Amasawa Yuto opened the door. Just as he'd expected, an elegant girl stood outside, leaning on her cane and smiling.
"Sakayanagi, is it all right for you to come alone to a boy's floor and visit a boy's room?"
"As long as it's not after ten, it's fine, isn't it?" Sakayanagi tilted her head. The gesture was cute, and he wondered whether she realized it. "Besides, even if it were after ten, as long as neither of us said anything, it could just be our little secret."
"No, before that, how did you find out which room I'm in?"
"There's a mailbox just inside the entrance on the right. Everyone's name and room number are listed there. I found yours, Amasawa."
Amasawa Yuto nodded. "Okay. So, Miss Sakayanagi, what did you come to see me about instead of contacting me on your phone?"
"Would you like to go shopping for some daily necessities together?" Sakayanagi Arisu invited him.
Amasawa Yuto thought it over, then nodded. "Give me a moment."
"Would you really make a cute girl wait outside?"
"...Come on in, then." Amasawa Yuto opened the door wider.
Sakayanagi Arisu glanced around the room but didn't enter. Her tone was a little apologetic. "I was only joking. Changing shoes back and forth takes time with my condition, so I'll just wait out here for you, Amasawa."
"You don't have to change shoes—though, even if I say that... All right, I'll be right out."
This was a good chance to get to know Sakayanagi Arisu better.
Amasawa Yuto quickly pulled out his phone and emailed Tsubaki Yuki, telling her he was going shopping with a female classmate. Then he changed his shoes and went outside.
The two walked side by side to the elevator, where they ran straight into a classmate coming out.
"Hey, Amasawa, Classmate Sakayanagi. What are you two...?" The long-haired boy looked a little suspicious. "This is the boys' floor, right?"
"Sorry, Risonaka. I asked Amasawa to help me with something," Sakayanagi Arisu replied unhurriedly.
"Really, Classmate Sakayanagi? You need help? Is Amasawa enough on his own? Do you need me to help too?" Satoshi Satonaka seemed genuinely concerned for his classmate.
Amasawa Yuto noticed that he had a lot of piercings in his ears.
Ear piercings were generally considered a sign of delinquency, but the handsome, long-haired Satoshi Satonaka gave no such impression.
"Amasawa is enough. Actually, Amasawa and I have known each other for a long time." Faced with Satoshi Satonaka's genuine kindness and concern, Sakayanagi Arisu found herself telling him the truth. "We're... how should I put it? Sort of childhood friends."
As she spoke, she glanced at Amasawa Yuto nervously, wanting to see how he'd react to that description.
Amasawa Yuto nodded. By saying that, Sakayanagi had made it clear she'd seen him in the White Room. He just didn't know how old he'd been when she first saw him.
Seeing that Amasawa Yuto didn't deny it, Sakayanagi Arisu nodded in satisfaction, then returned to her usual elegant, unruffled manner.
"Really? What a coincidence!" Satoshi Satonaka scratched his cheek with his index finger and flashed a slightly bashful smile.
He was handsome, and his long hair gave him an androgynous, bewitching beauty. He was likable from either a girl's or a boy's perspective.
"I actually have a childhood friend in our class too. It's Rokkaku."
Momoe Rokkaku, the pink-haired girl with her hair tied in a bun, sat in the first row.
Amasawa Yuto quickly worked out who he meant.
"Really? I didn't know that," Sakayanagi Arisu said, a little surprised. She hadn't expected there to be another connection like that between classmates.
"Our families are neighbors, but we went to different middle schools. We only ended up at the same school again in high school... Oh, sorry. Am I holding you two up by talking about myself?" Satoshi Satonaka realized he was taking up their time.
"Let's talk more about it later, Risonaka." Sakayanagi smiled and waved.
Since it was the first day of school, lots of students had come to the shopping center to pick out their supplies.
A boy carrying a huge box of gaming equipment brushed past them, humming, "Genshin, let's go! MiHoYo, I'm here to pay my respects!"
Other girls returned loaded down with bags full of cosmetics and clothes.
Apparently, not all the students had noticed the crisis lurking behind their points.
"Look over here, Amasawa," Sakayanagi Arisu said, pointing at a corner of the supermarket.
There were free daily necessities there: toothbrushes, face wash, soap, laundry detergent, and so on. They all looked cheap, like the disposable toiletries provided in hotels.
Even though they'd been given a hundred thousand points, the school still offered this entire set of low-quality necessities for free. That meant it was entirely possible for students to run out of points.
Sakayanagi Arisu's father was the school's chairman, so she already knew the rules. She was just pointing out a clue to show Amasawa that she hadn't gotten special treatment—the rules could be deduced from the evidence.
Amasawa Yuto knew the school's rules too, but he was also using the clue to show that he'd figured them out himself rather than knowing the first semester's plot in advance.
The two of them, each unwilling to show off their advantage, kept up the act together.
"Looks like this school isn't so simple after all."
"Seems there's more to this school than meets the eye."
The two pretenders spoke at the same time.
Amasawa Yuto and Sakayanagi Arisu picked out their toiletries separately. Without a second thought, Sakayanagi put the items she'd chosen into Amasawa Yuto's shopping basket.
"I'll transfer the points to you later, Amasawa," she said with a smile.
In the distance, he spotted another classmate shopping: a tall girl with deep purple hair and a small braid.
She didn't seem to have noticed them at all. He remembered that during her introduction, she'd been so indifferent that she'd said only her name and nothing more.
Masumi Kamuro.
Back when he and Tsubaki Yuki had checked the class assignments, Amasawa Yuto had memorized the names of all 160 students in the school. All that remained was to match the names to the faces in his mind.
The strange thing was that she was browsing the refrigerators in the chilled drinks section. Had she already bought her toiletries?
Ah, so that was it. Amasawa Yuto understood, and stopped paying attention.
"Could you excuse me for a moment, Amasawa?" Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly said. "I see something interesting."
"Sure, go ahead. I'll watch our things."
It seemed Sakayanagi had noticed Kamuro too. Just now, while she was browsing the chilled drinks section, she'd hidden a can of beer inside her uniform.
Put simply, she was shoplifting.
You had to be of legal drinking age to buy beer. If she used her student ID, they'd catch her immediately.
He hadn't expected Classmate Kamuro to be underage. She liked beer?
Amasawa looked around, but Kamuro was nowhere to be seen. It seemed she'd successfully gotten away. Was Sakayanagi planning to report her?
No. Knowing Sakayanagi, she was more likely to use the secret as leverage. That seemed more plausible.
But as he scanned the area, Amasawa Yuto spotted another familiar face.
A black-haired, red-eyed girl was studying the free toiletries, trying to pick something. She suddenly looked up and met his gaze.
Horikita Suzune frowned. "Why are you staring at me?"
Before you continue