Hachiman Hikigaya, who returned from his studies after completing his training.

"It is hardest to bear the kindness of a beautiful woman, it is hardest to bear the kindness of a beautiful woman."

After a moment of contemplation, Hikigaya's phone beeped with a notification. The contact displayed on the screen was—his most respected chairman.

The phone showed 8:10, while his appointment with the chairman was at 8:00.

Holy crap, Ichinose ruined my life! Ichinose ruined my life!

Hikigaya, inwardly screaming, quickly sent the president a kneeling and kowtowing emoji, indicating he would be there in ten minutes.

Running, Hikigaya arrived at the secluded room where he trained fighting techniques with Horikita before 8:20. Horikita's skin outside his tight vest was covered with a layer of fine sweat.

"Judging from your appearance, you don't need to warm up. Let's start with half an hour of practical training today." Horikita Manabu maintained his aloof expression as he looked at Hikigaya, who was also covered in sweat.

Before Hachiman could answer, a side kick with the outer edge of his foot was already flying towards his abdomen.

Hachiman quickly lowered his center of gravity and blocked with both arms. He also took two steps back steadily with the force of the kick, creating distance and increasing his reaction time for the next attack.

After being beaten up for so many days, his fighting experience is no longer at the novice level.

While parrying Horikita Manabu's fierce attacks, Hikigaya also looked for opportunities to counterattack, occasionally throwing a punch at Horikita Manabu. Although these attacks were all neutralized, they slowed down Horikita Manabu's offensive.

After three minutes, Horikita's movements gradually slowed down. Five minutes later, after taking a punch to the chest from Hachiman, he retreated, panting and waving his hand.

"Are you on drugs? You're like an animal today." Horikita Manabu's aloof image vanished completely. Today was the first time he had lost to Hachiman Hikigaya. Although he was physically exhausted and couldn't win, he simply couldn't win.

Chapter 41 The Foolish Bully

After resting for a while, the two jogged slowly on the treadmill to improve their physical fitness.

“You’ve already gotten used to my routines, so there’s not much improvement from this in actual combat.” Horikita wiped his face with the towel hanging around his neck. “If you want to improve your skills, I suggest you find Koenji Rokusuke as your sparring partner.”

Judging from Koenji Rokusuke's domineering demeanor and walking posture, Horikita Manabu judged that he must have learned some fighting techniques, and he had to admit that his physique was not as good as Koenji's.

Fujimaki, who was in the same class, had a similar physique to Koenji, but Fujimaki was a physical education major and had zero fighting skills, so he couldn't be Hikigaya's sparring partner.

"I'd like to, but unfortunately I don't have anything to impress him."

According to Hikigaya's speculation about Koenji, the only advantage this school has for Koenji is that he doesn't have to contact the outside world, and as the heir to the Koenji Foundation, he has no desire for it.

Or, to put it another way, desires are fulfilled shortly after they arise.

"Since Koenji isn't an option, we can try Kiryuin Kaeda from Class 2-B. She's more skilled than I am."

She is the only senior student in the entire school who has received an A+ rating in both academics and physical abilities. Hachiman occasionally bumps into her. Like Koenji, she has a domineering aura and is tall and imposing.

The most popular boy in the second year is Nangumo Masashi, while the most popular girl is Kiryuin Kaede.

How can I ask her for help?

The fact that Hikigaya mentioned Kiryuin shows that Horikita Manabu had a high chance of persuading her to do so.

"You don't need to worry about that. I'll let you know when there's a result."

After about half an hour, the treadmill stopped, and Horikita Manabu put his glasses back on and smiled. "Next up is skills training."

As for the first step in skill training, it is naturally to experience it with your body first.

..............

Exhausted after being asked to practice more by Horikita Manabu, Hikigaya returned to his dorm to shower and sleep. The next day, he was almost late for class, only stepping into the classroom three minutes before it was time to start.

Upon entering the classroom, Hachiman noticed that the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive. The usual noisy chatter had been significantly reduced, especially since the talkative Yamauchi Ike and a few others were sitting quietly in their seats.

"what happened?"

Hikigaya, who entered the classroom through the back door, bent down and approached Shiina. Even without a detailed description, Shiina would know what he wanted to know.

[Class D doesn't welcome you back to Class C!]

Moving aside the textbook spread out on the table, Shiina's handwriting, written with a marker, was revealed to Hikigaya: "Horikitaki-kun just asked on stage, and no one admitted it."

"Who discovered it, and how did they discover it?"

Hikigaya didn't expect that bullying would start targeting Shiina on the second day after she transferred there. He still doesn't know what the person's purpose was in doing this, whether it was targeting him or Shiina.

"I discovered it myself. There were already many people in the classroom at the time." Shiina said calmly, "I saw it when I moved the textbook that was open on the desk for some reason after I sat down."

The classroom surveillance cameras are only turned on five minutes before class starts. Based on the current situation, the only possible times for the perpetrator to have committed this act are after school yesterday and this morning.

