Chapter 146: Just a Minor Setback, Sakayanagi Will Get Used to It! Sakayanagi: !@#
Hachiman and Ichinose Honami sat by the window, two simple dinners laid out before them. She was lightly moving the pasta on her plate with her fork, seemingly deep in thought.
"Hikigaya-kun." Ichinose suddenly looked up, a trace of curiosity in her bright eyes. "What did you talk about with Horikita-san earlier this evening? I saw that you two were talking for quite a while."
Hachiman took a bite of bread, swallowed, and said, "We talked about the exam. And about Class D."
"Class D?" Ichinose blinked.
Hachiman nodded and briefly recounted the conversation he had with Horikita that afternoon—about Koenji, about the surveillance footage, and about the potential clear-condition Class D might have possessed.
After listening, Ichinose's eyes widened slightly.
"Surveillance footage... letting Koenji watch it..." she murmured, her tone full of surprise. "There was actually a solution like that?"
Hachiman took a sip of his drink. "It's only a theoretical possibility. The actual execution would be extremely difficult. However, Koenji did indeed rely on his own ability to find the VIP of the Monkey Group."
Upon hearing this, Ichinose fell silent for a few seconds and then sighed softly.
"So Class D had an opportunity like that too." Her voice carried a hint of emotion. "However, Koenji-kun is indeed a very difficult person to persuade. Even when we went to him to end the Monkey Group's exam, we paid 1 million points, and he required an additional portion."
That made a total of 3 million points; however, the extra 2 million were paid for by Ryuen, who had wanted to win.
Hachiman nodded, not denying it.
Ichinose looked at him, a complex swirl of emotions flashing in her bright eyes. "So, you've been restricting Class C and suppressing Class D this whole time..." She paused. "Because you saw through this long ago?"
Hachiman shook his head. "It wasn't about seeing through it." He set down his glass, his gaze falling on the darkening sea outside the window. "It was because I had to."
He paused and continued. "Class C has Ryuen and Shiina. Their scores aren't high now, but their potential is great. If they aren't restricted, they'll catch up sooner or later. As for Class D..." His tone carried a hint of complexity. "Class D has Ayanokouji and Koenji. If either of those two fully exerts themselves, it would be enough to change the landscape of the entire school year."
Ichinose nodded thoughtfully. Just as she was about to say something, she remembered something else.
"By the way, Hikigaya-kun." Her tone became serious. "I heard something happened over at Class D this afternoon."
Hachiman looked at her.
Ichinose continued, "Ayanokouji-kun wanted to deduce the pattern and gained a certain amount of support from the students, but he was stopped by Horikita-san. Finally, Hirata-san stepped in to mediate, and Class D completely discarded Ayanokouji's idea."
Hachiman's eyebrow twitched slightly. He didn't speak further; he knew Ichinose wanted to ask him something.
Sure enough, Ichinose continued, "Hikigaya-kun, do you think Ayanokouji-kun really wanted to deduce the pattern? In other words, was Ayanokouji also deceived and believed that there was a pattern to the VIPs? Or—"
Ichinose hesitated. "Or was he using this incident as a cover to carry out some other operation?" Clearly, she was thinking about how Ayanokouji had tried to get the Class C girls to bully Class D's Karuizawa.
Hachiman was silent for a few seconds before slowly speaking.
"Actually, I think there are two possibilities.
Either he was also deceived by me and believed the nonsense about a VIP pattern. Or..." He paused. "He wanted to confirm the identities of Class D's VIPs and then continue manipulating hearts with his unscrupulous methods. That's the part you didn't say out loud."
Hearing this, Ichinose's brow furrowed slightly. She thought she had speculated about Ayanokouji to the maximum extent, yet Hachiman still deemed that part possible, which she found a bit frightening. She couldn't help but ask, "So which one is it?"
But Hachiman shook his head.
"It's impossible to be certain," Hachiman's voice carried a hint of sentiment. "Or rather, it could be both."
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the chandelier on the ceiling. Then, he transmitted his inner thoughts to Ichinose.
'Ichinose's speculation makes sense. If this were the Ayanokouji from the original story, he would indeed be incredibly powerful. Starting high school content at age four, finishing university courses by age six, and being able to take down ten adult instructors with his bare hands by age nine...'
