I Won

At the Student Dormitory, Tenyo Yuyuki glanced at Horikita Suzune behind him. They were only half a step apart.

But.

They hadn't said a word to each other since the opening ceremony.

Tenyo Yuyuki said helplessly, "Suzune, are you really planning to follow me all the way back to my room like this?"

"Tenyo Yuyuki, judging by what you said, our date should be over by now, right? So you should tell me what you learned from Chabashira-sensei."

Horikita Suzune stared intently at Tenyo Yuyuki. Although she'd reluctantly agreed to go on a date, she hadn't expected it to be so surprisingly simple.

Tenyo Yuyuki: "???"

What?

Tenyo Yuyuki's head was full of question marks.

Did she seriously think following him around counted as a date?

Did she have some kind of misunderstanding about what a date was?

"Suzune, you've never had a boyfriend, have you?" Tenyo Yuyuki said, at a loss.

"That has nothing to do with this." Horikita wasn't the least bit embarrassed. Her voice was cool. "Enough. Don't change the subject. Tell me the information, or are you planning to break your promise, Tenyo Yuyuki?"

"Haah."

Tenyo Yuyuki sighed helplessly.

Horikita Suzune was a girl who devoted herself to following in her brother's footsteps and had little to do with romance. Years without socializing had also left her short on empathy for others.

Trying to argue with Horikita Suzune like this would be foolish, so Tenyo Yuyuki simply stepped forward.

"What are you doing?" Horikita quickly backed away half a step and frowned.

"Don't move!"

Tenyo Yuyuki moved in close to Horikita Suzune's ear and teased her. "What I meant by a date was actually..."

"Stop joking around."

After hearing Tenyo Yuyuki's explanation, Horikita's face flushed. She hurriedly took several steps back and stammered, "A date is when a man and a woman go shopping, eat, and watch a movie together. I read about it online. We didn't eat, and the reason we didn't watch a movie was that you wouldn't go."

"At least we went shopping together, so that fulfills the requirements for a date. Don't think you can trick me!"

Horikita Suzune was like a startled rabbit. It was the first time in her life that she'd heard such a lewd suggestion.

"Is that so? If you can't do it, then forget it."

A shy expression on an icy beauty was indeed cute, but Tenyo Yuyuki didn't care. He shrugged and turned to leave.

He's teasing me... Horikita Suzune realized at once. She hurried forward and grabbed Tenyo Yuyuki by the wrist. In a cool voice, she said, "What will it take for you to tell me the information? Going... going on a date is absolutely out of the question. You should know that, too."

Horikita Suzune started stammering again at the end. Tenyo Yuyuki ignored her and led her to the entrance of the Student Dormitory.

Several benches had been set up along the street for students to rest on, with a Vending Machine beside them. Most of the students had either already returned to their dorms or gone to Keyaki Mall, so the area was rather quiet.

Tenyo Yuyuki sat on a bench, thought for a moment, then spoke:

"Suzune, Black Tea!"

"I'll take this as the price of the information, right?"

Horikita Suzune took two cans of Black Tea from the Vending Machine and held them in her hands, her expression serious.

You really have a vivid imagination... Tenyo Yuyuki was at a loss. "Suzune, you're going to end up without any friends acting like that."

"I don't mind. I prefer being alone to having friends."

Horikita Suzune replied calmly, holding the two cans of Black Tea without any intention of handing one to Tenyo Yuyuki.

"Forget it." Tenyo Yuyuki didn't bother arguing. He smiled and said, "You can have the information, of course. Fifty thousand Private Points!"

"Private Points?"

Horikita Suzune's brows slowly knitted together.

The rules Chabashira Sae had explained to the class came to mind.

[Points can buy anything.]

Those words suddenly surfaced in her thoughts. Chabashira's and Tenyo's words backed each other up.

It seemed Private Points weren't simply the living allowance provided by the school. She should regard them as something equivalent in value to money.

At the same time,

this also suggested that Tenyo Yuyuki had more than one piece of information. This tidbit, which he'd practically given away for free, was something she hadn't considered before.

But she couldn't tell whether Tenyo Yuyuki had deliberately let this information slip or whether he'd accidentally blurted it out.

