COTE: A Man On A Mission || Love is War?

In elevator, Hachiman met the little angel Kikyo Kushida, who was talking to Ibuki and Ishizaki, students from Class D.

Upon noticing him, Ibuki said nothing, but Ishizaki looked at him with a strange look.

“Ohayo, Hikigaya-kun!”

Kushida-chan was the first to greet him, and although she did so with a smile, Hachiman knew her well, and she was like a rose with thorns.

’Maybe, she is in a bad mood thesedays....It seems that I need to find an opportunity to let her vent emotions again....But this won’t work, because if new students come in, she will definitely be even more emotional. So, I have to find a way to help her get rid of negativity better....’ Hikigaya-kun is thinking.

There are still people in the elevator.

“Congratulations,” Hachiman casually paid attention to Kushida, and then greeted Ishizaki and Ibuki from Class D, “Ryuen has been protected from expulsion in this exam.”

“....” Ibuki said nothing.

“....” Kushida-chan was ignored.

But Ishizaki looked at Hachiman with a strange look, from head to toe.

??? Hachiman found this a bit strange.

But, Ishizaki finally spoke up, “Ryuen always mentioned you during his breaks, saying that you were very valuable. He also said that he would save money to recruit you, Hikigaya....” He paused, “So, have you decided to come to our class?”

“• •” Hachiman who got heavy talk.

“Don’t worry about the 20 million private points. We can definitely get them together. So our class will pay for the 20 million points for skipping classes. You think it’s tiring to teach those idiots in Class C. But, you will definitely feel relaxed when you come to our class,” Ishizaki was flaunting his non-existent wealth like a bullet, “Ryuen also said that he will give us a suitable living allowance, and you can just take the extra money!”

This is very realistic.

Class D has been at 0 points for a long time, and living expenses were barely enough this month.

Still far from 50,000 yen a month that is needed to live a good life.

’So why bother with upgrading our class? Just give me enough living expenses first,’ This is what most students in Class D think.

”Well...” Hikigaya-kun had indeed fooled Ryuen in this way before, he also thinks going to Class D is a good idea. ’But is it okay to say such things in this situation? Because, there are other classmates around him like Kushi-----’

“Ahem—”

Kushida-chan couldn’t help but cough, ’Because I only thought 20 million points could allow people to skip classes, or they could be used in the end to ensure graduation from the dream of Class A! But, you can also buy others. So, Hikigaya-kun was bought by Class D...Isn’t that great? Hikigaya-kun sometimes forces me to study or improve skills, saying that I have to pay money and graduate from Class A..... However, some things still need to be learned, otherwise even graduating from Class A would not be worthy of the name, so now I am required to study hard. But, if Hikigaya-kun is bought, then I will have more freedom!’

’No! Maybe, it will be tragic. Because he would no longer help me to make money, and if I stayed in class, I couldn’t imagine how much class would have left in final evaluation score. In other words, I had to live a frugal life from now on.....I had no money to save while in school, but after graduation and marrying him, I had to make money to support....I have to work every day, with no holidays, and boss stays at home every day.....He can even sleep in like today...’

“…”

This life seems to have no end.

“…” Kushida-chan was considering the criticality of this matter.

“This proposal is fine,” Hachiman finally said his words,  “As long as you can gather the 20 million points, I will immediately agree to transfer.”

The classes that are truly favored by school are A and B, while those from C and D who are promoted to Class A will be manipulated by the school by adjusting class evaluation scores and exams, etc., in order to bring them down.

However, people in Ryuen’s class have been hungry for some time, and the leader also shut himself in.

Now, most people have given up on graduating in Class A, so they all want to save some money.

So, Hachiman is glad that Class D has already realized. ’But there is also a disadvantage. That is, as long as score of the lower class exceeds that of Class A, it will be demoted. So even if you want to accumulate points, you can’t save much. However, this is a normal situation.....But, what about an abnormal choice? This is righteous insistence of Chairman Sakayanagi regarding the rules and regulations. But now, Tsukishiro who is in hospital is Acting Director....If Chairman Sakayanagi is the one who will definitely not let Class C or Class D fly, he will suppress them as soon as they do, but Tsukishiro is different. I may be able to raise the score and surpass Class A by a lot. Although in the end he will definitely be punished by those above for not complying with rules, and will eventually beat down the lower classes.....But so what? By that time, I had probably saved enough money for myself, Komachi, and even my wife to not have to work....’

“…” Hikigaya found he actually has a crush on Director Tsukishiro.

And if he could be sure that other party was not going to drop out of school immediately and was willing to give some special exams to lower the scores, and increase money, then Hachiman would be willing to help.

xxxxxx

Ah yawn.

Tsukishiro was sitting on the bed, and because of his broken bones, he had to be immobilized.

Crash!

However, curtains of the single room were suddenly opened, and the glare of sunlight made him feel uncomfortable.

However, he still took out his mobile phone to report situation to the gentleman.

It will take some time for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to drop out of school.

Of course, he concealed the fact that he was in hospital.

But he didn’t completely lose.

Although he only stayed in school for a week, as long as Sakayanagi didn’t come back, special exam plan he arranged would continue.

So, even though Tsukishiro was away, he would still be examiner for the next exam.　

xxxxxx

’I have already made an appointment with Sakayanagi to compete against her in the next exam....’ Hachiman also knew reason why Sakayanagi left Katsuragi behind.

