Chapter 18

I studied seriously every day in order to earn 200,000 points, and the midterm exam was finally approaching tomorrow.

Homeroom ends and Chabashira-sensei leaves the classroom.

I have to do a final review today.

That's what I thought when I got up from my seat. At the same time, Kushida stood up and opened her mouth.

"Everyone, before you go home, could you please listen to me for a moment?'' Kushida's voice echoed throughout the classroom, and everyone who was about to leave, including me, stopped. "I think I've studied a lot for tomorrow. So maybe this will be useful. I'm going to hand out the printouts now." Kushida passes a stack of paper to the front of each row for each person. .

Then it comes to me... ..Test questions? Did Kushida make these?

What was there was a test.

"Actually, this is a past question from a mid-term test. My senior gave it to me last night."

When I took a closer look at the content, I realized that it was indeed something I had just learned. "Can I use this?"

"Yeah, it's a mid-term test from the year before last, and it has almost the same questions as this one. So I thought it might be useful if I studied this."

"Aaaaaaa! Seriously! Thank you Kushida-chan!!" Ike, one of the red dot candidates, cries as he hugs the print, but it crumples.

"What? If something like this existed, I wouldn't have had to study so hard until now," says Yamauchi, who like Ike is one of the red mark candidates, but it's out of the question to place too much faith in past questions.

Maybe things will be different this year.

"Sudo-kun, please use this to study today."

"Oh, that helps."

"Let's keep this a secret from the other classes! Get a high score and scare them!"

Ike says so, but it's true that handing over this print could be a betrayal of the class.

(Well, Sakayanagi and Ichinose would probably be higher in their grade than Hiyori even if they didn't have past questions.)

We studied together for nearly two weeks, and all three of us were at a level that would definitely put us in the top 20 of our grade.

Having made that decision, I decided not to give past questions to Sakayanagi and the others and left the classroom.

__________

"...Phew. Anyway, I've finished the general review."

"It's been a while so I'm going to make some food."

At 6:00 p.m., after studying and taking a breather alone with Hiyori in my room, Hiyori heads to the kitchen.

Hiyori is a really good girl who makes me breakfast, dinner, and bento every day even during my test study period.

Like Sakayanagi, she met Yukinoshita and the others during the break before the test study period, and ever since then, I have come to think of her as important.

"Thank you as always."

"I'm just doing it because I want to do it."

She says this every time, but I want to express my gratitude, so I bow every time.

"Yes, yes... I'm sorry, but I don't have much mechanical pencil lead and eraser, so I'll go buy some."

I have a test tomorrow so I need to be in perfect condition. It's really funny when a test starts and you don't have an eraser.

"Be careful"

After receiving a farewell greeting from Hiyori, I leave the room, take the elevator, and arrive at the first floor.

And when I try to go out from the entrance...

"Hey, Hikigaya-kun. Are you going out for dinner?"

Coincidentally, Sakayanagi encounters me. However, this time Sakayanagi is not alone, but has a companion next to her.

She has a side-tailed hairstyle and a strong expression, and is quite a quirky girl.

"No, I'm going to buy mechanical pencil leads and erasers. So? Is that your servant?"

"That's rude. She's Masumi Kamuro, and she's my friend."

"Don't lie. The expression on her face doesn't show that she's a friend. I think you have exploited some kind of weakness against her?"

The woman named Kamuro was clearly dissatisfied with what I just expression.

At least she's not a friend.

"Well, let's play a game. I want you to guess her weakness."

I guess you're holding onto it after all. But what about games?

"By the way, what if I guess and miss?"

"Well...then if you get it wrong, please listen to me for one thing. If you get it right, you can make Kamuro-san fall in love with you for a day."

"Hey, Sakayanagi. Can you please stop using people as gambling products?"

Kamuro-san speaks for the first time here, which is probably a natural reaction.

And I don't have the hobby of falling in love with a woman I meet for the first time.

"I agree. Even if you win in the first place, you'll only get an awkward amount of time, right?"

"I see...then what do you want, Hikigaya-kun?"

I thought about it when Sakayanagi told me that. Basically, I get mounted by Sakayanagi every time. Of course, such exchanges are not bad, but I also want to take the initiative against Sakayanagi.

Therefore...

"Then if I guess, Sakayanagi, you will wear a maid outfit for the day and serve me."

Make such a request. Sakayanagi, on the other hand, widens her eyes for a moment, but then immediately bursts into laughter.

"I see. Does Hikigaya-kun like maid clothes? Alright, If you guess right, I'll take care of Hikigaya-kun for a day."

"You're fearless..."

Kamuro looks at me with a shocked and horrified expression, but if I'm dating Sakayanagi, I won't even want to be afraid.

