Ryuen Kakeru

Akasaka pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was already late, so he decided to say goodbye to Shiina and leave.

Shiina was reluctant to part ways. After all, it was rare to meet someone who shared her love of books, and she had hoped to chat a little longer. Unfortunately, he had to go.

Reluctantly, Shiina said goodbye and decided to keep reading in the library.

It wasn't that she had no friends, nor was it because she liked being alone.

She simply wanted to find a quiet place to read the books she loved.

Meanwhile, Akasaka had already returned to the classroom.

He wanted to see if he could squeeze a little more out of these students, but unfortunately, he failed.

When their classmates learned that he had bought the exam papers from the upperclassmen on Horikita's orders, they all looked somewhat surprised.

Akasaka had simply wanted to give Horikita the credit. It was also his way of fulfilling the Student Council President's request to look after his younger sister.

After all, once the man graduated, he'd be handing over all his money to Akasaka. It wasn't as if Akasaka could do nothing for him, right?

Otherwise, he wouldn't feel at ease taking the money.

Horikita hurried to her feet, wanting to explain that the idea hadn't been hers, but Ayanokoji pushed her back down.

Horikita glared at him unhappily. "What are you doing?!"

To quiet her down, Ayanokoji used his words to provoke her.

"Don't you want to prove yourself to your brother? Then take credit for this."

"Akasaka gave you the credit so you could steady the class and take control more quickly. Don't disappoint him after he went to all that trouble for you."

Ayanokoji patted Suzune on the shoulder, and Horikita Suzune looked at Akasaka with a complicated expression.

Akasaka's plan hadn't worked out either. Not one of these students was willing to chip in.

Some said they had no money; others said they'd wait until next month.

Tch. Good thing he'd been prepared and recouped the money from Shiina Hiyori. Otherwise, he really would have lost money.

In the end, Hirata paid out all his Personal Points, about 8,000.

Kushida also chipped in 3,000, though it was hard to say what she was thinking. Maybe she wanted to show how kind she was. Whether that was all she had was anyone's guess.

As it turned out, those two were the only ones in the entire class willing to contribute. On paper, Akasaka was now down 9,000.

Akasaka shrugged helplessly, unconcerned. He'd already recouped his costs, after all. Still, he put on an act, pretending to be heartbroken over losing 9,000.

Akasaka pulled a face like he was constipated and handed over the exam papers with obvious displeasure.

Hirata had promised to find a way to scrape together some points next month and repay the 9,000, but Akasaka didn't take him seriously. Even if he did pay it back, it wouldn't be the same.

Getting paid on the spot and waiting on an overdue payment were two different things.

Anyone in their right mind would rather do business with someone who paid on the spot. They wouldn't give a second glance to someone who owed them money.

Getting paid immediately proved that the buyer had deep pockets and wouldn't delay payment.

That was how many small businesses went under. They couldn't get the money owed to them, while the other party kept fobbing them off like an old customer: "I'll pay next time. I promise I'll pay you next time."

And if you let it drag on long enough, your business would go under.

So when you're doing business, never let someone talk you into extending credit just because they say they'll pay later.

It's easy to let someone buy on credit. Getting your money back is hard.

Akasaka received 9,000 from Hirata Yosuke and 3,000 from Kushida, then stuffed it into his pocket with an irritated look and muttered to himself, This class is such a pain to manage.

Meanwhile, Shiina Hiyori had also handed the exam papers to Class C's true leader, Ryuen Kakeru.

Ryuen Kakeru merely glanced over them before ordering his classmates to copy the questions.

He trusted Hiyori's intelligence. He believed that, as a smart person, she wouldn't trick him with false information. Besides, they were in the same class; she wouldn't do anything that would hurt herself.

When he learned that Shiina Hiyori had spent 20,000 Personal Points on the exam papers, he immediately transferred her 50,000 without another word.

Shiina tried to refuse, but Ryuen Kakeru was firm.

"Think of the extra 30,000 Personal Points as a reward."

"I reward and punish fairly."

"If I can't even do that much, why would the people under me willingly follow me?"

Shiina had no choice but to accept the extra points. Then she said,

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going. I haven't finished my book yet."

Shiina hugged the book she hadn't finished a little tighter. She planned to find somewhere quiet and keep reading.

Ryuen Kakeru waved her away impatiently.

"Go on, go on. I really don't get what's so great about books. You're such a bookworm."

Shiina protested.

"Books are very interesting, Ryuen. You're the one who doesn't understand what makes them so wonderful."

Ryuen Kakeru pursed his lips and made a thoroughly disgusted face.

"I've hated studying my whole life. You think you can convince me to read? Dream on!"

"Why do you think I became a delinquent? Because I didn't want to study."

Ryuen put his feet up on the desk.

Shiina had no choice but to leave, dejected.

She always felt out of place in this class.

Full of questions, Shiina wondered to herself...

Why had she ended up in Class C? It was strange. There wasn't anything wrong with her, was there?

What she didn't know was that the school had arranged things this way to maintain balance between the classes.

After all, every class needed one or two people capable of carrying the team. Otherwise, how could they foster healthy competition?

Meanwhile, Akasaka was about to head to the Student Council to work, but Horikita stopped him.

"Hey! How many points are you still short? I'll make up the difference."

Horikita strode over with an imperious air and pulled out her phone.

For a moment, I didn't understand what was going on.

When Horikita saw that I wasn't responding, she furrowed her brows. Then, without another word, she reached into my pocket, trying to transfer the points to me.

I grabbed her wrist, helplessly exasperated.

"You really don't know how to hold back, do you? You just reach into a guy's pocket for his phone."

Horikita pulled free and kept reaching into my pocket.

She took my phone out, worked it for a moment, transferred 20,000 Personal Points to me, then tossed it back without a word.

I hurriedly caught the phone before it hit the ground, looking annoyed.

"Hey, what's with the attitude? Did I do something to offend you?"

"And you transferred too much, didn't you? You only needed to send 9,000. Why did you give me 20,000?"

Horikita tossed her long, straight black hair, looking just as displeased.

"I, Horikita Suzune, never leave a debt unpaid. I'll remember that you gave me all the credit this time."

"I'll repay you when I get the chance."

Horikita picked up her schoolbag and turned to leave.

As she passed me, she paused for half a second and murmured,

"Don't do that again... I want to earn my brother's approval through my own efforts, not have him pity me because someone else showed me kindness."

Akasaka shrugged. "Then you'll have to work hard, Horikita Manabu's little sister..."

"Hmph. You're so annoying."

As Horikita passed me, she stomped hard on my foot and walked away with an air of haughty defiance.

I looked down at the toe she'd stepped on, utterly helpless, then prepared to head to the Student Council and report for duty..