"How could that be? Masumi Kamuro and Sakayanagi are, even now, genuinely classmates."
"So there's no way it's some kind of master-and-dog relationship!"
"I've never been tamed by her!"
By then, the two had reached the stairs leading to the rooftop. The open rooftop door was right ahead.
Perhaps Kamuro's voice had been too loud, because a cute voice drifted down from the rooftop.
"All right, Kamuro, I know you're dissatisfied with me, but this isn't the time for barking."
"You idiot, you've revealed far too much information."
The voice was quite adorable, but there was not the slightest hint of politeness in its words.
Masumi Kamuro finally came to her senses.
"You tricked me!" Kamuro glared at Hachiman.
"..." Hachiman.
It was not that he wanted to trick her. She had simply been too easily provoked.
Hachiman had gathered that Kamuro from Class A had probably been treated as a subordinate by the student called Sakayanagi, but Kamuro herself did not seem to acknowledge it.
Yet she was carrying out the other girl's orders.
Even going so far as to deliberately pretend to confess to a boy she did not know.
And doing that would have consequences.
It would draw her classmates' attention and damage her reputation. Even knowing those risks existed, she still carried out the other girl's orders.
Didn't that make Kamuro an M?
Hachiman found himself wishing Class A's teacher was also willing to pay for student file investigations like Chabashira-sensei.
By then, he had reached the rooftop.
He looked ahead.
Kamuro's invitation had been a pretense. It was actually Kamuro's master who wanted to see him.
And she... was not a stranger.
Hachiman had met her once before.
She was the frail-looking silver-haired girl surrounded by classmates like stars around the moon, whom he had seen sitting on a sofa at Zelkova Shopping Center the day before yesterday.
Now, Classmate Sakayanagi sat on a rooftop bench.
She really was cute.
She had beautiful straight silver-white hair, fair skin, and an adorable face.
Her cute little legs were wrapped in pure white stockings.
Thinking back, the sixteen students he had seen then had all worn school uniforms. They were unlikely to have been upperclassmen, so they had to be first-year students from the same cohort.
Now their identities had been confirmed. They were students from Class A, First Year.
"Nice to meet you, Hachiman Hikigaya. I am Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A."
Sakayanagi Arisu rose lightly from her chair and gave a polite curtsy. "You, from Class D, have been quite active."
Sakayanagi: I'm Just a Frail Girl. Hachiman: You Expect Me to Believe That?
Sakayanagi Arisu of Class A.
Hachiman had only just enrolled and did not know many people, but this particular name had long been famous.
On the first day of school, he had discovered the School Forum on his phone.
It was the quickest place to obtain information about the school.
But someone else had reacted even faster: Sakayanagi Arisu of Class A, First Year.
She had directly made a post, using chess as her weapon to fire at upperclassmen.
Judging by the outcome, the students in her class surrounded her like stars around the moon. She must have obtained a satisfactory reward.
So, as a student of Class A, she had performed excellently.
Worthy of her reputation.
However.
"I'm Hachiman Hikigaya. I don't have any great ambitions, and I hope the girl I like is the type with enough money to support me."
"But I'm not a lolicon," Hachiman said. "My eyes tend to give people the wrong impression, but when I stared at you at Zelkova Shopping Center before, I didn't mean anything by it."
Sakayanagi Arisu was visibly taken aback.
She probably had not expected him to say that so directly.
However.
"A lolicon..."
"Although it seems my build can only be like this, I do have standards," Classmate Sakayanagi said with a smile.
In other words, she had absolutely no interest in Hachiman.
But she had not denied having money either, had she?
"Actually, I did not call you here over that matter," Sakayanagi said. "I'm fairly broad-minded. I won't necessarily hold a grudge just because someone stared at me a few times."
No.
The way she put it made her sound extremely petty.
"This time, I called you here to offer you a ticket to a life free from worries about food and clothing."
Sakayanagi Arisu said.
"Oh?"
Hachiman looked at her.
"You just said it yourself, didn't you? You wanted to live a life supported by someone else, and I can give you that," she said.
"I already keep Kamuro as a pet, but if you keep only one pet, it may become lonely."
"So I've decided to keep another one."
Oh.
I see.
So she was openly admitting that her classmate was her pet.
But didn't she think treating a classmate like a pet was going too far?
She looked like a cute, frail little girl, but was she actually a genuine brat?
"I give her 100,000 points every month," Sakayanagi Arisu continued. "That's quite a generous offer."
??
One hundred thousand?
It was half the reward Hachiman could get from Chabashira-sensei for investigating one classmate, drawn from the settling-in funds the school had given new students upon enrollment.
And all he had to do was be Sakayanagi Arisu's dog to receive that money every month?
Hachiman looked at little puppy Kamuro.
Kamuro had actually found herself such a long-term meal ticket.
However.
"I haven't accepted!" Kamuro said.
"So I want to keep her, but she hasn't fully agreed yet," Sakayanagi Arisu said unhurriedly.
"Obviously, that's impossible!" Kamuro said.
She sounded utterly unyielding.
Perhaps because she had heard a topic she disliked, Masumi Kamuro did not continue onto the rooftop. Instead, she turned and began walking down the stairs.
She looked as though she was angry, but her footsteps were strange.
They receded, then suddenly stopped.
It was as though she had abruptly halted somewhere.
Hachiman took a few steps back and saw Kamuro's purple hair.
In other words, she was merely waiting at the stairwell entrance on the fifth floor.
She had acted so resolute, so she should have just left. Instead, she was waiting there.
What a stubborn, yet somewhat cute person.
In response, Sakayanagi Arisu merely spread her hands slightly and wore a helpless expression.
"Kamuro is rather cute, but the road to taming her is still long."
No.
Please do not try to tame your classmates as pets.
"If you want to treat me as a pet..." Hachiman paused. "I don't think I can do that."
If he wanted to refuse that badly, he should not have paused.
Sakayanagi Arisu grumbled internally.
"That was merely a malicious way of putting it," Classmate Sakayanagi said. "The proper explanation would be sponsoring a spy."
"And Hachiman Hikigaya, I hope you can become my informant in Class D."
Huh?
Hearing that, Hachiman looked at the frail-looking silver-haired girl.
Yes.
She looked frail. She was small and pale-skinned, but unfortunately, though she was seated, a cane rested beside her.
Right now, there were two benches on the rooftop. They were somewhat far apart, one in the shade and one in the sunlight.
Sakayanagi was currently seated on the bench in the shade.
She had difficulty moving.
Sickly.
Those words entered his mind.
"As you can see, my body is quite weak," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "In the past, I was even unable to attend school normally. Now that I have the chance to enter this school, I naturally want to experience school life properly."
"So I asked Kamuro for help. I give her points, and she helps me do things I cannot do," Sakayanagi Arisu said.
I see.
So she had chosen Kamuro to make up for her own shortcomings.
Her health was poor, so she could not move around freely. But Kamuro was agile and looked trained, making her suitable for errands and similar tasks.
So this was not something excessive. It was mutually beneficial.
She had someone to run errands for her, while Kamuro received points.
So she was not an unreasonable person.
She was merely sharp-tongued.
But.
Those words...
Like hell I believe you.
Before you continue