Chapter 111: She is Sakayanagi Arisu, Not Arisu Sakaya-C!
In the infirmary.
"......" Ayanokouji remained silent, saying nothing.
Hirata Yosuke had expected him to refute or show some frustration, but the other boy just maintained a quiet silence. This actually caused a sliver of unease to rise in Hirata's heart.
Ayanokouji's reaction was simply too different from that of an ordinary student.
However, Ayanokouji then spoke, "I estimate that next, the school will organize another exam."
"Is that so?" Hirata was taken aback, but he simultaneously understood the implication behind Ayanokouji's words. He nodded vigorously. "If there really is another exam, then if there's anything you need me to do, Ayanokouji-kun, please just say the word. I will definitely do my best to help."
To him, regardless of the exam type or difficulty, as long as it helped Class D and made the class better, he was willing to do it. Furthermore, after this deserted island exam, he understood more clearly that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was a highly capable person. As long as they coordinated well, Class D would surely achieve better results in the upcoming exam.
Of course, there was another reason.
Ayanokouji's methods often carried an aggressive edge. Hirata had secretly decided that if a situation arose where someone needed to be hurt or take the blame, he would be the one to do it, rather than letting other classmates face it.
"It's not necessary yet," Ayanokouji said flatly. "If there's a need, I'll find you."
His tone was devoid of even a hint of politeness or gratitude. It was as if Hirata Yosuke was merely a "tool man" who could be called upon at any time, only to be remembered when needed.
This caused the smile on Hirata's face—a face belonging to someone with max social skills and a natural "nice guy" personality—to stiffen slightly.
In truth, it wasn't that he hadn't felt Ayanokouji's coldness, nor was it that he hadn't sensed that in Ayanokouji's eyes, he was merely a useful tool. But he had been unwilling to believe it, always feeling that Ayanokouji was just bad at expressing his emotions and simply had a cold personality.
But now, Ayanokouji's words and his gaze were telling him that he was indeed a tool—a tool to be used at will and discarded at will.
Now.
Hirata Yosuke slowly withdrew his smile, his eyes carrying a hint of disappointment and hurt. He looked up, staring directly into Ayanokouji's eyes, his voice heavy.
"Ayanokouji-kun, is this your true face? So... cold-blooded."
He had always thought that although Ayanokouji was cold, deep down, there was a sliver of warmth, and that he cared about the students of Class D.
But it seemed he was wrong.
In Ayanokouji's heart, there were only his own goals and his own ambitions. Everyone in Class D, including Hirata Yosuke, was just a prop to achieve those ambitions.
"I have my own purposes," Ayanokouji said, not avoiding his gaze. "Just as you, Hirata, have your own obsessions. We are both working hard for our own goals; it's just that our methods are different."
He paused and added, "However, I do need your help."
"I will help others too," Hirata Yosuke shook his head gently, a trace of determination in his eyes. "But I help people not to be used, not to become someone's tool. I help others because I want to help them, because I hope everyone can be okay."
His obsession was to compensate for the regrets of his past—his failure to save his friend who was bullied into suicide. That incident had always been his inner demon, imprisoning him. Therefore, he now desperately helped those around him, desperately trying to protect the students of Class D who were at a disadvantage and had no help, wanting to make up for the regrets of that year.
But he never thought that his kindness and obsession would actually be used by someone as a tool.
Hearing this, Ayanokouji fell silent and didn't speak further.
He was well aware of Hirata Yosuke's weakness. However, he had already heard about this weakness when he saved Hirata previously.
He had thought that since Hirata was willing to tell him about his past, he would hold more weight in Hirata's heart.
But looking at it now, Hirata was still flawed.
And Hirata Yosuke's flaw was the fact that he couldn't save his friend back then. This regret made him passive, made him kind, and made him want to save everyone in need of help.
But this kindness, this obsession, in Ayanokouji's view, was useless—even a burden.
Because for the friend he failed to save back then, everything Hirata was doing now was meaningless. And if that friend truly considered him a good friend, they would never want him to live in the shadow of the past forever, nor would they want him to be used by others because of this obsession.
Therefore, Hirata could have struggled out of the past long ago. He only needed someone to say that one sentence to him, and he could come out.
