Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

"..."

About half an hour after Hikigaya came to the room, a cute music suddenly rang out from Ichinose's cell phone.

That seemed to be an alarm set by the other party, and it sounded like some pop music. Anyway, Hikigaya had no knowledge of this.

"Boom..."

Ichinose was woken up by the alarm clock. She closed her eyes and reached for the back of the head where the sound came from. As soon as she grabbed the phone, she immediately controlled the screen to stop the music.

But she seemed not to have woken up yet. She raised her upper body in a daze, and the next second she suddenly realized that something was wrong. Not only was she wearing a student's coat, but there was also another person in the room.

"Then what..."

Because he was worried that the other party would be disgusted by his unnecessary actions, and in fact, Hikigaya had often been misunderstood and even treated as a pest before, he tried to explain his actions as soon as possible.

But to his surprise, Ichinose did not misunderstand at all, and immediately said with a bright smile: "Is this the clothes that Hikigaya-san covered me with? Thank you!"

"Uh, no…nothing."

Because it was an unexpected reaction, Hikigaya's original preparations and strategies were completely ineffective, and for a moment he didn't even know how to continue the conversation.

"Sorry, did my alarm clock scare you?" Ichinose looked at Hikigaya's reaction and said gently, "I was worried that I might oversleep, so I set it specially. I just didn't expect someone would come to the exam room early."

"No, it's nothing."

"Haha, that's good, that's good."

Ichinose smiled in relief. His cheerful attitude naturally dispelled the awkward atmosphere. "By the way, why did Hikigaya-san come to the examination room early? There are still thirty minutes left before the exam."

"I should be the one asking this question, how come you arrived earlier than me?"

"I just want to rest quietly. After all, if I stay in my room, it will be noisy with friends coming in and out, and I will often have people asking for favors."

Considering Ichinose's position in the class, one can easily imagine how busy his daily life is.

Being able to calm down and have a good rest, such time must be very precious to her.

So it seems that I accidentally ruined the other person's precious sleep... Oh no, when I thought about doing such a thing, I felt so guilty that I wanted to commit suicide.

On the other side, Ichinose was unaware of the overly active masochistic thoughts in Hikigaya's mind. She smiled, took her coat and handed it to Hikigaya, and sat down next to him naturally.

"Hikigaya-san always helps me without realizing it. I often feel guilty and don't know how to repay you."

"That's not the case. I'm already lucky enough that I didn't cause any trouble for you."

Hikigaya very calmly denied Ichinose's words. He didn't think that a guy like him could accomplish anything.

However, facing his usual inferiority complex, Ichinose denied it very seriously: "That's not the case. Hikigaya-san has always helped me a lot. Thanks to your help, Class B and I have been able to get to where we are now. There is no harm done to us!"

"This……"

Hikigaya was a little confused because he didn't expect that the other party would take his casual words so seriously.

And Ichinose seemed to realize that he seemed to have gone too far, his face flushed slightly, then he shook his head and said seriously: "Anyway, what I mean is that I am very grateful to you, Hikigaya-san, and I have trust in you far beyond that of ordinary classmates. If it were you, maybe..."

Ichinose didn't say the rest of the words.

She herself didn't seem to know what words to use to express her thoughts, and her face showed a distressed and determined expression.

When Hikigaya saw Ichinose's attitude, he inexplicably felt guilty about what he was going to do next.

If he were asked to fool people like Horikita Suzune, Ryuen Sho, or even Kushida Kikyo, he would not have any idea in his mind.

After all, these guys all have their own ulterior motives and various ideas, and he can't fool them easily.

But Ichinose is different. This child often acts too naively. Even though she tries her best to show that she has the abilities and responsibilities of a leader, her pure emotions in nature still make her innately unsuitable for this school where strength is the most important thing.

This made Hikigaya really unable to bear to deceive and fool Ichinose, at least he did not want to induce the other party to do something he did not want to do.

While Hikigaya was hesitating, Ichinose suddenly spoke up: "What do you think about this exam, Hikigaya? Although it makes me a little uneasy to come to you every time to rely on you, I really want to hear your thoughts, if you won't make it difficult for me."

I didn't expect that Ichinose would take the initiative to discuss the exam before I opened my mouth.

Hikigaya hesitated, but still spoke silently: "Ichinose, do you really want Class B to be promoted to Class A?"

"Yes, any normal person would want to be promoted to Class A." Ichinose said so, and then suddenly realized the next second, "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to say that you are not a normal person, Hikigaya-san!"

"Uh……"

I didn't expect Ichinose to have such unnecessary associations. Hikigaya sighed, "Ichinose, if I tell you that if you want to be promoted to Class A, you need to cooperate with Ryuen Sho, would you be willing?"

Chapter 382 I definitely believe in you, Hikigaya-san

"Cooperate with Ryuen Sho..."

