Ichinose Honami

Two days had passed in the blink of an eye. Today was the fifth day.

The leaders of the other classes had more or less finished getting their classes organized. It was about time to take the next step.

Akasaka Ryunosuke walked out of his room with his hands in his pockets, intending to head to school.

I stepped into the elevator and was about to press the button when a girl with long pinkish-gold hair and an exceptionally cute, sweet face rushed in. She braced her hands on her knees and panted heavily.

Her chest rose and fell with her rapid breathing, looking as though it might burst through her clothes at any moment.

The newcomer was Ichinose Honami of Class B.

After catching her breath, Ichinose patted her chest and muttered to herself, "That was close! I almost missed the elevator."

Then she noticed me beside her and said apologetically, "Sorry for causing you trouble."

"It's fine. It was only a few seconds." After I finished speaking, I pressed the elevator button. The doors closed, leaving just the two of us inside.

Ichinose took out her phone and chatted with her friends without the slightest hesitation, completely unconcerned about how dangerous it was to be alone with a boy.

I couldn't help sighing, but I didn't say anything.

Ichinose seemed to remember something and turned to me. "Hello, I'm Ichinose Honami from Year 1 Class B. I look forward to working with you over the next three years."

As she spoke, she held out her soft, smooth hand.

I took it in turn. "I'm Akasaka Ryunosuke from Year 1 Class D. Nice to meet you, Ichinose."

Ichinose quickly waved her hand. "Just call me Ichinose. You don't have to be so formal—we know each other now, don't we?"

Uh, she really did get familiar with people fast. And that friendly nature of hers was something else.

I didn't answer her. Instead, I asked, "What do you think of this school, Ichinose?"

Ichinose Honami pouted in displeasure. "I told you, you can just call me Ichinose. You really are formal, aren't you?"

"You're the one who got familiar with me so quickly," I remarked, feeling a little speechless. Then I continued with my earlier question, trying to guide her toward the answer I wanted her to understand.

"Don't you think this school is rather unusual?"

I told Ichinose about the many things that didn't add up at this school. For instance, it had a free cafeteria, free supplies, and free everyday necessities—clearly all provided for certain people.

On top of that, even the upperclassmen in Class D sometimes couldn't afford instant noodles. There was obviously something wrong.

After hearing me out, Ichinose furrowed her brow and began to think.

"You make a good point, Akasaka. So what secrets does this school have?"

Ichinose Honami blinked her adorable, wide eyes at me, her gaze seeming to say, I'm really curious.

Tsk, another one hoping to get information for free. But that was fine. I'd earn it back from her.

Keeping a straight face, I held up one finger to the impossibly adorable Ichinose Honami and said, "Do you want to know the answer? Give me one million Personal Points, and I'll tell you everything I know."

Ichinose Honami's eyes widened as she stared at me in disbelief.

"Akasaka, that joke isn't funny at all."

"I'm not joking. If you don't believe me, you can ask your homeroom teacher how much it costs to buy information about a class. It should be at least two million."

Akasaka recalled the price from the original story. It really was around two million. Asking Ichinose for half that amount was hardly expensive.

Ichinose fell silent for a moment, then replied, "Could you give me some time to prepare, Akasaka? I'd like to confirm it first."

"Go ahead." I casually waved my hand, showing that I didn't mind.

Ichinose Honami gave me a sweet smile. "Thank you, Akasaka." Then she took out her phone and checked with her class group chat, without the slightest concern that someone behind her was watching everything.

I saw on Ichinose's phone that the class group had forty members and couldn't help clicking my tongue.

As expected of Ichinose, the little angel. There were only forty students in the class, yet in just five days she'd managed to get every one of them into the group and unite them. That kind of cohesion was no joke.

Ichinose noticed me looking at her phone screen, but she didn't try to hide it. She even boldly invited me to take a look.

After all, Ichinose still didn't know the school's secrets, which was why she was being so careless.

Otherwise, if she knew that the classes were in competition with each other, she definitely wouldn't show it to someone from an opposing class.

So I didn't accept Ichinose's offer. I looked away and pretended to doze.

Seeing this, Ichinose said nothing. She continued messaging her classmates, asking them to verify whether the information was accurate.

Before long, her classmates sent their replies. One student had asked their homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya, and confirmed that information about the classes was indeed worth two million Personal Points.

When that homeroom teacher learned that someone was selling the information for one million, she thoughtfully reminded her students that they could buy it.

Of course, all of this was within Akasaka Ryunosuke's expectations.

Yesterday, after I'd already made a certain under-the-table deal with Hoshinomiya Chie, I'd added her as a friend so we could keep in touch.

While Ichinose and her classmates were confirming the situation, I took the opportunity to text her my plan to sell information to Class B.

For Hoshinomiya, there were only benefits and no downsides.

So she readily agreed to team up with Akasaka, working from the inside to coordinate with him.

She also said she'd treat Little Akasaka to a drink afterward, but Akasaka turned her down, claiming he couldn't drink alcohol.

Once Ichinose had confirmed the situation, she fully believed what I'd said. Her expression shifted from relaxed to serious, though she was still adorable.

Sure enough, looks really were everything!

"I've confirmed it with the class, Akasaka."

"But please give me some time to think about buying the information for one million. I need to discuss it with the class. This isn't something I can decide on my own."

"That's fine, Ichinose. You can send one of your classmates to check the upperclassmen and see whether things are really as I said. If they are, you're welcome to come to me anytime."

"But I should warn you: you'll need to hurry. If you're too late, it might not be useful anymore."

After saying that, I slung my shoulder bag—in other words, my schoolbag—over my back. Then I turned to Ichinose and took out my terminal.

"Could we exchange contact information, Ichinose?"

"Sure! Of course~."

Ichinose happily exchanged contact information with me.

After getting Ichinose Honami's contact details, I left.

On the way to class, I kept thinking about how to prevent the two homeroom teachers' agreements from conflicting.

If I lowered the Class Points to 100 to get 2.1 million, while also making sure the class moved up, then there was only one way...

Akasaka Ryunosuke's eyes darkened, his expression unreadable.

Which class should I target? Let me think...