"There are so many idiots."

Hikigaya laughed, and Shiina smiled too. This childish bullying didn't frighten her at all.

“That’s right.”

Hikigaya sat down in his seat as the bell rang, and the morning class began.

Every time after class, Hikigaya would move a chair and sit next to Shiina to chat with her. Hirata and Horikita wanted to come over to discuss the bullying issue, but he chased them away.

When talking to Shiina about interesting passages from the book, Hikigaya would let out a strange laugh, and Shiina would smile and look at him like that.

The conspicuous writing on the desk seemed to exist as if it didn't.

After school in the afternoon, when Hikigaya was about to go directly to the student council to get the credentials to check the surveillance footage, an unexpected incident occurred: Karuzai Megumi intercepted him at the stairwell on the fourth floor of the school building.

"Could you spare me a moment? I...I have something I want to tell you." Carefully fiddling with the blue floral wreath on her wrist, Megumi Karasawa's gaze was somewhat evasive.

"Okay, come with me."

After agreeing to Karuizawa Megumi's request, Hikigaya took her to the counseling room next to the student council and hung up a sign indicating that it was in use. Hikigaya closed the door after Karuizawa Megumi came in.

Unlike the counseling room next to the teacher's office, this counseling room, which is exclusively for the student council, is a bit smaller. It has only four single sofas surrounding a brown glass table, and it doesn't even have a tea room.

With the honeycomb blinds drawn, the room became brighter, and Hikigaya and Karuzawai Megumi sat facing each other on the sofa.

Karuizawa Kei grabbed the long, golden ponytail that reached past her waist and combed it with her hands. After hesitating for a moment, Karuizawa Kei confessed directly to her who had written those words on Shiina's desk with a marker.

Maya Sato has a somewhat outgoing personality and brownish-red hair. While other girls choose bow ties as decorations for their school uniform shirts, she opts for a tie.

"Isn't she your good friend? Why are you telling me?"

Even among friends, there are differences in their relationships. Karuizawa Kei formed a group with quite a few members, among whom Sato Maya was the core of the core, accompanying Karuizawa Kei to and from school, eating, and playing around on a daily basis.

"I don't want to see Maya expelled from school. Could you please let her go? In return, I'll do whatever you say." Karuizawa Megumi said nervously, bowing her head and clasping her hands together.

Before the start of the school year, Chabashira Sae reminded everyone that bullying was absolutely forbidden and the punishment was expulsion, but it seems that Sato Maya hasn't realized this yet.

"Why did you choose to tell me when you could have just kept it a secret?"

"Hachiman, you're so capable, Maya can't hide it from you. I think it's better to talk to you in advance and try to get leniency than to wait for your revenge. I will persuade her to apologize to Shiina in person."

"Sato is slapping me in the face. She doesn't take what I said yesterday to heart at all."

Regardless of Sato's motives for doing this, her bullying of Shiina, who was the first to stand up for him yesterday, is a slap in the face to him. Sato Maya has now become the chicken to be killed to scare the monkey, and has been handed to him.

Even if Karuizawa Kei didn't say it was Sato, he could still see through the classroom surveillance who frequently turned to look at him and Shiina chatting. The fear and desire to escape after committing a crime would unconsciously drive the perpetrator to focus on the crime scene.

Comparing the surveillance footage from the classrooms and corridors over the past few days can also help identify those whose arrival times are significantly different from before, narrowing down the range of suspects.

Once the candidate is selected, just take them to the student union for questioning. If they stubbornly refuse to admit it, use personal points to have someone check and compare their handwriting.

When Shiina failed to erase the words written with the marker, Sato was already in a dead end.

"Please, please, Hachiman."

While Hikigaya was still figuring out how to manipulate Sato, Karuizawa suddenly grabbed his hand and made a coquettish sound.

Chapter 42 Hachiman's Reclusive Life

"Stop it." Hikigaya quickly pulled his hand away. "Being coquettish won't work. Sato dared to disobey me on my second day as leader. I can't let her off easily."

"From now on, I'll be the first to support whatever requests you make in class, okay?"

"How can you guarantee you won't be like Sato, outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant?"

With a stern face, Hikigaya stared into Karuizawa's eyes. Compared to Karuizawa, Sato's importance was insignificant. From the beginning, he had no intention of dropping Sato out of school immediately.

Like Yamauchi, Hikigaya's idea for Sato was to squeeze out all her personal points and make her live the same impoverished life as Yamauchi, ranking her after Yamauchi among the dropout candidates.

If he could use Sato to completely bring Karuizawa into his camp, that would be ideal.

“…”

Karuizawa, seeing Hikigaya's deadpan expression, put away her playful demeanor, bit her lip, and slowly pulled up the hem of her shirt.

"Stop! Stop! I promise, I promise."

