Shiina Hiyori

In the end, Akasaka was the one who went to buy the exam papers from the upperclassmen.

Akasaka was finally able to get away from the study group and head off alone to figure something out.

Kato Megumi wanted to go with him, but her grades were average, and she needed to study properly or she might fail the exam. So she had no choice but to stay. She sat back down beside Horikita and asked her for help.

Horikita patiently tutored Kato Megumi.

The main reason was that Kato Megumi had such a good temper. She never got angry, no matter what anyone did, which left Horikita with no way to vent her frustration.

Even the aloof and proud Horikita seemed to have met her natural enemy in someone like Kato Megumi. Kato Megumi had her wrapped around her little finger. Maybe the two of them could become good friends.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't help thinking this as he watched from the side.

Meanwhile, Akasaka Ryunosuke had already spent 20,000 Personal Points to buy the exam papers.

But he had a problem. He wanted to get them for free, but that was impossible. If he didn't pay, there was no way the other party would sell them to him, so he had to come up with another idea.

Get his classmates to chip in? Forget it... Even thinking about it seemed impossible.

Those Dog Students would sooner die than part with their money. Besides, most of them were broke. They wouldn't have any Personal Points until next month, and they didn't have a single cent this month. I need to think of something else.

Akasaka rubbed his chin, thinking about how to handle the situation.

Then he thought of Class C. Maybe he could make use of them. But if he went alone to discuss it with Ryuen Kakeru, he would probably never make it back!

Given that guy's attitude, Akasaka would not only get beaten up, he would lose his money, too, and the exam papers would be taken from him.

And things could get even worse. Ryuen might pull down his pants, take some compromising pictures, and use them to force Akasaka to become a spy. That wasn't out of the question.

Akasaka Ryunosuke wasn't being paranoid. He was just considering the worst-case scenario so he could take precautions.

Otherwise, if it really happened and he was unprepared, there would be nowhere to go and cry about it.

As Akasaka was pondering what to do, he glanced at the library nearby. It seemed he'd thought of someone, and the corners of his lips gradually curled up.

How could he have forgotten about her? The only odd one out in Class C, as well as its brains and strategist: Shiina Hiyori.

Inside the library.

Shiina Hiyori sat in a chair, gently turning the pages of a book titled Sherlock Holmes Casebook, completely absorbed in it.

The breeze from the window stirred her silvery-white hair, making it flow softly like silk.

This book-loving girl was Shiina Hiyori of Year 1 Class C.

She turned the pages gently, enjoying a quiet afternoon by herself.

Or so it should have been...

Shiina Hiyori raised her eyes and looked at the boy across from her.

The boy was writing on a sheet of scrap paper, seemingly working on a novel. This immediately piqued Shiina's interest.

Shiina wanted to lean over and take a look, but she felt awkward about it.

After a long while...

Shiina finally couldn't hold back any longer. Pretending to read, she kept sneaking glances at the boy across from her.

She bit her lip lightly and asked,

"Are you... writing a novel?"

Akasaka paused, put down his pen, and looked up at the literary beauty in front of him. He nodded gently.

"Sort of. I'm planning to write a novel."

"I heard this school doesn't restrict students from submitting their work elsewhere, so I thought I'd try writing a novel. Do you want to read it?"

Shiina's eyes lit up, and she even jumped to her feet.

"May I?!"

Akasaka nodded gently and pushed the draft toward Shiina.

Shiina accepted it with both hands, treating it like a precious treasure. She glanced at the contents, and a sentence immediately caught her eye.

"The speed at which cherry blossom petals fall is five centimeters per second."

Shiina felt as if she had plunged into an ocean of knowledge, captivated by what she read. She went through it a little at a time, completely absorbed.

After a long while...

Shiina finished the whole manuscript. It was probably only around 20,000 words. She looked at Akasaka Ryunosuke with an unsatisfied expression, as if to say, Is there more?

Akasaka spread his hands to show that there wasn't.

Besides, he'd just written it on the spot. Finishing 20,000 words was already impressive.