Hearing Hachiman's inner voice, Ichinose's breath hitched slightly. She had heard his heart many times and knew Ayanokouji wasn't simple, but she didn't expect... it to be this exaggerated.
High school content at age four? Is that a human? Or rather, that level can no longer be considered human.
And a monster like that could only be matched by the other monster Hachiman mentioned in his thoughts... Koenji. Yes, only a genius of Koenji's level could deal with that.
Thinking of this, Ichinose fell silent. The waters in Class D were deeper than she had imagined.
Just then, a slight commotion came from the restaurant entrance. Hachiman and Ichinose both looked up toward the source of the sound.
Two girls were walking toward them. The one in front had beautiful purple-blue long hair, the ends slightly curled, shimmering softly under the lights. Though she wore the standard female uniform, her entire being radiated a lively yet refined aura. Her eyes were large, looking this way with an indefinable emotion—she was Morishita Ai from Class A.
However, Morishita was already a familiar character, and Hachiman was immune to her charms. He was more interested in the girl following behind her.
The girl following behind had her hair in a simple ponytail and delicate features, but she exuded a low-profile, reserved aura. She kept her head slightly down as if afraid of being noticed, yet her eyes peeked through her bangs to steal a glance at Hachiman before quickly darting away.
Yamamura Miki.
Hachiman recognized her at a glance—the girl who had almost zero presence in the original story but was always assigned by Sakayanagi to do tailing work.
One could say Morishita Ai was the unconventional, lone-wolf type. For her to be with Yamamura, who actively tried to lower her presence, was a truly unexpected combination.
Morishita Ai strode to Hachiman and Ichinose's table and stopped. Her gaze swept between the two of them, and a meaningful smile curled her lips.
"Is the atmosphere in Class B always this good?" Her voice was clear but carried obvious teasing. "The exam isn't even fully over yet, and you're already on a date."
Ichinose's face turned red instantly. She waved her hands hurriedly, her tone flustered. "No, it's not! We're just having a normal meal!"
Hachiman's expression remained unchanged as he looked at Morishita Ai.
"Your attitude is a bit too intense," Hachiman said. "Or rather, has something actually happened over in Class A?"
'Hmph.'
Morishita Ai's expression stiffened slightly. She was silent for two seconds and then suddenly sighed. That sigh contained an indefinable sense of helplessness and a hint of... grievance?
"My boss ran away," she said bluntly.
Hachiman's eyebrow moved slightly.
"The Sakayanagi faction has collapsed."
After saying this, Morishita Ai seemed to deflate, her shoulders slumping slightly. Behind her, Yamamura Miki kept her head down, but her trembling eyelashes betrayed her emotions.
Hachiman watched her, his mind working quickly. Morishita Ai was a member of the Sakayanagi faction. For her to say this meant Sakayanagi had relinquished her leadership.
In other words, Sakayanagi had realized it—there was no pattern to the VIPs. And the fact that she had been deceived by his inner voice had finally dawned on her.
In that case, Hiyori from Class C must have realized it as well.
Since they both realized it, it meant the results of the exam were basically determined. Classes A and C probably wouldn't make any more unauthorized attacks.
It was a bit of a pity, but it was essentially over. After all, Class C still owed him points; if they were deducted too much, he wouldn't be able to continue attacking Class C later. Know when to stop.
Hachiman withdrew his thoughts and focused on Morishita Ai again. "Tonight's discussion session," he began, "I have something to say to the representatives of each class."
Morishita Ai raised an eyebrow. "Important strategies and arrangements?"
"It should be considered a summary of this exam," Hachiman said. "Actually, it's probably just a request for all four classes to go with Case 1 so that the losses don't expand any further."
Morishita Ai was silent for a few seconds and then nodded. Since she realized the VIPs had no pattern, she could guess Class A had already lost quite a few points. If they could stop the deductions and Class B would cease their attacks, it was something they could accept.
"I'll go relay that," Morishita Ai said somewhat stiffly.
However, she soon paused and stared directly at Hachiman, her purple-blue eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of... unwillingness?
"However, I'm curious—how did you manage to lead Sakayanagi-san astray?" She took a step forward, her tone somewhat aggressive.
