Chapter 180: Sakayanagi's Covert Visit
Hearing those words, Kamuro immediately felt somewhat unconvinced. Although what Kiryuin said wasn't wrong, if one couldn't reach Class A, didn't that also mean their strength hadn't reached that level yet?
On the other hand, Sakura and Hikigaya could understand it quite well. That kind of laid-back personality was practically identical to Kōenji in their own class.
Hikigaya couldn't help but sigh in admiration that a truly formidable figure had finally appeared in the second year. After all, the amount of information they had about the second years was far too little, so little that when the time came to face Nagumo Miyabi, the information gap would definitely work against him.
But…
Could someone like Kiryuin really be called an enemy?
Earlier, Asahina-senpai had vaguely mentioned that Nagumo was someone who obsessively pursued first place. Someone like that would inevitably keep targeting the strongest figures in his year.
Kiryuin was exactly such a person, but the problem was… most likely, Kiryuin had treated him like a joke every single time, never taking him seriously. That was precisely why Nagumo had become increasingly arrogant.
He had walked the path of a "king" without ever fighting a truly powerful enemy. It was a tragic thing. As a result, even though there were still many people in this school far stronger than Nagumo, they all remained beneath him.
Kiryuin crossed her legs and looked at Hikigaya with a smug smile.
Then she revealed a meaningful gaze and said: "I heard you've set a battle with Nagumo? For a first-year, you're quite brave. Though Nagumo isn't all that impressive, he does have some foundation. And with the second years under his control, defeating a first-year would be ridiculously easy. I was worried you might just be all courage and no brains. Even so, big sis here still appreciates you."
Hikigaya said self-mockingly: "Compared to you, senpai, I'm just indulging in a battle born of my own arrogance."
Kiryuin once again showed that meaningful smile: "Oh? I don't think so. Someone who can realize that much doesn't strike me as someone marching toward failure. And… you just said it yourself, Nagumo crossed your bottom line. I don't know much about the first years, but since you can manipulate three classes at once, that means you're hardly incompetent, right?"
When Kiryuin said all this, she was extremely calm, as if she were merely recounting facts. She didn't feel like an ordinary student at all. Not only that, she casually laid out everything she had just observed.
Hikigaya: "Then, senpai, someone so interested in her juniors, will you be my opponent?"
Kiryuin burst out laughing, five seconds later: "I'm not interested in that kind of thing at all. Even if you and Nagumo have some earth-shattering grudge, I wouldn't care in the slightest. The one I'm interested in is you."
"So, senpai won't interfere in this matter, right?"
Kiryuin kept her legs crossed, her hands relaxed and spread apart: "That depends on the situation. But I can tell you this, I won't stand on Nagumo's side and bully a junior. That'd be way too shameless."
…
The three left the café. Kamuro still seemed to be mulling over the conversation from earlier. For her, she hadn't been able to understand at all what the point of Kiryuin coming to chat with them had been.
Kamuro: "Going by what Kiryuin said, does that mean she'll eventually come help us? After all, if she joins the game, aside from helping Nagumo, she can only help us, and she already admitted she won't help Nagumo…"
Hikigaya shook his head: "That person is absolutely not someone to be taken lightly. If we rashly include her in our plans, we'll definitely suffer a huge loss. Our plan has already been exposed, but that doesn't matter at all."
Sakura: "Why do you say that?"
Hikigaya: "Nagumo's confidence is our greatest weapon. He never believes we can beat him. To him, my challenge is nothing more than the reckless provocation of a fledgling who doesn't know fear. Even if he gathers all the intelligence about my past, even if he learns that I'll be teaming up with four classes, unless he experiences it firsthand, he'll continue to maintain that confidence. And that confidence will be the reason for his defeat."
Just as Hikigaya said, Nagumo was exactly that kind of man, someone whose self-confidence and arrogance reached the heavens. A man who had never known defeat, who had never understood true fear, was the most pitiful of all.
If it were someone like Ryūen, even though he could have clung tightly to Hikigaya after losing to him, he didn't do so, because he clearly understood what defeat and true helplessness meant. But for Nagumo, even if he lost by chance, he would simply chalk it up to bad luck.
And Hikigaya was precisely the type of man who had grown accustomed to failure, the complete opposite of someone like Nagumo, who was used to success. One could say that before entering this school, Hikigaya's life had been nothing but a trail of failures. Because he knew the pain brought by defeat, he also understood all too well how addictive victory could be, an addiction that would cause Nagumo to fall completely into it.
