COTE: Hikigaya's Classroom of the Supreme Being

Participating in a three-legged race with the most popular girl in the grade is the dream of many boys.

For Hachiman Hikigaya, however, this dream had quickly turned into a nightmare. The countless envious and jealous stares aimed at him were more than unreasonable—they were downright hostile. Yet, this situation didn't even begin to make sense to him.

Why, out of all people, was he paired with her?

Hikigaya glanced over at Horikita, who seemed to notice his gaze and responded with a calm, composed expression.

"What's wrong, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Nothing... I just wanted to ask, why am I paired with Kushida?"

"Why wouldn't you be?" Horikita responded, raising an eyebrow. "I told you, there weren't any other suitable candidates. Besides, you don't need to put in much effort; you just have to show up on the day. Or do you have some issue with Kushida-san?"

That's exactly the problem!

If all he had to do was show up, then why him of all people?

Just as Hikigaya was about to voice his protest, he was cut off by Kushida, who had been standing nearby.

"Eh? Really?"

She looked up at Hikigaya, her expression tinged with anxiety. "Hikigaya-kun, do you... hate me?"

"...No."

Even though Hikigaya knew she was acting, the oppressive atmosphere of the surrounding hostility left him with no choice but to deny it.

However, the current participant list was only temporary. The official submission was still a while away.

Please, let someone else take my place!

Just as Hikigaya was silently praying for a miracle, a sudden commotion erupted nearby.

"Wait! Hirata-kun, where are you going?"

It turned out that after completing his grip strength test, Hirata had silently walked away without acknowledging the girl who had called out to him.

This guy, despite his current state, still insisted on coming to school and even dutifully showed up for the physical tests. Was his mental state serious or not?

"Tch, what on earth is Hirata thinking?"

Seeing this, Kushida's expression soured with genuine disgust.

However, she timed her expression perfectly, ensuring that only Hikigaya and Horikita noticed. To everyone else, her face remained as sweet and pleasant as ever.

"Seriously, to disrupt the class atmosphere just because of some stalker... It'd be better if he dropped out too."

Regardless, many students were concerned about Hirata.

Whenever something involved him, the class's mood became tense, and there was no telling how long this situation would last.

Horikita sighed softly. "While I don't entirely agree with your view, Hirata-kun's overreaction is indeed strange."

"It's more than strange—it's outright problematic."

Normally, Kushida would occasionally vent her frustrations about Hirata to Hikigaya in private.

But given Hirata's usually impeccable behavior, even Kushida found it hard to find fault with him beyond criticizing his constant "nice guy" act, which left her feeling bottled up.

Now, though, she finally had something she could criticize freely.

"And then there's Mei-chan," Kushida continued, her complaints now directed at her close friend. "Why does she keep trailing after him like that? He has a girlfriend, and yet she acts even more devoted than his actual girlfriend."

It was no secret that Wang Meiyu liked Hirata, evident from her actions.

But what concerned Hikigaya more was how Karuizawa felt about all this.

Since Karuizawa had initially pretended to be Hirata's girlfriend to maintain her social status, did her sudden closeness with Ayanokoji mean that she now saw Ayanokoji as more valuable than Hirata?

But... how did Ayanokoji manage that?

Hikigaya couldn't figure it out.

Lost in thought, Hikigaya suddenly felt a strong gaze from nearby.

Turning to look, he found Matsushita glaring at him angrily.

Huh? What's this about now?

But on the topic of Karuizawa, maybe Matsushita would know something...

Hikigaya pulled out his phone from his pocket and sent a message.

---

Hirata left the gymnasium early, unaware that someone was quietly trailing him. Lost in his thoughts, he wandered out of the school grounds, eventually finding himself in a secluded garden nearby.

The sports festival had kept all the students occupied, leaving this spot eerily quiet, the perfect place to be alone—or so he thought.

"Hirata."

Startled, Hirata slowly turned around. Ayanokouji stood a short distance away, his expression calm, unreadable. Hirata turned back, unwilling to engage.

