On the day the midterm results were announced, no one had been expelled, so the class atmosphere was unusually relaxed and cheerful from the morning homeroom onward. Before long, it was lunchtime.
Holding the lunch box Hiyori had made for me, I walked out of the classroom and saw Ichinose leading the students of Class B toward me in the hallway.
They were all wearing their gym clothes, so it looked like they had P.E. in fourth period.
Ichinose seemed to notice me too and jogged over.
"Good afternoon, Hikigaya. How did you do on the exams?"
She greeted me with a radiant smile. Seeing that innocent, carefree smile was downright therapeutic.
"I got perfect scores in Japanese, English, and social studies... but I came in fourth in the class in math, and I didn't even get 90 in science. So I'm probably around tenth overall, which got me only 90,000 points."
Though I'd made 20,000 points in interest from the points I'd lent Horikita.
"Oh, dear. Still, 90,000 points should be plenty, so make sure you use them wisely."
"That's the plan... Hey, hey."
Most of the Class B students who caught up with us glared at me. It was probably because of the rumors that I'd been two-timing people. I hadn't expected them to be so brazen about showing their hostility.
Ichinose noticed too and tried to calm them down with an awkward smile. "Come on, now. Don't look at him like that. Hikigaya isn't a bad person."
"But, Ichinose, this guy has connections with Sakayanagi in Class A and Ryuen in Class C, doesn't he?"
Sakayanagi and Ryuen were indeed both considered dangerous people. But...
"Leaving Sakayanagi aside, I've got nothing to do with Ryuen. Apart from matters related to our contract, I don't have any contact with him."
"Who knows? You're getting close to Ichinose while secretly plotting to raise Class D's standing, aren't you?"
"Believe what you want. Say whatever you like. But if you dare interfere with my quiet life or the people I care about... I'll kill you."
"Eek!"
"!"
I glared at the boy who'd provoked me, my eyes full of murderous intent. Everyone but Ichinose took a half-step back. The boys moved in front of the girls to shield them.
"That's enough. Hamaguchi, stop deliberately provoking him."
"B-but..."
"I've known Hikigaya for a long time. He isn't the kind of person who'd plot something like that."
"I-I understand."
Ichinose said that, and she was right. I never schemed for the sake of the class. I'd certainly plotted plenty of things, but all of them had been for my own benefit.
"I can understand why you'd get angry when someone suddenly provokes you, Hikigaya, but please don't give off murderous intent."
"I apologize for that."
Though I said that, I hadn't really been angry. I'd just been issuing a warning. If I got mad over something so trivial, I'd have been a murderer back in middle school.
"Anyway, I'm going. See you."
"Ah, yeah. Oh, and thanks for helping me study. I got a perfect score in Japanese thanks to you."
"Likewise. My grades improved thanks to you, too."
After saying that, I walked past Ichinose. The Class B students were still glaring at me, but I left without a care.
Near the stairs, I found Sakayanagi and Hiyori waiting for me.
"There you are. Shall we get going?"
Sakayanagi set off, and Hiyori and I matched her pace.
"By the way, Hachiman, did anyone get expelled from Class D?"
"Nope."
We'd come close, though. If I hadn't gone to buy a drink back then...
"I see. I was hoping to see what kind of punishment there'd be if someone got expelled..."
Sakayanagi said it with a blank expression. She was probably talking about something like having the class's points confiscated if someone got expelled.
As I wondered about it, we arrived at the cafeteria. Just as we were about to sit down—
"So? How did Hikigaya do on the exams?"
"Perfect scores in Japanese, English, and social studies. I fell out of the top three in science and math. I barely made it into the top ten overall."
"I see. Getting 90,000 points is already quite good."
Hiyori said that.
My original goal had been 200,000 points, but as she said, 90,000 would be enough.
I could apply for the same amount of bonus points again during finals. To do that, I'd have to increase my daily study time.
Just then, Sakayanagi suddenly leaned toward me.
"Anyway, you worked hard. As a thank-you, I'd like to give you a little reward, Hikigaya."
Before I could react, she rose onto her toes—
Kiss.
Her soft lips touched my right cheek.
The entire cafeteria fell silent—
"Whaaaaaat!?"
"Whoa!"
The boys cried out, and the girls shrieked. All two hundred or so people in the cafeteria were watching us.
I froze at this unexpected turn of events. Sakayanagi pulled away, then turned to Hiyori.
"Would you like to join in, Shiina? Hikigaya worked hard, so he deserves a reward."
"Hey! Don't suggest that to the innocent queen Hiyori! If you're going to make that kind of suggestion..."
"Oh, that's right... You worked hard, too."
Kiss.
"That little bastard aaahhhh!"
"Eeeek!"
Hiyori's lips touched my left cheek, setting off even louder shouts and screams. "What are you two doing?!"
