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

He didn't care too much about being seen as a tool, as long as no one used his name to bully others.

"Then I'm relieved." Karuizawa Megumi stretched lazily. "I've been exhausted lately."

Her proudly erect figure was even more eye-catching, and under the inescapable attraction of her breasts, Hikigaya couldn't help but glance at her twice before meeting Hasebe's teasing gaze.

"You're disgusting, Hachiko."

Haruka Hasebe is a sophisticated beauty with a big sister vibe. She has a small beauty mark under her left eye, and using nicknames to address her friends is a way for her to express intimacy.

"Cough cough."

Hikigaya decided to pretend he couldn't hear her, circled the mistakes on Karuizawa Megumi's test paper and explained them to her. After he finished explaining, he went to look at Sakura and Hasebe and explained the mistakes they made in the same way.

After the explanation,

"Sakura, please stay a moment. I have something I'd like to ask you about."

Karuizawa Kei has already gone to play with her friends, while Hasebe and Sakura are packing their things to go eat together.

"Am I the only one?!" Sakura was flustered by Hikigaya's words.

"What does it matter, Airi? Hachi's eyes may look a little scary, but he's still a good person."

"That's not the issue..."

"Then there's no problem. Hachiman, you have to take good care of Airi, okay?" Hasebe patted Sakura's shoulder gently with a mischievous smile, encouraging her.

"Ah."

After receiving Hikigaya's reply, Hasebe picked up his bag and left, leaving Sakura cowering like a timid quail, looking hesitant and unsure of what to say.

"It's nothing serious, come with me."

They found a relatively secluded coffee shop where few students frequented. Hachiman ordered a sweet coffee and Sakura ordered her favorite strawberry cake. The sugar in the dessert would stimulate the brain to release neurotransmitters such as dopamine, reducing her anxiety.

"Delicious... Thank you, Hachiman-kun..." - Yilinqi | (8) Private Item 45%VI

Sakura took a bite and a satisfied expression appeared on her face for a moment. But when she met Hachiman's gaze, she lowered her head and shrank back, leaving Hachiman speechless.

Do you have any extra hair ties?

"Have!"

Taking the red headband from Sakura, Hikigaya unbuttoned the top two buttons of his white inner lining and used the headband to tie his bangs into a small braid, instantly making his appearance look strange.

"Manager, could you please give me a straw?"

The female shop manager standing at the counter gave Hachiman a disdainful look before handing him the straw. Under Sakura's puzzled gaze, Hachiman inserted the straw into the incongruous coffee cup.

"Just be yourself, don't worry too much about what others think." Hachiman forced a somewhat stiff smile, then took a small sip through the straw.

“So hot!!”

Hikigaya's face contorted into a funny expression, which made Sakura laugh and feel much more relaxed.

"Thank you, Hachiman. I will do my best."

"Take your time," Hachiman took a couple of breaths. "The main reason I called you here today is to ask if Kushida has contacted you recently."

“Ah… Kushida-kun.” Upon hearing the name Kushida, Sakura lowered her head slightly, but still tried to look into Hikigaya’s eyes.

"I was holding my camera in front of the elevator when Kushida bumped into me and broke it. Kushida came over to comfort me and offered to help me get it repaired."

Sakura rubbed her long red hair that fell to her chest, looking somewhat guilty.

"But for some reason, I felt very scared when I saw Kushida's eyes, so I pushed her away and ran away."

"Should I... apologize to Kushida-kun?"

Chapter Thirteen: The Lovely Chocolate Cake

He was relieved to understand Kushida's reasons for being dissatisfied with Sakura. It would be troublesome if Kushida developed the same malice he had towards Horikita Suzune, which led to her dropping out of school.

"Just do it if you want to. The Kushida I know will definitely forgive you."

"At least on the surface, I will definitely forgive you," Hachiman thought to himself.

Hikigaya knows that no one can grow without doing anything. He will encourage Sakura to do what she wants, but he will never make decisions for her under the guise of doing what's best for her.

"I...I...I've decided to go and apologize to Kushida-kun."

On her way back to her dorm after finishing the cake and leaving the coffee shop, Sakura finally made up her mind, clenching her right fist and placing it in front of her chest as if to encourage herself.

"Great, keep it up!"

Sakura's childlike movements caused Hikigaya's hand to naturally climb onto Sakura's head as she walked beside him, stroking it a few times as he always did with his younger sister Komachi. Her fiery red hair felt as smooth as the finest silk.

It wasn't until Sakura's trembling reached his head that Hikigaya belatedly realized his impolite actions.

"I'm sorry for doing something that upset you. I won't do it again."

"No, I'm not unhappy." Sakura waved her hand hastily. "Please do the same in the future!"

Her smooth, fair cheeks were flushed with a faint blush, and fine beads of sweat glistened on her forehead. She looked away, then peeked at Xiu again. A girl is most beautiful when she's shy, and at that moment, Hachiman understood this saying deeply.

"Goodbye... goodbye!!"

Realizing she had said something incredibly embarrassing, Sakura could no longer control herself and ran away without waiting for Hikigaya's reply. Her last glance before leaving was fixed on the top of Hikigaya's forehead—her little braid tied with a red ribbon was still standing tall on his head.