He couldn't fathom why Ayanokouji was here, nor did he care to find out. Right now, all he wanted was to be alone. Yet, Ayanokouji seemed unfazed by Hirata's clear desire for solitude and took a step closer.

"Can we talk for a moment?" Ayanokouji's voice was steady, unyielding.

"It's so annoying," Hirata snapped, his patience thin. "Could you please stop coming to talk to me one by one?"

But his harsh tone did nothing to deter Ayanokouji. "Sorry, but if you really don't want to talk, you can always run away."

Ayanokouji continued to close the distance between them. "Though I should warn you, I'm fairly confident in my running. I could probably catch up."

Despite the attempt at provocation, Hirata barely reacted, his face a mask of irritation. "Why are you bothering me? Whatever you want to say, it's useless. I can't give you what you're expecting."

"Expectations? I never had any such thoughts," Ayanokouji replied calmly.

"Then what do you want?"

"Just a conversation. Come, let's sit down." Without waiting for a response, Ayanokouji moved towards a nearby bench, his eyes never leaving Hirata.

Hirata, however, remained rooted to the spot, his exhaustion evident in the dark circles under his eyes. The toll of Ike's expulsion had weighed heavily on him, far more than anyone had anticipated. To Ayanokouji, though, this might not have been entirely negative. He saw it as a necessary moment of reckoning.

"You can stay standing if you prefer," Ayanokouji said, sitting down. "But I still want to hear your story."

"My story?" Hirata echoed, confused.

"Yes, I want to know more about you—who you were, what you were thinking back then."

"…Why?"

"Curiosity, I suppose. There isn't a straightforward answer."

Hirata sighed deeply, shaking his head in frustration. "I'm not in the mood right now. I have nothing to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Why…? Isn't it obvious?" Hirata hesitated, as if the answer should be clear.

But Ayanokouji wasn't going to let him off easily. "Why exactly?"

"…Because Ike-kun was expelled from school." Saying it out loud made Hirata's expression darken even more, his face clouded with grief. "Ayanokouji-kun, you're pushing it."

"I just had a question," Ayanokouji said, his eyes steady. "Does Ike's expulsion have anything to do with your past that you're reluctant to talk about?"

Hirata looked startled. "This has nothing to do with my past."

"But I think it does."

Ignoring Hirata's denial, Ayanokouji continued, "Even if Ike was expelled, it was ultimately his fault. Everyone would think so. But what about you, Hirata? You're obsessing over this, to the point of neglecting the class. It's odd, don't you think?"

There was a pause before Ayanokouji switched tactics. "But what I want to know is about your past, and how it's influenced your current thoughts."

"What difference would it make if you knew? Would you even care?"

"Of course. Right now, you want someone to understand you."

Ayanokouji's gaze pierced through Hirata, a quiet intensity in his eyes. It wasn't quite a threat, but the pressure was undeniable. Hirata wasn't just letting life pass by; he was waiting, hoping for someone to save him. And if needed, Ayanokouji was ready to step into that role.

Especially for someone like Hirata.

"Ayanokouji-kun, you…" Hirata stared at him, a growing sense of dread building within him. "There's something dark in your eyes… You are a frightening person."

"At least for now, I'm your ally."

This declaration seemed to finally break through Hirata's defenses. He walked over to the bench and sat down next to Ayanokouji, his posture defeated.

"I told you before… I had a very close friend when I was a kid. He was bullied in middle school."

"Yes, his name was Shanmura, wasn't it?"

"I didn't expect you to remember his name…"

But of course, Ayanokouji remembered. It was through knowing this that he could gauge Hirata's current state of mind. Their bond had been forged during the uninhabited island test and solidified on the cruise ship when Hirata had shared his past.

Hirata had wanted to help his friend, but fear had paralyzed him. He feared becoming a target of bullying himself, so he turned a blind eye, remaining a bystander during those dark days. But then, one day, his friend had jumped to his death right in front of him.

That event had changed Hirata. He began to believe that it was his duty to save those around him, which was why, upon learning that Karuizawa had been a victim of bullying, he'd vowed to protect her.

