"Aww, can't I just be nice? Hikigaya-kun, you're so mean~"
Kushida had switched back to her usual cheerful and sweet persona.
"Oh, I see. I misunderstood you," Hikigaya said with a look of realization. "Then, thank you. You're such a good person."
"You—!"
Kushida took a deep breath. How did this dead-fish-eyed guy always manage to push her buttons?
Even when dealing with those two idiots, she could stay calm and never let anything slip. But whenever she faced Hikigaya, he always got under her skin and made her lose her cool—just like now!
"Hmph. I wasn't planning to tell you this at first," she said, crossing her arms coldly. "But then I figured—someone like Sudou could never do anything to you. So I might as well use this as a favor for you."
Hikigaya wasn't sure if he should believe her.
But, he had to admit—Kushida's information came at just the right time.
Hikigaya also realized that Kushida wasn't as "useless" as he had initially thought. At first, he believed that this cheerful girl, who tried to be friends with everyone, was just maintaining a friendly persona. But after several private "story-sharing" sessions, he gradually discovered that Kushida had secretly gathered a surprising amount of personal information about her classmates. She held many of the class's secrets in her hands.
This caught Hikigaya off guard. Maybe he had misjudged Kushida. She wasn't just a typical "walking disaster"—she was the kind that could trigger a chain reaction of explosions.
"And now, the class points we worked so hard to earn last month are about to be deducted because of that idiot Sudou. I barely survived the past two months by saving every point, even lending money to those bloodsuckers in our class. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil!"
Kushida was just as furious about Sudou's fight.
In May and June, Class D students had it the hardest. With their class points at zero, they had no extra private points coming in. They had to rely on whatever little they had left and the free supplies provided by the school.
Like Karuizawa at the start, many students ended up borrowing money from others to get by. Naturally, the ones they turned to were the "nice guy" Hirata and the ever-friendly Kushida. Hirata, being the good person he was, even borrowed money from upperclassmen to help his struggling classmates.
When Kushida saw this, she had the urge to scream.
Damn it, are you trying to throw me under the bus?!
Even though she barely had enough points herself, she still had to put on a smile and say, "It's fine, I can lend you some." She then had to go borrow from others just to lend money to her classmates. Wasn't this just a roundabout way of getting scammed?
Every time she thought about it, she felt rage boiling inside her.
The reality was harsh—when people needed to borrow money, the first ones they thought of were their "friends."
So when Kushida heard about Sudou causing trouble again, she was absolutely sure that the reason private points hadn't been distributed this morning was directly tied to this. She could already predict that a big chunk of their class points would be deducted.
It was already impressive that she hadn't cursed him out on the spot. And now, he had the nerve to ask her for help?
Just thinking about it made her whole body tense with frustration. Her anger shot up like a rage meter in a fighting game, filling to the max in an instant. She stormed straight to Hikigaya.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a transfer notification—50,000 private points. She instinctively looked up at the dead-fish-eyed guy sitting across from her.
"Hey! What the hell is this supposed to mean?!"
Kushida was fuming, though she didn't even know why she was so mad.
"Huh? Weren't you just implying you wanted payment?" Hikigaya scratched his head. Did he misunderstand? Given their relationship, Kushida probably wished he'd get expelled as soon as possible. Why would she ever help him for free?
So Hikigaya assumed she was exchanging this information for something in return.
Kushida clenched her phone tightly. She wanted to throw the points back at him and yell, "Who do you think you're looking down on?!" But then she remembered—she still had to endure another month of penny-pinching. She could barely afford normal social interactions, let alone extras.
And when she went out with girls from other classes, they'd "kindly" cover her bill at cafés, forcing her to act all embarrassed before "reluctantly" accepting their help with a grateful expression. No matter how much Kushida could fake things, she still had her pride!
Simply put, even a "little angel" needed money to survive.
"Hmph! At least you know what's good for you!"
Kushida forced herself to swallow her frustration, replying in a stiff tone.
After taking the payment, she still felt uneasy. But she went ahead and told Hikigaya everything about Sudou's conversation with Ayanokouji, including their plans and ideas.
Once she finished, she quickly stood up and left. She was terrified that Hikigaya might have caught a glimpse of her brief moment of hesitation.
As he watched Kushida leave, Hikigaya stepped out onto the balcony, staring into the deep night sky, lost in thought.
...
But plans never keep up with unexpected changes.
The next morning, at school, Chabashira-sensei announced the consequences of Sudou's fight with the Class C students. She explained that Sudou was facing suspension and, most importantly for Class D, their class points would be deducted.
Chabashira-sensei stood at the front of the class with her usual indifferent expression, as if she were talking about something completely unrelated to her.
But Hikigaya knew better. She was speechless with rage because of that "pig" Sudou. In fact, by announcing the incident to the whole class, she was practically stirring the pot, ensuring that everyone would turn against him.
As expected, at first, many students found Sudou's punishment amusing. But the moment they heard that class points would be deducted, their laughter vanished, replaced by outrage.
They had fought so hard last month to earn those points, and now they were being taken away just because of Sudou. It was even more infuriating than when they had lost all their points at the start of the school year.
That was their hope.
In an instant, Yukimura and the others turned on Sudou, and the classroom exploded into chaos—just like when they first learned the truth about the school.
Hikigaya wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he had a feeling that Chabashira-sensei was subtly trying to remind everyone about Sudou's suspension. However, when he later heard that other classes were also informed about it, he figured he might have been overthinking it.
Despite the chaos in the classroom, Chabashira-sensei on the podium didn't seem interested in stopping it. She just stood there, watching the students with a cold expression, lost in thought.
Hiss!
Hikigaya suddenly noticed that Chabashira-sensei's gaze had shifted to him. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being targeted.
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