17 Chapter 17

At this point, I had already paid 10,000 private points for this meal, and I was only halfway done, so I wasn't willing to abandon the tasty food. The group of Class D was seated near Class A, so none of them could recognize me unless they were specifically looking for me. Still, I didn't let my guard down and continued eating the food, not daring to look upwards and reveal my face.

Surprisingly, everything was going smoothly and the groups communicated amongst themselves, ignoring their surroundings for the most part, so I was able to enjoy the food for the most part. As I finished the food, I silently thanked whatever upper being was watching over me for letting me pay before eating. Preparing to get up, I pushed my hair down to make my face partially hidden and got ready to head out. Covering my face with my phone, I walked towards the door. I could see it, the gates of this hell. My escape!

*RING

The bell rang and the door opened revealing another group of students. It was Ichinose, Amikuro, and some other Class B students.

Was this restaurant some class meeting spot he didn't know about? Also didn't Amikuro just recommend this restaurant to him, so why is she here? I was still somewhat disguised by my hair, so I hoped that they wouldn't recognize me. After all, I've only talked to Ichinose maybe 3 times in the last month. 

While the other students were talking amongst each other, Ichinose glanced at me for a second as I was in front of the entrance, so I stepped aside. Ichinose averted her gaze and began to communicate with her classmates again. I made myself a mental reminder to pray to the god of luck when I got home.

This time to relax and enjoy some good food had turned into a roller coaster of emotions due to the multiple classes now inside the restaurant.

I patiently waited for the 10 girls to clear out of the entrance, so I could leave, but it seemed, they were gonna be there until they finished ordering. I didn't want to push through them, so I quietly sat down with my phone. Thankfully Ichinose, being the pure soul she is, cleared out the entrance after I sat down, so I got up and headed towards the entrance.

I saw the door again, but this time I didn't get my hopes up until I was completely out. I reached out to the doorknob and opened it, but instead of being met with the bustling scenery of the mall, I saw a classmate of mine, Himeno. 

Why me? Everybody I knew not in the student council was here in this one restaurant. How is a coincidence like this even possible?

Unlike Ichinose, Himeno continued staring at me even after I moved out of the way to allow her to pass. It was uncomfortable being scrutinized by her. I saw a faint sparkle in her eyes, so I realized she recognized me.

I immediately used my hands to form a cross and tried to signal her to be quiet. However, I didn't account for one thing. I assumed that all of Class B were goodies too shoes and nice people, but this girl was different.

She looked me straight in the eyes and exclaimed loud enough for rest of the Class B to hear.

"Oh, is that Hikigaya!"

Here, I thought I was the only person in Class B who lacked morals, but this girl was far worse than me. If I had to rank her, she would be up there with Nagumo. She was pure evil.

Thankfully the other two classes didn't hear, but Ichinose along with the other class B members glanced at me. Normally, I would wave and talk with them to maintain a civil relationship, but after spending 20 minutes hiding, I wasn't willing to risk it all for a simple talk. 

I waved my hand and squeezed beside Himeno, who was blocking to entrance, to leave. Exiting the store, I turned around and saw Himeno glaring at me.

Did I do something wrong?

It seemed like she wanted to leave as well?

I ignored it as I hadn't forgotten moments ago when she called me out for no reason.

----

Swimming classes.

As an introvert, going outside and exercising is not for me, so it was fairly shocking when I learned that we would have swimming lessons going forward until the end of the semester. At least, it's better than some type of sports festival. That would be hell.

Usually, boys in high school would immediately gather together, excited to see the swimsuits that the girls in their class wear, however, Class B was different, to say the least. The boys were all kind and respectful as they didn't discuss anything related to the appearance of girls at all, even behind the girls' backs.

During middle school, I learned some taekwondo, even reaching the white belt, so my body wasn't in the worst shape. However, since entering this school, I had been completely neglecting exercise, so my endurance was fairly low.

As we neared the locker room, the murmurs about pool activities grew, but I was lost in thought.

Why would the school replace important academic time with swimming? It just made no sense in my head. Maybe this is what the school judges you on to decide which class to put you in?

I gave up on understanding this complex school and changed into my swimwear. Leaving the locker room, I could see Ichinose at the center of the class with a two-piece bikini with a cherry blossom design.

Speaking of Ichinose, my observation on the first day that Ichinose would become the class leader was correct as she was now the center of the class.

Class D didn't have a leader yet. Class C had a tyrant, known as Ryuen Kakeru, and Class A had two opposing leaders.

