Cooperation

"Wise choice."

Seeing Ichinose sign, Hoshino Kanade breathed a sigh of relief. His great plan to accumulate points had taken its first step.

"What do we do next?"

After all the ceremonious preparations, they could finally get to the real reason for this meeting.

"As I said before, only Class A gets the employment and further education guarantees the school advertises."

"The school assigns students to different classes based on their 'ability.' Class A is the strongest, and Class D is the weakest."

"Class Points are the measure of a class's 'ability.' Once Class B's Class Points surpass Class A's, Class B becomes Class A."

Ichinose's gaze rested on the tabletop. Her brows furrowed, then relaxed, while her fingers unconsciously twined in her hair. She seemed to be thinking it over.

"What do you think? Need some time to take it in?"

"No, I understand." Ichinose quickly absorbed the information she'd just received and put it to use.

"But if that's the case, our classes must be rivals. Why tell me all this?"

"I have no intention of moving up to Class A together with Class D."

"So you mean..." Ichinose seemed to understand what he was getting at.

"Your teachers must have told you that points can buy anything. Twenty million points can buy your way directly into Class A."

In truth, Hoshino Kanade didn't think 20 million points was worth a place in Class A. If he wanted to pursue further education, he could take the entrance exams himself. And if he wanted to get into his ideal company, he could just work part-time.

"Now we get to the terms of our cooperation. We'll have to sign the contract before we can proceed."

It was called a partnership, but in practice it was an information deal.

He'd already given Ichinose so much information for free. If she chose not to sign the contract, she might well figure out most of it herself in a few days.

Still, given Ichinose's character, after making use of Hoshino Kanade's information, she'd probably send the points over of her own accord anyway.

He wasn't worried about failing to earn points.

Ichinose took the contract. It laid everything out in detail, but the gist was simple: 2 million points in exchange for the contents of the first exam.

It was only the fourth day since the start of the school year. None of the classes had realized they could collect their classmates' Personal Points and use them as class funds.

Ichinose's student card currently held only 88,488 points. When she saw the figure of 2 million, she'd even felt like fleeing this sad place.

Fortunately, the terms of the contract were extremely generous. She could pay the 2 million a month later; if she decided the information wasn't worth that much, she could pay whatever amount she thought fit.

It was full of sincerity and trust.

Ichinose hadn't let that sincerity cloud her judgment. After a little thought, she couldn't find a reason to refuse. Hoshino Kanade had left the initiative in her hands; if she'd been unscrupulous, she could even have gotten the information from him for free.

The warmth of being trusted filled Ichinose's heart. No wonder Hoshino Kanade had found a girlfriend in just two days.

"Looking forward to working with you."

Ichinose wore a bright smile as she extended her hand to Hoshino Kanade.

"Likewise."

Her palm was soft and warm. If Kiyona's hand was "a blade forged from moonlight," then Ichinose's was "silk woven from morning dew."

Hoshino Kanade's original plan for his deal with Ichinose had been to take points with one hand and trade information with the other. But after watching Kushida make friends with everyone in sight every day, he'd suddenly realized something.

Class A and Class C were apparently still competing to choose their leaders. They hadn't recognized the importance of the class as a whole, so they definitely hadn't collected their classmates' Personal Points.

For all he knew, Ryuen was sneaking up on Albert while he was using the toilet.

If Hoshino Kanade didn't loosen the terms, there'd be no deal at all.

He'd revised the contract the night before the deal, but even after racking his brain, he couldn't think of a better solution.

In the end, since he was dealing with Ichinose, he'd simply given her the initiative entirely.

Fortunately, the deal went smoothly.

He'd have to rethink the deal with Class C, too, and choose the right time. It was so difficult.

As for Class A, all he could say was, maybe next time.

Slacking off was the best. Once Hoshino Kanade finished his deal with Class C, he'd have to slack off properly, too.

Watching his classmates in Class D sleep through class or pass notes while he still had to study made Hoshino Kanade fiercely envious.

Although Hoshino Kanade sometimes passed notes in class, too.

Perhaps Kiyona had picked up some bad habits from her classmates. She and Hoshino Kanade were seated in front of and behind each other, yet they were passing notes to communicate.

All Hoshino Kanade could say was, if Kiyona liked it, that was fine.

Well, school life like this was pretty nice, but after the first month, he wouldn't get to see it anymore.

"What should we have for lunch today?"

Aside from figuring out how to earn points, the biggest problem each day was deciding what to eat.

With Hoshino Kanade's indecisiveness and Kiyona's lack of preference—she didn't care what they ate—they ultimately had to rely on Hoshino Kanade to step up.

"I heard the cafeteria's serving a new dish today."

"I don't mind."

"The Jimo Double Fresh Rice Bowl. It has rice cooked with squid ink, topped with teriyaki squid and pan-fried crucian carp slices."

Squid ink had a slight fishy taste, so they'd added a little lemon juice to remove the fishiness and bring out its freshness. It sounded reasonable.

The dark rice contrasted with the reddish-brown teriyaki squid and golden pan-fried crucian carp slices, while scallions and white sesame seeds added a finishing touch. It looked quite appealing, too.

Such an elaborate dish cost only 1,123 points. What a bargain.

Hoshino Kanade stared at the dish, and a line of lyrics popped into his head without warning:

"That day, the squid, the squid rose.

That day, the Jimo, the Jimo rose."

With the new dish on the menu, the students were eager to try it. Hoshino Kanade and Kiyona had to wait in line for ages before they could buy some.

"Let's eat." ×2

They ate their meal in silence.

In truth, no matter how refined it looked, the dish's bizarre flavors and combination couldn't be disguised.

It was more like a fusion experiment that broke with tradition.

Edible squid ink had a slight fishy taste, which clashed with the mild, fresh sweetness of the freshwater crucian carp.

Although they'd added lemon juice to offset the properties of the squid ink, too much lemon juice would break down the carp's proteins, making the flesh tough and leaching away its flavor.

Considering the target customers and the price, the squid ink they used wasn't very good. Its fishy taste was rather strong, so they'd added far too much lemon juice.

More importantly, they'd added lemon juice not only to the squid ink, but also to the teriyaki squid and the crucian carp slices.

Adding a modest amount of lemon juice to squid and crucian carp really could bring out their flavor, tenderize the meat, and add depth.

But was adding lemon juice to everything really necessary? Was lemon absolutely essential here?

The final result was unforgettable: fish floated and sank in sour sauce, its fishiness and sweetness locked in a vicious struggle, while the bottom of the plate collected the remains of their taste buds.

All he could say was that the chef had handled the ingredients terribly. It was a complete failure of a dish, and it had wasted so much lemon juice and so many ingredients.

Judging by the expressions of the students around them, most looked miserable. They probably wouldn't try it again.

Still, some students said the taste didn't matter; they liked anything that chef cooked.

Looks like eating had ruined their taste buds. There was no saving them.

One thing worth mentioning was that after eating the squid ink, Kiyona's teeth had become stained. She said she'd head back to the dorm after school, so Hoshino Kanade would have to go to the library alone that afternoon.