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

On his way back to the dormitory after tutoring Nagabeya, Horikita, and the others, Hikigaya noticed Yamauchi, who made no attempt to hide himself. It wasn't until he got to the fourth floor of the dormitory building and got off the elevator that Yamauchi called out to him.

"Um...everyone's been studying really hard lately..." Yamauchi rubbed his hands together, looking timid.

You're working very hard, so what? You want his reward?

Hachiman didn't respond to him, maintaining a cold demeanor in the hope that he would back down.

"So could you please ask Hikigaya-san to invite Horikita and Kushida to go swimming this Sunday? This is the only request we've ever made for ourselves and Tomomura. Please."

With an unwavering expression, Yamanouchi performed a standard dogeza (a deep bowing gesture) in front of Hikigaya.

"Please, Lord Hachiman."

Are you crazy? Hikigaya was so frustrated he wanted to kick Yamauchi, who was bowing deeply. Kushida had just rejected him two days ago and now he was asking him to invite him.

Do you see yourself as a tyrant who always keeps his word?

And he actually did a dogeza (a deep bow) just to go to the pool with a girl and look at her swimsuit? Although Yamauchi is a genius, Hachiman doesn't think he would go to such lengths for something like that.

And "Tomomura" probably refers to Hideo Tomomura, the slightly overweight otaku who doesn't like swimming lessons.

The whole thing is very suspicious.

"Get up, I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

"Please, you must say yes, Hikigaya." Yamauchi remained kneeling in reverence.

He left Hikigaya Yamauchi, who was still kneeling, and returned to his dormitory, where he saw Shiina lounging on a beanbag chair reading a book.

"I'm back, Hiyori."

"Welcome back, Hachiman."

Shiina closed the book in her hand and stretched out her small, white hand with distinct knuckles. Hikigaya skillfully grabbed it and slowly pulled her up.

Releasing Shiina's soft little hand, Hikigaya walked towards the kitchen. "What dishes are you planning to make today?"

"It's sweet and sour pork, which both Hachiman and Ichinose like, and there's also okra and scrambled eggs."

Shiina followed behind Hikigaya. After Hikigaya put on an apron, Shiina, like a dutiful wife, tied the rope on his back and then put on an apron herself and turned around.

"You could have tied it yourself." Hikigaya said as he skillfully tied the apron for Shiina.

Shiina's height is considered short for a girl, and Hikigaya, standing behind her and smelling the girlish fragrance emanating from her, also had an urge to hug her and put his head on her head.

Just like what the male and female protagonists in the romance movie I watched with Shiina did.

"But I like this feeling of helping each other. 2 Yi San (5) Qi Jiu Liu Yi San Er Oh."

Shiina tied her apron and used a headband to tie her beautiful silver hair behind her head. She took the groceries she had bought from the refrigerator and put them next to the sink to wash.

"Sweet and sour pork ribs are quite troublesome to make, so I need to finish them before Ichinose-kun comes back. Ichinose-kun has been working quite hard these past few days."

Originally, Ichinose was supposed to come back before Hikigaya, but these past few days, a few of the top-performing boys in the class went swimming together, and after getting out of the water, they went to use the fan and gloriously caught a cold.

This resulted in a significant increase in the number of students in Class B who needed tutoring and revision, causing Ichinose to have to return home late as well.

"Yes, we should treat Honami to a good meal."

After taking the pork tenderloin that Shiina had rinsed with water, Hakiya picked up a cleaver and slowly cut it into small strips on the cutting board, put them into a small plate, and rinsed it again to remove the blood and fishy smell.

After rinsing, take them out, squeeze out the water, and put them on a small plate to the side. Hikigaya then picked up the ginger and scallions that Shiina had just washed, sliced ​​them, and put them on another small plate.

After carefully chopping all the ingredients, Hachiman put away his knife and cutting board and turned to say, "Hiyori, could you get me that cornstarch—"

The batter used to coat the sweet and sour pork tenderloin is a mixture of cornstarch, eggs, and salad oil.

"They made up a long time ago."

Hikigaya's cheek was pressed against by a pink index finger covered in sticky flour. Shiina, with a smug smile, poked his cheek before putting her finger down and handing over the kneaded flour.

"Hiyori is amazing."

Hikigaya was infected by her joy and smiled along with her. It seemed that she remembered very clearly the scene in the romantic movie she had watched where the male and female protagonists cooked together.

I don't know when she stood next to me, waiting for me to turn around.

Just imagining Shiina's childlike expression as she waits for her prank to succeed makes Hikigaya regret not having installed a camera in the kitchen.

