62 - Hikigaya Hachiman's Female Follower
The two observers, Kirari and Jabami, exchanged glances, their eyes filled with surprise.
Tsubomi slowly lifted her head, only to find that the gaze of the boy in front of her, Hikigaya Hachiman, had changed. His eyes were like the sun in the sky, blinding and impossible to look at directly. His gaze pierced through her hollow eyes, deep into her fragile heart, making all her weakness and confusion painfully visible.
Under the sunlight, she wanted to escape, to avoid Hikigaya's judgment. She felt as though her clothes were being burned to ashes, her entire being stripped bare, standing helplessly on the ground to be judged by Hikigaya.
It was as if she had been enchanted, rooted in place, unable to move.
"Do you think it's good to keep being abused like this?"
"Do you want to keep enduring, thinking you can just make it until graduation? To justify your own cowardice like this?"
"No, that's not right. This trait of not daring to resist unreasonable behavior will follow you for your entire life. This is how you become a lifelong animal. Do you want to live your whole life with your head down, just surviving?"
"Sure, under school rules, you might feel helpless, but when an opportunity to resist is right in front of you, and you still don't take it, it's just like a pig that won't leave its pen even though the gate is open. That's the kind of life you're living—just like an animal."
"Or is this your way of surviving? Are you so afraid of defying the unreasonable that you've resigned yourself to merely hoping to be treated gently?"
"Perhaps this is a way to get by in the world, though I can't understand it at all. So, what will you do? Fold now, before Kiwatari-san loses his temper? That way, you can go back to living like you did before, as an animal."
"Are you going to do it? What will you do? Are you going to do it? What will you do? Are you going to do it?" Hikigaya's voice echoed in Tsubomi's mind, slowly breaking down the walls of her heart.
Fear, shyness, confusion—these complex emotions intertwined inside her, slowly forming the garment of a follower. In her eyes, it seemed as though a light was shining above Hikigaya's head, like a divine aura.
"God…" she murmured softly. "Will you help me?"
"God helps those who help themselves!" Hikigaya answered without hesitation.
The chandelier overhead suddenly lit up, casting a glow directly onto Hikigaya's head. In Tsubomi's eyes, his figure became ethereal and otherworldly.
"God…" Tsubomi seemed to lose all sense of herself, like a puppet on strings. Her arm, holding the chips, swiftly rose.
Bang—
"Tsubomi, the chips of Hikigaya-sama, raise the bet!"
Tsubomi's eyes regained their spark. She roared, letting out an angry shout as a human would, and slammed Hikigaya's chips heavily onto the table, as if slamming them onto Kiwatari's death sentence scale.
This was the final chip for the death sentence.
"Tsubomi!!!!"
Kiwatari completely lost it, his hands shooting out to grab Tsubomi by the collar, ready to punch her viciously.
"I believe I said, no violence." But before his fist could strike, Kirari's voice, as cold as the depths of hell, interrupted him.
The flames of rage in Kiwatari's heart were extinguished before they even had a chance to ignite.
It was like being pierced by needles. Kiwatari stiffly released his grip, fixing his hateful gaze on Tsubomi, his words sharp and deliberate:
"You, are, dead, meat!"
"Not even Jesus can save you, I swear!"
Kiwatari knew that Tsubomi's family lived in Chiba and that she was just the daughter of an ordinary businessman. Once this was over, he'd use his family's connections to ruin her family.
Kiwatari sat back down, crossing his arms.
He once again evaluated the current situation on the table.
Tsubomi: 170 million
Kiwatari: 162 million
Hikigaya: 36 million
Jabami: 22 million
Hikigaya folded, Jabami had discarded cards, effectively handing first place to Tsubomi. Kiwatari was in second, having lost 10 million. He had become an animal, but if he just asked his family for some money, he'd be able to get by.
But the real problem wasn't his own loss—it was that Tsubomi had dared to defy him. Once he took care of his other troubles, he would make her submit and show her the consequences of defying him!
He planned to torture her until she never even thought of defying him again.
Kiwatari's expression darkened, his fingers twitching as if they were in pain, his gaze fixed on Tsubomi without a word.
Kirari's voice rang out: "Everyone, thank you for your hard work. The tenth round of the game is now over."
"I will now announce the results."
"First place goes to: Hikigaya Hachiman, with a total of 166 million chips!"