But Karuizawa needed more than protection—she needed someone strong to latch onto. Ayanokouji had recognized this and used it to his advantage.

"Though my friend's life was saved, he's never recovered and remains in a coma to this day…" Hirata clenched his fists. "I was responsible for driving him to suicide. I still can't forgive myself."

"This wasn't your fault, Hirata. The blame lies with those who bullied him."

"Maybe, but I believe bystanders are just as guilty."

If that were all there was to Hirata's story, Ayanokouji might not have been interested. But there was more, something deeper, that Hirata hadn't yet revealed.

"I can tell you still have unresolved feelings," Hirata continued. "My friend tried to end his life by jumping off that building. I thought the uproar would stop everything—that the bullying would end after such a tragic event… But I was naive. I underestimated just how dark human nature can be."

Ayanokouji could imagine the scenario without needing further explanation.

"The bullying didn't stop. It just shifted to another student in my class."

This was to be expected. Once the lowest-ranked person in a group was removed, the next in line naturally took their place. It was a cruel, natural law.

"It was horrifying," Hirata murmured, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion. "A terrible incident had just occurred, and yet the bullying continued, spreading even further. Students who hadn't previously participated joined in. I knew then that I couldn't let it happen again. I had to stop it."

"Did you… do something about it?"

"Yes," Hirata replied seriously. "I used fear to control the class."

His words were chilling, even to Ayanokouji.

"I'm not much of a fighter, but I realized that not many people are willing to fight seriously. Once I raised my fists in earnest, no one dared to oppose me."

It was true. Bullies thrived on the weakness of others, but once confronted with real strength, they quickly backed down. Hirata, being a star athlete, was physically superior to his peers. All it took was one intense outburst, and the rest would fall in line.

"In the end, I became the de facto leader of the class. Whenever conflicts arose, I stepped in and meted out equal punishment to both sides. My actions were no different from bullying, but I believed it was the only way to eliminate bullying from the class. And for a time, it worked. The class was at peace."

Hirata's method was similar to the way Ryuuen ruled his class, but their motivations were different. Hirata knew his actions weren't just, but he couldn't stand by and watch others suffer.

"But surely the school didn't ignore your actions," Ayanokouji said.

"Eventually, the entire grade got involved. Every day, we went to school like emotionless robots. The incident became widely known, and almost treated as a criminal case. The school didn't know how to handle it, so they disbanded all the classes and reorganized them. We were kept under strict surveillance until graduation."

Given the scale of the incident, it was impossible that ANHS hadn't taken notice. Perhaps that was why they had allowed Hirata to enroll—just as they had with Hikigaya.

"In truth," Ayanokouji said slowly, "what you can't forgive isn't Ike's expulsion, but the way our class turned on him."

"Well… I do believe Ike's expulsion was his own fault," Hirata admitted, his voice heavy with resignation. "Initially, I thought it would be best to just let the matter die down."

Hirata wasn't someone who couldn't distinguish right from wrong. However, the scene in the classroom had struck a deep chord within him, bringing back emotions he thought he had buried.

In a twisted way, Ayanokoji found himself grateful to whoever had set the trap with the vase. After all, to reach Class A, Hirata was a force they couldn't afford to lose.

"I want to ask you something," Ayanokoji began slowly, his eyes narrowing. "Whose fault do you think it really was that Ike got expelled?"

"It… it has to be his own fault, right?" Hirata replied in a near whisper.

From any angle, it was true—this was the result of Ike's own reckless behavior.

But Ayanokoji shook his head, denying Hirata's conclusion.

"You're wrong."

"W-what?"

"Hirata, Ike's expulsion is your responsibility."

"Wha…!" Hirata's head shot up, his face twisted in confusion and disbelief.

"Did you ever truly intend to save Ike?" Ayanokoji's words cut through the air like a knife. "If you had, you should have acted from the very beginning. It wasn't as if Ike and Yamauchi's behavior was something new. If you had taken a firm stand and corrected them earlier, things wouldn't have escalated to this point."

