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

"Is it possible for someone with ability to not contribute to the class and only want personal gain?"

"Haha, this aloof girl is implying something."

Koenji, another strong contender for the top three mentioned by Yukimura, continued to look at his ever-present hand mirror.

Given that he was physically strong but was absent from the entire sports festival, Horikita Suzune's veiled criticism of the leader was too obvious.

He also disappeared completely on the deserted island and did not do any work.

"You think you can keep doing whatever you want like this forever, Koenji?"

"I advise you to give up the idea of ​​me contributing to the class, you aloof girl." Koenji smoothed his bangs with his hand. "Hikigaya boy does this very well."

If I could do whatever I wanted with you, I wouldn't have received your praise.

Hearing Koenji's words, Hikigaya silently complained in his heart. Koenji was like a chicken rib to him, tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away.

If it weren't for the vote to drop out of school and the pre-determined decision to stay in another village, he might have considered dropping out of Koenji.

The unpredictable and uncontrollable Koenji is both a joke and a bomb for Class B.

"I'll make you change your mind sooner or later."

After making a cold declaration, Horikita Suzune ignored Shinmura, who had silently sat down, and began assigning questions.

As for which class to specifically target and give it a question, that's up to Hikigaya to decide.

"Hiyori, which class do you think is the best to nominate?"

As soon as get out of class ended, Hikigaya carried a chair and sat down next to Shiina, which made Shiina, who didn't want to have a conflict with Hikigaya in front of others, give him a cute eye roll in exasperation.

"Why are you asking me about something that's already been decided? You specifically asked Class C, didn't you?" Shiina pouted and turned her head away.

"As long as Hiyori says the word, I can name any class."

Raising his right hand, Hikigaya solemnly declared, looking exactly like a foolish ruler who played with the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires.

Chapter 182 Even if it's Class A, I'll still beat you!

"So, they specifically requested Class A?"

Shiina turned to look at Hikigaya with a half-smile, her once bright and exquisite eyes beneath her soft bangs now seemingly veiled in shadow.

More than a week later, she still couldn't get over what happened that day.

She couldn't let go of whether it was Hikigaya's betrayal or her own failure to recognize her own feelings sooner and act first.

“Then we’ll name Class A.” Hachiman immediately replied and stood up from his seat. “I’ll go tell Chabashira now.”

"Are you an idiot, Hachiman?"

Shiina couldn't sit still any longer and quickly grabbed Hikigaya's sleeve to stop him from leaving.

Although Class A's academic ability is not as good as Class D's, it is by no means something that Class B, with only thirty-seven students, can compete with. Under normal circumstances, the only class that Class B can defeat right now is Class C, which has more 'fighting factions'.

The result of determining the winner is the total score of all participants, not the average score. Choosing Class A, with 41 students, as the opponent is suicidal.

"No problem, as long as Hiyori says so, I'll beat even Class A."

Hikigaya reached out and wanted to stroke that soft silver hair as usual.

But as soon as he reached halfway out, he remembered that he was no longer allowed to do so, and could only let his hand remain motionless in mid-air, neither moving forward nor retracting.

A sense of loss welled up in my heart, as I realized I might never be able to touch that familiar silver hair again.

"Don't look so disappointed, Hachiman." Shiina grabbed the hand that was hanging in mid-air. "When you're trying to look cool, you have to look cool too."

Seeing Hikigaya's downcast and lost expression, Shiina decided to forgive him for a few minutes.

With a smile, Shiina gently pressed the hand she had grasped onto her head.

.........

.........

"Are you an idiot, Hachiman? Tell me if you're an idiot."

After school, Chabashira suddenly informed him that his opponent was confirmed to be from Class A and that Hikigaya had specifically chosen him. Horikita Suzune, looking frantic, blocked Hikigaya's way to the supermarket.

She could accept being randomly assigned to Class A instead of Class C if the initial choice failed, but Hachiman directly named Class C and Class D, never Class A.

