An Adaptable Change

Hikigaya's Route to Senior High Is Not Normal, As I Expected

"I consider myself Istanbul's storyteller. My subject matter is my town. I consider it my job to explore the hidden patterns of my city's clandestine corners, its shady, mysterious places, the things I love." – Orhan Pamuk

…

Hachiman's POV

…

There was a lot of stuff that had happened in the past weekend.

It started on Saturday when Hachiman was working with Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi in the library. As usual, Shiina had accompanied Hachiman, and wanted to study with them.

However, the first problem occurred when Shiina pointed something else out.

"Hey Hikigaya?" Shiina's voice rang Hachiman's ears as he turned to face her.

"Yes?"

"Did you know that the teachers apparently decided to change the content that would be on the midterm?" Shiina asked.

This question alone caused Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudou to raise their heads up, seeing the surprise look on their faces.

Hachiman shook his head, "No, I wasn't informed by my teacher."

Shiina looked confused, "Huh, our teacher informed us of the change on Friday. How come you all weren't informed?"

This seemed to make the remaining boys a bit angered, as Hachiman looked on. He immediately looked at Sudou, eying him to temper down his anger.

Regardless, he then went to Shiina. "Can you give us the format of what content will be on the midterm, according to your teacher?"

Shiina nodded, "Of course, I'd be glad to help Hikigaya however I can."

Hachiman deadpanned at Shiina's response, but he nodded, glad that someone was willing to help him.

Hachiman then turned to the three, "You three enjoy your day until evening, I'll brief you all on what is to be expected. However, considering we've been focused based on what is being taught, I don't think this change will affect us. Let's just take this news as a pathway forward to follow."

Sudou nodded, as Ike and Yamauchi immediately left clearly going to do their own thing, whether it is staring at girls, Hachiman didn't care, unless it was Shiina. She was too innocent to be stared at by perverts.

In the end, Hachiman immediately made his way towards Sae. This time, however, he decided to opt for something else.

Instead of Sae he would speak to, he would speak to her best friend. Who was often drunk.

Hachiman would just need to figure out what would be the appropriate time for Chie to be drunk.

Hachiman had already been given 8,000 private points, so now he had around 840,000 private points. All the while Hachiman looked on; he needed some kind of information.

Sae has historically not been given strategic or crucial information for Hachiman regarding information he wants to know.

Therefore, he needs to target her more vulnerable friend.

"That sounds so wrong…" Hachiman thought. Regardless, he knew Chie would likely give him more information, especially when drunk, compared to Sae.

And so, Hachiman knew that Chie would most likely be drunk during the weekends or the leadup to the weekends.

The office would be one of the safer places for Chie to theoretically drink however she wants.

In the end, Hachiman quietly knocked on the door. Sae didn't answer, and this made Hachiman nod to himself in confirmation.

Therefore, Hachiman had an idea.

He would need blackmail material. Especially considering Sae had thrown Hachiman under the bus back in May when the whole situation with class points were revealed, Hachiman knew that he would have to eventually manipulate the teacher himself.

Considering everything that was going on, Hachiman had to think about what to do. He would need information from Chie.

Even if they were best friends, when someone was drunk, they were less resistant to being impulsive.

Therefore, Hachiman had an easy way of effectively interrogating Sae through her fellow teacher.

Immediately, Hachiman could smell the alcohol, and the drunken stare Chie was giving around the room.

It took Hachiman to being in front of Chie for her to recognize him.

"Oh! Iz you!" Chie chuckled immediately, as Hachiman could smell the alcoholic breath coming out of Chie.

"Damnit woman. If you didn't do this one thing you would've have all the students and even older males drooling over, you!" Hachiman grumbled as he steeled himself as Chie immediately grabbed him.

"Eh?" That was all Hachiman could say before Chie brought him to sit down on the same chair as Chie was on.

Hachiman looked on in confusion, as he looked to his right, seeing Chie on her knees crawling towards him, her eyes hazed and a small smirk on her face.

"So, what is a cute student like you doing here at this time?!" She seemed very giddy and excited, which made Hachiman really confused.