"Second place goes to: Tsubomi Nanami, with a total of 92 million chips!"
"Third place goes to: Jabami Yumeko, with a total of 74 million chips!"
"Wait! What?!..." Kiwatari, lost in his revenge plans, thought Kirari had made a mistake. He looked at her in confusion, not understanding what was happening.
"Fourth place: Kiwatari Jun, with a total of... 44 million chips!"
"You're wrong! What are you saying, you idiot... President Kirari!" An anxious Kiwatari instinctively ignored the woman's position and slammed his hand down on the table, upset.
Sweating profusely, Kiwatari exclaimed, "Stop joking! I have five of Jabami's chips, how could it only be 44 million?! This is already over 58 million, not to mention I still have other smaller chips!"
He grabbed the chips in his hand and threw them onto the table, the clinking sound of them colliding ringing out clearly.
One of the chips rolled to Hikigaya's side, constantly flipping over before it came to a stop.
Hikigaya looked at the chip, then at Jabami Yumeko, who was covering her mouth and smiling. His mood couldn't help but improve.
"Although it's all because of luck, it's still surprising that Hikigaya-kun could win with such poor acting... Hahaha~" Jabami Yumeko covered her mouth, laughing so hard her body shook, her full chest bouncing up and down, causing Hikigaya to feel dizzy.
'Her face is so beautiful too.' Hikigaya's face immediately flushed, and the speech he had prepared to impress President Kirari was completely forgotten.
Luckily, the emotional sensors he had set up in his mind were automatically triggered, and a series of prime numbers started to spill out involuntarily.
Coming back to his senses, Hikigaya touched his nose. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Let's calculate it then."
"There are two chips with swapped values, right?"
"Huh? You're talking about the chips?" Kiwatari was stunned, instinctively looking down to see the chips with Jabami's name clearly displayed.
"Slow to figure things out..." Hikigaya yawned. "I'm hungry, so I won't wait for you to calculate it slowly. I'll just tell you directly."
Hikigaya reached out and picked up the two debt tokens from the table, crossing his hands and swapping his and Jabami's tokens.
"My and Jabami's debts were swapped."
"So, each of Jabami's chips is worth 5 million, and one of my chips is worth 31 million."
"Now it makes sense, right?"
"What are you talking about, stupid... swapping debt tokens doesn't change the value of the chips..."
"Heh... do you remember what you said when the game started?"
"What did I say?"
Kiwatari once again fell into confusion.
At this moment, Hikigaya imitated his tone and said, "I'm a human, not some animal. I just happened to owe some money to a friend."
"The debts in this game were declared by ourselves."
"In other words, Jabami deliberately declared only 50 million in a 310 million debt. On the other hand, I had no debt, but declared 310 million."
Hikigaya's fingers curled and tapped the debt token on the table. "The chips can change, but this token has no signature."
Hikigaya held his thumb and index finger together, then slightly separated them. "Didn't you do the same thing? You made your friend receive 10 million. And my appetite just happens to be a little bigger than yours."
At that moment, Jabami Yumeko walked behind Hikigaya, her body lazily leaning down, resting the back of Hikigaya's head against her chest.
The two of them looked at each other with the red light of hell flickering in their eyes, casting a sinister glow over the debt tokens in their hands. "So, the values of Hikigaya-kun's and my chips were swapped. I didn't expect you to fall for it so easily~"
Seeing this, Tsubomi Nanami blushed deeply, clutching her mouth and murmuring, "Oh, my goddess~"
What kind of ridiculous joke is this?!
Kiwatari stood there dumbfounded. This is 310 million! The student council, President Kirari—this woman—just gave it away like that?!
He looked at Momobami Kirari and said, "Hey, hey, hey! This has to be against the rules! No matter how you look at it, this is too ridiculous."
"This is insane! This is 310 million yen! What good does receiving such a large false declaration bring to the student council?!"
Momobami Kirari's gaze turned completely cold. Her heart was now eager to have an in-depth conversation with Hikigaya. As for the idiot in front of her, who was as foolish as an ape, she had no patience left.
"You don't need to know."
"Kiwatari... You can't judge things just by your own values. People are all different."
"310 million, is that a lot?" Hikigaya raised an eyebrow, looking at Kirari Momose. "For President Momobami, 310 million is nothing compared to the emotional value she gets from a thrilling gambling game."
