Chapter 104: Horikita Manabu – I Heard You Changed My Sister
[Come to the public bathhouse after school.]
"..."
On the second day after school, during the last period of the afternoon, Hachiman received a message.
It seemed that the sender had timed it exactly with the end of class.
And since Hachiman had saved the number, he immediately recognized it as Horikita Manabu.
In other words—the student council president had messaged him.
At the same time—
There was no reason to refuse.
Because.
[Your private account has received 20,000 private points. Current balance: 233,000.]
…Uh.
President Horikita was being a little excessive, wasn't he?
Did he really think Hachiman was the kind of person who would agree to a meeting just because he received points?
—After school.
As the school day ended, students began leaving the classroom.
Yesterday, everyone had been curiously watching Hachiman and Horikita Suzune.
But by the second day, their enthusiasm had faded a little.
Moreover, today—Hikigaya Hachiman had eaten lunch in the classroom.
A few students who hadn't gone to the cafeteria had witnessed him and Horikita Suzune eating bento together.
A bento that Horikita Suzune had personally made.
In other words—
Their relationship was considerably close.
So, the classmates could basically confirm…
Even if they weren't dating yet, they were at least very close to it.
Because if they were just normal friends—
Would they share a homemade bento?
Absolutely not.
What kind of "just friends" would do that?
Upon realizing this, quite a few male students felt disappointed—some even a little jealous.
After all, while Horikita Suzune was cold and aloof, no one could deny—her face was stunning.
There were plenty of guys who only cared about looks.
But at that moment—Hachiman wasn't looking at Horikita's face.
He was staring at his phone.
And then—
"So, are we going to my dorm next?" Horikita Suzune asked Hachiman.
…Uh.
This girl really had no sense of atmosphere.
Did she not notice the few remaining classmates in the room staring at them in shock?
Because a confession was one thing.
And eating lunch together was another.
But now—
They had progressed to visiting each other's dorms?!
—Even though it wasn't as indecent as they were imagining.
Going to Horikita's dorm was simply to discuss exam-related matters.
Since it would be odd for a girl to visit a boy's dorm, it was usually Hachiman who went to Horikita Suzune's room.
Her room had also been used by Karuizawa before, and during a written exam, she had even let Kushida in.
So, it seemed that Horikita Suzune had no objections to turning her room into a strategy base.
Especially now—after confirming her goal of gaining her brother's recognition and advancing to Class A.
Horikita Suzune was willing to put in the effort.
"…Ah… yeah."
Hachiman glanced at Horikita.
Previously, due to Ryuen's suspicious actions, Hachiman had arranged for Kushida to gather information from senior students.
She had likely already obtained the information, and after school today, they were supposed to meet and share it.
But—
"The information meeting after school is postponed." Hachiman said. "I might be a bit late."
"I got invited by this person."
Since they were still in the classroom, Hachiman didn't say "your brother" but instead showed his phone screen to Horikita.
At the top of the screen, the name "Horikita Manabu" was clearly displayed.
"Ugh!"
The moment she saw her brother's name, Horikita Suzune's entire demeanor changed.
She suddenly seemed—weaker.
…It might be a bit rude to say, but Hachiman thought that this "weaker" version of Horikita was kind of cute.
However—
"But."
Horikita muttered, "If he invited you, that must mean he acknowledges you."
Then, she looked at him with a hint of jealousy.
…Hey.
Is getting recognized by your older brother really that important?
Well, maybe it was.
After all, Horikita had always been chasing after her brother's footsteps.
Still—
Hachiman doubted that was what Horikita Manabu meant.
"By the way, have you seen him in the past two days?" Hachiman asked.
"Yesterday after school, I met with him." Horikita Suzune replied.
"And then—"
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"I told him my thoughts. That I would no longer chase after his shadow."
…So, she wanted to be her own person now?
She actually took Hachiman's probing words about her inner self to heart.
With that in mind—Hachiman pretty much knew why Horikita Manabu had called him.
Because—
As her older brother, Horikita Manabu must know exactly what his sister was like.
She had always imitated him, so he definitely noticed.
And now, she suddenly decided to stop?
So—
It was probably either a scolding or praise.
Getting scolded by the student council president wouldn't be pleasant.
