With no other choice, Hikigaya left the classroom with a displeased expression, following behind Chabashira-sensei.
"Hikigaya, how do you feel about this exam?"
He had assumed she would take him to the student guidance office, but unexpectedly, Chabashira-sensei spoke up midway.
What is she up to now...?
Although he wasn't entirely sure, Hikigaya still answered truthfully, "Not great. It felt terrible."
"Yes, it's not surprising that you feel that way, especially given your current situation." Chabashira-sensei's words carried an implied meaning.
She was probably referring to the account suspension issue. As the homeroom teacher, she would naturally be aware of it.
However, this wasn't something she should be getting involved in.
More importantly, this wasn't the right place to discuss it.
Although Class D was dismissed later than other classes, leaving only a few students in the hallway, there was still a risk of someone overhearing.
Chabashira-sensei was far too careless… Was she in a hurry?
No matter what, he had to put a stop to this conversation before it continued any further.
"I don't understand what you're trying to say, sensei." Hikigaya feigned indifference. "If this is about discussing the exam, I don't think it's appropriate. After all, as a teacher, you shouldn't be interfering in the students' special exams—you should be aware of that."
"Don't worry, I'll keep it within the boundaries of the rules."
"Nothing is reassuring about that at all..."
If possible, Hikigaya would much prefer if Chabashira-sensei stayed out of this entirely, just as she usually did.
But judging by the way things were going, she seemed determined to bring it up.
"Besides, Hikigaya, I'm not just talking about the exam. I'm also referring to the situation you're currently facing. I'm quite curious as to why you haven't come to me, your homeroom teacher, about it yet."
"Is that necessary?" Hikigaya countered.
Chabashira nodded as if she had already expected that response. "Of course, a student like you wouldn't normally seek help from an adult... But you should understand that this situation is different. It's not just about the special exam—it's something that affects your daily life. The government wouldn't approve of this kind of approach."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
In truth, Hikigaya had already picked up on her hint.
Even if Class B had initiated the deliberation, if he claimed that his daily life was being affected, he could very well get his account reinstated.
After all, ANHS wasn't a dictatorship run solely by the chairman—it was an experimental school under government supervision.
Even if Tsukishiro had been forced through an unreasonable special exam, that didn't mean he could do whatever he pleased with the students.
The simplest example? If he really had that much power, he could've just expelled Ayanokoji outright. There was no need for all these convoluted schemes.
So, the underlying message Chabashira was conveying was probably this—if Hikigaya was willing to raise a fuss, she would back him up completely.
"By the way, Mashima isn't pleased with this exam either. He even openly opposed the acting chairman during the meeting. If you don't trust me, you could always go talk to him."
Alright, the word "probably" could be removed.
He hadn't expected even Mashima-sensei to be dragged into this... But considering that teacher's personality, it made sense that he wouldn't just stand idly by.
However, despite his appreciation for Chabashira's goodwill, Hikigaya had no intention of taking any action.
To put it bluntly, if he had that kind of intention, he would've already grabbed a megaphone and openly questioned the school's decision. He would've spread the issue all over campus, making sure it blew up in everyone's faces.
There was no way he would have waited this long without doing anything.
In short, he had no intention of responding to Chabashira's expectations.
"Sensei, thank you for your concern, but I'll handle it myself."
"And by 'handling it yourself,' you mean urging everyone to vote for your expulsion?"
"...Didn't you just say you wouldn't interfere with the special exam?" Hikigaya was speechless.
Since he had a rough idea of what Chabashira was thinking, he wasn't particularly moved by her concern.
It was nothing more than a matter of her not wanting the class to lose a valuable asset.
Honestly, rather than worrying about this, Hikigaya would rather she stop meddling altogether.
After all, someone had to be expelled. If a volunteer had already stepped forward, wasn't that a good thing?
"I'm not interfering—just casually asking," Chabashira suddenly gave a faint smile. "But since you don't want to talk, then forget it. You can go now."
"...Huh?"
After all that, it was ending just like that?
While Hikigaya was relieved to finally be set free, he couldn't shake the feeling that Chabashira's attitude was off—like she was plotting something.
