On Tuesday morning, sunlight slanted through the window, and I slowly opened my eyes. I still felt a little drowsy, and there was no sound coming from the kitchen, so I seemed to have woken up earlier than usual.
As I thought that, I looked around:
—The clock on the wall pointing to five,
—The dawn light filtering through a gap in the curtains,
—Hiyori cuddling my right arm and clinging to me,
—Sakanayanagi wrapped around my left arm, her legs tangled with mine.
...Wait. Had I just seen something that shouldn't be there?
Rubbing my eyes, I looked at my left arm—Sakanayanagi was hugging it, her legs wrapped around my ankles as she slept peacefully.
"Wha—?!"
Faced with the unexpected sight, I couldn't help shouting.
What the heck? Why was she here? Sakanayanagi did sometimes stay over, but...
She always got in touch beforehand. This time, I hadn't received any warning at all, and when I went to bed, it had clearly just been Hiyori and me!
It looked like she'd snuck in while I was asleep. But why? Sakanayanagi sometimes did unexpected things, but this uninvited nighttime raid was beyond anything I could have imagined.
"Mm..."
Just as I sat there with a head full of question marks, Sakanayanagi seemed to wake up from my shout. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. When her gaze met mine, she gave me a bewitching smile.
"Good morning, Hachiman. It was our first time last night, so things got a little intense, but it felt good, didn't it?"
"Wha—?!"
Her explosive remark made me shout again. Wait, was she talking about... No, no. There was no way anything like that had happened!
I tried to keep calm as I asked, "Um... what are you talking about?"
"You're still going to play dumb?" She drew out her words deliberately. "It was my first time, you know?"
"Don't lie! You're fully dressed, and besides, there isn't even a suspicious smell on the sheets!"
Once I'd calmed down, I immediately saw through her lie. I'd been startled at first, but the situation was obvious.
Caught out, Sakanayanagi giggled and nodded. "Correct answer! You caught on fast."
"I can figure out something this obvious. So explain why you showed up uninvited so early in the morning."
That was the important part. Sakanayanagi often stayed over, but this was the first time she'd barged in without permission.
"Well..." She answered frankly, "I wanted to sleep with you, Hachiman."
The direct remark made my face flush in an instant. Hiyori's innocent comments were dangerous enough, but this kind of deliberate teasing was just as potent. If those two ever teamed up, they'd throw the whole world into chaos.
"Got it. But could you contact me beforehand next time?"
"Sorry! I just wanted to see your surprised face."
"Climbing into someone else's bed without permission isn't a prank! And don't suddenly switch to calling me by my first name!"
"Okay. But shouldn't you take responsibility for making me blush, Hachiman?"
"Huh? I haven't picked on you lately, have I?"
I had gotten back at her with things like blowing into her ear when she teased me before, but I hadn't done anything like that in the past week.
Unusually, Sakanayanagi's cheeks turned red. As I watched her in confusion, she spoke softly.
"Yesterday..."
"What about yesterday?"
"When you faced off against Ryuen, didn't you say a lot of important things about me? As a bystander... listening to it was unbelievably embarrassing."
Wait! She'd seen my confrontation with Ryuen?
What had I said back then? It had been something like...
"Watch your words. Unlike you, I don't treat other people like pawns. Hiyori and Sakanayanagi... matter more to me than I do."
"If this were an ordinary class rivalry, I wouldn't get involved... but if you dare trample on Sakanayanagi's dignity, I'll crush you completely."
"Yeah... I've only recently come to truly realize how important Sakanayanagi is to me."
...Oh god! Remembering it made me cringe so hard!
"That's why... I got embarrassed."
"I'm truly sorry!"
If I were in Sakanayanagi's position, I'd be so embarrassed I'd want to die. There was nothing I could do but apologize. I really wanted to crawl into a hole...
"...Have you reflected on it?"
"I have."
"Then from now on, please call me by my first name."
Huh? What was she suddenly talking about?
"If you can, I'd like you to change... but if you don't want to, there's nothing I can do. Once we get to the classroom, I'll tell my friends, 'I spent the night with Hachiman, but he still won't even call me by my first name'..."
"K-Know what? Arisu! There, is that good enough?"
"Mm. I look forward to getting along with you, Hachiman."
That little devil. How could she say something so terrifying? And instead of saying "rape," she'd said "spent the night together." That vague phrasing was even worse.
Nothing had actually happened, so the school wouldn't punish me, but the rumors already spreading all over campus would definitely get even worse.
Could the rumors about me dating four girls really never go away? Ichinose and Kamuro always denied them when asked, but Hiyori would just stammer, and Arisu deliberately said things that invited people to read into them. The rumors just wouldn't stop.
And if I started calling Arisu by her first name too, the rumors would get even more ridiculous... Whatever. It was hopeless. I had to face reality and accept it.
