In front of the vending machine.
Hikigaya pointed his phone at the scanner. With a clatter, a bottle of MAX Coffee dropped into the pickup slot.
Hearing the sound.
Kiryuuin, who had just walked a short distance away, looked back slightly and saw Hikigaya returning again.
"Hikigaya? Are you here to check on the situation too?"
"Hello, Senpai. I suppose so."
Hikigaya took out the MAX Coffee and nodded.
He had originally planned to come over after Kiryuuin had left, but unfortunately, he was still noticed.
Although he didn't fear Kiryuuin, she was, after all, a troublesome person.
Therefore, he had only waited for a short while.
But would a normal person turn back just from hearing a slight noise?
And it was clearly the sound made by the vending machine.
Perhaps the matter with Nagumo Miyabi had affected Kiryuuin somewhat.
"Have you already seen him?"
"In a manner of speaking. I just observed a bit from the doorway."
"A wise decision. If you appeared before Nagumo now, he would probably be so ashamed he'd want to commit suicide."
Kiryuuin nodded.
She gestured toward the nearby bench with her chin, indicating for him to follow; this fellow was as self-centered as ever.
"Would it really be like that?"
"Probably. That guy's pride is unusually high."
Kiryuuin leaned against the bench, sipping the black tea in her hand.
She couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.
"I really didn't expect it to turn out like this. I didn't think someone as weak as Nishigishi would have the guts to do such a thing."
"Yeah, it was indeed unexpected."
Hikigaya nodded.
When facing Asahina, he felt somewhat guilty.
But facing Kiryuuin, it felt more like a normal chat between two uninvolved people. After all, both of their relationships with Nagumo Miyabi were not very good.
He could be more himself.
"It's just that it's also somewhat within reason."
"Oh?"
Kiryuuin raised an eyebrow: "How so?"
"It's nothing, I just can somewhat understand Nishigishi's feelings."
Hikigaya sighed.
He believed Nishigishi had also worked hard in his own way, discarding his dignity to constantly flatter and please Nagumo Miyabi, but unfortunately, there was really no way through.
"I don't understand."
Kiryuuin shook her head slightly.
"Now Nishigishi is undoubtedly a criminal. Even being expelled would have been better than this, wouldn't it?"
"A momentary impulse—there's no helping that. It's not something incomprehensible."
Hikigaya sighed.
He could completely understand how desperate Nishigishi might have been at that moment and how much he detested Nagumo Miyabi.
The fault was naturally Nishigishi's.
He had already accepted the punishment he deserved and was handed over to the police by the school.
But the result is as it stands now.
Nagumo Miyabi perhaps thinks that strength is supreme, and that it is only natural for weaklings without ability to be expelled.
However.
This strength was judged subjectively by Nagumo Miyabi.
Nishigishi simply changed the path.
Facts proved.
The effect of a knife being plunged into the body is the same.
There is no distinction between strong and weak.
"I suppose so, but in my view, it was foolish."
Even though such a thing had happened, Kiryuuin remained full of arrogance.
"Kiryuuin-senpai, don't you plan to take this incident as a learning experience?"
Hikigaya was a bit speechless: "Honestly, if you continue like this, be careful or you might get stabbed too."
"Hahaha..."
Kiryuuin laughed as if she had heard a joke, not taking it to heart at all:
"Before the opponent intends to attack me, I will crush them first."
"In the end, it was because Nagumo lacked ability during the last special exam. He didn't have Nishigishi and Takatomi expelled together; otherwise, this wouldn't have happened. That guy's strength is only at that level."
"..."
Hikigaya's eyelid twitched, but he didn't respond.
Asahina felt that everything was Nagumo Miyabi's own doing and that things turning out this way was only a matter of time; she hoped Nagumo Miyabi would take this as a warning and change.
Kiryuuin, however, simply felt that Nagumo Miyabi still lacked sufficient ability.
He hadn't considered things thoroughly enough.
If he were stronger, it naturally wouldn't have turned out like this.
People really are different from one another.
There is no right or wrong.
It's just that by the time one suffers a loss, it might already be too late.
Forget it.
Kiryuuin's family background seemed to mean she didn't need to worry about this. If she were outside, Hikigaya fully believed she would have bodyguards following her at all times.
She truly just couldn't understand.
Ninety percent of troubles are related to money; those who have long resided in high positions cannot empathize with the poor.
They cannot understand why someone would harm others for a small amount of money, just as a perpetrator cannot understand the victim's pain.
Hikigaya couldn't understand either.
Why Kiryuuin would choose to go to work instead of wanting to be a rich person.
Forget it, it had nothing to do with him.
She was just a school senior he happened to run into while buying coffee downstairs.
"However..."
Just as Hikigaya wanted to take his leave, Kiryuuin smiled thinly again:
"Thanks to this incident, Nagumo will probably spend the time until graduation lying in a hospital bed."
"Class A, having lost Nagumo Miyabi, is not worth mentioning. Plus, with your significant adjustment to the special exam rewards, Class B will have a much better chance of rising to Class A."
"That guy Kiriyama is very happy, you know."
Hikigaya didn't know what to say.
Was it his own problem, or was Nagumo Miyabi just that unpopular?
The man had been stabbed and sent to the hospital.
The first reaction was actually that it was a good opportunity to rise to Class A.
People with outstanding abilities are mostly similar to Sakayanagi Arisu—more rational.
It's just that Hikigaya didn't quite like it.
It was still more comfortable chatting with Ichinose and Asahina; it likely had to do with their upbringing.
"Would Kiriyama-senpai be happy?"
Hikigaya said with some concern: "Although I've only met him a few times, he doesn't seem like the type who would be happy."
"It doesn't show on the surface, but I can see it."
Kiryuuin seemed very certain.
Although she didn't seem to have a good relationship with Kiriyama Ikuto, they had been in the same class for three years, so she definitely understood Kiriyama better than he did.
"Is that so."
Hikigaya didn't care too much, simply saying:
"Then I'll congratulate you in advance, Senpai. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
"See you next time."
Just after walking a few steps, he was called out to again by Kiryuuin.
"By the way, you seem to be dating that person named Sakayanagi, right?"
"Yes."
"The Chairman also seems to have the surname Sakayanagi; what is their relationship?"
"The Chairman is Arisu's father. Is there something, Senpai?"
"Nothing for now. I'll find you when there's an opportunity!"
Only then did Hikigaya turn and leave.
It was normal, though.
Most people probably couldn't name the Principal.
Kiryuuin was as self-centered as ever...
However.
The last meeting was already several months ago.
Whether it was Asahina or Kiryuuin, he felt the relationships had grown somewhat distant.