Chapter 140: The Familiar Self-Destruction
Hikigaya let out a helpless sigh. In the face of this situation, he absolutely could not let Kōenji be dropped here, because he was definitely not that useless person.
Before the exam arrived, the method to steady the class's morale might only be this one.
It had been a long time since he'd used this tactic, but to ensure the final result didn't lead to a misjudgment, the simplest way right now was this.
He hoped they wouldn't hold a grudge against him.
In response to Kōenji's words, everyone began discussing fervently, but how could Hikigaya allow such words to spread unchecked in the class?
He stood up lightly, then slowly walked out from behind Kushida, Sakura, Karuizawa, and Sudō.
Until, finally, he walked up to the podium.
This was the first time in who knows how long that he had stood here again, and it always felt like each time brought a different state of mind.
Everyone's gazes gathered on him, some puzzled, some indifferent.
"Classmates, this exam requires the school to make us select one dropout, and that point won't change."
"And we also can't come up with 20 million personal points; even if we pooled the entire class's personal points, we'd still be far short."
Yukimura: "That's right, so what we're discussing is the selection of this dropout. Do you have some method, perhaps?"
After seeing how Hikigaya handled the VIP exam, Yukimura held quite a bit of recognition toward him.
Hikigaya: "Of course. Since we have to vote to select one person, then we just need to cast all the criticism tickets on me, and you all just need to spread out the praise tickets as much as possible. I'll definitely become the one to drop out."
In an instant, the entire Class C fell silent.
Yukimura was completely dumbfounded as well: "You, why would you do this?"
Hikigaya smiled faintly: "If I have to say, I've long wanted to leave this place. How about that as a reason?"
Sakura couldn't hold back her inner feelings anymore; her voice for the first time overpowered the entire class's clamor:
"No way! Absolutely not! I won't let you drop out, Hachiman!"
Kushida no longer showed that cold expression either; she was so startled by Hikigaya's sudden action that she even seemed a bit panicked and at a loss: "That's right, the one who should drop out isn't you. Why should you bear this responsibility! I won't agree to it either."
Sudō was dumbfounded too, merely murmuring in a low voice: "Even if it were me dropping out, I wouldn't let you drop out. Without you, there wouldn't be the current me."
Karuizawa had already rushed up to the podium, trying to pull Hikigaya down and explain his earlier behavior, but she was stopped by Hikigaya's merciless hand.
He gave Karuizawa a gentle smile, causing her to slump powerlessly onto a chair, as if unable to comprehend, murmuring continuously:
"You cheated... cheated..."
Kōenji remained unmoved, merely maintaining his pose as he said:
"Oh? So our Hikigaya boy is volunteering to drop out. In that case, we don't need to select any dropout candidates. But it's truly a pity; after all, compared to you, I still think Yamauchi boy is a bit more useless."
Below the podium, the class began to discuss.
Ike: "Hikigaya has helped our class so many times; no matter what, he shouldn't become the dropout candidate!"
Sotomura: "Then what do you say we do now? Are we really just going to pick someone at random? Don't forget, it's Hikigaya himself who wants to drop out right now."
Akito hugged his head, as if unwilling to think any further: "Why, why does it have to turn out like this..."
Hasebe looked at Sakura, who had completely lost her spirit, and in all the time she'd been friends with her, she'd never seen Sakura like this.
Though she had always lingered on the edges of the class, if Sakura didn't agree with what Hikigaya said, then as Sakura's friend, she wouldn't vote for Hikigaya either.
Matsushita Chiaki didn't say much; as someone in the class who also hid her abilities, she seemed to have already decided on her own dropout target long ago.
The class fell into another uproar, until Hirata slowly opened his mouth to speak:
"Why, why has it become like this... We still have a way, right?"
Hikigaya's expression was serious as he faced Hirata and said:
"Sometimes, life is just like that; you always have to learn to give up certain things."
"But... but... if it has to turn out like this, please let me be the one to drop out. You can't drop out, Hikigaya..."
"I've already made my decision; there's no need for you to do this."
"Everyone thinks of me as a leader, but that's not true. If Class C didn't have you, we probably would have become a bunch of useless people right from the start of school. I know my words now are useless, but I beg you, don't drop out. Let me drop out, and then you take over this class, make it better and better."