"Out of all the drunk types he had to be, she had to be this kind?! I would've rather the abusive kind!" Hachiman thought as he steeled himself, avoiding the two hanging and dangling round pieces Chie was unintentionally showing due to the angling.

Hachiman looked on, "What kind of content should we expect on the midterm?" Hachiman asked curiously trying to focus on what he was trying to convey.

Chie chuckled, "Oh, did Sae not tell you anything about it? We decided to change it rather abruptly!" Hachiman looked on, clearly getting that what Shiina had told them was right.

Hachiman hummed, "I see…"

"Wait, did Sae not tell you all?" Chie asked curiously, clearly looking surprised, before she got teary, "She said she would eventually tell you! Why is she so mean to you like she is to me!"

Hachiman watched on in discomfort as Chie seemed to start getting teary, whether she was about to cry or not, Hachiman was unsure.

"So, she told you she would tell us, when was that?" Hachiman asked Chie.

"Literally like last Thursday!" Chie cried out.

"That's exactly a week before the midterms…" Hachiman thought. "She's wasted two to three days, when she clearly wouldn't want us to know at all."

"I don't think she wants to tell us." Hachiman responded after a bit.

Chie looked on, her eyes spiraling as she thought, "But she's nice…"

"She's never told us anything. She forced me to speak on it rather than tell it herself." Hachiman revealed.

Chie continued to look on, as Hachiman was thinking the alcohol was getting to her head.

That was until she spoke. "She knew of it all, and even though we were not allowed to speak on the class points, we're entitled to inform our students of what will be on our midterms."

Hachiman hummed clearly getting the message.

Simply put, Sae was openly not going to inform her class about the content change of the midterms.

"That is a very scummy move of Chabashira… If she is intentionally not going to speak to us about it, then what is the point of trying to advance in the class?" Hachiman asked himself.

Even then he had an idea regarding the kind of person Sae was. In short, Sae wouldn't speak on it.

And the reason for it seemed to make Hachiman wonder but have some small inclination for a point of what Sae's character was.

"Perhaps she's a bit sadistic because she's been in a place like we're currently in for Class 1-D." Hachiman thought before he sighed.

"Would make complete sense then. After all, why else would Chabashira be sadistic like that?" Hachiman asked himself to no one in particular.

Chie eventually spoke, "I think she was going to tell you this week! I'm sure of it!"

Hachiman sighed, "Don't try to defend Chabashira. If what she did before occurred, she would have done the same thing, keeping things hidden from us until it fully affected us."

Chie pouted, "She would not!"

"You literally just said that she would be mean to you." Hachiman deadpanned.

"But that's besides the point!" Chie cried as she clearly was a bit disorderly.

Regardless, Hachiman was getting enough information. He needed this to bolster his security, even if it meant blackmailing his own teacher.

And he could certainly get some form of blackmail through this.

Even if the term of equality was no a thing, getting the entirety of the class to hate Sae over doing something similar Hachiman himself would work.

It would be a perfect sense of karma.

They both get hated and scrutinized for hiding something from the rest of the class. It would be the perfect treatment he would give to Sae.

Therefore, Hachiman knew that Sae wouldn't speak, so getting information from the person she speaks to while drunk would be perfect.

He had been recording everything.

He had activated the recording of his phone and began recording.

The fact every teacher was informed and admitted to informing their students except for Sae, it would look bad if she figured out.

Even if Sae tried to use any excuse, the class wouldn't care. She was being told she had information, and thus it would look horrible for her.

And so, as Hachiman prepared for what he had, he knew he would have a bit of a task ahead of him, considering everything.

But with the help of Shiina, Hachiman didn't need to worry about the content of the midterm, especially if it changed. He had trust in Shiina to be honest, considering they were friends who haven't gotten into any fights.

Usually, Hachiman would always get into an argument with people who tried to be around him within a week or two. Therefore, Hachiman felt a bit certain about Shiina.

And even if she tried to send the wrong information, Hachiman could deduce based on the topics covered overall.

