Chapter 157: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's Scheme; Koenji, I Shall Seize Your Weakness!
The third day after the Special Test ended was also the final day on the cruise ship. By evening, the ship would dock, and everyone would return to the familiar campus to face a reality that had quietly shifted. The Class A of the first years was no longer Class A, and Class B was no longer Class B. However, for most students, this wouldn't truly sink in until they stepped back onto school grounds. For now, they only thought about how to squander the last bits of their free time.
The sunlight spread across the deck, warm and inviting. The sea breeze was gentler than previous days, lightly lifting the hems of clothes before letting them settle. Groups of students were scattered everywhere: some leaning against railings taking photos, some dozing on lounge chairs, and a few gathered to toss breadcrumbs into the air, drawing a swirling flock of seagulls overhead. The flapping of wings mingled with laughter, creating a lively atmosphere.
Hachiman found a relatively quiet corner and leaned against the railing, holding his camera. He had taken many photos over the past two days—seagulls, the sea, and occasional long shots of the ship. It wasn't that he had a particular passion for photography; he simply felt that since he brought a camera, he should leave something behind. He figured that once he returned, these photos would likely be stuffed into a folder and never looked at again. But while taking them, he was serious. It was the philosophy of: "Even if you work hard, dreams don't necessarily come true. In fact, most don't. But the fact that you once worked hard is enough to comfort yourself. Society is harsh to me, so at least let me be lenient with myself. If everyone were more lenient with themselves and everyone became trash, then 'trash' wouldn't exist anymore."
Of course, for Hachiman right now, at least in this moment, he genuinely wanted to take photos.
He aimed his lens at a seagull perched on the railing, but just as he was about to press the shutter, a figure appeared at the edge of the viewfinder. Hachiman lowered the camera and turned his head.
Morishita Ai stood a few steps away, her violet-blue hair fluttering in the wind as she tilted her head to look at him. Her gaze fell on his face, her brow slightly furrowed as if she were trying to recognize him.
"Hikigaya-kun?" she asked tentatively.
Hachiman looked at her. "It's me."
Morishita blinked and took half a step closer. Her violet-blue eyes scanned his face carefully before she let out an "Ah," as if finally confirming something. "You're not wearing your glasses," she said, her tone carrying a hint of surprise and an indefinable... disappointment?
Hachiman was slightly taken aback. "What glasses?"
"You know..." Morishita gestured with her hands. "The black, thin-framed ones you wore before. I saw you on the B1 floor a couple of days ago wearing them; I almost didn't recognize you." She paused and added, "To be honest, you look much better with glasses than you do now."
Hachiman fell silent for a second. He knew exactly which pair she meant—the plain lens glasses Chabashira-sensei had given him. He had only worn them that one time on the B1 floor and happened to run into her. It seemed Morishita-san was quite the elusive presence.
"Those glasses," Hachiman weighed his words, "I'm not used to them. When I wear them, even my classmates don't recognize me."
Morishita froze for a moment, then couldn't help but chuckle. It wasn't a big laugh, but her eyes crinkled with an "I get it" vibe.
"True," she nodded. "I didn't recognize you then either. Yamamura told me it was you, and I was stunned for a while." She looked at him again, as if confirming something. "So, you don't usually wear them?"
"Not really."
"Then don't wear them," Morishita said brightly. "If you wear them and even I can't recognize you, it's quite a hassle."
As she spoke, the corners of her mouth curled slightly, as if joking yet serious. After saying it, she seemed to feel it was a bit strange and quickly looked away, pretending to watch the seagulls fighting over breadcrumbs.
Hachiman looked at her but didn't respond. Morishita was an oddball; if one tried to fully understand all her strange remarks, they would eventually be assimilated by her. He remembered from the original work that she even tried to teach Ayanokouji how to "listen to the voice of nature." He put his camera away and leaned on the railing, gazing at the sea.
"We'll be back at school soon," he remarked casually.
"Yeah," Morishita nodded, leaning on the railing half a step away from him.
"Class A dropped down," Hachiman said flatly. "But your classmates seem quite calm."
Morishita's fingers tapped lightly on the railing. She turned her head and glanced at him. A flicker of wariness flashed in her violet-blue eyes, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; her whole posture tensed up.
"Hikigaya-kun," her voice dropped, laced with caution. "You aren't trying to squeeze information out of me, are you?"
