Sakayanagi, It's Not Nice to Steal People! 6k

Then the two can start a conversation on the chat app.

[Shiina wants to see me?]

"Yes, she told us to contact her as soon as we found out." Ibuki wrote honestly.

Oh, I see.

Hachiman nodded. Today is the 1st, so he can understand why Shiina came to him.

But.

The movies currently showing are incredibly boring.

So.

[Do you like movies too?] Hachiman sent an email to Ibuki.

Is that strange?

Mio Ibuki countered with a question.

Even though the distance between them is less than fifty centimeters, they insist on communicating by typing.

If outsiders saw this, they would probably find it strange.

[No, it's just that you seem a bit distracted.] Hachiman sent a message.

I didn't like this movie.

Mio Ibuki quickly replied, "But I have my own goals, so I'm working on achieving them."

[???]

When Hachiman typed a question mark, Mio Ibuki quickly replied.

I want to watch every single movie in this school.

Mio Ibuki's reply was very serious, and her determination could be seen between the lines.

Hachiman, though somewhat puzzled, didn't say much.

He simply nodded slightly.

After all, Mio Ibuki's actions weren't actually that strange.

On the contrary, she was even more genuine than I had imagined.

Like Kushida, she treats making friends as a task to be completed.

She didn't care which class she was in, nor did she care which school she would attend in the future.

But she wants to make friends, regardless of which class they're from.

Even in Class A, she could make friends with students in Class D with a very calm attitude.

Like an obsessive-compulsive disorder, making friends wasn't as joyful as Kushida portrayed; she was under a lot of pressure. That's why she became a ticking time bomb.

For Mio Ibuki, making friends was like watching a movie.

Certainly.

Just like some people like stamp collecting, while others like collecting strange stones or seashells.

Perhaps it's out of interest, or perhaps it's because of my obsessive-compulsive disorder that I'll write 20,000 words tomorrow as a task to complete.

So there's nothing to criticize or stop.

What happened between you and Ryuen?

However, before Hachiman could reply, Mio Ibuki quickly typed out a line of text.

[What's the meaning?]

[Class C has been downgraded to Class D, and the gap between us and the other classes is now over a thousand points, making any improvement virtually impossible. Haven't you achieved your goal? So why are you still targeting us now that we've become Class D? Aside from the 10,000 yen living allowance we each received this morning from Sakayanagi, we have no money left.]

Profound.

This blue-haired Ibuki, is still so blunt in revealing her class's secrets.

But.

Hachiman can still answer her previous question.

No, I think you've misunderstood. I wasn't targeting you.

To be honest, Hachiman wasn't targeting Class D, but only Ryuen.

He wasn't really targeting Ryuen; he just wanted Ryuen's money.

Hachiman continued typing on the virtual keyboard, but the next second his phone turned black—

It wasn't that the phone was off; someone had called.

Chapter 190 Classmate Sakayanagi, stealing someone isn't a good idea! 6k

Hachiman's phone received a call message.

He didn't have many people in his contact list, and the person who called just happened to be in his contact list.

It is Kikyo Kushida.

Hachiman took out his earphones from his pocket, then plugged them into the phone's headphone jack and answered the call.

"Oh, it seems you really care about whether your secret is exposed."

The voice coming through the phone wasn't Kushida's, but rather Classmate Sakayanagi's, somewhat unclear yet quite elegant.

In other words, Kushida and Sakayanagi are together.

Kushida stood himself up because of Sakayanagi.

That's probably the only reason.

He was one of the few people who knew Kushida's true colors, and probably one of the few who hadn't yet become a citizen of the Kushida Empire Kushida wanted to build. That's why Kushida was keen to win his favor.

It would be strange to directly reject his invitation.

If we contact Hirata again to gather Academic Ability gifted people to create exam papers and discuss Matoba for her to shine, her refusal to participate suggests that something is amiss.

And now this is what happened.

Kushida was captured by Sakayanagi Arisu.