Before he could figure it out, a set of hurried footsteps suddenly echoed behind him.
Calling them "hurried" didn't quite capture it. Even from a distance, he could tell that each step was heavily stomping against the floor as if suppressing inner rage.
Wait... no way.
Trembling, Hikigaya turned around, only to see the last person he wanted to run into right now.
Horikita approached with a face like a demon from hell.
This was bad.
Fortunately, she bypassed Hikigaya and headed straight for Chabashira.
"Chabashira-sensei, I demand an explanation! What exactly did you mean by what you just said?"
"Horikita, calm down," Chabashira said with a composed smile. "This is a personal matter concerning Hikigaya. Given my position, I can't disclose it to you privately... However, if your question is whether Class D currently has the 20 million points required to save an expelled student, then I don't have to keep that confidential. That's something I can answer."
Hey?!
What the hell was this unqualified teacher doing?!
Hikigaya was dumbfounded. Technically, Chabashira hadn't broken any rules, and others could still infer whether someone in the class had a large number of personal points from her answer…
The problem was… The problem was…
The problem was that he had never expected to be played by Chabashira himself!
Adults were too cunning!
She had probably already noticed—or rather, she had deliberately given Horikita a hint, leading her to eavesdrop on their conversation.
That also explained why she had chosen to discuss this in the hallway.
Under normal circumstances, Hikigaya would have sensed Horikita's presence. After all, he was quite sensitive to the presence of others.
But this time was different.
For one, his attention was focused entirely on Chabashira, trying to figure out her intentions.
And second… he was just too damn hungry to concentrate.
Otherwise, there was no way Horikita—of all people—could have successfully tailed him!
"Hikigaya-kun, now is not the time to zone out, is it?"
At Chabashira's words, Horikita immediately turned and shot him an intense glare.
It had been a while since he'd seen that expression… and honestly, it was kind of terrifying.
"Looks like you don't need me to answer—you've already figured it out yourself. Well then, I'll be on my way."
With a victorious smile, Chabashira turned and walked off without another word.
Damn it... Don't just leave me here!
Faced with Horikita, who was struggling to suppress her anger, Hikigaya was genuinely nervous.
The real problem was… he had no idea what to say.
Should he just be honest and tell her that he didn't mind getting expelled?
Regardless of how Horikita might react, once she found out, it meant that Kushida and Matsushita would know as well.
Rather than worrying about what the three of them would say, Hikigaya was more concerned about what they might do.
Take this time, for example. While others might not have noticed, it was obvious that those three had worked together to take down Yamauchi.
Horikita exposed Yamauchi's incompetence with cold, hard logic. Matsushita and Kushida set him up, then cleverly shifted the blame onto him.
At least most of the class believed that Yamauchi had simply been careless and was caught red-handed.
But Hikigaya found it hard to believe that guy would be stupid enough to enter and leave a karaoke bar at the same time as Sakayanagi. Especially since Sakayanagi would have surely warned him about it in advance.
In other words... Matsushita was terrifying.
She had perfectly exploited the natural bias that "people are more likely to believe a pretty girl over a sleazy guy like Yamauchi." It was disturbingly pragmatic.
In any case, Hikigaya had been completely unaware of what had happened that morning, and the revelation had genuinely startled him.
That was why he was now hesitant to tell the truth. If he did, those three might once again take matters into their own hands and do something unpredictable behind his back.
Then again, no matter what they planned to do, there was no reason for them to inform him in advance anyway... Maybe it was best not to say anything at all?
"Uh, Horikita?" Hikigaya cautiously attempted to appease her. "I know you probably have a lot of questions, but could you at least be mindful of the setting? It'd be bad if someone overheard us."
Not that she had any right to complain about eavesdropping, considering she had been doing exactly that...
Hopefully, she would pick up on the subtle jab he had just thrown at her.
"You're right. Something this important shouldn't be heard by outsiders," Horikita replied.
For some reason, she sounded completely oblivious to the fact that she herself was, technically, an outsider as well... Or was that just his imagination?
