48: Hikigaya is not his own fish
"Next up is Math A..."
"Hikigaya Hachiman: 89 points, Saotome Mary: 100 points!"
A wave of astonishment rose from the crowd. They knew Saotome Mary was a top student, but no one had expected that even in Math she would also get a perfect score of 100... From now on, as long as Saotome Mary was drawn in the exam battle, it meant victory.
Only an idiot like Hikigaya, a transfer student, would dare to challenge Saotome Mary.
"Now the gap between the scores is huge, Hikigaya-san is in serious trouble!"
"Let's continue—"
"Math B, 93 to 100! English, 95 to 100! World History, 98 to 100!"
The crowd below exploded. The boys' gazes towards Jabami Yumeko were filled with dirt and greed. When they turned to look at Hikigaya Hachiman, there was nothing but endless mockery.
But they didn't notice that Jabami Yumeko's eyes were frighteningly calm. She was not at all shaken by the overwhelming disadvantage that seemed to be in front of them.
The current situation was that five out of the seven subjects had been opened, and Hikigaya was trailing by a full 30 points. No matter how you looked at it, Hikigaya was in a position where defeat was certain.
"Hikigaya-san, do you want to continue?"
"Or should we let you keep your last shred of dignity?"
Aiura Kokoro was enjoying herself, looking at Hikigaya's expression with the pride of a victor.
"Wrap it up, Hikigaya. Don't waste everyone's time!"
"We have a party after school, you know? A transfer student like you, with no friends, wouldn't understand, right? No friends, Hikigaya!"
"Just hand over the ten million yen! If you don't have enough, let Jabami Yumeko come borrow from us!"
The air was once again filled with an unexplainable filth and joy.
"Enough, you're too loud!"
Jabami Yumeko's face darkened, and for the first time, her expression revealed a majestic, queen-like authority. This aura felt like nobility flowing through her veins from birth, an inherent grandeur that couldn't be erased by mere training. It was not the type of presence that could be possessed by these pampered noble offspring. Her aura exploded instantaneously.
The whole classroom fell into a deathly silence.
They looked at Jabami Yumeko, who was standing in front of the crowd, with some fear. A slight breeze blew, lifting her waist-length hair. At that moment, Yumeko's eyes glowed red, and her hair fluttered, making her resemble a witch who had just emerged from the hellish world of gambling.
The aura was terrifying.
"What's the matter? What's so noisy?!"
Some of the loudest people murmured quietly, "She's just a stray cat after all."
But facing Yumeko now, they dared not shout loudly, afraid of provoking this gambling girl and bringing unnecessary trouble upon themselves. After all, the way she looked now was genuinely frightening. She seemed like a giant snake from hell ready to devour anyone in its path.
Fear began to grow in the hearts of the students in Class 1-A.
"The, the match will continue."
Mizuka, sweating coldly, announced stiffly that the match would proceed. She opened the penultimate subject in front of everyone.
The change had begun!
Mizuka was somewhat surprised as she said, "The sixth subject, Physics, 98 points vs 98 points, it's a tie!"
Aiura Kokoro's heart skipped a beat, sensing that something was off. But soon, she sneered at herself for being overly suspicious. There was nothing wrong, the victory had already been secured.
For Hikigaya to surpass Saotome Mary, he would need to score more than 30 points higher than her in the last subject, Japanese.
Was that possible?
'Impossible, absolutely impossible!'
"With just one subject left and a 30-point deficit, this is truly hopeless for you, Hikigaya-san~"
"But I think this is a good idea, putting all your hope on the last subject, the feeling of expecting a turnaround must be quite nice."
"After all, Hikigaya-san is a special student, so you must have one subject you're especially proud of. But, confidence is good, but when that confidence gets crushed by reality, it must feel awful~"
"Hikigaya-san, you're just—"
"A frog at the bottom of the well! Still dreaming of taking first place?!"
Aiura Kokoro licked her lips, the flames of desire growing in her heart. She couldn't wait to savor the fruit of victory.
She didn't want to wait any longer, now, immediately, right now!
Let all the glory belong to her, Aiura Kokoro!
"Quickly turn over the last exam paper!" she urged.
"Okay, okay."
Mizuka placed her hand on both of the exam papers, habitually lifting one corner to glance at them with the corner of her eye.
Then, she revealed an expression of disbelief, her pupils constricting, and she looked at Aiura Kokoro in horror.
At this moment, Hikigaya spoke.
He was as calm as ever, even taking the time to glance at the stray hair on his head:
"Yeah, I never thought I'd always be first. I still have a lot of shortcomings in my studies, and it seems there's no need to fight for first place. After all, Saotome Mary's academic ability is truly impressive."
"But—"
"Compared to you, and..." Hikigaya turned to the crowd, "All of you, all you need to do is be a little bit smarter."
Under the pressure of Jabami Yumeko's aura, the crowd below could only mutter quietly.
"What?!"
"Is he saying we're not as smart as him?"
"He's clearly going to lose, what's he so cocky about?!"
Aiura Kokoro also sneered: "Are you still talking tough, Hikigaya-san? Let reality give you the answer."
"Mizuka, hurry up and flip over the last paper."
"Aiura... I think you should..."
"What are you babbling about?!"
Aiura Kokoro couldn't hold it in anymore. She stepped forward, snatched both exam papers from them, and flipped them open, slamming them onto the desk in front of everyone.
She first looked at the exam paper she was holding.
"Heh, a perfect score. It seems Hikigaya-san has made quite an achievement in Japanese. What? Are you planning to become a writer in the future?"
Aiura Kokoro chuckled and shook her head. She looked at Hikigaya Hachiman's exam paper, muttering, "But unfortunately, after today, your pride will be shattered."
Her gaze finally landed on Hikigaya's paper.
"Eh...."
She rubbed her eyes, double-checking the score on Hikigaya's paper, the one from Saotome Mary.
"6...69 points?!"
Her once youthful eyes turned gray, the whites fading, and her pupils hollowed and darkened. She couldn't believe the reality in front of her.
[The total score for these seven subjects is—]
[668 points vs 667 points!]
[According to the bet, the winner is—]
[Aiura Kokoro!]
At that moment, the air around her seemed to be sucked out by some miraculous force, and the sound in her ears was a hollow, deafening silence.
[This concludes the final match of the exam battle bet, with Aiura Kokoro's victory.]
[She will receive a 300,000 yen gambling reward, as well as a 200,000 yen subsidy from the student council, and will become the class monitor of the first-year 1-A!]
"But..." Mizuka paused, hesitating whether to deliver one final blow to Aiura Kokoro at this critical moment.
Hikigaya Hachiman took advantage of her hesitation and spoke for her.
He walked up to Aiura Kokoro, his dead-fish eyes fully transformed.
They were filled with coldness, dominance, and aggressiveness.
"But, since Aiura-san challenged me to a one-on-one duel, you owe me ten million yen."
Hikigaya's voice lowered as he whispered into her ear, "And you'll become my personal pet."