Hachiman Hikigaya, who returned from his studies after completing his training.

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"Okay." Kanzaki also got up from the ground.

As Ichinose walked past him, he silently followed her out of the room.

Although there are many questions I want to ask, they are clearly not questions I can ask in front of Katsuragi Sakayanagi.

After Ichinose and the other left the room, Katsuragi Sakayanagi, who had discovered that Class A had cooperated with Class B, did not show any joy.

"Cooperate with Class C?" Katsuragi rubbed his thigh with a headache. The situation of Class D was not good.

"I don't think Longyuan is much better than Biqi Valley."

Kamuro smoothed his long hair. Hachiman's 'violence' involved expelled students, while Ryuen's involved beating students.

She disliked Longyuan more.

“No, it hasn’t come to that yet.” With a smile, Sakayanagi rejected Katsuragi’s suggestion. “I have other ideas.”

Teaming up with Class C, who are stronger than us, is tantamount to giving up the possibility of getting first place.

Because of someone in Class C, Class D still has a chance to turn the tide.

Chapter 157 The Leader of Class A Will Do It for You

"Why? Am I really that untrustworthy to you?"

In the student dormitory corridor, Ryuji Kanzaki muttered to himself as he looked at the back of his leader in front of him.

He always considered himself to be a trusted right-hand man of Ichinose, someone Ichinose would also trust.

Unexpectedly, Ichinose didn't even reveal a word to him about such an important matter as collaborating with Class B at the sports festival.

"Kanzaki-san."

Ichinose neither turned around nor stopped, making a move completely out of character for her, which made Kanzaki's heart tighten.

Here we go again, this eerie feeling, all because of that Hachiman guy...

Kanzaki broke out in a cold sweat, and his plan to question Ichinose vanished almost entirely.

"My trust in you is contingent on you trusting me."

"I have never distrusted Ichinose," Kanzaki quickly retorted.

Distrust Ichinose? He didn't think he distrusted Ichinose at all.

He and all the students in Class A should trust Ichinose; there must be some misunderstanding on Ichinose's part.

"The deserted island exam, the preferential treatment exam—you've done it all without consulting me first this time," Ichinose said calmly.

“From beginning to end, I never had any intention of cooperating with the Sakayanagi-class or the Ryuen-class, but they were always the first to approach you, and you didn’t keep it a secret from the students.”

"Are you afraid that I'll disregard the class's interests and refuse them just to avoid being enemies with Hachiman?"

Ichinose didn't know which of the many people knew about the conditions given by Sakayanagi during the deserted island exam, but she certainly wasn't the second.

The same applies to Ryuen's offer of the Preferential Treatment Exam. If she hadn't refused due to Ryuen's bad reputation after being "forced to resign," she would have become an enemy of Hachiman, just like on the deserted island.

The same applies to this year's sports festival.

"What's wrong with you, Ichinose? This isn't like you at all." Kanzaki said, somewhat flustered. "These are all collaborations that are beneficial to the class, so I didn't hide them from my classmates."

lie.

These are all lies used to deceive Ichinose.

Kanzaki regretted his words as soon as he finished speaking, but he didn't take them back. At that moment, he felt uneasy for some reason.

As Ichinose said, he was afraid that Ichinose would get entangled with Hikigaya, so he tried every means to prevent Class A and Class B from cooperating.

He spearheaded the proposal during the recent class meeting to deposit 20 million yen in relief funds, ensuring that Hachiman would no longer be able to sell out Class B's interests to them.

This meeting with Katsuragi was also like that.

With only a dozen days left before the start of the sports festival, Class A hadn't taken the initiative to discuss cooperation with Class D, who were also in the Red Team.

This is obviously not normal.

"Isn't this the kind of person Kanzaki-san imagined me to be?"

Ichinose stopped and turned to look at Kanzaki, who was sweating profusely and had lost his composure.

She felt that Kanzaki probably saw her as a cheerful, kind, and good-natured person who would never do anything wrong, and associating with someone as notorious as Hachiman would only damage her image in Kanzaki's eyes.

Although she felt a little apologetic, she really couldn't meet Kanzaki's expectations.

It might not even be able to meet the expectations of all the students in Class A.

"No, I didn't think that way. I didn't mean to force you. I was wrong this time. I won't ask anything anymore."

Kanzaki's voice grew louder, and alarm bells rang in his mind. What exactly was Ichinose trying to say? It seemed like she wasn't leaving any room for negotiation.

He wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible, but Ichinose did not do as he hoped.

"With Kushida's help, you also have the ability to become the leader of Class A." With a smile, Ichinose said something that made Kanzaki's brain shut down.

She knew that as long as she remained the leader of Class A, her relationship with Hachiman, the leader of Class B, would forever remain hidden in the shadows, unless one of them stepped down.

Now, we can't really take strong action against Karuizawa, who is clearly a womanizer, because she can't tolerate it.

Since Kanzaki discovered her collaboration with Class B, she decided to confront him directly.

Kanzaki has good judgment, but he's not good at communicating.

Fortunately, Hikigaya sent Kushida, a socially adept and sociable man who wouldn't hinder Kanzaki from taking power.

............

............

at night,

While Kanzaki from Class A was feeling frustrated and unsure of what to do in her room, Minori Kinoshita from Class C was also extremely agitated in her own room.

She turned off the overhead shower, dried herself off, and walked out of the bathroom naked. On the bed lay her newly bought, expensive pajamas.

Under the incandescent light, the silky satin fabric gleamed with a captivating luster.

These are not pajamas that the average student can afford.

