Chapter 273: Alliance? Borrowing Hikigaya!
"Hachiman, am I the first woman you've ever fed?"
"No, the first was Komachi."
"Hehe~ Little sister doesn't count!"
Kushida Kikyo had a face full of proud smiles.
Hikigaya hesitated, his words caught in his throat. Actually, the second person he had fed was Ichinose Honami.
It was just that what he fed her was... well, never mind, better not to mention it.
"It's getting late, let's go to school together~"
The two left the house at the same time, attracting many looks along the way. Hikigaya deliberately slowed his pace to create distance between them. But as soon as Kushida noticed, she immediately stopped and waited for him.
When Hikigaya sped up to try and shake her off, Kushida followed closely behind, finally even grabbing his arm.
"Hachiman, don't even think about ditching me to go find other women!"
"Pffft!" Hikigaya looked utterly speechless. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
"Then why are you walking so fast?" Kushida clung to him tightly, refusing to let go.
"I say, Kikyo, you need to mind your image. Pulling and pushing like this in broad daylight isn't great."
Hikigaya noticed the boys on the road throwing looks of intense jealousy his way.
"Hmph~ I don't mind, so why do you care?"
That said, Kushida eventually let go of his arm, though she continued to walk right beside him. To outsiders, they looked very intimate.
.
.
.
Back in the Classroom
The popular Kushida was busy greeting her friends one by one. Hikigaya felt it was a hassle just watching her.
"Hachiman, did something happen between you and Kushida?" his neighbor, Horikita Suzune, asked while reading a book as usual.
"Why are you suddenly interested in gossip?" Hikigaya asked with slight surprise.
"Both of you are among the few in Class D who possess actual ability. Naturally, I have to care about your affairs," Horikita explained logically.
"Kikyo brought me breakfast this morning, and then we walked to school together. It's that simple," Hikigaya said succinctly.
"Why would Kushida-san bring you breakfast?"
"Who knows? Maybe she bought too much and couldn't eat it all?"
"Then why didn't she give it to me?"
"Haha... Suzune, since when did you learn how to tell cold jokes?"
Clap—
Horikita closed her book and turned her head to stare straight at him.
"I think Kushida-san might like you."
"That is one of the three great delusions of life," Hikigaya shook his head.
"It is no delusion," Horikita's eyes were firm.
"It is, it is." Hikigaya spoke bluntly. "Did you forget? Not long ago, I personally asked you all if you..."
At the thought of his "straight ball" question back then, Hikigaya's face filled with shame and embarrassment.
"That's because there was a problem with how you asked!" Horikita glared at him coldly.
"What was wrong with it? Wasn't it a 'straight ball'? No beating around the bush at all?" Hikigaya expressed his confusion.
"Whew..." Horikita took a deep breath and said solemnly, "First of all, asking a girl directly if she likes you is inappropriate to begin with—we'll set that aside for now. But, asking two girls at the same time if they like you? That is your problem!"
"Oh, so that's how it is... okay." Hikigaya felt she had a point and accepted the advice humbly. "Next time, I'll definitely ask them one-on-one, individually."
Horikita's face darkened, and she couldn't help but snap, "Can't you just say it to one girl?"
"I have. I've said it."
"To whom?"
"I'm not telling you."
Horikita turned away in annoyance, fuming silently while looking at her book.
However, Hikigaya noticed she hadn't flipped a page in a long time; her attention clearly wasn't on the text.
"Wait, Suzune. Are you really that interested?"
Usually, Horikita spent almost all her time studying and lacked interest in other things. Why was she staring at him so intently today?
"Hmph! There is less than a month left before the final special exam. I am advising you not to let emotional entanglements affect your studies," Horikita explained coldly.
"Fair point." Hikigaya chose to listen and honestly took out his book to read.
.
.
.
After School
An unexpected person appeared outside the classroom.
"Good afternoon, students of Class D. Sorry to intrude, but could you give us a moment of your time?"
The visitor was Ichinose Honami, followed by several students from Class A.
"Ichinose-san? Is there something you need?" Hirata Yousuke asked.
"Regarding the final special exam, I hope Class A and Class D can form an alliance," Ichinose said, shocking everyone.
"An alliance? Between Class A and Class D?"
"In this special exam, our designated opponent classes aren't each other. In other words, there is no competitive relationship between us. There is a lot of room for cooperation!" Ichinose explained.
"Ichinose-san, if I may be blunt," Horikita frowned, voicing her doubts. "Based on average grades, Class A's level is far above Class D's. Does such a partnership really have any meaning?"
At the same time, she faintly felt that the other party might have another motive.
Tsk... From the moment she entered, her eyes have been stealing glances at Hachiman! Kushida's eyes were full of vigilance.
"In terms of overall grades, that's true. But in terms of individual grades, Class D still has some extremely top-tier scholars. For example, Horikita-san, Wang-san, Yukimura-san, and... Hachiman."
As she spoke the last name, Ichinose finally looked at Hikigaya legitimately, a spark of light flashing in her eyes.
'I knew it! This woman is after Hachiman too!' Kushida bit her lip, cursing internally.
'Since when did Ichinose start calling Hachiman by his first name? She's from another class, yet she acts so close. You shameless, pink-haired, big-chested woman!!'
