Chapter 031: The "Class Flowers" of Every Class are Blocking Him—What on Earth?!
It had been 20 days since he'd seen Yukinoshita or heard her poisonous tongue, and for him, it was indeed a bit lonely.
However, Hikigaya wasn't showing kindness to Horikita Suzune just out of lingering affection for a similar personality; rather, it was because she had a brother named Horikita Manabu, the Student Council President. He had to show some respect.
"So, you specifically waited here. Is there something you wanted to ask?" Hikigaya inquired.
"..." Horikita remained silent for a moment, her long eyelashes lowered, her fingers unconsciously curling slightly.
"I want to know... does Class D still have a chance?
Chabashira-sensei said that in the past, she led a Class D all the way to Class B, and they were only one step away from Class A. She doesn't stop me from taking action, but she told me that being assigned to Class D isn't completely hopeless; there's still a chance to climb up."
So, Horikita had gone to see Chabashira, and Chabashira had actually comforted her?
Did this female teacher, who received so many negative reviews in the original story, actually have such a teacher-like side to her?
Even Hikigaya felt surprised.
However.
"If you're holding onto that kind of thought, I suggest you just give up," Hikigaya stated. "Being assigned to Class D means the school has judged you to be lacking. While they didn't say Class D can't climb up, think about it carefully."
"Your brother struggles just to maintain Class A while carrying thirty-nine others. You want to lead the dead weight of Class D to climb up—do you think you can be more excellent than your brother?"
"..." Horikita fell silent instantly.
She had originally disagreed with being placed in Class D, and since the school had class competitions, she felt that leading them upward would prove she wasn't a failure.
But doing better than her brother? She didn't even dare to harbor such a thought.
Especially since her brother had paid 200,000 points for her; she felt she owed him that amount and hadn't dared to contact him during this time.
So, the current Horikita Suzune, even after not seeing her for a while, was still just a "useless" younger sister.
"Then—" Horikita took a deep breath as if making a resolution, gently raising her left hand and pressing her slightly trembling fingertips to her chest. "If you were in Class D's situation, what would you do?"
Asking him?
Does an answer to that even require thought?
"I'd probably just give up and rot," Hikigaya replied almost without hesitation.
"Because while some Class D students are capable or even elite, there's just too much dead weight."
In other words, the class is too trash to carry, and Hikigaya's choice would be to bail out alone.
"I forgot to tell you a school rule earlier—one the school will announce tomorrow." Hikigaya paused, his gaze moving past Horikita, seemingly ready to end the conversation.
"That is, if you collect 20 million points, you can choose to transfer classes. The school hasn't completely blocked excellent students from moving up."
"Think carefully about what you want to do."
Having said his piece, Hikigaya didn't linger. He bypassed the slightly stunned Horikita Suzune and motioned for Ichinose to continue downstairs.
However, as they walked and reached the Class C stairwell where the light was a bit brighter, he suddenly stopped.
He noticed a somewhat familiar girl standing quietly against the wall at the turn of the stairs.
A few beams of evening sunlight filtered through the high windows, perfectly outlining her slender figure.
She had flowing silver hair that shimmered softly in the light, and her clear eyes were focused intently on the book in her hands. Her high level of beauty was even more prominent in the silence.
She just stood there quietly, as if isolated from the surrounding noise, naturally carrying the quiet "literary girl" atmosphere of someone immersed in the world of words.
This was Class C's Shiina Hiyori.
She was holding a thick literary classic, her slender fingers gently pressing down on the page. Looking closely at the cover, it was Farewell, My Lovely, a mystery novel.
'I've read that book in Shiina Hiyori's hands. The author, Raymond Chandler, is one of the few writers who can write genre fiction to a level approaching pure literature. He was a pioneer of the "Black Revolution" in American literature, a representative of the hardboiled school, and hailed as one of the peaks of 20th-century American literature. In some ways, he can even be
compared to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, even surpassing them in certain aspects. Farewell, My Lovely is one of his masterpieces.
