His First Chess Piece

Teaching Building rooftop. Chabashira Sae elegantly lit a cigarette while, behind her, Horikita and Ayanokoji occasionally glanced at the time on their phones.

"Bang!"

The Rooftop's Iron Gate was pushed open. Yeyue casually swept his gaze over the Several People present, spread his hands, and teased, "Suzune, if this is a confession, it'd be better to find somewhere without anyone around!"

"Cough... cough."

Chabashira was directly choked by Yeyue's words. Did he even understand the current situation?

Four People were about to be expelled, yet he still had the Thoughts to tease Girls. Chabashira was beginning to doubt whether Yeyue truly possessed the ability to lead D Class.

Ayanokoji was somewhat surprised as well. This was probably something he would never dare say to Horikita for the rest of his life.

Used to Yeyue's occasionally provocative remarks, Horikita Suzune paid them no mind and went straight to the point.

"Ayanokoji discovered that exam scores can be bought with private points. However, Sudo and the other Four People are six points short of passing in total. Based on the price Chabashira-sensei mentioned, it will require � Ten Thousand Private Points altogether."

"However, Ayanokoji and I can only come up with � Ten Thousand Points at most..."

"I see..." Yeyue nodded after understanding, then asked, "So?"

Hearing Yeyue's words, Horikita furrowed her delicate brows in confusion. "Tenyo, didn't you say yesterday that I could ask you for help if I needed it? You still have � Ten Thousand Points now. I hope you can assist me."

Yeyue had yet to reply, and did not seem inclined to, when Ayanokoji instead asked in confusion, "720,000 private points?"

Even he could not imagine how Yeyue had managed it.

Just then, Chabashira Sae seemed to sigh to herself. "While you were idling your days away, he exchanged cash with upperclassmen for private points. If Tenyo is willing to help, Sudo and others can indeed avoid expulsion."

After hearing Chabashira's words, Yeyue still showed no intention of speaking.

By telling Ayanokoji and Horikita this information, she was clearly using his status as their Classmate to pressure him into paying for Sudo.

Otherwise, with confirmation from the class instructor, having the money but refusing to spend it on his classmates would not make for a good reputation.

Doing bad things did not necessarily get one cursed at, but having the ability to do good and refusing to do so would definitely earn accusations of selfishness.

However, Chabashira Sae was still somewhat Tianzhen—or perhaps she had underestimated Ayanokoji.

Ayanokoji had probably already noticed that Chabashira Sae did not actually care so little about D Class as she appeared to.

Information

always leaked out in such unguarded moments.

Yet Yeyue still gave an unconcerned yawn, not taking their conversation seriously at all.

Horikita Suzune was somewhat helpless. With her delicate brows furrowed in displeasure, she said, "Enough, Yeyue. Didn't you say I could ask you for help? Are you going back on your word now?"

"Of course not." Yeyue replied playfully. "But there are many ways to help. I have no intention of footing the bill for Sudo and the others."

"This isn't just for Sudo and the others. More importantly, it's for D Class's future!" Horikita Suzune said coldly.

"Of course I know that Sudo and the others being expelled could have a huge impact on D Class, perhaps even causing us to lose our chance to compete for A Class."

Yeyue Shrugged, then his tone shifted as he said mockingly, "But I have No Interest in Promoting to A Class. Whether Sudo and the others are expelled is an utterly insignificant matter."

Not wanting to Promote to A Class was a very useful excuse.

As Long As he kept denying that point, he could firmly hold Horikita Suzune and Chabashira Sae in his grasp.

Horikita Pressed Lips, left speechless.

Looking at the silent Horikita, Ayanokoji asked dully, "Then does Tenyo have another way to help Horikita?"

Horikita Suzune also realized that Yeyue was not unwilling to help; he simply did not want to pay for Sudo and the others. She Could Not Help but look at him with greater confusion.

Turning to look at Ayanokoji beside him, Yeyue said playfully, "Ayanokoji, I heard you follow the Avoidance Principle. Did Not Expect you to be so enthusiastic about helping Sudo and the others."

"After all, Sudo and the others are my most important friends. Besides, you could say Horikita coerced me with a favor."

Ayanokoji responded blandly, without the slightest fluctuation on his face.

His explanation was also accepted by Horikita. Though she inwardly denied that treating him to a meal counted as coercion, there was no need to argue with Ayanokoji here. Sudo and the others were more important now.

"Is that so?" Yeyue replied carelessly. "I can't possibly provide private points for irrelevant people like Sudo and the others."

"However..."

His tone shifted. With an eerie smile, Yeyue stepped before Horikita Suzune, lifted her chin with his right hand, and teased, "But I can lend the private points to you."

"Impossible!" Horikita Suzune slapped Yeyue's hand away and said coldly, "In the end, what consequences Sudo and the others being expelled will bring remains unknown. I cannot take on debt over something uncertain."

In other words, if it were certain that Sudo's expulsion would make it impossible for D Class to Promote to A Class, Horikita Suzune might be willing to shoulder that debt. She had the resolve to bear the responsibility of bringing D Class to A Class, and could accept some personal sacrifice for that purpose. Of course, all of it was ultimately for Horikita herself.

