Command Tower Showdown: The Battle Against Arisu Sakayanagi! 9k (continued)

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji had no objection.

"And then..." Hachiman originally wanted to remind Ayanokouji that there might be some problems during the exam, but he felt that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji should have already guessed it.

So the conversation between the two people, who weren't very familiar with each other, lasted less than two minutes.

Hachiman glanced at his phone.

Classmate Sakayanagi is looking for him.

Hachiman returned to the student dormitory ahead of schedule.

However, instead of going to his own room, or Horikita's familiar room, he went directly to Classmate Sakayanagi's room.

Certainly.

The two classes are about to clash, and it's easy for one commander to go to the other class's commander's room, which could easily attract attention.

Therefore, the chosen time was rather special, so that he could go straight back to his dormitory after school.

It seems that Classmate Sakayanagi doesn't want anyone to see him going to her room.

"It seems that Hachiman was delayed a bit."

When Hachiman arrived, Classmate Sakayanagi was already in her room.

Her room is actually quite cute.

They're all the same style, yet they give off a cute vibe.

Pink wallpaper, and those soft mats to prevent children from slipping.

If I had to describe her, I would say she truly lives up to her title as Little Princess Sakayanagi.

Hachiman also noticed Kamuro and her cat in the corner. Kamuro was holding the cat.

Only.

Hachiman's gaze fell on Sakayanagi's desk.

On the table sat a small white bear, about the size of a palm, leaning against a pen holder.

He remembered this little bear.

They probably noticed Hachiman's gaze.

Classmate Sakayanagi said without changing her expression, "Hachiman, you remember this little bear, right?"

Whether he remembered it or not, Hachiman remembered that it was when he and she went to choose a birthday present for Kamuro last semester.

Unfortunately, Sakayanagi remembered Kamuro's birthday wrong.

"Although I forgot Kamuro's birthday, I still gave her a present," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "I just thought the teddy bear was cute, so I went back to that store and bought one for myself too."

Profound.

Oh, I see.

Indeed.

There was a bear on Sakayanagi's bed, so she must really like this kind of plush toy.

Hachiman then kept the other person's preferences in mind.

Classmate Sakayanagi is a long-term meal ticket, and Hachiman feels a little embarrassed that she always treats him.

Unlike Hachiman, Horikita is more understanding and considerate.

Needless to say, Horikita has also changed and started to learn to be more tactful, so he needs to take it a step further.

At the very least, you should keep this lifeline of your meal ticket in your heart.

Now we have a good idea of what gifts to choose for Classmate Sakayanagi's birthday.

"So, the purpose of summoning me here today is—"

Hachiman looked at Sakayanagi with some confusion.

"Today, the 10 projects for my class were announced," said Classmate Sakayanagi. "And what I want to tell you is that one of my required projects is chess."

Oh, I see.

That's the same as Hachiman's speculation.

"May I ask why?" Hachiman asked.

"Because I'm good at chess," Sakayanagi Arisu said.

Oh.

Are you good at it?

This time, the showdown at the command tower is between Sakayanagi and himself.

However, Hachiman does not know how to play chess.

Some might say that Banyan wants to defeat him in his area of expertise, which is going too far.

A person who has practiced swordsmanship for ten years is bullying someone who can only sharpen pencils with a knife.

That's not actually the case.

We're all human, so why should we consider the other person's weaknesses and choose a project they excel at?

I'm good at this, so why can't I compete with you? Want fairness? Sure, you just need to become good at it too, right?

Therefore, there is no need to doubt it.

Chess will definitely be one of the five events in the final battle for Class B.

"Because of my physical condition, I've always been able to play alone since I was little," Classmate Sakayanagi said. "Among them, I discovered that chess can be played alone. As long as one person masters two different ways of thinking, then a match can be started."

Um.

I've already heard her mention that.

Moreover, Hachiman didn't see anything wrong with it.

Because he has also played baseball, a sport that requires 11 people, all by himself.

"Then I hope that you, Hachiman, will designate Kiyotaka Ayanokoji as your player in the chess game."

"I'll arrange for someone to be his scapegoat," Sakayanagi said.

"Of course, although I can't do everything myself as the commander, there are still quite a few parts of the chess rules I submitted that the commander can intervene in."

"So it's okay if the 'tool' player doesn't have any chess skills, as long as they know how to place the pieces," Sakayanagi said. "Then you can treat it as if I'm the one playing chess."

You're quite the clever one.

In other words, you're determined to play chess.

"Why are you so persistent?" Hachiman noticed the unusual behavior of Classmate Sakayanagi.

"When I was a child, my father took me to the White Room once. The White Room is the institution that trained Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, similar to the current Advanced Nurturing High School. However, the difficulty and teaching level of that institution are many times more difficult than Advanced Nurturing High School."

"Kiyotaka Ayanokoji probably finished her university coursework when she was about 10 years old," Sakayanagi said.

Hachiman remained silent.

His understanding of genius was limited to the Classmate Sakayanagi.

Last semester, Sakayanagi created her own exam papers for first-year students, and even had the courage to challenge second and third-year students. In other words, she actually had the ability to create exam papers for higher-level students.

He's already considered a genius enough.

But now it seems that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji is indeed the real boss.

"Then."

Sakayanagi Arisu continued, "Back then, I was quite confident in my chess skills."

"But I noticed a boy through the glass of the facility."

"That is, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji. He is playing chess with the instructor."

"Just by looking at him, you could tell that he was better at chess than me back then."

"And now."

"Ten years have passed," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "During this time, I have played Go by myself almost every day, and my skills have improved a lot, so I think I will not lose this time."

"I am a true genius, while he is a fabricated, illusory genius."

"I will defeat him!" Sakayanagi Arisu declared.

Forehead.

Is that true?

You're really competitive.

In this way.

Having agreed, Hachiman left Sakayanagi's room.

"Meow--"

Meanwhile, Kamuro, who had been standing to the side as a background character, was starting to lose her temper.

Because when her Ragdoll cat saw Hachiman Hikigaya, it seemed to get excited and wanted to run towards him.

Ragdolls are large cats, and this one weighs nine pounds, so it was struggling quite a bit.

Kamuro's job was to soothe the cat.

I really don't know how that man developed such a cat-loving personality.

"Kamuro." Classmate Sakayanagi, however, changed her demeanor from before. "The information you received is not true."

"Hachiman, you're not wearing a scarf, are you?"

"..." The Kamuro.

She thought she had heard some past information or important details about Sakayanagi again.

It turned out to be a smokescreen.

Do you really like Hachiman Hikigaya?

Hachiman left Sakayanagi's room and went to Horikita's room.

Tonight, the Horikita is having dinner.

After all, he felt obligated to help out, so he decided to go there and do some odd jobs.

However, since Classmate Sakayanagi wanted to have a showdown with Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Hachiman respected her wishes.

Sakayanagi plays Go every day, but Kiyotaka Ayanokoji never seems to play any Go at all.

So.

"It's confirmed that Class B will have a chess exam. I can cover the cost of borrowing some books or buying a chessboard if you need it," Hachiman texted.

However, the reply was no.

It seems that geniuses don't need to train.

From this perspective, it's not just Ichinose will get a bad final exam result, but Classmate Sakayanagi will probably lose as well.

I felt sorry for Ichinose and Sakayanagi, but time passed.

Although he was the commander, there weren't many capable people in the squad.

Yukimura also responded, saying that he had contacted Katsuragi, but had not been able to win him over.

That's for sure.

They didn't offer any valuable bargaining chips.

At the same time, he finally realized that he had been being watched by several students from Class B for the past two days.

It's obvious.