Without any ripples, Class A became their designated target, and fortunately, they also became Class C's designated class.

If a team wins and loses, the class points will not change.

"We need to attack the strong Class A to increase the other students' enthusiasm for studying."

"Nonsense! What's the real reason for specifically naming Class A?" Horikita's forehead seemed to be creased with worry. She simply couldn't understand why Hikigaya would go through the trouble of naming Class A.

She knew that Hachiman was not one to make empty promises; specifically naming Class A might be a prerequisite for achieving his goal. She grew increasingly disgusted with Hachiman's practice of keeping everything from her.

"Can't you trust me for once?" Horikita unconsciously picked up a strand of long hair that was hanging down in front of her.

You keep telling me you want to overthrow my rule and then expect me to believe you, Horikita Suzune, you're so arrogant.

However, whether or not this matter was kept from Horikita was irrelevant, as the nomination had already been completed as he had intended.

After internally ranting, Hachiman walked past him.

"You're going to the supermarket to buy groceries too, right? I'll tell you on the way."

".....good."

Thinking that Hikigaya would just brush her off as usual, Horikita Suzune paused for a moment before quickly turning around and catching up with Hikigaya.

"How tall are you now, Hachiman?"

After walking side by side with Hikigaya, which was rare for her, Horikita Suzune looked up at the profile of the boy whom her brother regarded as his successor.

In her journey to catch up with Hikigaya, she discovered that Hikigaya had grown considerably taller than she remembered him from when school started, and his demeanor was increasingly resembling that of her brother.

He used to be just an ordinary boy, even one who looked a bit gloomy, but now he has become the most popular student council president in the entire school.

She recalled Hachiman's words that people change over time.

"Why are you suddenly asking about this? You should be over 1.8 meters tall now. I haven't measured myself in a long time," Hachiman replied without turning his head.

Is it what's commonly known as secondary puberty?

"Probably. You wanted to know why I specifically mentioned Class A, right? It's because I'm going to take action against Class C and expel two students I dislike."

While Shiho Manabe and Nanami Yabu from Class C may have forgotten about ignoring his warnings and bullying Karuizawa on the cruise ship, Kaori Hikigaya has always kept it in mind.

He would never let go of the person who caused him to break his promise to Karuizawa, given the chance.

The reason for not directly naming Class C is that Class C, like Class B, is highly sought after. The class that might be named could be multiple, which would result in four classes randomly competing against each other.

He can only influence classes B and D. If he wants to target class C, he must get one of those two classes to set questions for class C.

So he generously gave up the chance to target Class C to Katsuragi, and Katsuragi would then negotiate with Kanzaki to give him the chance to be nominated for Class B.

Unfortunately, Class C won the lottery for who would set the questions for Class B, so Class A had to set the questions for Class D.

The battle order is set so that each class gives a question to the class above it and is simultaneously given a question by the class below it.

"Ayanokouji? No, it's not him." The image of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who had been kicked into Class C by Hikigaya, only flashed through Horikita Suzune's mind for a moment before she ruled him out.

In the last final exam, Ayanokouji was a monster who got full marks in all subjects, just like geniuses like Hikigaya and Koenji. Even if his partner got zero, he wasn't afraid of being expelled.

"Misato Kinoshita?"

"How could I drop her out of school? She's the one who sold me the information about the C-class privileged students." Hachiman shook his head.

Although it was proven last time that Kinoshita had been caught by Ryuen, she still has a purpose even after being discovered.

Furthermore, Hikigaya wouldn't think that Kinoshita was wrong to set him up; it was just normal class-to-class tactics. If Kinoshita were to be expelled for this, he might be even more domineering than Nagumo.

"Is it Manabe and Yabu?"

Recalling the scene at the bottom of the luxury cruise ship at the beginning of summer vacation, Horikita finally understood who Hachiman wanted to drop out of school.

Recalling Hikigaya's gloomy expression at that time, Horikita was 99% certain that she hadn't guessed wrong.

"You guessed right. I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

"You're really that kind? I refuse."

