"That's all for today."
After saying that, Chabashira-sensei left the classroom.
At the same time, some of the students headed over to Hirata, while Horikita, Kushida, and Ayanokoji left the classroom with the three class clowns, Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi.
Recently, Hirata had been organizing study sessions for the class, while Horikita, Kushida, and Ayanokoji had been worrying over those three idiots.
The former wasn't surprising, but the latter certainly was.
Kushida was one thing, but I never expected Ayanokoji, who was even more averse to trouble than I was, to take the initiative and get involved.
Though I figured Horikita had probably dragged him into it by force.
Me? I never went to any study sessions. Every day, I studied in the library with students from other classes.
After all, I barely had anyone to talk to in my class. Every now and then, I'd exchange a few words with Hirata or Kushida, and that was about it.
I packed up my things and left the classroom. The moment I stepped into the hallway—
"Good work today, Hachiman."
"Oh, Hikigaya-kun. I'm joining the study session today, too, so I hope you'll look after me."
Hiyori and Ichinose were standing in front of me.
Since we'd entered the exam-prep period, I'd been studying in the library every day, though my companions changed from day to day.
Hiyori came every day, but Sakanayanagi and Ichinose also had to take care of things in their own classes, so they only joined us every few days.
Sakanayanagi wasn't here today, so it looked like it would just be the three of us.
"Good to see you. There's only a week left until the exams, so let's do our best together."
We chatted as we hurried toward the library.
The library was packed at this time of year, and seats were first come, first served. We had to hurry.
"Right. They changed the exam scope, so we'll have to watch out."
As we were changing our shoes at the lockers, Ichinose suddenly brought it up...
"Wait, they changed the exam scope?"
I hadn't heard anything about that.
"Yeah. They adjusted it a little for every subject."
"Our class was notified about the changes, too. Didn't your class get the notice, Hikigaya-kun?"
"I haven't heard a thing... Sorry, could I borrow a copy of the updated scope?"
The two of them immediately pulled out papers from their bags and handed them to me.
I compared them with my own exam-scope sheet...
"They did change a few things..."
They'd only adjusted four or five pages per subject, but for people hovering around the passing mark, that was a big deal.
Across five subjects, that meant a difference of more than twenty pages.
I should check with Sakanayanagi first.
I'd just taken out my phone and called her when she picked up immediately.
"My, Hikigaya-kun calling me of his own accord? Are you asking me on a date?"
"Who has time for that during exam prep? I just wanted to ask if the exam scope had changed."
"Yes, it has. They adjusted a few pages in each subject. Is something wrong?"
"Looks like Class D is the only one that didn't get notified."
What was Chabashira-sensei thinking? She'd said she would help Horikita and the rest of us get into Class A, yet she hadn't even told us about the exam scope. It made no sense.
"What a nasty surprise. But I doubt it'll be a problem for you, Hikigaya-kun."
"Thanks. Sorry for bothering you out of the blue."
"Don't worry about it. I still have to go to my class today, so good luck with your studying."
"Make sure you help your classmates, too. Oh, Ichinose, could I borrow that sheet?"
"Of course~ Here."
After ending the call, I dialed another number—this time, Kushida, the only person from Class D whose contact information I had.
"How unusual. Hikigaya-kun is contacting me. What's up?"
It wasn't as though I wanted to have much to do with a girl who wore a mask all the time.
But this time, I had to share the information.
If it got out that everyone in Class D had been kept in the dark, it would be especially disastrous for those at the bottom of the class.
Then I'd definitely get grilled with, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"—especially since I was in contact with students from other classes like Sakanayanagi, Ichinose, and Hiyori.
To avoid that kind of trouble, I had to give her a heads-up.
"They changed the exam scope, but Class D didn't get any notice."
"What?! Seriously?!"
I heard a commotion through the phone. She'd probably put it on speaker.
"I confirmed it with Sakanayanagi from Class A, Ichinose from Class B, and Hiyori from Class C. I'll tell you the updated scope now."
"Okay... I'm ready."
"Starting with math..."
As I explained the updated scope, I couldn't help thinking that the school's unfair treatment of Class D was absurd.
"...I think I've got it. If we hadn't noticed and had gone into the exam, we'd have been in trouble."
"Definitely. Also, when you tell everyone else, don't mention me."
"Huh? Why?"
"I don't want to draw attention to myself."
"But Hikigaya-kun, you already stand out plenty."
Kushida asked in a puzzled tone.
I couldn't deny that.
Ever since school started, I'd spent almost every day with Sakanayanagi and Hiyori. Recently, Ichinose had joined our group, too.
I couldn't deny that I stood out, always with three beautiful girls by my side.
"I don't want to draw even more attention to myself. Besides, other than your contact information, I don't even know how to reach anyone else in the class."
My contacts list only had five people: Sakanayanagi, Ichinose, Ryuen, Hiyori, and Kushida. I didn't even know how to contact my own classmates.
