The details of this additional special exam remained unclear until the very end.
Especially for Class C—almost everyone was stunned by Tokito's sudden gekokujou (overthrowing one's superior), unable to understand where he got the confidence to do such a thing.
Meanwhile, the students of Class B were anxiously awaiting the exam to begin.
Yahiko, in particular, had rushed to school early in the morning, determined to confirm once again that those around him would indeed cast their criticism votes against Sakayanagi.
His persistence, however, had begun to annoy others.
There was no helping it. Until the very last moment, no one could be certain whether Sakayanagi had any hidden tricks left up her sleeve.
Although she had remained quietly seated in her usual spot since morning as if she had already given up resisting, this only made Yahiko more uneasy—if anything, he grew more suspicious that she was scheming something behind the scenes.
In contrast, Classes A and D seemed much more peaceful.
Both classes had already determined their strategies, and no one in either group was at risk of expulsion in this exam.
As a result, the atmosphere was noticeably more relaxed. Nearly everyone acted as usual—even Yamauchi was laughing and chatting with his friends.
Not a trace of tension could be seen on anyone's face.
The school had deliberately scheduled the exam for 9 a.m., intentionally setting it an hour later to make students second-guess their decisions until the last minute.
Unfortunately, this tactic was ineffective against Class D.
But for Hikigaya, it worked out quite well—he could use this extra time to ensure that that annoying white-haired brat wouldn't be expelled.
Let's be clear about one thing.
This was purely for Masumi's sake.
It wasn't because of a certain borderline-yandere stalker-in-the-making!
…Wait, who was I even explaining this to?
Just thinking about what happened this morning sent a chill down Hikigaya's spine.
It was supposed to be a pleasant memory between him and Kamuro… but perhaps due to the sheer shock, all of it had been completely overwritten by Sakayanagi's terrifying words.
The worst part? She could back them up.
…Damn it.
She was on the verge of expulsion, yet she still wouldn't stop causing trouble!
There was nothing Hikigaya could do except seething in impotent rage.
Resolving himself, he stood up and slowly made his way to the podium, all while feeling the weight of everyone's gazes on him.
It was strange—normally, people treated him like he was invisible.
Yet today, the moment he stood up, every pair of eyes in the room locked onto him.
Huh… so I'm this popular?
Mocking himself internally, Hikigaya scanned the classroom and noticed that most of his classmates looked somewhat tense.
They were probably worried he was going to go back on his word… which, well, wasn't entirely inaccurate.
Taking a deep breath, he spoke in a clear voice:
"Apologies, but before the exam begins, I have something to say."
A hushed silence fell over the room.
All except for one particularly noisy idiot.
"Oi, oi! Hikikida!" Yamauchi shouted in a panic. "The exam's about to start—what the hell do you wanna say now?! Don't tell me you're backing out of the deal! Even if you regret it, it's already—"
"Alright, alright, I get it. Calm down."
Hikigaya cut him off, already sick of his rambling.
If there was one good thing about this whole expulsion ordeal, aside from the chance to see Komachi again, it was that he'd never have to deal with Yamauchi Haruki ever again.
Seriously, how could someone be this annoying? Was he mute in his past life or something?
"What I want to talk about has nothing to do with our class. You can go ahead and cast your criticism votes as planned."
Hearing that, many students visibly relaxed.
"Hikigaya-kun, what exactly do you want to say?"
It was Hirata who spoke up, sounding a bit guilty.
Part of it was to stop Yamauchi from making a scene, but he also seemed genuinely curious.
"I just have a small favor to ask," Hikigaya admitted hesitantly.
"Then please, go ahead. I promise to do my best."
Hirata agreed without hesitation, clearly wanting to set an example for the others.
This took Hikigaya by surprise—he hadn't discussed anything with Hirata beforehand, yet the guy had stepped up on his own.
He was probably trying to make up for something, which explained his eagerness.
Though Hikigaya figured he could've managed without Hirata's help, it wouldn't hurt to be grateful.
After all, Hirata was well-liked, and many students listened to him.
It seemed like things were going to go exactly as planned.
"It's actually not a big deal." Hikigaya tried to keep his tone as casual as possible. "It's just that, during the upcoming exam, for the commendation vote that we need to cast for a student from another class, I hope you all... can vote for Sakayanagi Arisu from Class B... Yeah, that's all."
As he finished speaking, his gaze wavered slightly.
How should he put it…? He was well aware that this request sounded a bit odd, or rather, inexplicable.
Recently, the conflict between Hikigaya and Class B had become widely known. Many people were even aware that Sakayanagi had been pushed to the brink of expulsion because of him.
—What the hell is he up to this time?
That was probably the thought crossing most people's minds at that moment.
