COTE : There is Something Wrong With Hikigaya-Chapter 186: The Bait-and-Switch

"Y-You... What do you mean by that?!"

Totsuka shouted at Hikigaya like he had seen a ghost. Katsuragi's face also turned pale. The moment Hikigaya said those words, everything clicked in his mind—like a sudden blackout.

He finally understood what had happened.

Hikigaya had swapped the first aid kit they redeemed with the one in the beachside cabin! Then, after taking over the cabin as a base, Totsuka and the others unknowingly carried it back to their camp.

In other words, this had been a setup from the very start!

"T-This is a trap!"

Totsuka finally pieced it together, his eyes wide as he glared at Hikigaya. Then, he turned to Mashima-sensei and shouted, "Mashima-sensei! That first aid kit—Hikigaya tricked us! We didn't—"

"Totsuka, shut up!"

Before Totsuka could finish, Katsuragi cut him off harshly. His face was grim as he turned to Mashima-sensei.

"Mashima-sensei, I believe there might be some misunderstanding here. Can I speak with Hikigaya alone?"

Mashima-sensei nodded and stepped outside the cave to wait.

"Hikigaya, what the hell are you trying to pull?"

Once Mashima-sensei was gone, Katsuragi spoke, his voice filled with anger.

"Looks like you've got some brains after all, Katsuragi. Unlike that idiot over there, who's just barking like a mad dog."

Hikigaya smirked coldly at Katsuragi.

"You bastard, Hikigaya! There are so many holes in this story—do you really think the school will believe you that easily?!"

Totsuka was fuming. Or rather, he was panicking.

Because if the school determined this was theft, both he and Katsuragi—the ones responsible—would take the full blame.

"Oh? So, Katsuragi, do you think the same?"

Ignoring Totsuka, Hikigaya turned to Katsuragi with a half-smile.

"Deep down, you already know the truth. No matter how many doubts you raise, no matter how much you argue, there's still one undeniable fact."

Hikigaya's expression gradually turned cold.

"Then how do you explain why a first aid kit that originally belonged to Class D ended up at your Class A campsite?"

"I already told you, you did this on purpose—"

"You're such a brainless stray dog!"

Hikigaya impatiently cut off Totsuka, and he could see Totsuka's face instantly turn deep red, like a pig's liver.

"Look at your leader. He hasn't said a single word from start to finish. Don't you get what's really going on?"

Hikigaya smirked at Totsuka and Katsuragi.

"The school only cares about one thing—solid evidence. Even if you think I set this up on purpose, so what? Everything you've been saying is just guesswork. Can you show me any real proof?

On the other hand, the fact that this first aid kit from Class D ended up at your Class A camp is undeniable. And not only that—it was brought back by your own Class A students. There's no way you can say it was planted to frame you."

Anyone with a brain could see there were suspicious points in this situation, but like Hikigaya said, the school was supposed to be neutral and would only act based on clear evidence. Without proof, nothing could be officially established.

It was the same logic as the rules that banned violence and stealing. Even though Ibuki had technically stolen Horikita's keycard, as long as she wasn't caught red-handed, she could always come up with an excuse. The school wouldn't be able to do anything about it. This kind of gray area was something that couldn't really be avoided.

Was the school intentionally allowing this? It was hard to say.

But one thing was certain—if clear evidence ever surfaced, the school would always side with the party that had proof.

Right now, no matter how much Totsuka and Katsuragi argued, they couldn't present any solid proof. Meanwhile, Hikigaya had an undeniable fact on his side—Class A students had taken the first aid kit that belonged to Class D.

The school worked like a court—it only ruled based on existing evidence. The process of how things happened? That wasn't its concern.

Katsuragi had realized this too, which was why he had stayed silent, trying to find a loophole.

But the problem was... there wasn't one.

He had walked straight into a trap!

On top of that, Katsuragi finally understood—Hikigaya had expected them to go to the beach hut that day. And those words he had said to Sakura? Those were meant for him to hear, just to create a sense of urgency!

And Hikigaya had succeeded.

The moment Katsuragi and Totsuka overheard that "Class D had transferred 100 points worth of supplies to Class B," their mentality had changed.

Wanting to save as many points as possible, they made the decision to take all the supplies from the beach hut.

If Hikigaya hadn't said that, Katsuragi might have chosen not to touch the supplies, just to play it safe.

Katsuragi was normally such a cautious person, yet the one time he took a risk, he ended up falling straight into his opponent's trap!

"Hikigaya, what do you want? Just say it."

Katsuragi took a deep breath, forcing down his frustration to stay calm.

"As expected from Class A's leader!"

Hikigaya clapped his hands, completely ignoring Totsuka's furious glare. He spoke as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"A meal for 40 people only costs 6 points, so let's round it up to 40,000 private points.

This first aid kit was worth 15 points when exchanged, so let's call that 150,000 private points.

And since 'stealing should be punished tenfold'—as compensation, Class A will pay me 1.5 million private points."

The Class A students around them all glanced at each other.

1.5 million private points sounded like a huge amount at first, but when split evenly among all Class A students, it wouldn't even be 40,000 points per person.

For a class that always had over 1,000 class points, this wasn't an unreasonable deal.

Still, even though the amount was manageable, many Class A students felt like Hikigaya was demanding way too much.

After all, no one wanted to lose private points for nothing—especially when they had just signed a deal with Class C and were already giving away another 20,000 points.

Hikigaya smirked at the Class A students.

"No need to rush. I'm not finished yet."

"That 1.5 million is just the compensation fee.

After all, you guys were the ones who stole something. Compensating for the loss is just common sense."

Then, Hikigaya turned to Katsuragi, his voice turning cold.

"But now, let's talk about the real issue.

How exactly do you plan to explain this theft to the school?"

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