But if it was praise, then maybe Hachiman could pry some information out of him.
With that thought—
After school, Hachiman dropped off his bag at his dorm before heading to the meeting location that Horikita Manabu had sent.
.
.
.
There was a public bathhouse far from the student dorms.
Because it was far, students rarely went there.
Back in his old neighborhood, Hachiman had a public bathhouse nearby as well.
He remembered that when he was a kid, he and Komachi had gone there once because their home bathtub had broken.
He also distinctly remembered that the milk there had been delicious.
Still—this was odd.
Why was the meeting location a bathhouse?
At this school, you didn't have to pay to use the bathhouse, but if you wanted a towel, shampoo, or soap, you had to buy them.
Overall, it cost 700 private points.
However—
After washing himself and wrapping a towel around his body, Hachiman suddenly realized something.
Why did he start bathing just because he came to meet someone?
But—Horikita Manabu's location was inside the bathhouse, likely in the sauna.
Since he had probably arrived early, there weren't many people around.
Hachiman pushed open the sauna door.
Because of the heat, the door was heavy.
However—the moment he opened it slightly…
"..."
Hachiman felt an immediate impact.
Because—
Someone was already inside.
The person was sitting there in a towel, his upper body completely bare.
And—
Even in this steamy environment, he was still wearing glasses.
He had already noticed Hachiman.
"Oh… Hikigaya, you're here already. Instead of standing there like an idiot, why don't you come in?"
The one speaking—
Was Horikita Manabu, the student council president.
He looked completely at ease, sitting there comfortably.
Yet—Hachiman couldn't help but notice that his glasses were completely fogged up, and yet he still somehow managed to recognize him.
It was kind of impressive.
"…Well, then, excuse me."
Since it was an invitation from the student council president, Hikigaya Hachiman accepted it.
However, this feeling was indeed a bit strange.
Because there was only one bench inside, Hachiman had no choice but to sit next to Horikita Manabu.
It was indeed a bit awkward.
Speaking of which, despite Horikita Manabu being extremely busy with his duties, his physique was tight and toned—to be specific... he had six-pack abs.
This meant that he had put in effort and training.
While Horikita Suzune spent her days studying, Horikita Manabu, as the student council president, was also busy but still found time to work on his physical fitness.
It seemed that these two siblings had something in common—self-discipline.
"You're a bit thin. How about working out a bit more and gaining some muscle?" Horikita Manabu said as he adjusted his glasses and looked at Hachiman.
"Is that so?"
Hachiman thought about it. His goal was to be a stay-at-home husband, not necessarily to become a fashionable guy.
"So," Hachiman said as he sat down, "what's this all about? What's the matter?"
"First of all," Horikita Manabu began. "In the recently concluded written exam, Sakayanagi got 100 votes from third-year students."
"These votes came from some students in Class B, as well as all students in Class C and D."
This was an interesting point.
It indicated that Horikita Manabu's class didn't have a direct stake in the votes, but rather chose the votes from other classes.
Among the third-year Class C and D, the situation was realistic. Most of them were underperforming students, so they strongly opposed the possibility of leaking questions or students facing a bare exam.
This also meant that third-year Class B might not be that great.
After all, some people in third-year Class B were also worried about the exam papers being tampered with.
However, Hachiman remembered that when he first entered school, he had checked the data on the small blackboard used by upperclassmen.
At that time, the class evaluation scores for the four classes were as follows:
• Third-year Class A: 2530 points
•
• Third-year Class B: 1300 points
•
• Third-year Class C: 300 points
•
• Third-year Class D: 20 points
•
Class A was far ahead.
Before coming to the bathhouse, he had gone to the first floor of the third-year building.
There, he saw some changes on the small blackboard:
• Third-year Class A: 2330 points
•
• Third-year Class B: 1700 points
•
• Third-year Class C: 250 points
•
• Third-year Class D: 100 points
•
After this written exam, all four classes received extra points because they had access to the exam papers in advance.
However, the scores for Horikita Manabu's Class A, Class C, and Class D actually decreased.
This meant that Horikita Manabu's class had lost in last month's special exam, with third-year Class B winning.
But, Class B wasn't particularly strong either.
