Chapter 001 The Sports Festival Begins!
August 1st, early morning.
Hachiman was awakened by the continuous vibration of his phone.
Squinting his eyes, he fished the phone out from under his pillow; the light from the screen made him wince. A row of transfer notifications was neatly lined up there, and he looked through them one by one.
The first was the living expenses issued by the school. First was the Class A living expenses; the school deposits an amount based on the evaluation points multiplied by 100 every month. The evaluation points for the four classes were as follows:
1st Year Class A (Hikigaya's Class): 1,266 points 1st Year Class B (Katsuragi's Class): 825 points 1st Year Class C (Ryuen's Class): 550 points 1st Year Class D (Ayanokouji's Class): 130 points
Thus, Hachiman received 126,600 yen in living expenses—but that was only the first deposit.
The second was the "Class Management Fee": 1.48 million yen. The students in his class had voluntarily agreed to give him 30% of their income, a rule established at the start of the semester. At the time, he thought it was too much, but Ichinose said it was everyone's way of showing their appreciation, so he stopped pushing back.
Combined with his living expenses, this basic monthly 1.48 million yen meant his personal income was likely higher than the living expenses of the entire Class D combined.
The third was a transfer from Katsuragi's class: 1.6 million yen. This was the debt from the deserted island exam, which the other party had to pay back monthly. Hachiman glanced at the memo, which contained only four words: "Paid per month." Katsuragi truly did things by the book; even a transfer memo was written like an official document.
The fourth was sent by Ryuen: 1.4 million yen. The memo field was empty—nothing at all. Hachiman stared at the blank space for two seconds and felt that this was very "Ryuen." He probably felt that writing a memo was embarrassing but had no choice but to transfer the money, so he simply left it blank.
He did the math. After subtracting the portions he needed to transfer out—800,000 to Hirata's side in Class D and 800,000 to Ichinose on behalf of the class—the rest was his. He received 600,000 from the Class C deal and 800,000 from Class B; adding the management fees and his own living expenses, his total income was around 3 million yen.
He ran the numbers through his head, locked his phone, and rolled out of bed.
While washing up, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Dead-fish eyes, a protruding cowlick—exactly the same as a month ago. He stared blankly at the mirror for three seconds, then turned and headed out.
By the time Hachiman reached the classroom, Ichinose was already in her seat.
It seemed that after Hachiman and Karuizawa started dating, Ichinose stopped tying her hair up, returning to her original style with her long hair flowing like a waterfall. It wasn't that she didn't look good—rather, a beautiful girl looks good regardless—but it made one feel that her state of mind had changed somewhat.
However, upon seeing Hachiman enter, she looked up and her lips curved slightly.
"Morning," Ichinose greeted.
"Morning." Hachiman put down his bag and sat next to her.
Ichinose glanced at him and then lowered her head to continue organizing the notebook on her desk. Her movements were a bit faster than usual, her fingers flipping through pages with a light rhythm. Hachiman noticed she had flipped to a new page, written today's date on the first line, and drawn a small smiley face underneath.
"In a good mood?" he asked.
Ichinose looked up, her eyes bright. "Mm. Isn't the exam being announced today?"
Looking at her expectant expression, Hachiman suddenly found it a bit funny. Others look miserable when they hear the words "Special Exam," but she looked like someone waiting to unwrap a gift.
"Aren't you nervous?"
"I'm not." Ichinose shook her head, her finger lightly tapping the notebook. "Our class has so many class points now, and we have you. No matter what the test is, it won't be too bad, right?"
Her tone was light when she said this, but Hachiman caught the underlying meaning—it wasn't blind confidence; she truly had the capital to back it up. Over the course of one semester, Class B had become Class A, and their class funds had grown from an initial two million to over ten million.
This confidence didn't come out of nowhere; it was built up point by point.
So, Hachiman nodded.
"Yeah. A battle of the wealthy," he remarked.
Hearing those words, Ichinose couldn't help but let out a laugh. It was a soft sound, but her eyes curved into beautiful crescents.
The classroom began to fill up. Some discussed where they had gone over the break, some pulled out photos on their phones to show each other, and others slumped on their desks to catch up on sleep—likely from staying up late the night before.
