COTE : There is Something Wrong With Hikigaya-Chapter 166: The Eavesdropper

"Pochi-boy, I've brought what you asked for."

Even before seeing him, Hikigaya heard Koenji's cheerful laughter. Then, he saw him emerge from the forest. Though Koenji hid it well, Hikigaya still noticed signs of exhaustion.

After all, running back and forth through the forest in just ten minutes—without even counting the time needed to buy supplies from Chabashira-sensei—was no easy feat. Koenji's speed and stamina were truly impressive.

Hikigaya nodded and began inspecting the first-aid kit. It contained medicine for all sorts of possible outdoor emergencies—hemostatic powder, ointments, antibiotics, cold medicine, anti-diarrhea pills, antihistamines, and even a tracker. It seemed the school had prepared for unexpected situations.

The contents matched exactly with what he remembered from the school's guidebook. The guidebook's exchange list was incredibly detailed, even specifying every single item inside the first-aid kit.

Of course, the price reflected that—it cost a hefty 15 points. That was expensive, considering a full meal for an entire class only required 6 points. With 15 points, a class could afford food for a day and a half. This showed just how valuable points were.

Still, medicine and food served different purposes, so it made sense why medicine was so expensive.

Hikigaya carried the first-aid kit inside the hut. A short while later, he came back out with another first-aid kit.

Koenji, seeing this, raised an eyebrow but then smirked as if he had figured something out.

Hikigaya glanced at his watch, estimating that the time was about right. At that moment, both he and Koenji simultaneously turned their gazes toward the distant forest.

"Pochi-boy, your prey has arrived."

As soon as he finished speaking, Koenji disappeared into the trees, completely masking his presence.

Hikigaya didn't say anything. He simply turned to Sakura.

The girl took a deep breath and gave a firm nod.

"Hikigaya-kun, I—I'm fine!"

...

"This should be the place."

Two figures emerged from the trees—Katsuragi and Totsuka from Class A.

Instead of immediately looking for a good camping spot after entering the island, Katsuragi had led them toward a cabin he had spotted during the cruise ship's tour around the island. Since he only had a rough idea of its location, it took them nearly forty minutes to find it through the dense forest.

"Katsuragi, look! There's a ladder over there!"

Totsuka excitedly pointed at the ladder hanging over the cliffside. Climbing down would take them straight to the beach hut below!

Just as Totsuka was about to descend, Katsuragi grabbed him.

"Careful—there's someone down there."

Crouching low to stay hidden, Katsuragi narrowed his eyes at the two people standing outside the hut.

Hearing the warning, Totsuka quickly ducked down as well, carefully peeking out to observe the situation.

"It's Class D students! That's Hikigaya... and that big-breasted girl who's always with him!"

Totsuka's face was full of frustration—not only did he seem to have a personal grudge against Hikigaya, but the fact that Hikigaya was so close to a girl clearly irritated him even more!

Katsuragi frowned slightly but didn't correct Totsuka's words. Instead, he tried to stay unnoticed while observing what the two were doing.

Before long, he also noticed the display panel in front of the island cabin. It was clearly a designated base, but there was no indication that it had been claimed. That meant these two weren't the ones holding the key card.

At the same time, Katsuragi saw that Hikigaya seemed to be injured, and the girl was bandaging his arm.

"Serves him right!"

Totsuka, noticing Hikigaya's injury, couldn't help but gloat.

"Katsuragi, those two from Class D probably wouldn't carry medical supplies with them, so there's a good chance they got them from inside the cabin. There might be other supplies in there too, which means we could save a lot of points."

Totsuka spoke excitedly as if he had just realized something.

"Calm down! Don't let them notice us."

Katsuragi scolded him in a low voice, but he had also come to the same conclusion. This place was likely one of the supply stations that the school had set up for students. Unfortunately, someone else had beaten them to it.

"Let's move in closer. They seem to be talking about something."

Katsuragi signaled for Totsuka to get nearer, and soon they could hear Hikigaya and Sakura's conversation.

