Chapter 4

A/N: Ima experiment w/ a targeted 3rd person view this chapter when at hachiman's pov.

Horikita Manabu POV

Hikigaya Hachiman…

He was much more formidable than he could have ever imagined.

He came to the conclusion regarding class competition in the span of a day, and figured out the existence of Special Exams a day later.

But Horikita sincerely believed that Hikigaya had assumed Special Exams had existed soon after this discovery of Class Competition.

While there were some students who could see pass the S-System relatively quickly, Special Exams were completely different.

He had to admit, Hikigaya was exceedingly good at figuring out the big picture.

In addition to such ability, he also had the ability to read people like books in an instant, figuring out Ichinose's secret in the probably brief interaction they had together.

He also figured out Nagumo's influence and the Student Council's problem, and due to that, used it as a leverage against him.

This was also the reason that Horikita had agreed to Hikigaya's request. He assumed that if he hadn't Hikigaya would probably say that he would assist Nagumo as leverage.

'How frightening…'

He sat at the Student Council booth, and expectedly, Ichinose Honami approached him with her group of friends.

"Is this where I sign up for Student Council?"

He nodded, and while Ichinose leaned down to get a sign up sheet, he took this opportunity to relay Hikigaya's request.

"Don't trust Nagumo Miyabi if you do plan on joining the Student Council."

She looked up, before nodding in acknowledgement with a resolute expression, taking a sign up sheet.

'This woman probably doesn't even realize that Hikigaya's protecting her.'

He watched as Ichinose continued her conversations with her classmates, before they left his line of sight.

'A demon protecting an angel… how fitting.'

—+—

Hikigaya Hachiman POV

Hikigaya entered the library for the first time, and looked around.

The interior was certainly high quality, it seemed the architects had worked overtime when building this area.

But Hikigaya wasn't planning to stay long. He just needed enough books to last him around a week.

He looked at a sign that said the maximum amount of books that he could check out at a time was 3.

He was fine with that.

Hikigaya wasn't particular picky with whatever he was reading, He mainly found entertainment in absorbing content through writing.

But that didn't mean that Hikigaya wouldn't get bored reading textbooks.

He went to the mystery section, and decided to start from then and work his way around the shelf.

He read the titles, before typing it down on his phone's notes app.

It wouldn't do him good to reread a book unless it was high quality.

After taking the three books, he decided to look around the library, trying to see if there were any unique aspects in the buildings.

At one of the beanbags in a corner of the library, he observed a girl reading.

…This school really might be a light novel.

The girl had looks that even rivaled Ichinose, her silver hair cascading around her, her violet eyes focused on the book in front of her, as if she was in a different plane of existence.

Hikigaya could respect that.

'Probably has problems communicating. Or had a past where she had little friends.'

Hikigaya could relate.

He didn't really want to keep looking at a random girl like a creep, so after giving a quick glance, he looked away, making his way to the book checkout area.

Hikigaya noted the number of tables and chairs there were.

This was either suspicious or he was just overthinking things.

But having such a large amount of chairs for a school that had a max of 480 students were in a sense suspicious.

This implied that it was common for people to come to the class in groups. Hikigaya assumed study groups.

This also implied that studying for smaller events were paramount. Hikigaya guessed that it was probably for midterms.

'Maybe there's a risk during midterms or maybe even a reward.'

After checking out his books, he slipped them into his bag, and slowly made his way out of the library, not noticing a gaze from the girl that he had just glanced at earlier.

Making his way out of the library, he took out his phone to get a status update regarding Ichinose. While he did trust Horikita's personality, there was nothing wrong with verifying it.

Maybe while he's at it could tell Ichinose regarding the Class Competition.

Nothing wrong with getting a higher allowance.

[How did it go with the Student Council application?]

He expected that Ichinose would respond later, but if he didn't text now, he'd probably forget about it.

*Brrr*

'Hmm?'

Hikigaya took out his phone, to see that Ichinose already responded.

[Yep! My interview with the Student Council is tomorrow!]

[Nice, did the President say something?]

[Yeah, he told me not to trust the Vice President if I do plan on joining the Student Council.

You were right, Hikigaya! Thanks for the heads up!]

[No problem. Good luck with your interview.]

[Thanks!]

[Also I talked to Hoshinomiya earlier about the monthly point thing, and I learned something.]

