COTE: Hikigaya's Classroom of the Supreme Being

Hikigaya was well aware that Kamuro was only saying those things on purpose.

She could tell that Hikigaya had his eyes on Nagumo, so she took the initiative to help track him. But given her personality, she was too embarrassed to say it outright, which was why she phrased it in such a roundabout way.

Sigh, how pathetic.

Even though he always said he didn't want to trouble others, in the end, Hikigaya still had to rely on people.

And this time, it was Kamuro he was leaning on... How lame.

Yet, he couldn't deny that a part of him felt happy about it.

…Humans really are complicated.

Now that he thought about it, the last time he went somewhere with Kamuro was to that Tenka Ippin ramen shop during summer break.

Time really flew by.

Hikigaya decided against waiting in the shop like Kamuro had suggested. Instead, he stayed nearby, keeping an eye on things.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but it didn't seem right to send someone else to do the work while he sat comfortably, eating alone.

He wasn't Sakayanagi, after all...

For now, he needed to change locations.

Walking into a nearby convenience store, Hikigaya picked up a magazine, pretending to flip through it while keeping an eye on the café across the street.

Nagumo and Igari were engaged in an animated conversation. But judging by the distance between them, it didn't seem like a particularly intimate or romantic relationship. In fact, Nagumo maintained a level of respect throughout, which was unusual compared to his usual frivolous demeanor.

If he were just trying to flirt, he wouldn't be acting so formal, would he?

Unfortunately, Hikigaya had no experience in this area, so he could only make guesses based on intuition.

Luckily, Kamuro seemed to be doing well. She had bought a cup of coffee and was sitting at a nearby table, head down, pretending to look at her phone while eavesdropping. She blended in perfectly, unnoticed.

Hopefully, she will pick up something useful.

Speaking of which, Kamuro had once followed him before—on Haruno's birthday, of all days.

Although she hadn't managed to snap a photo of Haruno's face, she had taken a clear picture of Hikigaya. That photo later ended up in Sakayanagi's hands, who then used it to force him into a ridiculous bet.

And after winning, she made him go against Katsuragi.

In the end, Katsuragi lost his position as a class leader, but Sakayanagi also got temporarily demoted to Class C… Talk about karma.

The memory nearly made Hikigaya chuckle out loud.

Meanwhile, Nagumo's conversation ended surprisingly quickly. The third-year girl, Igari Momoko, left first, and after checking his phone for a moment, Nagumo also walked out of the café.

What were they even talking about for it to end so fast?

Seeing Kamuro also get up to leave, Hikigaya quickly put the magazine down and followed.

For some reason, though, her pace was unusually fast. If he wanted to catch up, he'd have to start running… but running in a public space would draw attention.

Maybe he could call out to her—

No, that'd be even more obvious!

Left with no choice, Hikigaya trailed Kamuro like a suspicious stalker until she finally stopped in front of the ramen shop.

…This was getting a little awkward.

Bracing himself, he stepped up behind her and quietly said, "Kamuro, good work."

"Wah?!"

Kamuro visibly jumped, nearly leaping out of her skin.

When she turned and realized it was him, she glared. "Can you not sneak up on people like a ghost? And didn't I tell you to get a seat first?"

"I just… didn't want to go in alone," Hikigaya admitted hesitantly.

"It's a ramen shop, not some fancy café. You're not a girl—why would you be embarrassed?" Kamuro sighed in exasperation. "Whatever, let's just go inside. I'll fill you in on what I heard."

But a new problem arose.

As expected of the famous Tenka Ippin, the place was packed.

"Sorry… I should've listened to you and saved us a seat."

Hikigaya scratched his head, looking apologetically at Kamuro.

"Should we find another place?"

"…Might as well. It's too crowded to talk properly here anyway."

Kamuro didn't seem to mind, but her expression held a hint of disappointment.

Guess she likes this ramen.

"How about this—next time, I'll treat you as an apology," Hikigaya offered.

"…You promise?"

"Of course."

At his assurance, Kamuro's mood improved instantly. She's way too easy to please…

Kind of makes me worry about her future.

The two found a less popular family restaurant nearby. After ordering, Kamuro finally shared what she had overheard.

"They were talking about some guy named Ishikura."

"Ishikura?"

Hikigaya frowned.

