Chapter 47: Your Choice Was Right
The moment their eyes met, Horikita instinctively turned her head away.
'Hey, that's pretty hurtful.'
Though he couldn't see Horikita's expression, her words reached his ears.
"This was your doing, wasn't it?"
"I'm not that capable. Handling that huge workload alone? That's straight-up corporate slave territory."
Horikita turned back, this time not avoiding Hikigaya's gaze, as if trying to see through his lies.
Now Hikigaya felt shy. He wasn't good at eye contact and always avoided others' gazes deliberately. This made things awkward for him.
Seeing Hikigaya turn away, Horikita merely looked back at the detailed plan on the blackboard and sighed softly.
"As expected… I don't quite understand you."
"Hm…"
Assuming you understand someone is an arrogant act. It embarrasses both yourself and the other person, so…
This feeling wasn't wrong.
"Why do you have this kind of ability yet hold yourself back? You could clearly be in a higher class."
"No, I'm not as great as you think."
Since the school placed him in Class D, there was a reason for it and an undeniable flaw. Hikigaya knew this well.
As for rising to Class A, Hikigaya had no grand ambitions or goals to achieve. He just wanted a peaceful high school life.
Even if Horikita Suzune wanted his help to reach Class A, since he had no such intention, it would never happen.
But Horikita wasn't without growth. As long as Hikigaya stayed in this class, the long-term benefits would far outweigh the drawbacks.
Maybe one day, he'd change his mind.
[Kōenji, arms behind his head, watched the video almost lying down.]
[Though he rarely appeared in the video, whenever he did, he only looked at himself. After all… he was too beautiful.]
[The rest of the time, he observed this student who'd never appeared in Class D. Though he didn't know what this video was, after this period of observation, he could tell it wasn't man-made. It had to be something like a parallel universe caused by unnatural phenomena.]
["Still, it's quite beautiful. This Class D is much more beautiful than the current one."]
[Though no one wanted to admit it, it was true. Even the usually hot-tempered Sudo felt envious seeing his milder self in the video.]
[It was that never-before-seen boy who somehow changed his long-standing personality.]
[Kushida Kikyo: "Actually, I prefer that version of Class D too. But I believe if we want to change, we can become like that."]
[Under Kushida's encouragement, Class D's morale surged. Outside the video, Horikita Suzune was also envious of her video self.]
[She knew well that, though her brother's attitude hadn't changed much, she could sense subtle differences. Clearly, he preferred that version of her.]
[Horikita Suzune couldn't help but envy herself.]
[Like Kōenji, Ayanokouji, through long observation, concluded this wasn't a man-made scene. It was practically a parallel universe. Though he didn't know why he was absent from that world, the focus now was on the boy named Hikigaya Hachiman.]
[Though Ayanokouji wasn't there, the video still had reference value. Understanding everyone's true personalities and development paths would make it easier for him to use them later.]
Since most people agreed with Hirata and Kushida's plan, and it was Hikigaya's only way to ensure the whole class passed, it was a decent outcome in a way.
The classmates looked at the notes distributed by Kushida Kikyo. Since everyone's strengths varied, their assigned sections differed. In the last two weeks before the exam, they'd strive to meet these goals.
Clearly, Horikita's study group plan would need some adjustments.
Though they knew the plan, the classmates were still incredulous when they saw their assigned sections.
Someone had understood them to this extent? How much time did that take?
Yes… how much time did it take? Since the first day of school, Hikigaya had used all his spare time to observe everyone's actions, personalities, and habits. By analyzing their speech patterns and combining them with quiz results, he created the most reasonable plan.
When it was Hikigaya's turn, Kushida gave him a quick wink, flashed a big smile, and placed the note on his desk.
"Um…"
"Kōenji, do you have a problem?"
Hirata looked at the blonde man with concern. After all, the class's only variable was him.
He was uncontrollable, something everyone in the class knew.
"I mean, asking me to score perfectly, is that really okay?"
Kōenji turned, ignoring Hirata, looking toward Kushida and Hikigaya—or rather, just Hikigaya.
"No one can affect your beauty, right…"
Hikigaya glanced at Kushida, who quickly nodded in response.
"Oh? Interesting…"
Kōenji casually flicked his blonde hair and took out his cherished mirror, saying: "Your choice was right."
Hikigaya knew those words were meant for him.
Though in everyone's eyes, Kōenji was the biggest variable, to Hikigaya, he was the most stable.
After all, no matter the test, Kōenji would always aim for a perfect score on a whim.
(End of this chapter)