Chapter 42: Your Duty Is to Protect
[Ike: "It actually worked… That's unbelievable!"]
[Yamauchi: "He really changed the original outcome again. How does he do it… He doesn't even seem to do anything."]
[Horikita: "I'm getting more and more curious about what he's planning to do."]
[Ayanokōji stared at the boy. At this point, it was nearly impossible to say he was a White Room assassin, but… he had undeniably taken Ayanokōji's place.]
['This can only be explained as a supernatural event. But… you've made me curious. What kind of changes will happen in your world?']
[Sudo: "So awesome, really awesome. I'm actually studying! It's unbelievable!"]
[Kōenji, hands behind his head, eyes closed, said: "Don't laugh too soon before avoiding expulsion, Red-Haired Boy. Even if you study hard, no one can guarantee you won't get expelled."]
Having finished her tracking task for the day, Kamuro began reporting Hikigaya's activities to Sakayanagi, who sat at a chessboard.
Sakayanagi: "So, you're saying he noticed you?"
Kamuro: "Probably… yeah…"
Sakayanagi gave a faint smile, then picked up a pawn and placed it in a corner of the board.
Here, it had no targets to attack and was out of reach from being attacked—a perfectly protected princess.
Sakayanagi: "Actually, you were noticed long ago."
Kamuro: "Huh? When?"
Sakayanagi: "Who knows? Probably the first day I sent you to follow him."
Kamuro: "But… I never felt him looking at me, except today…"
Sakayanagi: "That's because he thought you were harmless, so he pretended not to notice."
Kamuro: "How…"
Sakayanagi: "Because the last time I met him, he already mentioned it… though he didn't care."
Recalling her foolish behavior today, hiding from his gaze despite already being spotted, Kamuro must have looked like an idiot to him. Her cheeks flushed red.
Sakayanagi: "Anyway, even if he noticed, keep following him and reporting his movements."
Kamuro: "Why?! There's no point anymore, is there? If he knows I'm watching, everything we see is what he wants us to see."
Sakayanagi picked up a king piece and placed it firmly in front of the pawn, the sound of the piece hitting the board echoing through the room.
"You still don't get it. I didn't put you by his side just to track or monitor him."
"I promised him I'd protect him properly."
Sakayanagi turned, her usual eerie smile on her face. To Kamuro, she looked like a devil cloaked in angel wings.
In chess, the pawn is both the weakest and the strongest piece. She'd said it before.
No matter what, she'd ensure he could spend his three years in this school safely.
Whether in any class, as an enemy or ally, Sakayanagi wouldn't change her stance.
Just keep him safe—that was all.
[Hikigaya looked at her, his heart filled with countless questions.]
["Why go to such lengths for me? In my ten-plus years, no one has ever paid such a price for a nobody like me. I've always been a self-serving person, never contributing to others. The one exception was probably saving Yuigahama's dog, and that's it."]
["But this girl is different. We've only met a few times, yet she treats me like this. I don't have anything special. If she wanted to use someone, she wouldn't pick someone as weak as me…"]
[Hikigaya still couldn't grasp Sakayanagi's thoughts. This silver-haired fairy was like a devil who could see through everything, yet she never did anything to harm him.]
[It was becoming harder to understand. The students and senseis in this school were so different from his understanding.]
[What did this classroom of the elite represent? What was the purpose of its existence?]
[Was this really just a school?]
[Hikigaya's heart couldn't help but question.]
Meanwhile, having finished a tiring day, Hikigaya lay in his dorm, pondering the meaning of this exam.
In a normal school, grades meant everything, but not here.
If it was just about weeding out some students to maintain a 100% advancement rate…
'What a cruel school…'
'Maybe, without realizing it, I'll fall behind and get expelled one day.'
Without figuring out the school's so-called passing line, low-scoring students had no clear goal.
Everything depended on senseis' words. Without enough certainty, at their current pace, catching up was impossible, and getting Sudo to pass was nearly out of reach.
As Hikigaya's brain felt ready to explode, he rolled over and fell off the bed.
"Forget it… I'll go downstairs and buy MAX Coffee."
Dreams were nice, but this school didn't have his beloved MAX Coffee. Though there were plenty of options, he'd tried them all, and none were a substitute for MAX Coffee.
For Hikigaya, days without MAX Coffee were tough. If he had enough points, the first thing he'd do was get the school to stock MAX Coffee to add some color to his dull high school life.
But with his current few thousand points, that wasn't happening.
Hikigaya stood in front of the vending machine, agonizing over what to drink.
Sour, sweet, refreshing…
Too many choices, none of which he liked.
Finally… his gaze landed on a bottle of black tea.
'It's been a while since I drank her tea…'
Just as Hikigaya bought the black tea and turned to head back to his dorm, a familiar voice came from nearby.
"I'm not the useless me that Brother used to know."
(End of this chapter)