Kamuro and Sakura looked at each other. After hearing Hikigaya's reasoning, they seemed much more at ease. Then Sakura continued: "Have you already thought of a plan, Hikigaya? About the cultural festival."
Hikigaya: "For this special exam, I still need to communicate with Sakayanagi's side. As for the projects that follow, I think Horikita will handle them well. I just need to make a few adjustments on top of that."
Sakura: "Hachiman, you're not planning to design everything from scratch yourself?"
Hikigaya shook his head: "I know my own strengths. When it comes to what people our age like, I'm definitely not as thorough as Horikita's investigations. Grabbing so-called 'traffic' at the very beginning is crucial. After that, as long as I implement certain marketing methods on the day itself, then…"
Kamuro and Sakura suddenly understood again. Although Hikigaya seemed impulsive this time, everything had already been planned out in his head. It had to be said, he really was a monster of rationality. He had already thought this far ahead.
Through Kamuro, Hikigaya was able to easily arrange a meeting with Sakayanagi. By this time tomorrow, it would be the moment when their two classes sat down for negotiations.
….
The next day, Horikita arrived in the classroom carrying a pile of data she had organized the night before. Her reason for gathering it was simple: to obtain solid statistics within the class and then put them into action, only then could they expect decent results.
Horikita had listed many possible activities: the ever-popular maid café, maid board games, murder mystery games, cat cafés, escape rooms, and more.
Ike: "I think the most reasonable option here is the maid café!"
Shinohara shot Ike a glare and immediately tugged at his clothes.
"You just want to see it yourself, don't you? 'Reasonable,' my ass. Why don't you go be a maid instead?"
Satō: "I don't really mind running a maid café, but the problem is, what are the boys supposed to do?"
Wang Mei-Yu: "Yeah… how should I put it… If the boys don't help out, it feels like it'll be troublesome. But if we do a maid café, it also feels like the boys will just go enjoy the festival. That seems kind of unfair, doesn't it?"
Sotomura: "Hey, hey, we're not like that, okay? You guys don't understand maid cafés at all. A so-called maid café includes male roles too!"
Yukimura: "Sounds like you really know your stuff, Sotomura."
Sotomura patted his chest proudly: "Of course!"
In the end, the maid café narrowly won with 27 votes. Still, many of the girls were dissatisfied, after all, they'd be busy to death while the boys got to enjoy the cultural festival. It just felt infuriating.
Horikita: "Hikigaya, what do you think?"
Hikigaya: "I suggest we add everything, turn it into a full industry chain."
Kushida: "All… all of it? You're kidding, right?"
Aside from Sakura and Ichinose, most of Class B didn't know what had happened yesterday. To Kushida, this seemed like overkill. Building an entire industry chain would require initial investment and manpower far beyond what forty-something people could handle.
Hikigaya: "We don't need a maid café specifically. We can simply use 'maids' as the theme and build an industry chain around it. Add most entertainment and dining projects, and fully push the concept of 'maids' outward, what you might call 'maid rental.'"
Everyone was left dumbfounded. No one expected the usually quiet Hikigaya to harbor such massive ambition.
Sotomura: "As a seasoned otaku… this is the first time I've heard of 'maid rental.' Honestly, I already feel like I want to spend money on it."
Hikigaya's plan was actually quite simple. Visitors from outside the school who came to enjoy the cultural festival could be divided into two types: singles and non-singles. Entertainment facilities and dining options alone would attract couples. As long as the atmosphere was set properly, they'd be completely hooked.
As for singles, they were the true main force. Customers would come to the shop to "rent" a maid. From there, the maid would take the lead, suggesting where to play, where to eat, where to spend money. Most customers would comply in the end. This kind of positive spending cycle could easily drain an entire 10,000 points from a single person.
Even more frightening was that it didn't stop at outsiders. Hikigaya could use this opportunity to create plenty of chances for single people within the grade as well. Just as Hoshinomiya had said before, even students from different classes often dated each other. If opportunities could be facilitated, it might even stabilize relationships across the entire first year.
Moreover, even an older single woman like Chabashira-sensei would fully participate. With just a bit of maneuvering, helping a long-single older woman find a partner would be ridiculously easy.
So long as everything revolved around the two key points, "maids" and "couples", there would be no problems. This idea was something Hikigaya had derived instantly from Horikita's earlier proposal.