Hachiman looked at her, somewhat helpless. "I was just asking."
"Even just asking isn't allowed." Morishita stood up straight, crossing her arms and lifting her chin slightly. Her expression screamed 'I'm not that easy to fool.' "Sakayanagi-san said that
once we return to school, everything starts over. We will handle our class's affairs ourselves. We don't need your concern."
She spoke with great solemnity, but the tension in her eyes betrayed her—she was likely genuinely worried that Hachiman would scout something from her.
Hachiman nodded and said no more. He hadn't intended to get anything from her anyway; he just found the calm of the Class A students unexpected and mentioned it in passing.
Seeing his reaction, Morishita became a bit embarrassed instead. She lowered her arms and leaned back on the railing. "It's not like I can't say anything... It's just, Katsuragi-kun said the most important thing right now is to stay steady. Empty titles aren't important."
She then added, "Also, Sakayanagi-san said there's a Sports Festival next semester. It's not too late for us to start preparing now."
Hachiman's eyebrows twitched slightly. The Sports Festival—he knew about this from the original story, but hearing it from Morishita confirmed one thing: Class A had already found a new direction and wasn't wallowing in the depression of their demotion.
'Morishita-san, didn't you just leak the info anyway?' Though, the fact that Class A students had been exercising frequently lately was impossible to hide. Anyone paying attention would notice. Thus, this information wasn't really a secret.
In the end, what mattered most was physical ability, training, and perseverance. Therefore, even if this information was revealed, the risk was low. Instead, it could be used to test him—the newly minted representative of the new Class A.
Hachiman could sense Morishita's gaze lingering on his face. But just as he was about to speak, a commotion erupted from the other end of the deck. Both turned their heads at the same time.
At the restaurant entrance, several Class A students were walking out. Leading them was Totsuka Yahiko—Katsuragi's number one lackey—followed by two or three other Class A boys. They were carrying trays, seemingly having just finished a meal.
Approaching from the opposite side were several people from Class D—Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudo Ken. The three were walking with their arms around each other's shoulders, wearing the typical lazy and smug expressions seen after an exam. Yamauchi held a drink bottle, shaking it as he walked, the liquid sloshing around.
The two groups collided in the corridor. More accurately, Yamauchi nearly walked into Totsuka.
"Yo—" Yamauchi took half a step back. After recognizing the person in front of him, his eyes lit up, and he immediately mocked, "Isn't this Class A... Oh wait, should I call you Class B now?"
His voice was loud, ensuring everyone around heard clearly.
Totsuka Yahiko's face instantly turned bright red. He froze in place as if he had been slapped in public.
"Yamauchi," Ike Kanji pulled at him from the side, though his tone was also full of schadenfreude, "Don't say it like that. They are still... Former Class A."
He deliberately elongated the word "Former" and winked at Yamauchi. Yamauchi caught on instantly and chuckled. Sudo stood nearby with his hands in his pockets; though he didn't speak, a smirk of someone watching a show hung on his lips.
Totsuka's chest heaved violently. He took half a step forward, his lips trembling as if to say something nasty—but a hand reached out from the side and pressed down on his shoulder.
Katsuragi Kohei had stepped out at some point. He stood behind Totsuka, his hand steadily holding his subordinate's shoulder. The force wasn't heavy, but it anchored Totsuka.
"Let's go," Katsuragi's voice was calm. "There's no need to care about this."
Totsuka turned his head to look at his leader's face. Katsuragi's bald head reflected the sunlight; there was no anger or resentment on that round face, only a heavy sense of composure. Totsuka opened his mouth to say something but ultimately swallowed his pride. He lowered his head and followed Katsuragi forward.
Although Katsuragi hadn't brought it up, he knew that his identity as the leader in the Island Test had been exposed, and then the VIP test... his mistake in rushing to answer for the Sheep Group's VIP made him a sinner of Class A as well.
The two Class A boys behind them followed silently. No one looked back, and no one spoke.
The smiles on Yamauchi and Ike's faces froze. Watching the backs of the Class A students, they suddenly didn't know what to say. It was a strange feeling—they had come to mock, but the other side simply didn't take the bait. Not only did they not react, but something in that silence made the trio feel like they were the immature ones.
Sudo frowned, staring at Katsuragi's back for a few seconds before clicking his tongue and looking away.
"Let's go, let's go," Ike pulled Yamauchi's sleeve, his voice lacking its previous pride. "This is boring."