I glared at them, breaking into a cold sweat, but Sakayanagi leaned close to my ear and whispered:
"This is my payback for the way you embarrassed me in front of Masumi the night before the midterms."
"Ah! Right, I blew into Kamuro's ear back then. I'd been wary that she'd get back at me right away, but she never did anything, so I forgot about it."
"You've got some nerve, Lewd Yanagi."
"I should be saying that to you, Hikigaya the groper."
We looked at each other and laughed. It was decided: one day, I'd make Sakayanagi give in. I really wanted to see that girl, who never gave up, finally bow her head.
But...
"Why don't you two sit down first? Since Sakayanagi and I went to all that effort, shouldn't Hachiman give us a reward kiss on the cheek?"
""Please, anything but that!""
Against Hiyori's innocent queenly advances, we were completely powerless.
***
"We should take care of it as soon as the exams are over."
After school, I headed to the shopping mall by myself. Since enrolling, I'd often spent time with Sakayanagi and Hiyori, and lately I'd also been seeing more of Ichinose. But every now and then, I wanted to be alone.
So today, I'd come to the shopping mall for dinner. Hiyori's cooking was good, but sometimes I wanted high-calorie food like ramen or barbecue, so I'd given her the night off.
As I headed toward the dining area, I bumped into someone around the corner, and drink splashed onto my uniform. It looked like the other person had been drinking something.
"Oh, sorry... Huh? Hikigaya?"
"Hmm?... Kamuro."
The person standing there was Kamuro Masumi, Sakayanagi's sidekick, known as her "friend." As soon as she saw my uniform, she apologized.
"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."
"Buy me ramen and I'll forgive you."
"You've got a million points and you're still trying to mooch off me? You've got a terrible personality."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"That was sarcasm."
"I know. So?"
"Haah... No wonder you get along with Sakayanagi... Ramen's fine?"
"Huh? You're really treating me?"
I'd mostly been joking.
"It was my fault."
"Then I'll take you up on that."
There was no reason to refuse a free meal. I took off my uniform jacket and draped it over my shoulder. Fortunately, my shirt wasn't very wet.
And so I set off on a ramen outing with an unexpected companion.
***
"Ahh, delicious!"
"I can't believe you can eat something so greasy. Just thinking about it makes me feel sick."
At the ramen shop, I ordered a rich tonkotsu ramen, while Kamuro went for a light shoyu ramen.
"It's the best when you only have it once in a while. So you eat ramen, too."
"I only came because you said you'd mooch off me. I had to eat dinner anyway, and I wasn't craving anything in particular."
"I see."
"Mm... So? What are you plotting?"
Kamuro asked as she ate. Plotting?
"What do you mean?"
"Getting back at Sakayanagi. The rumors about you have spread all over Class A."
Oh, was she talking about the double kiss at lunchtime? It had already become famous across the school. As soon as lunch ended, a bunch of boys and girls in my class had interrogated me about it.
"I'll make her pay someday, but I'm not planning anything right now. Besides, rumors about me have been flying around forever."
Rumors that I was two-timing people had started the second day after I enrolled. I was already used to it.
"...You're not that angry?"
"My tolerance is through the roof."
I'd been insulted and laughed at every day before I enrolled. A prank like Sakayanagi's was nothing.
"Hmph... You and Sakayanagi are both pretty unusual."
"What's wrong with being unusual? In English, you say 'special.' It sounds pretty cool."
"Put another way, you're both pretty weird."
We chatted as we ate. Come to think of it...
"You're pretty similar to Ichinose."
"Huh? What are you talking about? How am I anything like Ichinose?"
Kamuro looked at me like I was an idiot.
"Sorry, I didn't put that well. I meant the way I get along with you is similar to how I get along with Ichinose."
"The way you get along with us?"
"Yeah. How should I put it? I can act naturally around you two."
Sakayanagi was always teasing me, and Hiyori's innocent remarks often left me scrambling to respond, so I had to adjust how I dealt with them. But with Ichinose and Kamuro, I could be myself. Lately, though, I'd started to think that being messed with wasn't so bad either.
"...I see. I thought you meant we were similar in personality or appearance."
"Not a chance."
If there was anything similar about them, it was probably their figures.
We finished our ramen at the same time. As Kamuro picked up the bill and started to stand—
"You've got something at the corner of your mouth."
"...I can wipe it myself. Don't treat me like a child."
After I wiped it off for her, she gave me a dead-fish stare.
"Sorry, Hiyori's always wiping my mouth for me, so I'm used to it."
"Oh."
Her dead-fish stare seemed even sharper, but I decided to ignore it.
I pretended not to notice Kamuro's expression and headed straight back to the dormitory.
***
Later, while browsing the school forum, I found a video of me and Kamuro eating ramen, secretly filmed by someone. And so I'd earned myself two new nicknames: "Two-Timer" and "Gigolo."
I want to die...
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