But Ayanokouji would not tell Hirata these things.
He didn't need Hirata's kindness or his obsession; he only needed Hirata to be usable for his own ends, to help realize his ambitions.
But it seemed that this version of Hirata was not easy for him to use.
Hirata was too kind, too soft-hearted, and cared too much about others' feelings. Such a person finds it hard to follow orders completely or use any means necessary to achieve a goal.
Perhaps he needed to find a way to make Hirata completely subservient.
Ayanokouji's gaze darkened slightly, and a thought flashed through his mind—perhaps Class D needed someone to be expelled.
Only by letting Hirata see with his own eyes that his kindness and obsession cannot protect everyone or make up for all regrets—only by letting him fall into utter despair—would he understand that only by becoming strong and following Ayanokouji's orders could he truly protect those he wanted to protect and truly make up for his regrets.
Only then could Hirata Yosuke be completely under his control and become his most useful tool.
Thinking of this, Ayanokouji's gaze became even colder.
He recalled again when he and Chabashira Sae were preparing to talk at the theater before the exam started, and Karuizawa Kei happened to pass by.
Although Karuizawa was only there to return Sakura's camera and seemed to be completely enjoying life on the ship.
However, he was still somewhat concerned.
Because of Karuizawa's status—while a student of Class D, she was the core of the class's "gal" group. Even if her relationship with many boys was terrible or even incompatible, she was very popular among the girls. After all, the boys in Class D had little value within the class.
Presumably, in the eyes of the girls, the boys had been divided into three categories: Hirata, Koenji, and then everyone else.
Karuizawa also held a certain level of influence in Class D. Furthermore, she had now secured a position in the Student Council, allowing her to access Student Council information and interact more easily with students from other classes.
If he could obtain Karuizawa Kei's assistance and make her follow his orders, he could better manipulate Class D and better realize his ambitions.
Of course, ordinary students can't just join the Student Council at will, especially from the so-called "trash" Class D, and Karuizawa hadn't shown any stellar performance. Therefore, Karuizawa must have entered the Student Council through other channels or with someone's help.
It would be best if the person behind Karuizawa was Class B's Hikigaya.
Because if Karuizawa really was with Hikigaya, then by taking control of Karuizawa, he could have her backstab Hikigaya, eventually delivering a critical blow. Of course, Karuizawa could be used effectively in daily life; her influence in Class D was sufficient. By winning over Karuizawa, he could win over most of the girls in the class, making the Class D students truly follow his orders and climb up together.
He had reviewed the reasons for the failure of this exam. One was that he didn't have total control over Class D, which was why he could only watch as Class D's supplies were completely bought out by Class B. Second, the information that he was Class D's new leader was guessed by both B and C. How did B and C know? Did they think he purposely stayed behind for the exam, and since Hirata forfeited last night and someone happened to witness it, they filled in his name?
Of course.
It was also possible that Koenji betrayed him.
After returning to the cabin this morning, Ayanokouji had actually encountered Koenji sunbathing on the deck.
At the time, Koenji saw him and said:
"Oh my, Ayanokouji-boy, you're back. But it's a bit of a pity; your tactics were seen through by someone."
So.
It was still unknown through what channel Classes B and C obtained the intel that he was the leader.
But the fact remained that he wanted to show his strength in this exam and was attacked.
Besides this, Ayanokouji thought of Chabashira Sae.
The exam had been over for so long, yet Chabashira had never come to find him. Since she still held the ambition of letting Class D rise to A, he didn't believe she would be this quiet.
Since she hadn't come over, it meant the exam wasn't entirely over.
The deserted island exam was over, but the school had spent so much money chartering this ship; it was impossible for it to be purely for their relaxation and enjoyment.
Therefore, there must be another exam coming next.
And this exam would be his chance to truly show himself.
However, the exam questions were not yet clear, so he would make some arrangements for the time being.
Ayanokouji began to think.
Class A's strength could be confirmed from their 120 points; they weren't much.
As for Class C, Ryuen was indeed a threat, but the only one who made him feel he needed to be more serious was Class B's Hikigaya.
