What the Boys Think, What the Girls Feel! 6,000 Words! Paying Back a Debt! (Continued)

Wait a second.

Hirata seemed to understand.

I see.

Hachiman had deliberately come to the classroom because he wanted everyone to know that even though he had left the class, he was still in contact with Sakura. In other words, Sakura was under his protection.

Indeed, Sakura was timid and weak-willed, and Horikita had still been in the class before, so Sakura having little presence had not been a problem.

But now, Hachiman, Kōenji, and Horikita had all left the class, and the atmosphere in the class was not very good either. He was worried about Sakura's situation.

During this exam, some people had noticed that Sakura's Academic Ability seemed to have improved. She had even joined Yukimura's holiday tutoring group. According to Yukimura, Sakura had already reached Academic Ability C, but the OAA had not updated and still showed D, meaning she could score highly at the D level.

So, could they have Sakura study more and earn more points for the class?

Though it was a good suggestion, Hirata felt they could not place the burden of scoring on just a few students, so he had not made up his mind.

Then Hachiman returned to the classroom and pointed out that Sakura was his friend and that they met often.

From that alone, Hirata felt that Hachiman was a good person.

As expected of a friend he felt was worth getting to know deeply.

"The other day, I asked Sakura to help me and borrowed her handkerchief. I forgot about it until today, so I hurried over to return it."

As he spoke, Hachiman entered the classroom, walked over to Sakura, and handed her the handkerchief.

"I've already washed it. Thanks," Hachiman said.

"Eh... ah... mm, i-it's fine." Sakura said, blushing a little as she took back her