Without a doubt, Horikita's words completely shifted the atmosphere of the class.
Especially the revelation of the hidden camera incident—it delivered a fatal blow to Yamauchi.
The girls naturally couldn't forgive such behavior, and the boys wouldn't dare to defend him either. Doing so would only make them look like accomplices, and distancing themselves was the only sensible option.
Yamauchi was now utterly isolated.
Even if he tried to drag Ayanokoji down with him, spreading bad rumors about him after class, it was futile.
The difference in their usual reputations among classmates was too vast for his words to carry any weight.
Of course, this didn't mean Ayanokoji had a good reputation.
After all, those two infamous reflection letters were still hanging on the forum.
However, in the eyes of their classmates, no matter what Ayanokoji did, it was always against students from other classes.
Most of them were unaware that he had once targeted Horikita as well.
On the other hand, Yamauchi had long been an annoyance to many. With the revelation of his secret alliance with Sakayanagi, he was now seen as nothing short of a traitor.
It seemed that this time, he was doomed.
Sigh… is there something wrong with this guy's brain?
Hikigaya felt utterly exasperated. He had already warned Yamauchi that Sakayanagi still bore a grudge over being knocked down at the forest training camp.
Yet, why did he still fall for her so easily?
…Could it be that he's a lolicon?
That was the only explanation Hikigaya could think of.
After all, in real life, attractive people don't just approach you for no reason—it's always a setup!
By lunchtime, Yamauchi was still making a commotion, desperately trying to convince everyone that he wasn't a traitor and that he wasn't the mastermind behind the hidden camera incident.
But to Hikigaya, something about his attitude felt off.
Rather than worrying about expulsion, Yamauchi seemed more concerned about his reputation within the class.
At first glance, these two concerns might seem identical—at least in the context of this exam.
However, there were subtle differences.
Simply put, since he had already been publicly branded as a traitor, the best course of action should have been to emphasize to everyone that "Hikigaya has twenty million points."
That would have been his best shot at avoiding expulsion.
Yet, instead of doing that, he was fixated on verbally attacking others—especially on trying to portray Ayanokoji as someone lower than himself.
This mindset wasn't entirely incomprehensible, but it still felt like a complete miscalculation given the current situation.
Unless… Yamauchi was never actually worried about being the last-ranked student to begin with.
Considering his alliance with Sakayanagi, she must have made him some kind of promise.
Perhaps something like ensuring that her followers would vote in his favor.
That would explain why he agreed to Sakayanagi's plan so readily—after all, this was a risky move.
If exposed, he would be ostracized by the entire class, just like what was happening now.
But if he held enough support votes from another class, he could offset any number of criticism votes…
Of course, whether Sakayanagi would keep her promise was another question entirely.
That said, this time the situation felt different.
If that little devil's goal was to get Hikigaya expelled, then she likely wasn't deceiving Yamauchi.
As long as Yamauchi received the most criticism votes in the class, all they needed to do was ensure that Hikigaya ranked second to last—then their plan would be a success.
To be honest, that wouldn't be so bad either.
After all, Hikigaya never cared about whether he got expelled or not. He had no intention of campaigning for votes, nor did he plan to go after Yamauchi.
There was no way he'd waste time and energy on an insignificant small fry.
From the beginning, his only true enemy was that damn brat.
Only Sakayanagi Arisu—she had to be expelled, no matter what.
Ever since Hikigaya learned about Nagumo and Sakayanagi's scheme yesterday, he had been reaffirming this goal in his mind.
And this morning, he finally took his first step.
Now, neither Sakayanagi nor he had any room to turn back.
The best possible outcome? They'd both get expelled together.
…Hmph, well, it's her own damn fault.
Muttering to himself, Hikigaya walked out of the classroom.
But he wasn't heading to lunch. Besides, the only free meal available was the wild vegetable set.
Though the taste wasn't bad, the cafeteria was way too crowded right now. He really didn't feel like going, so he'd wait until later.
Besides, he had arranged to meet someone in the meantime.
Arriving at the designated location—a secluded pathway behind the school building—he found the place deserted. Hardly anyone ever passed through here, and at this time of day, it was even more desolate.
Looks like that guy hasn't arrived yet. Guess I'll wait a bit.
"Come to think of it, this is where Ryuuen knelt, huh?"
Recalling that event, Hikigaya felt time had passed surprisingly fast.
It was as if it had happened just yesterday.
Back then, he had only meant to taunt Ryuuen, never expecting the guy would actually go through with it… Nearly a year had passed since then. So much had happened in between.
What would the future hold…?
Lost in thought, Hikigaya was suddenly interrupted by a chime from his pocket.
…Don't tell me that guy's ditching me?