"Isn't it normal for everyone to have one or two secrets?" Kushida said.

"No, that's not it." But Classmate Sakayanagi continued, "I'm not referring to that kind of secret."

"It's already the fourth month since I started school."

"And I think you already understand part of the essence of this school."

"First of all, the quality of students in the four classes A, B, C, and D is fundamentally different. Class A is the strongest, while Class D is the weakest."

"I suspect that the students were selected using the same set of evaluation criteria," Sakayanagi Arisu said.

"Then it's not really relevant to me. Everyone uses this standard," Kushida said.

"Of course it's relevant," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "Because Kushida, your Academic Ability, athletic ability, and interpersonal skills are all quite outstanding."

"If it were just a normal evaluation standard, you should be a student in Class A... or at least Class B. Why were you assigned to Class D?" Sakayanagi Arisu said seriously. "In other words, you actually have some major problem recorded in your file, and the school administration of Advanced Nurturing High School is aware of it, right?"

"..." When asked this question, Kushida seemed to remain silent for several seconds.

But.

She said it quickly.

"Classmate Sakayanagi, your deduction is quite interesting. But Kōenji and Hirata are also very excellent. They were also assigned to Class D."

"That's because they have some flaws. Kōenji's arrogant attitude may have annoyed the interviewer, as for Hirata..."

"His Academic Ability and physical fitness are quite good, and his coordination is also very strong, but I don't think so," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "He pays too much attention to his classmates, and I don't believe that there are absolute saints in this world."

"So he probably went through some terrible or horrific events in his past," Sakayanagi said.

"..." Kushida.

Kushida seemed to fall silent for a moment.

According to Sakayanagi's theory, it would be strange if someone as outstanding as her were assigned to Class D.

For example, is there any documented dark history that would significantly lower the school's evaluation of her?

If that association is made, Kushida will be in danger.

But.

This is not an unsolvable problem.

Since the school is a competition between classes, if you want to incite competition, even if the classes are not evenly matched, you should at least assign a few outstanding leaders to the lower-ranked classes.

Otherwise, there would be no competition.

Therefore, this is a valid point of view.

Hachiman thought to himself.

But.

"Well then," Kushida quickly surrendered. "What do you want me to do?"

Well—

Sakayanagi Arisu's side seemed surprised that Kushida had given in so quickly. So they paused for about ten seconds.

Meanwhile, Hachiman's phone started vibrating again.

Another student called, but it was someone I knew – Masumi Kamuro.

But Hachiman didn't answer her call.

Instead, we continue to listen.

Very soon.

Sakayanagi's voice rang out again, "For now, you can disrupt the unity of your class."

"Attack one person in your class first, and disable their fighting ability," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "For example, attack Suzune Horikita first."

Why did you do that?

"It's very simple," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "Because I'm currently a student in Class C, but I was originally a student in Class A."

"And for this Special Exam, your class's Hachiman Hikigaya didn't seem to be interested in taking on the challenge, so the leadership probably fell to Suzune Horikita."

I see.

In other Sakayanagi, from the perspective of the Class representative, Class C's opponent this time is Class A.

As a rival class, we need to work harder.

"..."

That's about the end of the phone call.

However, Hachiman already understood Kushida's meaning.

She was captured by Sakayanagi, so she revealed this to him in order to get help.

Now that Hachiman has achieved his goal, Kushida, this bomb, should theoretically no longer need to be maintained.

Hachiman then sent a message to Kamuro.

I also sent them a picture of the movie theater's big screen.

[I was watching a movie and didn't answer your call.] by Hachiman Hikigaya.

[... Sakayanagi is looking for you.] by Masumi Kamuro.

"No need," Hachiman quickly replied. "I'm probably busy today. I have plans with someone else."

"Whatever." Kamuro was quite direct.

Then there was no news for the next ten minutes or so.

However, Hachiman soon found himself receiving another phone call.