Aside from that, three students in the audience had particularly terrifying expressions, nearly matching Hikigaya's own dead-fish eyes.
Let's not name names here.
"Hikigaya-kun, I understand your request... but may I ask something?"
Hirata, looking utterly baffled, gave a wry smile. "I know things between you and Sakayanagi haven't been going well recently. It's not really my place to intervene, but what exactly made you do a complete 180 on this matter?"
"Uh, it's not that dramatic."
Being called out so directly made Hikigaya feel incredibly awkward. He turned his face away in embarrassment.
"I just... kind of feel... like I might've gone a little too far."
"Too far... Oh, I see." Hirata was momentarily stunned before his expression shifted to one of realization.
Even without concrete evidence, just like how everyone had guessed it was Sakayanagi who spread the rumors about Ichinose, they had now figured out that Hikigaya was responsible for this.
Or rather, he had never intended to hide it in the first place.
Was it excessive? Most people did think things had escalated too far.
Some even believed the school would step in since the rumors involved the chairman. But in the end, nothing happened.
Of course, Hikigaya had already factored this into his considerations.
That Tsukishiro was an outsider parachuted into the school—he wouldn't be able to command respect so easily.
And now, negative rumors about the former chairman, Sakayanagi's father, suddenly spread throughout the school.
Unless Tsukishiro was an idiot, there was no reason for him to intervene. In fact, he could take advantage of this situation to undermine his predecessor's authority.
It would also make it easier for him to implement his agenda moving forward.
Even if the school issued a public denial, rumors of this nature usually only grew stronger the more they were suppressed.
The more something is prohibited, the more people love to talk about it.
"Hikigaya-kun, I understand. When the time comes, I'll write down Sakayanagi Arisu's name."
Hirata didn't hesitate in the slightest and openly stated his stance.
From his perspective, Hikigaya probably regretted pushing things too far, so he wanted to make amends to prevent Sakayanagi from being expelled.
Sigh, if only everyone could just accept that simple explanation, it would really make things easier… So could those three stop staring already?
If you keep glaring like that, your eyeballs are going to pop out!
"Anyway, that's all there is to it."
Hikigaya couldn't be bothered to explain any further. He simply added one last thing: "If you're willing to vote, go ahead. If not, that's fine too… Just think of it as something I traded for with my criticism votes."
Hearing him say that, some of the initially hesitant students found it hard to refuse.
In this exam, someone had to end up in last place.
Most students in Class D believed that Hikigaya had 20 million points, which was why they had chosen him as the sacrificial pawn. But that didn't mean they all felt completely at ease about it.
A normal person would still feel at least a little guilt.
Of course, that guilt was cheap—better than nothing.
But the commendation vote was free anyway. If it could help alleviate that guilt, most people wouldn't mind writing down Sakayanagi's name.
After all, they had to write someone's name either way.
Hikigaya had calculated all of this in advance, which was why he deliberately phrased it as "something traded for with criticism votes."
That way, people wouldn't feel like giving Hikigaya Hachiman a criticism vote was something bad—it would just feel like a simple transaction.
Even so, not everyone would act exactly as Hikigaya anticipated.
Quite a few students in the class were probably hoping that Sakayanagi would be expelled.
Considering future class battles, she was undoubtedly a formidable opponent. Someone like Yukimura, who desperately wanted to get into Class A, would prefer to see her gone.
Unfortunately, while those students were intelligent enough to understand what was best for their class, they had little influence within it.
Besides, Hikigaya never expected everyone to obediently follow his request and vote for Sakayanagi.
As long as he could get twenty or thirty votes, that would be enough.
The only two people capable of swaying the entire class were Hirata and Kushida.
And in a situation like this, there was no way they would publicly say, "Don't vote for Sakayanagi"—mostly because of the latter.
After all, Kikyo-chan's eyes had been looking pretty intense for a while now…
"Hahaha, so this is what it's about, Hikigaya! You're trying to rally votes for Sakayanagi-chan!"
At that moment, a certain clown jumped in again.
"It's good that you realized your mistake, but let me remind you, no matter how much you try to suck up Sakayanagi-chan, she's never going to like you!"
"Ugh..." Hikigaya didn't even bother responding to that guy and just went back to his seat.
They were about to part ways for good anyway, so there was no point wasting time on someone like him…
But now that he thought about it, people like Yamauchi would probably continue being an annoyance to Sakayanagi, Ayanokoji, and Class D in the future.
Hmm… That sounded kind of satisfying.
Just imagining it was amusing.
More than that, something else caught Hikigaya's attention.
After returning to his seat, Matsushita didn't say a word. She just looked at him with a meaningful gaze.
What the hell…? That look is so annoying!
