, Detective Hikigaya-Kun
The sports festival had ended, and the closing ceremony marked the announcement of the final results. Unsurprisingly, the Red Team, made up of Class A and Class D from all three grades, emerged victorious.
Now came the much-anticipated overall rankings:
First place: Class B of the first year.
Second place: Class C of the first year.
Third place: Class A of the first year.
Fourth place: Class D of the first year.
"We won... but why does it feel so complicated?" Okakura Asako exchanged helpless smiles with the others.
Despite Class A ranking third overall, their class points were reduced by 50. Class C placed second but lost 100 class points due to the White Team's defeat. Class D, having placed last, also suffered a 100-point deduction.
Even though Class B ranked first and earned 50 points, they too were penalized by 100 points for their team's overall loss, ending up with a net loss of 5 points.
In short, the entire first grade took a hit. Hardly a victory.
"At the very least," Ichinose said with her usual cheerfulness, trying to comfort everyone, "We've managed to put some distance between us and Class C, and we haven't fallen further behind Class A. That's worth celebrating, right?"
Her optimism spread, and Chihiro Shirami and the others smiled along.
When the points were tallied, the results were:
Class A: 874 points.
Class B: 816 points.
Class C: 692 points.
Class D: 109 points.
Hikigaya, standing off to the side, nodded. "Reasonable enough," he thought. Even though everyone lost points, the relative standings between classes remained mostly unchanged. From that perspective, this result was actually a positive one.
"And now, for the best players in each grade: Horikita Manabu from Class A of the third year, Nan Yunya from Class A of the second year, and Shibata Sa from Class B of the first year! Each will be awarded 100,000 personal points!"
The teacher's announcement sent Class B into an uproar.
"Shibata-kun! Congratulations!"
"As expected of Shibata! I knew you'd come out on top!"
A crowd gathered around Shibata, praising him excitedly. From the sidelines, Hikigaya observed the situation.
"If Sudou hadn't been shaken by Ryuuen's provocation, Shibata might not have had such an easy time," he mused. "But whatever, I'm not here to cause trouble."
Shibata's achievement was impressive, but not particularly relevant to him. Instead, Hikigaya's attention was on his own name on the scoreboard.
"Two second-place finishes, three third-place finishes, and mostly fourth or fifth place. Not bad. At least I didn't place last."
His effort had earned him 9,000 personal points. Not a huge amount, but respectable. Still, Hikigaya considered choosing written test points as his reward instead of personal points. His grades in high school were usually mediocre, hovering around the 50s or 60s, and the increasing difficulty of math was making things worse. Academic insurance seemed like the safer bet.
"Hey, Ichinose."
Innocent Shibata approached Ichinose, scratching his head nervously. "Uh... can I call you by your first name from now on?"
Hikigaya's interest piqued as he glanced over, now fully invested in the drama. This was basically a confession.
Ichinose smiled kindly. "Sure. It feels strange to keep calling me by my last name when we've been classmates for so long. Actually, I've wanted everyone to call me Honami-chan for a while now."
Hikigaya smirked. A polite rejection if he'd ever seen one. Ichinose's kindness was genuine, but it was equally distributed among everyone in the class. Even someone as remarkable as Shibata was seen as just another valued friend. No special treatment.
"Thank you... Honami-chan." Shibata scratched his head, his blush betraying his embarrassment, but he was clearly satisfied with that small concession.
"Too naive," Hikigaya thought as he grabbed his folding chair and prepared to leave. Following girls with a folding chair was a bit awkward, but it was part of the job.
"Oh, Hikigaya!" Ichinose called out before he could leave. "Just leave your chair here. I'll take it back for you later. And don't forget about the celebration party tomorrow."
"Uh... Thanks." Hikigaya mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper. He left the chair and hurried away, feeling Shibata's curious gaze follow him.
Now, time to get back to work. As he followed Horikita Suzune from a distance, Hikigaya couldn't help but notice how distracted she seemed. Was something on her mind?
After tailing her to Class D's classroom, Hikigaya made his way to the stairs and found a vantage point where he could observe without being seen. As people from Class D left the school, he spotted several familiar faces: Kushida, Hirata, Sudou, Ayanokouji, and the cute Airi.
But the one he was looking for hadn't appeared yet.
Finally, he saw Kushida and Horikita leaving the classroom together. To his surprise, they met up with Ryuuen in the corridor by the infirmary. Hikigaya quickly ducked behind a corner to avoid being seen.
"What's going on?" Hikigaya whispered to himself. The distance was too far to hear their conversation, but it was obvious something unusual was happening.
Kushida was working with Ryuuen against Horikita? Did that make her the traitor of Class D? But if so, what was Ayanokouji's role in all this?
It was too much to process. Feeling overwhelmed, Hikigaya decided to document the encounter, pulling out his phone to record the interaction from a safe distance.
Just then, he noticed something odd. Horikita seemed ready to kneel before Ryuuen, her knees beginning to lower. Hikigaya's eyes widened.
But just before her knees touched the ground, Horikita straightened herself. The look of frustration on Ryuuen's face was priceless, as was Kushida's annoyance.
"Wait, did she just stand up to him?" Hikigaya muttered, unable to hide his smirk. Whatever Ryuuen was trying to pull had clearly failed.
Just as he was about to leave, a calm voice sounded behind him.
"What are you doing?"
Hikigaya nearly jumped out of his skin. Turning around, he found himself face-to-face with Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
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