Chapter 6 – Hikigaya Hachiman in Top Form
"Wait a minute!"
A light bulb went off in Hikigaya Hachiman's mind.
Just now, Mr. Sakagami mentioned that you can buy everything at school with points.
Which means…
Then, in front of everyone's puzzled gaze, Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly stood up. "Mr. Sakagami, how many points would it take to…"
Mid-sentence, a new idea popped into his head. He shook his head and looked at Sakagami Kazuma with a determined gaze. "…No, I mean, how many points would it take to leave the campus?"
That's right! If points can buy everything, then keeping a phone is nothing—leaving the school is the real deal!
At that moment, Hachiman started to desire more…
"Oho~" Sakagami Kazuma looked at Hachiman with some surprise.
Not only him—those two suited men collecting electronics were also shocked, staring at Hachiman.
As for the other students in Class C, they had expressions like, You can even do that?!
"I know you—Hikigaya Hachiman. The guy who didn't write a single word on the entrance exam and looked at the interviewers like they were garbage," Sakagami Kazuma adjusted his glasses with his right hand and casually exposed Hachiman's dark past.
"What!? Not a single word…?"
"No way, really…?"
"Damn, this guy's insane. Wait, how did he even get in…?"
"…."
Most of Class C now looked at Hachiman with a sort of admiration.
Typical delinquent behavior, huh…
Hachiman, however, looked a little uncomfortable.
Not because of the classmates whispering about him.
But because of what Sakagami just said—Hachiman had a bad feeling.
Is he one of those strict teachers?
But what Sakagami said next broke Hachiman's train of thought.
"You're an interesting student. I'll tell you—leaving the campus costs ten million points per day."
"T-Ten million!!!?"
A collective gasp echoed in the classroom. After all, that's ten million!
At a rate of 100,000 per month, you couldn't save that much in all three years of school.
Everyone turned back to Hachiman, curious about what he'd say now.
Hachiman was also stunned by the number, but since things had come this far, he went for plan B.
"Then…how much to use my phone on campus…no…"
Originally, he wanted to ask how many points to use his phone inside the school.
But then he remembered how resistant the school seemed to be about contacting the outside world. So he lowered his request again: "Then, how many points to contact someone outside for just one minute?"
"100,000 points per minute! But if you reveal any information about the school, you'll be expelled immediately!" Sakagami said every word clearly.
As if seeing through Hachiman's Plan B, he added, "If you want to use your own phone on campus, that'll be 5 million points per day."
Hikigaya Hachiman: "…"
So the school really doesn't want students talking to the outside world.
"…Alright, got it. Thank you, sir." Hachiman said bitterly.
Then, unwillingly, he handed over his Smartphone and his child-friendly MP3 player to the suited man.
After that, he slumped over his desk in defeat…
Maybe it was because Hachiman started asking, but other students began questioning what points could be used for.
For example: Could you use points to erase a punishment? How many points to sleep with a female teacher? Could you use points to beat someone up?
Sakagami happily answered every question.
Hachiman, still slumped on the desk, watched the others and felt speechless. Once again, he sighed to himself.
Does Japan even have a future anymore…
...
Homeroom ended quickly.
Mr. Sakagami had a few students from the back bring in textbooks and dormitory cards. After distributing them, he announced that today was a break.
Classes would start tomorrow.
Perfect time to organize the dorm in the afternoon, and with the 100,000 points just received, they could buy some necessities.
So Hachiman began to take action.
"Um, Hikigaya Hachiman…" The girl sitting in front of him—Shiina Hiyori, the one with the white hair—stood up and looked at him with a pleading expression.
"Hm?" Hachiman looked at her in confusion.
"Um… can you help me carry my books?" Shiina Hiyori used her puppy-dog eyes again.
"…Well, I guess I can. But why not ask someone else?" Hachiman glanced at the stack of books on her desk.
High school had ten subjects—four more than junior high.
With textbooks and the two or three workbooks that came with each subject, the total weight would definitely be a burden for an average girl to carry back.
But Hachiman was confused—why him? There's no way she had feelings for him.
He'd already learned the hard way in middle school: One of the top three illusions—'She likes me.'
Plus, he wasn't good-looking.
Didn't even look like someone helpful or kind.
"The others…" Shiina looked at the rest of the class—their flashy, multicolored hairstyles and delinquent clothing.
Some of the delinquents seemed to notice her gaze and tried to strike cool poses, flipping their hair and adjusting their glasses dramatically.
When compared to Hachiman—though his eyes looked a little dead—his facial features were balanced, and his profile looked somewhat like a manga protagonist.
Especially this morning, on the bus, when he calmly outsmarted those punks. That had made Shiina feel very safe around him.
As for the other girls in class, their flashy, gyaru-style appearances made her unsure how to even approach them.
So Shiina Hiyori looked pitifully at Hachiman and spoke softly, "Can't you?"
Still a little suspicious…
But Hachiman, being a soft-hearted guy who couldn't resist a pleading girl, sighed.
He always fell for soft over hard.
Screw it… Since your surname is Shiina, I'll help.
He quietly picked up all the books from Shiina's desk.
"Actually, some of these are for tomorrow's classes. Maybe you don't need to bring them all home?" Hachiman looked at the stack in his arms and made a suggestion.
"Mm, but I like reading books. Even if these are textbooks, I still want to take them back," Shiina said shyly and cutely.
But her words gave Hachiman a bad feeling.
Is this girl trying to bully me? No, scratch that—she's definitely bullying me!
That reason was just so abstract and random!
Even saying she wanted to preview tomorrow's content would've made more sense.
But looking at her bashful face, Hachiman wasn't sure of his instincts anymore.
It really did feel like Shiina Hiyori wasn't lying.
How to put it… if that's truly how she is, then she's definitely a special kind of girl.
And yeah, just the fact that she asked him for help already made her pretty special.
Hikigaya Hachiman: "Alright then."
On the way…
Shiina Hiyori also carried a few of Hachiman's books and walked to his right.
"Hikigaya Hachiman, do you want to check out the school grounds later? I mean, suddenly getting 100,000 points feels a bit uneasy."
Uneasy, huh…
Hachiman felt a bit unsettled at her words too.
He didn't expect Shiina to think like that.
But she had a point.
For a regular high schooler, 100,000 was a huge sum.
Back in junior high, his monthly allowance was only 1,500 yen.
"To show my thanks, how about I treat you to lunch?" Shiina quickly followed up.
Hachiman: "…"
For some reason, he felt like that was her real objective.
"No need. It's nothing. Besides, you're helping carry my books too," Hachiman quickly declined.
"I prefer doing things alone."
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