Leaning back in his chair, Hachiman listened to the noise and felt that the current atmosphere of Class A was indeed much better than last semester. Though they were Class A, their version of it wasn't the "we are amazing" kind of arrogance, but rather a composure of "we know what we need to do next."
He glanced out the window.
The sunlight was just right, making the sports field glow. In a little while, the school would announce this month's special exam.
But he wasn't worried. Just as Ichinose said, in a battle of the wealthy, there was nothing to fear. Especially since, barring any accidents, this exam should be the Sports Festival.
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.
In contrast to the atmosphere in Class A, the mood in the Class D classroom was entirely different.
Hirata Yousuke stood at the podium with his phone in hand. His expression was the same as usual, but his voice was a bit louder than normal, likely fearing those in the back wouldn't hear him.
"Everyone, Hikigaya-kun's transfer has arrived. After class today, I will distribute it to everyone according to the previously agreed-upon plan."
The classroom fell silent for a split second before exploding.
"For real?"
"800,000 every month? He really didn't give a cent less?"
"I told you, they signed an agreement during the exam."
"Holy crap, doesn't that mean we each get 20,000 a month?"
"More than that. Including the living expenses from the school, it's 33,000 in total."
"33,000? I only spent 12,000 last month... I mostly stayed in the dorm playing games... I hardly spend money at all..."
Laughter and chatter mixed together, filling the entire classroom.
Standing at the podium and looking at those excited faces, Hirata's face softened, but he didn't join in the laughter. He waited until the noise subsided a bit before speaking again.
"There's one more thing," he said. "In last month's VIP exam, our class gained 50 points. These 50 points were earned by Ayanokouji-kun staying on the island and working with Sudo-kun."
He paused here, his gaze shifting toward Ayanokouji. Ayanokouji was sitting by the window, holding a math book, looking down as if he hadn't heard a thing. Hirata withdrew his gaze and continued.
"According to the 'distribution based on labor' rule previously proposed by Horikita-san, I think a portion of the proceeds from these 50 points should be given to Ayanokouji-kun. Specifically, everyone would contribute 2,500 points..."
"Wait a minute." Hirata's speech was immediately interrupted by Ike Kanji's voice from the back. He raised his hand, his expression not one of opposition, but of a "matter-of-fact" tone. "Hirata, you were the leader at the time, right? Ayanokouji only took over later. And you only withdrew because you were injured—that's called enduring hardship for the sake of the team. If money is being given out, it should be given to you."
Hirata blinked, waving his hands hurriedly. "No, no need, I—"
"Exactly, exactly." Yamauchi Haruki chimed in immediately, speaking faster than usual. "Hirata, you even tanked a snake bite for the class; if anyone should get money, it's you. Ayanokouji just..."
Yamauchi paused, then said quickly, "...just did what he was supposed to do."
Ayanokouji remained with his head down, flipping a page in his book, seemingly oblivious.
After Yamauchi finished speaking, he shot a quick glance at Hirata. In fact, he still owed Hirata a sum of points—from the time Hirata covered for him during the old-questions exam. He remembered it, but only remembered it. He wasn't willing to actually pay the money back. However, saying a few words to support Hirata was doable.
In Yamauchi's view, he was fighting for Hirata's interests. Of course, he felt Hirata certainly wouldn't accept it, but wouldn't that mean he had returned the favor?
Perfect!
Sure enough, the classroom stayed quiet for a few seconds. No one followed up, and no one objected.
Hirata opened his mouth as if to say something, but looked at Yamauchi, then at Ike, and finally let out a soft sigh.
"Then that matter... we'll discuss it later," he said.
Hirata put his phone away and stepped down from the podium. No one mentioned Ayanokouji again, nor did anyone ask for his opinion. It was as if the matter had just passed.
Ike Kanji leaned back and slapped Sudo's shoulder. "Speaking of which, what was that guy Ayanokouji doing all break? I sent him messages, and he only replied after several days."
"Reading," Sudo said expressionlessly. "He was reading the whole break."
"No way?" Ike's eyes widened. "Reading during the holidays? Is something wrong with his head?"