When Ichinose heard Hikigaya say this, there was no expression of surprise on his face. It was obvious that he had been mentally prepared for this answer.

But she still looked at Hikigaya with curiosity and spoke slowly:

"Hikigaya-san, do you believe in Ryuuen? The king of Class C is not someone you can easily underestimate. He may stab you in the back at any time."

"That's right." Hikigaya nodded silently. He obviously knew Ryuen Sho very well. "Ryuen is not a guy who can be easily trusted, but in a sense, this also shows that he is an absolutely cautious person. It is difficult for a plan executed by such a guy to have loopholes."

"That's true..."

Class B and Class C have been rivals for a long time, and obviously they have already had many encounters with each other.

As the leader of Class B, Ichinose had naturally witnessed Ryuen Sho's methods many times and knew what an unfathomable guy the king of Class C was.

Although such a guy is destined to be terrifying and cruel as an enemy, he will definitely be quite reliable as a teammate, at least he will not make any stupid mistakes.

"But I still can't accept it easily." Ichinose took a deep breath, his eyes solemn, "If we choose to cooperate with Class C just to defeat Class A, it would be like forcibly feeding a python to defeat a wolf. If Class C takes this opportunity to grow stronger, it will only become an opponent that is more difficult to deal with than the current Class A."

Ichinose is still wavering about working with Ryuen Sho, and doesn't think anything good will happen if Class C wins.

This is also bound to happen.

If the other party directly agrees to cooperate with Longyuan, it will make people suspect that the other party has been replaced.

"It is indeed as you said. Class C is a more difficult opponent to deal with than the current Class A." Hikigaya nodded silently, "However, you also said that it is only for now. Class A led by Kōhei Katsuragi is indeed not to be feared. It lacks sufficient initiative and aggressiveness, but there is a more terrifying enemy behind Class A, Sakayanagi Arisu, who is the opponent who really deserves vigilance."

"Sakayanagi-san...huh?" Ichinose nodded with a complicated expression after hearing what Hikigaya said, "Sakayanagi-san is indeed a dangerous person. She is just like Ryuen-san. They are not someone who can be easily dealt with...but I still think the same. I don't think there will be any benefit in cooperating with Ryuen-san for short-term benefits. On the contrary, it is obvious to the naked eye that letting Class C grow stronger will bring extremely bad results."

Ichinose's calmness and sharpness are worthy of the title of a leader.

She judged the threat posed by Ryuen Sho very rationally, and had the foresight to not allow Class C to grow stronger in order to attack Class A.

Under normal circumstances, her idea is undoubtedly extremely correct and is the most practical choice.

The same goes for Horikita Suzune from Class D. Although her current abilities and judgment are not as good as Ichinose's, she made the same choice based on her intuition.

However, neither Ichinose nor Horikita realized a crucial fact when they made this choice.

Hikigaya looked at Ichinose silently and said slowly: "Class C is indeed a threat. If Class C wins smoothly, it will surely bring about a formidable opponent that is difficult to deal with easily."

"In that case..."

"But, haven't you ever thought that Ryuen Sho has already obtained information about the favored students in other classes?"

Hikigaya used brief and calm words to clearly state an important fact.

The moment he heard these words, Ichinose's expression changed instantly, as if a possibility that he least wanted to think about was forcibly pointed out.

"Is this really possible? Even Ryuen Sho can't force students from other classes to reveal the identity of the favored person, right?"

Ichinose's expression was visibly shaken, and she obviously didn't want to believe that Ryuen Sho had secretly obtained the preferential status of another class.

After all, if Ryuen Sho obtains more privileged identities, it means that he has absolute initiative in this exam.

Even if other classes did not participate in his plan, the three favored statuses in the class and the additional favored statuses he obtained were enough for him to guess the rules behind the distribution of favored statuses.

And if that were the case, everything about this exam would be visible to Ryuen.

He can grasp the information of all the favored people at once and help Class C achieve an unprecedented victory.

Ichinose didn't even dare to think about such a thing, let alone its happening.

She could only avoid thinking about the possibility of such a terrible thing really happening...

"In fact, I already have clear information that Ryuen has obtained the status of a preferential treatment outside the class." Hikigaya's calm words broke Ichinose's fantasy, "If it's as expected, Ryuen has probably guessed the pattern of the preferential treatment allocation."

"But, in that case, why didn't Ryuuen just report the perpetrators and end this exam?"

Ichinose showed an expression of incomprehension, and this was the reason why she was able to remain calm until now and insist that she might win the exam.

If Ryuen has already grasped the rules behind the favored ones, wouldn't he be able to win immediately if he simply revealed the identities of all the favored ones?

But Long Yuanxiang did not do so, which makes people doubt whether he really got the result.

"The reason why Longyuan did not take action may be very simple."

