Hikigaya had just offered Karuizawa Kei the best advice she could possibly receive.
After all, despite bearing the impressive titles of "Hirata Yousuke's girlfriend" and "D-Class girls' leader," Karuizawa hadn't actually done anything to live up to them.
Let alone organizing other students the way Hirata Yousuke did.
If things kept going this way, the rest of the class would only continue to see her as an accessory to Hirata—a decorative flower vase that happened to be placed near him.
If she wanted to change that perception and earn the respect of her classmates through her own merits, she had no choice but to start taking action like Hirata did—doing things that benefited the rest of D-Class.
And right now, D-Class had one major problem looming over everything else: a lack of points. So dire, in fact, that many students could barely manage day-to-day life.
That issue came with two complications.
First, some students, unable to get by, had no choice but to borrow points from others just to stay afloat.
Karuizawa had taken advantage of that moment, using her own stockpiled points to lend to other girls, and had earned herself a relatively good reputation in the process.
Second, many students had borrowed points but showed no sign of ever paying them back, which naturally bred resentment among those who'd lent them the money.
Given how visibly unstable D-Class was, and with the next distribution of points nowhere in sight, those lenders had little hope of being repaid. Their dissatisfaction would only continue to fester, eventually becoming a full-blown internal conflict that could tear the already fragile class completely apart.
Borrowers and lenders would turn on each other, and D-Class—already scattered and disorganized—might just collapse from within.
At a time like this, only someone with significant influence could act as an arbitrator, someone capable of restoring order before chaos took over.
And that just so happened to be the perfect opportunity for Karuizawa Kei to boost her own standing.
If she was willing to step up and become that arbitrator—representing the girls' group and helping to establish a system with clear borrowing and repayment rules—she could quickly earn prestige, win over much of the female population, and even rise to a position on par with Hirata Yousuke himself.
Of course, Hikigaya had another motive for making this suggestion: Sakura Airi.
Back at the convenience store, he'd learned about Airi's situation. She'd lent out all the points she had, and no one could say for sure whether she'd ever get them back.
Something about that had rubbed him the wrong way. Deep down, it hit a nerve—reminded him of his old self.
Back in elementary school, he'd once eagerly handed over his allowance to a group of popular kids, hoping it would earn him a ticket into their circle.
But all he got in return was heartbreak. His month's worth of pocket money vanished into thin air, and those normie kids never even acknowledged the favor. It was like they'd erased the whole thing from memory.
Ouch. Painful. Excruciatingly painful.
So it wasn't so much sympathy he felt for Airi—it was more like he knew exactly how that felt.
That was why he decided to use this opportunity with Karuizawa to help solve Airi's problem as well.
Now that's what you call killing two birds with one stone!
"..."
On the other side of things, Karuizawa had been silent for quite some time after listening to Hikigaya. She seemed deep in thought, as if trying to dissect how his brain even worked to come up with something like this.
And as impressed as she was, she couldn't help but raise a question.
"You sure the girls who borrowed points are gonna repay just because I tell them to? I don't think I've got that kind of influence."
"You won't need to force them."
Hikigaya shook his head slightly. "People are social creatures. They're easily swayed by the environment around them. Once you establish that borrowing and repaying points is a must, and you back that up with your credibility, most people will start self-regulating. Some might even begin to police others. Only a rare few will break from the group—and chances are, those outliers won't be the ones who owe money…"
"…I see."
Karuizawa looked visibly shaken. She hadn't expected Hikigaya to think that far ahead. Her face practically screamed shock overload.
But this time, instead of questioning his abilities, she nodded with newfound resolve.
"Got it. In that case, I'll make it happen."
"Oh…"
Her sudden display of determination caught Hikigaya off guard. It took him a few seconds before he could instinctively nod back in response.
"By the way, around lunchtime… You went to eat with Kushida, didn't you?"
Out of nowhere, Karuizawa threw in a completely unrelated question.
Why bring up Kushida?
Hikigaya stared blankly at the girl in front of him, trying to figure out what she was getting at.
"Yeah. We had something we needed to discuss."
"But you don't usually talk to anyone in class…"
Her tone wasn't so much accusatory as it was… sulky.
"True, but it's not like I'm a total recluse. I've chatted with Horikita Suzune before, remember?"
"Horikita's different."
"Huh?"
Wait, what's that supposed to mean? You dissing Horikita now?
If she heard that, she'd probably karate-chop you without hesitation…
As Hikigaya silently mulled this over, he started piecing together what Karuizawa was thinking.
She was probably worried that he and Kushida Kikyou were getting a little too close—that it might jeopardize their collaboration. After all, Kushida was a highly capable girl, fully capable of taking her place in terms of class influence.
Karuizawa Kei was deeply insecure. Even the smallest thing could shake her sense of stability.
"Relax. Kushida and I are just working together temporarily. What you and I have is a long-term thing—different."
Hikigaya offered her a few reassuring words.
But the moment he finished saying it, he realized how it sounded: Those other girls don't matter—it's you I truly care about.
The kind of line you'd expect from a trashy soap opera womanizer…
Tch.
Don't tell me I do have a knack for being a scumbag? [T/N: Man! You do! You just don't know it.]
"Hmph. Good."
Whether Hikigaya was just that skilled at playing the role, or Karuizawa was just that easy to fool, her face immediately lit up with a smile.
Hey, wait a second. Weren't you supposed to be tsundere?
Since when did you drop the "tsun" part?
If this keeps up, I might start falling for you, you know. So seriously—get your act together!
Watching the bright smile spread across Karuizawa Kei's face, Hikigaya let out a long sigh.
More and more, he felt like he just didn't belong in this school. Like SpongeBob thrown into the world of Resident Evil—no matter how you look at it, it just didn't fit.