"It's really embarrassing, Horikita."
Horikita Suzune's body suddenly stiffened.
"If you stayed here specifically to make fun of my injury..."
"Then it's enough to find a place where no one is and laugh. Going all the way to show off your schadenfreude to me won't have much of a real impact on me."
"No, you misunderstood."
Kazehara Tetsu interrupted her self-defense like a hedgehog putting up its spikes.
"I don't dislike the way you don't succumb to physical pain. I can even say that I appreciate the beauty of it."
"When I say 'embarrassed', I mean..."
Kazehara Tetsu's voice lowered a bit at this time. "Desperate Situation was completely tricked by that gangster Ryuen Kakeru, and was even forced to bow to the evil forces. Desperate Situation... the matter itself."
"What..."
Horikita Suzune's pupils shrank violently at this moment.
My heart seemed to skip a beat.
She raised her head suddenly and stared at Kazehara Tetsu, her eyes filled with unbelievable astonishment.
How is that possible?
The conversation in the health room was obviously a secret deal that only a few people knew about.
Except for her, Ryuen, Kinoshita as the parties involved, and Kushida and Chabashira Teacher as witnesses, no one else knew about it.
"You... how did you know?"
Horikita Suzune's voice began to tremble, and a terrible suspicion grew crazily in her mind.
"Could it be that... are you also a participant? It's you and Ryuen..."
"Huh?"
Facing this hostile question, Kazehara Tetsu raised his eyebrows, with a somewhat helpless look on his face, as if he had heard some vulgar joke.
"Put away your excess Persecution Complex syndrome, Horikita."
"I don't have the bad taste of pushing a teammate who is about to drown into the water again. After all, whether it is Sports Festival or something else, weakening Red Team's Combat Power will do me no harm at all."
"As for how I found out... just think that I used some kind of 'special means'."
He said the phrase "special means" in an understatement, but it made Horikita Suzune feel even more unfathomable about this man.
She fell silent.
Indeed, there is no point in asking how he knew it.
Since he is not an accomplice, since he has seen through his predicament...
Horikita Suzune lowered his eyes, his brain was running rapidly, weighing the pros and cons, and calculating the slim possibilities.
Now she is a mouse forced into a dead end.
Even if there is only a shaky straw, she must reach out and grab it.
"...Kagihara."
After a long time, Horikita Suzune finally spoke again, his tone becoming calmer than before.
"How many Personal Points do you have... in your hand now?"
"Points?"
Kazehara Tetsu leaned back against the wall, seemingly not surprised by the sudden change of topic, and replied casually, "Well... there are quite a few more."
"I don't want that vague adjective."
Horikita Suzune raised his head, with an almost stubborn request in his black eyes, "I want specific figures."
She paused, as if she was doing an extremely difficult mental construction.
"... I beg you, tell me how many Personal Points you have left."
The air seemed to be quiet for a few seconds.
Kazehara Tetsu Looking at the girl in front of him who could actually say the word "please", a trace of amusement flashed across his eyes.
"'Pleading'... This is really rare."
He seemed to be savoring some kind of rare Fine Wine, and smacked his lips, "If my memory is correct, I've probably only seen this kind of groveling gesture for the second time, right?"
The first time was when he faced her Ken Sudō Expulsion incident.
Kazehara Tetsu did not continue teasing. Now that he had bowed his head, teasing her too much would lose the fun.
"The specific numbers..."
He took out his mobile phone from his pocket and flicked on the screen casually.
"There are probably nearly three million Personal Points."
Three million.
This number hit Horikita Suzune's heart like a heavy hammer.
Even though she was mentally prepared, she couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
"It's... scary."
For a first-year freshman, this is simply an astronomical figure.
You know, even if Class A remits money every month, it is impossible to accumulate so much until now.
"What? Are you surprised?"
When Favored One Exam happened, those students who guessed the identity of 'Favored One' gave half of it to Kazehara Tetsu out of gratitude.
Add in the bits and pieces I earned before, and it's almost this amount.
He did not dwell too much on this topic, but looked at Horikita Suzune with a half-smile.
"So, after knowing this number, it seems that you have seen some kind of 'possibility'?"
"... Yes."
Horikita Suzune took a deep breath. Since the other party has enough capital to solve the problem, the next thing must enter the negotiation stage.
Although it's shameless to do this, it's like begging.
But for Class D, in order not to discredit her brother, she had no choice.
"Kagihara."
"Please lend me... a million... no."
As she spoke, she suddenly thought of her broken leg and the expense of having to find someone to replace her in the competition.
"One million three hundred thousand Personal Points."
One million will be given to Ryuen Kakeru as sealing fee.
Three hundred thousand is used to pay for the substitute Competitor to ensure that Class D will not collapse due to abstention in the afternoon game.
"Oh..."
Hearing this number that opened like a lion's mouth, Kazehara Tetsu's eyes widened slightly.
"One million and three hundred thousand? You really dare to say that, Horikita."
"With just one sentence, do you want to take away nearly half of my hard-earned Points? Should I admire your courage, or laugh at your naivety?"
"I don't mean to take it for free."
Horikita Suzune retorted eagerly, as if he was afraid that this only hope would be shattered.
"This is a loan. I can sign a note for you, and no matter what method I use, I will pay it all back. I can transfer all the Points that I remit every month to you until it is paid off!"
"Pay off?"
Kazehara Tetsu mercilessly shattered her fantasy as if she had heard a joke.
"Based on the current situation of Class D? That zero Points every month?"
He looked Horikita Suzune up and down, his eyes cold and realistic.
"Even if you Class D don't make any mistakes in the remaining two and a half years of high school, it's hard for me to believe that you can collect the 1.3 million to pay me back."
"Indeed."
Unexpectedly, Horikita Suzune did not refute his judgment on the current situation of Class D.
She lowered her head and admitted her powerlessness.