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

Page 21

"The rice made with mixed fish tastes alright."

After a hearty meal, Ryuen casually leaned against the bed, while Ichinose and Shiina were tidying up Hachiman's small dining table. Hachiman's plan had already been approved by Ichinose before Ryuen arrived.

"Thank you for the compliment. I wanted to ask if you've won over Ayanokouji yet. I wonder if his academic abilities will be useful for the final exams." After being refused help tidying up, Hikigaya sat down next to Ryuen.

"It's barely usable," Long Yuan clicked his tongue.

Under his constant harassment, Ayanokouji was successfully recruited as his follower, but Ryuen always felt that he was just going through the motions and lacked motivation. When asked about his thoughts on the final exams today, he gave a vague answer, saying that high-achieving students help low-achieving students.

Hachiman added fuel to the fire, saying, "Then we should give him a good beating. He's barely usable, but not really."

"I wanted to, but he slipped away too fast and I couldn't stop him. He didn't even go to the toilet at school. But I stopped bothering him after he promised to perform no worse than Shiina."

"Then it seems you can still count on him and Kaneda Satoru to get the individual points bonus at the end of the semester. Let's team up, Ryuen."

Asking students from Class B to be at the bottom of the class requires offering them benefits. It would be too painful to give one student from Class D alone, so bringing in Class C would help share the burden. Besides, we can't let Class C win the final exam without any effort.

"How do we cooperate?" Long Yuan squinted his eyes.

"Class C will send one group of students to the bottom of the class and give 500,000 personal points to Class B. Class D will not send any students to the bottom of the class, but will give 1.5 million personal points to Class B. Class B will send four groups of students to the bottom of the class."

"Class D's academic ability is so poor that they can't even produce a single student?"

Hikigaya was also aware of Ryuen's doubts. Now, besides him, there were five students in Class D who were academically gifted. Koenji, Miyu, and others had all performed well in the pre-midterm exams. Since Ayanokouji had surrendered, it was impossible for him not to hand over information to Ryuen.

Thinking about the benefits of the cooperation for Class C, Hikigaya decided to tell Ryuen his idea. It was a win-win situation, and he wasn't afraid that Ryuen would disagree.

Students in Class C who truly excel academically are more likely to fall into the bottom five groups than students in Class D.

"I plan to gather three groups to compete for the top five, and Class B and Class C will each send one group to compete for the top five. Ideally, we won't leave any for Class A."

"You have quite the appetite."

Ryuen was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred for Class D's abundance of talent. Seeing Shiina skillfully sitting down at Hikigaya's desk to read after coming out of the kitchen made her even more upset.

Ryuen felt that he must have been out of his mind to let Shiina and Hikigaya become book friends, and his strategist was thus deceived by Hikigaya.

"I suddenly really want to punch you," Long Yuan said abruptly.

"You can't beat me now," Hachiman wanted to say. After being carefully trained by Horikita, he felt that Ryuen was nothing special, but he figured that if he said that, Ryuen would probably challenge him to a fight, so he decided against it.

"Attacking the student council secretary is a crime."

"Hachiman, how did the conversation go?"

Suddenly, Ichinose walked over and sat down next to him.

To be honest, Hikigaya felt that Ichinose was being a little too intimate with him, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable. Didn't he see the teasing expression on Ryuen's face next to him?

Longyuan must be jealous of him again.

"We're still in negotiations. What do you have to say, Ryuen?" Hachiman turned to look at Ryuen.

"This isn't without its benefits for Class C, so I'll agree. Ichinose, what's your account number?"

As Ichinose called out her numbers, Ryuen took out her phone and transferred 500,000 personal points into Ichinose's account. Hikigaya then transferred 1.5 million personal points to Ichinose, and then asked Hirata for reimbursement.

Trusting Ichinose's character, the two skipped the troublesome process of signing a contract. After Ryuen left, Ichinose went back to gather the students of Class B to assign tasks, leaving only Hikigaya and Shiina in the room.

"Please tell Wang Meiyu that I'll give you both extra help after the quiz."

Since Class C and Class B are willing to send people to the bottom, then Wang Meiyu's group can be used to gamble on whether they can make it into the top five. Knowing that there are already people at the bottom, Wang Meiyu will not be indifferent to one million personal points.

There are only so many students with an A grade, so no matter how we organize them, two of the top five D classes have already been reserved.

Class A is currently divided. Katsuragi and Sakayanagi are unlikely to be paired together, and Sanada Yasuie is a centrist. There is a good chance that the three academically gifted students will not be able to get together.

"Wang Meiyu should also not tell the other students in Class D about the deal with Class B."

After Shiina nodded, Hikigaya added, "Now is the time for those students who are insecure about their grades to work harder. We can't let them slack off."

If everyone could be like the students in Class B, at the very least achieving a C- in academic ability, he wouldn't have to give points to other classes every time there's an exam.

After reading with Shiina until 7:30, Hikigaya checked the time, said goodbye to Shiina, and headed straight to the gym.