Hikigaya shook his head, and amid everyone's puzzled gazes, he slowly spoke:
"I can't do it. Everything you mentioned, only you can achieve. And I'm not as amazing as you say, so the only thing I can do for this class is this."
Silence fell once more. Though everyone looked at Hikigaya with reluctance, they all knew very well that this exam wasn't a joke; there would definitely be a dropout, and they had to accept that fact.
Sakura murmured: "I said it, I absolutely won't let you drop out, no matter what the cost..."
Yamauchi put on a very reluctant appearance, but in his heart, he couldn't help but feel secretly thrilled.
To think there was actually such a fool, taking his place and leaving the class for him.
Amid everyone's silence, Hikigaya pulled the slumped Karuizawa beside him away from the podium. Clearly, everyone was now unable to make judgments, but if it came down to the final time, they would surely steel their hearts and write Hikigaya's name.
After school... Everyone left the classroom one after another, returning to their rooms with low spirits.
And Hikigaya remained in the classroom, not leaving.
Karuizawa leaned over: "So, how was my acting just now?"
Hikigaya: "Mm, not bad."
Karuizawa said irritably: "What kind of attitude is that..."
Kushida: "I really thought you were going to drop out for a second there. To be honest, it scared me into a cold sweat."
Hikigaya: "Perhaps the me from before would have, but the current me can't just leave like this yet. I've promised too many people, and there are too many things left unfinished."
Karuizawa looked at Kushida with a teasing gaze and said just like that:
"Kushida, you got scared that easily? Not good enough. Look at how realistic I acted; it's definitely because you're not familiar enough with Hikigaya yet."
Kushida really wanted to tear her mouth apart. The others might not have understood what Kushida said, but this woman's every word implied that she was the one who truly understood Hikigaya, while the rest of you didn't measure up.
The war between these two didn't affect the others; Sakura felt no dissatisfaction about it at all, merely continuing to care for the boy in front of her as always.
"What do you plan to do next, Hachiman? Now their target is all on you!"
Perhaps others didn't know, but what Sakura said in her heart was absolutely no lie.
If Hikigaya really became the one to drop out, she would make him stay no matter the cost.
That was Sakura Airi's resolve.
Hikigaya spread his hands: "Actually, the purpose of me going up there was simple: to unify their target and make Yamauchi lower his guard. Though everyone will feel some guilt, on that day, they'll have no choice but to do it. And as long as we bring out the evidence of Yamauchi's betrayal at that time, it'll be enough. All the guilt will turn into energy, all focused on Yamauchi's head. He won't have any chance to turn things around anymore."
The four girls were a bit dumbfounded, but upon thinking that it was Hikigaya doing this, they didn't continue to be surprised; clearly, they had already gotten used to it.
Karuizawa: "What about Hirata's side?"
Hikigaya: "People always need to grow. If he still wants this class to move forward, then he must face the past. Ichinose is the best example."
Karuizawa nodded; as someone directly involved, she naturally understood Ichinose's growth very well.
What Hikigaya said was indeed correct: to continue moving forward in this school, one had to keep growing.
Hikigaya continued:
"As for exposing that Yamauchi is the traitor, I think it's best if you, Horikita, do it."
Horikita had been the last to learn that Yamauchi was the traitor. Though with her intelligence, she had long noticed the class's abnormalities, she hadn't gone looking for them.
And in the end, it was Hikigaya who told her.
Clearly, even she herself wasn't sure why he would entrust this to her. If there was a mistake, Hikigaya might end up as the one dropped, and the risk was huge.
Hikigaya simply analyzed the current situation:
"Karuizawa and Kushida have already by default stepped down as the class's pillars; their current influence isn't that great, and there's even a portion of people who would deliberately oppose them. And Sakura's battlefield has always been in the student council, not the class."
"In this way, handing it to you is the best choice. In everyone's eyes, you're the fair and just one, and... among you all, only you, Horikita, didn't speak up for me, so naturally, no one would connect it to anything else."
Horikita hesitated for a few seconds before nodding in agreement.
In truth, it wasn't that she didn't want to say a few words for Hikigaya; she was just so angered by his arbitrary action that she couldn't speak.
At the same time...
