This time, Ryūen truly caught Hachiman off guard.
Hachiman could see that Ryūen wasn't just casually probing him; he was genuinely confident that Hachiman was the VIP. However, Ryūen wasn't entirely sure—otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered with these tactics. If he was certain, wouldn't it have been better to just send the correct answer to the school and secure the win?
With that in mind, Hachiman decided to take a risk. He opted to show Ryūen his phone directly. Knowing Ryūen's personality, showing him the phone right away might actually make him suspicious.
But what happened next was mostly due to luck.
Even though Hachiman had intentionally mentioned a Japanese restaurant, he didn't have high hopes. Fortunately, Sakura, who hadn't eaten lunch yet, happened to be at that very restaurant.
Most importantly, among the three people in his group, she was the most suitable one for this task. Matsushita and Sudou were too conspicuous, and they had interacted with Hachiman before. If Ryūen saw them, he might get suspicious.
But Sakura had never drawn any attention.
At first, Hachiman was worried that she might refuse, especially since there wasn't much time to explain the situation. However, when he merely mentioned the exam, she immediately lent him her phone.
Hopefully, she didn't misunderstand this as a form of intimidation…
In any case, using Sakura's phone successfully misled Ryūen, making him believe that the phone containing the VIP's message wasn't Hachiman's.
The students' phones were all issued by the school, and they weren't allowed to buy additional ones. Many girls decorated their phones with charms or stickers for aesthetics, but Sakura was a simple girl who didn't bother with such things, making it impossible to distinguish her phone from the outside.
"I'm sorry for suddenly asking you such a rude favor," Hachiman apologized in a low voice.
No matter how you looked at it, a phone was a very personal item. Usually, you wouldn't casually lend it to someone you'd barely spoken to, especially if that person was a guy.
"It's, it's okay," Sakura responded nervously. "Hachiman-kun has helped me before, so I thought… if I could help even a little this time, it would be nice."
"Helped you before?"
"Yes… with the camera."
"Oh, so you're talking about that," Hachiman said, realizing what she meant. He hadn't expected her to still remember that incident.
At the time, he had simply caught the camera by chance—it was just a coincidence.
"I didn't do it to help you, so you don't need to dwell on it," Hachiman shook his head. "Anyway, thanks for helping me this time. If you ever have any difficulties, let me know, and I'll do my best to repay you."
"There's no need… and besides, you did it for the exam, right?"
Sakura might have noticed Ryūen, but she didn't ask any questions, which was a big help.
"Well, it wasn't entirely for the exam… Anyway, if you need anything, just ask. I don't like owing people favors. So, that's that."
"Uh, um…"
Hachiman was about to end the conversation and leave when Sakura suddenly called out.
"What is it?"
"No… it's just…"
Seeing Sakura's hesitant expression, Hachiman didn't press her and quietly waited. Fortunately, the restaurant wasn't busy at this time, so no one would misunderstand him as harassing a girl… right?
…Wait?
Just as Hachiman started feeling uneasy, Sakura finally spoke up.
"If I'm not mistaken… Hachiman-kun is a member of the student council… right?"
"Yes, that's right."
Hachiman acknowledged and waited for her to continue. However, this time, Sakura remained silent even longer. She looked up and down, her face troubled, as if she found it difficult to speak.
It must be something hard to say.
"I'm sorry… actually, it's nothing."
"I see."
It was clear from her tone that there was indeed something on her mind, but Hachiman couldn't force her to speak. After all, they weren't close, and pushing too hard would only scare her away.
It felt like approaching a timid little animal…
"No need to force yourself," Hachiman thought it would be better to give her some time. "When you're ready, let me know. Don't worry about bothering anyone—the student council is here to help students. If it's too difficult, you can always send an anonymous email to the student council. The address is on the school forum."
"Okay, I understand… Thank you, Hachiman-kun," Sakura whispered her thanks.
Even though she didn't say anything in the end, there was no rush since they were still in the middle of an exam.
Hachiman turned his attention back to Ryūen.
Returning to his seat, Hachiman ate his grilled fish while replaying the conversation with Ryūen in his mind.
