Chapter 053: Sakayanagi Arisu's Attack Power; She Wants to Challenge the Student Council!
If you have read the original Classroom of the Elite light novels, you would know that besides being the leader of the Sakayanagi faction in Class A—and eventually defeating Katsuragi to become the sole leader—she holds a very special status.
She is actually the only daughter of Sakayanagi Narumori, the Chairman of Advanced Nurturing High School.
The Sakayanagi family is far from a simple household of a chairman; they possess massive assets and belong to the upper echelons of society. Chairman Sakayanagi himself is a core member of the faction led by the current Prime Minister, Kijima.
Thus, Sakayanagi Arisu's "value" goes without saying.
By enrolling in the high school helmed by her own father, she is undoubtedly a Super VIP. Regardless of whether she ultimately graduates from Class A, she has a glittering safety net waiting for her.
This composure grants her a degree of freedom that borders on willful.
In this regard, she is exactly like the sole heir of the high-profile Koenji Conglomerate in Class D—Koenji Rokusuke.
These "second-generation" elites with guaranteed retreats live life in the school with unbridled flair. Koenji squandered 100,000 points in his first month and couldn't care less about being placed in Class D for offending the interviewer.
Flush with cash, he even attempted in the original story to buy up senior students' personal points to amass the 20,000,000 points required for a magnificent "class transfer" upon graduation.
Thus, he is also a VIP here to simply "experience life."
There are a few other such VIPs in the school: Kanzaki Ryuji of Class B, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka of Class D, and Kiryuin-senpai of the second year. Later on, there will even be a group of White Room students arriving to cause havoc.
Yes.
An educational institution that purports to be for ordinary students actually hides so many VIPs here for the "experience."
So, was Sakayanagi being truthful in her letter when she mentioned she originally intended to "spend this special exam quietly"?
It might be true. There was no need for her to lie about such a thing.
However, Hikigaya's proactive move of inviting Katsuragi and Kamuro was interpreted by her as a signal of challenge.
And so.
Is she finally going to step onto the stage and stir up a storm?
But Heaven be my witness, Hikigaya Hachiman never intended to make an enemy of this young lady.
Being viewed as a "rival" by her is not a pleasant experience. In the original story, simply because she viewed Ayanokouji Kiyotaka as a rival, she set several traps and caused him endless trouble.
Now, Ayanokouji remains unexposed, but I have been locked onto by her first—and as a rival, no less.
It is, safe to say, an unfavorable situation.
Hikigaya thought to himself.
'Did Sakayanagi see through the fact that I was secretly dealing with Class C?
Or did she... imagine something else?'
Like in the original story, where Sakayanagi Arisu simply followed her father to visit the White Room as a child and then, upon seeing Ayanokouji at this school, hallucinated him into being her "childhood friend."
But Ayanokouji didn't know her at all.
Since Sakayanagi had Kamuro hand him a challenge letter, he felt she might have "head-cannoned" quite a few things herself.
However, five days had passed since that meeting in the library, and there was no news from Class A. Sakayanagi seemed to be behaving herself.
Instead, because they lived in the same dormitory, he occasionally ran into her while taking the elevator or entering/leaving the first floor.
He met Sakayanagi.
The time was Friday evening. The fading light of the sunset filtered through the glass doors of the dorm lobby, casting long shadows on the floor. Hikigaya had finished dinner and returned to the dorm, standing in the somewhat empty lobby waiting for the elevator.
But he was one step too late.
Just as the elevator doors were about to close, he caught a glimpse of the figure inside—Sakayanagi Arisu.
She was tilting her head slightly, whispering something to Kamuro Masumi. The soft light inside the elevator spilled over her small, exquisite face. Her left hand elegantly gripped her signature black cane. Her petite frame was the same as ever, but her "cuteness factor" had suddenly skyrocketed today.
Because a small black beret was perched perfectly atop her silvery-white hair, as if custom-made for her, adding an indescribable sense of playfulness and nobility. Even for someone who isn't a "lolicon," it was enough to make one's heart skip a beat for no reason.
Under Hikigaya's gaze, Sakayanagi's eyes suddenly shifted away from Kamuro's face, seemingly noticing him.