Hiyori is such an adorable child.

Hachiman was thinking as he coated the pork tenderloin with flour.

........

"I'm back, Hachiman, Shiina."

With a voice slightly less energetic than usual, Ichinose stepped into the dormitory and immediately collapsed onto Hachiman's bed, burying her head in Hachiman's pillow.

"Welcome back." Hikigaya walked out of the kitchen with the delicious-looking sweet and sour pork and saw Ichinose half-lying on his bed, her soft pink hair scattered around the bedside, revealing her smooth, fair nape.

"Don't just lie on a boy's bed, Fanbo."

After placing the plate of sweet and sour pork on the dining table, Hachiman kicked Ichinose's small feet, which were covered in white socks, and said, "Get up and wash your hands. It's time to eat."

"I'm too weak to pull me up, Hachiman."

Ichinose turned her head to the side, her disheveled hair even dangling from her pink lips, her right hand seemingly powerless as she merely raised it slightly.

"Then how do you still have the strength to come back?" After hesitating for a moment, Hikigaya still grabbed Ichinose's hand, which was a little bigger than Shiina's but equally soft.

Thinking of the feeling of being hugged by Ichinose in the past, a fleeting fantasy crossed Hikigaya's mind. He pulled Ichinose up and went back to the kitchen to help Shiina bring out the food she had prepared.

After the three of them were seated, they said together, "Let's eat!" Hikigaya then placed a piece of pork tenderloin on Ichinose's plate, saying, "This is a special treat Hiyori made for you."

"Shiina is so good to me."

With a touched expression, Ichinose moved the cushion under her bottom even closer to Shiina's. If Shiina hadn't carefully raised her hand to prevent her from pounced on her, Hachiman thought Ichinose really would have done it.

"Hachiman is the main force." Shiina breathed a sigh of relief, picked up her rice bowl, and put a piece of pork tenderloin in Hikigaya's bowl as well. "I was just helping out, I'm not worth mentioning."

"There's no such thing as a main force or not."

Upon noticing that only Shiina's bowl was empty, Hiki promptly placed a piece of pork tenderloin in her bowl as well, saying, "Eat, eat!"

"Dong dong dong."

After Hachiman picked up his bowl, there was a knock on the door from the entrance.

Chapter Fifty-Four: Loyalty! Honesty!

After opening the door (six), Yi Yi (two), and Ba Si (eight), Hikigaya discovered that Sudo was standing outside.

Since Hirata stepped down, Sudo, who used to talk to him from time to time, hasn't spoken to him in class for a long time. It's likely that his visit this time is only related to his friend Yamauchi.

"Have you eaten, Hachiman? If not, I'll treat you to a meal at the Beech Tree Restaurant." Sudo scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

Looking at Sudo's expression, Hikigaya knew that this was no good news.

"Why did you have to come at this time?" Hachiman sighed and walked into the house. "I was just about to eat. Come in first and I'll cook two more noodles for the main course."

"Ah...no need, I'll go eat by myself and then come find you."

"Come in and close the door."

Shiina and Ichinose would run to his dorm every day after school, and almost all the boys living on the fourth floor knew about it. Hikigaya didn't care that he knew about Sudo as well.

After acknowledging Sudo's awkwardness after greeting Ichinose Shiina, Hikigaya moved him to his seat, then went into the kitchen, cooked two bowls of noodles, and served Sudo a bowl of rice.

"Let's eat first, and after we finish eating, we'll go for a walk together."

"Ah."

Sudo took the bowl from Hikigaya and his tense expression relaxed a little. Ichinose talking to him made him feel even more pressured. Although he had dyed red hair and looked like a thug, he was still a lifelong bachelor.

After dinner, Ichinose Shiina tidied up, and Hikigaya took Sudo to the beach to walk around the railing.

"It's related to what Yamauchi asked me to do, isn't it? You know something about it."

After walking for a while without Sudo speaking, Hikigaya decided to give him a push. Since he had come to their door, they shouldn't hesitate and waste each other's time.

"...The mastermind was not Yamauchi, but Ike."

Intermittently, Sudo explained the reasons why Yamauchi, unusually, had asked Hakiya to invite Kushida Horikita, and hoped that Hakiya could stop them.

The men's and women's changing rooms at the Beech Tree Swimming Pool are connected by only one wall, except that the entrances are on different walls on opposite sides, and the ventilation ducts are shared.

In other words, as long as a remote-controlled car is placed in the ventilation vent of the men's locker room and a camera and a cell phone in video call are attached to it, the car can be remotely controlled to park in the ventilation vent of the women's locker room.

Once the girl has changed her clothes, you can use the remote-controlled car to return the way you came and get the nude video of the girl who invited you.

"Beast! He's an absolute beast!"

Just like Kushida vented his anger, Hikigaya kicked the innocent railing hard. He was furious; this was no ordinary student, and he was determined to strike hard.

Taking photos without permission is not the same as peeping. The most severe punishment for peeping in schools is expulsion, but taking photos of someone's privacy without permission is a criminal offense, and even minors may face imprisonment.

Moreover, secretly filming girls changing clothes is the most despicable form of voyeurism, and it is not uncommon for girls who are secretly filmed to become depressed and ruin their lives after finding out.

Especially since that beast Yamauchi actually dared to ask him to invite Kushida, it was simply intolerable.

“I’ve tried to persuade them, but they won’t listen.” Sudo, who had betrayed his friend, clenched his fists tightly. “I can only ask you to stop them.”

After the C-class slander incident, Sudo also grew a bit, realizing that if Ike Kanji's voyeurism plan was discovered, it wouldn't be as simple as just dropping out of school.

Even though he strongly opposed it, Ike Kanji and Sotomura, who had already invested a lot of personal points to buy the camera remote control car, did not agree because the sunk costs were too high.

Where is that remote-controlled car now?

"It's still with the doctor. It's quite bulky and difficult to move. They plan to sneak it into the ventilation duct tonight before the holidays when there are fewer people. Maybe it's already in there."

The "doctor" that Sudo mentioned is the nickname of Hideo Tomomura, a tech geek. He was the technical advisor for this project. It was Kanji Ike who initially came up with the idea to ask Tomomura for help, and Yamauchi was added at the end.

“Don’t stop them. I want Yamauchi and Ike to drop out of school.” Grabbing Sudo’s shoulder, Hikigaya looked directly into Sudo’s wide eyes. “As for the punishment for the outsider village, it’s the same as for Sato. This is a reward for what you told me beforehand.”

Although it's called a reward, in reality, it's just because at the end of the second semester of first year, there has to be a dropout, which is why Hikigaya stays in the village.

As for the traitor in Class D who has been seduced by Hashimoto, he has already arranged for him to drop out of school, so that Yamauchi and Ike, who dropped out earlier, won't have to wait too long.

"No, Hachiman, just stop them, please."

Upon hearing Hikigaya's resolute words, Sudo's body went limp, and he wanted to kneel down and apologize on behalf of his friends, but Hikigaya held his shoulders tightly with both hands, preventing him from moving.

"You need to know that some mistakes cannot be made, Sudo."

He grabbed Sudo Hikigaya and pressed him onto a bench not far away. "Don't even think about telling Yamauchi and the others to stop. My intervention was just to expel them and give you one left."

Hikigaya opened the phone and showed Sudo the name of Chairman Sakayanagi and his contact number displayed on the contact screen.

"If the school gets involved, it won't be as simple as expelling Yamauchi and Ike. This school is related to the political achievements of some high-ranking national officials, and if a criminal case occurs, it won't be considered a political achievement. Guess what will happen to Yamauchi and the others."

It's impossible to hear of any criminal cases occurring among students at this school; cherry blossoms reflect the unique circumstances of the country.

“So don’t blame yourself, Sudo. You’ve prevented them from going to jail.” Hachiman’s gaze never left Sudo’s eyes. “Just stay in your dorm tomorrow.”

"......"

Looking at Sudo Hikigaya, who was sitting there speechless, he sighed. This is what happens when you make the wrong friends.

Sudo's condition is unstable, so he will stay up all night to watch over him to prevent him from doing anything foolish. As for the appointment that Yamauchi asked him to make on Sunday, he can only do it a day earlier.

After sending a text message to Yamauchi stating that Kushida only agreed to meet him the next morning and receiving an "OK" reply, Hikigaya dialed Horikita Manabu's number.

Not only should Horikita be told that he won't be going to the gym tonight, but he should also have someone he trusts inform him to oversee the arrangements for the men's locker room at the Beech Tree swimming pool tomorrow.

"Ugh--"

Before Hikigaya could even sigh, Horikita sighed first after the call was connected.

"It seems the president doesn't welcome my calls."

"Whenever you call, it's never a good thing. Final exams are almost here and you're still causing all this trouble."

"..." How was he supposed to respond to the president's comment?

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

After a moment of silence, Horikita Manabu's indifferent voice came from the phone, and Hikigaya instantly realized that the president still loved him.

I, Hachiman Hikigaya, will always be the most loyal subordinate of the Chairman!

Loyal! Sincerity!

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Beginning of Dropping Out