Horikita Manabu told him at the student council that afternoon that he had arranged for Kiryuin Kaede from Class 2-B to spar with him, and that Kiryuin Kaede would also be there tonight. As soon as Hachiman entered the rented room at the club, he saw two tall figures sparring inside.

Kiryuin, a senior from Class 2-B, with waist-length white hair tied in a single ponytail, attacked him with speed no less than Horikita Manabu's, her movements elegant and nimble.

After practicing for several minutes, Kiryuin, covered in sweat, temporarily separated from Horikita.

"Good evening, Senior Guilongyuan, President. (Umbrella Master Lingqi Er'er Shi Ba Si)"

Hikigaya approached to let the two see that he had arrived.

The closer Hikigaya got, the more he could feel Kiryuin's tall stature. He was only a little shorter than Hikigaya and Horikita, and taller than most of the boys in the school.

Wearing shorts and a short-sleeved sportswear, her exposed thighs and arms were long and slender with smooth muscle lines, without a trace of excess fat.

With her piercing gaze, she can truly be described as a heroine among women.

Chapter 46 Hachiman, the Minion Boy

"So you're Hachiman Hikigaya, huh? You're not what I imagined."

Kiryuin pinched her chin with her fingers, and Hikigaya felt her gaze sweep over his body from bottom to top.

"What do you mean by 'different from imagination'?"

"I'm sorry if he's not as handsome as I imagined," Hikigaya thought to himself.

"President Horikita said there's a junior who wants to compete with Nagumo for the student council president position, and he's obsessed with increasing his own strength. I originally thought he would be even more aggressive."

Kiryuin walked up to him without any hesitation and began to knead his body. "Your body is quite sturdy, but it doesn't look like someone who has studied martial arts for a long time. Can you really beat President Horikita?"

People who practice martial arts don't have as defined muscle lines as bodybuilders. Hikigaya initially went down the wrong path and needed Horikita Manabu to help him adjust, but it didn't take long and didn't have much effect.

She is the only girl in the school with an A+ physical ability. She has been practicing martial arts for many years and has a good eye for people.

"Try it and you'll see, he has good physical talent."

Suddenly, Horikita Manabu interjected, and Hikigaya also abandoned his intention to argue and walked to the center of the field.

"Senior Kiryuin, please guide me."

"Then I won't be polite."

Instead of launching a powerful attack right away, Kiryuin kept moving around Hikigaya and making feints to force him to adjust his movements and posture in order to find an opening.

As for Kiryuin's feint attack in an attempt to find a weakness in his defense, Hikigaya can only say that he is about to win.

Do you even know what it means to win a championship through defense?

During his time learning practical skills from Horikita, his fastest improvement was in defense. Every day after practice, he would ask Horikita why he was hit at a certain point and he would also think about how to avoid being hit in vital areas.

With his abundant stamina and maxed-out endurance, as long as he isn't overwhelmed by others' fierce attacks, the scales of victory will tip in his favor.

As time ticked by, Kiryuin grew increasingly determined. Girls' physical endurance is inherently lower than boys', and realizing that her stamina was rapidly depleting while her opponent was still holding up well, she chose to go all out.

After being blocked by Hikigaya's feint kick, she retreated to regain her balance and immediately made a low front kick feint.

Just as Hikigaya thought the target was his waist, Kiryuin paused mid-swing of his leg, then switched from a mid-knee raise to a high sweeping kick, bypassing Hikigaya's blocking arm and striking his face.

A sharp pain shot through him, but Hikigaya was still able to control his body to take two steps back, giving himself time to react to the next attack. Kiryuin's strength wasn't strong enough to knock him out in one go.

"You win, junior." Guilongyuan retracted his foot to regain his balance and also stepped back.

"It's just a matter of having a physical advantage; the senior's skills are also amazing."

If the opponent were Horikita Manabu, Hikigaya would be finished. Kiryuin's attack techniques are strong, but his power is only stronger than most ordinary boys.

Although he couldn't outlast him, Kiryuin, whose attack style was completely different from Horikita's, could provide him with valuable practical experience.

"Who is your imagined enemy? Even now, Nangumo is no match for you." Kiryuin sat cross-legged on the ground with an air of nonchalance, her white hair that had fallen to the ground being brushed aside in front of her.

The hypothetical enemy is naturally Ayanokouji. If Kiryuin wanted the opponent to be Nagumo, Hikigaya wouldn't be so concerned about fighting strength.

He had always wanted to beat up Ayanokouji, that venomous snake who liked to cause trouble behind people's backs, but based on the example given by Chairman Sakayanagi, he was still far behind Ayanokouji, so he had to suppress this thought.

Ideally, he could beat Ayanokouji up by himself; if that wasn't possible, he'd have to resort to ganging up on him.

"He's a madman named Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. He's heartless and doesn't recognize his own family. I'm terrified of him."

