Chapter 298

However, he wasn't just randomly pulling her away; he was deliberately leading her outside. There were some upperclassmen on their way to school on the playground. As he walked past Horikita, Hachiman noticed that the upperclassmen around them weren't pointing or whispering about Horikita.

This suggests that the sudden rumors haven't reached the older students. Perhaps they just haven't had a chance to spread yet?

Or perhaps this was indeed just a self-directed act by the younger students, with no intention of making a big fuss.

Hachiman pulled her to this side of the playground.

"..." Horikita remained silent.

Or perhaps her emotions haven't stabilized yet.

However, Hachiman still had to speak up, "... Calm down. Although I have a general idea of what happened, there are rumors circulating in the class that are detrimental to you. And this is Kushida's plan. She must have been the one who spread them."

He actually thought that the person behind it all was Sakayanagi.

However, Horikita had not been in contact with Sakayanagi during this period, so they directly used Kushida Horikita was familiar with, as a scapegoat.

Horikita might react to confrontations, conspiracies, plans, and so on.

Hachiman guessed that Horikita was afraid of these rumors because she felt that her existence might bring danger to her idol's brother, that she couldn't help him and would only be a hindrance.

This feeling of inferiority.

"I know," Horikita said. "I'll try to calm down."

"But—" she grasped Hachiman's hand, "How can I calm down!"

"The whole class, the whole class knows... they all know... I'm sure I'll be used as material to attack my brother, and I'll cause him trouble."

Horikita was very agitated. "Like Yamauchi just now, who directly asked me if I got some information from my brother... Doesn't that already damage my brother's reputation?"

"And when we enrolled, my brother said that if his sister was assigned to Class D, it would be him who would be embarrassed..."

Hmm.

Hachiman looked at Horikita's appearance.

What a lovely little sister.

If it was a psychological tactic, then Sakayanagi's plan succeeded.

Horikita's fighting strength has now been weakened.

But.

Hachiman placed a hand on Horikita's shoulder. "There's something wrong with your way of thinking. Rather than saying it's a bad thing, you could actually see it as a good thing."

"Because others don't know you're the Student Council President's sister, but look at you now? You're in Class A! You're in Class A! People can interpret it as you led Class D to become Class A! Isn't that excellent enough?"

"This will make the Student Council President proud. And he'll also gain a lot of fame."

Hachiman told her, "So what happened to you was definitely not a negative impact, but a positive one."

"So, this is actually good news. We should thank the person who spread the rumor, right, Kushida?"

Hachiman glanced behind Horikita, where a girl with short blonde hair was standing, unnoticed by Horikita.

The short-haired girl seemed to suddenly feel very dissatisfied as she listened to Hachiman's comforting words to Horikita.

Perhaps she didn't consider that the rumors would actually benefit Horikita.

"In the end, the only ones who would want to take advantage of your status as the Student Council President's sister are those idiots in the class. Just ignore those students, am I right, Kushida?"

"..." Kushida.

"Alright, Horikita, you go back to your dorm first," Hachiman said. "And Kushida, you come here for a second!"

"... Are there three students absent today?"

In the classroom, Chabashira-sensei gently closed her eyes, then opened them again, because it was time for her history class, but the classroom was not full.

Kikyo Kushida, who was in the front row, is not here.

Suzune Horikita, who was in the back seat, was not there.

And Hachiman Hikigaya the window, was also not there.

"About this—"

The kind-hearted Hirata stood up, but he didn't know how to explain. If he told the truth, he could say that Horikita was suddenly criticized and then Hachiman took him out, and Kushida went out because he was worried about them.

This is true, but saying it out loud would definitely make the teachers feel ashamed.

Because she spread rumors about her classmates and embarrassed them.

Doing something like this is definitely not up to Class A standards.

If I don't explain—

"Oh." Chabashira-sensei glanced at her phone.

"The three of them asked me for leave. So please turn to page 188. Today's topic is the division of labor within the clan..."

Sae Chabashira entered class mode.

"Phew—" This made Hirata breathe a sigh of relief.

But one student found it very troubling.

Because he found himself being glared at by several girls.

Those were girls led by Kei Karuizawa; she, Sato, and Satsuki were all glaring at him.

The look of disgust was undisguised on his face.

Although Yamauchi was rather dim-witted, he realized that they must be upset because of what he had just said to Suzune Horikita.

"This is none of my business—"

He felt wronged because if Horikita could get the exam paper, wouldn't everyone be able to skip school?

After class.

As soon as Chabashira-sensei left, Yamauchi tried to stand up, only to find that several girls had surrounded him.

Led by Kei Karuizawa, the other person placed one hand on his desk and said, "Yamauchi, are you an idiot?"

Why, why do you say that?

Although he was surrounded by pretty girls in his class, Yamauchi was actually a little scared of their presence.