"There are a lot of supplies inside. If we take over this base, we can save a ton of points."

"But... but we don't have a key card."

"That's a problem, but this place is pretty hidden. We don't have to worry about other classes finding it anytime soon, especially those bookworms from Class A. What's the point of just studying? They'd never be able to find a place like this."

Hikigaya's mocking tone made Totsuka furious, while Katsuragi frowned slightly.

"How about this? Sakura, you stay here and guard the place while I run back to camp and tell Hirata. It should take about twenty minutes to go back and forth."

"I... I don't want to be here alone."

"Ugh, this is such a hassle. But it's not realistic to send you back alone either. Besides, you're terrible with directions in the forest!"

Hikigaya sounded annoyed and frustrated.

"Looks like we'll just have to go back together and tell Hirata so he can come claim this base."

In the end, Hikigaya gave in.

"Katsuragi, this is our chance!"

Totsuka's eyes lit up as he leaned in excitedly and whispered to Katsuragi.

"Don't get ahead of yourself."

Katsuragi didn't let his excitement cloud his judgment. He remained calm and cautious. Seeing this, Totsuka felt a little ashamed but also deeply admired Katsuragi's composure. As expected, Katsuragi was the real leader of Class A—far better than Sakayanagi, who was physically weak and unfit to lead.

"Um... Hikigaya-kun, I heard that Hirata was planning to sell half of our points to Class B. Is that true?"

"Shh! Sakura, keep your voice down. Class A or Class C must not find out about this."

Hikigaya's tone suddenly became serious. "But since no one else is here, I guess it's fine to tell you in advance. Hirata and the others are negotiating to use half of our points to buy essential supplies for Class B. In return, Class B will transfer a huge amount of private points to us later."

"So... that means once we get back to school, we'll receive private points? That way, we won't have to eat those awful wild vegetable meals anymore!"

"Exactly! And when that happens, we'll get to see the dumbfounded looks on those Class A bookworms' faces."

Hikigaya and Sakura's conversation sent chills down the spines of Totsuka and Katsuragi, who were eavesdropping in the shadows.

They exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

Katsuragi, who was known for being calm and cautious, looked absolutely grim at this moment.

If things went as Hikigaya said—where Class D used their points to buy supplies and gave them to Class B—it would mean Class B could keep up to 300 class points. Adding the extra points from holding a base for seven days, they might end up gaining over 400 class points from this special exam!

That wouldn't just mean catching up to Class A—it would put them ahead! Right now, the gap between Class A and Class B was only 340 points!

"Damn it! Those guys from Class D!"

Totsuka was furious. Before, when Hikigaya mocked him, he was just annoyed and resentful. But now, he was truly enraged. Since Class D had zero points, they could use this "zero-point strategy" without any hesitation. They benefited from it, but Class A was the one suffering!

"Stay calm! The more urgent the situation, the more we need to keep our cool!"

Katsuragi reached out to stop Totsuka, who looked ready to rush down, and scolded him harshly. At the same time, he was also reminding himself not to lose control.

Then, they saw Hikigaya and Sakura stand up and leave. It looked like they were heading back to Class D's camp to bring their "leader" over to claim this base.

It wasn't until Hikigaya and Sakura completely disappeared into the forest that Totsuka cursed angrily, "Those guys from Class D are a bunch of rotten troublemakers!"

Saying that, Totsuka was about to climb down the ladder to take control of the beachside hut.

"Wait! Let's hold off for a bit, just in case it's a trap!"

Katsuragi quickly stopped him, choosing to stay hidden a little longer. Sure enough, Hikigaya and Sakura returned.

Totsuka broke out in a cold sweat, realizing how close he had been to acting rashly. But then, they saw that Hikigaya had only come back to take the first-aid kit.

"Damn it! That was ours! And of course, he picked the most expensive item—what a sneaky bastard!"