After all, Sae couldn't outright neglect what she has to teach, that is up to the school itself, or a higherup.

…

Kiyotaka's POV

…

Here I am.

Being dragged around by the likes of girls.

Since when were girls always trying to move others to their desires?

First it was Suzune, and now it was Kikyou.

Of course, when Kikyou basically blackmailed me under the threat of rape, my opinion of her has changed substantially.

Regardless, there were more pressing issues going on right now.

At least in the eyes of Kiyotaka, it all began when Suzune approached him, looking oddly annoyed and… worried…

"That is a strange thing for Horikita to show. However, after the fight with her brother, I guess I've seen something different." Kiyotaka thought as he steeled himself.

He was getting a meal with Suzune, as she had approached him with a meal.

"If what I am deciphering about Horikita, is that whenever she offers me for food, she has a request for me." Kiyotaka assumed.

"I actually came and offered you lunch because of a concerning issue we've encountered when I was studying with Karuizawa, Shinohara, and Sato…" Suzune started, making Kiyotaka raise an eyebrow.

"What happened?" Kiyotaka asked curiously.

Suzune looked around before sighing, "It was just a normal day. The four of us were studying."

"How are the girls when they are studying?" Kiyotaka asked.

Suzune shrugged, "Underwhelming, but they won't fail. They'll at best do average… That's what I thought…"

"And how come?"

Suzune took a deep breathe before she sighed, "That was when a student had spilt their bottle right on their notes."

Kiyotaka looked confused, "Okay? Aren't they performing well?"

Suzune sighed at that, letting out a rather large breath out. "Well, this may have been due to my own neglect, I failed to have get them to stop looking at their notes as they solved questions and problems…" Suzune admitted, seemingly frustrated.

"I can tell since after everything, they clearly began to freak out, sweat, and perform a lot worse on the problems. They're barely passing overall, and at this rate, they may fail and be expelled…" Suzune added.

For Kiyotaka, seeing Suzune worrying about other people was weird, but after what he heard from her regarding her own brother.

She needed some form of validation. And so, this study group was likely pushing her to show how capable she was. not to the class, but to her brother.

It was somewhat ironic that Suzune mixed her sense of superiority with her desire to seek approval from her brother. Perhaps it was a front for her to act superior to think she had a chance of seeking approval?

Kiyotaka could only guess and at the end of the day, whether seeing the results gave Suzune a false sense of success was something Kiyotaka would not know.

And so, he was now being pushed with a way to help the three girls. Considering how bad they were performing, they needed a miracle, especially since they relied so heavily on their notes, which had been destroyed.

"Horikita, do you think their notes were destroyed on purpose or accidentally?" Kiyotaka asked curiously as the stern girl turned to look at him.

"It doesn't matter. We will need to do something about the immediate impact." Suzune explained. Kiyotaka sighed as he and Suzune pondered on.

For the meantime, considering how everything was playing, and the likes that there was less than a week before the midterm, Kiyotaka had to think quickly to deal with this apparent issue.

"Did you tell Hirata and Kushida?" Kiyotaka asked curiously.

Suzune shook her head.

That looked a bit awkward. Perhaps Kiyotaka should take the initiative, because Suzune is likely not going to. Her pride and superiority wouldn't allow it.

Kikyou was the first to respond, which made sense, considering she was a girl and popular. Hirata was a bit slower, but he seemed to just inform that he was willing to give his spare notes to them.

Regardless, Kiyotaka was mildly surprised Kikyou had come afterwards to visit Kiyotaka. He was fine with it, especially since Suzune showed apprehension towards her.

Therefore, when Kiyotaka agreed to think of something to do, Suzune thanked him, and then went to her dorm. No doubt she was going to focus on her studying, and try to project it onto the girls, in a feeble attempt to teach the girls how to proceed with the problems.

And so that ultimately left Kiyotaka with Kikyou to solve this problem.

However, as Kikyou and Kiyotaka began to look more into the overall design of the midterms, they came across something somewhat concerning.

In particular, the exams and stuff every group was studying for were different.

Kikyou was unsure where Hachiman was, so she apparently messaged him, and he gave what he was helping the boys study with.

