Arrogance is the Original Sin

"Ha! You're trying to pull some 'unspoken rules' on me the first time I visit this place? Don't make me laugh. You bald piece of trash—no, wait, I should call you Katsuragi's lapdog, right?"

The moment Hikigaya finished speaking, the air in the restaurant froze once again. Hashimoto, however, let out a chuckle, clearly intrigued.

"Oh my, that was a vicious insult. I'd better get ready, then..." Hashimoto smiled as he pulled out his terminal to adjust the camera angle. He was certain that Hikigaya was retaliating for the insults directed at Hiyori, while simultaneously fulfilling the request from Arisu Sakayanagi—using a chain of provocations to force the other party to strike first, just like he did with Sudo last time.

If that was the case, recording the footage just like last time was the best strategy. As Hashimoto set his position, he thought to himself, Last time with Sudo, I only managed to capture the moment the violence started. I wonder how he'll provoke them this time...

****

My provocation froze the air, but there was a reaction soon enough.

"You bastard! What did you just say?!"

The man in front of me was fuming, but I just gave a contemptuous sneer. "Are you hard of hearing? I said it's ridiculous to pull 'unspoken rules' on me the first time I'm here, you bald piece of trash—correction, Katsuragi's lapdog."

"You're dead! How dare a piece of trash like you insult Katsuragi-san!" The man grabbed my collar and roared.

"Yahiko, stop! Don't fall for such a low-level provocation." Katsuragi finally spoke up to intervene, but the man called Yahiko turned a deaf ear.

"I'm just stating the facts. Is it wrong to call a guy who lost the student council election and still insists on acting like he's on equal footing with Sakayanagi 'trash'? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for Class A to just follow Sakayanagi?"

"You son of a...!" The man was on the verge of exploding. It looked like he needed one more push.

I leaned into his ear and whispered, "You're the trash of the trash, a bald lapdog who doesn't even understand that much. You must have bribed the interviewer to get into Class A, or maybe you sold your ass? Is that what you do for Katsuragi's ass too..."

The moment I finished whispering that with a smile on my face—

"I'll kill you!!!"

A furious fist came whistling toward me. Although he seemed to regain a shred of sanity halfway through, causing him to pull his punch, I intentionally used the momentum to crash into the table where the Katsuragi Faction was gathered.

Crash—!

"Kyaaa!" Along with the sound of shattering tableware, I fell heavily onto the overturned table.

"What is going on over there!" Just then, the four homeroom teachers for the first years—Mashima, Hoshinomiya, Sakagami, and Chabashira—arrived at the scene upon hearing the commotion.

The scene was perfect: I was sprawled among the broken dishes, and Yahiko was still holding his punching stance. To anyone, it looked like a one-sided assault.

(Serves you right. With so many witnesses and them being the ones to start it, there's no need for a deliberation to find them guilty.)

As I chuckled to myself—

****

(Wow, Hikigaya's provocation is top-tier.)

Hashimoto suppressed a laugh as he checked the footage of Hikigaya on the ground on his terminal. Although he often provoked others himself, this was the first time he'd witnessed such a ruthless offensive.

The four teachers marched straight toward Yahiko. "Totsuka-kun, explain yourself. From what we can see, you assaulted Hikigaya."

Chabashira-sensei's questioning made Yahiko's face turn deathly pale. Just as Katsuragi was about to speak, Hashimoto cut him off:

"Sensei, Totsuka started it by insulting us, saying 'this shop doesn't welcome trash.' After Shiina-san refuted him, he said something extremely vulgar to her, and when Hikigaya-kun fought back, he was hit."

Hashimoto cleverly exaggerated the other side's faults while downplaying their own actions. As Yahiko stood frozen, he held up his terminal. "Here are the photos from the scene."

"Wha...?!" While the members of the Katsuragi Faction were stunned, the screen clearly showed the moment Yahiko threw his punch.

"Wow~ that looks painful. With ironclad evidence like this, it's clearly Totsuka's fault. To think a representative student from Class A would act like this, sigh..." The three teachers looked in unison at the Class A homeroom teacher, Mashima.

Mashima-sensei said with a livid expression, "Totsuka, come with me first. Hashimoto, take Hikigaya to the infirmary."

"No... if there's going to be a deliberation, I should also..."

As Hachiman wobbled while trying to support his body, Hiyori approached him with a worried look on her face.

"Are you okay, Hachiman-kun? If you're in pain, should I take you to the infirmary?"

"...I'm fine. The spot where I was hit hurts, but it's not bad enough to go to the infirmary."

"That's good... Hachiman-kun is such a fool. Even though I don't care at all about being mocked..."

Looking at Hiyori, who had her head bowed, Hachiman gently stroked her hair.

"It's a shame, but I'm not mature enough to just stand by and watch someone important to me be humiliated."

