Chapter 14: Visit from Ichinose Honami

  After school, in the corridor of the special cssroom building without surveilnce—the day before the judgment day—Sudo, having no other choice, decided to carry out Hikigaya's pn.

  "Just forcing Kushida to deceive you guys is nothing! Don’t underestimate my determination to become a basketball pyer!"

  Ishizaki, Komiya, and Kondo from Css C arrived at the meting spot after receiving a message, only to find that Kushida was not present as promised.

  Realizing they had been tricked, they immediately started hurling insults at Sudo, saying things like “You’re going to get expelled anyway.” Hearing these words, Sudo further solidified his resolve to avoid expulsion no matter what.

  Having seen the high quality equipment and superior workouts methods in the basketball club, Sudo understood that this school might be his only opportunity in life to become a basketball pyer.

  Right in front of the three Css C students, he opened the ordinary-looking paper box in his hands with a fierce and intimidating expression. Inside was a heap of dark chocote pieces that looked and smelled utterly revolting.

  "Camera's ready."

  Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, standing behind Sudo, silently raised his phone without expression. Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji spread their arms wide to block the corridor.

  "You’ve lost your mind!"

  “Damn it, you sick bastard, I’ve never seen someone as perverted as you!”

  "Don’t come any closer!"

  When Sudo grabbed the “poop” with his hand and approached them, the three of them froze. Even Ishizaki, who had some experience as a street punk, had never encountered such shameless behavior.

  "Either you withdraw the compint, or we all go down together." Enduring the slimy feeling in his hand, Sudo stepped closer to them one step at a time. "Don’t think someone will come to save you in time—I’ll feed you this good stuff before they arrive."

  Cornered at the end of the hallway, Ishizaki was pushed to the front by Komiya and Kondo and forced to face Sudo directly. As Sudo's hand reached out to him, Ishizaki finally snapped. He was just a small-time delinquent—why did he have to go through this?

  “I’ll withdraw it, I’ll withdraw it, okay?!”

  .

  .

  .

  The next day, at a joint css meeting held by the student council in the afternoon, Ishizaki and the other two from Css C, who had been caught on video being threatened, hid the involvement of Ryuen and submitted a request to the student council president to withdraw the accusation.

  "Your css got through a crisis. Where’s Suzune?"

  After the students from both csses left, only Horikita Manabu, Tachibana Akane, and Hikigaya remained. Normally, for a meeting of this scale, Tachibana and Hikigaya would be enough to preside. Manabu’s presence here could only mean one thing—his sister. Not seeing her, he looked a little disappointed.

  Horikita Suzune, feeling that she hadn’t accomplished anything significant enough to prove herself, was deliberately avoiding a meeting with her brother.

  “If you want to see your sister, just go find her, sis-con.” After being set up and working more with Manabu, Hikigaya was becoming increasingly blunt with him. Normally, this kind of remark would just be ignored by Manabu.

  “Today, Nagumo said he’s bringing a new first-year member into the student council.”

  “Let me guess—Ichinose Honami from Css B?”

  Any student actively recruited by Nagumo Miyabi would surely be from his own faction. And anyone he pushed forward for a showdown wouldn’t be a nobody. Based on Nagumo’s pride, the student he recruited must be easily maniputable.

  Css A's Katsuragi or Sakayanagi, and Css C’s Ryuen—all of them weren’t the type to obediently follow orders. Hirata and Kushida from Css D were nominally still part of the same css as him. That left Ichinose as the only notable first-year.

  Hikigaya had originally wondered why Ichinose seemed to be deying her response until after midterms—now he realized Nagumo probably saw through his intention to transfer to Css B and had set a trap. Looks like he could cancel his pns to transfer to Css B.

  “Yeah. You’ll meet her tomorrow. Nagumo moved a treasurer’s role to her.” Manabu gave a slight smile. “Want me to bring Suzune into the student council to help you?”

  “I refuse. Besides, I have a feeling I’ll see Ichinose tonight.”

  Suzune was still bristling with thorns. Keeping her by his side would cause more trouble than benefit. Who knows, in just a couple of days she might have offended everyone else in the council.

  “Looks like you know a bit about Ichinose. I won’t—or rather, I don’t have the capacity—to intervene in other grade-level css competitions. Nagumo has far more resources than I do now.”

  “Understood. I’ll be careful.”

  Manabu’s third-year Css A and its rival Css B still had a point gap, but it wasn’t unbridgeable. Nagumo’s second-year Css A, however, was leading by a ndslide. And with his lottery investment scheme that offered Css A “tickets” in exchange for pooled personal points, he now held tens of millions of points personally.

  .

  .

  .

  Back in his dorm, as expected, Hikigaya received an invitation from Ichinose to meet that night—in his room. He naturally accepted. When he opened the door, expecting two people, he was surprised to see that it was only Ichinose.

  "I'm sorry, Hikigaya-kun."

  “You’ve got nothing to apologize for. Business is business. It’s not like I have a right to compin if the deal didn’t go through.” Hikigaya stopped her from bowing the moment she stepped in.

  Ichinose wore casual clothes today: a light green tiered dress with a white long-sleeve sheer top. As her body heat passed through the thin fabric, Hikigaya quickly let go and invited her to sit on the bed.

  “…”

  Ichinose sat on the bed, looking down silently, lost in thought. Hikigaya sat on the chair, fidgeting slightly, unsure of what to say. Ichinose felt heavier than usual, emotionally speaking.

  Wasn’t she supposed to give him a reply, say something like, “Though we can’t be cssmates, let’s still be friends,” and then leave peacefully? And where was Kanzaki Ryuji, who was usually with her? Things were not going as expected.

  “Hikigaya-kun… can you tell me… what kind of person you think I am?”

  After a long silence, Ichinose looked up. Her tightly pursed lips were delicate and glistening, her clear eyes tinged with confusion, and her waist-length hair draped across the bed.

  “What kind of person do I think Ichinose is? Let me think.”

  Hikigaya closed his eyes. He had to seriously consider how to respond to the current Ichinose. Something was off, and he needed to choose his words carefully.

  Ichinose Honami, beloved by her Css B peers, was a paragon of social skill and genuine kindness—a true angel inside and out. Hikigaya couldn’t find a single fw in her character.

  As for appearance, her refined features and physique were enough to rival even the idol-like Sakura. In terms of anime card games, she’d be SSR rank.

  So, what kind of evaluation was someone seemingly perfect like her hoping to hear from his mouth?