."
That final sentence shattered the last defense in Yajima's mind. She weakly nodded.
"…I get it. I'm out… I'm sorry, Tachibana-san. So… please forgive me."
"Heh, if you'd just done this from the start, there wouldn't have been any problems, Yajima-senpai."
With that, Manabe let go of her.
The moment she lost support, Yajima collapsed to her knees, gasping for air.
"Alright, let's put an end to this here. For the third-years, making it to graduation safely is more important than anything else, right?"
"Y-Yeah…" Yajima nodded cautiously.
"Then we'll be leaving now."
After saying that, Manabe guided Tachibana Akane out of the classroom.
The latter was completely frozen in place.
"Tachibana-senpai, are you alright?"
Horikita, who had been keeping watch in the hallway, quickly stepped forward to check on her while throwing a sharp glare at Manabe.
She had seen everything that just happened.
Even though she was unwilling to admit it, neither she, Matsushita, nor Kushida could have done something like this… No, maybe Kushida could?
"Why are you glaring at me?" Manabe glared back, annoyed. "Don't start preaching about whether I went too far or not. Your Class D isn't exactly full of saints either. If anything, I was dragged into this by that dead-eyed guy."
"…I didn't say anything."
"Hmph, whatever. Just make sure to tell that dead eyes—don't forget to transfer my payment!"
With that, Manabe strode off, but her steps were noticeably light.
The satisfaction of making even a senior student submit—this was the first time she had ever felt it.
And it was exhilarating!