Come to think of it, three of those five were leaders of other classes...
"Uh..."
Hey, don't give me that earnest, sympathetic tone.
I wasn't bothered at all by not having my classmates' contact information.
"Anyway, I'll leave getting in touch with everyone else to you. See you."
After saying that, I hung up and returned the sheet to Ichinose.
"Thanks. That was a huge help."
"It's no problem. But the school is awful, only keeping the exam scope from the students in Class D."
If anything, Chabashira-sensei was probably doing it on purpose.
At any other school, she might have been fired on the spot.
Not to mention, making major changes to the exam scope at the last minute was a problem in itself.
"Anyway, with Kushida, the class's most popular girl, passing the information along, it should be fine. We should get going, too."
"Right. We spent longer than expected. We'd better hurry."
That was true.
The library would fill up soon at this time of year. We had to get there quickly.
Nodding along with Hiyori, we headed for the library, but...
"It's full."
"It is, isn't it?"
"Yeah, completely full."
The library was packed.
There were one or two empty seats here and there, but nowhere with enough room for all three of us.
Looks like that phone call had taken too long.
"Can't be helped. Should we go somewhere else? Where should we go?"
"We've already spent a lot of points this month, so let's skip places like cafés... How about your room, Hachiman?"
"Huh? Hikigaya-kun's room? I don't mind..."
"...Why does it have to be my room?"
"If we study in the dorms, we won't have to worry about closing time. If you're not comfortable with that, we could use my room instead, Hachiman-kun."
"If we're going to study in the dorms, let's use my room. Being in a girl's room is way too distracting."
I'd only been in a girl's room once, but that distinctive fragrance made it hard to concentrate.
"Then we'll take you up on that."
"Thanks for having us."
"Got it. Let's stop wasting time and get going."
The three of us left the library.
We might as well start studying early instead of wasting time here.
After Hachiman and the others left, inside the library...
"...Hey, did you hear that?"
"Yeah, Hikigaya's holding a study session in his room."
"Neither of the girls objected. They must be pretty used to it by now."
"That bastard! Not only is he prepping for exams, he's even having 'late-night lessons'?!"
"Probably. He'll likely invite Sakanayanagi over later and say something like, 'Written exams are important, but practical exams matter, too. I'll personally supervise your practical health and physical education,' then handle all three of them at once..."
"A free-for-all with four people?! I'm so jealous I could kill someone!!"
"Damn it... Why is trash from Class D so popular?!"
"Man, I really want to sabotage this!"
"I wouldn't. If you get in Shiina's way, you'll be breaking the agreement with Ryuen."
"I know, but..."
"Hey! What are you students over there making all that noise about?!"
The commotion from all around finally angered the librarian.
"Come on in. I'll make tea... 'As the one in charge of looking after Hachiman-kun, that's my job'... Got it. I'll leave it to you."
I'd just gotten back to my room and was about to boil some water when Hiyori volunteered to take care of the tea set.
As I led Ichinose to the living room, Hiyori looked especially cute, getting the snacks ready with an apron on.
"Is Shiina-san Hikigaya-kun's personal caretaker?"
"After I signed a contract with Ryuen regarding Hiyori's treatment, she said she wanted to repay me."
"Oh, is that the contract involving 500,000 points?"
"You know about it, too?"
"It hasn't spread through the whole year yet, but plenty of people know that Hikigaya-kun paid 500,000 points for Shiina-san."
That made sense. Hiyori had hugged me and announced it loudly in the middle of the classroom, so it was no wonder Ichinose had heard about it, even though we weren't in the same class.
"Pretty much. I didn't think it was necessary, but she insisted."
"That does sound like her. Still, the fact that you were willing to pay such a huge sum as 500,000 points means you care a lot about Shiina-san, doesn't it?"
"...I can't deny that."
Both Hiyori and Sakanayanagi had helped me rediscover a kind of happiness I hadn't felt in a long time.
It was hard to admit, but I really did cherish them.
"What are you two talking about?"
Hiyori returned with the tea and snacks and tilted her head. Ichinose answered her directly: "We were talking about how much Hikigaya-kun cares about Shiina-san."
Ichinose! Don't be so blunt!
"I-is that so... Actually, I care about Hachiman-kun a lot, too..."
Hiyori's flushed, fidgety manner was so cute it was against the rules.
I almost confessed right then and there, but kind girls had left me with emotional scars in the past.
She'd definitely reject me, so I'd better not.
"...Thanks. More importantly, we should get started on our proper studying."
"Right."
"Sure."
After making sure they both nodded, we took out our study materials.
I'd been a little nervous at first, but Hiyori's serious attitude soon put me at ease.
In the end, with Sakanayanagi joining us at seven, we studied until eleven at night.
Thankfully, no one saw the three of them when they left.
Before you continue