But Yeyue could not guarantee it either.

The voting exam in the original work had been an additional Special Exam. The school authority guaranteed that it would have no impact on the future, so it could not be used as a reference.

Even the original work could not determine whether a class with expelled students could promote to A Class, so naturally, he could not guarantee it.

"I see... then forget it." Yuyuki shrugged indifferently. "Still, I think Sudo and the others being expelled is partly Suzune's responsibility. It seems I may have misunderstood Suzune somewhat."

"Yuyuki, what do you mean by that? Are you saying I should be responsible for Sudo and the others being expelled? That joke isn't funny at all."

Horikita Suzune crossed her arms and spoke with some displeasure. She had found reference answers for Sudo and the others and done so much, yet in the end, Yuyuki was actually saying it was her responsibility. It was simply shameless.

"Isn't that so? If Horikita Suzune hadn't given Sudo and the others the exam answers in advance, they might not have been expelled. At the very least, not so many of them would have been expelled."

"Yuyuki, what kind of thought process would lead you to say something like that?" Horikita Suzune gave a cold laugh. "Are you saying that giving them the answers in advance was what got Sudo and the others expelled? That's impossible! They had half a month to memorize the answers, yet they were still expelled. That only means Sudo and the others' stupidity exceeded all imagination."

As a genius, Horikita Suzune probably found it difficult to understand Sudo and the others.

"That's right. If you had only given Sudo and the others the answers the day before the exam, they should have passed. I believe Ayanokoji and Kushida had planned to do the same."

Yuyuki nodded, indicating that yes, it was her fault, then turned his gaze toward Ayanokoji.

Although Ayanokoji did not particularly care about Sudo either, there was absolutely no benefit in Sudo and the others being expelled. If they were not expelled, there might even be some benefits. In any case, the points had been borrowed by Horikita.

There was no reason not to keep such an obviously advantageous card in hand.

At this point, Ayanokoji could only follow Yuyuki's lead.

He just had to tell the truth.

Ayanokoji explained timidly, "Hm, Kushida and I had originally planned to give the answers to our classmates at the very end. To be honest, I didn't properly memorize the answers either. I only looked them over a little on the last day. Passing the exam this time was probably just luck."

"Ayanokoji, are you an idiot too?"

Horikita frowned, unable to understand. He had the answers, so why not hurry up and memorize them? Was he stupid?

"No... I just felt that there were still half a month left, so there was plenty of time to study. Then... before I knew it, I'd put it off until the last day. Sudo and the others were probably the same as me," Ayanokoji explained.

"Wait, I truly cannot understand. Why did you all have to put it off until the last day? Memorizing everything beforehand would clearly have been safer and more advantageous. Can't you even understand something that simple?"

Horikita Suzune held her forehead and sighed. Looking at it this way, it really did seem as though it was her responsibility that Sudo and the others had been expelled.

At that critical moment, Chabashira added another stab. With a bitterness that seemed tinged with reminiscence, he said, "Well, Horikita, there really are people in this world who lack planning for their own lives, love to procrastinate and cling to wishful thinking, yet still think they're exceptionally capable."

When everyone said you were wrong, then you were wrong.

Moreover, if she wanted to lead D Class to A Class, then this was indeed a responsibility Horikita Suzune—or rather, a leader—had to bear. Because she lacked empathy, she had not considered things thoroughly enough.

Horikita Suzune pressed her lips together, left speechless. She seemed to have recalled something: Yuyuki had not thought highly of Sudo and the others' chances of passing from the beginning.

The way she looked at Yuyuki carried some displeasure as well.

"Yuyuki, you knew this would happen all along, didn't you? Why didn't you say anything?"

"You never asked. Besides, has Suzune ever treated me as a companion?" Yuyuki replied calmly.

Hearing that, Horikita Suzune pressed her lips together and did not answer. Yuyuki truly had no obligation to help her.

Thinking about it honestly, she really had not treated Yuyuki as a companion. Or rather, in her eyes, Tenyo Yuyuki was merely a rich fool with some fighting ability who was willing to spend thirty thousand points to hire someone to cook for him.

As she reflected on herself, Horikita Suzune also kept this matter in mind.

Perhaps due to the influence of her brother Horikita Manabu's style, Horikita Suzune was also an outstanding person who always looked forward.

Though somewhat unwilling, Horikita pressed her lips together and nodded. "Fine. Anyway, lend me 100,000 private points first. Is that okay?"

"Of course." Yuyuki smiled and nodded. "But even brothers settle accounts clearly. Naturally, there will be interest."

He would not consider everything from Horikita's perspective. His ultimate goal was still to control this talent, and occasionally striking at Horikita's pride was very necessary.

"Hehe, Yuyuki, you don't see me as a companion either, do you?" Horikita Suzune said through gritted pearl teeth. "Fine. But don't forget, if the interest is too high, then if necessary, I can gather points from D Class."

That bargaining tactic was far too weak. The entire D Class probably could not even gather 100,000 private points. The only people who still had points should be relatively outstanding students like Hirata.

