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

Chapter 189 The Iron-Blue Face Under the Snow

The news of Hashimoto from Class D transferring to Class C spread like wildfire, but less than a day later, Class B, which was poised to be the center of attention and considered Class A, was involved in an even more explosive event that completely overshadowed Hashimoto.

During the morning class of Class B, the student council president, Hachiman Hikigaya, announced that he was stepping down as the leader of Class B and would no longer participate in the decision-making of Class B. The new leader was his good friend, Hiyori Shiina.

The situation changed once again after Ichinose stepped down as class leader, with no female student serving as class leader in the first year.

"What's going on, Hachiman?"

On the day he stepped down as leader, at noon, Hikigaya, who was eating alone in the school cafeteria, was sandwiched between Katsuragi and Ryuen, the leaders of Class C and Class D, with boys on either side of him.

Katsuragi looked rather grim. He had just formed an alliance and tasted some success, but his good ally had gone on strike. He didn't know the new leader, Shiina Hitoshi, very well, and he didn't know how the cooperation would go in the future.

"The cooperation will continue as before. Hikaru said she would personally come to discuss it with you." Hachiman took a bite of tempura, the strong aroma of wheat and oil spreading in his mouth.

As a new broom sweeps clean, Shiina's first act upon assuming the leadership position was to disband the large study group that Horikita had recruited and formed, and to divide the more than twenty students who needed tutoring into four groups based on their grades.

Students with good grades, such as Horikita, Hirata, and Yukinoshita, were freed up to take on the role of instructors, allowing them to spend more time on themselves and improve their skills.

As for the instructors responsible for improving the academic performance of struggling students, Shiina would hire high-achieving students to serve as instructors, with payments made every two months.

The rewards will be calculated based on the total scores of each group in the upcoming midterm and final exams. The teacher of the top-ranked group will receive 800,000 personal points, the second-ranked group will receive 600,000, the third-ranked group will receive 400,000, and so on.

The instructors of the bottom two groups will be dismissed and replaced after distributing individual points, implementing a brutal elimination system.

According to Shiina's plan, the overall academic performance of Class B will improve rapidly, but at the cost of a huge expenditure of one million personal points per month, which will greatly reduce Class B's ability to withstand risks.

"Oh ho, so you're really not going to care anymore?" Ryuen tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is still living a good life in Class C, though."

"I was warned that I had given up on targeting Ayanokouji, so the position of leader of Class B is no longer useful to me. After all, I now have tens of millions of personal points and can graduate from any class I want."

The repayment of the loan from Class A, the six million yen he was tricked out of Nagumo at the sports festival, and the fact that he got first place in his group in the final exams all contributed to his personal savings exceeding thirty million yen.

By taking out his phone, Bikiguchi openly showed Ryuen and the other two the number of points he had, proving that his resignation was justified and not a show of weakness by Class B as they had imagined.

"Heh, I'll take it that way then." Long Yuan chuckled.

Seeing this, Hikigaya ignored him and silently continued eating. If he had followed his original plan and pushed Horikita Suzune to the top, he wouldn't have aroused so much suspicion. After all, his original plan was not for him to step down, but for Horikita to stand up and overthrow his rule.

In the script, he would give Class B to his younger sister, Horikita Suzune, to "play" because he received a lot of care from his older brother, Horikita Manabu.

In this way, his resignation would seem much more reasonable to outsiders, but there was nothing that Shiina could do if he wanted to.

The student council meeting room in the afternoon.

While Biqi Gu was engrossed in his work on his desk, an uninvited guest barged into the student council, submitted a construction application, and harassed the student council secretary, making him look uncomfortable.

"Hey Asahina-senpai, are you serious about this application?"

Opening Asahina's application, the words "Friends Department" are prominently displayed at the beginning, written in neat handwriting that doesn't seem like something someone as lively as Asahina would write.

"Secretary Yukinoshita, is this your handwriting? Please explain in detail?" Hikigaya looked at Yukinoshita, who was being clung to by Asahina-senpai, and recognized the owner of the handwriting.

The existing clubs in the university are mostly traditional, single-skill clubs like football, basketball, and tea ceremony, lacking the free and diverse nature of clubs in other schools.

Even anime clubs, which are common in almost all high schools, don't exist.

"Cough cough."

A blush crept across her lovely face as she pretended to cough and cleared her throat, probably because she hadn't expected him to recognize her handwriting.

"As the name suggests, the Friends Club is a club for making friends. Its main purpose is to improve the communication skills of students who are socially isolated and have no friends due to their personality or other reasons."