’Taking class vote to drop out of school with mates who you spend every day with are actually a bit stressful. There is a way to not have inner guilt.....That is, to eliminate those who are not very useful to class. So the one who was eliminated was Totsuka Yahiko, who did not contribute much to the class....This rationalizes everyone’s actions as being excessive. At the same time, she pointed out at beginning that a strong person like Katsuragi should drop out, and then replaced him with Yahiko, allowing everyone to feel the magnanimity of little princess Sakayanagi.....’

’She seems to have an extremely broad mind, and can even accommodate leader of the opposing faction....The remaining people found that Sakayanagi eliminated the useless people, so they could only stand out themselves and not be abandoned....Therefore, would be more loyal and work harder. From this perspective, Sakayanagi should be good at psychological warfare....’

’And she probably left Katsuragi behind just to keep a useful chess piece.....So she was preparing to fight, Then I should also respond politely.’

So, Hachiman asked Hirata out, “How do you feel these days?” He had seen two people who blew themselves up in class.

One is Ichinose Honami.

After the self-explosion, Ichinose’s popularity and reputation did not decline, but Hirata’s got plummeted.

It should be said that it has been two weeks since class voted to withdraw from the exam.

However, there are still one-third of people who dare not talk to Hirata, even if they have been helped before.

This is a natural thing.

Two people’s dark histories are completely different.

.....Ichinose’s story is regrettable, but Hirata’s past is just way terrifying to hear about.

Because the seemingly gentle Hirata didn’t save his friend, and he used violence to bully the entire class and grade.

It even became gossip in his area.

“I just spoke out my inner thoughts, and felt refreshed.... Hikigaya-kun, I went out. Like you said, I was running away, so I met my friend. He attempted suicide by jumping off a building, and suffered severe damage to his physical functions. When I found him, he was undergoing rehabilitation training.....It was difficult to even walk. I almost didn’t dare to get close....But, he eventually forgave me...He also wasn’t sure if he would have the courage to help if I was the one being bullied. But, I am in a different situation, and the final fact is that I didn’t help him,” Hirata said everything with a sigh in one breath.

“Then I can only watch him do rehabilitation training. After graduating from this school, I may go to study medicine. He has sequelae, but I hope I can help him in the future. I didn’t do it before, and regret it. But I want to do something in the future.....”

“It’s best that you have a goal,” Hachiman nodded, actually he was just here to patch a hole back, “Then cheer up. I’ve visited school library and there are many books on the subject. If you want to study medicine, you can start laying the foundation now.....”

“I understand!” Hirata-kun nodded.

’In this way, Hirata should be able to become a strong force in next exam,’ Hachiman thought to himself.

xxxxxx

Hachiman tried to give Ichinose money, but she did not abandon her mates in Class A and continued to live with everyone at 0 points.

Eating a free meal of unpalatable mountain vegetables every day.

The students in Class A were also very excited because their quality of life had dropped suddenly, but had the opportunity to meet many third-year students from Class C and Class D who were also eating free mountain vegetables.

They became closer to each other, and because President was about to resign, some third-year students actually proposed to vote for Ichinose.

It’s simply heartless.

You have to know these third-year students from Class C and Class D were bribed by Sakayanagi, but were actually conquered by personal charm of the students from Class A.

After receiving such news, Hachiman could only pat his head.

Since Horikita Manabu had guaranteed Sakayanagi’s 100 votes, it should be possible to fulfill that promise in the end.

This is credibility of Horikita Manabu.

But he still holds a spot as a candidate for President.

Hachiman learned from Kamuro-san that vote of appreciation from Totsuka Yahiko, who was expelled from Class B, was also cast for Ichinose, so her popularity is really terrifyingly strong.

Even if he gave the candidate spot to Ichinose, she would still lose.

Because Sakayanagi has 100 votes from 3rd graders and 118 votes in 1st.

Furthermore, Sakayanagi had previously helped Ichinose’s class make up for 20 million points they lacked, so probably felt embarrassed not to vote for her.

Sakayanagi has won the favor of Ichinose’s class.

The next student council president can only be Arisu Sakayanagi.

Sakayanagi had a great chance of winning, there was no need for him to get into trouble.

xxxxxxx

In this way.

Time passed quickly, and students in Class A’s life without money were finally over.

February 1st.

There are still more than 20 days until the 3rd-year President, Manabu Horikita, resigns.

Students came to classroom early.

Under the attention of Hikigaya-kun.

Chabashira Sae, wearing a dark black thicker coat because of the weather, walked in.

Teacher Chabashira is a little different today because she is wearing white stockings and high heels.

This is a very new feeling for Hikigaya-kun.

He had always hoped that Suzune would wear white stockings occasionally, but unfortunately, this girl only had black ones.

.....In the end, it was Chabashira-Sensei herself who decided to chang to white silk first.

But after all, not every student is Hikigaya Hachiman.

Most of students felt nervous.

It should be said that it has only been more than 20 days since the withdrawal exam.

Although some have started to study self-disciplined and prepare for the new exam, there are also people who slacked off halfway.

In addition, don’t know what the school was thinking, but didn’t even take away desks of dropouts.

So, every day empty desks in class remind them someone has dropped out and no one is safe.

.....They are so scared of dropping out of school.

On the 1st of every month, receive living expenses from the school, which makes people very happy.

However, there is also anxiety.

Because a special exam will be announced. Possibly expulsion from school.

“First of all, this is a common practice, and I think you should know it. But there is only one exam left this semester.

You can treat it as the final exam.”

xxxxxx

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