Hikigaya didn't want to seem like a know it all, so he would have to lie a little bit.

[Hmm? What is it?]

[She slipped up, and mentioned something like Class Points.]

[Class Points?]

While Hikigaya didn't want to explain the entire thing, he had to in order to incentivise Ichinose to spread the information quickly.

[Yeah, and when I was eating earlier, it looked like Class D and Class C from the senior classes were eating the free vegetable set, so the Class Points are probably related to their point income.]

[Like something similar to a Class Competition?]

Inwardly, Hikigaya was pleasantly surprised. While he didn't believe that Ichinose was stupid in any way, getting to such a conclusion was impressive by his standards.

[Yeah, something like that. I also think that we can lose these points through different reasons like not paying attention in class or inappropriate behavior.]

[That makes sense. So just a question, but why'd you tell me instead of anyone else?]

[You're my friend, why wouldn't I?]

The chat went silent for a few seconds.

'Did someone walk up to her or something?'

Hikigaya thought, before looking up to see the dorms.

*Brrr*

I looked down.

[You're right, we are friends.]

'What a awkward sentence…'

[Yeah, you're my only friend, so can I trust you to spread the information to the rest of the class? Speaking to a group of people makes me feel queasy…]

[Of course!]

[Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow]

[See you tomorrow!]

Hikigaya arrived at his room, tossing his phone at the bed before changing.

'I have to buy multiple sets of my uniform and some more confortable home clothes, and probably some food to start cooking tomorrow.'

After washing up, he took out a book from his bag and laid in his bed, book in hand.

—+—

Ichinose Honami POV

'Hikigaya-kun is really nice inside.'

Ichinose thought, looking at her chat with Hikigaya on messenger, as Hikigaya suprisingly didn't have Line.

She thought him a loner, but he truly cared about the class in his own way, like a Butler that didn't get any attention from the Noble he worked for, supporting the house in the background.

Admittedly, when Ichinose first saw Hikigaya on the first day, while she didn't want to say anything mean, even she had to admit that he looked like a loner.

It was further cemented when as soon as Hoshinomiya-sensei had left the room after her explaination, Ichinose started introductions.

She looked around, and she noticied that Hikigaya's seat was already empty.

'When'd he even leave?'

She was a bit disappointed, as she wanted the class to get along with each other, and maybe even be a small family.

'I'll definitely talk to him when I get the chance!'

She was determined to integrate Hikigaya into the class. She believed that Hikigaya was probably too shy to talk to anyone.

But she didn't see Hikigaya when she arrived at the gym with the rest of her classmates. Only a few minutes before the Entrance Ceremony started did she see Hikigaya enter the gym, hands clutching his stomach, an uncomfortable expression on his face.

'Oh, maybe he has a stomachache, that makes sense,'

Ichinose thought, believing that it was the reason that he immediately left once Hoshinomiya had finished talking.

When the ceremony came to an end, she saw Hikigaya clench his stomach once more and she refrained from approaching him.

'He would probably find it uncomfortable if I stopped him now…'

While it was unfortunate that she didn't get to Hikigaya, her intention to integrate him into the class didn't dwindle, rather it only rose.

'If he didn't get to talk to anyone today, he'll probably have issues with making any friends!'

Ichinose had filed this thought away when she was able to interact with him the next day.

She had woke up early, and couldn't go back to sleep, so Ichinose just decided to head to school earlier, seeing the appeal of an empty school.

What she hadn't expected, was that Hikigaya was looking out the window, his black hair waving in the wind.

Coupled with the spring light, with sakura petals following the wind, Hikigaya was looking away from her.

While with such a setting, one would expect the general vibe of what she was looking at to be a pictureeque view of youth.

But different from what the setting implied, Hikigaya looked a little lonely, as if right below him were people enjoying their own youth, as if Hikigaya were observing them with a hint of longing.

"Hikigaya-san?"

She unconsciously whispered, expecting the wind to cover her mistake.

When Hikigaya turned around, it was a stark difference from when she glimpsed at him yesterday, her only chances when he was either feigning sleep or an uncomfortable look.

Ichinose had to admit, Hikigaya was attractive. HIs facial porportions coupled with his sharp look were attractive features.

Hikigaya's expression changed from suspicion to acknowledgement, his expression softening, his sharp expression morphing into one of relaxation.