"Whether it's something forgivable or unforgivable, no one will always follow your wishes. This is..."
"Gambling~"
Yumeko Jabami let out a soft moan, unconsciously running her hands over Hikigaya's chest. It seemed that there, in that moment, lay the source of the bliss that could take her to paradise.
"So, Kiwatari, now you'll bear Hikigaya's debt, a total of 310 million yen."
...
What does despair feel like?
At this moment, Kiwatari was more than qualified to answer that question. The solid ground beneath him felt like the gates of hell opening up. Countless demons from hell reached out to grab his pants and drag him into the abyss. The boundary between reality and illusion began to blur.
310 million yen...
What kind of immense sum is this? Kiwatari had never had such a clear understanding of it. It was an amount that even if his politician father embezzled money for ten years, he would never see.
To become livestock was already inevitable... Soon, he would receive a life plan... and be sold like pork.
Can't repay... can't repay... can't repay!
Kiwatari pressed his hands to his temples, as if countless animals who had oppressed him in the past were appearing in front of him, mercilessly mocking him.
"Hikigaya-kun, you look rather cute with that dog tag~ Would you like to wear it a little longer?"
"No, it's borrowed from Juraku-senpai, I need to return it later."
In his ears, he heard the playful banter between Hikigaya and Yumeko Jabami, which made him dizzy.
So... that comforting dog tag was also borrowed from someone else.
"I... will never accept this outcome!" He seemed to be convincing himself to escape from reality, trying to psych himself up, "I am the son of a Chiba politician, I am Kiwatari from second year, I've contributed to the student council, I've done things for senior Mibuomi, you can't do this to me!"
Kiwatari collapsed to his knees, looking up at Kirari with pleading eyes, hoping she would let him off the hook.
But his humiliation did not earn him a moment of mercy from Momobami Kirari. Instead, he was met with boundless coldness:
"Your approval is not needed. Hyakkaou Academy will act according to the results of the game."
"So, Kiwatari... if you can't pay back 310 million, you will become the livestock you hate the most," Hikigaya slipped free from Yumeko Jabami's comfortable embrace, hands in his pockets as he walked behind Mombami, looking down at him.
"However, you probably can't repay this money, so what sacrifices will your father, the politician, have to make?"
Hikigaya pressed forward, each word deliberate, "Ki, wa, ta, ri."
At this moment, he resembled a bully tormenting a senior.
Kiwatari silently lowered his head, his face, hidden from view, had completely darkened.
His eyes lost their whites, leaving only endless darkness.
Bastard! Go to hell, you bastard!
What is Hyakkaou Academy, what is Momobami Kirari?! They should all die! A bunch of thieves and frauds!
His whole body trembled, as if he had lost control of his limbs from fear.
Only Hikigaya's brows furrowed slightly as he noticed Kiwatari's abnormal behavior.
His muscles are tensing up, he's about to make a move—
Hikigaya's pupils contracted as he followed the line of Kiwatari's tensed arm, seeing a butterfly knife in his hand, which had appeared there without his noticing.
'This guy is crazy, he's going to—'
"Die! If I can't live, I'll kill you first!"
"Kill you and I'll end up in prison! Damn livestock! Die!"
Kiwatari suddenly sprang up from the ground, the butterfly knife in his hand gleaming coldly.
As the notorious bully at Hyakkaou Academy, Kiwatari often encountered some naive livestock trying to resist him when he acted out. It was quite reasonable for him to carry a butterfly knife for intimidation.
He never imagined there would come a day when he'd actually use it.
However, this unexpected turn of events had completely disrupted the course of his life.
Now, his only thought was to kill the people in front of him who had caused him to fail, and the worst that could happen was being arrested by the police... and in Japan, even if someone were to shoot the Prime Minister, they wouldn't be sentenced to death.
At that point, he would reveal everything that had happened in the gambling hell of Hyakkaou Academy to gain sympathy and understanding from the public. He might even avoid prison!
So, everything would start with that damned culprit, Momobami Kirari.
This was Kiwatari's resolution.
His speed was lightning-fast. The people present barely had time to react when the sharp blade cut through the air with a harsh tearing sound, heading straight for Kirari's chest.
Except for one person.
Hikigaya Hachiman.