There were two students named Ishikura in the entire school—one was a girl from his class. The other was a male student from Class 3-B.

He had seen the latter before in the basketball club. Ishikura wasn't just the club captain but also the leader of Class 3-B, a highly capable student.

If Nagumo was planning to collaborate with Class 3-B to target Horikita's faction, wouldn't it make more sense for him to speak directly with their leader?

Even if he was using a girl to set some kind of trap, why discuss Ishikura with Igari?

Perplexed, Hikigaya pressed further. "What exactly were they saying about him?"

"Nothing special." Kamuro sounded bored. "That Igari woman seems to have a thing for her classmate Ishikura, and Nagumo just kept asking her about it… It was honestly so dull."

Most girls would be interested in gossip like this. But not Kamuro—as expected of her.

"Hm… Anything else?" Hikigaya asked, still unconvinced.

"Nope."

Kamuro propped her chin on her hand, looking completely uninterested.

"I think they were just chatting. Nothing suspicious. Guess your instincts were off this time."

"Wait a second—weren't you the one who said, 'The student council president has a scheming aura'?" Hikigaya shot back.

"Sh-Shut up! Stop repeating my words!"

Just as Kamuro was about to lose her temper, the food arrived, saving Hikigaya's life.

"Oh, right. One more thing."

Kamuro took a bite of her curry rice, speaking through a full mouth. "Before he left, I sneaked a look at that blondie's phone. He was checking his points… The guy has over ten million."

…Where the hell did he get that kind of money?

"Over ten million... Hmm? Ten million?"

Hikigaya suddenly sensed something was off.

"Wait, are you sure that's all?"

"Of course. I'm meticulous when counting zeros," Kamuro replied, looking at Hikigaya with a sigh. "But your tone is something. Saying 'only this much'... Well, I suppose it's understandable. You're probably the richest among the first-years."

"No, that's not the issue here."

Ten million seemed like a lot—most students wouldn't be able to save that much even if they didn't spend a single point for three years.

But for someone like Nagumo, who controlled the entire grade, it was far too little.

Even without the ten million provided by the chairman, Hikigaya himself had already amassed fifteen million, and he had only squeezed out points from one and a half classes.

There was something suspicious going on.

Could it be that Nagumo had entrusted part of his funds to someone else for safekeeping? …Impossible.

Hikigaya didn't even need to think too hard to dismiss that idea.

Given Nagumo's paranoid nature, he would never do such a thing. He'd only feel secure if the money was under his direct control.

Besides, there was no reason to go that far—personal points couldn't be stolen, after all.

Seeing Hikigaya deep in thought, Kamuro couldn't help but interrupt.

"Alright, enough. If you can't figure it out, just stop thinking about it. It's winter break, give your brain a break too."

"...You have a point."

Hikigaya decided to go along with her suggestion—mainly because he really couldn't figure it out.

Could Nagumo have spent all those points on wooing girls?

"And by the way, you keep thinking about others, but how's your plan coming along?"

"My plan?"

"You said you were going to make Sakayanagi drop out, didn't you?" Kamuro brought up an unexpected topic. "That day, you seemed so serious about it that you even had me convinced. But I haven't seen you take any action at all."

"...No, I have."

Hikigaya saw no reason to hide it from Kamuro.

"To be precise, I don't need to take any action. I just have to wait for external circumstances to change."

"I don't get it."

"...You will soon enough."

So far, none of the special exams—whether it was the first midterms, the uninhabited island test, or the preferential student test—had been severe enough to cause ordinary students to drop out.

Simply put, none of the exams had been particularly ruthless.

Even the supposedly terrifying Paper Shuffle could be avoided with a proper understanding of its mechanics.

As long as the exams remained at this level, making Sakayanagi drop out was practically a fantasy.

However, two upcoming events would soon change that.

First, there was Nagumo's reform. Since he aimed to create a school that adhered strictly to meritocracy, he would inevitably increase the number of dropouts through his methods.

Ironically, Hikigaya would have to find a way to stop him.

But before that, there was no harm in making use of it.

Second, according to Haruno, Sakayanagi's father—the chairman—was likely to be framed and removed. His replacement would most likely come from White Room's faction.

White Room's objective was clear—to take Ayanokoji back.

However, because ANHS was under government oversight, they couldn't use forceful methods. Otherwise, they wouldn't have needed such an elaborate scheme.

