Chapter 004: Without Saying a Word, My Class's Great Archangel Voluntarily Resigns to Give Way to Someone Better
So, the two of them found an empty table and sat down.
Hikigaya looked at the lavish spread of food on the table—three meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, and tempura—emanating a very pleasant aroma.
Once the food was in front of him, Hikigaya-kun gave the portion that exceeded what he could eat to Ichinose and began his meal.
He had to admit, Advanced Nurturing High School really had something going for it; the food was incredibly delicious.
It seemed that once points were paid, they provided the best service. The shrimp was exceptionally tasty, and the dry-pot crispy fish was very springy—something he had never eaten before. It was fragrant, spicy, and crunchy. Aside from being a bit unfriendly to his "cat's tongue" (sensitivity to heat), the flavor was surprisingly good.
Hikigaya felt that his younger sister, Hikigaya Komachi, would definitely love this taste.
He wondered if he could visit the kitchen, but in this school, anything could be bought as long as points were paid, so perhaps he could pay points to get the chef's secret recipes.
Hikigaya let his mind wander.
However...
His attention was still inevitably drawn to the person across from him. After all, he wasn't eating alone right now; a girl whose beauty was on the level of a school belle was with him.
Although there was a long-standing etiquette of "no speaking while eating and no speaking while sleeping"...
The Ichinose-san sitting opposite him was a bit too quiet.
He didn't know that Ichinose-san's heart had just been subjected to three consecutive rounds of critical hits.
Initially, she had heard all sorts of negative news about herself from Hikigaya-kun's inner voice, then she felt she at least had some insight and intelligence, but now, the information she heard from Hikigaya-kun made her question her entire existence.
This school pursued "meritocracy." The Student Council President had already said as much during the opening ceremony when they enrolled. However, Ichinose hadn't realized the true meaning of those words until now.
The students were all specially recruited. The so-called interviews and written tests were just a smokescreen; all students were actually recommended by their middle school principals.
So, regardless of whether your grades were good or bad, you were actually a "pre-determined" student.
The current division of Classes A, B, C, and D represented the students' levels of ability.
Thus, everyone had been assigned to different classes upon enrollment, having already been evaluated for their strength once. Among them, Class A students were mostly elites, Class B were excellent ordinary people, Class C was more like a gathering of delinquents and thugs, and as for Class D—it was probably the recycling bin left over after everyone else was picked, though it didn't lack for "super-specialized" geniuses.
So, Ichinose's ranking as number one in the entrance exam was just an empty title.
Because she was assigned to Class B, not Class A.
And there were definitely people in Class A more capable than her.
At the same time, the rankings of Classes A, B, C, and D were fluid and would fluctuate based on "Class Points." Class points were the values the school assigned to each class after enrollment; the original score was 1,000 points, and special exams were arranged every month. If the evaluation points rose, the class ranking would rise. If the evaluation points fell, the ranking would drop.
Thus, Ichinose finally understood the meaning behind Hikigaya-kun saying that within a year at most, Class B would become Class D under her leadership.
It must be because she failed to protect that original 1,000-point evaluation score and then failed to play a useful role in the monthly special exams, causing the class to drop.
I am a sinner of Class B...
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-
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Finally.
The two finished their meal.
"Phew—" Ichinose exhaled softly.
Hikigaya also felt that she was hesitating to speak. She had specifically invited him to dinner today, so there was surely something she wanted to say.
Yet, after asking the question, "Does the phrase 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' suit this school?" she had remained silent.
And the colors on her face changed rapidly; she looked as if she were about to wilt.
Even though he had been in the same club as Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui back at Sobu High, Hikigaya still felt he didn't quite understand girls—especially Ichinose Honami, who was the type to be exceptionally cheerful. Her ability to self-regulate her emotions should be strong, yet her current mood was very strange. But the best way was to wait for her to recover on her own.
However, Ichinose's mood showed no signs of recovery.
"Hikigaya-kun!" Ichinose seemed to have made some sort of decision. "Can you..."
She spoke.
Her gaze was filled with expectation and a sense of "entrusting a legacy," her cherry-blossom-like lips parted: "Can I entrust Class B to you? You be the Class B representative, and I... I'll just support you!"
Hikigaya Hachiman: "..."
Oh.
He understood every word, and the word order was correct, but why did it feel so wrong when combined?
Because...
Huh!?
.
.
.
Lunch break. First-year Class B classroom.
After Hikigaya and Ichinose finished lunch, they returned here. Advanced Nurturing High gave students many luxuries, but the lunch break was actually quite short. So, basically, after eating, they had to return to the classroom, rest for a bit, and prepare for the afternoon classes.
However, in contrast to Ichinose, who was already chatting with other students with a relaxed expression, Hikigaya-kun was in a daze.
Because...
The representative of their Class B had actually shirked her responsibility, offloaded her heavy burden, and run away.
And she even wanted to hand the mess over to him!?
'You can't be like this, Ichinose-san. To some extent, although Class B has advantages in academic and physical ability—and even the students are united, helpful, and friendly.