The people from Class B seemed to have gathered together as well. For them, who had just gone through a major ordeal, the current Class B was even more united and placed even greater trust in their class leader, Ichinose Honami.
Shibata: "Twenty million points... There's no way we can gather that much."
Kanzaki: "Even if we advance this month's points, we'd only have about fifteen million. That remaining five million is like an astronomical figure..."
Ichinose also furrowed her brows: "Yeah, our class is facing another huge ordeal. But... we can't give up yet."
Shibata: "Of course!"
Kanzaki: "No matter what, we'll keep following you!"
Ichinose turned around to face the entire class: "Classmates, I have two methods now that can help us get through this exam."
The classmates below all focused intently, their gazes all concentrated on Ichinose, as if no matter which method she proposed, they would only follow it.
"The first is to borrow the remaining five million points through various channels and pass this exam."
"The second is to send one of our class members to Class C as collateral."
If it were the Ichinose from before, she would have used every means to gather those twenty million points, but... the current her was indeed different.
However, the people below had doubts?
"Honami, collateral? What does that mean exactly?"
Ichinose smiled as she answered: "Of course, it means exactly as it says: making one of us become a member of their class."
"But if we do that, we won't be one group anymore, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, wouldn't we be split up?"
"And the people in Class C, we can't trust them at all!"
"...."
Once everyone's gazes focused back on her, Ichinose spoke:
"In Class C, there's this one student named Hikigaya Hachiman..."
Ichinose held nothing back, simply recounting everything about how he had helped her, one by one.
At this moment, Kanzaki suddenly understood.
"So, everyone can rest assured. He's this kind of kind person; even if the other people in Class C aren't good to you, he will always be gentle with you."
Discussions arose once more from below the podium.
"Even gentler than Honami?"
"I've heard his name before; he seems pretty amazing..."
"This guy's weird; he gives off this feeling of being famous but not really famous."
"..."
In short, the discussions about Hikigaya swept through the entire class in an instant, but no one forgot that this person had once saved Ichinose, their leader.
Ichinose's gentle smile seemed already etched into everyone's hearts, but this time, her expression actually became somewhat serious.
"Perhaps I was wrong; blindly pursuing unity is a mistake. Everyone, you have to know that every person sitting here is our classmate, and that absolutely won't change. But if we stay the same, we'll eventually be caught up by them, so... that's why I'm proposing option two."
"If you agree, no matter if that collateral classmate goes to Class C or not, she will still be our classmate! Always!"
Perhaps what Ichinose said was right; they had long realized this point, but the reluctance in their hearts still made them unable to make the change.
No matter who it was, if they were collateralized to Class C, things would be different.
Ichinose saw through their thoughts; actually, the answer to this question had long existed in her heart.
If there was one person worth twenty million points, even having the courage to become the collateralized one, then perhaps it could only be herself.
As Class B's leader, the power she brought was absolutely enormous, and her good relationship with Hikigaya would ensure her time in Class C wouldn't be too bad.
More importantly, in this way, Class B wouldn't fall into a slump from losing a large amount of personal points. As long as someone like Kanzaki was still there, Class B wouldn't weaken.
So, she smiled, she remained calm, she chose to accept all of this.
Accept everything she herself had proposed.
This was also the method she could think of that absolutely wouldn't destroy Class B.
Ichinose said once more:
"This collateral person will be me."
"No matter where, we're the best classmates; that's what we agreed!"
Amid everyone's incredulous gazes and firm oppositions, Ichinose merely gently explained to them.
Class B will still have a better future.
...
In Class D, Ibuki sat with a cold face beside Ryūen.
Ibuki: "What do we do about this exam?"
Kaneda Satoru: "We've already lost seven classmates; after this exam, it'll only make things worse."
Albert: "Boss..."
The situation was undoubtedly the worst for Class D, led by Ryūen.
Ryūen, however, appeared very calm, as if he had no desire at all to discuss the matter.
But since they had asked, then...
"Cast the votes for me; I'll handle it."
Ibuki: "No way. If we lose a monster like you, Class D will absolutely have no chance of turning things around!"
Kaneda Satoru: "Only a monster can fight against monsters. Sakayanagi, Ichinose, and Hikigaya, these aren't people we can beat just by casually using our brains."
