Chapter 53: I Ask You to Remain On the Sidelines
"..."
On a bright, sunny morning, Hikigaya, walking alone toward the school, reached up to tug at the collar of his uniform jacket a few times, letting out a small sigh.
The school's uniform does not change with the seasons; wearing the blazer is mandatory all year round.
The reason for this is simple: excellent heating and cooling systems are installed practically everywhere. There's no need to mention the rooms and lobbies of the school dormitories; even the hallways are perfectly equipped with air conditioning. Thus, the only drawback is the heat when traveling to and from school.
Fortunately, Advanced Nurturing High School, which boasts a vast campus area, has planted many roadside trees. Therefore, the sidewalks offer plenty of shade from the sun. Brilliant sunshine spilled onto the road leading to the school, where large trees on both sides stretched their branches freely, and stray cats licked their fur in the shade. Although it only takes a few minutes to walk from the dormitory to the school, a thin layer of sweat still formed on Hikigaya's back.
Hikigaya wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, only to discover—
"Meow..." A kitten let out a soft whine.
A black-haired girl squatting on the ground made an unfamiliar sound.
"Meow?" The small orange kitten tilted its head.
"Meow meow meow? Ooh meow ooh meow..." The black-haired girl also tilted her head, mimicking the kitten's action, and started speaking in "meows."
Hikigaya couldn't help but look around, but there was only Yukinoshita nearby.
He asked from behind Yukinoshita with some curiosity: "Yukinoshita-san, what are you doing?"
"What?" Yukinoshita's shoulder trembled, and she quickly stood up, answering Hikigaya's question as if nothing had happened.
"Uh, you were just talking to the cat."
"You must have misheard. Instead of that, shouldn't you hurry to school? I recall you were nearly late on the first day of school. How about you quicken your pace and go to the classroom?"
Yukinoshita's icy attitude was half again as severe as usual, appearing utterly ruthless. Her eyes, in particular, flashed with a compelling light, as if saying, Dare to say one more word, and I'll kill you.
"I-I understand, I'll be leaving now..."
Hikigaya fled from Yukinoshita's vicinity as if escaping for his life, walking towards the school building.
Just as he was about to get far away, Hikigaya looked back one last time—Yukinoshita was crouching in front of the cat, scratching its throat and gently squeezing the paw pads on the cat's tiny hand.
Hikigaya entered the school building, where a cool space greeted him. The refreshing breeze hit his face, causing Hikigaya to let out a sigh of relaxation.
Students who had exerted themselves during their morning practice were gathering near the classroom's air conditioning vents. To an observer, these guys looked like a cluster of insects around a light... That comparison might not be great.
Several Sakayanagi faction students were gathered around Sakayanagi-san, lining up to report something to her.
In that queue, Hikigaya could see two students who were originally part of the Katsuragi faction. Hashimoto Masayoshi, the handsome blond guy who had mistaken Hikigaya's name the first time they met, was also standing quietly in that line. According to Sakayanagi-san, Hashimoto Masayoshi is skilled at gathering information, and he was the one who first learned about the deserted island exam.
However, the fact that students from the Katsuragi faction could openly appear beside Sakayanagi-san indicates that the competition for the Class A representative is coming to an end.
After successfully leading all of Class A through the midterm exam, achieving the highest class point reward among the four classes, and providing Class A students with the "Service Club"—a path to gain a large number of private points without needing an exam—Sakayanagi-san's reputation in Class A has practically peaked. If it wasn't for Sakayanagi-san's health issues and overly radical ideas, which still cause some students to be suspicious of her, the Katsuragi faction might have already dissolved.
Now, only one failure and one victory are needed for Sakayanagi-san's position in Class A to be unshakeable—the failure caused by Katsuragi-kun, and the victory led by Sakayanagi-san.
Noticing Hikigaya's gaze, Sakayanagi said a few words to the student beside her and then raised her small hand to wave gently.
The student who was still reporting beside her immediately shut up and, along with the others, left Sakayanagi's seat. Before leaving, those students all looked at Hikigaya.
'Why does every single one of these guys have such a subtle expression? I'm a Class A student, just like you, and I didn't walk into the wrong classroom!
Hello everyone, I am Hikigaya Hachiman from first-year Class A.'
The slightly hurt Hikigaya mentally re-introduced himself.
"Hikigaya-kun, good morning. Don't just stand there; I have something I'd like to discuss with you." Sakayanagi gave Hikigaya a cute smile.
"Good morning, Sakayanagi-san, what do you need?" Hikigaya sat down in his seat and asked with some confusion.
"Hikigaya-kun, do you remember the dispute between Class C and Class D that Mashima-sensei mentioned earlier this month?" Sakayanagi asked in her delicate voice.
"I remember, why?"
"It seems Ichinose-san from Class B intervened. Ultimately, the Class C students chose to withdraw the complaint, and Class D was able to keep its class points as a result."
"I see..." Hearing Ichinose's name suddenly made Hikigaya recall the confession from that afternoon.
"You don't seem very interested, but never mind..." Seeing Hikigaya's mind wandering, Sakayanagi smiled helplessly: "What I wanted to talk about isn't that, but about this deserted island exam. Katsuragi-kun knows that I can't participate due to my health, and it seems he intends to seize this opportunity to make a push. A few days ago, the spy I placed in the Katsuragi faction reported that Katsuragi-kun went to meet Ryuen Kakeru from Class C."
'A spy, huh? That sounds very much like Sakayanagi-san's style.'
"Although it's not clear what Katsuragi-kun wants to do, Hikigaya-kun, could I ask you to remain on the sidelines during this deserted island exam?" Although Sakayanagi was smiling, she was intently staring at Hikigaya with a serious gaze.
"...What do you mean by 'remain on the sidelines'?" Stared at by those purple eyes that seemed to see through everything, Hikigaya was frozen as if under a spell, only managing to voice his question after several seconds.
"Actually, I'm an old acquaintance of Yukinoshita-san's older sister. Before I entered this school, she specifically asked me to help find an opportunity for her sister to train a bit, and I feel this deserted island exam is a good chance," Sakayanagi said with a relaxed tone, sounding completely unconcerned about Class A: "I plan to have Yukinoshita-san lead the Sakayanagi faction students in the exam and see how far she and Katsuragi-kun can go... So, Hikigaya-kun, I hope you won't intervene. Even if Class A loses status, it's fine. You just need to participate in the exam normally, like the other Class A students."
'So that's how it is. No wonder Sakayanagi-san often discusses things with Yukinoshita-san.'
"No, wait, Sakayanagi-san, you're talking as if I'm not only going to do something, but that I can also turn the tide... I'm just a normal Class A student, right?" Hikigaya couldn't help but argue.
"Who knows..." Sakayanagi smiled meaningfully, then continued: "In any case, if you promise not to offer advice or help to those two in terms of class competition and the exam during this deserted island exam, how about I unconditionally comply with one command from you?"
"Un-unconditionally comply? Does it need to go that far?"
'Doesn't that mean I can ask for whatever I want...?' Hikigaya swallowed.
"Oh my, you seem very interested." Sakayanagi gave a cunning and cute smile: "However, requests that exceed the student guidelines are not allowed."
'What the... I-I wasn't thinking of anything like that! Re-really, I wasn't.'
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