Hikigaya, who had been resting with his eyes closed on the bench by the lockers, lay on the ground for a while before Ryuen slowly woke up.
Without a word, he got up from the ground and sat down beside him.
“Do you usually like getting beaten up?” Ryuen touched the bruises on his face.
“You don’t look as strong as me, but you can take so many hits.
You don’t seem like you have much fighting experience either.” Ryuen had landed the punches more often, but he was the one left standing in the end.
“Don’t ask,” Hikigaya chuckled inwardly.
“If you ask, I’ll just say I cheated.” A cheater Hikigaya is still Hikigaya.
In the end, he’s not wrong; the world is.
“How did you threaten Yamauchi?” While “idiot” was Yamauchi’s defining trait, even Yamauchi’s walnut-sized brain knew that Class D and Class C were in competition.
If his betrayal were discovered, his room to survive in Class D would vanish.
“That fool?
I just send him a confession voice message, and he scurvied off to a blind spot in the surveillance,” Ryuen said, his face full of mockery.
“I just scared him a bit, and he willingly gave me his loyalty.
I was actually thinking of using force.” “Those kind of low-down tricks won’t get you to Class A.” “As long as it’s useful, it’s fine.
The fact that the school doesn’t see it is essentially saying it doesn’t exist.” If you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist.
The school’s policy was indeed as free as Ryuen described.
After all, it wasn’t spending so much money to cultivate naive students who were smart and athletic, but rather elite individuals who could thrive in a complex society.
However, Ryuen overlooked, or rather, lacked the knowledge to understand, one thing: this school was established with the support of a certain government party to boost their achievements.
Trash doesn’t deserve to be called a graduate of this institution.
He had learned this from a certain young lady before.
Cultivating elites but producing trash isn’t an achievement; it’s a stain.
As long as Class C’s overall strength didn’t improve, even if Ryuen used schemes and tricks to lead Class C’s points far ahead, the school would unreasonably introduce special exams with a significant advantage for Classes A and B during their third year.
Despite shouting slogans of student autonomy, they acted faster than anyone when their slice of the school’s pie was threatened.
“If you just estimate the money this school has invested, you’ll know it’s enough to nurture thousands of students into success.
But right now, there are only 160 first-year students, and only 40 have earned the title of graduate.
Ryuen, you don’t seriously think the students in Class C right now deserve to graduate, do you?” “That goes without saying.
Of course, they don’t,” Ryuen coughed up a thick, bloody phlegm.
“My goal is the same as yours: to collect private points as much as possible.
You’re saying all this because you want to cooperate, right?” In the eyes of the middle school teachers, students from Class C and Class D were basically troublemakers.
Those with good grades either had personality issues or dark pasts, and those who were somewhat athletic had poor academic performance.
Fear of violence can only make people outwardly obedient.
Ryuen didn’t have the ability or the inclination to force the underachievers in Class C to study day and night, nor could he beat someone with a bad personality until they changed.
“Yes, cooperation.
You, who control Class C, have the ability to earn private points with me.” Hikigaya had set up this situation precisely to hear Ryuen say this.
A one-on-one fight was also a way to prove strength.
As for whose private points to earn, it would naturally be whoever had the money.
“Then what makes you think you’re capable of cooperating with me?
Hirata is the leader of Class D, not you.” “Ichinose listens to me, and my opinions will be seriously considered as long as they don’t cross Hirata’s bottom line.” “What a cold and heartless man, Hikigaya,” Ryuen tried to smile, but the pain from his injuries stopped him.
In his view, Ichinose might just be a tool manipulated by Hikigaya, and Class B’s future might be uncertain.
Perhaps orchestrating a situation where three lower-ranked classes ganged up on Class A would be good now.
“I’ll agree to it, Hikigaya,” Ryuen said, looking around.
“Where’s the alliance contract?
Let me see it.” “As long as our intentions are aligned, we don’t need such a thing.” “Ridiculous.” After reaching a verbal agreement, the two cleaned up the traces of the fight and put on their jackets before heading out of the locker room to rejoin their teammates who were waiting for them.
“Did your brain get scrambled?
You look like you and Ryuen are best buddies.” Fujimaki, whom Horikita Manabu had borrowed, left after Hikigaya thanked him.
Ichinose, Horikita, and Sudou sat with Hikigaya on chairs outside a cafe that hadn’t opened yet.
“Who won?” “Does it still hurt, Hikigaya-kun?” As soon as he sat down, Hikigaya received a barrage of three questions.
The sarcasm was undoubtedly from Horikita, the one concerned about who won was Sudou, and signs of worry came from his nominal girlfriend.
“My brain isn’t scrambled.
I won, and it still hurts,” Hikigaya answered quickly and then looked at Ichinose, who seemed to have something to say.
“We’ll talk about it back at the dorm.” “I’ve confirmed with Ryuen that Yamauchi betrayed me.
Horikita, please talk to Hirata and see how we should handle this.” “Damn that bastard Haruki!” Sudou slammed the table hard.
Even though Hikigaya had prepared him beforehand, he was still furious.
After his anger subsided, Sudou put on a somewhat pleading smile.
“Hikigaya, can you please not tell anyone else in the class about this?
I promise I’ll beat him up and make him change.” Even though he betrayed the class, Yamauchi Haruki was still one of his few friends.
Under Horikita’s astonished gaze, Sudou pressed his forehead to the table.
“Please, Hikigaya, give Haruki a break this one time.” “Strictly speaking, shouldn’t you cut ties with him, Sudou?” Horikita didn’t understand Sudou’s behavior.
“Besides, isn’t Hikigaya also your friend?” During the fight, Hikigaya had helped Sudou, and he had done the same during the midterm exams.
Horikita had wrongly assumed they were friends, as in her eyes, only friends would do such selfless things.
“It’s a little different,” Sudou looked up, his gaze avoiding Hikigaya’s.
“I feel like I can understand Yamauchi, and I felt like he saw me as a friend.
But Hikigaya is different.
When I’m with him, I don’t feel like we’re equals…” “No, ‘unequal’ doesn’t seem right.
How should I put it?” Sudou scratched the back of his head in frustration, then his expression changed to one of realization.
“It feels like Hikigaya is like an adult, not someone my age.” “An adult, huh?” Horikita stared at his face for a moment.
“Only your eyes are like that, like they’re dead.” “I can sue you for defamation if you attack me personally.” “I’m just stating the facts; there’s no basis for a lawsuit.” “Keep being so self-righteous,” Hikigaya said to Horikita, then turned to Sudou, who was clasping his hands together pleadingly.
“Starting next month, all the private points the school gives to Yamauchi will go to me, until we reach the second year.” The mandatory expulsion special exam at the end of the first year hadn’t happened yet, so he would drain Yamauchi’s remaining value.