"Interpersonal communication skills are essential in modern society, and the OAA's assessment of flexible thinking also takes into account the number of friends one has."

"Therefore, if the Friends Department can be established and function well, it will enhance students' flexible thinking ability, just as the school hopes."

While listening to Yukinoshita's cool voice, Hikigaya continued flipping through the application form and found the content he was looking for.

A club needs at least three members to be established. As the applicant, Asahina naturally takes on the role of club president. The other two members are Hasebe Haruka and Sakura Airi. Judging from their names, the advisor is not a first-year student.

"........"

He was speechless. When did Sakura and Hasebe get involved with Asahina? How could he possibly refuse the application to establish a ministry now?

Although this application might seem like an attempt to use public office for personal gain, what can you do when he's the student council president?

Hasebe and Sakura's poor communication skills do indeed need to be remedied.

"500,000 personal points per month for club expenses?!"

"It wasn't me, I wrote 50,000."

Facing Hachiman's glare, Yukino hurriedly shook her head to clear herself of suspicion. How could she have written such an outrageous club expense figure of 500,000 points?

That's a privilege only enjoyed by large sports clubs like the soccer or basketball teams.

It would be good if the letter from the Friends Department could be approved. Asahina-senpai is indeed a bit out of touch.

Hikigaya drew out his words, glaring at the person who had shrank back, "Asahina-senpai—"

"Hey--"

Hikigaya tapped the side of his head with his right hand and stuck out his tongue cutely. To be honest, Hikigaya thought it was very cute, after all, Asahina is also a lively and adorable girl.

No wonder Nagumo is so persistent with her.

"The funding is at most five—no, one hundred thousand personal points." Hachiman changed the club funding in the application to one hundred thousand personal points and stamped the student council president's seal with a wave of his hand.

Just because of Asahina-senpai's cute appearance, he decided to use his position for personal gain a little more.

"Yay! Thank you, Hachiman-senpai."

With a surprised smile, Hina wrapped her arms around the back of Yukinoshita's chair, revealing her neck.

Nestled among the towering peaks is a somewhat bluish-gray face beneath the snow.

Chapter 190 Hachiman can only transform into a beast

After a sip of hot miso soup, Hachiman felt his body begin to warm up.

After finishing her student council work, Ichinose decided to show him her even more refined culinary skills today, and the delicious and nourishing seafood miso soup was made by her.

"Is it good, Hachiman?" Ichinose held up two small bowls filled with miso soup in both of her small hands.

She had already taken off her red school uniform jacket and hung it on the wall; all that remained of her upper body was a slightly loose, solid-colored sweater that couldn't conceal her impressive figure.

The weather in December is no longer hot, and many students have put on a sweater.

"It's simply the best. I could drink it for a lifetime and never get tired of it."

Hikigaya nodded and handed the clean little bowl to Ichinose, which made Ichinose smile and give him another bowl.

Even if you wear it a thousand times, you will never wear it.

"Hachiman seems to dote on Asahina-senpai a lot. I didn't know you two had become so close." Ichinose smiled sweetly, her hands supporting her chin. She had been a little jealous of how much Hikigaya doted on Asahina just two hours ago.

She decided to end the cold war with Hachiman Hikigaya and make the most of his time, preventing other girls from getting close to him.

The lively and adorable Asahina is the same type of girl as her.

Hachiman shook his head. "To say I'm spoiling her would be an exaggeration. I just want to make up for what I can do for my senior."

If it weren't for him, Asahina might not have ended up without a single friend in his grade, not even a fake one.

Not wanting to discuss the matter further, Hikigaya chose to change the subject.

"By the way, Honami, aren't you curious why I handed over the leadership position to Hiyori?"

"They're probably afraid of attracting too much attention," Ichinose said thoughtfully.

If she hadn't been Hachiman's girlfriend and hadn't stepped down as leader of Class A, she would have gone to Class C and Class D to discuss cooperation on the very day Hachiman dealt a heavy blow to Class C and eliminated any worries about their future.

Even if it's acceptable to give some benefits to Class C and Class D, the upward momentum of Class B must be curbed.

"As expected, Fanbo is not to be underestimated. He can see right through me, just like the tapeworms in my stomach."

"I feel like Hachiman's words are really sweet today."

"Honami's miso soup is also very sweet."

"You're such a chatterbox." Ichinose couldn't suppress the smirk on her face.

