COTE: Hikigaya's Classroom of the Supreme Being

Hikigaya believed that the biggest issue at ANHS was the severe lack of entertainment facilities. Or to be more precise, they shouldn't have concentrated all the shops in the small Keyaki Mall.

That way, just casually walking around would almost guarantee bumping into various students, leading to unnecessary misunderstandings.

Therefore, the top priority should be opening a second shopping area—

"Hachiman! Are you even listening to me?"

"I'm listening, I'm listening."

For some reason, Hikigaya was being forced to listen to Kushida lecture him in his room—while sitting in a formal seiza position.

At the very least, couldn't she have given him a cushion?

Also, was it just his imagination, or did this scene seem oddly familiar…?

Weird.

He hadn't even done anything wrong, so why was Kushida complaining to him?

"Yesterday, I invited you to our class's Christmas Eve party, and you refused no matter what," Kushida said, her forehead twitching in irritation. "Fine, I get that you don't like crowded places… but why did you immediately agree when girls from another class invited you to karaoke?"

Huh? Why did she have to specifically emphasize 'girls from another class'?

Hikigaya quickly defended himself, "You're mistaken. That was a student council gathering. Most of the attendees were senior students. It wasn't Ichinose who invited me."

"I never mentioned Ichinose, though."

"Lies! You brought her up before I even stepped inside!"

No matter how much Kushida tried to deny it, Hikigaya's memory was sharp!

"Hmph. If I say I didn't, then I didn't."

Unfortunately, Kushida had no intention of arguing logically and fully leaned to her advantage as a girl.

"Anyway, I just want to know—why would you refuse to go to our class party but happily go to karaoke with Ichinose? Don't tell me you have feelings for her?"

"Uh..."

Hearing that, Hikigaya almost choked on his breath.

Even if she was being unreasonable, there had to be a limit… She was doing this on purpose!

"Fine, I'll tell you the truth." Hikigaya decided to fight fire with fire. "Our class party was split-bill; everyone had to pay. I didn't feel like spending money. But at the student council gathering, Nagumo-senpai covered the bill. That's why I went."

Unfortunately, that excuse didn't work on Kushida at all. She immediately smiled sweetly and leaned in closer.

"Oh, so Hachiman is short on money? No problem! Next time we have a class event, just stick with me. I'll cover your share in front of everyone."

"Eh? Uh… um…"

"It's strange, isn't it? You can attend student council events, but you can't attend class events? That kind of logic doesn't exist, right?"

"...Right."

Under that terrifying pressure, Hikigaya had no choice but to stiffly nod.

"Great! Then it's settled." Kushida beamed in satisfaction. "Don't worry, with me around, you won't feel bored. Oh, and even Horikita attended the party yesterday! If you keep avoiding these gatherings, people might start thinking you're even less sociable than Horikita, you know?"

"Kushida, can you hold on for a moment?"

At that moment, Horikita walked over, carrying a plate of sliced cake.

She set the plate on the table and glared at Kushida, visibly annoyed.

"Could you explain what you meant by 'even Horikita'? I'm quite curious."

"Heh, take it however you want," Kushida replied with a smirk, turning her head away. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned back.

"Oh, right. Speaking of which, didn't Sudou invite you to spend Christmas together? His room is on this floor too. You could go right now."

"Like hell, I would!"

It seemed that even though their relationship had improved, they still couldn't resist bickering. Maybe that was proof of a good relationship?

On another note, Hikigaya hadn't expected Horikita to attend the class party.

The old her would've thought it was a complete waste of time.

But now that she had decided to lead the class, some things had to be done, no matter how troublesome.

A leader didn't need to be close with everyone—in fact, being too close could be a problem. But for important occasions like this, simply showing up to establish a presence was necessary.

Understanding this meant Horikita was truly starting to grow.

"Alright, alright, it's Christmas today, so let's not argue. Have some cake first." Matsushita, who had been watching from the side, tried to mediate.

She elegantly picked up a small fork, cut a piece of cake, and lifted it up.

