"What did this have to do with us?" Kamuro, standing behind Sakayanagi Arisu, said.
Exactly.
What did Class D being terrible have to do with Class A?
"Kamuro." Little Princess Sakayanagi spoke before Hachiman could. "Please don't bring trouble to the class."
?
Masumi Kamuro looked at Sakayanagi in confusion.
Wasn't Class D being worse safer for Class A?
If the lower-ranked class couldn't climb up, then Class A could rest easy forever.
Hachiman placed his hands on his knees as well.
"Classmate Sakayanagi probably meant that Class D might just give up. Since they were going to hit zero points anyway, they might as well drag the other classes down with them."
"After all, once they'd been deducted down to zero, Class Advancement would be nearly impossible. Their bottom line could keep dropping."
"For example, if reaching zero meant they could no longer lose points, they could do things that deducted points from both classes. Class D would be at zero, but the other class wouldn't, so there'd still be points to deduct."
"If they took it to the extreme, they could grit their teeth and drag all three classes, A, B, and C, back down to zero."
Hachiman Hikigaya said.
So that was the idea—dragging all four classes, even Class A, back to the same starting line of zero points?
Uh.
You people were seriously deranged.
"..." Masumi Kamuro.
Kamuro felt it was better not to interrupt.
What kind of proposal was this? It was way too demonic.
"But doing that would be dangerous for your Class D too, wouldn't it?" Sakayanagi Arisu said.
Kamuro was her pet, after all. If her pet got shut down, then as the owner, she had to seek some justice.
"Once the school discovered your intentions, your entire Class D might be expelled."
"After all, the upper-year Class Ds don't have particularly high scores either. If they all started copying you, a chaotic atmosphere of threatening the higher-ranked classes would emerge."
"And the school certainly wouldn't allow that."
"So they would make an example of your First-year Class D." Sakayanagi Arisu said.
That argument was quite aggressive.
But—
"That is indeed possible," Hachiman said. "It was only a hypothetical."
Was it?
The moment he imagined something, it turned horrifying.
So there was no threat after all?
No.
There still was. What if they only did it once or twice?
They could still lower Class A's score.
Uh.
Kamuro racked her brain.
Then she suddenly realized... Sakayanagi Arisu had previously said that Hachiman needed to be watched, that he might be more suitable for Class A than Yahiko Totsuka, Katsuragi's follower.
At the time, she had thought Sakayanagi was talking nonsense.
Even mutual flattery shouldn't go that far.
But—
Now she understood.
Hachiman Hikigaya was a little terrifying.
Still, it was best to keep quiet for now.
She was a Class A student. Naturally, she wanted to graduate as a member of Class A and have the school fulfill its promise. She had a career she wanted to pursue.
But she also knew that her own ability wasn't enough.
As for relying on Katsuragi... he was steady, but she always felt like she couldn't completely place her bets on him.
And if she bet on Sakayanagi Arisu, Sakayanagi had control over Kamuro's weakness. Even if she wanted to run, it was too late.
So she could only remain silent.
"Still, I don't think you would go to such lengths for Class D."
"After all, you didn't accept my offer to keep you before," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "So what happened that made you care so much about this?"
"...Let's forget about the keeping-me matter," Hachiman said. "I won't betray my class."
"Besides, I suggested the AA system myself before. If you really wanted to pay, you should have paid then instead of splitting the bill with me, including the private room fee," Hachiman said.
He was referring to when they had met the day before yesterday. After their confrontation, they had gone to eat at the third-floor cafeteria together.
In the end, Hachiman had gone AA with her.
At the time, she had thought Hachiman was a man with no manners.
But—
Had he actually wanted her to pay?
Was that it?
Sakayanagi Arisu realized she hadn't gotten that point at all.
If Hachiman Hikigaya Had to Make a Decision! Part Two!
Sakayanagi Arisu had never sincerely wanted to keep him.
She merely found campus life boring. Then, after obtaining information about Hachiman from Kushida, she had thought he might add a bit of amusement to her school life.
Then she had fallen into despair.
She didn't want to revisit it.
But none of that mattered now.
So Hachiman was troubled over the class evaluation score.
"I didn't expect you to be interested in something like this," Sakayanagi said. "Why not relax a little? Look at the second-years, then look at the third-years. Wouldn't you get used to it?"
Get used to it?
Yes.
Class D was publicly acknowledged as a garbage dump. It couldn't rise up and defeat the higher classes.
Second Year Class D and Third-year Class D were both perfect examples.
Second Year Class D still had a class evaluation score of 200, but Third-year Class D only had 20 points remaining.
The school deposited monthly living expenses equal to the class evaluation score multiplied by 100 points.
That meant the Second Year Class D students only had 20,000 points a month for living expenses.
Eating alone cost over 1,000 points a day, so it was definitely not enough.
As for the upperclassmen in Third-year Class D, they discussed which free cafeteria counter had the best food every day. They were even more pitiful.
The upperclassmen had already set such an example.
So what if First-year Class D gave up and resigned itself to its fate?
No matter how hard they tried, it was useless!
They would lose anyway. Their points would all be deducted anyway.
So if they gave up early, they could relax early.
Hachiman probably understood that logic too.
But—
"Something happened," Hachiman said. "I need to lead Class D upward at least once."
Oh.
I see.
Sakayanagi Arisu's expression remained unchanged. "Do you really think it's wise to say something like that to me?"
"After all, I'm one of Class A's representatives now."
"So may I take that as a declaration of war against me?" Sakayanagi Arisu said.
"Since Class A is the goal, we'll clash sooner or later," Hachiman said. "So there's no harm in declaring war now. Or rather, precisely because I've declared war, I hope that you, Classmate Sakayanagi, as Class A's representative, will accept the challenge."
"Because if you don't help me deal with the current situation, then our Class D can shamelessly launch a rule-breaking attack on your Class A once."
Was that so?
Then you were just amazing.
How utterly shameless.
Sakayanagi Arisu felt like she had been tricked.
She had originally seen Hachiman looking troubled and come over to brighten her mood.
Instead, this Hachiman Hikigaya wanted to make her think.
Yet she couldn't refuse these terms.
Just like his Class D Zero-Point Strategy—shamelessly dragging down the other classes' scores.
If he actually did it, the school definitely wouldn't immediately stop Class D's dirty tricks. Class A's score might be dragged down by him.
Then everyone's efforts this month would be wasted.
Sakayanagi Arisu considered it for a moment before speaking.
"If Class D wants to rise, then it must protect this month's behavior score."
"In other words, accumulate capital and narrow the gap."
"But can the students of your Class D actually do that?" Sakayanagi Arisu said. "I can confirm that in the past few days, our Class A has lost no more than five points."
Was that so?
Then your Class A was quite impressive.
It was understandable, actually.
Every Class A student had paid 50,000 points to purchase the school rules.
Since they had spent so much money, naturally they wanted it to be worthwhile.
So they all started behaving themselves.
That was what Hachiman thought.
"..." Hachiman.
Because they had paid a price, everyone had participated...
??
I see.
Hachiman suddenly realized something.
Before you continue