For some reason, she found Hikigaya very handsome today.

"Please do this again in the future..." Hachiman looked down at the fiery red floor tiles, stopped thinking, and strode forward.

----------

With only three days left until the school trial for Sudo Ken's assault case, Horikita and Hirata, unable to find a way to turn the tide, eventually summoned Sudo Ken and a few of his cronies to his dormitory.

"Yamachi and Ike will go to Ayanokoji's M; Yue+〆Yi_7 Yi Leng Qi 玐 Shi Qi Si wu6 room to wait for news. I'll talk to Sudo first."

After the four arrived, Hikigaya first dismissed Ayanokouji and the others, leaving Sudo alone to stand and talk to him. He was even taller than Hikigaya after his recent second growth spurt, standing at over 1.8 meters tall. His strong physique from years of training, combined with his red hair, should have given people a great sense of intimidation.

Unfortunately, his uneasy face betrayed his underlying fierceness.

Before Hirata came, he had already analyzed for him that losing the case would not be as simple as just being suspended from school. If he was confirmed to be the perpetrator and suspended from school, he would definitely be expelled from the basketball club where his dreams took flight. He would be suspended for at least half a month and would not be able to take the midterm exams. The consequence of being absent would be dropping out of school.

"I only have unorthodox methods, the kind that hurt the enemy eight hundred while losing a thousand of my own. If you want to blame me after I tell you, you must first understand one premise—I have no obligation to help you."

Unlike Sakura, Sudo was not someone Hikigaya absolutely needed to help; he had his own judgment.

"Hmm...I understand." Sudo turned his head away from looking into Hachiman's eyes.

"Tomorrow, go to the school bakery and order a chocolate cake. There's only one request: make it look like excrement. It's a necessary prop. As for the three students in Class C, I'll force Kushida, the idol of the grade, to lure them to the corridor of the special teaching building where the assault happened. Then, I'll threaten them, record it, and force them to drop their charges."

"What kind of threat is it? What are you filming? I don't quite understand the rest."

"Specifically, after those three people walk into the corridor of the special teaching building where there are no surveillance cameras, you take Ayanokouji and the others to block their retreat, then turn on the recording. Then you pull out a cute chocolate cake from your crotch and pretend to offer it to them, threatening them to hit your friend as you say and record it."

"...Wouldn't that make me a pervert?!"

"Whether you do it or not is your business. And if they find out that the so-called excrement is cake, just smear it on their bodies and mouths. After the video is made, you can delete the sound and threaten them that if they don't comply, you will post it on the school forum. In their eyes, if you want to be expelled, you can do anything. I believe they don't want to form an F4 poop-scooping boy group with you and become a topic of discussion."

The room fell silent. It was normal for Sudo to be reluctant to become a poop-scooping boy. If he didn't want to, Hikigaya had another way, but he didn't need to help Sudo to that extent. The grievances should be settled, and that method would affect those who didn't participate in the incident.

According to what he knew, there was a martial arts girl in Class C who had a fiery temper and was impulsive, just like Sudo. They could create a situation of mutual threat by using each other's own methods against each other.

"Is there no other way?"

"Perhaps you could confess your feelings to Ryuen Sho in public until he can't take it anymore and drops the lawsuit, or have Ayanokouji dye his hair red and pretend to be Ryuen Sho, and put on a lovey-dovey act for him. Just do whatever makes Ryuen Sho disgusted."

"Isn't this just asking for trouble..." After muttering to himself for a moment, Sudo realized that he couldn't get a way to achieve his goal without getting hurt from him. He left with the words "I'll think about it some more" and went to meet up with his friends.

After Sudo left, Hikigaya lay on the bed and began brainstorming.

Sudo's hot temper makes him an easy target. Originally, the History Ryuen would attack Sudo after the midterm exams. At that time, it was Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka who resolved the matter. The method used is unknown. All I know is that Class C withdrew the accusation in the end.

Is there a better way to get Class C to drop the lawsuit?

The approach of using threats to achieve goals should be the same; at that time, Class D simply couldn't offer Class C enough points to withdraw the lawsuit.

What better way is there to threaten Class C?

Chapter Fourteen: Honami Ichinose's Visit

The corridor of the special teaching building, which was unmonitored after school, was one day away from Judgment Day. Since there was really no other way, Sudo had no choice but to carry out Hikigaya's plan.

"It's nothing to just force Kushida to lie to you. Don't underestimate my determination to become a basketball player!"

After receiving the text message, Ishizaki, Komiya, and the other two from Class C who had been beaten up found that Kushida had not appeared as promised. Realizing they had been tricked, they immediately started spewing trash talk at Sudo, saying things like, "Are you going to drop out of school?" Hearing this, Sudo became even more determined not to drop out.

Having used the hyperbaric oxygen therapy equipment and liquid nitrogen cryotherapy chambers at the basketball club, Sudo knew that this school might be his only chance to become a basketball player in his lifetime.

In front of the three students from Class C, he opened the ordinary cardboard box he was holding with a fierce expression, revealing a bunch of night-blooming jasmine that looked like it was emitting an unpleasant odor.