Even if Ryūen claimed that one of his subordinates had figured out the VIP's identity, it was hard to believe.
To be blunt, the three members of Class C in the Rooster Group didn't seem capable of such a thing unless they were hiding their true abilities like Ayanokoji.
If that were the case, then surrendering might be the better option.
In any case, Hachiman didn't think he had made any mistakes, so there was only one possibility left.
Ryūen must have also figured out the VIP's rules.
He wasn't sure about the other classes, but in Class C, Ryūen would have gathered information about the VIP as soon as possible.
According to the exam rules, the VIP could remain anonymous until the end and could even choose to lie. Even classmates couldn't force others to show their phones, as the school provided strong protection in this regard.
But that was only on the surface.
Hachiman didn't even need to ask to know—Ryūen would demand that everyone in his class hand over their phones and check them one by one.
Would anyone dare to disagree? Did they still want to stay in school?
Indeed, this was the biggest loophole in the rules, and only someone like Ryūen, with his authoritarian style, could exploit it.
Even so, deducing the pattern from the names of just three VIPs would be challenging. The most important factor was that all three were in his class. If you consider that the groups were assigned manually, the accuracy couldn't be guaranteed.
Unless… Ryūen had already gathered information about the VIPs from other classes, which would explain his confidence.
Hachiman suddenly thought about Kushida, who had been alone on the deck late last night, and Ryūen, whom he had run into in the hallway afterward.
Was it just a coincidence? Or was there something more?
But even if it was true, what was the reason behind it?
…No, it was too early to be sure.
Regardless, even if Hachiman had temporarily misled Ryūen, he was still the closest to winning.
Hachiman only had the names of three VIPs, which wasn't enough to confirm the pattern with certainty. However, Ryūen, by figuring out Hachiman's VIP status through other VIP names, inadvertently confirmed to Hachiman that the pattern was correct.
In other words, if Ryūen found a way to identify more VIPs, he would quickly realize that he had been deceived.
Hachiman wasn't worried about much else. He didn't care about the other two VIPs in Class D. If Ryūen's actions caused his class to lose points, he'd just find a way to get them back from Class C.
Everyone knew the pattern, so who was afraid of whom?
The problem, however, was that Hachiman had almost no way of influencing the results of the other groups.
Among the two classmates he had contact with, Matsushita was in the same group as him, and Kushida herself was also a VIP, so they were both of no use.
Unless he provided a legitimate reason, which meant revealing the pattern, but that was out of the question.
Hachiman never intended to help his class win—he just didn't want to drag them down.
Sigh, what a hassle…
Hachiman spent the entire afternoon troubled by this issue, and he was so distracted during the fourth group discussion that he didn't participate at all.
Not that it mattered—he hadn't been involved in the discussions from the start.
Just as the hour was about to end, Hachiman suddenly received a text message.
Ryūen: [Dead Eyes, come to the Dragon Group's room.]
—Tch, who does this guy think he is?
As much as he wanted to ignore it, Hachiman was a bit curious about what Ryūen wanted to talk about, so he decided to take a look.
After a short while, the broadcast announcing the end of the discussion sounded.
Hachiman briefly informed Matsushita before heading to the Dragon Group's room on his own.
Upon arriving at the door, he unexpectedly ran into two familiar faces.
"Huh? Hachiman-kun, what are you doing here?" Ichinose greeted him warmly, with Ayanokoji standing quietly behind her.
It was an unusual pairing, to say the least.
But their purposes were likely the same—to gather information about the Dragon Group.
That being said, it was surprising how calm Ichinose seemed… No, on closer inspection, she seemed slightly flustered, her face a little red. Just thinking about what had happened on her birthday made Hachiman so embarrassed that he wanted to curl up on the spot.
This was why he hadn't contacted Ichinose in the meantime.
"…Someone asked me to come," Hachiman said, trying to keep his composure.
"Ah, I see. Was it Horikita-san or Hirata-kun? Or maybe Kushida-san?"
Ichinose probably asked Ayanokoji the same question, and he likely used Horikita as an excuse.
Honestly, this was a tricky question to answer.