In any case, I have to see through Kamuro's weaknesses now. I exhale and look at Kamuro. Kamuro was expressionless at first, but I continued to stare at her for a while, making her uncomfortable.

"What? Can you tell just by looking?"

That can't be true. What you are looking at is just an aid to your research. However, even though it has weaknesses, it is limited, so let's talk about those candidates.

"Violence...prostitution...stealing...

reverse rape..."

When I mutter that, Kamuro shows various reactions, but... it's stealing.

The reason was that when I called  violence, she remained expressionless and didn't react, so I decided it was wrong. Humans generally react when faced with facts.

During prostitution and reverse rape, she looked displeased, but there was no difference there. If either is true, there should be a difference.

Along with that, it would be theft by process of elimination. Additionally, Kamuro's eyebrows were twitching only during the theft, so it's probably correct.

For now, I'll assume it's theft, but when I say theft, I mean stealing someone's personal property or stealing store merchandise.

However, it is difficult to imagine stealing someone's personal belongings. Basically, there are surveillance cameras inside the school, so stealing is almost impossible. It's also hard to think about stealing things from other people's dormitories. It would be foolish to openly steal something in the presence of a third party, Sakayanagi.

In that case, it's normal to think that Sakayanagi found out about it by accident. Therefore...

"Shoplifting, right?"

When I say that, Kamuro opens his eyes and looks at me. Judging from that reaction, it's bingo.

"You did a great job. I expected you to guess, but I never expected you to guess without asking me even once."

Sakayanagi, on the other hand, seems to be having fun and applauds.

"That's fine. But wouldn't it be nice to be able to use someone who can shoplift as a pawn?"

Shopping malls don't have many surveillance cameras compared to schools (or rather, the number of cameras installed at schools is abnormal), but they must be pretty good at shoplifting.

"Yes. More importantly, I will keep my promise. When should I become your maid, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Of course. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a gamble. So, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Well, wait until the interim results are announced."

It was meant to be a light joke, but she let me ride. In fact, having Sakayanagi serve me is just too awesome.

"I understand. I'll do my best, so thank you."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"...You're pretty good friends."

"Yeah. I'm having fun."

"Well, I guess I'll get used to it after being pushed around for a month."

Now, I don't get too tired even when I'm being pushed around by Sakayanagi. If you don't get tired, you can have some fun.

"Also, Sakayanagi may seem perfect, but she has various weaknesses."

"A weakness? Besides not being able to exercise?"

While saying this, I approach Sakayanagi. Sakayanagi, on the other hand, seems to have seen through what I'm trying to do, and tries to keep her distance, but she's a step too slow...

"Whew."

"Hyaan!"

Breathe into her ear. Then, Sakayanagi moans as cutely as before.

"See you later. Let's do our best on the midterm exam."

Seeing Sakayanagi like this, I laughed and left the entrance.

"Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

After Hachiman left, Masumi couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't help it when the woman she thought was the cold-hearted woman who had threatened her reacted so cutely to that strange guy.

However, when I saw Arisu trembling, I managed to hold back my laughter. I laughed no more because I didn't know what would happen to me either.

"Huh...hehehehehe. You have done this time, Hikigaya-kun."

Arisu was laughing. However, instead of her usual cold smile, she had a smile with anger in her eyes.

Masumi was surprised to see Arisu make such an expression.

"What are you going to do? Crush him?"

"No way. I'm not so rotten as to destroy my friend over just a joke. I'll just make him feel even more embarrassed than me in return."

"You're not looking for revenge...or rather, I've been thinking about it for a while, but do you like Hikigaya?"

Today is the first time Masumi has met Hachiman, but it is well known that Arisu generally spends time with Hachiman, except when she is spending time with her classmates.

Therefore, Masumi thought that Arisu liked Hachiman.

Arisu shakes his head at Masumi's question.

"I like him as a friend. As for the opposite sex, I've never been in love with anyone, so I don't know."

"Hmm... well, I can't imagine you falling in love with someone."

"I can't imagine either. But about Hikigaya-kun? He's quite interesting, isn't he?"

"What? When he was looking at me with his rotten eyes, I felt like he could see through everything, and instead of being curious, I felt fear."

"That's true. Hikigaya-kun's insight is on an order of monster level magnitude, and the lies he tells can fool all kinds of people. Also, Hikigaya-kun's eyes are pretty cute once you get used to them, aren't they?"

"No, that's not true. Besides, what kind of retaliation will you take?"

In response to Masumi's question, Arisu pretended to be thinking...

'Well... once things settle down, I'd like to go to a crowded place like the dining room and hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek.'

__________

"I'm home"

"Ah, welcome home. It's just finished, so please sit down."