Sudo didn't respond. He glanced toward Ayanokouji—the guy was still looking down, flipping pages very slowly, as if he were reading something that needed slow digestion. Sudo looked away without saying anything. He had no grudge against Ayanokouji, but they weren't close either. That guy was too quiet—so quiet that you didn't know what he was thinking.
Especially since Ayanokouji had previously been publicly targeted by Ryuen, who declared that Class C girls would bully Class D girls. Although Sudo thought such behavior was trashy, because he also hated Ryuen, he didn't entirely believe Ryuen's words.
Meanwhile, Koenji Rokusuke sat steadily in the last row, legs propped up on the desk, holding a small mirror to check his hairstyle. In his view, he was absolutely perfect today as well.
Hearing the conversation between Ike and Sudo, he didn't even lift an eyelid. However, his gaze slid past the edge of the mirror and landed on a black-haired girl in the front row.
Horikita Suzune. She was looking out the window, her expression no different from usual, but Koenji noticed she had held that position for a while, and the book in her hand hadn't been flipped once.
He processed this in his mind. The VIP exam, the Monkey Group—he had answered correctly, which should have added 100 points to Class D. But in the end, Class D's score was 0. In other words, a VIP from Class D had been correctly guessed. Moreover, the person who made that guess was likely Hikigaya Hachiman. So, when Hikigaya promised to give him 3 million points back then, it wasn't because Koenji was worth 3 million, but because those 100 points were going to be neutralized anyway. The 3 million wasn't buying his answer; it was buying Class D's zero points.
The corner of Koenji's mouth curved slightly as he tucked away the mirror and leaned back. Interesting—Hikigaya Hachiman indeed had a few tricks up his sleeve.
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.
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Horikita Suzune was indeed spacing out.
From the moment she walked into the classroom, she felt something was off.
Last month, shortly after the break began, Hachiman had sent her a message. He informed her that he and Karuizawa were dating.
During this time, Horikita had been thinking by day and dreaming by night, dreaming about what she would be like in the future and how she would interact with Hachiman. Her future self was very different from her current self.
Of course, it wasn't that Horikita hadn't thought about what kind of adult she would become, but she didn't think she would become that kind of person. At the very least, she didn't think she would smile at Hikigaya that many times. And so gently, too.
However, Hikigaya didn't send her any more messages after that, and she didn't dream of him again.
So, she spent the entire break reading. Reading many books, from morning till night, until her eyes ached and her mind contained only words and formulas. She thought that by doing this, she wouldn't think about those pointless things.
Except, on the way to the classroom today, she had actually run into Hikigaya Hachiman. But he stepped out of the elevator first, and since there were many people in the elevator at the time, she didn't greet him.
And he didn't greet her either.
This made Horikita feel like something was stuck in her chest. She couldn't say what it was.
"Horikita-san?"
A voice came from the side. Horikita snapped back to reality and found Onodera standing by her desk, holding a notebook with a cautious expression, as if she were afraid of being rejected.
"Um... I wanted to ask about that formula from last semester's math class..." She opened the notebook and pointed to a page, her fingers trembling slightly. "I didn't quite understand it."
There were actually quite a few smart students in Class D, but Horikita's coldness was well-known. Class D had previously started a mutual-aid study group, but Horikita's group had progressed terribly. This was because she couldn't understand what poor students were thinking, while the poor students felt Horikita was too superior.
However, if someone came to her with a question, although she remained cold-faced, she would explain it to them. So, Onodera had likely come to ask for help.
Yet, Horikita looked down at the formula. It was very simple; the derivation process was right in the textbook. Just as she was about to explain, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Onodera's gaze wasn't on the notebook, but on her face, as if observing her reaction.
"Weren't you with Kushida and the others before?" Horikita asked.
Onodera's face flushed slightly. "Yeah... I just, wanted to switch it up."
Horikita didn't press further. She took the notebook, wrote a few lines of the derivation on the paper, and pushed it back. "Here, just substitute into this formula."
"Thank you!" Onodera took the notebook and hurried back to her seat. Looking at her back, Horikita suddenly had an epiphany.
This person probably didn't really want to ask about a formula; she just wanted to find someone to talk to. But why talk to her?
While Horikita was puzzled, another pair of eyes was watching the scene.
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