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't dare to gamble."

Hikigaya waved his hand calmly. "Even Ryuuen would definitely feel hesitant and doubtful in his heart, so even if he has obtained information about the favored people outside the class, he cannot be sure that the information is correct. For this reason, he will try to delay time and let the exam continue. He will not make up his mind to expose it until the last moment."

"But what's the point of stalling like this? Won't he still have to expose the truth in the end? Otherwise, wouldn't the intelligence he got with great difficulty be wasted?"

"Yeah, that's why he went to your class and our class specifically to say those irresponsible nonsense."

“This… is what’s going on?!”

After hearing what Hikigaya said, Ichinose suddenly understood everything.

Although she is naive in character, her intelligence is definitely as smart as Sakayanagi, Ryuuen and the others, so Hikigaya's simple reminder made her realize the truth.

Simply put, the reason why Ryuen Sho did not expose the favoritism but instead continued to shake up Class B and Class D was because he himself was also doubting whether the information he had obtained was correct, so he wanted to try to obtain more information from Class B and Class D to verify his guess.

Although he will still expose the favoritism based on the existing intelligence in the end, obtaining more intelligence in advance can relieve him of a great psychological burden.

"That is to say, Ryuen is waiting for us to cooperate with him." Ichinose made the final conclusion, "If that's the case, if I cooperate with him now, wouldn't that be exactly what Ryuen wants?"

"Yeah, that should make him happy."

Hikigaya nodded silently. He came to persuade Ichinose just to get negotiation materials that would make Ryuuen happy.

"In that case..."

"But this is also the only chance for Class B." Hikigaya spoke up, interrupting Ichinose's question. "After all, whether or not Class B and Class D are willing to cooperate with Class C will not affect Ryuen Sho's final strategy. As long as he is determined to expose the identity of the one who favors him, once he succeeds, it will directly cause huge losses to other classes."

"If we show our willingness to cooperate now, we can recover some of the losses and even gain some benefits under Class C's strategy."

Hikigaya explained to Ichinose in simple words, "In essence, this is the worst possible gambling game. As a gambler, Ryuuen not only put all his assets into it, but also dragged all other classes into this gambling game, whether you like it or not."

"Under the current circumstances, if Ryuuen wins, the other classes will suffer a huge blow, and each class will lose 150 points. I don't think this is something that can be easily accepted. If we cooperate with Ryuuen now, it means we can withdraw from this gambling game in advance, and even get some benefits from Class C."

"So, back to my original question, Ichinose, do you really want Class B to be promoted to Class A? If you really want Class B to be promoted, you should make the most correct decision at this time, because if you fail, you will be far away from your goal."

The huge amount of information that Hikigaya told in one breath completely overwhelmed Ichinose's thought process.

It took the girl a long time to understand what Hikigaya meant and what it meant to cooperate with Ryuen Sho.

"Class D... What choice did Class D make?"

Ichinose hesitated and chose to ask Hikigaya for a reference answer, which was also a clear sign that she was unable to make a decision.

"Unfortunately, Horikita rejected my proposal." Hikigaya responded calmly, "There is only so much I can say in Class D, so she didn't believe me in the end."

"I see..." After hearing Hikigaya's description, Ichinose smiled after a brief silence. "So, the question now is not whether Ryuen Sho is trustworthy, but whether you are trustworthy, Hikigaya-san?"

"This... is what it is."

"Then things are very simple. I definitely trust you, Hikigaya-san." Ichinose's face was not confused at all, and he spoke simply but firmly, "So, I agree with your suggestion and will cooperate with Class C on behalf of Class B."

Chapter 383: Ichinose's existence may be the real thing

Ichinose agreed to Hikigaya's proposal and was willing to cooperate with Ryuen Sho.

However, Hikigaya could feel that the reason why the other party agreed with his opinion was not because he was convinced by his words, but purely out of trust in himself.

To be honest, this made Hikigaya feel complicated. After all, he felt that he did not deserve the other party's trust and might very well disappoint the other party.

And Ichinose seemed to have seen through Hikigaya's thoughts, so he smiled and said:

"In fact, before you, Hikigaya, told me this, I had already thought about whether to cooperate with Ryuen. After all, under the current circumstances, Class B cannot defeat Class A by relying on its own strength. If we cooperate with Ryuen, we may have hope of defeating Class A."

"However, maybe I am too cowardly and lack the courage to make up my mind, so I have never dared to make such a risky choice. This won't work... I have warned myself again and again in my heart, but in reality, I still can't muster the courage to act."

"So, I am very grateful to you, Hikigaya-san. It is you who gave me the courage to make up my mind, and also let me know that for the sake of the class, I must make a choice that I will not regret! For this, even if it means cooperating with Ryuen-san, the most dangerous student in our grade, it will be worth it!"