Karuizawa's past was just as Hikigaya had suspected from the beginning. The blonde girl who now seemed strong and confident had actually been a victim of bullying in middle school.
To escape that nightmare, she applied to ANHS, hoping for a fresh start. The first thing she did was approach Hirata—the most popular and well-liked student in her class—hoping to become his "girlfriend" to secure her position and protect herself from bullying.
"So you agreed to be in a relationship with Karuizawa just to help her?"
Hikigaya looked puzzled.
"A fake relationship," Hirata quickly corrected him.
"Uh… doesn't that make it even weirder?"
Hikigaya wasn't sure whether to admire Hirata's kindness or call him an idiot.
He understood why Hirata wanted to help Karuizawa, but this method seemed way too strange.
Then again, given Hirata's track record of always helping students in need, it wasn't surprising that he agreed to Karuizawa's request.
But as Hikigaya had always thought—
"Hirata, I know you had good intentions, but have you ever considered that you're part of the reason Karuizawa acts so arrogant now? She freely pushes around her classmates, and you've played a big role in letting that happen."
Hikigaya didn't hold back.
He understood that Karuizawa had been a victim, but that didn't justify her bullying others now. Just because she had been hurt before didn't mean she had the right to hurt others.
What kind of twisted logic was that?!
In reality, Karuizawa's case wasn't unusual. Many former victims of bullying eventually became bullies themselves. It was something that happened all the time in society.
It was human nature—a subconscious need for revenge.
And that was exactly why bullying was so disgusting.
"I'm sorry," Hirata said, lowering his head.
Hikigaya's expression remained cold.
"So, Hirata, is this why you called me out here? To apologize on her behalf?"
Hirata stayed silent.
"I understand why you wanted to help Karuizawa, but I can't agree with how you did it. Now you're seeing the results—she's slowly turning into the same kind of person who once bullied her. This is the mess you created."
"I'll talk to Karuizawa properly about this. It was my mistake. I'm really sorry."
Hirata looked disappointed in himself, but then he lifted his head as if making up his mind.
"Hikigaya, tomorrow at this time, I'll meet with Karuizawa to have a serious talk about this. Please, I need you to be there too!"
Hikigaya thought about refusing, but seeing Hirata's determined face, he nodded in agreement.
After finishing their talk about Karuizawa, Hikigaya suddenly asked—
"Hirata, do you know who the three VIPs in our class are?"
Hirata hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Back in his dorm, Hikigaya wrote down the three VIPs from Class C on a blank sheet of paper. Then, he added the names Karuizawa Kei, Minami Setsuya, and Kushida Kikyo—
The three VIPs from Class D, as Hirata had told him.
Staring at Kushida's name on the paper, Hikigaya's eyes flashed with understanding. He suddenly remembered her unusual behavior from before.
Before long, the paper was filled with densely written names—students from all twelve groups, organized by class. Hikigaya's brain started working fast.
Then, as if struck by an idea, he wrote down katakana and phonetic symbols next to each group's name.
He also did the same for the VIPs' names.
"...So that's it."
A pattern quickly emerged.
There was a clear rule to how the VIPs were assigned, and it was hidden in the group names.
At first, Hikigaya hadn't understood why the school used the complicated and awkward "Twelve Earthly Branches" as group names—
But now, it was obvious.
The VIP identities were encoded in them.
Using this pattern, Hikigaya could easily determine the VIPs from Class A and Class B.
Of course, he couldn't be completely sure yet. Since he didn't actually know the VIPs from those classes, he had no way to confirm his theory.
But Haruno was different.
She did know the VIPs from Class A and Class B.
If she figured out the pattern too, then she'd only need confirmation from just one VIP in either Class C or Class D to prove it.
This is the solution to the Special Exam for Privileged Students: as long as you have enough information, you can rule out many false leads and find the right "answer."
This is likely why the school arranged for the exam explanations to be given at different times and locations—to reduce the chances of Class A and Class B working together and discovering the pattern too early.
…
The next day, on the second day of the exam, during a group discussion meeting, everyone looked unusually serious. It seemed that by the morning, they had all received relevant information from their classes.
"Hikki, do you think what Hirata said this morning is reliable? This is about getting Result 1 in all twelve groups. If there's a traitor, wouldn't that be a total disaster?"
Hasebe sat comfortably next to Hikigaya, leaning in close and whispering in his ear.
"There is some risk, but it's not a big deal. The contract acts as a safeguard, so even if someone has bad intentions, they won't dare to mess around."
Hikigaya instinctively leaned away a little.
"Huh? This is the first time I've heard about a contract being involved."
Hasebe clicked her tongue in surprise, then suddenly looked a bit worried.
"Hachiman, do you think the school will step in if they find out? We're talking about over 80 million private points. If I were the school, I wouldn't want to pay the students that much money!"
"But if I can get those 500,000 private points, I won't have to worry about saving money every day anymore…"
As she spoke, the topic drifted completely off track, but she kept going enthusiastically. Hikigaya was slowly realizing that, despite her cold and distant appearance, Hasebe was actually very talkative and easygoing once you got to know her—completely different from Horikita, who was truly reserved and withdrawn.
That strange atmosphere lingered for the rest of the second day's discussions.
Late at night, Hikigaya arrived at the designated meeting spot as planned with Hirata. Karuizawa had been waiting for a while, thinking Hirata was finally here. But the moment she saw Hikigaya, she completely froze.
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