Early morning, in the elevator.
"Good morning, Hikigaya~"
"Uh, good morning… Kushida, Horikita."
As usual, Kushida Kikyo greeted him with her angelic smile.
Hikigaya couldn't help but wonder—was the image of Kushida Kikyo kicking the fence and cursing last night just an illusion?
"This girl has been waiting outside my door since early morning,"
Horikita Suzune said flatly, not even lowering her voice.
"Maybe she just wanted to walk to school with you?"
Hikigaya replied casually.
In response, Horikita suddenly elbowed him sharply!
Thankfully, Hikigaya's reflexes saved him—he raised his arm just in time to block the blow.
"Hehe~ You two really get along well~"
Kushida said with a bright smile.
"How do you know that's a good thing?"
Hikigaya muttered, speechless.
With daily, persistent training, Hikigaya felt that his physical condition had improved a lot lately.
***
Class D – Morning
The noise coming from the classroom could be heard from down the hall.
Hikigaya had long since built up an immunity to it. Habit, after all, is a terrifying thing.
For example, he'd even gotten used to having strange dreams every day…
"Ohhh yeah!"
"So awesome!"
"As expected of a doctor, your evaluation skills are top-tier!"
"The afternoon P.E. class is swimming! The girls will be wearing swimsuits… hahaha!"
Yamauchi and the others were huddled around Sotomura Hideo's laptop, cheering loudly.
Obscene laughter echoed through the room.
"These idiots…"
Karuizawa Kei frowned, clearly irritated, and looked like she was about to march over and scold them.
"Well, it's just boys being hormonal. Nothing serious,"
Shinohara Satsuki said with a dismissive shrug, her nonchalant tone shaking the unity among the girls.
"Shinohara, do you really think that way?"
Karuizawa Kei frowned.
Shinohara's position among the girls was second only to Kei's—if she disagreed with confronting the boys, it made it harder for Kei to act alone.
"I don't care either way…"
Shinohara added indifferently.
"You get offerings from Ike every day, so of course you'd defend him!"
one of the girls muttered sharply.
The group of girls, divided in opinion, naturally failed to stop the boys' antics.
Meanwhile, one of the quieter girls secretly took out her phone and typed a short message—sending it out to someone.
Ayanokōji's Desk
"Ayanokōji, come join the bet!"
"Um, what are you betting on?"
"We're ranking the girls in the class!"
"…Yeah, I'll pass."
"Stop being so indecisive and just pick!"
Encouraged by his friends, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka reluctantly joined the vote.
At the same time, he noticed several girls glaring at him with disgusted eyes.
Their reactions confused him.
Why do Yamauchi and his group want to win the girls' favor so badly…
only to do things that make them hate them?
He sighed inwardly. It seemed he still had much to learn about "socializing."
Sudo's Corner
"Sudo, you joining too?"
"I'll skip it."
"What's with you? You've been cold lately."
"I'm exhausted from basketball, and I've got homework to do when I get home. I'm not talking more than I have to."
"What did you say? Doing homework secretly? Traitor!!!"
Horikita flipped through her book casually.
"It seems forcing Sudo to kneel was the right choice in the end. In a sense, he's changed."
"People only show their true selves when they're desperate,"
Hikigaya muttered in disagreement.
He hadn't intended to save Sudo—it was purely out of self-awareness.
***
Afternoon – Physical Education Class
The long-awaited swimming class!
However, when everyone gathered at the pool, nearly half of Class D's members were missing.
"Eh?"
"What's going on?"
"The boys are almost all gone?"
Absent! Yamauchi and the others, who had been so enthusiastic about the "Ranking" that morning, were nowhere to be seen.
"Revenge… has it finally come?"
Hikigaya narrowed his dead-fish eyes. He instantly understood.
"What do you mean?"
Horikita Suzune asked, sitting beside him in a simple dark blue swimsuit, unbothered by the situation.
"Class D's harassment must've angered Class A and B. Retaliation was inevitable."
"And the precision of the attack—it's obvious someone tipped them off,"
Hikigaya analyzed calmly.
"Hey~ Just got some bad news," Hirata Yōsuke announced, looking grim.
"According to Class A, someone from Class D made a video ranking the girls based on their looks and personalities. The school's decided to suspend them for a week…"
His expression was clouded—he clearly wasn't happy about so many of their classmates being gone.
"What kind of bad news is that?"
"It's obviously good news!"
Karuizawa Kei and her group were overjoyed.
"A week's suspension seems too harsh, doesn't it?"
Shinohara Satsuki muttered, dissatisfied with the punishment.
"By the way, how did Class A even find out about this?"
"Could it be that someone from our class leaked it?"
Her sharp eyes swept across the girls until they landed on one quiet figure.
"Inogashira-san, I remember seeing you drinking milk tea with Satonaka from Class A after school yesterday, right?"
Satonaka was considered one of the most handsome boys in the grade—
it was hard to imagine someone like him hanging out with the plain-looking Inogashira Shiho.
"I-I only talked with Satonaka-kun for a few minutes…"
Inogashira stammered, hiding her phone behind her back, guilt written all over her face.
"Then take out your phone and let me see your chat history,"
Shinohara demanded, pressing her.
"Shinohara! Don't go too far!"
Karuizawa Kei stepped forward, shielding one of her followers.
"Who's going too far?"
"This girl's a spy! Because of her, Ike— and the others got suspended!"
Shinohara shot back fiercely.
"Shinohara, that's not right,"
Matsushita Chiaki interjected, standing firmly on Karuizawa's side.
"If those boys hadn't made that disgusting ranking in the first place, none of this would've happened!"
"That's right! Those guys deserved it!"
Satō Maya chimed in in agreement.
"You guys…"
Shinohara clenched her fists, realizing she was losing her footing among the girls' circle—especially after her close ties with Ike Kanji had hurt her reputation lately.
"I'll say it again—are you Class D students even taking this seriously?"
The P.E. teacher's voice cut through the tension, full of irritation.
"Today's swimming lesson is important! Every single one of you must learn to swim before the end of this month!"
The teacher's overly strict tone made Hikigaya suspicious.
When they did running drills, this same teacher had turned a blind eye to Class D's slacking.
Why so serious all of a sudden?
And emphasizing that everyone must learn to swim before next month…
Could it be that next month there will be an exam—or even a special test—involving swimming?
Hikigaya silently took note of it.