"In that case, come with me for a moment."
"Huh?"
Without warning, Horikita reached out and grabbed Hikigaya's wrist, forcefully dragging him toward the staircase.
She didn't say another word along the way, which only made him more uneasy.
"Uh, Horikita? Where exactly are you taking me?"
"... …"
"At least give me an explanation?"
"...We'll be there soon."
Horikita didn't even glance back at him, her voice muffled as she gave a brief response before falling silent again.
Crap... She really was mad.
Just as Hikigaya was trying to figure out how to wriggle out of the situation, he suddenly realized that she had led him to the rooftop.
...Wait.
Was she planning to recreate that rooftop scene, like Ayanokoji had done before?
No, no, no—there was no way.
This was Horikita, after all. At worst, she'd just throw a couple of punches to vent her frustration.
As Hikigaya's mind wandered with all sorts of ridiculous thoughts, Horikita abruptly let go of his wrist. She crossed her arms and shot him an ice-cold glare.
"Hikigaya-kun, do you have anything you want to say to me?"
"Uh... Actually, I do."
Hikigaya scratched his head, hesitated for a moment, then finally made up his mind.
"To be honest... I'm really hungry. Can I go back now?"
"...You…"
Horikita's face darkened. She clenched her fists tightly, then, without saying another word, took a step closer.
"W-Wait, hold on a second."
Overwhelmed by her intimidating presence, Hikigaya instinctively backed away until he hit the wall behind him.
"Let's talk this out, okay?"
But Horikita ignored him completely and continued to approach.
In the end, she even raised her fist and slammed it against the wall beside his head—
…Huh?
Was this… a kabedon?
Faced with such an incomprehensible development, Hikigaya's brain momentarily shut down.
Come to think of it, back home, Komachi had done this to him before.
Whenever he made too much noise in his room, she would bang on the wall and yell, "Onii-chan, shut up!"
Without a doubt, that had to count as a kabedon too, right?
And since Horikita was also a younger sister, maybe this was just her way of expressing her displeasure.
So there was no need to overthink it… Right?
…Wait, why did it feel like he was trying to convince himself?
As Hikigaya's mind wandered into a bizarre train of thought, Horikita remained focused, staring intently at his face. Then, she spoke, enunciating each word carefully.
"Hikigaya-kun, I want you to give me an explanation."
"Eh…? Explanation for what?"
Hikigaya snapped back to reality, but he still hadn't fully processed what was happening.
"There's more than just one," Horikita's tone suddenly carried a hint of resentment. "Didn't you say that no matter what decision I made, you would stand by my side?"
"Yeah, I did say that. What about it?"
"Then—Then why did you… Why did you betray me in front of everyone this afternoon?"
"…I betrayed you?"
Hikigaya's mind filled with question marks.
"Wait a second, where is this coming from? I don't recall doing anything like that."
"How could you not?!" Horikita's voice was filled with frustration. "I made up my mind to get Yamauchi expelled this time! It was fine if you didn't want to help, but why did you have to speak up for him? Because of you, all my efforts went to waste!"
"Uh… wait, huh? Why would you even think that?"
Hikigaya was both amused and bewildered by Horikita's reaction.
Was she… sulking at him?
…No way, must be his imagination.
"I already explained my reasoning, didn't I? Yamauchi has B Class's protection votes—he won't get expelled. In the end, only innocent students will suffer."
"That's not a hundred percent certain!" Horikita argued indignantly. "I refuse to believe that Sakayanagi would actually keep her promise. Besides, those two definitely didn't sign a contract, or else Yamauchi would've flaunted it by now."
"But you can't completely deny the possibility, can you?" Hikigaya reasoned patiently.
"I-I…"
Honestly, Hikigaya shared the same doubts as Horikita.
But that was assuming his account hadn't been locked. That damn loli Sakayanagi even resorted to such ruthless measures, clearly aiming to ensure his expulsion. So, in the end, ordering her lackeys to vote for Yamauchi was highly likely.
That way, even if Yamauchi's dirty deeds were exposed, it wouldn't matter.
