Chapter 21: The Last Day of April
Today is the last day of April. Tomorrow is the day the school will distribute points to the students.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Hikigaya Hachiman carefully marked the key points the teacher had explained during class and then put his notebook back in his bag. When he looked up, he saw Sakayanagi sitting next to him, staring at him blankly.
"What's wrong?"
"Hm? Nothing, I was just thinking that Hikigaya-kun is unexpectedly diligent. Your quiz results from a few days ago weren't bad either."
"Well, I guess. I don't exactly hate studying."
"That's probably because you don't have anything else to do besides studying."
Yukinoshita, who sat in front of Hikigaya, commented nonchalantly while still reading her textbook.
Hikigaya's expression twitched. "You're not much better than me."
"I won't deny it," Yukinoshita replied indifferently.
"I think denying it would be better," Sakayanagi sighed. "Still, I do believe studying alone is more efficient."
"Studying is something that should be done alone," Yukinoshita said insightfully.
Hikigaya nodded in agreement.
Exactly! In other words, become a loner and you'll be able to study! Hey, why not print this phrase in those study guides on the market?
"Let's change the topic. Hikigaya-kun, Yukinoshita-san, how many points do you think we'll get tomorrow?" Sakayanagi looked at the two of them and asked.
"Probably around 90,000 points—because Hikigaya-kun is here," Yukinoshita said, resting her chin on her hand while she made her guess.
"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm the reason we got points deducted! But yeah, 90,000 sounds about right."
If the information from Chabashira-sensei was accurate, and considering the recent behavior of Class A's students—always attending class on time, turning in homework promptly, actively participating, and treating others politely—it was hard to imagine where they could have lost points.
Sakayanagi smiled slightly. "Actually, I had someone check around the senpais' classroom building the other day to see if there was any useful info, but nothing turned up. And the bulletin board there was deliberately covered by red paper by the school."
"Really? Seems like the school's planning to give us a shocking lesson when they distribute the points," Yukinoshita said as she closed her book and looked toward Sakayanagi. "How are the other classes doing?"
"Let's see… Class B is managed by the kind and popular Ichinose. They haven't discovered anything major, but they're attending class as normal. They're just not as self-disciplined as our class. As for Class C, there were several violent incidents right after school started. Most of the students in that class are delinquents who love to fight, but they were apparently brought under control recently by a guy named Ryuen Kakeru. As for Class D… it's a complete mess. After getting their points at the start of school, they splurged recklessly. I've heard they're noisy during class, often late or skipping altogether. I doubt tomorrow will go well for them."
Sakayanagi, who usually stayed in the classroom, somehow knew the details of all the other classes.
"So we need to watch Class B… or maybe Class C, if they have a leader now." Yukinoshita murmured while rubbing her chin.
"Hikigaya-kun, what do you think?" Sakayanagi rested her hands on her thighs and asked him.
"Well, I'm more interested in Class D. Based on what you just said, they probably won't be getting many points tomorrow."
If the students of Class D, who the school likely already labeled as "defective," had failed to notice the trap set by the administration and assumed they'd be getting 100,000 points every month, then their lifestyle since the start of the semester probably looked like: one week of extravagance, one week of scraping by, one week of saving, one week of hopeful waiting.
Yikes, now I kind of want to see the look on their faces when they realize the truth.
"I see—so you're thinking of manipulating Class D by using the points as a way to buy them out and control them?" Sakayanagi, purely analyzing from a class competition perspective, nodded seriously. She then gave Hikigaya a sweet smile. "As expected of you, Hikigaya-kun."
Yukinoshita also turned to look at him. "What a nasty man."
Wait a minute—wasn't this Sakayanagi's idea in the first place?
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After school, Hikigaya was in a convenience store browsing when he saw a store clerk hauling heavy packages into the storage room, dripping with sweat from the effort.
"Ugh, I'm dead tired! Finally done! So much stock arrived at once… looks like we'll get to relax a bit now. Manager! Let me take tomorrow off!" the clerk shouted while wiping his sweat and looking over at the manager who was stocking shelves.
"Don't be stupid—you're on register duty too. Get it together. Starting tomorrow, it's going to get insanely busy. Once the students get their points, they're going to go on a shopping spree. This is a golden opportunity—we can't miss it."
"Sigh—" the clerk let out a long groan. "I want to go spend too! Can someone please cover for me?"
"Give it up. The school strictly forbids students from working. Just prepare to do some serious overtime."
"Dammit—!"
After paying, Hikigaya glanced back at the wailing clerk and the excited manager. Then he looked down at his phone—less than 20,000 points left—and walked out of the convenience store.
Night had fallen. The moon hung high in the sky, casting a cool, silvery glow. The entire campus was bathed in moonlight, cloaked in a mysterious and beautiful veil that made everything feel especially quiet and serene.
Before returning to the dorm, Hikigaya decided to buy a can of Max Coffee. Carrying a bag in one hand, he slowly walked to the self-service vending machine—where he saw a pretty, inconspicuous girl standing nearby.
Her name was Yamamura Miki, a classmate of his. Though she had decent looks, she barely left an impression in class, with an extremely faint presence.
This wasn't the first time Hikigaya had seen her. In fact, he often spotted her around the vending machines, like a game's fixed-location mob that respawns regularly.
For the record, Shiina—the bookworm—was the elite boss who respawned in the library.
Just like always, the girl was hiding in the vending machine's shadow, silently observing the people who came to buy drinks. If you didn't deliberately pay attention, you wouldn't even notice her.
Man, her presence is as nonexistent as mine. Hey, girl—look at me. Want to become a ninja? You might actually have talent for it.
No, wait. If you use the "look at me" technique, you'll end up in a state of being super visible. Better learn "Stealth Rock" instead.
Lost in random thoughts, Hikigaya pressed the button for his drink, paid by scanning with his phone, and looked at her—only to meet her eyes as she was secretly glancing at him.
He nodded slightly to her, but she quickly averted her gaze in flustered panic.
Picking up the black-and-yellow Max Coffee from the machine, Hikigaya didn't linger—he turned and left.
Watching him go, Yamamura Miki stepped out from the shadows and softly muttered to herself, "That's the third time I've been noticed…"