After all, Hikigaya Hachiman—the man who got 0 points but earned nearly 100 million private points, the man who could see through people's hearts and was skilled at planning—had definitely noticed him. Ayanokouji instinctively felt that the other party certainly knew he was hiding his strength and knew his ambitions. And since the other party was very close to Class A's Sakayanagi, perhaps he even knew his identity.
In Class D, Horikita Suzune and Kushida Kikyo both had good relationships with Hikigaya Hachiman.
Although Horikita was not mature enough and Kushida had some strange actions, if the three of them joined forces against him and Class D, his plans would be greatly obstructed.
So he had to think of a way to respond.
But without absolute certainty, Ayanokouji did not want to alert the enemy or have a direct conflict with Hikigaya Hachiman.
Therefore, he had to find a reliable assistant as soon as possible, take control of Class D, and improve his strength to prepare for the next exam.
And the most suitable candidate for this assistant was Karuizawa Kei.
Ayanokouji's gaze gradually became determined.
He turned and walked toward the infirmary door, leaving Hirata Yosuke alone, sitting on the sickbed with a complex expression looking at his back.
The infirmary returned to silence, leaving only Hirata's heavy breathing and the sound of the sea breeze from the window.
.
.
.
On the other side, Hachiman, possessing some measure of gentlemanly grace, stayed with Chabashira Sae at the stern for a long time until her emotions gradually calmed.
"Thank you, Hikigaya." Chabashira turned to look at him, her tone much calmer, her eyes holding a trace of relief. "If it weren't for you, I might have stayed trapped in the shadows of the past forever, and I wouldn't have understood why Chie became the way she is now.
And I would have continued to misunderstand.
And... I never seriously thought about some things from the past," Chabashira said.
"Don't mention it, Sensei," Hachiman shook his head. "I only spoke some of my own views. The one who can truly untie your heart knot is yourself."
He paused and added, "My goal is to give Class B the opportunity to rise to Class A. Once Hoshinomiya-sensei violates the bottom line, it's not a good thing for us. So I just want to protect our own class."
"Heh—" Chabashira smiled.
Protect the class? Even though you said earlier you wanted to protect Ichinose Honami in your class.
It seems Hikigaya is different from her back then; this guy is actually quite skilled in matters like romance.
"I have given up my ambition," Chabashira said. "So here, let me first wish your Class B continued progress. Hikigaya, you are a very capable person. You are even more excellent than I imagined."
So, was this Chabashira's praise?
"If I had been assigned to Class D, I really could have become your prized pupil, but that's not possible now," Hachiman said.
"You wouldn't be assigned to Class D. If you really were, the school system must have made a mistake," Chabashira said easily. She found that the boy before her seemed to have a power that made communicating with him—even as an older teacher—feel relaxed.
He showed no nervousness communicating with the homeroom teachers of other classes; on the contrary, he was very casual and occasionally gave her pointers.
It felt as though he was very experienced in conversing with women of her age.
"I think so too. If I were assigned to Class D, you wouldn't have found a treasure, you would have found a ghost," Hachiman said a few rare playful words.
Chabashira was ready to leave.
However, as she walked toward the other end of the corridor, she added, "It's late. I'm going back. You should rest early too and prepare well for the next exam. The next exam will be postponed, but it will be more intense than the island exam."
Is that so?
The VIP exam in the original story involved shuffling and regrouping students, where one student in each group would be chosen as the VIP. But the selection of the VIP followed a pattern.
The pattern was based on the Japanese syllabary.
Counting the VIPs based on the order of the zodiac and their syllabary rank.
One could say that as long as the pattern was seen through, the exam would be simple.
But since Chabashira said this now, it could be confirmed that the school intended to make changes.
And that girl Sakayanagi would likely be coming over.
But his reputation wasn't bad; before the exam, Big Brother Horikita gave intel, and now before the exam, Class D's homeroom teacher also gave intel.
Hachiman watched Chabashira Sae's back disappear at the end of the corridor before leaning back against the railing and looking up at the night sky.
The stars in the sky were still twinkling, the night breeze was still blowing, but his mood was different from before.
He took out his phone, unlocked the screen, looked at the messages from Suzune Horikita and Hiyori Shiina, and sighed softly.
He first replied to Hiyori Shiina: [Shiina-san, I'm sorry, I'm a bit busy right now and don't have time. I'll contact you once I'm done, and we can read together again, okay?]