The three left awkwardly.
Hachiman retracted his gaze and leaned on the railing without speaking. Morishita stood beside him, silent for a good while.
"Katsuragi-kun..." she whispered, not finishing the sentence.
Hachiman understood her. Katsuragi was indeed not simple. To be able to steady his mindset at a time like this and restrain his subordinates from acting impulsively—that level of composure wasn't something just anyone could achieve.
On the other side of the deck, Ike and Yamauchi had moved far off. Sudo, following behind, suddenly stopped and looked back toward a certain direction.
"Hey," he shouted to Ike, "Where has Ayanokouji been hiding these past two days? Why haven't I seen him?"
Ike scratched his head. "He said he wanted to read. He's been holed up in the library these past two days, borrowing a mountain of books to take back to the dorm."
"Reading?" Sudo's brow furrowed, his face full of confusion. "The exams are over, what's there to read?"
"Who knows." Ike shrugged. "Probably bored. Anyway, that guy has always been pretty weird."
Sudo didn't reply; he just frowned thoughtfully and then turned to follow them. The three disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Not far behind them in another corridor, Yukimura Teruhiko was leaning against a window holding a reference book. He pushed up his glasses, looking away from the backs of Sudo's group and back down to his book.
He shared a room with Ayanokouji, so he naturally knew what Ayanokouji had been doing. Reading? He was indeed reading. But those books weren't for leisure; they were neatly stacked on the desk—from middle school materials to high school textbooks, from basic analysis to advanced problem sets—categorized and organized with clear logic.
Yukimura's finger paused on a page for a second. He had originally thought Ayanokouji was the type of person who relied on talent and intuition to handle everything. But after observing him these past two days, he realized the man was actually very methodical. He wasn't flipping through books aimlessly; he was systematically organizing something.
But he didn't ask. Since their last conversation, he had decided not to involve himself in Ayanokouji's plans. Those matters concerning "unscrupulous means," "using girls," and "manipulating hearts"—he couldn't do them, and didn't want to.
Yukimura turned a page, his gaze falling on dense formulas. Rather than thinking about useless things, it was better to study honestly. This was the path he found for himself—relying on no one, attaching himself to no one, and using his own academic ability to make his way out. No matter how much this school churned, the numbers on a transcript wouldn't lie. He took a deep breath, tossed away his distractions, and continued reading.
On the other side of the ship's corridor, Miyake Akito was sitting on a bench by the window, holding a cup of ice water from a vending machine. His gaze was fixed on the condensation on the cup, his eyes a bit vacant.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka sat beside him, holding nothing, just quietly leaning against the backrest. The silence between them lasted quite a while.
"So," Miyake finally spoke, his voice dry. "You called me out just to say this?"
Ayanokouji turned his head to look at him. "What do you think?"
Miyake didn't answer immediately. This wasn't the first time Ayanokouji had sought him out. Since two days ago, this man had been appearing near him from time to time—either "happening" to meet in the library or "accidentally" sitting at the next table in the restaurant. At first, Miyake didn't care, thinking it was just coincidence. But as it happened more often, even a dull person would notice.
"Regarding the Monkey Group." Ayanokouji's voice was calm. "You were one of the members. And after the fact, Koenji compensated you with 500,000 points."
Miyake's face finally showed some emotion. "So, what do you want to ask?"
"Why Koenji rushed to answer." When Ayanokouji said this, his gaze fell on Miyake's face as if observing something. "A man like him doesn't do things without reason. Furthermore, he compensated you all afterward—500,000 points each. That doesn't seem like his style."
Miyake fell silent for a few seconds. He had indeed thought about this. Koenji Rokusuke, the man who lived forever in his own world, would actually proactively offer compensation? He still found it unbelievable. But he, Sato, and Wang Mei-Yu had indeed received the 500,000 points.
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "He didn't explain anything. He just said... someone needed him to help pass on some information."
"Pass on information?" Ayanokouji repeated the phrase.
"Yeah." Miyake nodded. "He said it in the class group chat. Asking Class D people to help contact Class C students, saying someone needed him to pass on a message." He paused and added, "Later, Ryuen from Class C went to find him. As for what they talked about, I don't know."
Ayanokouji didn't press further. Miyake truly seemed to know nothing; his understanding of Koenji was so scarce that he had to get information from the group chat.