But this kind of "friendly class atmosphere" is exactly what I'm not good at.
And there are some rather special students in your class, too, like Shiranami-san...'
"No, you're not allowed to speak i-ill of Ichinose!" A voice suddenly rang out.
It was like a tiny fledgling facing a dangerous enemy, yet summoning all its courage to fight back desperately.
But...
After Shiranami Chihiro said this, the surrounding classmates looked at each other in confusion. Because no one had spoken ill of Ichinose-san.
Or rather, who would speak ill of the "Great Archangel-like" Ichinose-san?
Shiranami Chihiro also finally realized that her surrounding classmates seemingly couldn't hear Hikigaya-kun's inner voice.
"S-Sorry—" Shiranami Chihiro quickly became pitifully flustered.
And her strange state caught Hikigaya's attention.
After all, if this were Sobu High, he basically wouldn't communicate with his classmates during lunch break. He felt much of it was "ineffective socialization"—you socialize and greet someone, and the next time you meet, you have to greet them again. It's polite, but in reality, the relationship isn't actually that good.
So it just becomes awkward.
Hikigaya didn't want to fall into that kind of socializing. So during lunch break, he was accustomed to either crossing his arms on the desk and burying his head to sleep, or maintaining that posture to eavesdrop on his surroundings.
He treated this behavior as "human observation."
I can understand you, but I don't want to befriend you and be forced into boring socialization.
But for now, he had to focus on the task at hand.
Hikigaya took out the phone distributed by the school. Because of the different time and setting, combined with the fact that the students around him were real, living people, and the feeling of fullness from the meal in the cafeteria, he had confirmed that this was not a dream; he had truly transmigrated.
But he wasn't very panicked.
Transmigration was basically a privilege reserved for protagonists. So he didn't need to worry.
After all, he had been ordinary his whole life, with no particularly dazzling qualities. Although he had joined the Service Club and was in the same club as a beautiful girl like Yukinoshita, he didn't look at them through tinted glasses.
If he were truly the protagonist of some story, then logically, there should have been a romantic plotline between him and Yukinoshita.
But it had been a year since joining the club, and there was nothing. Nothing at all. She was even still that sharp-tongued toward him.
So...
Even though transmigration had fallen upon him, he also felt that he might soon be corrected by the so-called "will of the world" and sent back.
He just didn't know how long that would take.
But it seemed there were parts of this that could be utilized.
That is, the "Classroom of the Elite" world was a good world.
Not only did it provide preferential treatment to those with strong insight who were good at finding and exploiting rules, but there were also many girls with different personalities and statuses.
Except...
Did he actually think the good part of the "Elite" world was... that there were many girls with different personalities and talents?
Although it sounded exaggerated, in his own world, Hikigaya had already completed his first year of high school. He was about to enter his second year, and at this time, many students began thinking about their future direction.
Higher education or employment?
It was a pressing question he had to consider.
But...
Hikigaya's future direction had actually always been just one thing: to become a professional house husband!
That's right.
His ideal was to be a house husband! Not the one who goes to work and does overtime.
Because, as the pillar of the household, people say it's great to have someone to say "I'm home" to, or that seeing a child's sleeping face gives you the strength to work overtime the next day. But you could say those things at your parents' house, too.
And most importantly, being able to see a child's sleeping face implies you just finished working overtime—can that truly be called happiness?
Oh.
How terrible.
However, his ideal of being a house husband was likely difficult to achieve.
His sister, Komachi, had even complained that she was worried her brother would die alone because he had no idea how to pursue girls.
So, if he could take this opportunity to accumulate experience here and then apply it to Yukinoshita, wouldn't there be a chance to leave his single life behind?
Yes, Yukinoshita.
Although "a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow," in reality, acquaintances are easier to approach.
And the target he chose would likely be Yukinoshita Yukino.
Because if he married Yuigahama, he'd have to worry that Yuigahama's ability might not be enough to support him—he might even have to go to work himself.
But Yukinoshita was different.
Because Yukinoshita had a good head on her shoulders and strong learning ability; no matter how you looked at it, she was the type of independent girl who would be excellent in the future, good at her job, and earn a high salary.
So if he could marry Yukinoshita, he could peacefully be a house husband. In fact, because Yukinoshita's salary would be so high, he might even be able to support his sister, Komachi, as well.
That way, the problem of his sister's old-age care would be solved too.
Of course, ignoring the emotional foundation, the person who could best satisfy his requirements for being a house husband was actually Yukinoshita Haruno.
She was the successor to the Yukinoshita family. As an excellent successor, she might very well recruit a "mediocre" husband to ensure there would be no negative impact on the Yukinoshita family.
So, for someone like him who only wanted to be a house husband and had at most one sister as "luggage," he might hit it off instantly with Yukinoshita Haruno.
But that woman's level was even higher than Yukinoshita's. She was a "big boss."
Hikigaya didn't think he could control her; he'd probably be toyed with in the palm of her hand.
However, despite thinking all this, he should first confirm one premise.