Seeing that their bet was cancelled, Ichinose Honami, who had almost been keeping silent the whole time to erase her presence, let out a big sigh of relief.
Thankfully there was no bet, otherwise she would've been dragged into it again.
There was no need to think. Just knowing that Minami and the others had specially brought up a bet definitely meant it wasn't anything good.
If they really were to start betting, with her being good friends with Minami and Ijichi Nijika, and also having listened to the whole thing nearby, there was no way she could stay uninvolved.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"I say, you lot… the preparatory bell for class should've already rung, right? Why haven't you returned to your seats yet?", Just as Ichinose Honami was feeling relieved, a black long-haired straight girl with a disciplinary committee armband and a dignified temperament entered the classroom through the back door, walked straight up to them, and spoke expressionlessly from above.
"Ah? Sorry, Kotegawa-san, we didn't hear it just now, we'll go back right away," Ijichi Nijika, seeing that Kotegawa Yui had returned from her patrol duty, quickly stood up and apologized, dragging Kitagawa Marin away.
Yuina and the others, seeing that it was Kotegawa Yui, also immediately returned to their seats.
Although they were all classmates, the stiff and rule-bound Kotegawa Yui, who strictly enforced school rules and discipline, wouldn't care whether you were in the same class or not.
She was even stricter toward girls. If a girl pulled up her uniform skirt even a little bit, Kotegawa Yui would make her go reflect and correct it.
"Class rep Rurikawa, didn't you hear the bell for class? Why didn't you stop them?"
Kotegawa Yui frowned slightly at the scattering group of girls, then looked toward the class representative sitting in the front row, short black-haired noble lady Rurikawa Tsubaki, and questioned her.
"...", Rurikawa Tsubaki's expression was rather subtle.
Stop them… How could she stop them…
Originally she could still fool herself into thinking she was keeping her distance from Hachiman, acting impartial and all.
But now, her identity wasn't just the class rep of Year 1, Class F, she was also one of Hachiman's harem, acknowledged by Kaede, Suzu, and Iris.
In this situation, one careless move would turn into mugwort, how could she dare to go over and stop Hachiman.
"Also, you...", Kotegawa Yui, seeing that Rurikawa Tsubaki didn't refute nor respond, turned her head as if nothing was unusual and looked toward the only male student in the back row.
"Also me?", Hachiman was a bit surprised to see Kotegawa Yui suddenly staring at him.
He had just talked a little with Miura Yumiko, and hadn't spoken the rest of the time. When Kotegawa Yui came in, he was also sitting quietly in his seat listening to Yuina and the others chatting. Even that could cause trouble for him?
"These days you've been skipping classes often, sneaking into the girls' swimming club to act as a manager, and having close relationships with many girls. Just because I haven't come to warn you doesn't mean you haven't violated the school rules," Kotegawa Yui stared coldly at the seemingly clueless Hachiman and continued speaking with a stern face.
"In view of your current actions that are disrupting the school rules, you've already been added to the blacklist newly enforced by the Disciplinary Committee, becoming the only student on that list."
"Next, the Disciplinary Committee will designate several members to punish you at any time."
"If you don't want to be monitored by the Disciplinary Committee every day, then behave yourself and study seriously."
"Otherwise, if I'm the one assigned to you, I definitely won't go easy on you."
Actually, she had long wanted to talk to Hachiman and give him a little criticism and education these past few days, but Hachiman was skipping so often she couldn't even find him.
Now she finally had a chance to give him a proper warning. If he still didn't learn, she would apply to the teacher to change seats and sit next to Hachiman so she could stop his misbehavior at any time. After all, she sat at the front of the classroom and couldn't keep turning her head during class to watch him.
"Huh?"
Seeing Kotegawa Yui return directly to her seat and silently take out her textbook after speaking, and the entire class seemingly quieting down due to her, Hachiman was a bit dumbfounded.
This Kotegawa... did she misunderstand something?
Wasn't the Disciplinary Committee preparing to implement a custom punishment against him?
Why did it sound to Kotegawa Yui like it was purely about discipline? And she even said in public, without embarrassment, that they'd punish him?
Hmm... on the day the Disciplinary Committee met, it seemed both Kotegawa Yui and Kaede's close friend Usui Makoto didn't attend. That day they even checked on him at the entrance of the girls' swimming club.
Usui Makoto, who was the student council president's good friend, only learned about the Disciplinary Committee's plan after the fact. So, Kotegawa Yui, who was similar to her in personality, long black straight hair, conservative, and not very sociable, naturally wouldn't know the truth behind the punishment plan.
So as a Disciplinary Committee member, Kotegawa Yui thought it was a good thing for her, being in the same class, to be assigned to punish him?
