After the conversation with Tsukishiro, although it was clear that he wanted this matter resolved swiftly, Hikigaya didn't immediately take action.
After all, it was the weekend. There was a good chance both Sakayanagi and Ryūen already had plans—perhaps hanging out with friends. That is, assuming they even had friends. Ultimately, neither of them were the easiest to deal with, and persuading them would be anything but simple.
Sakayanagi was somewhat manageable since her goals were always precise. Negotiating with her, though arduous, was straightforward enough. Ryūen, however, was a different story.
This time, his petty and underhanded scheme was undeniably despicable. But without concrete evidence, the school would not take any official action against him. At most, his homeroom teacher might deliver a private warning.
Originally, Class B's best countermeasures would have been catching Class C students in the act or capturing photographic evidence of them spiking drinks. Sakayanagi had clearly been aware of Ryūen's intentions beforehand, and it was safe to assume she had made necessary preparations, including warning her classmates.
Even Hikigaya initially thought Sakayanagi had acquired sufficient evidence and was planning to corner Ryūen during the deliberations.
What he hadn't anticipated was the situation escalating into a food safety investigation involving a KTV bar, followed by the bar pressuring the school, and finally, Tsukishiro coming to him for a resolution.
What was this—a food chain?
In hindsight, Sakayanagi's actions resembled those of a wealthy heiress leveraging her power to bully poorer students. If this were an otome game, she'd be the quintessential villainess!
"Ugh, this is giving me a headache..."
Hikigaya rubbed his temples, pondering a solution but failing to come up with anything concrete. With Ryūen's personality, presenting evidence directly might force him to admit defeat. However, as things stood, how could he compel Ryūen to back down and relinquish the advantage he had gained?
No matter how he considered it, it seemed impossible.
That guy was infuriatingly stubborn. Even the threat of expulsion wouldn't work; if it did, Tsukishiro wouldn't have specifically sought Hikigaya for this task.
But Hikigaya had no good ideas either.
He could already picture Ryūen's reaction: "If you think I tampered with something, show me proof. Otherwise, shut up! Expel me if you want, but I'm not agreeing to any changes to the test results!"
Why did Ryūen suddenly sound like the victim here? Meanwhile, Hikigaya, acting on behalf of the student council, seemed like the school's lackey. Well, to some extent, that was exactly what he was.
Without evidence, pressuring another student to comply with the administration's wishes was undeniably lackey behavior.
The only silver lining was that the other party was Ryūen, sparing Hikigaya any pangs of conscience. Still, he needed a concrete plan.
From Hikigaya's perspective, Ryūen was someone who only respected strength and dominance. Beating him down, figuratively or literally, was essential to subduing him. Simply defeating him wasn't enough; one needed overwhelming strength to crush him entirely.
As long as neither Hikigaya nor Sakayanagi could physically overpower him, Ryūen would never fully concede.
Among the first-year students, the only person Ryūen might truly respect...
"Hm, there might be someone."
A figure immediately came to mind.
Given that this person owed Hikigaya a favor after the last exam, it seemed unlikely they would refuse such a small request.
Yes, outsourcing this task seemed like the most practical solution. After all, Ryūen was not only stubborn but also prone to violence. Hikigaya could easily imagine getting punched the moment he opened his mouth.
Better to let someone else take the hit.
On Monday, after school, Hikigaya headed to the student council office.
With the academic year nearing its end, most of the work had already been completed, so there was no need for regular reporting. The only remaining task was reviewing the graduation speech for the third year.
Originally, this was supposed to be handled by Nagumo, the student council president. Given that prominent figures often attended Advanced Nurturing High School's graduation ceremonies, ensuring perfection was essential.
However, Nagumo's recent suspension meant the task had fallen to Hikigaya.
"Why does everything end up on my plate?" Hikigaya muttered in frustration, though he knew complaining wouldn't change anything.
The second-year members, loyal to Nagumo, ignored him entirely. Most avoided him outright, treating him like a ghost. As for the first-years, there were only Katsuragi and Ichika. Both had their reasons for not being readily available for assistance.
"Maybe I should recruit more people into the student council," Hikigaya mused, resting his chin on his hand. "But... bringing in someone from Class D would probably just complicate things."