Then, he replied to Suzune Horikita: [I have time tomorrow. Let's go eat burgers in the morning. Meet at McDonald's.]
Hiyori didn't reply immediately, but Horikita's reply was very fast.
However, it was only one word.
"Okay."
Yeah.
Okay.
Then ten minutes passed, and Horikita didn't send any more messages.
Speaking of which, you should at least ask what time in the morning.
Hachiman found that Horikita Suzune still didn't understand the human heart.
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Meanwhile, in the dormitory of Advanced Nurturing High School.
That night, Sakayanagi Arisu stayed in her dormitory alone.
The room was kept clean and tidy with a "little princess" atmosphere, just like the impression she gave. Usually, she started sleeping at 9:30, but today was different; she was a bit excited.
She sat at her desk, with a small, elegantly covered notebook spread out before her. It was densely packed with handwriting—all intelligence and analysis of this deserted island special exam. This intelligence was obtained in advance through her father's channels regarding the students' exam performance. Although she would know once the first-year students returned, she couldn't wait.
She quietly looked at the records in the notebook, confirming line by line, her fingertips gently sliding across the paper.
The island exam, class confrontation, leader system, point flow, the trajectory of each class... all of it was organized perfectly by her. And within this heap of cold words and data, one name was repeatedly circled by her—Hikigaya Hachiman.
Class B's Hikigaya Hachiman.
Sakayanagi narrowed her eyes slightly, a smile curving her lips.
She found that Hikigaya-kun had indeed done well, making such a big move on a battlefield without her.
Because with these arrangements, he had exchanged for nearly 100 million private points. Even with collaborators and the portion needing to be given to Class D, or even the profit split with Class B, more than 40 million private points belonging entirely to him had gathered in his hands.
This maneuver could no longer be described as "clever"; it was almost uncanny calculation and boldness.
No wonder that person used a recording pen with Nagumo-senpai's speech to forcibly keep her at school and prevent her from boarding the ship.
It turned out he was afraid that after her intervention, she would ruin his carefully arranged script.
"Truly... I underestimated you."
Sakayanagi murmured to herself, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
She admitted Hikigaya Hachiman indeed had some skill. On a battlefield without her, he could cause a ruckus alone, playing everyone in the palm of his hand—even Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was suppressed by him.
But that was all. Once the exam was over, he would eventually return to school. With her present then, she would never let him proceed so smoothly again.
Thinking this, she was about to close the notebook and end her thoughts for the day, but the spare phone on the corner of the desk suddenly vibrated. She had entrusted her phone to Kamuro-san, but she couldn't be without a phone at school, so she had applied for a spare from the school.
However, the sender of this new message was [The School].
Sakayanagi calmly picked up the phone and unlocked the screen.
The content was short, but it made her raise an eyebrow slightly.
[In three days, the first-year will have an additional special exam added on the ship. If you intend to participate, you must pay one million points for transportation. You may also choose not to participate and stay at school to wait for the return of the main group.]
Hmm...
One million points.
Not a small amount.
Sakayanagi made a judgment almost without hesitation.
She wouldn't go.
She indeed had enough points on hand; paying one million was no problem at all, but that didn't mean she was willing to waste it like that.
In her plan, she wasn't supposed to appear this time anyway.
Class A received 120 class points in this island exam, which was enough to stabilize their current ranking. Although Katsuragi-kun's arbitrary desire to win would result in everyone in the class having to share an extra 28,000 points or so in living expenses, it wouldn't hurt Class A's foundation.
Furthermore, if she didn't go, Katsuragi would continue to lead the second exam.
She knew Katsuragi's strength; he was definitely no match for Hikigaya-kun, and even inferior to Class D's Ayanokouji. Class A would likely suffer a loss, but Class A now had a foundation of 1175 points. It was just one exam; it couldn't possibly collapse completely, could it?
So, once everyone returned to school, she wouldn't need to do anything extra, not even fight. She just needed to step forward and naturally take over control of Class A, becoming the leader in name and fact.
This was the most stable, least effort, and highest return route.
"A class representative status picked up for free."
Sakayanagi Arisu uttered a sentence softly, tapped the screen with her finger, and decisively rejected the invitation to participate in the exam.