At the very last second before the doors closed and severed their line of sight, her gaze moved toward him. Facing him, the corners of her lips suddenly curled upward into a soft arc, and she blossomed into a smile. That smile was like a flowering crabapple—bright, elegant, and possessed of a near-perfect reserve.
At that moment, Hikigaya Hachiman was the only person outside the elevator doors.
And Hikigaya Hachiman had to admit: Sakayanagi Arisu was indeed the cutest girl in the world of Classroom of the Elite.
If one ignored her wicked personality, she certainly knew how to make others perceive her as incredibly adorable.
Staring at the now-closed elevator doors.
Hikigaya's thoughts began to pull back.
'Forget it.
I'll forgive her.'
It was just a single challenge; it wasn't like he couldn't handle it.
At the same time, the brief letter Sakayanagi had specifically sent via Kamuro flashed through Hikigaya's mind.
"I originally had no intention of interfering with this exam, but... I accept your challenge. I shall provide a perfect answer sheet.
— Sakayanagi Arisu"
Based on her message, although she intended to do something, she stated she would "provide a perfect answer sheet."
Offending everyone in the first year clearly wouldn't fit the definition of "perfect."
Therefore, Hikigaya speculated she wouldn't target the first-years. So who could she target?
Perhaps someone else entirely, as this month's written exam using old questions applied to the entire school.
However, if she were to act, the timing would likely be the week leading up to the exam. Since the exam dates were the 25th and 26th, her move would likely occur around the 18th to the 20th. Incidents created then would leave a buffer for processing.
So, if she really moved at that time... he could almost guess what she planned to do.
It was bold indeed.
But his original goal of "getting her not to mess with the first-year grade" had actually been achieved.
At that same moment, inside the elevator.
The stainless steel doors were closed, reflecting the blurry silhouettes of the four people inside. Although there were four students in the elevator, they were all from Class A and all belonged to the Sakayanagi faction, so Kamuro felt some topics were safe to discuss.
"I saw Hikigaya from Class B outside just now," Kamuro said.
"Why didn't we press the 'open' button and wait for him? The elevator is still pretty empty, anyway."
This elevator could hold up to fifteen people, and with only four of them, it felt cavernous. In Kamuro's view, they were somewhat acquainted with Hikigaya, so doing him a small favor might make him show some mercy in the future.
Of course.
It wasn't that Kamuro wanted to suck up to him; rather, she actually feared Hikigaya Hachiman. Getting close to him felt like being seen through completely.
To Kamuro, her secret kleptomania was something that must never be exposed.
That's why, when she delivered the letter in the library last time, she ran away immediately after delivery, fearing his attention.
It was all Sakayanagi's fault.
Since Class C hit zero points, Sakayanagi seemed to have significantly increased her evaluation of Hikigaya, even going so far as to unilaterally label him a rival.
As competing classes with a relatively small gap in overall strength, it was a good thing Sakayanagi was starting to take Class B seriously.
However.
Kamuro also knew very well that Sakayanagi's "sense of belonging" to Class A was not strong. Otherwise, how could she allow the class to remain split into two factions and permit Katsuragi to continue leading his own side?
Simply put, Sakayanagi viewed Hikigaya as her rival, not the entirety of Class B. Sakayanagi might attack Hikigaya, but she wouldn't attack Class B as a whole.
Having a boss like this was a real pain, Kamuro thought.
"There is no need; there is no requirement to meet him for the time being," Sakayanagi Arisu's voice did not have the liveliness of her previous smile. Instead, it was very calm, as if she had completely composed herself.
"Especially a formal meeting."
"..." The corner of Kamuro's mouth twitched slightly.
Right.
On one hand, she says "no need to meet," but on the other, she makes a big deal out of sending a challenge letter. She even rewrote the letter three times, picked the one she was most satisfied with, and then sent it out.
If anything, Kamuro felt that Sakayanagi's attitude toward this matter was almost excessively solemn.
At that moment, the elevator chimed softly, arriving at their floor. Kamuro followed Sakayanagi into her room, which was filled with the pink atmosphere of a little princess.
Sakayanagi took off her beret, elegantly tidying her slightly messy hair with her fingertips before hanging it on a refined coat rack behind the door. Only then did she turn around to complete the sentence she had left unfinished in the elevator.