"You're very asthetically pleasing to look at, Ichinose-san,"

'Did he read my mind?!'

Ichinose thought in minor panic, before realizing that she herself was the topic of conversation. She could feel her face heat up, one due to her embarassing thought, along with the sudden compliment.

She watched Hikigaya chuckle, his unexpectedly deep voice registering in her ears, her mind committing it to memory.

"Uh… Thanks?"

She could only berate herself in her mind at the awkward response.

The conversation between the two passed quickly, but at the same time felt so long.

His sudden reveal of his past, Ichinose guiltily remembered her original goal of Hikigaya integrating with the class, but now that she knew his past, Ichinose knew it would only serve to reduce Hikigaya's trust and comfortability with the class.

When he mentioned being framed for stealing, she couldn't help but flinch by how close it was to home.

He had mentioned that it was the last straw, she couldn't help imagining how it would feel. Getting bullied for a majority of her Junior High years, and even going as far as being framed.

Her own experience with getting caught, even if she did it for her sister, still held her down with guilt to this day. But seeing, Hikigaya, who probably had an even worse experience, tell her about his experience, she couldn't help but marvel at his courage and trust he had in her.

She felt even closer to him, as she could relate in some manner. She wanted to be like him.

But when Hikigaya said that he was fine with having no friends, she had only one thought.

'I don't want to let this person go.'

So in a split second decision, she held him back, and asked to be friends.

Even as he made excuses, she could tell that he didn't want to hurt her reputation by being near her. He really was kind.

So they exchanged numbers, when he left, there was a feeling of emptiness and happiness at once. A contridictory feeling.

Her feelings were even more pronounced when she had a few times when she met eye contact with Hikigaya, and everytime he gave a small smile and a nod, she couldn't help but do the same.

It felt like a secret relationship.

Her belief in Hikigaya's kindness increased with every action he did to help her and the class.

His warning of the Vice President.

His information to help the class.

And when he had said that he did all of that because Ichinose was her friend, her heart would beat faster.

'Hikigaya really is kind…'

'Is it selfish that I want his kindness all to myself…?'

—+—

Hikigaya Hachiman POV

'Now that I have Ichinose information about Class Competition, she should probably subconsicously be weary of other classes, but I wouldn't put it past her to make friends outside of her class anyway.'

But Hikigaya had other plans.

He was going to spend this time trying to figure out Class C's dynamic, and if any volitile elements were to be exposed, he would have to exploit them.

But this plan had a few risks.

The information regarding Class Competition, while probably having spread across Class B, probably hadn't reached the other classes.

Hikigaya firmly believed that Expulsion led to a large decrease in Class Points.

But this didn't mean that other classes believed the same. Rather they didn't even know the existence of Class Points in general.

Hikigaya wouldn't put it against Class A to have already have a semblance of understanding the Class Point system.

Even without such knowledge, it was assumed that they would lose little regardless, judging by their exemplary behavior shown during the Entrance Ceremony.

So the question was doing it before or after.

If he did it before, there was a possibility that the class just allowed Sudo Ken to be expelled, and nothing would be gained other than the possible animosity of Class D.

That didn't seem worth it at all.

It was a similar scenario for Class C.

Even moreso for Class C.

If the class ran on Social Darwinism, then if one was going to get expelled, then they'd probably allow it to happen.

But Hikigaya firmly believed that Class D would have 0 Class Points by the end of the month.

And Class C would still have a decent amount of points.

So having someone get expelled from Class C was a win scenario, and if they paid to prevent his expulsion, that was another win.

For Class D, it was an opportunity to get a useless person out of their class. But Hikigaya also believed that there would be people in Class D who would try to prevent such things from happening.

Class D had a higher chance of loss, but Class C gave lower benefits.

This was because when the Class Points get revealed, he would earn the ire of the Delinquents of Class C.

That didn't seem beneficial.

But he could just hide behind Ichinose's back if such things happened.

In the end, Hikigaya decided to attack both Classes C and D.

A/N: On a personal note, I think it's way more easier to write in targeted 3rd person view so ill stick with it.

Also, this is just a personal preference, but I really like yandere characters in webnovels and manga.

Disclaimer: possible yandere characters if you couldn't already tell.

thanks for reading. peace.