What Level Is She Playing At? (Continued)

Horikita's eyes widened in surprise. How did she know?

Or was he just bluffing her?

Hachiman Hikigaya is not here.

Horikita stubbornly.

"Of course I know he's not here."

Kushida smiled sweetly, "Because an hour ago, he asked me out. Right now, he's probably alone in the movie theater. And he's talking to you on the phone."

"..."

Horikita remained noncommittal and silently lowered his head.

"Want to know how I found out?"

Kushida's pretty face showed a hint of pride as she said smugly, "Because I've been trying to call Hachiman Horikita. But the phone kept saying that the caller was busy."

If the call cannot be connected, the system will indicate that the user you are trying to reach is busy.

Then there are only two possibilities.

Either the other party is actually on the phone, or they have been blocked.

However, Kushida was confident that Hachiman would never block her.

So it's highly likely that... he really was answering someone else's call, and in Hachiman Hikigaya's social circle, the only person he could keep on the line and talking to all the time is Suzune Horikita.

"And as far as I know, Hachiman doesn't have much social interaction with friends. His phone calls usually don't last more than two minutes, even with girls. And Horikita, you..."

Kushida raised her slender white index finger to her lips and smiled slightly. "You've been wearing Bluetooth headphones since just now, haven't you? Don't deny it, because you haven't touched your hair at all since then. Is it because your hair is covering the headphones and you don't want me to see them?"

Horikita fell silent.

Because her hair was long and straight, it wasn't tied up.

So when the wind blows her hair, it easily hits her face, and that feeling makes her very uncomfortable, which is why she has the habit of flipping her hair from time to time.

During the conversation, she did unconsciously brush her hair aside, but she managed to restrain herself.

Perhaps it was this unusual behavior that caught Kushida's attention.

"So, he could only have been talking to you, Horikita, right? And because he was listening to our conversation, he didn't hang up."

Kushida looked confident, his small face beaming with a victor's smile, and he proudly lifted his head.

"You're really amazing, Kushida."

After a long silence, Horikita finally said softly, "Since you possess such insight, why do you still insist on making a bet with me?"

"You can protect yourself," Suzune Horikita said.

"Hehe—" Kushida just chuckled.

Actually, if she could protect herself, she would have done so much earlier.

Instead of being discovered by Hachiman Hikigaya kicking the railing, and then being caught by Sakayanagi Arisu.

Although Sakayanagi probably doesn't know the specifics of her dark past, as long as she is portrayed as someone who excels in all aspects, any negative aspect of her Kushida could affect her image.

After all, she always presents herself as a dazzling little angel to everyone.

Therefore, when the dark side is exposed, the impact will definitely be significant.

Sakayanagi Arisu was, after all, one of the representatives of the original Class A. She was also a potential candidate for the next Student Council President.

Kushida didn't think he could win at all.

At the same time, although it's only been four months since she started school, she also has to consider that next year's freshmen might include people who know about her dark past.

Therefore, it is necessary to add more helpers.

And the one she thought was the most useful... was Suzune Horikita.

Suzune Horikita might still consider her a friend, but Horikita is also realistic; she only treats her like a regular friend, and Suzune Horikita would definitely not do anything like helping her with a lot of things.

Therefore, Kushida had the idea of bringing Suzune Horikita into his camp as a tool to protect her.

Furthermore, Suzune Horikita might know about her dark past, a fact that hasn't been probed yet, so it's worth testing the waters.

It's killing multiple birds with one stone.

Kushida felt like she had used all her brainpower today.

And she wouldn't lose the bet she deliberately proposed.

Because.

Because she was poached by Sakayanagi and took orders from him, she deliberately targeted Suzune Horikita Sakayanagi. Following Sakayanagi's advice, she directly challenged Suzune Horikita to a bet.

Since Class C is challenging Class A, Sakayanagi will have exam papers on hand. Therefore, we can get the papers from Sakayanagi, so we can definitely score higher than top students like Suzune Horikita.

So in her opinion, she was destined to win.

She got Suzune Horikita for free, who became her tool for protection.

This is because Suzune Horikita is an honest person.

However, things took a turn for the worse.

Suzune Horikita is actually the current Student Council President, Ichimoku.

Hey, hey, hey.

Hachiman Hikigaya never told her this.