"W-what are you saying…?" Hirata stammered, his voice trembling under the weight of Ayanokoji's accusation.

"None of the other classes have faced anything like this. Do you really think their students are all morally superior? Have you ever considered why it's only your class that experiences these problems?" Ayanokoji's voice was steady, each word hitting its mark.

"That—that's because we're Class D! Most of the people in our class are just… terrible!" Hirata stammered, desperately trying to justify the situation.

"The most terrible thing," Ayanokoji interrupted coldly, "is you saying something like that."

His words struck Hirata like a blow, leaving him momentarily stunned.

"Every time there's a conflict in the class, you try to smooth things over, thinking that as long as you maintain a superficial peace, everything will be fine. But you've never addressed the root of the problems. That's where you went wrong."

"That's unreasonable… How was I supposed to fix that?" Hirata's voice shook with frustration and disbelief.

"Yes, it is unreasonable." Ayanokoji nodded slightly. "But since you chose this path, you must see it through to the end. Whether it was Ike sneaking around with his camera or his expulsion being mocked by the class, these were wrong behaviors that you should have addressed. You need to have the resolve to correct them."

"I… I…!" Hirata struggled to find words, his voice faltering.

"I always believed you were an exemplary student, someone respected and charismatic—a leader who could rival Ichinose or Katsuragi. But the truth is, you're just a shallow, incompetent guy who talks big and accomplishes nothing."

[T/N: This words kind of resonated with me, considering my current situation.]

Of course, this wasn't the whole truth. Hirata wasn't incompetent—he was far more capable than most high school students. But Ayanokoji needed to break him down, to strip away his defenses until nothing remained.

Only then, when pushed to his limits, could Hirata become the crucial component that would keep Class D functioning, no matter what challenges lay ahead.

"Admit it, Hirata Yousuke—you're just that kind of powerless person."

"Is… is this… your true nature?" Tears welled up in Hirata's eyes.

"Why would you say something so cruel?"

"Do you remember your self-introduction at the start of the school year? You're free to have whatever aspirations you want, but if you're truly serious about achieving them, then you have to fight until the very end. Even if the path ahead is hell, you must keep walking. Even if others drop out along the way, you have to accept it."

"Those… are truly harsh words."

"Maybe so," Ayanokoji conceded. "But if you give up now, the sacrifices around you will only increase. That's why you must keep moving forward until the very end. And when everything is over, you'll find that many companions will be standing behind you."

"Can I… Can someone like me… really lead everyone forward?"

"Absolutely. The person you are now is already capable of taking that step forward."

Ayanokoji reached out and lightly tapped Hirata on the shoulder, as if flipping a switch. Instantly, Hirata's tears began to flow freely.

"Thank you… Ayanokoji-kun… Thank you…"

Tears streamed down Hirata's face as he bowed his head, overcome with emotion.

As Ayanokoji watched this scene unfold, his thoughts drifted to someone else.

He recalled his earlier failure to fully persuade Hikigaya during the summer. It had been a miscalculation, one that carried significant risks.

In the end, it all came down to a lack of information. Although he had learned a bit about Hikigaya's middle school years from Chabashira-sensei, it was clear that he didn't have the full picture.

Given Hikigaya's personality, it was unlikely that he felt any guilt over the bullies being punished. Yet that incident still weighed on him; otherwise, he wouldn't have been half-convinced during their last conversation.

If only Hikigaya could speak about it more openly.

Ayanokoji sighed inwardly. In many ways, Hikigaya and Hirata were similar, both trapped by their pasts. But there was a key difference—Hikigaya harbored deep mistrust towards him.

The root of that distrust likely stemmed from their confrontation with the student council president that night. Furthermore, Hikigaya's almost supernatural ability to observe and analyze had undoubtedly led him to see through Ayanokoji's hidden strength.

But time couldn't be turned back.

If it could, things wouldn't be as complicated as they were now.

Fortunately, Ayanokoji had already secured Karuizawa Kei and Hirata Yousuke—two individuals with significant influence over the class.

Today's progress was more than satisfying.

After all, everything he did was for the sake of a peaceful school life.