After a lively dinner, Ichinose washed the dishes but didn't leave. Instead, she sat on his bed with her hands behind her back, wearing a light gray pleated skirt with a bow and matte black pantyhose underneath.

With their knees touching, their beautifully curved calves naturally parted, creating an urge that made Hachiman want to touch them.

He hadn't been close to Ichinose for over a month; at most, they'd just hold hands.

"Want to watch a movie, Honami?" Hachiman picked up his notebook and sat down next to Ichinose somewhat awkwardly.

Couples can choose from a few options when watching movies together. He felt that if he could hug Ichinose today, he would consider it a success.

"Great, it's been a long time since I watched a movie with Hachiman."

As she spoke, Ichinose took off her slippers and curled up on the bed. Seeing this, Hikigaya sat down against the wall and pulled Ichinose into his arms.

The familiar, alluring scent wafted into his nostrils along with the touch of her soft body, and her smooth, long pink hair cascaded down onto his forearm.

Unconsciously, Hikigaya wrapped his arms around Ichinose's slender waist and pulled her closer to him.

"What happened to the movie?" Ichinose asked, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons as she tilted her head back and pushed against his chest.

"What recommendations does Fanbo have?"

Hachiman quickly grabbed the laptop that had been thrown beside him and placed it in front of Ichinose. He opened it and found that the desktop wallpaper was a beautiful photo of Ichinose standing on the bow deck of a cruise ship with her arms outstretched, looking back.

Under the clear blue sky of early morning, her long pink hair fluttered in the wind, and a bright, warm smile graced her delicate and lovely face.

"Hehe." Ichinose happily turned around and kissed the corner of his mouth after discovering that his photo had been set as his wallpaper by Hachiman, then quickly turned around and started working on the computer.

Then she chose a horror movie.

A revenge horror film about a wife who is murdered by her cheating husband and becomes a vengeful ghost.

Nearly two hours later.

As the end credits rolled, Hachiman wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and slowly calmed his racing heart.

To be honest, this horror movie is really good. He was so scared that his heart was pounding, but even when he was holding the beautiful Ichinose, he remained calm and didn't have any bad thoughts.

"I've finished watching it. It's a tearful father."

Ichinose leaned back against Hachiman's chest, raised her hands, and stretched to relieve the fear she had felt from the last scene. She had originally intended to scare Hachiman, but she herself had become so engrossed in the story that she was quite frightened.

"It's already past nine o'clock." Hikigaya closed his laptop, which showed a time of past nine, and put it aside.

Today isn't Friday. By this time, after school, Ichinose, who goes back to the dorm with him, takes a shower, dries his hair, and it'll be past 10 PM, time to prepare for bed.

Despite having beautiful, waist-length hair, it takes Hikaru Ichinose about half an hour to dry it.

"Is Hachiman trying to get rid of me?"

Completely relaxed, Ichinose leaned into Hikigaya's arms, grabbed Hikigaya's right hand and placed it on her thigh, which was covered by black pantyhose.

Having decided to end the cold war with Hachiman, she had no intention of going back today.

I'll just set an alarm to wake up a little earlier tomorrow.

Although she was a little embarrassed, she was also aroused by Hachiman's tight embrace for so long.

Ichinose rested the back of her head on Hikigaya's shoulder, closed her eyes, and tried to lift her head, her bright pink lips slightly pouting.

Looking at that beautiful face, as lovely as a peach blossom, Hachiman could only transform into a beast.

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

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

Although he didn't know why Ichinose suddenly reconciled with him and ignored Shiina, Hikigaya's school life did suddenly improve as he became closer to Ichinose.

He would occasionally get close to Ichinose in the dormitory. After becoming the leader, Shiina would also occasionally visit his dormitory to eat with him. Sometimes when he bumped into Ichinose, there would be no argument, and he would leave quickly after finishing his meal.

Incidentally, the four highly qualified instructors recruited by Shiina have all taken up their posts.

They are Katsuragi, the leader of Class 1-D and an A in academic ability; Sanada, who is also an A in academic ability and has strong communication skills; Asahina, the senior from Class 2-A; and Tachibana, from Class 3-A.

More than three months later, Hachiman had received some information from the school about the final special exam for third graders. It was indeed a special exam where the more personal points one spent, the more advantageous the start.

This is basically the reason why Tachibana Akane signed up to tutor the first group of students in Class B, even though the entrance exams were approaching.

The school's actions suggest that the school is trying to make money and not take any home, proving that politicians don't have such an easy way to profit.

A treacherous and cunning businessman is far less terrifying than a smiling politician.