To say Kikyou was shocked was an understatement.

"What's going on?" Kiyotaka asked Kikyou.

"Apparently, Hikigaya's been teaching the three basic parts of the course and plans to put them to more advanced stuff today." Kikyou explained. Kiyotaka for his part thought.

"He could be meaning something from that…" Kiyotaka thought.

"How so?" Kikyou asked. Kiyotaka thought about it carefully.

Especially since when he was speaking to Sae with Suzune, the teacher kept referring us to him, saying we would need his cooperation to rise in the class ranks.

And so, Kiyotaka knew he had to always consider everything Hachiman said with scrutiny.

Therefore, he eventually decided to do something with Kikyou.

"What if we get a sample of the midterm exams from the upper years and we can study based on those?" Kiyotaka asked.

This seemed to resonate and give Kikyou a sparkle of hope. "Ayanokouji that's a great idea!"

Kiyotaka shrugged, "I just remembered something Hikigaya told me about what he was teaching. It made me realize. Rather than theorize what we can study, we just see a sample from a previous year and use that as a reference to study from."

Kikyou nodded, "No, that's genius! Let's do it now!"

Kiyotaka nodded in agreement. Sure enough they encountered the individual they spotted. During the Afternoon of Saturday, they spotted an individual walking to the counter.

The student recognized Kiyotaka and Kikyou approaching him.

"Excuse me, are you an upperclassman?" Kiyotaka asked, as he started the conversation.

The student looked a bit alarmed, but nodded slowly, "Uh, who are you…?" The student asked a bit concerned and worried.

"Are you a second- or third-year student?" Kiyotaka focused on the question.

The student finally responded, "Third year… Are the two of you third year?" He asked Kiyotaka and Kikyou.

"Yes, I am Ayanokouji of Class D. You are also in Class D, right?" Ayanokouji confirmed.

"What has this got to do with you?" The boy asked a bit defensive.

Regardless, Kiyotaka remained focused. "You're eating the free meals. You wouldn't be doing that if you could afford to. But anyways, I have an offer for you."

"What is it?" The student asked at last.

"We're having a bit of issues regarding the upcoming midterm test, and we'd like to buy the midterm tests you and your class has done, with the correct answers." Kiyotaka explained.

The student thought for a bit, before he sighed. "Fine, but I want 30,000 private points for that."

Kiyotaka sighed, "I cannot do 30,000."

"Then 20,000? Nothing under 15,000 private points."

Sure enough, the deal was a lot smoother than Kiyotaka expected. Sure, the Class D upperclassmen was very skeptical and embarrassed of his reputation which made sense.

After all, his reputation was already shot.

And therefore, while Kikyou understood getting sample midterms, asking for the answers was confusing.

"Ayanokouji, why did you ask for the answers?" Kikyou asked curiously.

"It's more for insurance. Didn't you notice the difficult problems with the simple ones in the mock test?"

"Yeah…" Kikyou nodded.

"It may not be identical, but the methods will be the same as last year's." Kiyotaka explained. "We can simply publish them to the internet the day before the test."

Kikyou already got the message, "Oh, so hey can cram when they clearly care the most for the exams?"

Kiyotaka nodded, "It would explain how Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi were able to get into this school. Simply put, they had some form of backup mechanism to prevent them from being expelled. For example, Ike likely used his communication skills to his advantage, Yamauchi, honestly I don't know, and Sudou probably paid to while he focused on sports, I don't know."

With that, however, Kiyotaka and Kikyou had successfully managed to deal with Suzune's apparent problem of the girls relying too much on their notes, all the while indirectly responding to the problem Hachiman had.

…

Well, there you go, pretty much next chapter we will see the final part of Volume 1, maybe I'll do a extra part after, we will see. Regardless, both Kiyotaka, Suzune, and Hachiman are all playing their separate roles, alongside Yousuke and Kikyou, in a weird, interesting turn of events. For the meantime, I don't have much to add. We are approaching the next major arc which I have developed in my mind. For the time being, enjoy this chapter!