While there were capable students in his class, like Horikita, Hikigaya instinctively felt that involving them would create unnecessary headaches. Inviting students from other classes, however, risked raising suspicions about ulterior motives.
"Better wait until next semester and recruit a few promising new students," he concluded.
This school's environment was simply too troublesome. The priority placed on Class A's privileges bred paranoia, with everyone fearing potential traitors in their ranks.
Before long, a knock at the office door interrupted his thoughts.
It seemed his guest had arrived. Hikigaya had asked two people to meet him today. He wondered who had come first.
"Come in."
To his surprise, it wasn't Sakayanagi but Ayanokōji who entered.
Seeing the familiar figure, Hikigaya was momentarily taken aback. He had asked Ayanokōji to "persuade" Ryūen, but he hadn't expected results this quickly—or had he failed?
Hikigaya's gaze lingered on the bruise on Ayanokōji's face. Curious, he asked, "What happened to your face?"
"Do you need to ask?" Ayanokōji pulled out a chair and sat down, his tone carrying a hint of irritation. "This little task of yours landed me in trouble. Ryūen punched me right after I finished speaking. He is an unreasonable guy."
"Ha—cough! Sorry, that sounds rough." Hikigaya stifled a laugh, clearing his throat to cover it up.
He had anticipated Ryūen's violent tendencies, and calling on Ayanokōji had been the right choice. Anyone else likely wouldn't have been able to handle it.
"You're skilled enough. How did Ryūen even manage to land a punch on you?"
"It's nothing."
At this point, there was little point in Ayanokōji continuing to downplay his abilities.
"I let him hit me. It made the negotiation easier."
"Wow, that's... bold."
"You've done similar things, haven't you?" Ayanokōji retorted calmly.
It seemed he had thoroughly investigated Hikigaya's history.
"Anyway, Ryūen agreed to your terms," Ayanokōji said, avoiding specifics. The method was likely a mix of provocation and reasoning. "The exam results between Class B and Class C will change from 3:4 to 5:2. You chose this ratio intentionally, didn't you?"
Hikigaya nodded. "Of course. Otherwise, Ryūen wouldn't have agreed so readily."
"That's true."
Ayanokōji gave a faint nod of approval, silently acknowledging Hikigaya's strategic foresight.
Logically speaking, changing from a 3:4 ratio to 4:3 would suffice, and C-Class would only lose 30 points. Ryuuen would likely accept it more easily.
However, Hikigaya proposed from the start that the exam should end with a 5:2 result, as if he were certain Ryuuen would agree.
As it turns out, he was right.
Because their focus was never on the scores right in front of them, but on the developments that would follow.
If they ended the exam with a 5:2 result, B-Class's class points would surpass A-Class's, reclaiming the top spot.
Considering the situation, this might not be a bad thing after all.
Just like how B-Class had been eager to regain the top position after being knocked down, A-Class would probably feel the same.
The rivalry between the two classes would undoubtedly become even fiercer.
At that point, it might just become an opportunity for C-Class and D-Class.
This was likely one of the reasons Ryuuen agreed to it.
But there was one thing that Kiyotaka didn't quite understand, so he asked Hikigaya, "By the way, why did you specifically ask me to convince Ryuuen? You don't have any issues yourself, do you?"
"Oh, I just don't want to get punched," Hikigaya replied casually.
"...I forgot to tell you, Ryuuen said he would settle the score with you someday."
"Got it."
Hikigaya stretched lazily, not taking the ridiculous threat seriously.
Anyway, Ryuuen was always going to find a way to mess with him. What difference did it make if he pissed him off?
"…Forget it, let's talk seriously."
Seeing that Hikigaya didn't care, Ayanokōji stopped pressing and shifted to a more serious tone, "Now, can you tell me that important information about Tsukishiro?"
"Ah, sure."
When Hikigaya initially asked Ayanokōji for help, he seemed reluctant, obviously not wanting to return the favor.
But that was expected, so Hikigaya used Tsukishiro to bait Ayanokōji, and of course, he took the bait right away.
After all, this was the one thing that caught his interest.
"Tsukishiro, that old man, actually doesn't want you to drop out. He's just playing around with you."
