Chapter 2: The Plan for leaving Class D
How do you determine whether a student is excellent?
According to the OAA system introduced in his second year at the Advanced Nurturing High School, students are graded in four areas: academic ability, physical ability, adaptive thinking ability, and social contribution.
Despite being one of the top female students in terms of overall OAA ability in Hachiman's year, Kushida Kikyo was placed in the lowest-ranked Class D because she had previously caused the collapse of her class during junior high.
Obsessed with the pleasure of being respected and admired, she wasn't capable enough to become the best in junior high. So, while concealing her darker emotions, she used her ability to always smile at everyone, help anyone, and listen to anyone's troubles.
Her goal was to become friends with everyone and gain the most dazzling position.
Even when accepting the dark secrets of her friends, in order to maintain her angelic image, she had no one to confide in.
The pressure accumulated, and unable to bear it, she anonymously vented and insulted others online. By chance, she was discovered by a friend, lost her standing as a "good friend," and was attacked by her classmates.
Even after being attacked, Kushida didn't just sit back and take it. She chose to expose others' true selves, causing students to turn on each other and the class to collapse.
.
.
.
"What do you want?" After the elevator came down, Kushida directly grabbed his collar, pulled him into the elevator, and pinned him against the corner.
As she pulled him in close, Hachiman could smell a faint fragrance typical of girls. Normally, being pinned like this by such a cute girl would make his heart race, but her fierce, menacing expression only sent a chill down his back.
"There are cameras. If you have something to say, we can talk in my room."
He pointed to the camera above the elevator. Upon seeing it, Kushida immediately let go of his collar.
Hachiman pushed her away and pressed the button for the 4th floor. When the elevator arrived, Kushida obediently followed him into the room and closed the door.
Kushida was a highly capable person. Her excellence in both academics and physical ability was only one aspect — her greatest strength was that while others had a handful of friends, she had dozens, even hundreds.
Students like her were extremely valuable in this school.
Hachiman put his bag of daily supplies on the desk and sat on the only chair in the room, keeping a poker face as he observed Kushida. Her harsh, stern expression showed she was not in a good mood.
"Take out your phone, unlock it, and put it on the table first." To show his sincerity, he took out his phone, unlocked it, showed her he wasn't recording, and placed it on the table.
"Tch." Clicking her tongue, Kushida also took out her phone, unlocked it, tapped around, showed him she wasn't recording, and placed it on the table.
Kushida was not a simple girl — his caution was not unfounded.
From his perspective, Kushida was the ideal person to be his partner. While Horikita Suzune had stronger overall abilities, Kushida's personality made her far easier to control. He also had reasons to persuade her to transfer classes with him.
According to his estimation, being in the same class as someone like Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who was adept at hiding, would not let him force Ayanokouji to drop out.
The only way was to suppress him by transferring to a higher-ranked class and defeating him.
"Today, Horikita mercilessly rejected your friendship request. You and her were in the same junior high school, didn't you?"
"That cold, noble aura and adorable face — she's arguably the most dazzling girl in Class D."
Seeing Kushida's face grow more stern, Hachiman continued casually:
"Her academic and athletic achievements in junior high were also the best. I imagine she was the top girl in your class back then, too."
"I don't know where you got that information." Kushida took a step forward, closing the distance until their feet were nearly touching. "But you must need something from me to come to me like this."
"Not necessarily you — you're just a more suitable choice." Hachiman, well-versed in psychological battles, recognized her attempt to reclaim control through presence and words. Compared to a certain someone, Kushida was still inexperienced.
"After all Horikita is stronger than you."
"Horikita this, Horikita that — then why don't you go to her?"
"I've got dirt about you in my hands. In your self-introduction, you said you wanted to be friends with everyone. I bet you don't want your dark past in junior high exposed, right?"
Seeing that Kushida had no response, Hachiman felt he had suppressed her spirit enough. It was time to inform her of confidential information the school hadn't made public — things like how class placements worked, the existence of class points and special exams, that only Class A received 'privileges,' and that 20 million personal points could allow for a class transfer.
"Twenty million personal points to transfer classes... So you want to move to Class A?" Upon hearing this, Kushida began calculating on her own. "Even over three years, two people combined couldn't reach even half of 20 million."
For an individual, collecting 20 million points was nearly impossible. But for a class, it was different. With 1,000 class points, a class could earn 48 million in one year.
Thanks to the existence of free welfare meals, they could theoretically gather enough to fund two transfers.
Hachiman's target was Class B. The leaders of Class A (Sakayanagi Arisu) and Class C (Ryuen Kakeru) had dominant, self-centered personalities. He didn't want to be a strategist — he wanted to be the decision-maker.
Ichinose Honami, the leader of Class B, wasn't as forceful. Most students in Class B were upright, rule-abiding types, making it easier to raise funds.
"Gathering the points through the class is simple. And it's not just 20 million — it's 40 million. I want you to be my partner and transfer classes with me." Hachiman tapped the table.
"Just like you hate Horikita, I also hate someone in Class D. So not only do I not plan to lead Class D to Class A — I intend to keep Class D permanently at the bottom."
"When are you supposed to gather 40 million? And won't transferring from Class D make us traitors?" Kushida had her own concerns. Transferring didn't align with her public image.
"I'll provide you with the 20 million to transfer after summer break. Before that, I'll transfer first and earn enough personal points during the special exams." Hachiman stretched, expressing his confidence in a relaxed manner.
In the first semester, there were two special exams with opportunities to earn a massive amount of personal points — especially the second one, which guaranteed millions of personal points and hundreds of class points. Since he already knew the answers, if he still failed, he might as well find a brick and bash his head against it.
"As for the reason for transferring — you can use whatever excuse you like. Say you fell for someone in another class and wanted to be close to them, for example."
"Why should I believe you have the ability — or that you'll actually give me the 20 million personal points?"
"Even if I fail, it doesn't harm you, does it? Just help me secretly and you'll get a chance to escape Class D. Isn't that a good deal?" At this, an unconscious smile appeared on Hachiman's face.
"After all my dear classmate, you wouldn't want what happened in junior high to... resurface, would you?"