Chapter 17 Class B Gathering
"Who threatened who is still unclear," Hikigaya could only smile helplessly in response to Kanzaki's warning. "But don't worry, I have absolutely no intention of hurting Ichinose."
Kanzaki Ryuji merely let out a cold snort at that.
"What are you two whispering about?" Shibata Souta leaned over and wrapped his arm around Hikigaya's shoulder. "Hey, Hikigaya, tell me—who confessed first between you two?"
"It was me."
Hikigaya had an impression of Shibata Souta. Back in the second year, he was one of the few students whose physical abilities reached an A rating at the school. His personality was like a male version of Ichinose—outgoing, clean-cut, and a rising star in the soccer club. He was also quite popular among the first-year girls.
"That's impressive." Shibata suddenly squeezed Hikigaya's bicep with the hand resting on his shoulder. "Hikigaya, are you in a sports club? That's some good muscle. Wanna have a strength contest?"
Academic performance, physical ability, adaptability, and social contribution were the four criteria the school used to evaluate students. When Hikigaya enrolled, his physical ability was rated C. But after training in the dorms every night, he wasn't sure where he stood now.
Ever since being reborn, he felt like he was full of energy. His stamina and strength were clearly better than before.
"I just exercise regularly. Sure, we can have a match."
Even if someone was outgoing, it was rare to directly challenge someone to a strength contest on first meeting.
Hikigaya could guess Shibata's intentions—clearly, Ichinose's charm was considerable. That said, he also wanted to use this as an opportunity to gauge his current physical strength against someone like Shibata, who was rated B+.
The two of them squared off, and their movements quickly drew the attention of the girls. Ichinose and Amakura Mako came over and even touched their tensed muscles. Shiranami Chihiro and Kobashi Yume also turned their gazes toward them.
Amakura Mako marveled, "So this is what boys are like, huh," as Hikigaya and Shibata began exerting their strength, starting with some tentative testing. Both knew that going all out too quickly might cause injury.
Their hands were tightly clasped, veins bulging more as they applied pressure. As Hikigaya continued to add force, he could feel that Shibata had stopped increasing his own.
Seeing Shibata's face flush and tense, Hikigaya quietly murmured an apology in his mind and slowly increased his strength, bit by bit, until Shibata's hand was pressed to the table.
Even though he had only trained for a little over a month, he was now stronger than Shibata. But he didn't feel especially proud—because it felt like cheating, and he couldn't help but feel guilty toward others.
"I lost," Shibata said with relief as he leaned back on the sofa. Then he added, "Sorry."
Not knowing what else to say, Hikigaya turned to Kanzaki. "Want to give it a try too?"
"I already competed with Shibata." The implied meaning: no thanks, he didn't want to embarrass himself.
Kanzaki was the quiet type. With the cheerful Shibata now worn out and Watanabe Norihito being someone he wasn't close with, Hikigaya quietly picked up his phone and faded into the background until the girls were tired from singing.
After asking around and finding that no one wanted to continue singing, Ichinose turned off the music and sat down next to Hikigaya. This gathering wasn't just for Hikigaya to meet her classmates, but also to give him a chance to demonstrate his abilities.
"If Class B keeps going like this, you'll never make it to Class A."
Putting down his phone, Hikigaya looked at everyone's faces. None of them seemed angry or ready to fight back. If this were Class D, people would've started yelling immediately instead of waiting for him to continue.
"The school evaluates students from A to E in four areas: academic ability, physical ability, adaptability, and social contribution. I got a sneak peek through the student council at the evaluations across all classes, and Class B ranked the lowest. Only Ichinose received A grades in two categories. The other classes all have at least three students with A ratings."
Kanzaki couldn't accept this. "That's impossible. Since teacher Hoshinomiya said the classes were divided based on student evaluations, shouldn't we be ranked above Classes C and D?"
"Not counting myself, Class D still has five students with higher ratings than you. Two of them are even stronger than Ichinose. It just looks worse overall because Class D has more students with poor evaluations."
Ichinose leaned her body closer and said, "Somehow it feels a little disheartening to hear I'm not better than others... from you, Hikigaya-kun.
So what do you suggest we do?"
"Two strategies. One: strengthen yourselves. Two: weaken others. The most effective way is to pool resources and buy top students from other classes into your own. For example, Kushida from Class D could be your target—she's already thinking of transferring."
Class D was too strong. They needed to weaken it, or the game wouldn't be fun. Besides, Hikigaya believed Class B suited Kushida better. The students in Class B were like angels—polite and well-spoken. He also hoped to reduce the number of times he had to act as Kushida's middleman.
"When it comes to major school events, like the sports festival, you can't avoid them. If you want to win class points, start training now. And don't just hold study groups before exams—make it a routine."
"You also need to pay attention to information. Hide your own data and gather information on students from other classes. That might be useful for future special exams."
The school's exams were comprehensive. Even in the sports festival, the class with the strongest athletes wouldn't necessarily win. By gathering intel and applying a "Tian Ji horse racing" strategy, it was possible to win through smarter planning.
"You know, Hikigaya... how do I put this—you come off as really mature. Listening to you made me feel, for the first time, like the four classes are actually in competition."
That was from Amakura Mako. She had a ponytail like Karuizawa Kei, but shorter, just past her shoulders. She had refined features, a tall, slender figure, though a little thin.
Hikigaya could understand her feelings. The school year had just started, and the first special exam involving student expulsion hadn't yet begun. Most students hadn't yet felt the pressure of competition.
"Now I'm curious. Hikigaya, aren't you in Class D? Helping us like this—won't your classmates hate you? And don't you want to graduate from Class A?"
"Being hated by classmates doesn't bother me. And graduating from any class is fine—because with my abilities, I can get into any university I want."
Powered up, Hikigaya was that confident. Originally, his academic level would only get him into a standard public university. But now, with enhanced memory abilities, he could even get into the University of Tokyo.
His main goal at this school was to join Class B, become a leader, and deal with Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
He wanted to find a way to make him drop out through the special exams. If not Class B, then Class A. But Ichinose's unexpected actions changed everything—now he could more or less control Class B without becoming its leader.
And since he wasn't aiming to be the class leader, running for student council president wouldn't face resistance from the other first-year classes. Nagumo Miyabi was originally set to be the next student council president—but Hikigaya might just replace him.
After all, he held grudges—especially against blondes.