Seeing the intriguing smile that suddenly appeared on Hachiman's face, Horikita decisively rejected his suggestion. She had only ever seen that kind of smile on Hachiman's face when he was teasing or joking with her.

"On the condition that the task of cooking is assigned to you." Hachiman's smile deepened.

The prerequisite for assigning cooking tasks to Horikita Suzune is that her brother Horikita Manabu is also present.

Horikita Suzune, clearly aware of this, also showed a shy expression like a little girl, probably feeling that it was too embarrassing to go back on her word because of his words.

But her brother is there too; in a few months, she won't be able to see him at school anymore.

Having realized this, Horikita Suzune disregarded her embarrassment and silently followed Hachiman into the supermarket.

Chapter 183 His mood was mostly bad.

"If the side length is not given a specific number, use 'X' to represent it before listing it..."

In the well-ventilated library lobby, Yukinoshita was taking Horikita's place and teaching the struggling students in Class B alongside Shiina.

With the announcement of the final exam rules, the library, which was not very crowded before, suddenly became packed with people. Even the quietest whispers could be heard when they all came together, making the library quite noisy.

The only place where you can enjoy ample air conditioning, a large space, and tables and chairs without needing personal points is the library.

Therefore, not only Class B, but also most students in the other three classes in the first year held study sessions in the library.

"What are you doing loitering around there, Karuizawa? Are you trying to pick a fight?" Shiho Manabe stood up from her seat and glared at Karuizawa.

The students of Class C occupied the long table where the study session was held. Every few minutes, Karuizawa would lead Horikita Suzune around the table without saying a word. After the walk, she would stay in the sight of the students from Class C and play games.

This caused the already disliked C-class student, who was already struggling with studying, to lose focus and become distracted.

"Who says you can't walk around in public areas of the library? Can't I just take a walk and stretch my legs when I get tired of reading?"

"With an air of arrogance," Karuizawa replied in a slightly sarcastic tone.

With Suzune Horikita, the student council secretary specially assigned to protect her by Hikigaya, she wasn't worried that Manabe would resort to desperate measures.

"Sit down, Shiho."

"But--"

A hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes, but seeing Ayako's expressionless face, seemingly lost in thought, Manabe chose to obey.

Having betrayed Ryuen, her only support in Class C is Ayanokouji, who has promised to protect her from Ryuen's troubles.

In fact, Ryuen really did treat her like air from that day on, and she didn't know how Ayanokouji managed to do it.

"Based on merit, Class C is no match for Class B, so why resort to such underhanded tactics?" Ayanokouji turned his gaze to Horikita behind Karuizawa.

Her long, glossy black hair reached her waist, and her exquisitely beautiful face was framed by bright, piercing fox-like eyes that exuded a heroic spirit.

She looked just as beautiful as he had when he first met her at the school gate, but such despicable tactics were not something she would have resorted to back then.

Was he changed by Hachiman? If so, would that be considered growth?

"We were just walking around in the public library. If you have any misunderstandings, you can complain to the student council. President Hikigaya is in the student council office right now."

Without presumptuously guessing what Ayanoko was thinking beneath her expressionless face, Horikita calmly followed Hikigaya's instructions.

Since Hikigaya valued Ayanokouji so much in the past, weakening Class C would be a good thing for Class B.

The outcome of this special exam was determined by the total score, which was disadvantageous for classes with fewer students. This situation will likely continue to occur in future special exams.

Horikita, a student from another rival class, had no qualms about dropping out.

"Oh, really?" Ayanokouji looked away and didn't say anything more.

Horikita and Karuizawa returned to their seats where the students in Class C could see them, and then they would stand up and sit down again from time to time, or walk around the long table of Class C to distract them from their studies.

..........

..........

"Aha—I feel like I'm going to lose all my hair. Why are the questions so hard?"

"Stop being lazy, this is your chance to make amends."

Sanada gave a cold glare to the blond-haired Hashimoto, who stretched and then slumped back in his seat.