The Dragon Group exam had finally ended.
Hikigaya suddenly felt a sense of relief—no more discussions, no more debates.
The next morning, he sat in the café as usual, passing the time without a care. What other people were doing with their exams was none of his concern.
It didn't take long before Horikita Suzune walked into the café and sat directly opposite him.
"Did you submit your answers to the school?" she asked without preamble.
"It's just an exam. There's no need to be in such a hurry," Hikigaya replied, startled by her urgency.
"I don't have time for small talk with you," Horikita shot back, her voice cold. "Was it you?"
This woman was really impatient. Hikigaya guessed she had already questioned Kanzaki and the others before coming to him.
"Yeah, it was me." Hikigaya nodded. There was nothing to hide.
"What?" Horikita leaned forward slightly, her tone suddenly nervous. "Who did you name?"
"Kushida Kikyou from your class." Hikigaya shook his head helplessly. Despite her cold demeanor, she was still so transparent.
"What a joke." Horikita stood up instantly, looking utterly shocked. "Why... Why would you guess it was her?"
Seriously? This girl actually thought she'd done a good job hiding it.
Hikigaya wasn't bragging—he was just good at observing people.
"Judging by your reaction, I must have guessed correctly, Horikita." Hikigaya stood up, feeling smug. "You've probably never played Werewolf before, huh?"
"Tsk."
Horikita clicked her tongue in frustration, recognizing her own mistake. Now that the Dragon Group exam was over, there was no point in dwelling on it.
She frowned, her voice laced with irritation. "I've heard of it, but what's the point of playing such pointless games? They don't help me improve myself at all. And what does that have to do with you guessing Kushida's identity?"
"Heh." Hikigaya couldn't help but feel proud of himself. "Listen, the key to Werewolf is—"
"Get to the point!"
"Ah? Oh…."
It was clear Horikita wasn't the type to listen to things she didn't find interesting.
"It's actually pretty obvious." Hikigaya glanced away, losing interest. "You tried to shift the conversation to Class A to hide Kushida's identity as the VIP."
"Impossible!" Horikita sat up straight, her expression one of disbelief. "Given the circumstances at the time, it made sense to focus on Class A. The VIP could easily have been from their class."
"That's not true." Hikigaya leaned back in his chair, looking bored. "With your obsession with Class A, if you were truly uncertain about who the VIP was, you'd act like Ryuuen—pressuring everyone and interrogating them aggressively. Instead, you calmly changed the topic. That's how I knew you were trying to cover for someone."
Horikita slumped back in her seat, shoulders drooping as she lowered her head in silence.
"Uh, hey." Hikigaya finally noticed something was wrong. "You haven't… really taken this to heart, have you?"
Horikita's strong sense of responsibility, especially after what happened on the uninhabited island, was clearly getting the better of her.
"So," Horikita murmured, clenching her fists. "The biggest flaw was me..."
"Uh, well... how should I put it?"
Seeing a beautiful girl look so dejected in front of him made Hikigaya feel awkward. It wasn't like he wanted to keep attacking her.
He sighed and tried to comfort her. "It's fine. Hirata and Kushida's performances weren't any better than yours."
In his opinion, Horikita, Kushida, and Hirata all had decent acting skills. At least they weren't sweating or trembling while talking.
But growing up with the idea of being a good person who doesn't lie made them weaker at deception.
"I heard that when people play Werewolf for the first time, their faces get hot, and their hands tremble because of lying. Lying is one of those unpleasant but necessary skills of adulthood."
Hikigaya shrugged. "Compared to that, you guys did fine. Well, Ryuuen was just a brute force player, anyway."
"Is that supposed to be comforting?" Horikita's expression darkened. "Are you saying I'm only at the level of Class D?"
"That was the idea." Hikigaya chuckled dryly. This girl really had a bad attitude.
"Whatever." Horikita took a deep breath, her voice turning cold. "A loss is a loss. I'll just win next time. But don't think it will be so easy for you again."
"Oh, is that so?"
Feeling the sharpness of her gaze, Hikigaya quickly dodged it. "You're overestimating me. I only have some experience in observing people. Nothing worth mentioning, so please, just let it go."
"We'll see." Horikita replied calmly, her voice firm. "But even though you knew Class D and Class B were working together, you still attacked us. Don't you feel guilty?"
"Nope." Hikigaya looked away. "I didn't know the details of the cooperation. Ichinose agreed, so if you have issues, take it up with her."
"Hmm." Horikita's expression grew complicated. "I suppose our cooperation was nothing more than a verbal agreement. There were no official terms preventing us from attacking each other."
The agreement between the two classes was more of a gentleman's agreement. They'd help each other when convenient, but exams were another matter.
"Anyway."
Horikita rose from her seat. "Hikigaya, I'll remember this."
"Hey, wait—" Before Hikigaya could respond, Horikita turned and walked out of the café.
As expected, Ryuuen and Katsuragi also showed up after her. They asked him the same thing, but Hikigaya didn't tell them about Kushida.
He knew revealing more would increase the chances of the others figuring out the exam's rules. No point in making things harder for Class B.
August 14th—The last day of exams.
Hikigaya lay in bed, playing a mini-game and waiting for the school's test results.
"Kanzaki, you're being too nervous." Shibata tried to console him.
"You heard what just happened." Kanzaki shook his head solemnly. "Seven groups submitted their answers to the school at the same time. Something's definitely wrong."
Hikigaya was curious. The fact that so many groups answered simultaneously suggested that some class figured out the school's method for choosing VIPs.
But which class made the breakthrough? And was there really a traitor involved?
Moments before midnight, Hikigaya received an email from the school.
And the results were far from simple.
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