"By getting close to Hikigaya-kun, one can hear his inner voice. That is why I will not meet him directly right now."
Kamuro was struck with realization.
'I see.
So you're actually scared too, Sakayanagi. Your secrets must have been seen through by him as well. And he's so hateful—he'll output what he sees in his thoughts and let the person hear it.'
That was cold-blooded.
However, seeing the look of realization and helplessness on Kamuro's face, Sakayanagi knew the other hadn't fully grasped her deeper meaning.
What Sakayanagi was thinking was that the plan Hikigaya designed for this special exam was undoubtedly the optimal solution the first-year grade could fight for.
The entire first-year grade passing by obtaining and memorizing old questions to get the full 100 Class Evaluation Point reward.
That was the answer sheet he submitted. A near-perfect answer sheet.
The entire first year not only obtained rewards and benefits usually reserved for upperclassmen but even avoided the pitfalls the seniors had once suffered.
Therefore, as an opponent, challenging his perfect score was not simple.
Consequently, until she conceived and submitted an answer sheet she deemed "satisfactory," she was unwilling to have a formal meeting with Hikigaya-kun.
Because getting close to him would allow her to easily discover his opinion of her and perhaps even "hear" his next move... to Sakayanagi, that was no different from "cheating" on information.
As the proud Little Princess Sakayanagi.
She yearned for a victory she could pursue, but she disdained relying on such "underhanded methods."
Thus, she avoided him deliberately—not because she was hiding from something, but to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
.
-
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Sakayanagi Arisu's focus might have truly shifted beyond the first-year grade, for even as the date quietly slid to the 12th, she remained inactive.
However, during this time, the representatives of each class had already learned all the content outside the current syllabus and finished filling in the blanks on the old test papers.
Thus, it was time to distribute those "old questions."
The students of Class A were very confident, but they were also very smart.
Although this exam was a grade-wide "ABCD cooperation cheat"—well, because both Katsuragi and the Sakayanagi faction's Kito Hayato were in the Student Council, they could obtain even more information.
For example, they already knew the entire school was having written exams, so the upperclassmen were likely cheating as well.
Katsuragi was following Vice President Nagumo, who told him that this school was special but very interesting; unexpected things could play out here. While the school supported inter-class competition, it would also provide "welfare exams" from time to time.
In other words, as long as one knew the test consisted of old questions, this written exam could be treated as a welfare exam.
Therefore, not only was the strategy for the exam correct, but even the opportunity to enter the Student Council was correct.
Thinking of this, the corners of Katsuragi's mouth turned up involuntarily as he tapped his knuckles against the desk, clearly in high spirits.
Compared to Katsuragi's composure.
Over in Class C.
Although there weren't many top-tier students in the class, eleven full days had passed since they obtained the papers. Hiyori Shiina and Kaneda had worked together to finally fill in all the blank answers.
Thus, Ryuen Kakeru took action.
With a cold face, he gathered the students of Class C, slammed stacks of test papers onto the desks, and scanned the faces below—some nervous, some blank—announcing the start of forced memorization in an unquestionable tone.
Conquering one subject in two days? There was more than enough time.
Turning to Class B.
The papers were also in hand, and the answers were complete.
Yet Class B continued to spontaneously organize study groups.
The students of this class seemed to have discipline etched into their bones; without needing to be spurred, they would bury their heads in study.
Of course, Hikigaya Hachiman—who scored exactly 9 points in math—was the exception.
He did not proactively join the heated study circles.
The reason was simple. First, he had a personal tutor for his studies: the top-ranking student in the class, Ichinose Honami.
However.
He wasn't stupid enough to truly spend all his time studying.
Thus, after he completed a math workbook Ichinose brought to ensure he could score 50+, Ichinose stopped forcing him.
But Ichinose was a bit confused.
'So, Hikigaya-kun's academic ability is actually fine?
Then why was his entrance exam math score a tragic... 9 points?'
Right now, however, Hikigaya-kun was heading toward a cafe in the shopping district. Today was Sunday.
Ordinarily, he liked to stay in his dorm and sleep late at this time, but someone had invited him out.
Furthermore, it was a girl.
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