"Well then, good luck with the exam. I'll take my leave now."
After offering a friendly wave to the students of Class A, Hikigaya turned and headed back to his class's base.
Everything was going smoothly. The situation was unfolding exactly as he had predicted. Despite Class A's overall high standards, once their interests were at stake, and with a little bit of division and provocation, they quickly fell apart.
In that sense, they were no different from Class D.
"Sigh, humanity is such a wretched species."
"Hey, hey, Hikigaya, how can you say that with a straight face?"
At that moment, Hashimoto caught up to him, grinning. "You're the one who created this mess, you shameless bastard!"
"Right back at you."
Hikigaya wasn't surprised by Hashimoto's sudden appearance. He had sensed him coming, knowing full well he was here to probe him.
"My, my, you surprised me back there." Sure enough, Hashimoto spoke as if in passing. "When you said you wanted to check up on Totsuka's movements, I thought we'd be back on the boat enjoying ourselves by now. But you were really after those personal points, huh?"
"But with things as they are, even if Katsuragi wins the exam, many will likely abandon his faction. This outcome should please the princess."
No matter how you looked at it, Totsuka Yahiko was the one who caused the most trouble. Even if Katsuragi's followers believed Hikigaya had set them up, they knew the blame ultimately rested with Yahiko for being so foolish and arrogant as to be caught.
Furthermore, given Katsuragi's tendency to value his classmates, he probably wouldn't punish Yahiko too harshly. With dissatisfaction brewing, Katsuragi's faction was bound to weaken significantly.
But after all that talk, Hikigaya knew Hashimoto had a different concern. He wanted to know about the future.
Hikigaya decided to be direct. "Hashimoto, you and I aren't so different."
"Huh?"
"You don't have any real loyalty or respect for Sakayanagi, do you?" Hikigaya's voice was calm, almost indifferent. "You're with her now because she's in a strong position. But if the situation changes, you'll betray her without a second thought. As long as you end up in Class A, that's all that matters to you."
Hikigaya's eyes flicked toward Hashimoto. "Am I wrong, you sneaky little bat?"
"Heh… You are interesting. It's the first time anyone's called me that."
Hashimoto's expression lost some of its carefree charm, replaced by a more serious air. It seemed Hikigaya had struck a nerve.
A bat has wings but is a mammal; when birds and beasts fight, it sides with the winner. It was a fitting metaphor for someone like Hashimoto.
But despite the provocation, Hashimoto quickly regained his composure, a smile returning to his face.
"Still, I have to admit, you're right." He shook his head in mock defeat. "No wonder the princess says your insight is terrifying. I've experienced it firsthand now. Impressive, truly impressive."
"Is that so…"
"And even if you don't plan on joining Class A for now, I'm still more than willing to help you out. After all, we're partners, aren't we?"
"Uh…" It seemed like Hashimoto had already considered Hikigaya as one of his fallback options. Even after being exposed, he didn't intend to back down.
There wasn't much one could do when dealing with someone this shameless.
But, Hikigaya realized he could actually put this to use.
"In that case… how about you find a way to make Katsuragi lose some points?" Hikigaya suggested after a moment of thought. "I promised Sakayanagi I'd undermine Katsuragi's faction, and letting him get away with over five hundred points feels like too much."
Hashimoto nodded in agreement. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I haven't really done anything myself. It wouldn't look good if I didn't report back to Her Highness."
"You don't have to worry about taking too big a risk. 'Unauthorized use of a base occupied by another class will result in a fifty-point deduction.' You can exploit that rule to create some trouble for Katsuragi. That way, Sakayanagi won't come after me."
Even if Class A's leader was correctly guessed by the other three classes, they'd still have a hundred and twenty points left. With Katsuragi knowing who the leader of Class D was, they'd have around a hundred and seventy points.
Although Hikigaya had already cost Class A a large amount of personal points, a hundred and seventy class points wasn't a trivial amount. Sakayanagi might use this to drag him into something.
So, the more points they could deduct from Katsuragi, the better. Besides, this time, Hikigaya didn't need to take any action himself.
"Leave it to me," Hashimoto agreed immediately. For him, this wasn't a difficult task.
After they parted ways, Hikigaya returned to his class's camp.
He had expected to be met with criticism from his classmates, but instead, he found them all looking despondent.
Huh… Did someone spread some kind of rumor among them?