The theme of this work is about unrequited love and lovelessness; it's a rather deep book. I didn't expect a sunny-looking type like Shiina to like such a soulful and sad story.
Though I read it three years ago, seeing it now gives me the urge to read it again.'
Shiina: "?"
As if sensing a gaze or perhaps hearing something, Hiyori quickly looked up from her book.
She raised her head, a flicker of surprise at having her reading interrupted flashing in her clear eyes, which then turned into a bright smile.
"Hello there." She raised her left hand, gently closing the book. Her voice was light and airy, carrying a unique ethereal quality.
"Hikigaya-kun, Ichinose-san."
The corners of her mouth curved into a perfect arc, and her eyes were bright and friendly.
Her voice was somewhat airy, but unlike the forced daintiness of Hoshinomiya-sensei from Hikigaya's class, the combination of Shiina's voice and temperament felt more natural and comfortable.
"Ichinose, have you had contact with her before?" Hikigaya looked at Ichinose.
"Yes, we talk sometimes when we run into each other, and we met once at the library," Ichinose said. "Then we exchanged numbers."
Exchanging numbers meant they were probably friends.
Of course, for someone with as many friends as Ichinose, this was a normal occurrence.
But for Shiina Hiyori, it was different. She was someone who preferred quality over quantity; since she exchanged numbers with Ichinose, it seemed Ichinose had passed Shiina Hiyori's "friend selection."
"Hikigaya-kun," Hiyori clutched the book to her chest, turning her gaze toward him.
"Tomorrow is a new month. How do you think the results will turn out when they're announced tomorrow?"
As she spoke, she tilted her head slightly, her silver hair sliding over her shoulder.
She continued, "I can't help but feel... Class C's situation might not be very good."
Her tone was light, but her worry was clearly conveyed.
Is that so?
Then she was quite sharp. Staying at the stairs like this was indeed intended to intercept Hikigaya, the representative of Class B.
"Does Ryuen tell you guys everything?" Hikigaya didn't answer directly, instead asking back with some hidden meaning.
"I only gave information to Ryuen before. He has already treated Class C as his personal property, so he's forcing you to act according to his arrangements, isn't he?"
"Ryuen-kun says 'if you use a man, don't doubt him; if you doubt a man, don't use him,'" Hiyori continued softly.
"Though he's very overbearing, it's undeniable that his plan—requiring the whole class to participate and set rules for the exam—gained the support of most students."
Hearing this, Ichinose, standing beside Hikigaya, knitted her beautiful brows slightly. Her fingers unconsciously twirled the ends of the hair hanging over her chest.
She remembered from Hikigaya-kun's inner thoughts that Class B had eventually fallen to Class D. If they fell to Class D, it meant the original C and D classes had soared.
Looking at it now, this Class C was different from the previous disorganized iterations; it had unexpectedly gained cohesion through Ryuen's forceful methods. It had the potential to soar.
"If your class situation is so great, why are you so worried?"
Hikigaya keenly noticed Ichinose's subtle emotional shift, then turned his gaze back to Shiina Hiyori, pressing with a tone of feigned ignorance.
"Class A went to the Student Council repeatedly to report Ryuen-kun for fighting."
Shiina Hiyori's voice lowered, her worry becoming more obvious as she instinctively rested her chin on the corner of her book.
"Although the Student Council didn't announce any point deductions, I'm not as optimistic as Ryuen-kun. I feel that because this month is a special exam... it might be a case of 'settling accounts after the fact'."
Settling accounts after the fact—meaning once the exam ends today and the new one begins tomorrow, Class C would face extra deductions.
So. Out of that worry, she wanted to wait for Hikigaya and the others here to see if she could get some reassurance.
But there was no reassurance to give. The only reason Class C hadn't been processed by the Student Council was likely because their points were already gone; there were no points left to deduct.
Still.
What was with today? Encountering people from other classes endlessly... and it was always the "class flowers" waiting at this stairwell.
So, would he run into Class A's flower, like Sakayanagi, at the final step?
.
.
.
At this moment.
Class 1-A classroom.
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