After dealing with Horikita's pestering, Kamuro Sumire, at Tennoji Kaede's request, arranged to meet Class A's homeroom teacher, Majima Tomoya, in the teachers' office.
Majima Tomoya was a middle-aged man around thirty, with a resolute expression and an upright bearing. It was clear he exercised regularly and had a principled character.
At that moment, Teacher Majima looked at her inquisitively. "Kamuro, is this Tennoji from Class C? Could he be your boyfriend?"
[Detected a failing work by Black House, 'Majima Tomoya'] [Deployed a 'Causal Mark' on 'Majima Tomoya'] ['Cause': Majima Tomoya is very interested in you, but also somewhat worried that if you end up competing as members of different classes, it might affect your relationship. Perhaps... at this school, dating someone from another class is a good thing.] ['Effect': Charisma +5, Physical Fitness +10, Professional Ethics +10]
"Teacher Majima, you've got it wrong. We really aren't in that kind of relationship."
Kamuro looked awkward. She and Tennoji, in that kind of relationship? Wouldn't that be the start of the Maiden's Holy storyline...
"Then let's get down to business. What kind of contract do you need me to witness?"
Majima Tomoya put on a serious expression. He had always been meticulous when it came to work.
"I need you, Teacher Majima, and Kamuro Sumire to sign a written agreement prohibiting any actions or words in exchange for one another."
Majima read through the agreement. Its contents could be summarized as follows:
Tennoji guaranteed that he would not use Kamuro's private behavior as leverage to force her to do anything against her will, including but not limited to matters involving future disputes of interest between Class A and Class C;
Kamuro Sumire guaranteed that she would not repeat this private behavior for the three years she attended the school;
Majima would supervise the agreement impartially;
If either Party A or Party B violated the contract, they would be punished with expulsion;
If any one of the three parties rejected this agreement, the entire contract would be void.
"May I ask you a question?" After reading the contract, Teacher Majima asked him solemnly.
"Go ahead," said Tennoji Kaede.
"First, I want to thank you, Tennoji. I understand what this contract means. In all my years at this school, I've never seen a more unusual agreement."
Majima Tomoya was now certain that the two of them were not a couple.
Clearly, this agreement was the result of Tennoji learning one of Kamuro's secrets.
Moreover, Tennoji had completely grasped the rules behind this school and explicitly mentioned the future interests of AC Class.
That point had been deliberately and discreetly written for him, the Class A homeroom teacher, to see.
And yet this agreement had absolutely no legal force and could be unilaterally broken at any time. In other words...
"Why are you willing to offer this special contract that explicitly favors Kamuro? To be honest, the only reasons I can think of are ones I'd rather not say out loud."
Kamuro was also full of questions. She had already read the agreement, but still didn't understand the point of it. Teacher Majima, however, seemed to have seen through it.
Tennoji Kaede considered his words before replying:
"In this world, it's absolutely impossible to make someone believe that the other person will never betray them."
"Even if you gain some short-term benefits from a binding agreement today, you'll be resented for it for the rest of your life."
"My goal is for Kamuro to stop engaging in that inappropriate behavior, and for her to no longer worry that I'll use it to threaten her."
"Precisely because this is such an unusual school, this unenforceable agreement will only grow more powerful with time."
"It's simply a gentleman's agreement." Tennoji Kaede finished speaking.
Simply put, I won't hurt you, and you shouldn't do anything wrong either. If either of us breaks the agreement, an outside third party will learn what kind of people we really are.
When one side holds absolute leverage, no agreement promising good behavior is any use.
For example, Tennoji Kaede had discovered Kamuro's secret this time, so he held absolute leverage. Once the classes started competing, there would be only one possible outcome.
He would reveal her secret, and she would reveal his.
That was also why Yanagi had been able to keep Kamuro in line in the original story, although the fact that they were classmates had played a part.
This gentleman's agreement could also be viewed as a special cross-class report.
"I'll leave you and Kamuro to talk now."
"Tennoji, wait a moment. Let's exchange contact information, if that's all right," Majima Tomoya called after him.
Tennoji Kaede nodded. There was nothing wrong with exchanging contact information, though it was a little rude to Sakamoto, the Class C homeroom teacher.
I'm adding another class's homeroom teacher, okay~ It's not discrimination!
After Tennoji Kaede left, Majima heard from Kamuro herself that she had kleptomania and had been caught in the act that very day.
Majima Tomoya: "...I understand. Let's leave it at that. Don't do it again, Kamuro."
He knew very well how dangerous it was to have such a compromising secret in someone else's hands.
Suppose Kamuro had to take part in some kind of selection process for a class evaluation in the future, or was appointed to some position. If this blemish suddenly came to light, it would have a huge negative impact on her.
That was basically what happened in the original story, when Yanagi later revealed that Ichinose had once been a thief, causing quite a stir. It was a similar kind of move.
It was only because everyone in Class B was an angel and trusted Ichinose completely that she wasn't affected.
If it had been Class D, and some dirt like that had come out about Horikita, the Class D Three Idiots would have immediately started a revolution.
After sending Kamuro off, still wearing an expression that suggested she thought he was making a big deal out of nothing, Majima took out his terminal and thought for a moment before sending a message.
"Just as I thought, helping someone resolve a potential problem really does earn you a reward."
Tennoji Kaede received 300,000 Private Points from Majima.
He had probably realized that Kamuro's problem was neither too serious nor too trivial, so he'd sent it as a thank-you.
Majima knowing about a student's private problems ahead of time was hugely beneficial.
On top of that, Tennoji had earned his goodwill with that gentleman's agreement.
Even if Tennoji Kaede really did break the agreement someday and expose Kamuro's private secret, Majima could still make a fuss by producing the now-invalid agreement. Class A would have nothing to worry about.
That was the essence of a contract: having one was better than having none, even if it had no binding force whatsoever.
Now, after less than half a day since starting school, Tennoji Kaede was already on the verge of reaching one million points:
The 100,000 points he received in his first month of school, 90,000 for beating a second-year student from the Boxing Club, 210,000 for beating the Boxing Club's third-year Vice President, 300,000 for agreeing to join the Boxing Club, and a 300,000-point thank-you gift from Teacher Majima.
Not counting his expenses at the Convenience Store, that came to exactly one million points!
"Ten times the starting resources of someone my age. That's not bad, I suppose."
Tennoji Kaede had made the most of his foreknowledge and put in a little effort to secure these benefits.
It was nearly noon. After all the commotion that had lasted most of the morning, he wanted to return to his dorm and get some proper rest.
Before you continue