As I thought about all that, Hiyori, who was lying on Arisu's other side, woke up too.
"Mm... Huh? Why is Classmate Sakayanagi here?"
"Good morning, Classmate Shiina. I missed Hachiman's warmth so much that I snuck in during the night."
"Oh, I see. Then I suppose it can't be helped."
It can't be helped?! How could you brush something like that off as "it can't be helped"?! Was Hiyori just naturally airheaded, or was I the weird one?
"Now then, Hachiman, please."
As usual, Hiyori leaned toward me, asking for her good-morning kiss. But was she really going to do that in front of Arisu?!
While I hesitated, Hiyori had already pressed her forehead against mine. Apparently, she didn't mind Arisu seeing.
"...Good morning, Hiyori."
I sighed and gently kissed her forehead.
"Oh!"
The gesture seemed to catch Arisu by surprise. She widened her eyes and covered her mouth.
"All done. Good morning, Hachiman."
Hiyori said that, then kissed my forehead in return. I was used to this by now, but doing it in front of someone else was still unbearably embarrassing.
"I'll go make breakfast. Is bread okay for you, Classmate Sakayanagi?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Don't mention it. It's still early, so you can go back to sleep for a while."
Hiyori said that as she got up and headed for the kitchen. Arisu gave me a meaningful look.
"Classmate Shiina is completely in wife mode now, isn't she?"
"Don't put it like that."
If anything, we were already practically living together. Lately, she'd even brought over her clothes and underwear, though I'd allowed her to.
"I'm so jealous that you two get along so well. So..."
"So?"
"...Never mind."
Arisu suddenly blushed and turned away. Faced with her unexpected reaction, I sat there stunned as I listened to the sounds coming from the kitchen.
"Come to think of it, today's the hearing. Who will Class D send?"
Arisu asked suddenly over breakfast. The rules allowed each side to bring two companions.
"Horikita will definitely go. The other one will probably be Hirata, Kushida, or Ayanokoji."
Since it was a debate between the two sides, Horikita, who was good at attacking, would have to attend. As her partner, Hirata, Kushida, or Ayanokoji, who was always with her, would be the best choices.
"Will only the three students involved attend for Class C?"
"Isn't Ryuen going to attend?"
"Not as far as I know. But who knows what he's plotting."
Hiyori said that, but if Ryuen really showed up, Class D would undoubtedly lose. Ichinose had told me before that when Class B and Class C clashed, he'd meddled from behind the scenes.
"It looks like Class C plans to use their injuries as a weapon. By the way, Hachiman, how would you handle it if you were up against Class C?"
If I were fighting for Class D...
"First of all, there's a good chance Class C set a trap this time, so Class D might still have a chance."
According to Hiyori, one of the victims, Ishizaki, was quite good at fighting, and the other two were also members of the Basketball Club. Sudo was athletic, but it was hard to believe he could have beaten three people without getting hurt.
Besides, given how Sudo usually acted, he wouldn't bother luring them to a blind spot in the cameras. He'd just start a fight in front of everyone.
"If I were fighting for Class D, I'd have the others look for witnesses while I investigated the three victims thoroughly. If I dug deep enough, I could probably uncover some ugly history from their middle school days."
"Then you'd attack them aggressively during the hearing, mixing truth and lies to expose their falsehoods?"
Arisu picked up the thread. Exactly. Rumors about Ishizaki's misdeeds in middle school had already been circulating on the school forum. We could use that to create contradictions.
"But Sudo really did hurt people, so there's no way he can get off completely."
Even if we exposed the other side's lies, the fact remained that Sudo had assaulted them. At best, he could hope for a severe warning.
"That's what would happen under normal circumstances. What if you were in Class C's position?"
From Class C's perspective, it was simple.
"You just need to get someone to provoke Sudo until he loses control again."
He'd fly off the handle over the slightest provocation and kick a desk. That would definitely get him expelled.
"That really would be the best plan."
"But Hachiman, Ryuen must have already thought of that, right?"
Hiyori suddenly asked. She was right; there was no way someone like Ryuen hadn't thought of it.
"Maybe the outcome doesn't matter to Ryuen? If he wins, Sudo gets punished and he can test the school's limits. If he loses, he can still gauge the ability of Class D's strategist."
I see. That was a very plausible way to look at it.
"Too bad we can't hear what they're saying."
"It can't be helped. Let's finish breakfast first."
It'd be a shame to let Hiyori's cooking get cold.
We resumed eating. To be honest, maybe the outcome didn't matter to Ryuen, but...
For me, either way, it's a loss...
If Class D won, Sudo would get even more arrogant. If Class C lost, their classmates would keep pestering me with questions.
I'd probably been assigned to Class D because of a Service Club request and Dokugami's interference with my interview evaluation.
Thinking of that pest outside the school, I could only curse him silently.
Before you continue