"Camera in position."

Following behind Sudo, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji silently raised his phone with a blank expression, while Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike also spread their arms to indicate that the road was blocked.

"You're crazy."

"Damn it, you bastard, I've never seen such a pervert as you."

"Don't come over here!"

When Sudo grabbed the 'Night Fragrance' and approached them, the three Ishizakis were stunned. Ishizaki Daichi, who had been a street urchin, was a veteran of many battles, but he had never seen such a shameless person.

"Either you drop the charges, or we all die." Enduring the sticky feeling on his hands, Sudo slowly approached Ishizaki and the others. "Don't even think about calling for help. I'll treat you to something good before anyone else comes to rescue you."

Retreating to a dead end in the corridor, Ishizaki Daiji, who had been pushed forward by Komiya and Kondo to face Sudo directly, finally couldn't hold back when faced with Sudo's outstretched hand. Why was he being treated like this when he was just a small-time thug?

"Cancel it? Fine, I'll cancel it!" Ishizaki Daichi's face scrunched up.

The following afternoon, during a meeting between the two classes held by the student council, Ishizaki Daichi and the other two who had been recorded with threatening videos secretly asked the student council president to withdraw the charges against them.

.......

"Your class has survived a disaster. What about Lingyin?"

After the students from both classes dispersed, only Horikita Manabu, Tachibana Akane, and Hachiman Hikigaya remained in the student council. Generally speaking, it would be enough for Tachibana Akane and Hachiman Hikigaya to host a conflict meeting of this scale. The only reason Horikita Manabu was there was because of his sister. He was a little disappointed that he didn't see his sister.

Because she felt she hadn't achieved anything worthwhile to prove herself, Horikita Suzune consciously avoided meeting her brother.

"If you want to see your sister, go find her, you siscon." After being tricked, Hikigaya gradually became more and more rude to Horikita Manabu, but Horikita Manabu usually ignored his rude remarks.

"Today, Nagumo said he's bringing in a new first-year member to the student council."

"Let me guess, is it Ichinose Honami from Class B?"

The students that Nan Yunya actively recruited were naturally from his faction, and those who were chosen to challenge him were certainly not unknown figures. Judging from Nan Yunya's arrogant personality, the students he recruited must be the kind that are easy to manipulate.

The leaders of Class A, Katsuragi Sakayanagi, and Ryuen of Class C are not the kind of people who will obediently follow orders. Hirata and Kushida of Class D are still his classmates on the surface. The only notable figure among the first-year students is Ichinose.

He had been wondering why Ichinose was taking so long to reply after the midterm exams, but it seemed that Nagumo had figured out his intention to transfer to Class B and was trying to sabotage him. It looked like the plan to transfer to Class B could be canceled.

"Yeah, you'll see her tomorrow. Nagumo gave her an accounting position." Horikita Manabu chuckled. "How about we bring Suzune to the student council to help you out?"

“I refuse, and I guess I’ll see Ichinose tonight.”

Horikita Suzune is still the same prickly person she always is. Having her around would do more harm than good. She might offend everyone else in just two days in the student council.

"It seems you know something about Ichinose. I won't, or rather, I don't have much spare capacity to get involved in the class competitions of other grades. Nagumo has much more resources at his disposal than I do."

"Understood, I will be careful."

Although there was a difference in class points between Horikita's third-year A class and the competing third-year B class, the gap was not too large. However, Nangumo's second-year A class was different; it was in a precipitous lead. Moreover, according to the agreement he invented to raise funds and draw lucky winners to give tickets to A class, he had tens of millions of personal points.

After returning to his dorm from the student council meeting, Hikigaya received an invitation from Ichinose to meet him that evening, just as he had expected. The meeting place was his room, and he naturally agreed. Before opening the door that night, he thought there would be two people standing outside, but to his surprise, only Ichinose came.

"I'm sorry, Hachiman."

“You haven’t wronged me in any way. Even if a deal falls through, we can still be on good terms. There’s no reason to complain when a business deal falls through.” Hikigaya held down Ichinose’s body, who was about to bow and apologize as soon as she entered the room.

Today, Ichinose was dressed casually, wearing a light green cake dress with a white long-sleeved shirt over it. Hachiman clearly felt the heat from Ichinose's body through the thin shirt and immediately let go of her hand, letting her sit down on the edge of the bed.

"..."

Ichinose sat on the edge of the bed with his head down, seemingly lost in thought and not saying a word. Hikigaya, sitting in the chair, also seemed uneasy and didn't know what to say. Ichinose seemed rather heavy-hearted at the moment.

Shouldn't Ichinose have given him an answer, said something like "We can't be classmates, but we'll still be friends," and then left peacefully? And where is Kanzaki Ryuji, who usually follows Ichinose around? Things are getting a little out of hand for him.

"Hachiman, can you tell me what I look like in your eyes?"

After a long silence, Ichinose raised her head, her tightly pursed lips were luscious and her clear eyes were somewhat confused, and her waist-length hair fell onto the bed.

"Ichinose as I see her? Let me think."