"Ugh~"
Hachiman Hikigaya dragged himself into Class D's classroom with a yawn.
As usual, the place was noisy and chaotic.
"Finally, some points for us today!" someone cheered.
"Only 9,000 points? That's way too little, isn't it?" another voice complained.
9,000 points equaled 9,000 yen — plenty for high school students.
But after living through the luxurious first month with 100,000 points, everyone's sense of value had warped beyond repair.
It was the classic case of "easy come, easy go."
Once you've tasted luxury, going back to normal feels unbearable.
"Good morning, Hachiman," came a cheerful voice.
"Morning, Kushida," Hachiman replied, still half-asleep.
"Morning, Sakura, and Hasebe," he added lazily, waving to them.
"Honestly, just call me Haruka — and Airi too!" Hasebe teased.
"…Next time, I promise," Hachiman answered, the words coming out on autopilot.
Before he realized it, he'd developed a habit of greeting Sakura and Hasebe like this.
Were they… friends now?
Hachiman slumped into his seat.
"Why do you look so worn out?"
"Didn't you go to bed early last night?" Horikita Suzune asked, glancing at him curiously.
"It's nothing…" Hachiman muttered, massaging his temples.
"I just had a terrible dream."
He sighed, just thinking about it gave him a migraine.
"Is that so?" Horikita didn't pry further and quietly turned another page in her book.
Ah, how convenient.
For some reason, Hachiman found himself liking Horikita more and more. Just a little, though.
"Yamauchi, is that… the latest model of the Switch?!"
"Ding ding! Looks like you're a man of culture, Doctor!"
Yamauchi Haruki puffed his chest proudly, showing off a brand-new handheld console.
"This beauty goes for nearly 50,000 yen in Akihabara. Not bad, right?"
"Seriously?"
"You're that loaded, Yamauchi?"
The others were skeptical, but their envy was obvious.
Before Hachiman could think of a sarcastic remark, another small commotion erupted across the aisle.
"Hey!"
Ike Kanji tried to hand a gift to Matsushita Chiaki, only for Keisei Yukimura to stop him mid-motion.
Matsushita looked baffled, clearly wondering why she kept getting dragged into these ridiculous antics.
"Wh-what?" Kaji stammered, quickly redirecting and handing the gift to Shinohara Satsuki instead.
"Uh… here. This is for you," Ike muttered, thrusting the box toward her.
"Eh? For me?" Shinohara blinked in surprise, cheeks instantly reddening.
She'd never been given a gift by a boy before—it caught her completely off guard.
"Wait… this is Belgian Goban high-end truffle chocolate?!" she gasped.
"After tax, that's nearly 18,000 yen!" Sato Maya exclaimed, eyes wide.
Eighteen thousand yen—for chocolates?!
Shinohara's vanity was instantly satisfied. Her grin widened.
"Well… since you're so sincere, I'll reluctantly accept it~," she said with mock elegance, taking the box.
She glanced at Ike, who was a little shorter than her, and suddenly thought… he didn't look so bad after all.
"Oh-ho…" Ike froze, caught completely off guard.
He'd been chasing Matsushita for over a month without success — and now, when he gave a gift to the girl who usually argued with him, she actually accepted it?
What a twist.
It was a shame, though. Shinohara wasn't as cute as Matsushita — but in Ike's eyes, romance was about opportunity first, looks later.
"Wow~"
"Is this what love looks like?" Sato Maya's eyes sparkled like ahe was watching a drama.
"Uh…" Keisei looked lost. Was this really how romance worked? He couldn't understand at all.
"Phew~"
Matsushita, finally free from the chaos, sighed in relief.
She shot Keisei a dry look, wondering why someone who called himself "experienced" couldn't handle this better.
"Ike and Shinohara… really?" Hachiman muttered, rubbing his chin.
"They make such an odd pair… it's almost impressive how awkward this is."
"Pfft—"
Horikita's shoulders shook as she buried her face in her book, letting out a soft, suppressed laugh.
After a moment, she peeked over the top of the pages, shooting him a sharp glare.
"Stop grinning, Hikigaya. You look ridiculous."
Hachiman raised an eyebrow. "You could at least try not to look entertained while lecturing."
"What is even happening here?" he muttered under his breath.
From the front row, Kushida Kikyo leaned backwards, hearing their exchange, her brow furrowed slightly.
"Hikigaya. Horikita."
A calm, steady voice broke the chatter.
"Do you know why Yamauchi and Kaji suddenly have so many points?"
The speaker was none other than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
Hachiman immediately remembered a time back in middle school — two girls were chatting about the weather, and he tried to join in with a random comment.
The conversation died instantly.
Ayanokouji somehow had that same kind of energy, but weaponized.
Horikita didn't even glance up from her book.
Hachiman didn't want to get involved either, but Ayanokouji kept staring at him until he finally gave in.
"Who knows? And aren't you supposed to be their 'sworn brother'? Why ask me?"
"We're not sworn brothers," Ayanokouji replied flatly.
"Well, you sure act like it."
"…"
Ayanokouji's face twitched ever so slightly before he continued calmly.
"I don't know the full details," he said.
"I just saw them eating with C-Class students yesterday."
"Oh? So you're trying to report them as C-Class spies, huh?" Hachiman said loudly — on purpose — drawing the entire class's attention.
"What spies from C-Class?"
The others looked around, confused.
But Yamauchi and Ike — who clearly had something to hide — broke into a cold sweat on the spot.
In an instant, both turned toward Ayanokouji with pure murderous glares.
"Traitor!!" they screamed internally.
"No, I didn't say anything…" Ayanokouji muttered, completely expressionless.
He'd merely wanted to test Hikigaya's stance on inter-class competition —
But somehow, Hikigaya had managed to blow the whole thing wide open.
***
This chapter was a mess…doesnt quite flow smoothly anyways come back tomorrow for more 😃