As long as the rumor about Hikigaya having twenty million points kept circulating, Class D's students would throw plenty of criticism votes at him. Without Yamauchi at the bottom, Hikigaya would naturally become the next in line for expulsion.
Besides, from Sakayanagi's perspective, leaving behind someone as useless as Yamauchi in Class D wasn't a bad thing.
To be honest, it was a brilliant strategy.
If she hadn't teamed up with Nagumo to target Ichinose as well, Hikigaya might have even applauded her.
But right now… Hmph.
"Fine, I'll let this one slide for now."
However, this wasn't the time for Hikigaya to be smug—Horikita wasn't done yet.
She pressed forward aggressively. "And what was that about what Chabashira-sensei said earlier? What exactly are you hiding from me?"
Ah, so she finally brought it up.
No matter how he looked at it, keeping quiet was still the best option.
"Just so you know, Hikigaya-kun, don't even think about trying to brush me off with some vague excuse."
It was as if Horikita had read his mind. Her sharp gaze locked onto his face, watching closely for any sign of hesitation.
"If you don't come clean, I'm not leaving tod—"
"Not leaving what?"
A cold voice suddenly interrupted Horikita.
"Horikita, you nasty woman, what exactly are you doing to my Hachiman, hmm?"
"…Kushida."
Horikita didn't even need to turn around—she could tell from the tone exactly who had arrived.
"Aha, I'm here too!" Matsushita cheerfully waved from the side. "I just happened to see Horikita-san trying to drag Hachiman-kun away, so I immediately informed Kushida-san. Luckily, nothing bad happened!"
"Uh…" Horikita suddenly had a strange realization.
Could it be… Matsushita was actually more troublesome than Kushida?
She just hid it well, but in reality… Never mind.
For Horikita, having these two here wasn't entirely bad. At the very least, Hikigaya had no way to escape now.
"Listen, both of you—"
"Listen my foot! Explain what you were doing just now!" Kushida cut her off furiously.
"What I was doing?"
Horikita genuinely didn't understand. She never paid much attention to these things.
She had simply acted out of convenience… but that wasn't the point.
"Kushida, don't get caught up in irrelevant matters."
"Irrelevant—how dare you call it irrelevant?!"
"I overheard Hikigaya-kun's conversation with Chabashira-sensei." Horikita forcibly steered the conversation back on track. "Chabashira-sensei clearly stated that Hikigaya-kun is hiding something important. Moreover, she also said that our Class D doesn't have enough points to reach twenty million."
"Well, obviously! Those guys couldn't possibly—wait, huh?"
Kushida started to complain but abruptly stopped, her eyes widening in realization.
Matsushita, on the other hand, caught on immediately. She fixed her gaze on Hikigaya, her full attention now on him.
Neither of them was an idiot. With just a little nudge from Horikita, they understood the deeper implications.
As the homeroom teacher, Chabashira likely had access to every student's financial situation—something Horikita had already figured out back in May.
At that time, Chabashira had mentioned that Hikigaya had earned a significant amount of points, which had already confirmed her knowledge of their finances.
So she definitely wasn't making baseless claims. Instead, she was subtly reminding Horikita of something.
Even though Class D was poor, setting aside Hikigaya, the remaining students could still pool together four to five million points.
Most of that money was concentrated in Kushida and Matsushita's hands.
Not only had they each received a million from Horikita's brother, but they had also made a huge profit during the VIP exam—amounting to 3.5 million in total.
Additionally, Hirata, Horikita, Sakura, and Sudou had a combined total of two million.
And that's not even counting the points earned from regular exams and club activities.
With all that considered, even if Hikigaya claimed he only had fifteen million, adding up the class's points should have easily reached twenty million.
The three girls' gazes landed on Hikigaya simultaneously.
They didn't say a word, yet the sheer pressure was unbearable.
Damn it, didn't they know stress was bad for one's health?
"Uh, well… It's really not a big deal."
At this point, Hikigaya knew he couldn't keep it hidden any longer.
Resigned, he pulled out his phone, opened the S-System, and showed them the screen.
"My account got frozen. That's all… Yep, just that."