In other words, the acting chairman could only use the school's own rules to force Ayanokoji into expulsion.

That meant highly unreasonable exams were likely to be introduced—tests that could get anyone expelled, no matter how capable they were.

Conversely, this would also create an opportunity to eliminate Sakayanagi.

Though Hikigaya wasn't sure what form these exams would take, he didn't need to act now.

He just had to wait for the right moment.

A good hunter always has patience.

"...Actually, I've had a question for a while now."

At that moment, Kamuro suddenly looked at Hikigaya with a serious expression.

Her gaze locked onto his eyes as if she didn't want to miss even the smallest reaction.

"When I first heard you say you wanted Sakayanagi to drop out... I started wondering. Do you have another reason?"

"...What?"

"No, never mind."

The conversation suddenly halted.

The two stared at each other expressionlessly before quietly returning to their lunch.

What was she trying to say?

Hikigaya wasn't entirely sure, but he had a vague feeling about it...

One thing he was certain of—he didn't want to hear it.

Then, Kamuro abruptly changed the topic.

"By the way, I heard that Yukinoshita-sensei's internship ends after the third semester. Has she already gone back?"

"...Maybe."

Hikigaya felt a slight tremor in his chest but tried his best to maintain a calm demeanor.

However, Kamuro wasn't letting him off this time.

She put down her spoon and, for the first time, lowered her head deeply.

"Hikigaya... I've been meaning to apologize to you."

"On the first day of school, you helped me when I was acting stupid. You didn't lecture me, and that's when I thought you were a great person... But instead of repaying you, I took photos of you celebrating Yukinoshita-sensei's birthday for Sakayanagi. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"That's nonsense!" Hikigaya's tone hardened instantly. "I already told you—you were threatened by Sakayanagi, so you had no choice. I have no reason to blame you."

"Then... are you blaming Sakayanagi?"

"Not at all. Haruno-san's face wasn't even captured in the photos, and I don't care about that kind of thing."

"...Do you not care?"

Kamuro asked a difficult question.

"If you truly didn't care, then why did you accept Sakayanagi's bet? You knew you weren't good enough to beat her at chess."

"That's—"

"You couldn't stand the thought of Sakayanagi threatening the teacher you admire, could you?"

"Uh..."

Hikigaya recalled something.

Even before Sakayanagi mentioned anything about Sobu High, he had already been furious at her.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have instinctively recorded their conversation...

So that's it. He had already been thinking about how to get back at her.

—I am a petty guy, huh?

Realizing this, he felt a strange sense of relief.

So this was what it meant to align actions with thoughts.

"Just to be clear, Haruno-san and I aren't like that."

"Yeah, I wasn't implying that kind of 'like' either."

"Even if it's just my one-sided belief, she's as important to me as Komachi."

Even if Haruno didn't need his help, if someone important to him was being threatened, there was only one thing he could do.

Even if it was meddlesome, even if she never found out...

If it was just ugly self-satisfaction, then it didn't matter what methods he used... right?

"Komachi... That's your sister, right?" Kamuro frowned. "Man, your sis-con tendencies are insane. Can you stop bringing up your sister all the time? People are gonna start resenting you."

"Not my problem."

"I mean she is gonna resent you."

"...Seriously?"

Seeing Hikigaya's sudden dejection, Kamuro chuckled.

Then, her expression softened.

"That's enough. I don't care what you do to Sakayanagi, but I just want you to be aware of what you're doing."

"...Yeah."

"But if you ever regret it... come find me. I'll be a good listener—even if you just need a trash can to dump your thoughts into."

"...Thanks."

New problems kept emerging even as old ones were resolved.

Hikigaya wasn't sure if revenge was his only reason for targeting Sakayanagi.

And Kamuro... she was indulging him again.

At this rate, he really might turn into a useless person.

The café was quiet, but Hikigaya's mind was restless.

Outside, snow had started to fall, covering the ground in a thin layer of white.

"...Kamuro."

"Hm?"

Kamuro turned her head, seeing Hikigaya more conflicted than ever.

After a long pause, he sighed softly and said: "If I go too far... stop me."

"Eh?"

Kamuro was stunned for a second before smiling resolutely.

"Yeah. Leave it to me."

[T/N: This is a very interesting statement. Hikigaya is about to get very serious it seems. And also it sounds cool!]