This suggested that Horikita Manabu thought something was off.
Perhaps it had something to do with external interference.
Could it be that Senior Nagumo had offered assistance?
After all, that man had a second-year backing, so it was completely possible for him to help a class.
But, would Horikita go and ask him for help?
After all, he had already contributed Sakayanagi.
Sakayanagi was very aggressive and combative, and she went directly to gather votes, standing in direct opposition to Nagumo.
She could replace the role of Kiriyama to suppress Nagumo.
In that case, it was about assisting Horikita Manabu.
So, to handle Nagumo, Horikita should likely praise Sakayanagi.
"So, does Senior really dislike Senior Nagumo?" Hachiman asked.
"Nagumo," Horikita Manabu said.
"I didn't expect you to bring him up."
"But rather than saying I dislike him, I just can't agree with his philosophy. I follow the school's philosophy, where class competition is paramount. I want students to grow by competing within their class."
"But Nagumo is different, he advocates for individual strength."
"Right now he is the vice president, and if he becomes the president, he might advocate for more special exams focused on individual performance," Horikita Manabu said.
"I see."
Hachiman thought this idea was pretty good.
Because, like in their class, Class D, there were definitely some problematic students, time bombs, but one couldn't deny their attack power.
However...
There were too many who were dragging the class down.
So if individual performance could be improved, maybe it would be an opportunity for those problem children.
Because...
Some people were simply too difficult to lead.
Otherwise, Hachiman wouldn't have only agreed to help the class rank up once to Class A with Chabashira-sensei, rather than staying at the top indefinitely.
"And Nagumo has no hesitation when it comes to expelling students."
"So if he becomes the student council president, he might implement a survival-of-the-fittest system, and the expulsion exams would increase," Horikita Manabu said.
"I see."
That would make things even more brutal.
But, if the expulsion exams were increased and the students who couldn't keep up were expelled... wouldn't that actually be a good thing for the class?
Hachiman pondered.
But this method felt incredibly heartless.
It would also go against the original philosophy of the school.
Why did the school admit such a wide variety of students? It was to promote diversity.
It was meant to simulate society, allowing students to experience interactions with all kinds of people.
So if the poorly performing students were expelled, it would leave others who might have been protected in a greenhouse environment.
They would lack experience.
"And this time, Sakayanagi's initiative," Horikita Manabu continued. "It was your idea, right? Originally, I wanted to recruit you to the student council to see if you could suppress Nagumo, but you chose to abstain, and instead, you sent Sakayanagi."
"I see?"
Yes.
Hachiman had reported the exam papers, and Sakayanagi had prepared the questions in advance.
It was obvious they were all part of the same group.
So, when Sakayanagi voluntarily stepped forward and aimed for the student council president position, Horikita Manabu thought it was to help suppress Nagumo.
But Hachiman didn't come to ease Horikita Manabu's worries. By sending Sakayanagi to the student council, he was actually offering the student council as a sacrifice, letting Sakayanagi focus on it.
Then, neglecting duties and letting class competition slip through the cracks.
But he couldn't just say this outright, and it didn't matter if Horikita Manabu misunderstood.
After all, it was a way to increase his favor with him.
Then...
Horikita Manabu pushed his glasses.
"Speaking of which, Suzune came to see me yesterday."
"She said she no longer wanted to chase after my shadow," Horikita Manabu said.
Hmm.
Hachiman already knew that the talk about suppressing Nagumo and everything else was false—a delusion.
For a qualified Onii-chan, the most important topic was indeed his sister.
And Horikita Manabu had indeed brought up his sister.
"Suzune has a fatal flaw."
"She hasn't realized her flaw, and instead, she keeps chasing after my shadow."
This meant that Horikita Manabu understood that his sister was aiming to be like him.
"How about telling her about this flaw?" Hachiman had already told Horikita Suzune yesterday what her flaw was.
Yes.
Chasing after someone's shadow and taking them as a goal can be a positive thing.
But, ultimately, one cannot live their life as someone else.
A person needs to be themselves.
Suzune needs to become Suzune and not Manabu.
Just like Hachiman, what he wanted was to be the one being cared for, not the one actively going out to work.
This was something he had always been very clear about.
And he knew that he didn't like working.