Then, she placed her left hand underneath for support and brought the fork toward Hikigaya's mouth.

"Here, Hachiman-kun. Say ahh—"

"N-No, I can feed myself."

"...Oh?" Matsushita's expression immediately darkened. "So it's fine when Kiryuin-senpai does it, but not when I do?"

"That's workplace harassment! And you're not my boss!" Hikigaya said, exasperated.

Besides, the way she was describing it made it sound as if he and Kiryuin were feeding each other sweetly.

If anything, it had been more like force-feeding a foie gras goose!

There was no 'ahh' moment at all!

"Hachiman, what's this about Kiryuin-senpai?" Kushida immediately demanded an explanation.

"It's not what you think! She just dragged me there." Hikigaya sighed. "You know what she's like. With my lack of backbone, how could I possibly resist?"

"Hmm… that does make sense."

Kushida nodded, looking convinced—wait, could she at least pretend to object?!

Well, at least that misunderstanding was cleared up.

Just as the situation was settling down, Matsushita smirked and said, "Who knows if you're telling the truth? You looked very happy at the time. Then again, that's to be expected—after all, Hachiman-kun is a bit of an M."

...Matsushita-san?

There were jokes one could make, and then there were things one shouldn't say!

Annoyed, Hikigaya grabbed a piece of cake and stuffed it into Matsushita's mouth before she could keep spouting nonsense.

"Enough. Eat your cake and go back to your room."

"Eh?!"

Matsushita froze, the cake still in her mouth, as her cheeks visibly turned red.

Wait, why was she blushing?!

Hikigaya replayed his actions in his head. He hadn't done anything ambiguous—it was just friendly banter!

Yet Matsushita wasn't the only one staring at him in silence. Both Kushida and Horikita were also looking at him with unreadable expressions.

Weird… had he gone too far?

"Hachiman-kun, really…"

Matsushita finally swallowed the cake, covering her flushed face with both hands.

"Forcing something this big in all of a sudden… That's too much. Be a little gentler with girls, okay?"

"Hey! Don't phrase it like that!"

"Hehe, I've always wanted to say something like that," Matsushita grinned mischievously.

Satisfied with his reaction, she reverted to her usual smug expression.

Tsk, this girl… whatever.

"Alright, enough messing with me," Hikigaya sighed weakly. "It's getting late. Take the cake and coffee if you want, but go back to your rooms."

"Oh? Can we take you instead?"

"I want it too."

"I meant the cake and coffee!"

As Hikigaya fumed, Kushida and Matsushita gleefully continued their teasing.

…Why did he have no dignity in front of them?

Other students from different classes feared him.

Where did it all go wrong?

As Hikigaya was questioning his life choices, Horikita cleared her throat twice, drawing everyone's attention.

"Excuse me, while it seems like you're all having a great time chatting, I need to interrupt. I have something serious to discuss."

"Hah? So you're saying we're not serious?"

"Think whatever you want. I don't have time to deal with you right now."

Horikita completely ignored Kushida's protest and instead fixed Hikigaya with a sharp gaze.

"Hikigaya-kun, I wanted to ask you this right after the deliberation ended that day, but unfortunately, you had to stay behind to handle affairs, and I never found the right opportunity."

"If you have concerns about the deliberation results, you can submit a formal request to the student council. We'll review it accordingly," Hikigaya replied with a textbook response.

Unfortunately, Horikita was far from satisfied with that answer.

"Don't try to brush me off with that kind of response." She stared him down. "I'm not here to ask about the student council. I want to ask about you."

"My stance on this matter is the student council's stance."

Of course, Hikigaya knew exactly what Horikita wanted to ask, but he didn't want to drag more people into it.

"All I can say is that this issue involves other factors. Even if you knew, it would only cause unnecessary trouble, and it wouldn't benefit the class in any way."

"…Is that so."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Horikita suddenly stood up from her chair.

Just as Hikigaya thought she was about to leave, she instead plopped herself right onto his bed.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me the truth." Horikita declared firmly. "After all, curfew only applies to men staying in the girls' dorm. There's no restriction on girls staying in the boys' dorm. Even if I stay until morning, there won't be any issue."

