Chapter 035: Seriously, Why Did You Suddenly Perk Up, Sakayanagi!
"What do you mean, 'what to do'?" Horikita Suzune furrowed her brows in confusion.
The reason Horikita was having breakfast with Sakura today was purely a "sequel" of her stopping Hikigaya for a talk yesterday.
Hikigaya had pointed out that the school placed her in Class D precisely because her greatest weakness lay in interpersonal relationships; because she had been a loner for so long, the school judged her as unsociable and lacking in social skills. Thus, even if she was excellent in other areas, she received a massive deduction in this one!
Horikita didn't entirely agree with this evaluation in her heart, because she indeed was always alone.
However, that definitely didn't mean she lacked the ability to interact with others! So, when she went out this morning and happened to run into Sakura also heading to the cafeteria, she took the initiative to walk with her.
See? Didn't this prove she still possessed social skills?
"It's... it's the points." Sakura's voice was hesitant as she added timidly, "Some... some classmates posted the evaluation... the evaluation points for this month in the class group chat. They said... said our Class D and Class C are the same—both are at 0 points."
"We only lost 0 points?" Horikita blurted this out almost instinctively, as if her subconscious was desperately trying to avoid that terrifying answer.
Because.
Yesterday, she had asked Hikigaya if Class D was still salvageable. Would it be feasible if she led Class D on an upward climb?
The answer he gave was negative.
He even told her bluntly that her brother, Horikita Manabu, could lead an entire class like a "one-carrying-thirty-nine" force, but she could never achieve that.
Horikita was naturally aware of this, but she still wasn't willing to be a "failure." She yearned to try leading the class upward; after all, Class D was already at the bottom with nowhere to fall, which instead provided room to rise.
Though Hikigaya had provided another path: collect 20 million points and then transfer classes.
At the time—20 million! She hadn't even managed to scrape together the 200,000 points her brother had paid on her behalf. So 20 million was an even more astronomical figure.
For Horikita Suzune, the challenge seemed even greater.
It was an almost impossible goal.
So, she felt she might still have to choose leading the class. Although Hikigaya said Class D had a lot of dead weight, logically speaking, it couldn't be that exaggerated, right? Even if the students in the class were hard to communicate with, if she spent enough time...
Yet at this very moment.
What was Sakura saying?
Class D has 0 points? In the very first month's special exam... already at 0? The initial 1,000 points... in one month... stripped bare?
That was 1,000 points!
Horikita instinctively refused to believe this fact.
But Sakura's thin, weak voice had already clearly reached her ears.
"N-no. It seems our base 1,000 points were, last month, deducted... all deducted. So now it's 0 points." Sakura's voice grew lower and lower, nearly drowning in the background noise of the cafeteria.
"So at 7:00, we didn't receive the living expenses transferred by the school. And n-now, perhaps we have to s-save... live frugally."
Sakura Airi looked at the 17,000 points remaining in her account. these 17,000 were all she had to rely on for survival this month.
As for Horikita Suzune, she was completely lost in thought.
She suddenly realized that the goal of collecting 20 million didn't seem like such an astronomical, impossible task anymore—because, compared to a class that could lose 1,000 points in a single month, the former seemed... slightly simpler.
.
.
.
At the same time.
The student dormitories.
Sakayanagi Arisu was still in her room. As someone who required a cane to move and traveled slowly, if she wanted to eat at the cafeteria, she would have to wake up very early.
However, Sakayanagi happened to be someone who loved to sleep in.
Therefore, it was usually her "puppy," Kamuro-san, who woke up early to buy breakfast for her. After Sakayanagi finished eating, they would head to the classroom together.
Right now, the two had already finished the breakfast that was bought.
As Kamuro was tidying the tableware, she keenly sensed a subtle change in Sakayanagi's state.
Originally, upon waking up in the morning, Sakayanagi Arisu had been somewhat groggy and sluggish; even while enjoying breakfast, she hadn't fully come to her senses.
Yet now, after staring down at her phone screen for a moment, an unprecedented spark suddenly injected into those eyes of hers—eyes that were usually weary or playful. The corners of her lips curled up slightly and unconsciously, revealing a genuine smile. Her entire aura became... well, radiant.
"Sakayanagi?" Kamuro called out with a hint of confusion.
"Heh, how interesting." Sakayanagi Arisu's fingertips lightly tapped the phone screen, her voice crisp and pleasant.
"The Student Council members have announced the evaluation scores for the four first-year classes: Class A with 955, Class B with 911, Class C with 0, and Class D with 0."
Sakayanagi looked up, a glimmer of deep interest shining in her eyes.
"When Hikigaya-kun from Class B went to see Ryuen before, I felt there was a trick involved—Class C was bound to be set up. But what's worth pondering is... Class C actually has 0 points. I had originally estimated Class C's score would be around 400, or 300 if he was being ruthless. But now, it's actually 0."
She paused, her smile deepening, carrying the excitement of someone who had met a worthy opponent.
"It seems that Hikigaya-kun from Class B has done something... much more brilliant than I imagined.
I feel that this boring school life has finally added... an interesting variable. Hikigaya-kun is worthy of being my opponent."
Oh.
Ah?
Wait.
So, you were suddenly angry yesterday, and today you've suddenly found your fighting spirit.
Kamuro felt she still didn't quite understand Sakayanagi Arisu.
"Wait—" As a member of Class A, thinking about how she needed to hold out until graduation to get into her desired university, Kamuro Masumi quickly noticed another point.
And that was.
"Our Class A has 955 points, but Class B actually has 911 points?"
Yes.
This was what she focused on.
Class B was actually this fierce? Even though they only learned the essence of the school 10 days after enrollment, they managed... to stay so close to Class A, who had known the truth from day one and spent the whole month living as perfect model students!
It was ridiculous.
Read ahead (50 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting