A Class A Student Confessed to Me? No, I Think It's... a Honey Trap! Part 1 / A Class A Student Confessed to Me? No, I Think It's... a Honey Trap! Part 2

And the price was the 100,000 points he had just paid?

Hachiman immediately wanted to return the 100,000 points.

He took back what he had said about Horikita being a great philanthropist.

Because—

Manabu Horikita was too stingy.

Horikita's brother was seriously stingy.

After that so-called lesson, he had turned around and left without giving anyone a chance to refuse.

But while Manabu had left, Horikita's little sister remained.

The girl everyone saw in class was the aloof Suzune Horikita. Now that her brother had gone, she sat crouched on the edge of the small flower bed beside the vending machines.

She looked utterly dejected.

Yet even sitting there, she kept her knees pressed tightly together. All he could see were her black stockings—nothing else.

Of course, it was not like Hachiman wanted to see anything.

He merely thought that even after such a severe blow, she was still remarkably ladylike.

"Beep!"

"Thunk!"

Since there was a vending machine right there, Hachiman spent 200 points on a bottle of tomato juice.

Then he handed it to Suzune Horikita.

"..." Suzune Horikita asked, "How much was it?"

Wow.

This girl really had no friends.

Hachiman somewhat understood Horikita's brother's feelings. It was dangerous for this little sister to be assigned to Class D, and she would be in danger outside as well. Since he would be attending this school in a closed environment, he could no longer keep an eye on her. In that case, it was better to leave her somewhere he could see her.

"Your brother's attitude is pretty forceful," Hachiman said. "But I think there are some things you should listen to him about."

"Are you telling me to get close to you so I can find your weaknesses?" Suzune Horikita asked.

"..."

Of course not.

While getting attention from pretty girls was a good thing, both she and Kushida were dangerous people.

Hachiman did not want to get dragged into trouble.

"According to the Student Council President, your biggest problem is your social skills," Hachiman said. "You clearly have ability, but you can't work with others. One person's strength is limited, but by cooperating with others, you can gain more power."

"Then is there something wrong with being alone?" Horikita asked.

Was there something wrong with being alone?

"..." The question left Hachiman silent for a moment.

Because—

Was being alone really so bad?

The truly strong did not live in groups. Lone individuals were forever opposed to the whole world.

Only the weak liked to cluster together. The problem was that most people were weak.

So that theory probably did not work for Suzune Horikita.

Because—

She was not strong.

You did however much work matched however much money you took.

That was Hachiman's principle.

So, since Horikita's brother was only worth 100,000 points, Hachiman could only arrange for Suzune Horikita to return to the dorms before heading toward the nearby railing.

Yesterday, Chabashira-sensei had invited him and waited alone by the railing for a while.

Today, he was the one who had invited Sae Chabashira.

About fifteen minutes later—

Sae Chabashira arrived.

This teacher was still wearing a women's suit with a single ponytail, paired with a short skirt and stockings... Oh, no, she was not wearing stockings today. So white.

Chabashira still wore high heels, but her steps were remarkably light.

Leaning against the railing and facing Chabashira, Hachiman took in her appearance completely.

Hmm.

Chabashira-sensei, you seemed to be in quite a good mood.

It was mainly because he had reported that he had gathered information on Suzune Horikita and discovered that she was Student Council President Manabu Horikita's younger sister.

And now Chabashira-sensei was in a good mood... Hachiman became even more certain that he was dancing with wolves.

Her claim that she wanted him to gather student information to help with her duties as a homeroom teacher was probably false. What she really wanted was for him to approach the valuable problem children in Class D.

Looking for usable soldiers in a pile of trash—Chabashira-sensei, you were really brave.

"This is a point card worth 200,000 points."

Chabashira said, "I will record this information about Suzune Horikita in her file."

Oh.

Hachiman would tentatively treat that as the truth.

But he still honestly accepted the point card Chabashira handed him.

After all, there was no need to turn down money.

If Chabashira-sensei really had ambitions, then that was the concern of those valuable problem children in Class D.

If those people could truly lead the class in fighting against the other classes—

Then as a member of Class D, catching a ride on their coattails would not be so bad, would it?

After all, nobody ever complained about having too much living money.

"Then I'll be heading back first," Hachiman said.

After everything that had happened over the past half hour, his stomach was no longer bloated. It was just the right time to go back and sleep.

Chabashira, however, did not leave immediately.

She watched Hachiman's retreating back.

Suzune Horikita was the younger sister of Student Council President Manabu Horikita.

This school gave its students considerable freedom, so the Student Council President possessed greater authority than such a role would outside the school. Even faculty members had to address the Student Council President by title when they saw him.

And Manabu Horikita was the finest Student Council President since the school's founding.

Even in his class, he stood head and shoulders above everyone else. He was the type who carried thirty-nine classmates who only held him back.

He was a monster.

Then, while checking the class's student files, Chabashira had noticed Suzune Horikita. She looked forty percent similar to the Student Council President, and they even shared the surname Horikita.

So was it possible they had some other connection?

She had merely made that guess, and then had Hachiman Hikigaya confirm it.

Hachiman was truly a treasure.

Thus, that treasure of a student, Hachiman, attended class normally the next day.

The teachers were still as lenient as ever.

Classroom discipline was extremely lax.

Soon, the third class of the morning ended.

Only the final physics class remained that morning.

The students were still just as enthusiastic. It was only the third day since enrollment, but their urge to buy, buy, buy had not faded.

So even before lunch break arrived, students were already thinking about which expensive set meal to eat in the cafeteria and where to go on a shopping spree that evening.

Hmm.

Hachiman stretched.

Then he noticed that the black-haired beauty seated beside him, Suzune Horikita, had slightly turned toward him and was staring at him with bright eyes.

Her eyes were large enough to reflect his figure.

But—

Hey, hey, hey.

Horikita, you were not going to find his weaknesses by staring at him like that.

Your brother wanted you to learn flexible interpersonal relationships. He did not actually want you to find his weaknesses, you know?

Ever since Suzune Horikita had arrived in the classroom that morning, she had maintained that posture whenever class was not in session.

Fortunately, Horikita was aloof by nature. After the classmates, including Kushida, had hit a wall with her, they all decided she was difficult to get along with.

So when they discovered Horikita staring at Hachiman, they did not think that a stunningly beautiful girl was paying attention to him. They thought he had provoked Horikita.

And that she was taking revenge on him.

As a result, Hachiman received many sympathetic looks that day.

Just as Hachiman was considering how to make Horikita stop paying attention to him, a boy's voice came from outside the door.

It was Kanji Ike, one of the male participants from the class's earlier beautiful-girl ranking discussion.

"A girl is looking for you!"

He wore a somewhat envious expression.

A girl?

He knew very few girls. The only girls he knew at present were—

Hachiman looked toward Kushida the little angel, who was leaving through the classroom's front door with her short golden hair.

Kikyo Kushida happened to turn back as well. Their gazes met for a moment.

Kushida smiled, then left with her companion.

So, Kushida, he had not been watching you just now. He was completely harmless, so please stop taking such interest in him. And Horikita, the girl from your middle school whom you cared about, was staring at him today against his wishes.

Hachiman then headed to the back door of the classroom.

There, he saw a tall girl with purple hair.

Her legs were slender, and she wore short socks.

Her distinguishing feature was probably the two hairpins clipped into her hair.

It seemed she had noticed Hachiman's arrival.