But when he checked, it wasn't Ryuuen. Instead, it was a message from an anonymous number.
[If you expel Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in this special exam, your account will be unbanned.]
Huh…? What the hell is this?
The message immediately caught Hikigaya's attention—or rather, confused him.
After a moment's thought, he replied with a simple question mark.
But after that, silence. No further messages.
Seriously? You just drop a bomb and disappear?
At least have the guts to explain yourself. Or better yet, give me your damn name!
Even so, that single message revealed quite a bit.
Assuming the message was true and the sender really had the power to do this, their identity was obvious.
Other than the school's chairman, who else could it be?
Even if it was just the acting chairman, restricting a student's account wasn't difficult if they had a valid reason. Unbanning it would be even easier.
Of course, other possibilities had to be considered.
The number of people who knew about Hikigaya's account being banned was very limited. Hasebe could be ruled out immediately. As for Class B, they had no reason to target Ayanokoji, and Sakayanagi wouldn't allow it either.
After all, she wanted to personally bury Ayanokoji.
Nagumo, on the other hand, did have a motive. But Hikigaya felt that guy would be more direct about it. There was no need for such secrecy.
That left only one person—Tsukishiro, that middle-aged man.
…Ugh, I feel like I've been dragged into something troublesome.
Hikigaya wasn't surprised that Tsukishiro wanted Ayanokoji gone. That was the whole reason he came to this school. The big shots behind him even went as far as framing Sakayanagi's father to make it happen.
But what was strange was why Tsukishiro would take the risk of sending this message.
That's right—Hikigaya didn't see this as a deal or a threat.
The logic was simple. It was just an account ban, not a life-or-death matter.
Even if it contained 28 million points, would a student capable of earning that much really bow down to such a weak threat?
At the very least, Hikigaya didn't think that scheming, squinty-eyed man was that naive.
And if the guy wasn't an idiot, then the reason for doing something so foolish had to be… his motive.
Put simply, Tsukishiro probably didn't actually want Ayanokoji expelled.
He sent that message deliberately to provoke Hikigaya.
Looking at it from another angle, the situation became clear.
A high school student is in his rebellious phase, being oppressed by a school official abusing their power. His account gets banned on a whim, and the only way to lift it is to do the school's dirty work.
What would happen next?
1. Obediently complies and does as he's told.
2. Tell them to go to hell.
Tsukishiro likely saw Hikigaya as the second type.
From the school's standpoint, they couldn't openly target a specific student, let alone force their expulsion.
If Hikigaya figured this out, there was no way he'd submit to such a threat. Instead, he was more likely to oppose the school—at the very least, he'd warn Ayanokoji about it.
Otherwise, Tsukishiro's motives didn't make any sense.
As for why he used such a roundabout method… well, adults have their own problems too.
Of course, it was also possible that Hikigaya was overthinking this.
Maybe the acting chairman was just an arrogant fool.
But whatever the truth was, Tsukishiro had made a miscalculation.
Because Hikigaya had chosen a third option.
—What the hell does your "masterpiece" have to do with me?
In simple terms, he was going to do nothing.
Whether Tsukishiro truly wanted Ayanokoji expelled or not, it didn't matter in the slightest.
Hikigaya wasn't going to waste his time or energy on a guy like that—that would be criminally stupid.
Without hesitation, he deleted the message.
Just then, Ryuuen finally strolled onto the scene.
Man, this guy is way too slow.
"Yo, Dead Eyes. Kept you waiting, huh?"
"Well, if you knew that, you could've moved your ass faster," Hikigaya said irritably.
"Whatever, I don't feel like nagging you. You brought the stuff, right?"
"Heh… what do you think?"
As he spoke, Ryuuen pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.
It was the contract he had signed with Katsuragi back on the uninhabited island, allowing him to receive 800,000 private points from Class B every month.
"I say, dead eyes, are you serious?"
"What are you referring to?"
"This deal." Ryuuen flicked the contract in his hand. "I'm curious—someone like you, who never does a losing business, is making such an outrageous request this time… What exactly are you planning?"
"Does that have anything to do with you? You're not losing out anyway," Hikigaya replied, unwilling to continue the conversation.
But Ryuuen wasn't letting it go. "That's exactly the issue. This deal is a huge win for me, and that's what makes it unsettling."
"Unsettling? Since when did you start acting like a nagging old woman?"
"I can't afford to be careless with you."
"…Sigh, fine."
Hikigaya let out a helpless sigh before speaking in a casual tone, "It's nothing major. I just want to make sure that Sakayanagi is forced to drop out with absolute certainty. I'm adding an extra layer of insurance."
"…Heh."
