Next came Makoto's tutoring session with Kei. Realizing she had no chance of spending more time with Makoto, Kushida Kikyo left the dorm on her own.
She was actually a very busy person. In the short time she'd been there, her phone had filled with messages, most of them complaints about the boys and girls in her class.
It was impossible to say she wasn't tired of reading them, but there was nothing she could do. Life went on, and she kept up her false façade.
As she carefully replied to the messages one by one, Kushida Kikyo wondered how much longer she would have to keep living like this.
She took pleasure in prying into other people's secrets. The price she paid for it was necessary.
"All right, Kei's actually pretty smart. As long as she's willing to settle down and study, she'll definitely go far."
Makoto praised her without holding back. He raised a hand, hesitated briefly, then glanced at Honami's expression before finally deciding to gently stroke Kei's long hair, tied up in a high ponytail.
Well, it didn't feel all that different.
At least, Makoto couldn't tell what the difference was.
Was this what they meant when they said they all felt the same with your eyes closed?
"Mm-hmm! I'll keep working hard!"
Kei enjoyed Makoto's touch, completely unaware of what he was really thinking.
She just thought that it was great to study hard, and that she had to keep it up from now on!
Noticing that the clock's minute hand was edging toward the upper-left, Makoto stopped what he was doing and hurriedly said,
"All right, it's getting late. You can head back, take a bath, and go to bed, Kei."
"...Okay."
Though she was still reluctant to leave, Kei obediently stood up, picked up her things, and got ready to go.
"Is there something else you need, Honami?"
Seeing that Honami didn't seem ready to leave, Kei couldn't help asking.
"There's something I want to ask Makoto. I'll leave as soon as I'm done."
Honami explained, though she did want to stay...
But she didn't have a good excuse right now. That made things awkward.
"...Okay, then I'll head out first."
Kei closed the door behind her.
"Now it's just the two of us."
Honami said with a smile.
Despite herself, her cheeks quickly turned a shade of red.
"This is unfair! Boys aren't allowed in the girls' dorms after eight, but girls can enter the boys' dorms whenever they want? I'm protesting!"
Makoto railed against this unjust society.
"There's nothing we can do about it. Try to understand the school's difficulties, Makoto."
Honami pressed her lips together, then took out her phone and opened a screen to show him.
"I have over 5.75 million private points. Added to what you have, that's enough to meet the 20 million point requirement for transferring classes."
"Let's wait a little longer."
Makoto refused, having already guessed what Honami was going to say. He had a better idea.
"You told me to make friends with people just a moment ago, and now you want me to transfer classes. You really don't take my feelings into account, Honami."
"What, do you have a problem with that?"
"No."
Makoto immediately backed down.
It wasn't that he was afraid to talk back. He was just... just giving Honami some face.
"You don't plan to transfer classes right now?"
Honami wanted to ask why, though she wasn't actually planning to force him to transfer.
With Makoto in Class B, Sakayanagi Arisu and the others didn't get many chances to spend time with him. If he transferred...
She wasn't about to make herself miserable. When she had the chance to have him all to herself, she was going to take it!
"Let's save our private points for now. If I spend them all right away, what'll I do if I need them later?"
Makoto explained. Just imagining how he'd go from well-off to broke after transferring...
He didn't want that!
"Don't you already know how things will unfold in the future? Is that really likely to happen?"
"Surely you've heard of the butterfly effect, Honami."
"...I understand."
The two reached the same conclusion for different reasons—
Makoto stayed in Class B.
As Honami left the dorm and headed toward the elevator, she caught sight of something yellow darting out of view.
How cute.
She thought to herself.
After Honami left, Makoto tidied up his room.
At some point, his room seemed to have turned into a restaurant open to the public, where anyone could drop by for a free meal.
The lingering citrus scent kept stirring up memories of Honami in Makoto's mind.
What a difficult woman.
He shook his head, a hint of confusion passing through his calm eyes.
It seemed... he was like that too?
He drank the rest of the milk, which had already gone a little cold, then went through his usual bedtime stretches.
Good night. Here's hoping I have a nice dream.
He soon fell into a deep sleep.
"Morning, Kanzaki."
"Something good happen again yesterday?"
Kanzaki Ryuji rolled his eyes in exasperation. His deskmate had been acting a little strange lately... or, rather, perfectly normal.
It seemed he really had come to this school to fall in love.
"I have something to give you."
Makoto furtively pulled a set of test papers from his bag and placed them in Kanzaki Ryuji's hands.
Most of the class had already arrived. The two were sitting very close together, though, so no one saw what happened.
They were in the second-to-last row, so the odds of anyone noticing were pretty low.
"...What's this?"
Kanzaki Ryuji asked, confused as to why Makoto was acting like a secret agent making a covert exchange.
"The real questions for the next midterm exam."
Makoto spoke softly and raised an eyebrow.
"So? Aren't I good to you?"
"Let me guess... your girlfriend has a set too, right?"
"You really can see the future!"
Makoto moved away and gave Kanzaki Ryuji a thumbs-up, then furtively leaned closer again.
"Not only that, Class D has a set too."
"Did you forget about Class C? Why didn't you give them one as well?"
Kanzaki Ryuji said irritably. If everyone had the answers, what was the point?
"I'm not the last one to find out, am I?"
When Makoto didn't answer and instead turned to whistle, Kanzaki Ryuji felt his temper rise.
"I really can't tell whether being assigned to Class B is lucky or unlucky for us."
"Don't say that. Haven't I been pretty good to you?"
Kanzaki Ryuji could only let out a sigh.
"So, why did you give me these test papers? What do you want me to do?"
"Well... we're friends, right?"
Makoto said, rubbing his hands together.
"Can I deny that?"
Though he said that, his body language didn't show any sign of resistance.
"Don't be like that. Please, I'll buy you lunch."
Makoto shamelessly raised his offer.
"What's this all about?"
Kanzaki Ryuji eyed Makoto suspiciously, sensing that something was off.
─━ _ ─━✧
"Honami gave me an ultimatum and told me to make friends, so I thought of you."
"So if that hadn't happened, you wouldn't have given me these test papers?"
Kanzaki Ryuji gave the test papers in his hand a little shake, his expression somewhere between a smile and a frown. He wanted to hear how this deskmate of his, who wanted to "make friends" with him, planned to explain himself.
"Of course I would!"
Makoto denied it outright.
"I would've given them to you two days before the exam."
After thinking it over for a moment, Kanzaki Ryuji understood what Makoto meant.
"All right, I believe you. After all, we're friends, right?"
(╯▽╰)
"Okay! I'll transfer the points to you right away."
Makoto was delighted. His fingers danced over the screen, and soon 7,000 private points had been transferred into Kanzaki Ryuji's account.
"So when you said you'd buy me lunch, you meant I should go buy it myself?"
"What else? Did you expect to eat with me?"
"Then I'll pass."
Kanzaki Ryuji didn't want to be the third wheel.
"By the way, why 7,000 points?"
Unable to make sense of that, Kanzaki Ryuji couldn't help asking. Were there really meals at the cafeteria that cost 7,000 private points?
"Oh, that's because I'm a little obsessive about numbers."
"I see..."
Kanzaki Ryuji still felt something was off. 7,000 private points and an obsession with numbers...
So how many private points did Makoto himself have right now?
Before you continue