COTE : There is Something Wrong With Hikigaya

"Tch! Acting like a nice guy again!"

Sudou let out a breath of relief when he heard he wouldn't be suspended, but the thought that it was all thanks to Hirata made his pride take a hit again, so he couldn't help but act tough.

Ayanokouji stood silently nearby, watching without saying anything, his thoughts unreadable.

"And that scumbag Yamauchi! What a backstabber!"

Sudou gritted his teeth as if remembering something. "About Ike... If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known it was Yamauchi who betrayed him! And during the sports festival, he deliberately spread rumors about me, making everyone in class laugh at me. Somehow, even the basketball coach found out. Now Komiya and Kondo get to play, while I'm stuck on the bench!"

He kept venting to Ayanokouji. Ever since his suspension at the end of last semester, Sudou felt like his luck had been going downhill, with one bad thing after another happening to him.

"Sudou, you can't blame others for what happened to Ike. Secretly taking photos like that is a crime."

Hearing Ayanokouji's words, Sudou fell silent for a moment, but then he couldn't help but argue, "Then why was Ike the only one expelled? Yamauchi was the one who suggested we all stick to the same story, but in the end, he betrayed us and pushed all the blame onto Ike. If you hadn't caught on, we'd all still be in the dark! What a snake!"

"Maybe Yamauchi was just trying to save himself. And honestly, Ike did mess up. If you look at it from another angle, Yamauchi's actions actually saved the rest of you."

"Why are you always defending that guy?!"

Sudou glared at Ayanokouji in frustration. "If this were a regular school, I would've already beaten the crap out of Yamauchi!"

But he seemed to realize he was getting too worked up, so he added, "Well, at least you're way better than that backstabber. You helped out last semester, and now again this time. But seriously, why didn't you tell me you were so good at running?!"

"I already explained. I just got lucky, and I drank a lot of energy drinks beforehand. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been that fast."

"Really?"

Sudou looked doubtful, but in the end, he decided to believe Ayanokouji. Later, he borrowed private points from Hikigaya since everyone involved in the photo incident had been heavily fined. 

With most of their points gone, Sudou and the others were back to struggling. After getting the private points, Sudou just waved and left without saying when he'd pay them back.

Ayanokouji watched him go, his expression deep in thought.

...

The next day in Class D, the atmosphere felt strange. The biggest reason was yesterday's conflict during the class meeting. Yamauchi, who had been injured, didn't hesitate to take the day off. Apparently, he was fine, but he was too embarrassed to show up because of his missing tooth.

Then there was Sudou and Hikigaya. Everyone expected another fight between them, but surprisingly, the morning passed without any issues.

Still, some students couldn't forget what happened yesterday. Looking back at the way Hikigaya had handled things, they felt that even if Sudou tried to start something, it wouldn't end well for him.

Hikigaya was a bit of a loner and hard to approach, but at least he was a student council member, good at both academics and sports. Compared to Sudou, who had contributed nothing and even resorted to violence, Hikigaya's reputation was rising fast.

In the afternoon, during the sixth period, Hirata took the stage for the class meeting. The topic was the upcoming Paper Shuffle exam. But instead of explaining it himself, he handed the role to Horikita.

Everyone knew Horikita was capable, but her social skills were a disaster. That was why Hirata acted as a bridge between her and the rest of the class.

This was also something Hirata had wanted for a long time. As the class leader, he understood his own strengths and weaknesses, so he had always hoped Horikita would assist him. After a whole semester, that wish was finally coming true.

Hikigaya was also someone Hirata had hoped to involve, but Hikigaya always used his student council duties as an excuse to decline. Honestly, being in the student council seemed pretty convenient.

"I want to apologize to everyone first."

Standing at the podium, Horikita suddenly bowed to the class.

She was apologizing for the failure at the sports festival. Although she and Hirata had planned the strategies together, she had been the one in charge.

But no one expected her to apologize like this. The cold, aloof "ice queen" everyone was familiar with seemed completely different now.

Many students had already started to see Horikita in a new light after the survival exam on the deserted island. Even though she was sick with a fever, she had endured for days, eventually collapsing from exhaustion. That left an impression on people.

Now, with this sincere apology, most of the class responded positively, slowly accepting this "new" Horikita.

Well, except for one particular "little angel," who didn't look happy at all.

After that, Horikita and Hirata started explaining the exam rules using the blackboard, focusing on the most important part—the "partner" system.

Simply put, for the upcoming quiz, the highest-scoring and lowest-scoring students would be paired together for the final Paper Shuffle exam.

This was a strategy Horikita and Hirata had discussed the day before.

"There's a serious problem we need to deal with..."

Horikita explained that while this method could help weaker students, there were too many students scoring below 60 in Class D. That meant they couldn't pair everyone effectively.

On top of that, the class's overall average was much lower than the other classes. In other words, what counted as an "average" student in Class D would be considered a weak student elsewhere. But right now, there wasn't much they could do about it.

The next day, before the quiz, Chabashira-sensei also announced the opponent classes for the final exam.

Class A will face off against Class C, and Class B will go against Class D. 

When Horikita heard the news, she didn't show any emotion, but when she saw Hirata sigh, she knew the matchup was different from what they had expected. 

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