Realizing that Kotegawa Yui might have completely misunderstood, Hachiman couldn't help but shake his head and smile.
A conservative and stubborn girl like Kotegawa Yui definitely wouldn't accept such an outrageous punishment plan, but he was quite curious about what expression she'd have when she realized she had publicly said such shameful words.
[Hikigaya-kun, didn't Kotegawa-san just warn you? Why do you still look so happy?]
Ichinose Honami suddenly handed a small notebook to Hachiman's desk.
She didn't know the real situation like Hachiman did. In fact, most people weren't clear on the Disciplinary Committee's actual plans regarding him. Naturally, she was a little worried about him.
The strict rule at Sobu High that banned impure relationships between boys and girls was the result of continuous efforts by the Disciplinary Committee members across all classes. Students typically only socialized with their own gender. Even though Ichinose Honami had only been here for two days, she could already feel this atmosphere clearly.
Now Hachiman not only wasn't studying properly, but was also openly challenging the Disciplinary Committee's authority. There was no doubt he would be targeted in turn by various committee members.
[Thanks for your concern, little Honami, but you don't need to worry about this. I'm on good terms with the student council president. She won't let the Disciplinary Committee mess with me.]
Hachiman looked at the message in the notebook and immediately wrote a reply and handed it back to Ichinose Honami.
Actually, he was a bit curious to try out the punishment plans of the Disciplinary Committee. He wanted to see just how many members from different classes wanted to punish him. After all, most of the Disciplinary Committee members were quite beautiful, they were a striking presence at Sobu High. Usui Makoto and Kotegawa Yui were especially beautiful among them, but there were others just as attractive.
However, first, he was already very bus. Busy enough to skip class every day, so he couldn't spare the time to "play" with the Disciplinary Committee. Second, Kaede would never allow anyone from the Disciplinary Committee to touch him, regardless of the reason. She was probably already planning to deal with the committee if she had the time today.
Theoretically, the student council and the Disciplinary Committee weren't in a superior-subordinate relationship. The student council handled various student affairs, mainly focusing on clubs, while the Disciplinary Committee was in charge of maintaining discipline.
However, funding for the Disciplinary Committee still required the student council president's approval. Moreover, Kaede and Iris often helped with gate duty as temporary Disciplinary Committee members. Their influence in the committee wasn't small.
'Student council president...?', Ichinose Honami looked at Hachiman's reply in the notebook and fell silent for a moment.
Right, her uncle had mentioned in the materials that besides being close to the Yukinoshita heiress and a elf princess from another world, Hikigaya also had a pair of childhood twin friends who served as student council president and secretary. The class rep Rurikawa Tsubaki was also the vice president.
But yesterday, when she went to Hikigaya's house for dinner with Yuina and Ichiji Nijika, she didn't see the student council president. She hadn't seen her at school either. She had subconsciously forgotten about his connection to the president.
With such a relationship, she probably didn't need to worry. No matter how strong the Disciplinary Committee was, they wouldn't be so unreasonable as to purposely mess with Hikigaya.
Uh... maybe not. Kotegawa Yui did seem like the kind who didn't understand social cues and was famously hard to get along with.
This kind of unpleasant task might be something no one else wanted to do, but Kotegawa Yui would willingly volunteer.
Thinking of this, Ichinose Honami glanced toward the front row, where the long straight-haired girl sat upright, diligently and seriously listening to the teacher, taking notes meticulously.
She hadn't been here long, but she already noticed that Kotegawa Yui had no friends in class. Whether it was between or after classes, she was always alone, and no one seemed close to her.
Yet Kotegawa Yui was clearly cute and beautiful...
Hachiman understood why she was ostracized. Being cute wasn't enough. Yukinoshita was cute too, but she had also been bullied before.
In an environment where being part of the group was so important, there were even trendy terms like "reading the air". Someone like Kotegawa Yui who didn't understand social interactions was bound to offend people. Even if she hadn't offended someone personally, their friends would discourage any closeness.
Besides, with her personality, she wouldn't make exceptions for classmates or friends. In fact, the closer you were, the more demanding she'd be.
Kotegawa Yui... probably wouldn't even get along with Yukinoshita Yukino, another girl who pursued her own version of righteousness. Both were too stubborn about their ideals, which made it hard to get along.
Though they both had long black hair and were isolated problem girls...
Sitting in the far back of the class, Miura Yumiko glanced sideways at Hachiman and Ichinose Honami passing notes during class. Her fingers holding the pen tightened slightly.
'Hmph, scumbag!'
He used to pass notes with Gabriel, and now that Gabriel's not here, he's doing it with Ichinose Honami.