Ayanokouji's expression didn't change, but his mind was racing. Koenji was helping someone pass information. Who was that person? Hikigaya Hachiman. He was almost certain of it. But why would Koenji help him? Koenji didn't care about class competition or anyone else, yet he was willing to cooperate with Hikigaya's plan.
Unless—Hikigaya gave him something he couldn't refuse. Not points; Koenji didn't lack points. It was something else.
Ayanokouji's finger tapped lightly on his knee. "Miyake. If Class D had a chance to move up, would you support it?"
Miyake was stunned and looked up at him. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes, but it quickly turned serious. "If there really is hope," he said, "of course I'm willing. Who doesn't want to be in a better class?"
Ayanokouji nodded. "Then I need your help."
Miyake's brow furrowed, a hint of caution in his tone. "You aren't planning to use those... again, are you?" He stopped, not finishing the sentence.
"No," Ayanokouji interrupted. "Those methods, I won't use them anymore."
Miyake stared at him for a few seconds, trying to judge the truth in his words. Ayanokouji met his gaze, his expression unchanging.
"Then what do you plan to do?" Miyake asked.
"First, improve academic ability," Ayanokouji said. "The exams in this school won't always be in this format. Sooner or later, there will be head-to-head written tests. When that happens, those without sufficient academic ability will be eliminated."
Miyake was slightly stunned.
Ayanokouji continued, "Your academic level isn't the worst in Class D. But if the number of expulsions from written exams increases, you will become endangered. However, I can not only teach you but even give you the chance to reach Class B level academics. My academic ability is stronger than Koenji's; I have already completed the university curriculum."
"???"
Miyake was silent for a long time, seemingly shocked by this revelation.
'Ayanokouji, are you some kind of study saint? Everyone is only in their first year of high school, and you've finished university? That's ridiculous!'
Yet, as ridiculous as the words were, Miyake felt... it was highly likely Ayanokouji was telling the truth.
"You can help me?" Miyake asked, his voice filled with uncertainty. "You think a 'bad student' like me can climb up?"
"Yes." Ayanokouji's answer was blunt. "I've borrowed textbooks these past two days, from middle school to high school, and organized them. Your situation isn't difficult."
Miyake looked at his profile and suddenly felt this person was truly strange. He had such great ability, yet he insisted on using those shady methods. If he had stood out openly from the start and led everyone forward, Class D wouldn't have ended up like this.
But he didn't say these words out loud. He just sighed softly and nodded. "Fine. I'll work with you. But one thing—" He looked up, meeting Ayanokouji's eyes directly. "Don't touch the girls in the class again. Especially Hasabe and the others."
Ayanokouji was silent for a second, then gave a light nod.
Miyake retracted his gaze and looked down again. He said no more, but the wariness in his heart didn't fully dissipate.
Ayanokouji leaned back against the chair, gazing out the window. His expression remained calm, but his mind was calculating another matter.
The fact that Koenji paid points to the Monkey Group members was definitely not simple. The private chat Koenji had with him after the exam seemed like advice, but Ayanokouji sensed something else. Koenji might not support his unscrupulous actions, but he felt it was more of a "cover-up"—likely wanting to stop him from using such methods on a specific target.
In that case...
It meant that among the people in the Monkey Group at the time, there was someone Koenji cared about. If he could find this person, he could manipulate Koenji and make him fight for Class D.
Who was this person? Miyake? Unlikely. Having interacted now, it didn't seem to be Miyake. Sato Maya? Also unlikely. Sato felt very ordinary. There was nothing noteworthy about her other than being somewhat cute—but "cute" didn't stand out among Class D students, as Karuizawa was more prominent.
That left only one—
Wang Mei-Yu.
Kushida Kikyo's good friend.
So, did Koenji change his behavioral standards because of Wang Mei-Yu?
This deduction made Ayanokouji's finger pause slightly. If this were true, then Koenji had a point that could be touched. Not points, not interests, but a specific person. As long as he located that person's "position," he could make Koenji work for Class D.
It didn't need to be for long; just once would be enough.
What he wanted wasn't for Class D to graduate as Class A, but rather for Class D to reach Class A once. By then, he would have gathered enough points to transfer classes and ultimately graduate from Class A.
Of course, he wouldn't need to collect the subsequent points himself—once he demonstrated his strength, the original Class A or Class C would likely be willing to pay.
Ayanokouji thought as much.
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