Hearing this, Ryuuen's expression shifted into an "I knew it" kind of look before he let out a chuckle.
"I don't know what went down between you and Sakayanagi, but you sure are ruthless. Even with all the cards in your hand, you still think it's not enough."
"The more cards, the better, right?"
"Even at such a high cost?" Ryuuen still found it hard to believe. "You're using two contracts to trade for mine. Are you still thinking straight? Or has your brain completely rotted away?"
Indeed, Hikigaya's proposed deal was to exchange his contract with Class C for the contract between Ryuuen and Katsuragi.
This effectively made him Class B's new creditor.
Naturally, Ryuuen had no reason to refuse. After all, he and Class C had been bound by that contract for a long time, and now they were finally being freed. Not to mention, out of the 800,000 points Class B provided, 300,000 were originally meant for Hikigaya anyway.
Now, that portion was also nullified.
In other words, Ryuuen had made a massive gain, but his usual paranoia was kicking in again.
Hikigaya found this exasperating and impatiently said, "Just think of it as a thank-you gift. Didn't you come to Class B's aid last time at my request?"
"Tch, I only came because I wanted to see Sakayanagi in a miserable state."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."
In truth, Hikigaya had long considered canceling the contract with Class C.
After all, they were technically allies now, and Ryuuen had indeed helped quite a bit. When he stormed into Class B to confront Sakayanagi last time, it was thanks to Albert blocking Kito that he wasn't thrown out on the spot.
The only problem was that he never found the right timing.
How should he put it…? He and Ryuuen weren't exactly friends, so suddenly saying he wanted to cancel the contract would feel weird.
And Ryuuen would probably feel uncomfortable too—like he was receiving charity from Hikigaya.
But this time, by trading contract for contract, at least on the surface, it looked like a fair exchange. That made things much simpler.
Most importantly… Hikigaya had already made up his mind to drop out.
According to his contract with Class C, even if he left, Class C would still have to bear the agreed-upon consequences, with no chance of overturning it.
With that in mind, it was better to cancel it in advance.
That contract had only been set up in the first place to keep Ryuuen in check. There was no longer any need to drag others down with him.
"Hah, looks like you're dead set on taking down Sakayanagi." Ryuuen suddenly let out a cold laugh. "I've been looking into your class's situation. That idiot Yamauchi seems to have been roped in by Sakayanagi and is secretly targeting you… So now you're deliberately putting on a 'revenge' act?"
Detecting the underlying implication in his words, Hikigaya frowned slightly.
"Revenge is a strong word. I just don't plan on letting her off that easily."
"Yeah, based on your actions, you're going all out—even sacrificing such a huge profit."
Ryuuen gave him a meaningful smirk.
"But your expression doesn't match that. I don't see any anger toward Sakayanagi, just… sadness. Seems like your savior complex will never go away. Or is it because Sakayanagi is disabled that you pity her even more?"
"…Are you done being annoying?" Hikigaya shot him a sharp glare. "Are you making the trade or not? If not, I'm leaving—I haven't even had lunch yet."
"Hah, you getting impatient is amusing."
Ryuuen was having the time of his life, enjoying the rare moment of verbal dominance.
Tch… this bastard.
"Alright, alright. Since you're so eager, let's go to the office and get this settled now."
Hikigaya waved his hand dismissively and was about to take a step forward when, out of nowhere, Ryuuen suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
Ryuen's expression suddenly turned serious as he spoke in a solemn tone. "How you deal with Sakayanagi is your business, but let me remind you—if you keep this half-hearted attitude, you won't stand a chance against that student council president."
"Have you already forgotten what happened at the forest training camp?" Hikigaya asked expressionlessly.
"Heh, stop pretending. You know that wasn't a real victory."
Just as Ryuen said, it was nothing more than putting on a strong front.
"You should know better than anyone that taking that blondie down for good means crushing the dreams and futures of a lot of people. When that happens, a whole bunch of them are going to hate you—especially the students from the lower-ranked classes."
"…I don't need you to remind me."
"I just wonder if someone like you can handle that much resentment," Ryuen smirked, the same irritating grin back on his face. "Besides, you're only doing this because you're on good terms with Suzune's brother, right? If that's your only reason, do you have the resolve to see this through?"
"Ugh…" Hikigaya was left speechless. In truth, he had already realized all of this, which was exactly why he didn't care if he ended up dropping out.
Sakayanagi, Ryuen, Nagumo, Ayanokoji… and now, even Tsukishiro.
The endless cycle of trouble never seemed to end.
As long as he remained in this school, peace was an impossibility.
If leaving meant he could finally have some quiet, then maybe… that wasn't such a bad option.
He was truly exhausted.
So perhaps… this really would be the last time.