And to think she had worried about Hachiman being bullied by Yuina and Minami, had even apologized and nearly offered him compensation, this perverted scumbag deserved to be bullied.
The more Miura Yumiko thought, the angrier she got. She had tried to help him out of kindness, and now thanks to him, she was misunderstood by Nijika and Marin. Meanwhile, he was just flirting with the new transfer student in class.
But even though she was angry, the moment class ended, Hachiman was still surrounded by people.
"Is Gabriel not feeling well today? Class is over and she still hasn't come to school."
"Hikigaya-kun, do you know what happened to Gabriel?"
After the first period, Gabriel still hadn't shown up. Yuina and the others were surprised, initially thinking she had just overslept, and Ichiji Nijika and others came over to ask as well.
But Hachiman naturally could only say he didn't know. Last night, he had been with Iris and Yuina. He didn't see Gabriel in the morning either, so how would he know why she didn't come?
He could only guess that Gabriel had probably seen something too shocking.
As for the specifics, he wasn't sure.
He had Gabriel's contact info. During class, he sent messages to Gabriel, Vignette, and even Raphiel, but none of them replied.
"Class Rep Rurikawa, did Gabriel request leave from you?", Hachiman thought for a moment, stood up, and walked to the front of the class to ask Rurikawa Tsubaki.
Gabriel might've skipped school because she was embarrassed to face him. But even if she wasn't coming, she should've asked Rurikawa for leave, right?
"Huh? Um... Gabriel didn't ask me for leave. No one has asked me for leave this week," Rurikawa Tsubaki, seeing Hachiman walk straight toward her, almost thought he was about to do something publicly. But when she realized he only wanted to ask about Gabriel, she relaxed and immediately answered.
Though Kaede and Iris had acknowledged her relationship with Hachiman and even dragged her to the student council office to deepen their bond, so she no longer had to be secretive or afraid of being exposed.
Still, even if she didn't have to worry about Kaede finding out, Rurikawa Tsubaki didn't want people to know she was that close with Hachiman.
On one hand, because they couldn't disclose their relationship. In everyone's eyes, Hachiman was still Kaede's childhood friend. As student council vice president and Kaede's close friend, she couldn't be seen as stealing someone else's childhood friend.
On the other hand, the Disciplinary Committee member Kotegawa Yui was still watching from behind, and she didn't want to attract unwanted attention for inappropriate male-female relationships.
"So she didn't ask you for leave either...", Hearing Rurikawa Tsubaki's answer, Hachiman became thoughtful.
She didn't even apply for leave, was Gabriel really starting to fall?
But the system hadn't given any alerts.
Was it because the fall wasn't complete, or did this kind of fall not count?
"Then can I ask for leave?", Hachiman looked again at Rurikawa Tsubaki. He wanted to go back and check on Gabriel to see if he needed to give her a little push.
Although he didn't really want his little angel to fall, if it was due to watching seggs all night and falling that way, then he could accept it.
If a fallen angel evolves through lust...
Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, lust, gluttony, there were seemingly seven different paths for a little angel to evolve.
The only thing he wasn't sure about was whether she could devolve back into a little angel afterward and evolve again when needed.
"No, you're not feeling unwell. And our class's physical measurements are coming up soon."
Rurikawa Tsubaki was a bit surprised that Hachiman cared so much about Gabriel that he even wanted to ask for leave, but she rejected him without hesitation.
Usually, she turned a blind eye when he joked with girls in the back. But now he wanted to skip class to chase after a girl?
If she allowed that, Kaede wouldn't forgive her.
If he wanted a girl, he could just come to her.
"I just wanted to bring Gabriel over for the measurements."
Hachiman was a bit helpless. So even having connections didn't work, Rurikawa Tsubaki was on Kaede's side.
"No. But Ichinose-san isn't feeling well. You can go with Horigome-san to take Ichinose to the infirmary and rest. Then you can do your measurements later with another class."
Rurikawa Tsubaki refused without hesitation. But then she looked at Ichinose Ayano lying on the desk and her friend Horigome China who was worried about her, and hesitated.
"That's fine too, but I'm not good with Ichinose-san. Let's have Honami come help too."
Hachiman nodded after thinking and turned to call Ichinose Honami over.
Going to the infirmary was fine. He could use the opportunity to slip away. Although no one was home right now so he couldn't teleport directly back, there were plenty of people at school he could teleport through. After dealing with Gabriel, he could instantly return.
"Me too?"
Ichinose Honami pointed to herself, a bit confused as she walked over. Last night after Ayano received the bracelet from Hikigaya, she hadn't slept well and looked very drained in the morning, so she was worried too.
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