Moreover, she actually tried to bully his sister in front of the Student Council President. That's terrifying!

Having been enrolled for four months and no longer a freshman, I am well aware that this school Meritocracy, and the Student Council President is at the very top of that Meritocracy.

Therefore...

She was genuinely a little scared.

So we're waiting for Hachiman Hikigaya's reply.

Meanwhile, Suzune Horikita noticed Kushida's strange behavior, so while talking to Kushida, she dialed Hachiman's number.

Let him know.

So they are waiting for the other party's attitude.

But.

The two waited until 7 p. m., Hachiman did not reply to them.

And that is only natural.

Hachiman put down his phone.

Kushida sent him a bunch of spam messages.

He also asked Kushida.

[Was it your idea or Sakayanagi's suggestion to ask the Student Council President to be a witness?]

[Sakayanagi.] by Kushida.

OK

Hachiman felt he could put down his phone now. He also didn't need to reply anymore.

Because Kushida and Horikita, those two idiots, started fighting amongst themselves as soon as they were promoted to Class A.

Even though they had invited the Student Council President to be a witness, the place where he stood was only on the second or third floor.

Like Kushida.

Do you really think you can win a bet with Horikita?

Kushida's Academic Ability is not bad, but it is not as good as Suzune Horikita's.

So Kushida thought he could win, probably because he thought he could get the exam paper from Sakayanagi Arisu.

But.

Will Sakayanagi really give her the correct test paper?

Classmate Sakayanagi has done this trick of leaking exam questions before the exam starts once.

According to the bet, if Kushida's score in the math exam is lower than Suzune Horikita's, then Kushida will have to drop out of school.

At the same time, since the witness is the Student Council President, it would be difficult for her to deny it.

Sakayanagi herself is the daughter of the chairman of the board, so it's impossible that she didn't know that Suzune Horikita was the Student Council President's daughter.

So.

Kushida has been tricked.

She was manipulated by Sakayanagi into making a bet that couldn't be faked. And the punishment for losing the bet was absolutely detrimental to her.

So.

Kikyo Kushida may be expelled from school by Sakayanagi.

Hachiman felt that Kushida should be worried about this.

This was also a provocation from the malicious Sakayanagi Arisu.

Let's see if he will save Kushida.

When Hachiman went to the classroom the next morning, he found that Hirata- kun had already brought a list.

"After sorting out the information, we have created a list of candidates for the matching exams."

Perhaps because they were in Class A, Hirata and Yukimura, these academic geniuses, were very proactive in taking the exams.

Horikita also incorporated the classification and summarization of students' Academic Ability performance in the class.

Their plan is to get everyone through this exam, then allocate Academic Ability, and afterwards hold a study session that will last for almost a month.

However, Meili, who is also a top student, put her hands behind her head and looked at everyone.

He seemed uninterested in the matter.

He is the only son of the Koenji Zaibatsu, with an excellent background and outstanding Academic Ability. His goal is probably to graduate from Class A.

Since his current class is already Class A, it is only natural for him to contribute to maintaining it.

But he didn't, which probably means he believed the class couldn't maintain this position for three consecutive years. So, helping the class now would be a waste of time.

And that's why Hachiman Hikigaya didn't do anything.

He had already fulfilled his promise to Chabashira-sensei to upgrade from D to A, and he owed her nothing anymore.

Therefore, there is naturally no reason to maintain this class.

The student's score reached the Class A cutoff, but unfortunately, none Class A the students did.

Some might say they can grow, but that requires opportunity, guidance, and their own potential.

But who would be willing to do this for them?

Or how many resources are needed?

However, even though Hachiman gave up, Hirata still tried to turn the tide, so now Hirata is announcing the pairings for the students in this pairing exam.

"Karuizawa and Kushida."

"Meiyu Wang and Akito Miyake."

"Teruhiko Yukimura and Kanji Ike."

"Sotomura and Chiaki Matsushita..."

"..."

It seems that the standard is that a high-achieving student is supporting a low-achieving student. This is similar to the Belt and Road Initiative.

On average, it's quite possible that almost all students in the class will pass.

"Hachiman Hikigaya and Sato," Hirata was still reading the names.

But Hachiman noticed that Kei Karuizawa, who was sitting to his right, suddenly turned around.