Having done all this, she closed her phone, turned off the desk lamp, and lay in bed.
The room instantly fell into silence, with only the faint moonlight from the window spilling onto the floor.
Since it was already late when she went to sleep, she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
However, the peace didn't last long. A dream struck without warning.
The scene in the dream was the school dock. The first-year students had finished the exam and were returning in a grand procession. Buses arrived one after another. Class A's people were at the front; Katsuragi looked exhausted, and the students behind him all looked terrible, as if they had been completely crushed.
After the Class A students returned to school, they first headed to the teaching building.
Sakayanagi instinctively followed them into the classroom, but she soon noticed something was wrong because her gaze fell on the class sign—the original Class A was gone. First it turned into Class B, then the writing distorted, finally becoming a glaring "Class C."
On the blackboard, the evaluation scores after everyone's return were written.
However, Class A's evaluation score was 250 points! A plummet from 1175 points to 250—a catastrophic fall.
Sakayanagi Arisu stood there, her blood seemingly freezing in an instant. she watched this scene in shock.
"Regrettably, our class has now dropped to Class C," the homeroom teacher, Mashima-sensei, announced the result.
How is this possible.............
Sakayanagi was incredulous.
Because with Katsuragi's steady personality, even if he couldn't win, he wouldn't lead Class A to Class C, right?
What happened? One exam and it exploded?
Was it Ryuen's conspiracy? Ayanokouji's scheme? Or...
Hikigaya Hachiman.
This name flashed through her mind. She recalled when she and Kamuro invited Hachiman out for a meeting before the exam; Hachiman's joke then was to give Class A a massive reduction of 1000 points.
That was naturally a joke.
However, he managed to get nearly 100 million points in a small island exam, so blowing up Class A in another exam was not... impossible, right?
And the "people harmony" among heaven, earth, and people would surely support him. Because if they wanted to blow up Class A with a massive point deduction, led by Class B, Class C would naturally be happy, and even Class D would join in.
Then, if she waited until Class A completely fell to Class C before taking over...
What would be the meaning then?
That wouldn't be taking over a victory, but taking over a mess that was rotten to the core and could no longer be fixed.
That wouldn't be the Queen's return, but returning to pick up trash.
"...!"
Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly opened her eyes.
Her chest rose and fell slightly, her breathing a bit faster than usual.
The room was still quiet, the moonlight still soft; everything was exactly the same as before she fell asleep.
So it was just a dream. A ridiculous, groundless nightmare.
But she lay on the bed, motionless, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes, silent for a long, long time.
Truly unseemly.
Just a dream, yet it made her waver for a moment.
No matter how incompetent Katsuragi-kun was, he wouldn't lead Class A to Class C. And no matter how powerful Hikigaya Hachiman was, he couldn't overturn the entire situation in one additional exam.
But the images in the dream wouldn't go away.
Because if that truly was the scenario, then for her... it might not be a matter of whether she could continue as class representative, but... she would have to find a chance to scrounge up 20 million points to run away.
After all, if the gap is too large, it's impossible to catch up—simply impossible. Perhaps Hikigaya felt Class C was a threat to his Class B from the start, so he took the initiative in the first month and deleted Class C's 1000 points.
And Hikigaya indeed obtained a huge amount of points in the first exam, but Sakayanagi didn't think he didn't want to rise to Class A. So, perhaps he was preparing to delete Class A in the second exam as well.
! ! !
Sakayanagi Arisu.
Now, at this moment, began to feel some fear.
She couldn't help but close her eyes, but when she opened them again, all the confusion and wavering in her eyes had vanished completely.
Replacing them was calmness and decisiveness.
Whether to spend 1 million now or have to accumulate 20 million later—she could tell the difference.
So, she reached out and picked up the phone on the bedside table again. Her fingers slid across the screen, finding the exam notice sent by the school just now.
This time, she didn't have the slightest hesitation.
[Withdraw my previous statement. I am willing to pay one million points for transportation to participate in the exam. I will head to the ship.]
Although it was just a nightmare and not some prophetic dream, since Class A had the risk of becoming Class C, she couldn't sit by and watch.
She is Sakayanagi Arisu, not Arisu Sakaya-C. She doesn't want to become Class C!
AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!
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