"So Ichinose-san means we should exchange study tutoring?" Horikita reacted quickly, guessing the true intention.
While Class A's average was high, aside from Ichinose herself, there weren't many "super-scholars." In short, Class A had many honors students but few "top-of-the-class" geniuses. Conversely, while Class D's overall grades were poor, they had several people at the very top of the year's rankings.
"Horikita-san really is smart!" Ichinose praised.
"Our opponent is Class B. As the former Class A, their overall grades are indeed higher than ours. Since this exam compares the total score of the entire class, we need to bring in 'scholar-type' help to tutor us and improve our scores further. Of course, in return, we will send honors students to tutor Class D."
It was a "Tian Ji's Horse Racing" (exam version): The top-tier horses lead the middle-tier horses, and the middle-tier horses lead the lower-tier horses.
"If that's the case, it would be a win-win cooperation," Horikita mused. After all, as a "top horse," it was a bit of a waste for her to lead "lower horses."
"I agree to the cooperation with Class A," Hirata was the first to state his position.
Between Horikita (toxic tongue), Mei-Yu Wang (timid), Yukimura (doesn't know how to teach), and Hikigaya (doesn't get along with most of the class), it was better to let the approachable and good-tempered Class A students teach.
For the academic laggards of Class D, there was no difference between a "genius" and an "honors student" anyway.
The cooperation seemed mutually beneficial, but Hikigaya felt Class D was getting the better end of the deal. Normally, Class A students have high self-motivation and would be very active in receiving guidance. Conversely, the slackers in Class D were a bunch of lazy bums; the workload for Class A tutors would be much higher. Class D should arguably pay points to Class A for this to be fair.
Hikigaya didn't believe Ichinose couldn't see this. Or was she sacrificing Class A's interests for some personal reason?
"I have already prepared a specific contract. If there are no problems, please sign it."
Hikigaya carefully browsed the contract. Class D would send Horikita, Mei-Yu Wang, Yukimura Teruhiko, and Hikigaya Hachiman to Class A for tutoring after school. In exchange, Class A would send no fewer than 10 people to Class D. Finally, it noted that the cooperation was confidential.
However, Hikigaya believed Class D, which leaked like a sieve, couldn't keep a secret. At this very moment, a spy might already be messaging the news for points.
"Kushida-san? Do you have a different opinion?" Ichinose noticed Kushida's dark expression.
"..." Kushida pursed her lips.
'Hachiman is being borrowed by Class A! Damn it! This was your real goal, wasn't it, evil Ichinose!'
"This is a beneficial cooperation for both parties; Kushida-san shouldn't have a reason to refuse, right?" Horikita added.
'You bitch! Of course you don't mind since you're going with Hachiman!' Kushida was fuming, but she couldn't publicly oppose it.
The contract was signed, and the AD alliance was official.
"No time like the present, let's start the exchange today!" Ichinose invited the four of them to the Class A classroom.
.
..
.
Class A Classroom
"Welcome, teachers from Class D!" The Class A students warmly welcomed them.
"Teacher... that's an exaggeration," Wang Mei-Yu blushed shyly.
Yukimura also sighed: "Class A's study atmosphere is a different world compared to Class D!"
Hikigaya remained silent. He felt many students in Class A were focusing curious gazes on him.
"I am proficient in all eight subjects. If you have anything you don't understand, feel free to ask," Horikita said with her arms crossed, giving off a slightly superior vibe. Most people dislike such a strong personality, but the "good kids" of Class A looked at her with admiration instead.
"Then we'll count on you, Horikita-sensei!"
Horikita was stunned; this was a level of respect she never received in Class D. Having dealt with "eccentrics" for so long, she had almost forgotten how normal people reacted.
Watching Horikita bloom with a smile in the crowd, Hikigaya sighed: "With Suzune's personality, she actually fits Class A quite well."
"Hachiman-sensei~" Ichinose tapped his shoulder from behind, smiling with squinted eyes. "Please look this way."
"Please spare me the 'teacher' title," Hikigaya refused.
"Eh~ Hachiman doesn't like it?" Ichinose teased. "I feel Hachiman-kun is quite suited to be a teacher. Especially when you wear glasses, so majestic..."
"Yes, yes!" Kobashi Yume and Amikura Mako added excitedly.
"When we saw Hachiman-sensei with glasses that day, he was super handsome! He matches our beautiful Honami-chan perfectly!"
Only Shiranami Chihiro looked grumpy and unconvinced, though she couldn't deny they looked like a classic handsome-man-and-beautiful-woman pair.
Horikita looked over, but was quickly distracted by other Class A students.
"Look, instead of this boring gossip, let's just study," Hikigaya pulled out his best subject, Japanese.
'You guys just have too little homework if you're thinking about this stuff all day!'
The tutoring went smoothly. Even the reclusive Yukimura spoke more, and Wang Mei-Yu won over Class A with her fluent English. Meanwhile, Class B and Class C received intelligence on the AD alliance.
"I see. To think of such a method... I underestimated Ichinose-san," Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes narrowed with a playful smile.
"It's just a few outside tutors, what's the big deal?" Kamuro Masumi asked.
"I'm not talking about that."
"Ah? Then what?"
"I am referring to Ichinose using her position for personal gain to brazenly 'borrow' Hikigaya."
"???"
Read ahead (160 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting