Manipulating Behind the Scenes

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

"My job is to make people dream. Of course, there's a lot of technical stuff behind the scenes and a lot of hard work behind it, but I get to watch people see the result of that hard work and feel that wonder and feel that discovery, all the time." – David Copperfield

…

Hachiman's POV

…

To say he was beginning to be the one to engage in a conversation with someone from his class, Hachiman knew the circumstances required something different.

For the meantime, Hachiman had a goal in mind, and sometimes he had to do what it took for him to achieve it.

And so, he dialed up and messaged Yousuke.

The popular pretty boy was likely surprised to get a message from an individual who clearly didn't like to speak to other people daily. But alas, that was exactly what Hachiman had done.

"Hikigaya?" Yousuke sounded surprised when Hachiman had called him, clearly not expecting this at all.

Hachiman nodded, deciding to let forth what he plans to do. "Hey, Hirata. I'm calling you because I've had a change of mind."

"Huh? Explain?" Hirata from his dorm asked as he sat down on his bed, having been sitting on a chair whilst doing some studying.

Hachiman nodded, "You said that those who had done well in the mock test can act as a study group leader for the class, right?"

Hirata's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he seemed to understand what was slowly happening. "Yes, I did say that, are you offering to be one?"

Hachiman nodded, "Yes, I am offering my services to help those trying to improve their scores for the upcoming midterms."

Hirata seemed somewhat pleased with that. So far only Kikyou, and Suzune had offered to be a study group leader, as they are either influential, or their scores were excellent by contrast.

Regardless, Hachiman nodded, "Yes, I would like to participate and be a study group leader."

Hirata nodded, "That's great! We'll be glad of your efforts to help us."

Hachiman gave a hum of acknowledgement, "If it will even help with your added stress, I will personally deal with Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi for you."

Hirata clearly looked content with that, "Are you sure you will be able to deal with them?"

Hachiman nodded, "Yes, I will. I've gotten some things that may help them study and perform decently. I don't think I'll be able to get them to perform well, but to secure that they won't fail for the upcoming midterms."

"That is more than enough, thank you so much, Hikigaya." Hirata gladly expressed his gratitude towards Hachiman.

Hachiman nodded, "Glad to be of service, I'll begin to help them study, don't worry for them. They will be in my care."

Hirata smiled, "I'm glad for that, but that begs the question, who will Horikita be helping?"

Hachiman hummed, "Well, I certainly don't think she will work well with those boys, so perhaps let some of the girl's study with her. Horikita seems to need someone with a bit more expertise when it comes to academic material. Like Shinohara, Sato, and Karuizawa?"

Hirata gave a nod of approval, "Okay, that seems to be fine. I think that'll work. It'll make the work load easier on me. Even if Yukimura and the professor are assisting me."

Hachiman gave a final hum and nodded, accepting what he was doing. It would be a bit more difficult, but for Hachiman, he was willing to do such matters for his own personal goals.

Even then, it would ultimately benefit the class, whilst also humiliating those girls to an extent. It would show the true state of them and their place amongst the class, how one person really meant to the grand scheme of things.

Eventually, Hachiman had successfully managed to get himself involved in study groups. Simply put, he was now a leader, and was tasked in managing to help Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi.

While it sounded difficult, Hachiman didn't care. If anything, he had a very easy way of convincing them to study with him.

Especially with the note that Ike and Yamauchi pretty much followed whatever Sudou did. Hachiman didn't care for either of them. He just needed to convince Sudou, and the rest would fall.

As for the other three, Hachiman knew that Suzune would grill them for their lack of knowledge, and thus make their time miserable.

Especially if Hachiman could manage to get the three boys to show more progress, and even to get them to have better results than the three girls, it could potentially embarrass them with the realization that the three idiots of Class 1-D, were smarter than the three girls.

For Hachiman, it would be a worthwhile result he would work towards.

Once his call with Yousuke was successful, he decided the next person to message, and call would be Kikyou.

And so, once he finished speaking to Yousuke, he then dialed his phone to speak to Kikyou. As this occurred, Hachiman waited for a bit, with the intent of using her status and respect to convince them to do so, or even to convince Yousuke to submit and accept what is going on.

"Oh, hello?" Kikyou's voice rang through Hachiman's ears as he was surprised by how loud Kikyou was.

"Hello."

"Hey? I don't mean to come across as rude or anything, but why did you call me?" Kikyou asked.

Hachiman spoke with relative seriousness as he focused on the task at hand. "Yes, I did. I had spoken to Hirata just now informing him that I'm willing to assist in helping those in Class D study for the upcoming midterms."

Hachiman could hear Kikyou's eyes widen with delight as if she was glad, "Oh really? That's great! We'll take all the help we will need!"

Hachiman answered for Kikyou, "Yes, I had actually told Hirata that I will be dealing with the likes of Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi."

"Really? You are willing to take care of them for us?" Kikyou asked surprised in the meantime.

Hachiman nodded, "Yes, I am willing to. However, this does leave Horikita without anyone really to help study."

At this Kikyou suddenly sounded nervous, "Well, you see… The last time Horikita tried to teach someone, they abruptly left…"

Hachiman hummed clearly pretending he hadn't heard of that and instead pondered, "I see… Well, I should be able to help them, I've reassured Hirata, and I'm pretty sure leaving me to deal with them will be good for the rest of you."

"At least most of us." Hachiman thought as he waited for Kikyou to answer.

"I see, well did you need anything from me?" KIkyou asked curiously. Hachiman nodded.

"Yes, I need you to convince Shinohara, Sato, and Karuizawa to take up studying with Horikita." Hachiman explained.

"Are you sure about that?" Kikyou asked, uncertain about this. "You do know Karuizawa and Hirata are dating, so she wouldn't want to leave Hirata's side."

Hachiman hummed clearly trying to think, "Well, it was what me and Hirata agreed to. Besides Horikita needs some decent individuals who would need improvements. I think those three were perfect for that requirement."

Kikyou breathed out clearly thinking before she decided to make her opinion, "Okay, I'll convince them to work with Horikita instead of Hirata."

Hachiman nodded, "Thank you Kushida. Seriously."

Kikyou smiled, "No problem, if this is what you and Hirata want and agreed upon, then I will act on this."

Hachiman acknowledged the statement as he agreed, "Thank you again, Kushida."

"No problem, Hikigaya!" Kikyou gave a bye to Hachiman as they ended the call.

Hachiman silently sighed as if he finally had done that.

He had convinced Yousuke that he would assist, and specifically with Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi, and he convinced Kikyou to get Satsuki, Maya, and Kei to be moved to study with Suzune.

While he was unsure how successful it would yield, he knew Kikyou and Yousuke would ultimately agree and go with it.

As Hachiman called it down for there, he now had to get the trio to agree to study with him.

And that would be somewhat easy, considering getting three people, he only had to go after one.

He looked on as he now had to text the third and remaining person he had on his contact, that was in his class.

He decided this time to just message him considering he likely was busy, either playing basketball or exploring around. Regardless, Hachiman wouldn't have to wait.

Therefore, Hachiman decided to lay down for a bit considering how late it was. That was when he got the message from the individual he was trying to contact.

Sudou: Yo what's up?

Hachiman looked at the message for a bit before he decided speaking to him in person would make the 'trade' more genuine.

Hachiman: Not much, I have a proposition to offer you, meet me before class.

Hachiman hoped that one, it would encourage Sudou to attend classes a bit earlier, and two, would convince him to join the study group.

All while this occurred, Hachiman had already gone to sleep for the night. When he woke up, he immediately got ready and waited next to the class to see if Sudou would join him.

And to his mild shock, he did.

"Hey! Hikigaya!" Sudou exclaimed as he ran towards him.

Hachiman turned to face him, "Ah, you made it."

Sudou nodded, "Yes, you said you had some sort of deal?"

Hachiman looked at Sudou before he got straight to business. He knew he couldn't slowly go and waste his time, but also had to be careful not to be too quick and blunt.

"Yes, well you see. I saw your little explosion with the others around Horikita." Hachiman started, causing Sudou to grunt and clearly get a bit rild.

"Yeah, she was very annoying and standoffish… she keeps thinking she knows everything, and just demoralized us with her words." Sudou mumbled, clearly not content with how last afternoon went.

Hachiman hummed, clearly acting to sympathize with Sudou. "Oh wow, I can imagine how demoralizing it is when someone speaks back on you."

Sudou sighed in annoyance, "It is… Very."

Hachiman then pondered, "Then I got an idea. What if I help you study."

Sudou looked apprehensive and with skepticism at Hachiman, "Huh? Why? Are you going to also do what Horikita did?"

Hachiman shook his head, "No. I wouldn't. I don't like people who do that, so it would make me a hypocrite."

Sudou grumbled, "But still, studying is tiring, and it's not worth it really. I'm focused on being an athlete in basketball."

"You've informed me of those numerous times, Sudou, but I've warned you as well that the actions you do have consequences." Hachiman explained.

Sudou rolled his eyes a bit, "I've heard that from you, yes, but I seem to be fine. Even if my studies are bad, a coach will see my capabilities on the field and prioritize that."

Hachiman looked on, "But even then, would it matter if you risk the potential of getting expelled?"

Sudou downplayed it, "I'm not going to get expelled man… You must score very low for that to happen."

Hachiman then eyed Sudou, "Are you sure in your mind that you aren't worried about being expelled whatsoever?"

Hachiman questioned Sudou to really see if what he believed was his confidence. Did he really trust himself in that or was he just holding a façade.

Hachiman did his best to decipher Sudou, but he could tell that it would be difficult to analyze him effectively.

Eventually, Hachiman sighed as he decided to try and different method. A bolder one which involved using Sudou's own desires against him.

"Alright fine. If you really don't want to study with me, what if I offer to play basketball with you if you study with me?" Hachiman asked, surprising Sudou as he widened his eyes.

"Wait, really?" Sudou asked, bewildered that Hachiman would be willing to play basketball with him if he studied.

Hachiman nodded, "You heard me. I'd be willing to play basketball with you study and do well on the midterm exam."

Sudou's eyes narrowed at that as if wondering what Hachiman was getting at.

"What exactly do you want?" Sudou asked.

Hachiman nodded, "Simply put, I'm willing to help you, Yamauchi, and Ike all do better on the midterm exams. I'm not going to help you practice making you do well, but just to secure you more from failing. If you can tolerate that and not fail on your exams, then I will play basketball with you."

Sudou looked a bit torn at that, "Just me, or-"

Hachiman shook his head, "No, you, Ike, and Yamauchi. At least if you all don't fail and you do alright in the exams, I'll play basketball with you. But you know what? Screw it. If you also get like, a 75 in two subjects, I'll even join the basketball team with you."

Sudou's eyes widened more at the options Hachiman was throwing at him.

He had to think this through, "Wait, so if Ike, Yamauchi, and I all do alright and we don't fail the exams, you'll play basketball with me?"

Hachiman nodded. "Yes, and what I mean by alright is getting like a 60 or 65 average, and not failing a subject." Hachiman explained. These three were idiots, so he hoped this was reasonable to score.

Sudou nodded in understanding, "Okay, and if I get above a 75 on at least two subjects, you'll join the basketball team?"

Hachiman nodded. "Yes and coincides with you helping me get better if that happens. But you do have to remember, for that, you still mustn't fail a subject, and at least get a 60 average score, okay?"

Sudou hummed, "So just me for that basketball team condition, Ike and Yamauchi don't have to?"

Hachiman pondered before deciding to be kind to him, "Yes. If they can get around a 60 average and not fail on any midterms, then I'll accept it. But alas, you will be the one responsible for dragging Ike and Yamauchi here and studying, got it?"

Sudou nodded. Behind the scenes, Hachiman slightly smirked. He had managed to convince Sudou to do this. And if everything was going alright, then Satsuki, Maya, and Kei would be studying with Suzune, who would be brutal for them.

Sudou smiled, "Don't worry, I'll drag them here."

Hachiman gave Sudou a nod, "I believe in you, Sudou, so I'll see you in the library at 5pm?"

Sudou nodded, "Yes, and I'll bring Ike and Yamauchi."

"Perfect. I will see you there." Hachiman also then decided to also notify Sudou on something. "Oh right, considering Ike and Yamauchi have a habit of being perverted flirts, can I ask you to keep them in tab?"

Sudou stopped before he turned with a confused expression, "Can I ask why?"

Hachiman nodded, "There's a girl who likes to accompany me, and the last thing I need is Ike and Yamauchi to look and be too approaching to her. She's not exactly the open type."

Sudou seemed to get it, "Oh, I understand, Ike and Yamauchi may scare this girl away?"

Hachiman nodded, "Yes, I don't want Ike and Yamauchi getting distracted because of a potential person accompanying me."

"Wait, you said this person is she, right?" Sudou asked slowly, more confused when Hachiman nodded.

"Is she like, your girlfriend or something?" Sudou asked, and Hachiman, eyes widened looked surprised before shaking his head.

"No, just a… friend… Yeah, a friend." Hachiman had just realized that until now, he hadn't referred to Shiina as a friend until now.

And that was when he realized why.

"Right, I always said I was a horrible and terrible friend of hers…" Hachiman internally sighed before he focused on Sudou.

"But yeah, just a warning so that you can make sure Ike and Yamauchi keep their flirting and behaviour to a minimum." Hachiman explained before he decided to walk away, "And also, remember the terms I laid on you."

The prospect of Hachiman playing basketball with him, or even joining the basketball team with him was enough to get Sudou to finally take studying seriously, and Hachiman hoped his energy would rub off on Ike and Yamauchi.

Again, if they were to follow Sudou's actions, then it would be easier. Hachiman had no plans to directly be involved, but only to correct them and find easier ways to interpret and solve. It would be very simple.

All the while Satsuki, Kei, and Maya would all suffer at the hands of Suzune, who clearly didn't know how to teach all that well.

When the time came for studying, Hachiman was silently surprised.

He had gone to the library to work at 2pm, but when he went out quickly at 3pm, Sudou had already dragged Ike and Yamauchi in, and forced them on the seat to study.

"Well, guess I convinced and really got Sudou riled up…" Hachiman thought to himself as he slowly walked by.

"Oh! Hikigaya! I thought you said 5pm?" Sudou asked. Hachiman looked at Ike and Yamauchi. While they didn't seem content with more studying, Sudou's threat or status was enough to keep them anchored down and observant.

"I did, but I could say the same for you." Hachiman explained.

Sudou scratched his head, "Well, yeah, but I decided that perhaps the more studying I get, the more likely I can score higher on the exam."

Ike and Yamauchi looked at Sudou a bit surprised, seeing that he was the one who didn't want to study, was now the one pushing them to study.

Alas, Hachiman shrugged, and didn't mind. He wasn't even going to say a lot. All he was going to do was just allow them to communicate and solve it together. If they had stopped, then Hachiman would step in and push them in the right way. It was simple.

Just as Hachiman had predicted, Shiina had joined them, clearly confused at what Hachiman was doing.

"Oh, I'm just helping my classmate's study for the upcoming exams." Hachiman explained. Shiina surprisingly seemed a bit saddened before she put her book away, and then got out her own binder, containing all her study notes.

It wasn't until she spoke to Hachiman that he realizes that she was also going to participate in studying with him, Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi.

Before Ike and Yamauchi could be perverts at the sight of Shiina, Hachiman sent a glare at the two, his dead fisheyes, once laughable for their ugliness, had now become the symbol of fear and distain, as Hachiman had sent the message to the two of them before they even had the chance.

"Do not mess with Hiyori Shiina." Hachiman was sure that Sudou had informed them to keep low of their pervious behaviour, but Hachiman just wanted to ensure they got the message.

Judging by the sweat coming off both, Hachiman could confidently say they got the message. They would study, because Sudou wanted them to, so he could play basketball with Hachiman.

In a strange sense, it worked well for Hachiman, how everything fell together. He had used Sudou's desires to get him to study, and his status to force Ike and Yamauchi to as well.

Meanwhile, he could only assume Satsuki, Maya, and Kei were having a horrible time with Suzune.

If only they knew what Hachiman had planned for them tomorrow.

…

Alright, let me know what you think so far. Keep in mind Hachiman is not doing this for anyone, he's doing this for himself and sees an emotional and structural benefit in doing what he's doing. Mixed with wanting to humiliate Kei, Maya, and Satsuki, he's simply using Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi's dumb status to his advantage. Also Hachiman has acknowledged Shiina as his friend now, he didn't before until now.

But this does beg the question due to Hachiman's conditions. Should Sudou…

Fail his exams, thus losing the chance of playing basketball with Hachiman?

Get around an average of 60, allowing him to play with Hachiman?

Somehow meet the requirements, forcing Hachiman to join the basketball team with Sudou?