Because they all came with great force.

"Isn't that obvious?" Satsuki Shinohara said. "Even I know this. The pairing exam was set by Sakayanagi Katsuragi and his classmates from Class C. What could the Student Council President possibly know? Did you take money from someone to slander our class?"

"Now that we've finally made it to Class A, and this kind of thing has to happen, Yamauchi, you should just drop out of school."

"W-why... I didn't, I didn't take any money!"

"Would you say such nonsense if you weren't taking money?"

"I, I—"

A fight is about to break out.

"Alright, everyone, let's stop discussing this. It was very rude to Horikita, or to anyone else. We're a class, a group. But regardless of the rumors Yamauchi, whether they're true or not, what you said was indeed very rude. I hope you can apologize to Horikita when she comes back."

The ever-friendly Hirata quickly stepped forward to speak. "And everyone, please stop discussing this. We're in Class A now, which is tough enough. Whether it's Katsuragi Sakayanagi's class, Ryuen's class, or even Ichinose's class, they'll all be watching us. If we cause internal strife, we'll suffer a huge loss."

"That's true, Yamauchi, can't you study more? Luckily I didn't partner with you this time, otherwise I would have been very worried!" Teruhiko Yukimura, a top student, also chimed in.

Meanwhile, Kanji Ike, who was sitting in his seat, thought he could take this opportunity to talk about Yamauchi.

Not only do they not appreciate other people's kindness, but they also can't keep their mouths shut and say whatever comes to mind.

But now it seems he doesn't even need to stir things up anymore.

Because of everyone's comments, Yamauchi felt that he could no longer stay in the classroom.

On the other side.

Kushida was left alone by Hachiman.

"Alright, alright, I've already said it." Kushida was in a bad mood. "Actually, it was Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A who invited me. And this was also Sakayanagi's plan. She said that although she could defeat Suzune Horikita through the written test, winning her heart was also very important."

She openly admitted to being the mastermind, saying, "I admit I didn't think that much about it; I just wanted to defeat Suzune Horikita."

"I already know that," Hachiman said.

Seeing Hachiman deep in thought, Kushida was confident he wouldn't lose.

Because that's how that person pointed it out to her.

[Once the rumor is out, you'll have to take the blame, but don't worry about whether it gets dealt with or not. It's just a smokescreen to make people think you've already taken action, when in fact you haven't.]

[You just need to use this trick to reassure others, making them think you're already actively making the bet. So, your eventual victory is only natural.]

"But I don't think I can handle dealing with the rumors." Kushida refused, seeing that Hachiman had finally finished thinking. "Anyway, the mastermind has already told you, and I've done what I could."

"No need," Hachiman said. "This time, the rumors won't even spread, so we can do nothing."

Is that so?

Do we not need to do anything?

When Kushida noticed that the students in the class group were no longer talking about the rumors.

After some questioning, I learned that the girls in the gyaru group had gotten into a fight, then Hirata- kun also exploded, and everyone was subsequently muted. Yamauchi was also ordered to apologize to Suzune Horikita in person if she returned.

Day.

So, this class had actually been unknowingly taken over by Hachiman long ago?

Kushida's initial excitement vanished instantly.

"However," Hachiman said, "Sakayanagi made you do this..."

"Then I can confirm."

Sakayanagi will definitely tamper with the exam paper he's going to give you.

Because this rumor isn't meant to attack Suzune Horikita, but rather... damn it, it's trying to fool you Kikyo Kushida.

It makes you feel like you're doing your best to fulfill the bet.

Then, when you are completely at ease, they can betray you.

"What are you confirming..." Kushida then noticed that Hachiman's expression was off.

"You're such an idiot," Hachiman retorted bluntly in his assessment of Kushida. "Do you really think Sakayanagi would give you the real exam paper?"

"Why won't she give it to me?" Kushida asked.

"So, will she give it to you 100%? There's always a 1% chance she won't," Hachiman asked. "And Kushida, are you willing to accept that 1% risk?"

1% risk?

So if that 1% exists, wouldn't that mean she'll be 100% expelled from school?

Forehead.

Day!

The bet, which I was initially certain to win, suddenly wavered.

"Hachiman!"

Kushida quickly grasped Hachiman's left hand.

The gentle young girl clasped her hands in mine, then revealed a pitiful expression, "Please... help me!"

She really looked pitiful, because she had just realized that she had made a bet that she couldn't back down from.

Moreover, the bet was full of clauses that were unfavorable to her.

Damn it, how could she accept such a bombshell bet?

Kushida is now filled with regret.

Being expelled for doing that would be incredibly stupid. And once expelled, she would have nowhere to go.

So even a 1% risk puts pressure on her.

However, she soon noticed that Hachiman seemed to be making no move.