Albert also said in a low voice: "Boss, if it really comes down to it, let me do it."
Ryūen waved his small hand, signaling not to talk about it anymore.
Ibuki looked at Ryūen like this and, somewhat annoyed, directly kicked the desk flying with one foot, then left without looking back.
Kaneda Satoru let out a helpless sigh as well. As the Class C most intellectual student, he knew very well that if Ryūen left, this class would have no power at all.
So, no matter what, they couldn't resolve it with this kind of self-destructive method.
Albert still listened to him obediently, merely giving Ryūen a reluctant glance before leaving.
Once everyone had left, Hiyori, who had been studying all along, finally walked over.
"Ryūen, you're lying again. Lying is bad."
"Uh, you could even tell that..."
"Because when Ryūen speaks, you always subconsciously twitch your eyebrows. That tiny action reveals your state of mind."
Ryūen looked at Hiyori with the gaze one would give a weirdo, involuntarily reminded of that guy he despised.
Ryūen was skilled at psychological attacks, but not mind-reading. Clearly, this Hiyori had already left Ryūen somewhat at a loss.
"Ryūen, why did you lie to them?"
Ryūen: "If I have to say, there's no particular reason. I can't help them forever; some roads are better walked by themselves. Even if it's just a few days, thinking about how to proceed after I'm gone isn't a bad idea."
Hiyori: "Did Hikigaya teach you that?"
Ryūen's previously calm face twitched twice in an instant, then he said with a defiant and resolute expression: "No!"
Hiyori didn't continue to probe whether Ryūen was lying, merely saying simply: "I thought it was Hikigaya who taught you. After all, whenever he passes by in the library, he always teaches me a lot of things. He's a good person!"
Hearing the words "good person," Ryūen's face grew even darker. He even wanted to forbid Hiyori from going to the library anymore, afraid she'd be corrupted by that guy.
However, the library was like Hiyori's second life; how could he possibly say such a thing? In the end, Ryūen merely said with resentment: "Be careful around that guy; he's not a good person."
He had thought Hiyori would obediently nod in agreement, but instead, she said:
"Hikigaya told me you'd definitely say that to me, and then tell me you're lying again, so Ryūen, you're lying again, aren't you?"
Speechless, truly speechless.
That guy had actually predicted things to this extent...
Faced with Hiyori's pure and innocent gaze and question, Ryūen could no longer hold up.
"Fine, fine, fine, I lied, I lied, okay? That guy's a good person, a great person!"
To be honest, though Hikigaya had anticipated that he would eventually say something like this to Hiyori, he hadn't expected that in the process, he had already driven Ryūen nearly to the brink of madness without realizing it.
Hiyori revealed a gentle and relieved smile, looking at this Ryūen whom outsiders wouldn't dare approach, and merely said softly: "Admitting your mistake is good, admitting your mistake is good. Ryūen is a good child too!"
Truth be told, if adults weren't allowed on campus, Ryūen would have grabbed something right now and gone straight to confront Hikigaya.
'Good child...'
That phrase hadn't appeared on Ryūen even once since before he was born, yet now it had been forcibly slapped onto him.
If asked what it takes to drive Ryūen mad, one Hikigaya plus one Hiyori would suffice.
On Sakayanagi's side, she seemed utterly unsurprised by this exam, and moreover, the outcome of this exam appeared to have been long anticipated by Sakayanagi, with no worry at all.
Hashimoto: "Your Highness, you've already decided who to make drop out? With just your command, the person you hate most in this class will vanish from here in an instant."
When Hashimoto said this, there was clearly a hint of smugness, because he felt that Class A's dropout didn't require much thought at all, there was only one person everyone would agree to drop.
That was Katsuragi, because his leadership had caused their class to fall to Class B, and they had nearly been unable to climb back up. For everyone, that was a major blunder.
It not only wounded Class A's pride but also made everyone feel that Class A wasn't invincible, which had a huge negative impact on Class A.
Sakayanagi remained with that same smile, as if nothing had changed.
"Of course, I've thought about it for a long time..."
"In fact, I've been waiting for this opportunity... for a very long time..."
In Sakayanagi's words, there seemed to lurk a trace of chill, yet everyone present completely failed to notice.
(End of this chapter)