Whether it was murder mystery games, escape rooms, dining, cat cafés, anything that could increase affection between two people would be added without exception.
After that… by using the points of four classes to construct an entire shopping street, the first years could completely monopolize all consumption. As for personnel between classes, they could be rotated freely.
For example, Ryūen from Class D could handle the escape room, which needed intimidating people, so someone like Sudō could be loaned over. Meanwhile, for Class B's maid rental, Hiyori could be borrowed. In the end, this would form a positive, self-sustaining cycle.
You could say… all of these ideas had formed in Hikigaya's mind in an instant. For most people, it was still impossible to fully comprehend.
And so…
Ichinose: "For this exam, we'll be teaming up with the other three first-year classes."
Ike: "Huh? Why?"
Sudō: "Are you stupid? The rewards for the top four are the same this time. Only by teaming up can we maximize the benefits."
Hikigaya had no intention of revealing his confrontation with Nagumo. To him, that was his own matter, and he didn't want to drag others into it.
And thanks to the rules of this exam, everyone seemed to quickly understand why Hikigaya had chosen this approach.
Horikita frowned. "Have you already communicated with the other three classes? If nothing's settled yet, I think this is way too risky."
For Horikita, this was an opportunity to compete with her brother. She didn't want even the slightest mistake.
Karuizawa immediately walked up to the podium and pulled Horikita down: "Relax. If you're still worried about how he does things, then you'll have endless things to worry about. And besides… isn't this a pretty good proposal?"
Karuizawa didn't have any scheming intentions at all. She immediately leaned close to Horikita's ear and whispered: "You know, this so-called 'maid rental' never said you could 'only' rent a 'maid.' Don't you want to use this chance to have a nice one-on-one date with Hikigaya? I'm telling you this, but don't tell anyone else, okay?"
Horikita stared at Karuizawa as if she'd frozen in place, thinking when this girl had suddenly become so sharp, actually coming up with a way like this to monopolize Hikigaya…
But after hearing Karuizawa say that, Horikita finally realized something herself… Lately, she really had been busy nonstop with class affairs, and it had been a long time since she'd had a proper one-on-one conversation with Hikigaya…
Thinking that, Horikita's face slowly turned red, clearly showing her embarrassment.
Yukimura: "Hikigaya, I support your proposal. But if we're going to do this, I hope you'll personally take the position of overall manager. After all, as the one who proposed it, I believe you're the most capable of handling unexpected situations."
Ike: "Yeah… if we're all going to work ourselves to death, you can't be slacking off either."
Akito: "Don't gang up on him like that. But I agree with what Yukimura said."
…
Unlike before, Hikigaya didn't back down. He slowly stood up.
"For this exam, I'll give you all a result you'll be satisfied with."
The first time he didn't retreat. The first time he refused to give way. The first time he truly fought for something, this marked an important step forward for him in this school, and also symbolized his farewell to the naive boy he once was.
Since they still needed to discuss things with the other four classes, Class B didn't make a decision right away. On Ichinose's side, she explained what had happened yesterday to Kushida, Horikita, and Karuizawa.
After hearing it, everyone finally understood.
Kushida: "I knew it… I was wondering why that guy suddenly became so proactive. It was totally suspicious, okay?"
Karuizawa: "Well, it's not a bad thing. Still, what a shame. If the person he was protecting were me, that'd be even better. Ah, Sakura, I'm not saying that because I have something against you."
Sakura: "No matter what, this is a showdown between Hachiman and Nagumo. From my standpoint, I don't want Hachiman to lose, no matter what. So… do your best."
Ichinose gently patted Sakura's head, comforting her like a calm, mature older sister.
"Don't worry, don't worry. Hikigaya-kun is a real old fox. Sakura-san should relax a little too."
Horikita frowned, seemingly deep in thought…
'Looks like I'll need to report all of this to my brother.'
…
In the evening, after the sun had set, Hikigaya sat on a bench beneath a streetlight, as if waiting for someone.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
Along with the crisp sound, Hikigaya turned his gaze in that direction. Walking toward him was the silver-haired fairy he knew all too well.
She tapped her cane lightly, deliberately tilting her head with an extremely cute expression. Her alluring gaze froze Hikigaya completely in place, leaving only the sound of the cold wind passing by.
"Little Hikki, don't drool. You're a married man, you know."