It wasn't just the pajamas; it was also the stylish and exquisite clutches on the newly purchased display shelf and the newly launched high-end cosmetics on the vanity.

These are not things that only 100,000 people can afford to consume per month.

"Damn it, how did Sakayanagi find out?"

After putting on her very comfortable pajamas, Kinoshita didn't show the slightest bit of happiness; instead, a look of worry crept onto her cute face.

After taking a shower, Sakayanagi still didn't reply to her text message refusing to visit.

How could she dare to go out and avoid Sakayanagi so that she couldn't find herself?

Sakayanagi's first text message clearly stated that she had betrayed her class during the preferential treatment exam and sold her preferential treatment status to Hachiman.

"Dong dong."

"right away."

After playing on his phone by the bed for about ten minutes, Sakayanagi finally arrived as promised, accompanied by a girl with a side ponytail and downcast eyes.

"These look like very high-end pajamas." After sitting on the edge of the bed, Sakayanagi reached out and stroked Kinoshita's thigh, which was covered by the pajamas. "The feel of her thigh is similar to Kamuro's."

How did you know it was me?

Kinoshita impatiently held down Sakayanagi's mischievous little hand. She didn't understand how Sakayanagi had found out about her. Logically speaking, even if Hikigaya betrayed her, he wouldn't have told Sakayanagi, whom he clearly disliked.

"Isn't this a very simple matter?"

Seeing Kinoshita's puzzled look, Sakayanagi covered his mouth and chuckled, "After the preferential treatment exam, we naturally began a self-examination. In my judgment, none of the preferential treatment students in our class betrayed us, or they didn't have time to betray us."

"In that case, the traitors can only be the Ichinose squad or the Ryuen squad."

"Of course I'll check your class first, since it has a bad reputation, and you don't seem to be hiding it much."

At first, Sakayanagi thought it would take a long time to find out who was the person who betrayed his class and could be used, but he didn't expect Kinoshita's cover-up to be so shoddy.

Yamamura only followed Kinoshita for a day before realizing that she was the traitor.

"Didn't Hachiman advise you to keep a low profile?"

"I...I did advise them." Kinoshita pursed his lips.

That night, Hikigaya did tell her not to flaunt her wealth, but after returning to school and entering the Keyakizaka Central Shopping Street, she saw the dazzling array of bags and clothes that she could never afford before.

She simply couldn't control her hands.

Chapter 158 Kushida: Will I make you hate me?

"Then I'll head out first, Hiyori."

"Have a safe journey, Hachiman."

After saying goodbye to Shiina, who was wearing an apron and preparing to wash the dishes, Hikigaya went to the beach for a long-awaited rendezvous with Kushida.

Kushida's last outburst was when she was a second-year dropout. That was quite a long time ago, wasn't it? Could she have really awakened that day?

Worried about Kushida's condition, I walked along the forest path, and her graceful figure appeared by the railing on the shore.

Wearing a light and cute midi dress and a plain-colored chiffon knit short-sleeved top, Kushida's casual outfit today makes her seem like a very cute girl even from behind.

"Kushida is very cute today too."

"I've already said that I wouldn't be happy to hear praise that isn't from the heart."

"How could that be? I'd be happy if a roadside shopkeeper called me handsome."

After the usual praise, Hikigaya leaned against the railing and peered at Kushida's expression.

Her delicate eyebrows arched upwards, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

He's still happy, isn't he? What a hypocrite.

"Shall I let you out for some fresh air now?" Hachiman wanted to end his fresh air trip as soon as possible, since Shiina had mentioned that she wanted to read a book with him tonight.

"I didn't ask you to come and keep watch for me tonight."

Kushida beamed with genuine happiness. She was overjoyed to receive such good news today and felt she had to share her joy with someone.

Because of Horikita and Hikigaya, who both knew about her dark past, she faced immense pressure to play the role of an angel in her class before transferring.

The mere thought of whether those two would secretly laugh at her 'awkward' acting would send her dark emotions surging.

Therefore, she complied with Hachiman's idea and transferred to Class A.

Class A has good students and a great class atmosphere. There are no students like Karuizawa Sudo who can be infuriating, and far fewer students who belittle each other behind their backs than in the current Class B.

Her only complaint was that Ichinose was far more popular than she was.

"Did Ichinose tell you that she plans to step down as the leader of Class A after the student council election, and that Kanzaki will be her successor, and I will be responsible for assisting her?"

"Um?!!"

What happened? Why would Ichinose resign when she was perfectly fine? Hachiman hadn't heard anything about Ichinose's troubles.

He doesn't think he would miss out on the rumors that Ichinose, a first-year student, is a thief.

"This is what Kanzaki told me today, and for now only the two of us know it." Kushida raised his hands high and stretched his body, revealing his well-developed figure, but Hachiman was not interested in peeking at the moment.

"What else did Kanzaki say?"

"Today, Ichinose Kanzaki met with Katsuragi Sakayanagi. Ichinose did not agree to Katsuragi and his team's cooperation, and it was discovered that she had been secretly cooperating with you without the knowledge of her own students."

Kushida's tone was light, "He said that Ichinose still has feelings for you and doesn't want to be your enemy, even at the cost of betraying the expectations of her classmates."

Without a doubt, Ichinose stepping down as leader for the sake of Hikigaya is something that none of the students in Class A want to see.

Once this happens, Ichinose's popularity will plummet, and that will be the moment she becomes the number one female fan.

Kushida was happy, but Hikigaya was depressed.

It wasn't that he was upset about not being able to influence Class A's decisions anymore, but rather that Ichinose felt a heavy burden because of his willingness to betray his classmates' trust.