But… thinking about how they probably wouldn't see each other again after this...
He felt just a tiny bit of loneliness.
At 9:00 sharp, Chabashira-sensei walked into the classroom.
"The internal class voting will now begin. When your name is called, please enter the voting room alone."
That way, no one had to worry about being seen while writing their votes.
It seemed the school had put a lot of thought into ensuring anonymity.
"Remember, neither the commendation nor the criticism vote can be cast for yourself. The commendation vote can only go to students from other classes."
After reiterating the rules, Chabashira-sensei started calling names.
Soon, it was Hikigaya's turn.
Entering the room, he didn't hesitate as he wrote the following names on his commendation votes: Kushida Kikyo, Matsushita Chiaki, and Horikita Suzune.
As for his criticism votes, they went to the same three people he had mentioned before: Yamauchi Haruki, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Sotomura Hideo.
He couldn't be bothered to think too hard about who to give the protection points to, so he just picked the three people he was most familiar with in class.
To be honest, Hikigaya had considered giving Sudo a commendation vote since the guy had been improving noticeably.
But after what happened last time, he was still a little annoyed.
Although Sudo wasn't involved in the secret filming, that guy clearly knew about it and still didn't stop them… Just like Horikita said, if he really thought what they were doing was wrong, he could've just punched each of them on the spot and ended it!
Even if they were his friends, some things are absolutely non-negotiable.
Or rather, precisely because they were his friends, he should've stopped them even more.
And besides… if he had done that, maybe Ike wouldn't have been expelled.
Anyway, I just hope Sudo learns his lesson from this.
As for that appreciation vote I gave to another class… whatever, I'll just give it to that annoying white-haired girl.
Of course, it's only because Hikigaya openly campaigned for her. If I didn't vote for her, it'd be kind of awkward…
Ugh… whatever.
I'm leaving soon anyway, so let people think whatever they want!
In less than an hour, everyone in Class D had finished voting.
They chatted happily in the classroom as if it were just another break between lessons, showing no sign of tension at all.
Among them, Yamauchi looked particularly pleased—he had probably already confirmed that everyone had voted to criticize Hikigaya.
Amid this peaceful atmosphere, Chabashira-sensei walked back into the classroom.
"Sorry for the wait. I will now announce Class D's exam results. Everyone, return to your seats."
Even though they were about to face judgment, most students remained unfazed, except for a few exceptions.
Chabashira-sensei took it all in without a word. She simply maintained a blank expression and began reading the results.
"First, I will announce the top three students who received the most appreciation votes. In third place—Hirata Yosuke."
…Huh?
This result surprised quite a few students, including Hikigaya himself.
Most had assumed Hirata would be in first place…
Although he looked genuinely happy, repeatedly thanking his classmates, the truth was that his popularity had declined compared to the first semester.
It was probably due to the uninhabited island incident and Ike's expulsion, which had cost him a lot of goodwill among his classmates.
"Next, in second place—Kushida Kikyo."
Despite this being the perfect moment to create suspense, Chabashira-sensei showed no sign of slowing down. In fact, she even seemed to speed up slightly, as if she couldn't wait to get through it.
Still… Kushida is seriously impressive.
She actually placed second… huh?
Then who's in first place?
A sudden realization struck Hikigaya—things were heading in an unpredictable direction.
"B-But if Kushida-san and Hirata-kun are in second and third place… then who's first?"
The same question dawned on everyone else, and confused expressions filled the room.
Considering the other standout students in class… there's no way it's Horikita, right?
As for Matsushita, that's even more unlikely. She's basically—
"Now, I will announce first place."
Before Hikigaya could piece things together, Chabashira-sensei raised her voice, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"—First place is…"
"Hah?"
Was it just his imagination, or did Chabashira-sensei just smirk in his direction?
"It's you, Hikigaya Hachiman." [T/N: I think web novel should add a new tag for fics called "Aura Farmer"]
"…Haaah?"
Not only did Hikigaya himself let out a dumbfounded noise—
After a brief silence, the entire classroom erupted in shock.
"W-Why?!"
The most dramatic reaction came from Yamauchi, who practically jumped out of his seat.
"Sensei, you must've made a mistake! He was supposed to be first place in the criticism votes!"
"There's no mistake. Hikigaya is indeed first in appreciation votes, with a total of eighty-eight votes… Sigh, what an incredible number."
Even Chabashira-sensei couldn't help but sigh at the end.
That number alone exceeded the combined total of two entire classes.
"Th-Then… who was in last place?"
In a moment of complete mental blankness, Yamauchi involuntarily asked the question he least wanted to face at this moment.
Then, the kind-hearted Chabashira-sensei answered him.
"Unfortunately, that student is you, Yamauchi Haruki."