When I returned to my room after buying a mechanical pencil lead and an eraser, Hiyori, wearing an apron, was busy carrying the food.

"Can I help you?"

"No. It's my job to take care of Hachiman-kun."

Hiyori scoffs at my suggestion, so I have no choice but to sit down and wait for Hiyori to finish bringing out the food.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. Shall we eat?"

"Wow. It's a big cutlet though."

Today's dinner was a huge pork cutlet. Hiyori prepares a variety of menus every day, but she doesn't often serve fatty dishes, so I was a little surprised when the pork cutlet came out.

"Tomorrow is the mid-term exam, so I thought I'd help Hachiman-kun get some bonus points."

"I see. Thank you."

If that's the case, feel free to accept it. In fact, it's impossible not to eat Hiyori's food.

When you eat the cutlet right away, the flavor spreads in your mouth. When you feel this impact, it certainly feels like the best thing to do as a test bearer.

As a result, I was absorbed in eating all of Hiyori's cooking. Well, I get hooked every time.

"You're welcome. Oh, there's sauce on your mouth."

Hiyori said as she wiped my mouth with a tissue. I was defeated by Sakayanagi before, but it's quite embarrassing.

Since Hiyori isn't shy, I managed to avoid panicking.

I thanked Hiyori and resumed eating, but strangely, I didn't stop talking.

I can feel the soul in Hiyori's cooking even more than usual. Is this the special dish you mentioned...?

Although I continued to eat while thinking such foolish thoughts, it goes without saying that it was a happy moment.

3 hours later...

"Hiyori, we have a real performance tomorrow, so it's time to finish studying and go home."

Talk to Hiyori just before 11pm. I also have more time than Hiyori, so I don't have to push myself too hard the day before the test.

On the contrary, it would be no fun to stay up all night and find yourself in the worst conditions, so it's best to get plenty of rest the day before.

In the end, I didn't memorize the past questions prepared by Kushida, but looking at the past questions, I was able to solve them normally, so there was no need to memorize them.

After all, as long as I studied hard, there won't be any problems.

When I came to that conclusion and said that to Hiyori...

"Hachiman-kun. If you don't mind... can I stay in your room?"

"What happened all of a sudden?"

Hiyori sometimes comes early in the morning, but this is the first time they have stopped since the day before. In the past, the three of us, including Sakayanagi, slept together until morning, but that was just how it was.

However, this time she clearly asked me to let her stay. This was completely unexpected and I couldn't help but return it.

"It's because I wanted to be spoiled by Hachiman-kun... is that okay?"

Finally, she looks at me with a worried look on her face. It's scary because looking at Hiyori's expression like that makes me look like I'm at fault for trying to refuse.

And the reason was because she wanted to be pampered by me? I'm so happy and embarrassed that I feel like I'm going to die in agony.

"...Okay. Go back to your room and prepare for tomorrow, then grab your things and come."

I let out a sigh and listened to Hiyori's request. It's embarrassing, but it's a request from Hiyori, who usually takes care of me, so I can't refuse.

"Thank you. I'm happy...see you later."

When Hiyori heard this, she left the room with a happy expression on her face. Good thing Hiyori didn't look sad.

One incident with Ryuen is enough for something like that.

(For now, I have about 30 minutes to prepare Hiyori for tomorrow and take a bath, so I'll just look at past math questions.)

I looked at all the past questions once, but at that level, you can get full marks in English, Japanese, and social studies without having to memorize past questions.

The only things I'm nervous about are math and science, so I memorize past math questions until Hiyori comes.

You can do science tomorrow morning or during recess.

While I was reviewing my past questions for a while, the door suddenly opened, so I hid them in my bag, and a moment later, Hiyori in her pajamas came into the room.

She has her bag and uniform in her hands, so it looks like she's fully prepared for tomorrow.

"The preparations are finished. So... shall we sleep together?"

While saying this, Hiyori puts down her luggage and picks up the hem of my clothes.

That gesture is against the law.

"..."

As a result, I couldn't resist and when I got into bed, Hiyori came in and hugged me. and ...

"Good night... Hachiman-kun."

Thuuu

She kissed me gently on the cheek.

As a result, I fainted in agony and couldn't sleep until 1am.

_______________

The next day... "No one was absent. It's great that everyone was there."

While Hiyori's kiss left me yawning, unable to sleep much, Chabashira-sensei gave a small smile of amusement.

Today is the mid-term exam, which is the first hurdle for the Red Point Group.

"This will be the first test for all you dropouts. Have you studied hard?''