Shiina sighed, still wanting more, and returned the draft to me with both hands.

"Thank you, classmate. I'm glad I got to read something this wonderful. In my opinion, your work is absolutely good enough to be published, and maybe even more than that."

"If you're having trouble deciding which publisher to submit it to, I recommend Shinagawa. Shinagawa Bunko is very welcoming to new writers."

"Then I really have you to thank, classmate."

I thanked her and asked,

"Do you have to spend Points to submit a manuscript? I've heard that everything at This School costs Points, and I don't have many left. I might not be able to afford to submit it."

Shiina thought for a moment. "If you want to submit a manuscript at This School, I think you have to pay a 20,000-Point processing fee. The school will take care of the rest. Don't tell me you don't even have 20,000 Points?"

Shiina covered her little mouth in astonishment.

Akasaka shrugged helplessly.

"Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Akasaka Ryunosuke from Year 1 Class D—the class that scored zero Points in the first month. Do you think I have any Points left?"

Shiina's mouth fell open. Once she realized I was from Class D, she finally understood why I couldn't come up with the Points.

After all, a mere 20,000 Points was something any student from Classes A, B, or C could afford. Only Class D couldn't manage it, since they'd scored zero. Unless they'd scrimped and saved from the very first month, they couldn't possibly have any Points.

Shiina understood my predicament. Without giving it much thought, she took out her phone terminal. She didn't want such a good work to be buried.

"Akasaka, how about... I lend you the Points? You can pay me back when you have some."

Shiina had already prepared herself for the possibility that she'd never get the Points back. But she didn't regret it, because the work was worth it.

Akasaka narrowed his eyes and looked at the balance on Shiina's phone terminal. She only had a paltry number of Points, which left him troubled.

"Thanks for the offer, Shiina, but you don't have many Points yourself. If you lend me 20,000, you'll only have 3,000 left. Can you make it through the month?"

Shiina shook her head.

"It's fine. This School provides free food, so I can get by on 3,000 Points if I'm careful."

"Besides, I don't spend much. I usually just like to read, so I don't waste many Points."

Faced with Shiina's kindness, I didn't accept right away. I thought it over briefly, then took out the exam paper I'd just bought for 20,000 Points and handed it to Shiina.

Shiina accepted it with both hands, looking confused.

"Is this... the First Year Exam Paper?"

I nodded. "That's right, it's the First Year Exam Paper. Our class pooled its money to buy it from the upperclassmen."

"The contents are exactly what will be on the first-semester exam. We want to use it to help everyone in our class pass."

"We already asked the upperclassmen, and the exams for the first three months of every semester are all exactly the same."

"As long as we memorize what's in here, we'll have no trouble passing."

Shiina looked over the exam paper in her hands, seeming to understand what I meant.

"You want to use this exam paper to make up for the 20,000 Points I was going to lend you?"

Akasaka waved his hand helplessly.

"I'm not that awful, classmate. By the way, what's your name? I still don't know it."

Akasaka asked, pretending not to know. After all, the two of them had only just met, so he had to keep up the act.

Shiina was quite frank as she introduced herself.

"Shiina. My name is Shiina Hiyori. Just call me Shiina. I'm also a student in Year 1 Class C."

"All right, I'll call you Shiina."

Akasaka had officially gotten to know Shiina. Then he said, "Shiina, you can take this exam paper back and collect Points from your class."

"I imagine they'll be happy to chip in for such important information. That way, you'll get your Points back."

Once Shiina understood, she covered her lips lightly with one hand and smiled.

"Akasaka, you really know how to work the numbers."

"This solves my Points problem and your predicament at the same time. It's killing two birds with one stone."

"Not at all. It's just a little trick I came up with," I said, waving my hand to show I didn't mind.

But Shiina's expression turned unusually serious.

"That can't be explained away as a little trick, Akasaka."

"Being able to exploit the school's rules to cheat is impressive. I don't think it's right, but for the sake of the class, we really should do it."