Class B was the only truly united class in the school as all the students in Class B supported and trusted Ichinose wholeheartedly. The class even elected Ichinose the "class representative" which is some fake position made up by the class to increase morale.

With this kind and united class, such a question has to be asked. Can this class survive in the competitive environment in this school?

I had seen Class B's kindness firsthand as they helped Class D gather evidence in the violent incident with Yamauchi.

Rather than letting the classes fight it out, Class B helped. This was the first reason why I thought Class B could not survive.

From the perspective of any leader, the fight between Class C and D would be a good anything as Class B could focus on fighting Class A instead of having to worry about the lower classes overtaking them. As a leader, I would let this conflict drag on as long as possible, so Class C wouldn't have the time to focus on Class B, however, Ichinose decided to help shorten this situation for some unknown reason. 

Well not unknown, she's just too nice.

In my opinion, Class B would fall to D soon enough as this kindheartedness would get you nowhere in this school. Something else also bugged me, Ichinose had good grades, good communication skills, and decent athleticism, so why was she placed in Class B instead of A?

Looking at some Class A students, I could easily tell that Ichinose was better than them in almost every category, but they were there instead of her. Using this information, I could tell that Ichinose must have had some sort of dark past as that would be the only valid reason for her to be in Class B

Ichinose, simply put, was too vulnerable and naive to survive against leaders such as Ryuen. She would assume that the other party would fight fair and square, but as seen from the incident report from Class C, Ryuen was undoubtedly the opposite.

Anyways, Class B's leader is not decided by me, and for the time being, the unity of Class B could be a positive.

The other students in the locker room slowly trickled in until the swimming teacher finally spoke up.

"Good, all 40 of you are here. I'm going to make sure that all of you learn how to swim by the end of this semester. Trust me, swimming will be very important"

"YEAH!, let's do this Class B'

"Come on! Let's go in!"

While the students of Class B were eager to enter the pool, I was scrutinizing the words used by the swimming teacher.

Why must we learn how to swim by the end of this semester? Why did he specifically say it would be important? Was this just a case of a teacher being enthusiastic or did it have some hidden meaning? Knowing the school, I assumed the first, but for now, I had no evidence at all.

The rest of the class went by smoothly as the beginners learned while the advanced swimmers did laps in the pool. There was a short swimming race competition for 5,000 points that was won by Shibata, an athletic boy who was the leader of the main male friend group.

After the class ended, the teacher gave us some free time to swim around in the pool, but I was exhausted as this was my first time swimming in a while. I sat on the edge of the concrete bordering the pool and stared off into the ceiling.

I remember when I once taught Komachi, my little sister, how to swim in our public pool, and how angry she was when I laughed at her for still using a floaty. Almost 2.5 years until I see her again...

I sighed and decided to save the remembrance for later.

[A/N: I decided that Hikigaya having 20 million points right now would be a bit unfair, so I changed his deal with Manabu a bit. Hikigaya has 10 million private points currently and will receive the other 10 million after Manabu graduates. I have also changed the previous chapters a bit]

Currently, I had about 10 million points and the other 10 million would be coming around a year, so I did not need points.

But... now what? I achieved my goal. Woohoo, I got a shit ton of points. Now, what's my goal? What's the next step forward?

I had learned from some seniors that points could be converted into yen after graduation, so I had about 20 million yen.

But, was that enough?

I was sure that this current Class B wouldn't reach Class A, so I needed to spend the 20 million to get into Class A. Then, I would be more broke.

Thinking about it, didn't I make over 20 million yen in a month? Maybe, the future isn't so bad anyway. Who cares about Class A, when I can retire using points after my graduations?

I decided that I would keep pursuing private points, but it wouldn't be as much of a necessity.

Waking me up from thoughts, I felt a tap on my back, so I turned around to see Ichinose.

Ah, I forgot Ichinose was one of those girls. The nice girls. From her perspective, I was some poor loser who would have to go the next 3 years without any friends, so she wanted me to incorporate into the class. But, from my perspective, she was just some person trying to impose stupid ideals onto me.

I had clearly shown that I didn't want friends, however, she was still attempting to force her ideals onto me. Even if she were the class leader, she would not need to have me make friends, but it seemed like she genuinely cared.

I won't be fooled again though. If it was another person, she would do the same thing. She wasn't doing it because it was me specifically. 

I immediately got to the point and asked her.

"Is there some you need, Ichinose?"

[A/N: I was busy the last two days, but tomorrow, 3 chapters for this story, and 1 chapter for my other story]