"...Is that all?"
Ayanokōji waited patiently for more, but when no further explanation came, he couldn't help but ask.
"That's all," Hikigaya replied, confused. "I've told you everything. Was there something you didn't understand?"
"That's it?"
Even Ayanokōji was left speechless by the casual response. Playing around? That seemed too trivial.
After all, Tsukishiro had used connections to get the previous chairman removed from his position, and had placed himself in charge.
If this were all just a game… that man wouldn't do something so pointless.
"Let's not talk about how illogical your statement is. How did you come to this conclusion?" Ayanokōji pressed further.
"It's simple," Hikigaya said without hiding anything. "I gave Tsukishiro a foolproof plan that would force you to drop out. But he refused, which means he doesn't want you to leave."
"…What plan?"
Ayanokōji remained silent for a moment, and his first question was about this plan.
"Technically, it wasn't a plan for you to drop out," Hikigaya said, sounding a bit proud, as he thought his idea was quite clever.
"I told you before that Sakayanagi complained about the food at the school's karaoke. It caused some students to get sick. In the end, the karaoke place went to Tsukishiro, and the pressure fell onto me."
"No, the pressure should have been on me," Ayanokōji corrected.
"Don't interrupt. Let me finish," Hikigaya shot him an annoyed look. "After that, I suggested Tsukishiro make a big deal of it, using food safety as a reason to force the school to shut down the karaoke. The students would be sent home for spring break, and you—"
Hikigaya pointed at Kiyotaka.
"And you would be forced to go home, no matter how powerful you are, right?"
"...Right."
Ayanokōji pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
He knew how powerful his family was. The reason they hadn't sent people to drag him back was not that they couldn't, but because they were concerned about the external consequences and didn't want to give their enemies an opening.
Even chairman Sakayanagi had been forced out with fabricated evidence, so it wasn't impossible for the school to temporarily shut down.
After all, food safety involving students was a serious issue, and no one could argue against that.
But the fact that Tsukishiro refused to take the offer...
"Hikigaya, thanks for suggesting this plan."
"Don't mention it."
Although Hikigaya felt like Ayanokōji was sarcastically thanking him, without evidence, there was nothing he could do.
"You must have noticed, though, that Tsukishiro, as the acting president, wouldn't have let you stay if he truly wanted you to drop out. You'd be gone by now."
"Probably."
Ayanokōji didn't argue, as he had suspected this himself.
However, he wasn't planning on doing anything about it.
Whether Tsukishiro's intentions were genuine didn't matter. He would accept any methods used against him.
Hikigaya guessed what Ayanokōji was thinking just by looking at his expression and waved his hand, "I know you're paranoid and don't trust anyone except yourself. Just don't cause any trouble. I don't want to add more work to the student council."
"Don't worry. My goal has always been to lead a normal school life."
"Sure, sure."
Hikigaya muttered dismissively, sensing that Ayanokōji's words were insincere.
"I've said everything I need to. If there's nothing else, you can go home now."
"Yeah, I'll leave now."
Ayanokōji nodded, grabbed his bag, and walked toward the door.
However, before leaving, he turned around and added, "By the way, I haven't congratulated you on your success in the exam. Everyone is really happy about it."
"Yeah, except for you, everyone did their part."
Hikigaya could tell Ayanokōji had a hidden message, as it was unusual for him to bring up the exam without reason.
"True," Ayanokōji said nonchalantly. "Although I already knew our class had potential, I didn't expect this outcome. You could say this was all achieved under your leadership."
"Just say what you mean. Can you stop beating around the bush?" Hikigaya said, a bit impatient.
"I just want to ask, will you officially lead D-Class in the upcoming struggle?" asked.
"Heh."
Hikigaya chuckled lightly and countered, "What about you? Why don't you lead D-Class yourself?"
"I don't have the ability to," Ayanokōji shook his head slightly.
"You're lying. You have the ability, but you're just too confident to think anything other than victory would happen if you took charge... You're just ridiculously arrogant."
"...Maybe."
Although he didn't admit it, Ayanokōji didn't immediately deny it this time.
It seemed his arrogance had shifted somewhat.
It was probably thanks to those reflection papers.
T/N: Well now this has officially ended.