"...To Hachiman-kun, am I an important person?"

"Why are you asking that now?"

"...I'm so happy. But next time, even if I'm being mocked, please just ignore it. I don't want to see Hachiman-kun get hurt..."

"I can't do that. After all, I can't tolerate you being bullied."

"...As expected, Hachiman-kun is a fool."

As soon as she finished speaking, Hiyori ignored the sauce and juice stains on Hachiman's clothes and hugged him tightly, sobbing. Faced with Hiyori like this, Hachiman wore an awkward expression, yet he still gently hugged her back.

The space where the two of them were alone felt isolated from the rest of the world. Most people in the restaurant cast hostile glares toward Totsuka, who stumbled backward with a look of despair on his face.

(That wasn't acting; that was a total victory for Hikigaya.)

Hashimoto was certain the outcome was decided. Although Totsuka, who started the conflict and resorted to violence, never had a chance to win, the interaction between the two had reduced the probability of Hikigaya losing to absolute zero.

Just as Hashimoto thought this, the four teachers left the restaurant with Hachiman, who had been separated from Totsuka and Hiyori. Although Katsuragi followed along, Hashimoto was certain the result would not change.

"We really should punish Class A severely."

"Indeed~ With decisive evidence like these photos, it's impossible to defend Totsuka, isn't it~"

"Furthermore, Totsuka is a student of Class A. As a model student, such behavior is absolutely unforgivable."

Inside the private conference room, although I was participating in the deliberations, the outcome had long been decided.

Because we were not only speaking up, but we also had photos of the moment of the strike and the resulting injuries as evidence. Totsuka's side had no weapons; it was Totsuka who provoked first, and it was Totsuka who struck first. Although Katsuragi tried to defend me against the claims of bad-mouthing, compared to our photos, their lack of even a recording made their argument worthless.

Moreover, the fact that Totsuka, the one who threw the punch, belonged to Class A actually worked in our favor. Class A has an obligation to act as a model for others.

In the end, aside from Class A, the homeroom teachers of the other classes—Hoshinomiya, Sakagami, and Chabashira—all took the opportunity to try and narrow the gap with Class A, offering absolutely no support for Totsuka. Although Mashima, the homeroom teacher for Class A, refuted the claims multiple times, he fell silent immediately after we repeatedly presented the photographic evidence and Sakagami from Class C remarked, "It wouldn't be appropriate to let personal feelings interfere, would it?"

Totsuka had his head hung low in utter despair, and Katsuragi also closed his eyes in silence. Although the two had initially argued back, they eventually gave up resistance in the face of the three teachers' offensive and the evidence we held.

During the discussion, the teachers ultimately ruled that Totsuka was guilty.

"Regarding the punishment for Totsuka... given that his behavior was extremely malicious, how about expulsion?"

"Ex, expulsion?!"

Upon hearing Sakagami's words, Totsuka, who had been in despair, suddenly looked up with wide eyes. Although I haven't taken Sakagami's class, since he is the teacher for Ryuen's Class C, he is truly a merciless man.

"Hmm~ Isn't that a bit too pitiful?"

"But if the punishment is too light, it won't serve as a deterrent. How about having Class A pay class points as compensation to Class D, and suspending Totsuka for about a month starting from the second semester?"

"Please wait! Isn't that too excessive?"

At this moment, Katsuragi tried to intervene, but there was no way I would let him succeed. This was the perfect opportunity for additional penalties.

"The bald guy sure has a lot to say. At the end of the day, if you hadn't failed to stop Totsuka immediately when he came looking for trouble, things wouldn't have turned out this way. I suppose you thought Class D students were easy to bully? Instead of thinking about how to cure your baldness, why not put that effort into correcting your arrogant personality?"

"You bastard!!"

"Stop it, Yahiko!"

Hearing this, Totsuka flew into a rage again and tried to lunge forward, but he was held back by Katsuragi from behind. A pity; if he had caused a scene in front of the teachers, we could have added even more penalties.

However, since Totsuka admires Katsuragi so much, he should be useful in the future, so this is fine too.

"Hikigaya. Refrain from insulting physical characteristics. From next time, it will be recorded in the official minutes."

"I did go a bit too far just now."

Mashima and Chabashira said as much. Honestly, since Totsuka didn't take the bait this time, there's no point in provoking him further, and I didn't intend to provoke him again anyway.

"I will be careful in the future. By the way, Chabashira-sensei—"

"What is it?"

"When problems occur between students like this, while the teachers and the Student Council handle the punishment, am I, the winning party, allowed to make a request?"

"Within reasonable limits, we can be flexible, but excessive demands will naturally be rejected."

That goes without saying. If everything were decided by student wishes, there would likely be an endless stream of dropouts.

"Understood. My request is..."

When I stated the punishment I had in mind, everyone present reacted in their own different ways.