Hachiman: "You Want to Reach Class A, Right, Horikita?" Horikita: "Isn't That Your Ambition?"

But Classmate Sakayanagi did not continue the topic.

"As for Totsuka, he probably just wanted to support Katsuragi." Sakayanagi Arisu spoke as if she had suddenly lost interest. "Indeed, our class is rather unique. Some support an aggressive type like me, while others want to preserve our current advantage."

Sakayanagi held considerable influence in Class A and had a group of supporters.

After obtaining a massive amount of points, she used her money power to invite Majima-sensei.

Majima-sensei told every Class A student the true nature of the school, as well as the school's expectations and evaluation of Class A.

Though all four classes were competing, Class A held a tremendous advantage. If they could steadily maintain it until graduation, that would be ideal.

In other words, they could coast on their existing advantages.

Some of the class wanted to take that seemingly safe path.

But to Sakayanagi Arisu, that was unbearably boring.

That was why she found campus life so dull.

But thinking of that, she also remembered how Hachiman Hikigaya had nearly put her on the shelf, forcing her to give him information for free.

Damn Hachiman Hikigaya!

Hachiman: You Want to Rise to Class A, Right, Horikita? Horikita: Isn't That Your Ambition?

Meanwhile.

That damn Hachiman Hikigaya had already finished eating.

Horikita had ordered a fairly plain 400-point set meal.

His meal was exactly the same.

Two dishes and a soup.

Hachiman was not a picky eater. His mother had taught him not to be picky.

Besides, although the food was simple, the thought of eating with one of the school's top beauties somehow made it feel more special.

The two did not linger in the cafeteria.

Together, they headed toward the area near the student dormitories, first passing by the vending machines.

Yeah.

That place was a source of emotional trauma for Suzune Horikita.

Yesterday, she had met her brother there and been told to withdraw from school. Though she had not ultimately been expelled, he had still deemed her worthless and assigned her the task of finding the weaknesses of the person beside her, Hachiman Hikigaya.

However, Hachiman did not bring up that topic, giving Horikita some face.

There was no one around at this hour.

Or rather, hardly anyone ever came here.

"This is the information I obtained today." Hachiman sat down on a bench nearby.

He took out his phone and opened his notes. "The Class A students have already obtained it. They paid two million, split evenly among the whole class."

"Two million!" Even Suzune Horikita was surprised.

She had already confirmed that the points in the private account on her student ID could genuinely be spent as money. There was no inflation, and prices were nearly identical to those outside.

Which meant—

"Your brother also said before that he had to pay one million just to tell you that being assigned to Class D meant you were trash."

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

Suzune Horikita had no argument against that.

"Then am I still that worthless little sister?"

"I made my brother spend one million for nothing." Perhaps because she had realized the importance of points, Horikita had become a little more timid.

This state of hers somewhat resembled the weak-willed little sister from last night.

"Perhaps," Hachiman said.

"Uh..."

Perhaps her brother was her Achilles' heel. Whenever he was mentioned, Horikita deflated like a punctured balloon.

Then she stared at the phone Hachiman had taken out.

"Please let me see." She had even become more polite.

So she moved closer.

Since Hachiman had recorded the information in his phone's notes, Suzune Horikita had no choice but to come over while he sat there.

Or rather, having confirmed that the information was worth two million, Suzune Horikita had become somewhat more reserved.

So instead of taking the phone from Hachiman, she came over herself and sat beside him.

Because she was so focused, Suzune Horikita did not notice her straight hair falling across the back of Hachiman's hand.

Her hair was smooth and fragrant.

Perhaps because of the lighting, her left hand pressed against the back of Hachiman's hand.

Her fingers were soft, slender, and faintly warm.

And Hachiman noticed that his arm... his arm seemed to have touched—touched something.

Hey!

Horikita, did you know what you were doing?

Still, this was the first time in Hachiman's life a girl had gotten this close to him—Kushida and his sister did not count—so claiming he wanted to immediately refuse would have been a lie.

But Horikita probably was not thinking anything at all.

Pulling his hand away now would be strange, so Hachiman could only wait for her to finish reading.

The school's rules.

The school had classes compete as units.

The so-called Advancement Rate and Employment Rate were a scam, because only Class A students would graduate as representatives of the school. Students from other classes would be assigned to other schools at graduation.

At the same time, all students had been evaluated from the outset under a standard model called the S System.

They had then been assigned to Classes A, B, C, and D based on their excellence.

Class A represented the outstanding students.

And Class D was the absolute worst.

But the school also gave students an opportunity. Since it was a competition, everyone began at the same starting line, with the same base score of 1,000 points.

From the first day of enrollment, an assessment specifically targeting freshmen's conduct had already begun, evaluating whether they possessed the qualities of excellent students demanded by Advanced Nurturing High School.

In other words, everything Manabu Horikita had failed to explain clearly yesterday had now been filled in.

"So I really am worthless?"

Though she had declared last night that she was no longer the worthless girl her brother knew, Horikita was now deeply shaken.

It was not just because she had been assigned to Class D.

She had also made her brother lose one million Private Points for nothing.

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

"Not necessarily." Hachiman had not brought Horikita out here to crush her spirits.

He wanted to use this information to negotiate terms with Chabashira-sensei.

So—

He said,

"Have you ever heard of the weak overthrowing the strong?"

"There has never been a case at this school of Class D surpassing Class A and becoming Class A, nor has any student ever collected twenty million Private Points."

Hachiman said, "But if you accomplished that, what would your brother think of you?"

"Or rather, what would everyone think of your brother then?"

"The little sister assigned to Class D climbed her way up."

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

"Could it really..." Suzune Horikita began considering whether that was possible.

"Since you came to this place and enjoy its benefits, wouldn't it be a good thing to make flexible use of its rules and climb upward?" Hachiman said.

His voice was like a succubus luring someone in.

It made Suzune Horikita fall into thought once more.

That was right.

She had followed in her brother's footsteps and come here because she wanted to prove she was not worthless.

But she had gotten off to a terrible start, and even made her brother lose a massive one million points for nothing.

It was as if her brother had wasted one million because of his little sister's stupidity.

That really was hard to take.

But what if she could make up for that loss and... prove her own ability as well?

"..." Suzune Horikita.

Hachiman watched the black-haired girl beside him.

He looked at her thigh-high socks.

Since they were sitting so close, if he looked at her, his gaze would fall somewhere between her neck and abdomen. That was not an appropriate line of sight.

So he could only look away first.

But he could sense that Suzune Horikita seemed to have been stirred.

And now was the moment.

"Then..."

Suzune Horikita finally shifted away. She turned toward him.

Her left hand lightly curled into a loose fist.

"If I wanted to climb upward..." She had already expressed her position.

"That would be a good thing. If you climb upward, it benefits you, me, and everyone else." Hachiman nodded. "And your brother would have no choice but to acknowledge you. After all, you would be climbing up by making use of this school's rules."

But—

Suzune Horikita tilted her head again, confusion in her eyes. "Indeed... your idea is surprising, and I am quite tempted by it."

"If I do not want to withdraw from school."

"I came here following in my brother's footsteps. I do not want to stop here, and I do not want to disgrace him."

But—

Suzune Horikita looked over at him, her gaze fixed and unwavering.

"So, after learning the true nature of this school, are you the one who wants to rise to Class A, Hachiman?"

Uh.

Did he want to rise to Class A?

Would he want to rise to Class A?

Honest people really were not easy to fool.

Because she had seen through him.