What Sakayanagi was referring to, of course, was Kamuro.
Hikigaya snapped back to his senses at once, muttering a couple of "oh, oh"s before instinctively standing up and moving to her side, helping her sit down on the bench.
"Little Hikki is so gentle."
"This really isn't the time to say things like that."
"That's true. After all, Little Hikki has always been gentle. Saying it now is redundant."
"You're completely misunderstanding what I meant."
The two of them sat side by side on the bench, falling into a prolonged silence. Hikigaya was still thinking about how to start the conversation, while Sakayanagi seemed to be enjoying the moment, eyes closed as she let the wind brush against her face.
"Cold?"
"A little…"
"Wear my jacket, then…"
"How many people have worn Little Hikki's jacket already? Using the same trick you use on other people on me is not allowed, you know."
"Th-this…"
"I'm kidding. I wouldn't push my body like that."
As she said that, Sakayanagi took the coat from Hikigaya's hands. Hikigaya himself didn't feel cold, he'd anticipated that Sakayanagi would dress lightly, so he'd brought an extra jacket.
After putting on the thick coat, Sakayanagi spoke again: "Little Hikki is really cautious. The room would be warmer, yet you insisted on sitting out here to catch the wind together."
"I… it's mainly because…"
Sakayanagi extended a finger and gently placed it on Hikigaya's lips, smiling calmly: "I know. You're afraid I might do something to you like Kushida or Kamuro did, right? Oh, no, that's not it. You're afraid of all girls. And probably boys too…"
Hikigaya let out a helpless sigh. Just as he'd expected, there was no fooling this girl.
"How do you know everything?"
"That's not quite true. I only know things about people I'm interested in. But really, Little Hikki, aren't you being a bit silly? Look at my body, it's like this. How could I possibly do that to you? Even if you're wary of everyone, you shouldn't be wary of me."
Seemingly led astray by Sakayanagi's words, Hikigaya replied faintly: "I guess that's true…"
Sakayanagi gave him a meaningful look, then revealed a deep smile: "I'm really curious, what it would feel like to live together with Little Hikki. I imagine I'd get warm hugs from you every day."
Hikigaya: "Sakayanagi, aren't we getting off topic? You know why I came here…"
Sakayanagi smiled softly: "Of course I do. Come closer and I'll tell you the result."
Half-skeptical, Hikigaya leaned his ear toward her. At that very moment, he felt a slight pain. Before he could even react, Sakayanagi released her bite from his ear, then lightly kissed his lips, and finally licked the corner of his mouth.
"Y-you…"
With that expression, Sakayanagi, already fairy-like, looked even more like a little devil.
Sakayanagi: "This is your punishment for so easily taking something that belonged to me, Little Hikki."
Hikigaya: "Stop messing around. I really came to talk about something serious. Kamuro already told you, right? About me and Nagumo, "
Sakayanagi: "I like you, Little Hikki."
...
The streetlight flickered on and off, casting its light onto their faces. The grass by the roadside rustled under the biting cold wind. Their breathing felt both close and distant, but there was no denying it.
Hikigaya had clearly heard those unbelievable words.
Someone like this… couldn't possibly be Sakayanagi.
And yet, why…
Sakayanagi opened one eye and closed the other, looking at Hikigaya with a mischievous expression.
"Little Hikki, you know, those kinds of things don't only happen in rooms. As long as you want to, anywhere will do…"
Hikigaya immediately stepped back in fear. Sakayanagi didn't look hurt at all, merely saying: "Fine then. Let's just take this as a warning."
Hikigaya forced himself to calm down and asked with an extremely composed expression: "Sakayanagi, can you tell me why?"
Sakayanagi smiled faintly: "Do you really need a reason to like someone?"
Hikigaya: "That's way too absurd. You're not just messing with me, are you?"
Sakayanagi: "If you reject a girl's feelings like this, even if that person is me, it would still hurt. So don't doubt it, I like you."
After saying this, Sakayanagi didn't intend to linger and stood up wearing Hachiman's clothes.
Hachiman didn't stop him; he just watched the girl walk away step by step, until she was almost disappearing into the darkness. Only then did Hachiman finally speak: "So… the alliance?"
From afar, the girl's faint voice came back.
Sakayanagi: "I already gave you an answer."
Hachiman: "I want to hear it more definitively."
Sakayanagi: "If you like someone, you can trust them unconditionally, Hachiman."
(End of this chapter)