As soon as Hikigaya finished speaking, the dorm room fell into a brief silence.
It was clear Karuizawa Kei hadn't expected him to say something so over-the-top.
She froze on the spot, completely stunned, and didn't recover for quite a while.
Hikigaya was just starting to wonder if she'd turned into a mute giraffe or something—completely incapable of speech—when the girl finally lifted her head and looked at him with a gaze full of tangled emotions.
"...What is it?"
Hikigaya was the type who had no defense against situations like this. Especially when a girl stared at him with that "listen to me carefully" kind of atmosphere—there was no way he could form a coherent reply.
It was just a built-in weakness of his.
On the other side, Karuizawa let out a quiet sigh, as if unsure whether she should even respond.
But in the end, she slowly said, "Do you think someone like me could pull something like that off? There's no way I could ever do what you just described, not on my own..."
Karuizawa Kei exuded a deep-seated inferiority complex—something Hikigaya had already picked up on before.
Even so, he hadn't expected her to be this lacking in confidence. She didn't even have a shred of belief in herself.
Had something happened to her in the past to cause this?
A sense of unease surfaced in Hikigaya's chest, and without thinking, he responded:
"I see... That was my bad. I didn't think it through."
Whenever his words got shot down, Hikigaya's first instinct was always to agree immediately. That way, he wouldn't provoke the other person or create any negative fallout.
This kind of safe, self-effacing response had become second nature to him—an almost reflexive move. You could even say it was his innate office drone survival instinct.
Wait, hold on a second... Does that mean I'm just a natural-born corporate slave?
Damn it. I can't even argue against that...
On the other side, seeing Hikigaya back down so fast left Karuizawa momentarily stunned. Then, displeasure spread across her face.
It was as if Hikigaya's excessive retreat triggered her tsundere instincts. The hesitation she'd just shown evaporated as she stepped forward instead, snapping:
"You gave up way too early! I never said I wouldn't try!"
"Eh? You're saying you can try?"
The way Karuizawa had denied her abilities so firmly just now made it obvious—she was someone with a deeply rooted sense of inadequacy.
Once Hikigaya realized that, he'd started to feel like maybe he'd pushed her too far. And yet... she seemed oddly willing to consider it?
What a mystery.
"I still don't think I can do it... but it's your reaction that's pissing me off," Karuizawa grumbled, dumping all the blame squarely on Hikigaya.
"Sorry?"
Even though he didn't get why, Hikigaya apologized anyway.
Maybe he was too weak?
"You... Just say what you mean! Quit apologizing for everything!" Karuizawa snapped again, clearly irritated—not just with Hikigaya, but possibly with herself too, for only being able to speak to him this way.
But the truth was, Hikigaya kind of liked how Karuizawa talked.
Not because he was some sort of masochist—though he might have a slight tendency in that direction—but more because he genuinely preferred straightforward people.
"Ahem. Anyway, if you want to break free from Hirata Yousuke's influence and make an impact on Class D using your power, then you need to gradually take over his role. Do what he used to do."
"Do what Hirata did?"
"Exactly."
Hikigaya met her confused gaze without hesitation and said, "Remember how Hirata acted after school started? Every time someone in the class ran into trouble, he would step up right away, take the lead, and help find a solution. That was his strength. But it's not something only he can do—especially not in the girls' group."
"Wait..." Karuizawa wasn't dumb. She quickly caught on and murmured, "So you're saying I should do what Hirata did, but as the leader of the girls?"
"Bingo."
Hikigaya nodded approvingly. "Hirata's abilities are impressive, sure. But that doesn't mean you're inferior. Maybe you don't have his level of influence in every group, but in the girls' group within Class D, your status isn't any lower than his."
"I..."
Karuizawa fell silent.
She seemed to be questioning herself—wondering if she really had, as Hikigaya said, gained enough presence to rival Hirata Yousuke in the girls' circle.
Because the truth was, in most ways, she really didn't measure up to him.
"I can't do it..."
"Yeah. Of course you can't."
"...Huh?"
She hadn't expected Hikigaya to agree with her so bluntly. Her tsundere temper flared up again, just barely held in check.
But then she looked into his eyes—and those dead-fish eyes weren't filled with scorn or condescension. Instead, they were full of something else.
Expectation.
"But didn't you say you wanted to work with me?" Hikigaya said evenly. "If I'm helping you, then maybe you can become the leader of the girls' group—someone who's no less capable than Hirata Yousuke."
This was the real reason Hikigaya had brought all this up.
Ever since striking an agreement with Chabashira Sae, he hadn't stopped thinking about Class D's current situation.
If they wanted to move up a level, they had to stop being a disorganized mess and rally under a strong leader who could actually steer them forward.
Hikigaya's tentative pick for that leader was Horikita Suzune—but her social limitations wouldn't be fixed anytime soon. Which meant they needed someone else to help unify the class.
That someone was Karuizawa.
"Are you serious?"
"You can treat it like I'm not. But either way, it's not a bad deal for you, right?"
Hikigaya slipped effortlessly into full-on political speech mode—not trying to bait her with potential benefits, but instead focusing on minimizing the risks.
Most politicians, after all, preferred guaranteed outcomes and shied away from risky ventures with uncertain returns.
And normal people were the same.
"I..."
Karuizawa looked conflicted. Hikigaya's argument had clearly gotten through to her, and she couldn't help but murmur again:
"So you really are smart, huh, Hikigaya?"
"What do you think?"
"Then... what do I do now?"
Her curiosity was met with Hikigaya's calm, straightforward response.
"Right now, there's only one thing you need to do: make the most of your current reputation and convert it into real favors. You've already earned the goodwill of the students who are short on points by helping them. So next, you should focus on the ones with points—the ones who lent their points to others. Don't you think it's time to direct your attention to them?"
"Wait, you mean...?"
"Get everyone who borrowed points to promise they'll pay them back. If you use your influence to make that happen, then the people who lent the points will be grateful to you. And the people who borrowed them won't resent you either, since you helped them in the first place. It's a win-win for both sides!"
Hikigaya laid out the whole plan in a calm, matter-of-fact tone—leaving Karuizawa Kei utterly speechless.