Hachiman, instantly losing his composure, hurriedly stood up and turned around. What did Karuizawa take him for? Who uses this to test student council officers? There are bad guys among the students.

Hikigaya swore to God that he really didn't expect Karuizawa to do this. He just wanted to test whether Karuizawa had any unknown past, just like Hirata and Kushida.

"It's not what you think! Hachiman!"

Karuizawa's voice became sharp and suspicious. He went around the glass table and tried to grab Hachiman's clothes to turn him around, but in his haste, he tripped over the table leg.

"boom"

Hearing the sound, Hachiman turned around and was knocked down by Karuizawa, who stumbled over. The two lay on the ground, one on top of the other, and Hachiman could clearly feel the fullness of Karuizawa's chest.

As their eyes met at close range, Karuizawa blushed and quickly sat up on Hachiman's stomach, supporting herself on his chest with both hands. She didn't get up immediately because she was still concerned about Hachiman's misunderstanding.

He lifted the hem of Karuizawa's shirt, revealing a scar on his left abdomen, a scar clearly caused by a sharp blade, on his fair and rosy skin.

"Ah... I'm sorry..." Upon seeing the scar, Hachiman immediately closed his eyes, and the erotic feeling of being sat on by a cute and pretty girl completely disappeared.

"No need to apologize." Karuizawa got off him and sat down on the sofa where he had been sitting. "It wasn't you who did this, Hachiman, and I'm fine now."

"You wouldn't believe it, would you, Hachiman? I was also a bullied student in middle school. Thanks to the bullies, my middle school life was quite miserable..."

Lying on the cold floor, Hikigaya listened silently to Karuizawa's past.

During her junior high school years, she was cute and strong-willed, but she was targeted and subjected to inhumane bullying. However, she did not tell anyone, and even the school's investigators did not know that she had been bullied in the past.

The reason she didn't tell anyone was simply that she was too scared—afraid that the knife that had slashed her abdomen might one day slash other parts of her body.

Upon arriving at this school, she disguised a strong and assertive personality to avoid becoming a target, and actively won over other girls by leveraging the influence of Hirata and Hikigaya.

That way she won't be bullied anymore.

"To be honest, when I saw the exam paper back then, I wanted to smash it in your face." Karuizawa's voice returned to its normal tone.

Karuizawa still harbors some resentment about the time she spent working hard on practice tests under Hikigaya's guidance shortly after the start of the semester in order to please him. Although her grades improved, it was really tiring.

"You think I didn't have a hard time back then? You were the worst student out of the three of us," Hikigaya retorted, sitting up as he knew Karuizawa wanted to steer the conversation away from the painful past.

At the beginning of the semester, Hasebe and Sakura both received a C grade in academic ability evaluation, while Karuizawa received a D grade.

“That’s not the case now.” Karuizawa forced a smile. “When the midterm exam results came out, Maya was also very surprised and wanted to join your study group, but you refused.”

Karuizawa's midterm exam score was slightly better than Hasebe's, thus eliminating him from the worst ranking. There was no particular reason why Hikigaya didn't teach Sato Maya; he was simply too lazy to teach another poor student.

He's not some pushover like Hirata; he wouldn't mistreat himself without a special reason.

"I won't report Sato's matter to the school. I'll go to the student council in a bit to get a disciplinary notice, fill in the expulsion penalty and Sato's name, but don't stamp it."

Since Karuizawa has already pledged his allegiance, Hikigaya naturally wouldn't let Sato drop out of school, but a reprimand is still necessary. The specific handling method will be discussed with Shiina that evening.

"I'll give it to you tomorrow. When you do, gather all the girls you're close to and show it to Sato so she knows the consequences of her recklessness. Then burn it and say you pleaded with me on her behalf."

"Thank you."

What Hikigaya asked Karuizawa to do undoubtedly solidified her leadership position within the small group. Given her considerable leadership skills, she couldn't possibly be unaware that this was Hikigaya's good intention.

"...Is there anything I want to help you with after you supported me yesterday?"

Upon learning that Karuizawa's heavy past had made her somewhat withdrawn, Hachiman brought up yesterday's events to see if Karuizawa needed any help from him. Yesterday, she hadn't needed to plead for Sato.

So it's very likely that he needs help with something else.

"I do have something to do, but I don't feel like it would be a good idea to ask you for help right now. I'll be going now." Shaking his head, Karuizawa straightened his back and walked out of the counseling room with his head held high.

She doesn't need Hachiman's pity.

.................

"What's wrong, Hachiman? You seem a little unhappy."

Because I promised Ichinose yesterday that she would receive the same treatment as Shiina, after finishing her student council duties, Ichinose went grocery shopping with Hikigaya and then went to the dormitory manager to have someone copy their room key cards.

There was an extra room card copied; the extra one was for Ichinose's room. Hikigaya had Ichinose's room card forced into his palm.

"If the boys in Class B found out I had this, I'd probably get ganged up on."

"Hachiman is joking again."