Hikigaya feigned fear, which made Kiryuin laugh. "If you were really scared, you wouldn't be thinking about improving your fighting skills. Ayanokouji, there are so many interesting first-year students."

"Are there any second-year students who are interested in me that you could tell me about?"

Taking advantage of the situation, for Hikigaya, who has very little knowledge of information in his second year, Kiryuin, who has a high opinion of himself, might be able to provide some good information. A student who even she is interested in must not be weak.

"No."

"No?"

Hikigaya repeated Kiryuin's words.

“If there were any students in the second year that I was interested in, I wouldn’t have been so idle as to agree to teach you here, President Horikita.” Kiryuin said somewhat discontentedly, “I originally thought this school would at least have one or two good rivals.”

Looking at Kiryuin's serious expression, Hikigaya realized why Kiryuin always gave him a sense of déjà vu with Koenji; both of them were arrogant geniuses.

Sakayanagi Arisu is the same; all three of them are natural geniuses who can get into Tokyo University without any pressure. It's just that Sakayanagi Arisu found Ayanokoji Kiyotaka as a rival, which is why she took charge of Class A and became more active.

Koenji and Kiryuin are currently in a state where they want to draw their swords but can't find an opponent and can only waste their days. One is slacking off in Class D and the other is slacking off in Class B.

If he couldn't control Koenji, he naturally couldn't control Kiryuin, who was cut from the same mold.

Hikigaya, having decided to pay a price to ask Kiryuin for help in gathering information during his second year, began asking Kiryuin how he practiced the move that had just hit him in the face.

He can punch Nan Yunya now, but he still needs to kick Ayanokouji.

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

After the morning quiz, the report cards were posted on the afternoon tea stand.

In Class D, the top scorer was Rokusuke Koenji, the second was Teruhiko Yukimura, and the third was Suzune Horikita. As arranged by Hikigaya, the bottom three were him and Shiina, with Meiyu Wang in the third-to-last place.

He, whose name was last in the list, was paired with Koenji.

"You little rascal, you won't disappoint me, will you?" Koenji tilted the hand mirror he was holding to one side, and Hikigaya's image appeared on the mirror.

"Want to make a bet, Koenji? As long as my score isn't lower than yours, you can't cause trouble for the class in the next special exam. If you lose, as long as I'm still the leader of Class D, I'll protect you from being expelled."

Both students need high scores in the final exam to be in the top five. Koenji is worried that Hikigaya will drag them down, but Hikigaya is just as worried that Koenji will sabotage him.

He didn't expect Koenji to perform exceptionally well in the next special exam on the deserted island, but at least he couldn't let him forfeit like in the past, resulting in a 30-point deduction in the D class exam.

"Oh wow, you're really well-informed. It seems the next special exam won't be one I like, but the terms of the bet are more favorable to me, so I'll agree." Koenji sighed, admiring his perfect handsome face in the mirror.

"I'm so beautiful!"

"You're not even in the top three of the handsome guys voted on by first-year girls," Hikigaya thought to himself.

According to information provided by Kushida-chan, the first place is Satoshi Satoshi from Class A, the second is Hirata, and the third is that bastard Ayanokouji.

Chapter 47 Nan Yunya's Childhood Sweetheart

"Get up, Hachiman."

Just as Hikigaya was beating up Ayanokouji Kiyotaka in his dream, a soft and beautiful voice pulled him out of his reverie.

"Let your brother sleep a little longer, Komachi." Half asleep, Hikigaya rolled over and lay face down on the bed. He was still very sleepy because he hadn't paid much attention to the time while surfing the internet yesterday, which was Saturday, and hadn't gone to bed until after midnight.

Just as he was about to go back to sleep, he felt a tickling sensation in his ear, like someone was gently brushing it with a soft brush.

Who is it? As his consciousness returned and he realized he was at school, Hikigaya suddenly opened his eyes. What came into view was a large expanse of snow-white skin and beautifully shaped collarbones.

"Have you forgotten that you were supposed to go shopping with me today, Hachiman?"

Soft, long silver hair slid across his cheek, and Shiina appeared before him, wearing a white lace dress. Her delicate face was adorably pouty.

"Make me miso soup every morning."

Oh no, I'm still half asleep. Doesn't this sound like a confession to Shiina?

Hachiman, who was instantly drenched in a cold sweat after saying that, quickly sat up. "I was just half asleep and talked nonsense. I'll get up and wash up right now."

Lifting the thin sheet, Hikigaya rushed into the bathroom amidst Shiina's smile. After slowly washing up, he came out and found a bowl of steaming noodles on the dining table, with egg drop soup floating on top.

"Sorry, I overslept."

After quickly sitting down, Hachiman picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a noodle, and put it in his mouth.

Although it was steaming, the noodles weren't as hot as I'd imagined; they must have been prepared by Shiina before she woke him up.

"I'm so sorry I only prepared noodles and not miso soup for you, Hachiman." Shiina sat opposite Hikigaya, resting her cheek on her hand as she looked at him with a faint smile.