But crushing Horikita too much would only drive the two of them further apart, lower his evaluation in her eyes, and make him seem like a petty, profit-obsessed man. Instead, leaving her impression of him at merely being scum was just fine.

After all.

Horikita Suzune did not care about a person's character. She cared more about strength. She had a tendency to admire strength—or rather, all girls had the mentality of admiring strength, though Horikita's was more severe.

If he could shift the object of Horikita's admiration for strength from Horikita Manabu to himself, then that would count as success.

"Of course."

Yuyuki shrugged indifferently. "After all, Suzune is the woman I've already chosen. The interest naturally won't be high. Suzune just needs to come cook for me every day as usual. Of course, Suzune will cover the cost of ingredients. How about that, until the 100,000 is paid off?"

If D Class's Class Points remained around three hundred, Suzune would simply have no extra money to repay him. With 100,000 points, he should be able to freeload off Suzune for quite a long time.

"Hmph."

With a cold snort, Horikita Suzune also let out a sigh of relief.

Setting aside her cooking skills and labor cost, that interest was rather low. Yuyuki still had a bit of conscience. As for the matter of being his woman, there was no point arguing with Yuyuki; he would not listen anyway.

After receiving 100,000 private points from Yuyuki, Horikita asked coolly, "No Need for a contract this time?"

"Of course not. I already know Suzune isn't someone who would breach a contract. If you really go back on your word, then I'll just consider it a lesson bought."

Waving his hand, Yuyuki left the rooftop with only his back in view.

Things were not over yet.

Simply getting Suzune for free was not enough to satisfy Yeyue.

If a plan could only yield one result, then it was not a successful plan and was highly likely to end in failure.

From helping Horikita buy Exam Papers until now, Yeyue's objective had never been so simple.

Watching Horikita Suzune transfer her Private Points into Chabashira's account, Ayanokoji could not help but sigh on the spot.

Yeyue was so formidable.

He had actually stated so bluntly that he wanted Suzune to become his woman. Ayanokoji could not imagine doing something like that. Wouldn't a person like him be hated? Was there really nothing wrong with a High School Student like that? He just felt somewhat different from the High School Students he had imagined.

After the transfer was complete, Horikita Suzune left the Rooftop and found an empty place to look at the balance on her phone. She originally had 70,000, plus the 18,000 Yeyue had given her yesterday, for a total of 88,000. Now, she only had a little over 10,000 Private Points left.

It was now late May. There should be no point income in June, while July was unknown. However, according to Chabashira, if they got through this exam, there should be some rewards in July.

"It should be around Fifteen Thousand..."

Horikita Suzune muttered to herself.

Living on those points for two months would be somewhat difficult. If she wanted to repay the 70,000, barring any surprises, it would take at least over a year. But she would not Breach Contract.

"Brother..."

She raised her head to look at the sky, feeling somewhat unwilling to accept it.

She had never expected that only two months after arriving at school, she would end up like this—450,000 in debt and having to work as someone's maid, all while doing so voluntarily and without having been deceived.

Reviewing her own actions, Horikita Suzune could not find any problems. She really had disrupted the plan Kushida and Ayanokoji might have succeeded with.

She had caused the failure herself, so she would bear it herself. There was nothing wrong with that!

No, that wasn't right.

Horikita Suzune quickly frowned. Yeyue had been the one to help her find the upperclassmen. Since Yeyue had been able to predict her failure, could he have thought even further ahead?

Halfway through, he had hired her as a cook for Thirty Thousand Points, only to ultimately use the cooking job as interest and get her for free?

That was too much of a coincidence.

It was as though everything had progressed in a direction favorable to Yeyue.

Still, the fact that Yeyue had not mentioned the IOU was a point in his favor. Horikita had not expected him to trust her so much.

Thinking along those lines, Horikita pinched her chin and sank into thought.

Ever since enrollment, she had always been the one to approach Yeyue. She clearly knew he was a scumbag lusting after her body, so why had she kept going to him again and again?

It all started when school began, when Yeyue had deliberately kept her phone and prevented it from reaching her, which had made her somewhat angry.

"And Kushida's matter... that shouldn't be possible, right..."

Horikita Suzune quickly shook her head.

If Yeyue had been plotting against her since the time they enrolled, setting up a scheme over two months, then no matter how she thought about it, it was impossible.

Not only would that require an exceptional understanding of her personality, it would also require strong control over the people around him and the ability to rapidly learn some of the school's Rules. The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

Even her brother, Horikita Manabu, could not accomplish something like that, could he?

After receiving the 70,000-point transfer, Chabashira Sae also breathed a sigh of relief. D Class should still have a chance to Promote to A Class now, though she still felt somewhat dissatisfied inside.

He had clearly stolen her First Kiss, yet he had openly declared in front of her that he wanted other women. Yeyue truly was a scumbag.

If he did not have strength to match his words, Chabashira Sae resolved that she would make Yeyue regret it when the time came. Although she was nearly thirty, as a woman, she would not so easily let go of someone stealing her First Kiss...