Hachiman's Meritocracy Classroom Chapter 28

But Sakayanagi didn't continue to bring up the topic.

"As for Totsuka, he probably just wants to support Katsuragi," Arisu Sakayanagi said as if she had lost interest. "Indeed, our class is quite unique; some support my radical approach, while others want to maintain their temporary advantage."

Sakayanagi held sway in Class A, with a number of supporters.

After acquiring a huge amount of points, she used her financial power to invite Majima-sensei.

Majima-sensei informed all the Class A students about the true nature of this school, as well as the school's expectations and evaluations of Class A.

Although it was a competition between four classes, Class A had a significant advantage. If they could steadily reach graduation, that would be ideal.

In other words, they were relying on their past achievements.

A portion of the students in the class wished to take this seemingly safe path.

And for Arisu Sakayanagi, such a thing was incredibly boring.

That's why she found school life uninteresting.

But as soon as she thought of this, she also remembered almost being left hanging by Hachiman Hikigaya. She was forced to have information essentially stolen from her.

That damn Hachiman Hikigaya!

Chapter 031: Hachiman: Horikita, you want to reach Class A, right! Horikita: Isn't that your ambition?

Meanwhile.

That damn Hachiman Hikigaya had already finished his meal.

Horikita ordered a simple meal set worth 400 points.

His was exactly the same.

Two dishes and one soup.

Hachiman wasn't a picky eater; his mother had told him not to be.

Moreover, although the dishes were simple, the thought that the school's top beautiful girl was eating with him made it instantly feel... more special.

The two didn't linger in the cafeteria.

They headed together towards the vicinity of the student dormitory, first passing by a vending machine.

Hmm.

That place was a site of trauma for Suzune Horikita.

Yesterday, she had met her brother there and was asked to withdraw from school. Although she didn't end up withdrawing, she was still considered useless, and she was also tasked with finding the weakness of the person beside her, named Hachiman Hikigaya.

However, Hachiman didn't bring up the topic, giving Horikita some face.

At this time of day, there was no one around.

Rather, there were rarely any people here to begin with.

"This is the information I obtained today," Hachiman said, sitting down on a nearby bench.

He took out his phone and opened his notes. "Class A students have already obtained it. They paid a price of two million points, and it was shared among the entire class."

"Two million!" Even Horikita would be surprised.

She had already confirmed that the points in the private account on her student ID could indeed be spent like money, and there was no inflation; the prices were almost the same as in the outside world.

Which meant...

"And your brother also said before that he told you that being assigned to Class D meant you were trash, and he also needed to pay a price of one million points for that."

"So, for Class A students to obtain more detailed information, they would need to pay more points. Two million is a reasonable amount."

Horikita had nothing to say about this.

"So, am I still that worthless sister of his?"

"To have my brother spend one million for me for nothing." Perhaps realizing the importance of points, Horikita became a bit more timid.

This state was somewhat similar to the timid younger sister from last night.

"Perhaps so," Hachiman replied.

"Uh..."

She was probably caught on her weak spot; whenever her brother was mentioned, Horikita deflated like a balloon.

And watching Hachiman take out his phone.

"Please let me see," she even became a bit more polite.

So she leaned closer.

Since Hachiman had recorded the information in his phone's notepad, Suzune Horikita could only come over when he was sitting there.

Rather, after confirming that the obtained information was worth two million, Horikita became a bit more timid.

So instead of taking the phone from Hachiman, she walked over herself and sat next to him.

Due to her intense focus, Suzune Horikita didn't notice her straight hair slipping onto Hachiman's hand.

Her hair felt smooth and smelled nice.

It was probably due to the light that her left hand rested on Hachiman's hand.

Her fingers were soft, slender, and slightly warm.

Moreover, Hachiman noticed that his own arm, his arm seemed to have touched, had touched.

Hey!

Horikita, do you even know what you're doing?

For Hachiman, however, this was the first time a girl had been this close to him (excluding Kushida and his sister), and it would be a lie to say he wanted to refuse directly.

But Horikita probably wasn't thinking of anything.

And it would be strange to pull his hand away now, so Hachiman could only wait for her to finish reading the message.

The school's rules.

The school competes on a class-by-class basis.

The so-called high college and employment rates are a scam, because only Class A students represent the school upon graduation, while students from other classes are transferred to different schools upon graduation.

At the same time, from the very beginning, all students have been evaluated according to a standardized system called the S System.

Then, students are divided into classes A, B, C, and D based on their merit.

Among them, Class A represents excellence.

And Class D is the worst.

However, the school also gives students opportunities. Because it's a competition, everyone starts from the same starting line with an equal base score of 1000 points.

And from the first day of enrollment, a behavioral norms assessment specifically for new students, testing whether they possess the qualities of excellent students required by Advanced Nurturing High School, has already begun.

In other words, what Manabu Horikita didn't fully explain last night was supplemented today.

"So, does that mean I'm still a piece of trash?"

Even though last night she said, "You're not the same waste my brother knew," Horikita was now deeply dejected.

It wasn't just because she had been assigned to Class D.

It was also because she had cost her brother a million Private Points for no reason.

At the prices on the Shopping Street, that was enough to buy dozens of computers.

"That's not necessarily true." Hachiman didn't bring Horikita out to discourage her.

He intended to negotiate with Chabashira-sensei.

So.

He said.

"Have you ever heard of 'gekokujo'?"

"There's never been a case in this school where Class D surpassed Class A and was promoted to Class A, nor has any student ever accumulated 20 million Private Points." Hachiman said. "But if you can achieve that, how will your brother see you?"

"Or rather, how will others see your brother then?"

"A little sister assigned to Class D has climbed up."

"And what does that represent?" Hachiman said. "For your brother, it would be icing on the cake. I think it would be enough for him to acknowledge you."

"To think..." Suzune Horikita began to consider the possibility.

"Since you've come to this place and are enjoying its benefits, isn't it a good thing to use its rules flexibly to climb up?" Hachiman said.

His voice was like a succubus's temptation.

It made Suzune Horikita fall into thought again.

Yes.

She had come here following her brother's footsteps, in order to prove she wasn't trash.

But her first attempt was a failure, and she had even cost her brother a huge sum of 1 million points for nothing.

It was equivalent to her older brother wasting 1 million because of his sister's foolishness.

That was indeed tough to bear.

But what if she could make up for this shortfall, and... also prove her own abilities?

"..." Suzune Horikita.

Hachiman gazed at the black-haired girl beside him.

He looked at her knee-high socks.

Because they were so close, if he looked at her, he would see from below her neck to above her abdomen, which was not a good line of sight.

So he had to shift his gaze away for now.

But he could feel that Suzune Horikita seemed to have been spurred on.

And that's how things are right now.

"So..."

Suzune Horikita finally moved her body, turning to the side.

Her left hand was lightly clenched into a fist.

"If I want to climb higher..." Her opinion had already been stated.

"That's a good thing. Climbing higher is good for you, good for me, and good for everyone," Hachiman nodded. "And your brother would have to agree with you. After all, you're using the school's rules to climb."

However.

Suzune Horikita tilted her head again, her eyes filled with confusion. "Indeed... your idea is surprising, and I'm quite tempted by it."

"If you don't want to be expelled."

"I followed my brother's footsteps to get here, and I don't want to stop now, nor do I want to tarnish his name."

However.

Suzune Horikita looked over, her gaze fixed and unmoving.

"So, by grasping the essence of this school, you want to be promoted to Class A? Hachiman-kun."

Huh.

Did he want to be promoted to Class A?

Did he really want to be promoted to Class A?

It seemed this honest person wasn't easy to fool.

Because she had figured it out.