"Coming up with a plan like this puts you ahead of most people in the school."

"Even I never thought of buying the upperclassmen's exam papers to cheat."

Akasaka hurriedly interrupted her.

"I wasn't the one who thought of it. It was someone else. I just handled the errand."

"Oh, I see..."

Shiina didn't question him further. Instead, she asked with some concern, "If you give me the exam paper, what will you do?"

Akasaka casually waved the exam paper in his hand.

"Don't worry. I just have to spend 50 Points to make a copy at the Copy Shop across the way. As long as I keep the original, it's fine."

Shiina finally relaxed. She took the exam paper from me, made a copy with me, and then returned the original to me.

After carefully putting away the copy, Shiina tucked it into her schoolbag. She also transferred 20,000 Points to me to thank me.

"Thank you, Akasaka. I'm sure these exam papers will help a lot of the problem students in our class."

"Don't mention it."

Akasaka said casually, then suggested, "When you're collecting Points from your class, set the price a little higher, Shiina."

"After all, only you and I know what it really cost. It won't hurt to ask for a little extra."

Shiina caught on to my little scheme and chuckled.

"I'll think about it."

The two of them returned to the library and quietly read their books. They also became friends.

Shiina mainly assumed that he must love reading, since he'd written such a wonderful literary work. He seemed like he would be a great book buddy.

And Akasaka had accomplished his goal. He'd not only gotten his Points back, but gained an unexpected bonus.

He'd made a connection with Shiina, and it seemed that the novel he'd casually written might actually get published.

He'd originally just been putting on an act, copying a literary work from his previous life to get closer to this book-loving girl and set up his plan.

But... he hadn't expected this pleasant surprise.

That meant he could use Shiina's introduction to start a career as a ghostwriter. He might even be able to earn extra money outside school.

Shiina also explained her connection to Shinagawa Bunko.

"My mother is also a novelist, but she's a complete flop."

"To fulfill her wish, my father bought 51% of the shares in Shinagawa, Kadokawa Bunko, and several other publishers. He has the power to veto and approve any decision."

"My father went to great lengths to get my mother's flop novel published."

Shiina said this with a perfectly calm expression, despite how brazen it sounded.

Akasaka was stunned.

Listen to yourself! Is that something a normal person says?

Damn! You're a rich kid too!

Akasaka couldn't help thinking to himself, Maybe I should just date Shiina. Then I could live off her money someday.

Of course, that was just a thought. Akasaka couldn't bring himself to live off a woman.

Besides, he knew perfectly well how much debt he was in. Shiina's parents weren't fools. There was no way they would hand their daughter over to a guy who was drowning in debt.

So that kind of wild daydream was just a daydream. He shouldn't take it seriously.

Akasaka was a realist. He didn't indulge in impractical fantasies.

As they chatted, they began discussing the problems in their respective classes.

Shiina couldn't help remarking,

"Whoever came up with the idea of buying the exam papers was really something."

"They must have noticed the school's rules in the first few days after classes started, right?"

"If so, why did they let Class D end up like this? I don't understand."

Shiina looked utterly puzzled, which was rather cute.

Akasaka explained,

"There's a reason Class D is Class D. Even I..." He coughed.

That was close. I almost gave myself away. Akasaka hurriedly changed his story.

"Even the person who noticed the problem couldn't save Class D, because they simply wouldn't listen."

"If they had listened, they wouldn't have scored zero Points."

Shiina seemed to understand.

"You really have it tough, Akasaka, having to stay in a class like that."

Shiina could relate. Her own Class C wasn't exactly friendly either.

All they did was fight, day in and day out. If she hadn't cooperated and shown no interest in leading the class, Ryuen Kakeru might have taught her a lesson too.

Later, she was the one who first discovered the school's rules and reported them to Ryuen Kakeru. That was how she'd earned a peaceful life.

Akasaka also slumped over the table, looking utterly miserable.

"Tell me about it. Being in a class like this is torture."

Shiina watched Akasaka lying across the table and covered her mouth with a quiet laugh.