Could points really buy anything?

Horikita Suzune was beginning to understand this school, where ability came first.

However,

if points were money, they had to be worth the equivalent of fifty thousand yen.

"Impossible. The value of information depends on how much of an advantage it can give someone, but clearly no information could be worth fifty thousand Private Points at this stage."

Horikita Suzune looked Tenyo Yuyuki in the eye and made a well-reasoned judgment, stating her thoughts.

She wasn't a fool, either. Her academic performance and physical abilities both ranked among the best at this school. There was no doubt that Horikita Suzune was an outstanding student.

It was only their first day at school—in fact, not even half a day had passed. Tenyo Yuyuki had spoken with Chabashira Sae, but there was no way he could have obtained information worth that much.

Fifty thousand was nearly a year's worth of pocket money for an ordinary high school student!

Besides,

Horikita Suzune suspected that the information might not even be very important.

It was probably basic information about the school, just like [Points can buy anything]. Chabashira Sae's way of explaining things had misled them to some extent, so no one in D Class had thought in that direction. Only Tenyo Yuyuki had looked at the issue from an unusual perspective.

After some time, Horikita Suzune was sure this kind of information would become common knowledge.

This information was absolutely not worth fifty thousand Private Points!

However,

Horikita Suzune was willing to pay something to gain an advantage by learning the information before the others.

A thousand Private Points was what Horikita Suzune considered a reasonable price.

Apart from her narrow perspective, she wasn't bad... That was Tenyo Yuyuki's assessment.

He smiled. "Your biggest flaw, Suzune, is making judgments without thinking."

"Do you really think the information you have is worth fifty thousand points? If it is, I'm willing to pay that much."

Horikita Suzune replied confidently, assuming Tenyo Yuyuki was just trying to inflate the information's value.

Even when someone pointed out her flaws to her face, she still wouldn't see them. Tenyo Yuyuki could understand Horikita Suzune's attitude.

They were all high school students in their teens, at an age when they thought they were the best. That was especially true of someone like Horikita, who excelled both academically and physically.

Without going through a few setbacks, Horikita Suzune might never change, no matter what anyone said.

Getting these people under control

wasn't difficult.

The hard part was turning them into useful people!

With Horikita's personality, she wouldn't do well in society, even if she got excellent grades.

A little thirsty, Tenyo Yuyuki bought himself a can of cola.

Then he spoke again. "Suzune, the value of information depends on how you look at things."

"Don't say anything more. If the information really is worth fifty thousand points, I won't mind paying. Tell me." Horikita Suzune set her shopping bag aside and sat down beside Tenyo Yuyuki.

"Once information is spoken aloud, it loses its value," Tenyo Yuyuki teased.

"Are you worried I'll go back on my word?"

Horikita Suzune frowned, displeased. "Don't worry. I've never broken a promise in my life."

She had no interest in being someone who didn't keep her word. Though she was the one judging the information's value, she would certainly offer a fair price.

Having read the Original Work, Tenyo Yuyuki knew what Horikita Suzune was like. She might resort to a few clever tricks, but she was indeed someone whose actions matched her words; she wouldn't go back on a promise.

But Tenyo Yuyuki only trusted people he had completely under his control—or the benefits they offered.

He shook the can of cola in his hand and said flatly, "I can't trust you."

"Then are you just messing with me?" Horikita Suzune immediately gave him a cold look.

Though he hadn't said it outright, Horikita understood what he meant.

Information was a special kind of commodity. Without a foundation of trust or a third party present, there was no way to complete the transaction.

He clearly wanted her to pay first, but Horikita Suzune naturally wouldn't agree to that.

Although Horikita Suzune wouldn't break her promise, she had no way to judge the information's precise value. What if he just made something up to fool her?

"Negotiation Breakdown!"

Tenyo Yuyuki shrugged indifferently. Things were still going according to his plan.

"I see. I understand now. You were messing with me from the very beginning." Horikita Suzune set down the Black Tea, pulled a Compass from her schoolbag, and aimed it at Tenyo Yuyuki.

"Tenyo Yuyuki, would you rather regret it in pain or in despair?"