It seemed that after two days apart, Kamuro had become one level more tamed.
"I didn't expect to run into Class A's esteemed representative here," Hachiman said.
"Oh?"
Sakayanagi had merely been passing by and was about to take hold of her cane and leave, but now she heard that irritating Hachiman flattering her.
Hmm.
She suddenly decided not to leave.
If Hachiman Hikigaya Had to Make a Decision! Part 1
Hachiman Hikigaya, a student of First-year Class D.
He looked decent enough, though his dead-fish eyes somewhat detracted from his appearance. Still, if he wore glasses to hide them, his looks would probably improve quite a bit.
But there was no denying that this guy thought quite maturely.
And his insight was extremely sharp.
After sending the class lapdog to investigate him, she had discovered that his Academic Ability was average, but he could practically score full marks in Japanese Language and Literature.
In other words, he had subjects he excelled at.
So Sakayanagi Arisu actually thought rather highly of Hachiman.
But those were merely superficial matters.
What truly left a deep impression on her was that this guy had no sense of fair play and actually bullied a sickly young girl like her.
And now.
Hachiman seemed to be wearing a worried expression.
That was why, upon spotting him, she had approached.
And now.
"I didn't expect to run into Class A's esteemed representative here."
That was what he had said.
He had even used an honorific for her.
In other words, he must have run into trouble. He wanted her to leave quickly and had no desire to deal with her, right?
Then why not sit down, listen carefully, and brighten her mood a little?
Sakayanagi Arisu's expression turned adorable.
Or rather, she had always been adorable.
She had even earned the title of Little Princess Sakayanagi in class, praise for both her looks and her abilities.
And now she sat across from Hachiman.
Kamuro stood behind her like an attendant.
Sakayanagi Arisu's knees.
She was wearing white thigh-high stockings today.
Her outfit was adorable too.
Her legs were a little plump, but people said those were the most comfortable to touch, didn't they?
"..." Hachiman.
??
Hachiman hurriedly reined in his wandering thoughts.
He must have overworked his brain.
Hachiman had just been thinking about something troublesome.
Namely, how to have Class D pick a fight with Class A.
The students of Class D varied wildly in quality, and even if Chabashira was willing to provide some points, as their homeroom teacher, she could not offer support beyond a certain limit.
Otherwise, it would be cheating.
She probably did not want to interfere too much either, because she was treating this year's Class D as a reenactment of her own class, and her class back then had not received nearly as much help from their homeroom teacher.
So she would only offer the bare minimum of assistance.
That meant Chabashira-sensei was not someone he could rely on.
But the most crucial matter now was how to make use of this Behavioral Guidelines Exam.
Certainly, because of the fundamental gap in ability, the more exams there were, the greater the chance that Class D would end up at the bottom.
That made trying to pick a fight with another class basically impossible.
But right now, all four classes stood on the same starting line, each with a base class evaluation score of 1,000 points.
So if they could arrange their hand properly from the start, there was still a huge opportunity.
And the ten million in cash he wanted was incredibly tempting as well.
But just as everyone had seen, Class D's students ranked first in deductions.
So how was he supposed to pry points out of their hands?
That was why Hachiman had looked so troubled in Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.
But at that moment.
Hachiman noticed that Sakayanagi Arisu had not left. She was lingering there, seated across from him.
And she wore an adorable yet polite smile.
She had clearly come to gloat.
Sure enough, wearing his emotions on his face so casually was stupid. Hachiman figured she had noticed his expression and come over because of it.
As he thought that.
"Tch!" A girl from First-year Class D passed by carrying a tray.
She had beautiful long blonde hair.
It reached her waist and was tied with a green hair tie.
She had bright eyes, white teeth, and an extremely adorable face.
But she was slightly inferior to Sakayanagi Arisu. They were different types: one was a young lady, the other a little girl.
Still, if Sakayanagi Arisu was the cutest girl in the school, this girl could rank second.
And she wore loose socks on her legs, which probably earned her extra points too.
"..." Hachiman.
Hachiman decided to ignore the girl from his class for now.
She was also someone he had committed to memory.
The last time Kamuro had come to their classroom, she had said that if an outside-class girl confessed to someone, it should be the outstanding Hirata.
Later, Kushida had also reported that someone had noticed him eating with Sakayanagi Arisu and that the girls even suspected he was a lolicon.
Clearly, the girl who had noticed him was probably Kei Karuizawa.
And now.
So he really is a lolicon?
After exchanging a look that seemed to say exactly that, she left.
Still, Karuizawa was really going too far. Getting written down three times in Hachiman's little notebook made her one of a kind.
"Did Hachiman run into some kind of trouble?" Sakayanagi Arisu asked. "For example, being mistaken for a lolicon?"
Fine, stop talking.
So you deliberately sat down here because you wanted to cause him trouble.
"If you've run into trouble, tell me about it. Let me be happy too," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "School life is terribly boring."
Fine.
So that was how she was.
Then she really was a trashy little girl.
Taking joy in other people's troubles.
Still, even a trashy little girl was probably the smartest person Hachiman had ever met.
Hachiman decided to see whether he could get some ideas from her.
So he said.
"I think my class's evaluation score probably has only a little over five hundred points left."
"..." Sakayanagi.
"??" Kamuro.
Sakayanagi Arisu did not respond, but Kamuro stared over in astonishment.
Because wasn't this only the fifth day since school started?
According to the school rules they had obtained from Majima-sensei, every freshman class began with a base class evaluation score of 1,000 points. Yet your Class D... had lost five hundred points in five days?
Sakayanagi Arisu Didn't Get It!
"Earlier, you said that according to past data, Class D students would probably have four or five hundred class evaluation points left by the end of the first month."
"But now, I've discovered that the destructive power of my classmates exceeds imagination," Hachiman said. "So I suspect that if we do nothing, our class evaluation score will become zero by the end of the month."
Hachiman's tone was somewhat despondent.
Everyone listening felt gloomy too.
Because.
Five hundred points deducted in five days.
"..." x2
Then it truly was unsolvable.
Still, it was somewhat apparent that some Class A students were Sakayanagi Arisu's radicals, while others preferred Katsuragi's steady approach.
But regardless of faction, they all had one task they needed to complete.
Gathering information.
The first month was an assessment of the students' behavioral conduct.
Class A's students had taken a shortcut and knew how to handle and prepare for the exam. By the end of this month, they would surely achieve excellent results and already have opened a gap between themselves and the lower-ranked classes.
Then some students had gone to make contact with Class D students.
And then...
Yeah.
That side really did seem quite terrible.
But.
Before you continue