"She was so convinced there was a pattern, but now I feel like there was no pattern at all. How did you do it?"
Hachiman looked at her and didn't speak. He naturally couldn't tell her the truth.
The fact that Sakayanagi could hear his inner thoughts, and the fact that he used those thoughts to attack Classes A and C—none of that could be said. He had even discovered that girls could hear his heart, and that as long as he mentioned a girl's name in his mind, she would hear it. Knowing this, he was even deliberately making sure Morishita Ai didn't trigger that.
"That was a strategy," Hachiman said flatly.
"Oh—"
Morishita Ai stared at him for a few seconds and then sighed. "Fine." Her tone carried a hint of helplessness and a bit of grudging respect. "If you won't say, you won't say."
She turned to leave but stopped after two steps. She looked back at Hachiman, a trace of confusion in her purple-blue eyes.
"Our..." she corrected herself, her tone carrying a hint of bitterness. "What will become of our Class A now?"
Ichinose was slightly startled and subconsciously looked at Hachiman.
Hachiman didn't answer immediately.
According to Morishita Ai, Class A had become different from the original story. In the original, Sakayanagi waited for Katsuragi to be defeated to win the internal struggle, but ultimately she abandoned Class A. Now, Sakayanagi had proactively given up her power. This meant the representative of Class A would become Katsuragi. And Katsuragi would never abandon Class A; he had far more sense of responsibility than Sakayanagi.
So, in a way, Class A might actually become unified. As long as Sakayanagi stopped the internal fighting and betrayals, Class A... might exert even greater power than in the original story.
After all, Class A's biggest problem was division. Now, with Sakayanagi stepping down, that biggest problem was fixed.
Hachiman withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Morishita Ai. "Who knows," he said softly.
Morishita Ai looked at him, was silent for a few seconds, and then sighed softly. "True," she murmured. "Who knows."
She turned and walked toward the door. Yamamura Miki hurriedly followed, but as she passed Hachiman, she suddenly stopped. Her eyes peeked through her bangs, looking timidly at Hachiman.
"Th-that..." her voice was so small it was almost inaudible, "Sakayanagi-san... did she really give up?"
Hachiman looked at her, was silent for two seconds, and then said, "That was her own choice."
Yamamura Miki blanked for a moment, then lowered her head and gave a soft "Mm." She turned and left, her pace a bit faster than when she arrived.
Morishita Ai waited for her at the door, and the two soon disappeared at the end of the hallway.
The restaurant fell quiet again. Ichinose walked to Hachiman's side and said softly, "Hikigaya-kun."
Hachiman looked at her. Ichinose's bright eyes held a trace of complex emotion. "Sakayanagi-san... did she really give up just like that?"
Hachiman was silent for a few seconds and then shook his head gently. "I don't know, but Sakayanagi is indeed prone to being 'love-struck.' If she's love-struck, then it's easy for her to choose to abandon her class. However, she's not in love right now, so I don't know what she's thinking. But she should be able to withstand a setback like this."
"Oh..." Ichinose trailed off.
In her heart, she thought that the current relationship between Sakayanagi-san and Hikigaya-kun probably wasn't much different from being love-struck.
After all, she believed his inner voice so much. She was probably... very heavily affected.
Wait. Ichinose was suddenly stunned.
She realized—even though Hachiman had arranged for Matsushita-san to act in the Sheep Group, making Classes A and C believe that "Matsushita Chiaki is the VIP of the Sheep Group" was true, ultimately leading to their error in deducing the pattern... that alone wouldn't have been enough to fool Sakayanagi.
Unless...
Sakayanagi-san could also hear Hachiman's inner voice and trusted it implicitly. But inner thoughts... they would actually expose one's own class intel. Yet the result was a huge loss for Sakayanagi-san.
Could it be that Hikigaya-kun already knew about this and... utilized it? In that case, did he also know that she could hear his heart?
Ichinose's face turned slightly pale. But she quickly thought back to how Hachiman had just used his inner voice to send her information.
This meant he already knew she could hear him, yet he was still looking out for her feelings and using his heart to communicate with her.
'Sigh.'
Ichinose sighed softly. She really was useless, wasn't she?
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