"Oi, Horikita, what the hell do you mean by that?!"

Before Hikigaya could react, Kushida had already stepped forward.

"You're a girl, for god's sake! Staying in a guy's room and refusing to leave—have you no shame?! If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have let you in!"

"Kushida-san, before you say that, maybe you should take a good look at yourself first?"

Horikita sighed helplessly but didn't argue further. Instead, she redirected the conflict back to Hikigaya.

"I'm being serious here. During the deliberation, Hikigaya-kun's stance was completely biased toward Class C, especially when it came to that Shiina girl… Sigh, I don't even know how to put it into words. You should just ask him yourself."

"Shiina… Oh, that airheaded, secretly scheming girl?"

Hikigaya hadn't expected Kushida's impression of Shiina to be so… accurate.

"Hachiman, what's going on?!" Kushida demanded loudly. "That day, I heard you talking to that woman about transferring classes. You said it was just a casual question! I trusted you this whole time!"

"Wait, why are you yelling?"

Thank god ANHS had deep pockets and soundproofed the dorms well, or they'd get a noise complaint.

"I already told you, it was just a casual question."

"Hmph, unless you give me a proper explanation, I'm not leaving either."

Kushida didn't believe a word he said. She then plopped herself down next to Horikita.

"Ahaha, since everyone's staying, I might as well join in too."

Even Matsushita decided to get in on the fun, sitting to Horikita's left while holding a plate of cake. She even winked at Hikigaya.

"After all, I have to make sure you guys don't do anything improper, right?"

"…Yeah, right."

Also, don't just casually eat on someone else's bed!

Hikigaya was completely dumbfounded by the way things were unfolding. It didn't seem like this situation would be resolved anytime soon.

No, at times like this, he needed to think outside the box.

Since they refused to leave… then should he leave instead?

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Kushida suddenly stood up and grabbed Hikigaya's arm.

"Hachiman, don't even think about running away!"

Huh?! Are you a mind reader or a clairvoyant?

Hikigaya was genuinely shocked. How the hell did she figure that out?!

At this point, it seemed like there was no way out unless he explained everything properly.

That said, he knew that neither Horikita nor Kushida believed he was betraying the class.

Especially Horikita… she must have realized something.

Although the deliberation that day leaned toward Class C, the decision wasn't made by Hikigaya—it was made by the student council president.

It was precisely because Horikita couldn't understand why the president had ruled in such a biased manner that she was so unsettled. And Hikigaya's deliberate act of ignoring her messages only added fuel to the fire.

…Was this what they called reaping what you sow?

"Alright, since you're both so eager to know, I'll give you a simple explanation about what's going on… Now, where should I start?"

After briefly organizing his thoughts, Hikigaya slowly began.

"Horikita, you asked me before, didn't you? About why your brother was at the rooftop scene that day."

"…Ah, that's right."

Horikita was momentarily stunned before quickly nodding.

"I know that the rooftop incident was orchestrated by Ayanokoji-kun from behind the scenes. But what role did my brother play in all of this? I don't believe he just happened to be there by coincidence, but I also don't understand why Ayanokoji-kun called him over."

"Ayanokoji's reasoning was quite simple." Hikigaya chuckled. "He planned to take down Class C's guys, but he was worried they might try to turn the tables on him later. So, he called Horikita-senpai to act as a witness… He just didn't expect that Nagumo would show up right after."

"You also said at the time that you were the one who called President Nagumo over… But what does that have to do with the deliberation?" Horikita pressed further.

"To understand that, you need to grasp one fundamental premise first."

Originally, Hikigaya didn't want Horikita to get involved in this matter. She was already busy enough dealing with class affairs.

But… knowing just a little shouldn't be a big deal.

"For the longest time, Nagumo has seen Horikita-senpai as someone he must defeat. And to achieve that, he's willing to use any means necessary… Even if it involves people who have nothing to do with him. As long as Nagumo perceives someone as being on Horikita-senpai's side, he won't hesitate to go after them."