"We have been studying seriously for the past few weeks. There will be no red marks from this class. "

In other words, if you receive a past question and get a red mark, you're probably an idiot among idiots. "You seem extremely confident, Hirata. I'd like you to show me whether that's bravado or not."

Chabashira-sensei begins handing out printouts while looking around. The first period is social studies, which is my favorite subject. In addition, I studied to the death for the bonus points during the test study period, so I am confident that I can get into the top class of my grade even without past exams.

"If you don't get expelled from either of these mid-term exams and the final exam to be held in July, I'll take you all on a summer vacation.''

"A vacation?''

"Yes. That 's right. ...The blue sea, the white sand, and the shining sun. I'll let you live a dream-like life."

Stop lying.

It's definitely a vacation with a twist. I will never be fooled by this teacher who wanted to take my points!

However, the boys in the class seemed to take Chabashira-sensei's words to heart and released pressure all at once.

Even Chabashira-sensei is disappointed by this. "Everyone, let's do it!"

"Oooooooooooo! " A boy's roar echoes Ike's lines. On the other hand, the girls have cold eyes. While I was stunned, the chime for the start of school resounded throughout the school building.

At the same time, it became quieter than before, and everyone was holding pens.

First, write your name in the name field on the answer sheet.

I can't laugh at the anonymous 0 points.

I then begin to solve the problem, but slowly. I looked over the questions while writing the answers, and I think I could easily get a perfect score. The only thing I'm worried about is the discrepancies in the answer column, but you can just check it slowly after you've solved all the questions.

I looked around the classroom to the extent that I wouldn't suspect cheating, but I didn't see any students stopping their mechanical pencils.

The 3 idiots in class are also solving it smoothly, so I don't think they'll get a red mark like Hirata said.

With that in mind, I solved all the questions and checked to make sure there were no discrepancies in the answer column.

3 hours later...

"It's such an easy victory!"

"I might score 120 points."

During recess, the three idiots in the class, Ike and Yamauchi, are having fun with past exam questions in hand.

I don't think there would be any red spots from all that fun.

The second period of Japanese, the third period of science, and the fourth period of mathematics have already been completed.

I think I got a perfect score in social studies and Japanese. I don't think there is a perfect score for mathematics, but the only thing I couldn't do was the proof problem at the end, but I solved half of it, so I think I could get a 95.

Regarding science, I checked the past questions in the morning, but I forgot some of them, so I would probably get a score of 90 at best.

At least not in the top 3 of the class.

If that happens, it will be tough to even get into the top five in the overall rankings, so don't expect bonus points for science and overall rankings.

I'll consider myself lucky if I come in 3rd place in mathematics.

I'm confident in my English skills, so I'm sure I can make some money here.

As I was thinking about this and doing my usual last struggle before a test, I saw Sudo looking over his past questions with a pained expression on his face.

When Ayanokoji talked to Sudo, he fell asleep and it seems like he didn't study English. Too stupid...

Well, I don't know what will happen to him. It was his own fault that he fell asleep even though he knew he was in danger of expulsion and was given the helping hand of past questions.

The problem is more with me.

I have to get a perfect score here and earn 30,000 points.

10 minutes later...

"Then we'll start the English test. I'm sure you understand, but private language will be treated as cheating."

The teacher handed out the answer sheets and question papers while saying the usual words. Maybe it's because it's the last time, but everyone is nervous, no matter how big or small.

Koenji is probably the only one who's not nervous at all. He probably has too much courage.

Once the handouts are handed out, the exam begins, so I start solving them, and just like with Japanese and social studies, I can solve them smoothly.

This is all thanks to Sakayanagi, Ichinose, and Hiyori... No, I'm starting to feel embarrassed when I remember Hiyori.

"Good night...Hachiman-kun...

My face heats up as I remembered Hiyori kissing me.

No, no, no, it wasn't lips to lips but cheeks, so it was a no-go. The other person probably didn't mean it romantically, but as a friend.

But it's so soft that I feel like I want to be kissed again.

Will she do what I asked?

...What stupid things am I thinking during the test?!

I have to concentrate on the test now.

When I looked at the answer sheet a little impatiently...

No, no, no, it wasn't lips to lips but cheeks, so it was a no-go. The other person probably didn't mean it romantically, but as a friend. But it's so soft that I feel like I want to be kissed again.

Will she do what I asked?

(Idiot! Why did you write about your opinion on kissing?!)

In the part where I translated the English text into Japanese, I wrote my opinion about Hiyori's kiss. I apparently filled it out unconsciously.

I hurriedly tried to erase it, but the teacher who was making rounds seemed to have seen my answer and casually laughed at me.

(A new dark history has been created...)

My heart became heavy.

In the end, although I am completely confident in my English ability, it goes without saying that I was extremely mentally exhausted.