Watching Hikigaya take the first-aid kit, Totsuka felt like his heart was bleeding. In his mind, this base was already under Class A's control. Seeing Hikigaya walk away with what was probably the most valuable item felt like having a chunk of his own flesh ripped away.

The two of them waited another ten minutes. After making sure Hikigaya was far enough away, they finally stepped out from their hiding spot.

Totsuka couldn't wait to climb down the ladder, while Katsuragi frowned deeply. His already serious expression now looked even more tense.

"Katsuragi! This is great! There's still a lot of supplies left in here—fishing rods, raincoats, drinking water... Whoa, there's even a medium-sized first-aid kit!"

Totsuka excitedly checked the supplies inside the hut.

Hearing that, Katsuragi quickly stepped inside to take a look. A rough estimate of the supplies made him realize that if they used them wisely, Class A could save a lot of points.

"We need to claim this base right away! That way, all the supplies in here will belong to Class A! Then we'll call the others to take everything before those Class D rats come back! Hahaha, I can't wait to see the look on that dead-fish-eyed guy's face when he realizes he just lost everything!"

Totsuka laughed smugly.

As he spoke, he pulled a green key card from his pocket. Surprisingly, the name on it wasn't Katsuragi's—it was Totsuka Yahiko's!

"Hold on a second!"

Katsuragi stopped him, still deep in thought.

Seeing Katsuragi hesitate, Totsuka grew anxious. "Katsuragi, if Class D really gives their supplies to Class B, our position in Class A will be in danger! Every single point is crucial for us right now!"

"If..."

Seeing that Katsuragi was still wavering, Totsuka continued, "I know what you're worried about. You think that dead-fish-eyed guy might be lying. And I get it—you prefer to play it safe. But we don't have the luxury to do that right now! If we lose this, those guys Sakayanagi sent will take the chance to stir up trouble. Everything you worked so hard to build will be ruined!"

"Katsuragi, this is our chance! Now is the time to take a risk!"

Every word Totsuka said struck a nerve. Katsuragi's natural style was to be steady and cautious. For Class A, which was already in the lead, his approach was perfect—just avoid mistakes, and they could stay on top.

But this special exam changed everything.

In the past, exams were mainly about academics, where the top classes—especially Class A—had a huge advantage. But this time, it was the opposite. The ones who benefited the most were the lower-ranked Class C and Class D.

That was why they had secretly listened in on Hikigaya and learned about Class D's strategy. From Class D's perspective, it was a high-reward plan that only a low-ranked class like them could pull off.

But for Class A, it was a nightmare.

After learning about Class D's plan, Katsuragi had considered cutting in ahead of Class B and making the deal with Class D himself. But he quickly dismissed the idea. Even if they tried, Class D might raise the price. And more importantly, it would be difficult to convince the proud students of Class A to lower themselves and beg Class D for a deal.

As a Class A student himself, Katsuragi understood all too well just how proud his classmates were.

Besides, he felt that this kind of trade was too risky. There was always the possibility that it was a trap.

This completely messed up the strategy Katsuragi had planned before. Now, he kept thinking about what to do next.

Should he continue playing it safe and ignore all the chaos around him, or should he take a more aggressive and risky approach?

"Katsuragi, if we keep hesitating, that dead fish-eyed guy will bring Class D back here!"

Totsuka urged him anxiously, but Katsuragi remained silent. Seeing this, Totsuka stopped waiting for his decision. He stepped outside, placed the key card in the registration machine, and the machine confirmed that the location was now occupied by Class A.

Watching this unfold, Katsuragi let out a sigh, which was as good as silently agreeing with Totsuka's decision.

In reality, this was exactly what Katsuragi wanted. He had intentionally left things to Totsuka so that he could "help" him make the choice.

After that, Katsuragi pulled out a communication device he had prepared earlier and called his classmates over to the beach hut to move the supplies inside.

What neither Katsuragi nor Totsuka noticed was that, hidden deep within the forest, a certain dead fish-eyed boy had been silently observing everything. After nodding slightly to himself, he turned and left.

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