In the end, Hachiman decided to tell the truth. "None of them—it was Ryūen who asked me to come."
"Eh?! Ryūen-kun?!"
As expected, Ichinose couldn't hide her surprise. And it didn't seem like she was faking it.
Was she shocked that Ryūen had invited Hachiman, or that Hachiman had agreed to Ryūen's invitation?
Or maybe both?
"I see, I see. So you and Ryūen-kun are on good terms. That's a relief."
For some reason, Ichinose patted her chest, saying something that made no sense.
…No, what exactly are you relieved about?
Seeing Hachiman's puzzled expression, Ichinose smiled and said, "Last time, I felt that there was some tension between you two, so I brought Kanzaki-kun along to check on things. I didn't expect it was just me being overly concerned."
She was probably referring to the time after the last exam when a few students from the four classes had dinner together.
No wonder she showed up out of nowhere—she was worried about that?
Is this girl… a saint?
"Uh…"
"No, it's not my fault! Ryūen-kun always has such a menacing look," Ichinose hastily explained, thinking Hachiman was criticizing her.
"By the way, Hachiman-kun, how did you manage to build a good relationship with Ryūen-kun?"
"…We're not on good terms."
"Oh, don't say that! I want to get along with Ryūen-kun too, so please, teach me how you did it!"
Sometimes, Hachiman couldn't tell if Ichinose was just playing dumb.
At least, he found Ichinose harder to deal with than Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji was straightforward—he was like Yoshikage Kira, someone who wanted to live a quiet life, kept his true abilities hidden, and avoided conflicts with others. But if it benefited him, he wouldn't hesitate to use any means necessary.
Ichinose, on the other hand, was the complete opposite—she seemed to be a genuinely good person.
This made it difficult for Hachiman to handle.
When facing malice, Hachiman could calmly choose to ignore it or fight back based on the situation. But when faced with such pure goodwill… Never mind, he should just play along.
"I didn't get along with Ryūen at first. We almost got into a fight."
"Really?! Are you okay?" Ichinose asked in shock. "What happened after that? How did you make up?"
Hachiman hesitated for a moment before responding. "Afterward… I happened to discover one of Ryūen's little secrets, and that's how we started talking."
"Oh, I see! So you bonded over a shared interest. That sounds wonderful." Ichinose's expression was full of admiration.
To her, this probably seemed like a classic storyline from a manga.
Hmm, let's just go with that.
After all, he couldn't ruin the child's dream—just like Santa Claus.
Even though Hachiman had been told Santa wasn't real back in elementary school…
"What's Ryūen-kun's hobby, exactly?"
"Huh?"
"Hm? You can't say?"
"No… it's a personal matter, you know?"
Hachiman hadn't expected Ichinose to keep pressing, and even Ayanokoji was watching him closely.
But he hadn't come up with a lie yet!
"Please, Hachiman-kun," Ichinose pleaded with her hands clasped. "Tell me secretly—I promise I won't tell anyone else. I want to improve my relationship with Ryūen-kun. We still have to spend three years together, and it's no fun if we're always butting heads."
It was hard for Hachiman to resist those pleading eyes.
After a moment, he reluctantly spoke up. "Actually… Ryūen likes Pretty Cure."
"…Eh?!"
Not only did Ichinose gasp in shock, but even the normally expressionless Ayanokoji couldn't help but react.
Come to think of it… Luckily, the discussion in the Dragon Group wasn't over yet, so the door was still closed.
"Wait, are you serious?" Ichinose asked, still in disbelief. "You're talking about that Pretty Cure? Ryūen-kun likes that?"
—No, actually, I'm the one who likes it!
Hachiman silently apologized to Ryūen in his mind as he nodded. "Yeah, despite his appearance, Ryūen has a surprisingly sensitive side. If you talk to him about Pretty Cure, his mood will instantly improve."
"I see… I've heard that some delinquents secretly like anime but are afraid of being judged, so they keep it hidden. I guess it's true… Alright, I'll borrow some DVDs when we get back to school."
Ichinose mumbled to herself as she seemed to be lost in thought, but that didn't matter… Wait, what?
She wouldn't believe it, would she?