Just as Hikigaya was wondering what was going on, Hirata forced himself to ask a question.
"Hikigaya-kun, why were you late for roll call? Did something happen?"
"Ah, about that, sorry." Hikigaya half-apologized, half-lied. "I wanted to make sure Totsuka Yahiko hadn't dropped out, so I went to scout Class A's situation. I didn't expect the heavy rain to cause the nearby river to flood, and I couldn't make it back in time."
"I see… Well, as long as you're safe."
Hirata sighed heavily.
"During roll call, Chabashira-sensei informed us that Horikita-san had withdrawn due to losing consciousness. Ayanokouji-kun was late because he was escorting her back to the cruise ship. Also… Ibuki-san was a spy. She's the one who sabotaged the class."
No wonder the atmosphere in the class was so terrible.
The main reason was the sudden loss of forty points.
Even if Horikita's withdrawal led to a change in the class leader and misled Class A and Class C into guessing incorrectly, resulting in a fifty-point deduction for them, Class D didn't know that their leader's identity had been compromised. They only knew that Horikita's withdrawal had cost them thirty points.
…Wait! That's not the main issue!
Hikigaya suddenly realized and hurriedly asked, "You said Horikita lost consciousness? How did that happen?"
"I'm not too sure either," Hirata replied with a bitter smile. "But don't worry, Chabashira-sensei said she's receiving treatment. Horikita-san will be fine."
"…I see."
Although Hirata seemed to misunderstand something, Hikigaya didn't feel like correcting him right now.
He couldn't understand why Horikita had lost consciousness.
She had already taken the medicine… Did it not work in time?
Hikigaya had guessed that Ibuki and Horikita had fought, but he thought the outcome would be a draw.
Judging by Ibuki's disheveled appearance, she must have found a way to shake Horikita off, but it didn't seem likely that she had knocked her out cold.
And why was Ayanokouji the one who escorted Horikita back to withdraw?
Could it be that guy…
No, no! I can't just go around suspecting people.
Given Ayanokouji's past actions, it was indeed possible that he had directly done something to Horikita.
But until there was concrete evidence, Hikigaya tried not to think about the worst-case scenario.
After all, deliberately making a classmate sick was bad enough…
"Hey, Hikigaya, I need to ask you something."
At that moment, Sudou approached, looking uncharacteristically troubled.
This is rare… Is he worried about Horikita?
"Um, Ayanokouji and Horikita were together, right…? What do you think is going on between them?"
Alright, so he was concerned about Horikita, but in a different sense.
Hikigaya sighed. "Don't worry, I don't think what you're worried about is happening."
"Right?! I thought so too!" Sudou perked up immediately. "Ayanokouji even messes with Horikita. There's no way he likes her… But then, why does Horikita always hang out with him? She doesn't even see me as a friend."
"…Actually, Ayanokouji might not entirely dislike Horikita."
For some reason, Hikigaya suddenly felt like stirring up some trouble for the so-called "masterpiece."
"What?! What do you mean by that?!"
"Well, it's just a feeling, but I think Ayanokouji might be acting like an elementary school kid."
"…Huh?"
"Think back to when you were in elementary school. If a boy liked a girl, didn't he usually tease her to get her attention?" Hikigaya's tone became more persuasive. "Ayanokouji might be throwing mud at Horikita because he doesn't know how to express his feelings. And since he's a coward, he paid Yamauchi to do it for him."
"Are you serious?!"
Sudou's jaw dropped as he listened, increasingly convinced by the logic.
After all, Ayanokouji seemed just as inexperienced in love as the rest of them, so this theory made some sense!
Hikigaya shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm just speculating… Ah, look, he's back. Why don't you go ask him directly?"
He pointed to Ayanokouji, who had just returned to the camp.
"…Alright! I'm going to ask him!"
Sudou, determined to get to the bottom of things, charged over with renewed energy, and Ike and Yamauchi followed to watch the scene unfold. As he watched Ayanokouji get surrounded once again, Hikigaya didn't feel the usual schadenfreude.
Even though Class A was now left with only twenty points, and Ryuuen had also been dealt a blow, Hikigaya couldn't bring himself to feel satisfied with this outcome.
After the exam was over, he planned to ask Horikita and Ibuki about what had happened.
If his suspicions were confirmed…
Then, it didn't matter if his opponent was the so-called "masterpiece." He would confront them head-on.