A spirited young man?

Next was the time for Makoto to tutor Kei, and Kushida Kikyo, realizing she no longer had a chance to interact with Makoto, left the dormitory on her own.

In truth, she was a very busy person; in just this short while, a dense stream of messages had already flooded her phone, mostly consisting of complaints about the boys and girls in her class.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't tired of it, but there was no helping it; life had to go on, and she continued to maintain her false persona.

Replying to everyone's messages one by one with feigned care, Kushida Kikyo didn't know how much longer she could keep living like this.

She took pleasure in prying into the secrets of others, and the things she endured for that were merely the necessary price to pay.

"Alright, Kei is actually quite smart. As long as you're willing to calm down and put in the effort, you'll definitely achieve great things in the future."

Makoto did not skimp on his praise. He raised his hand, hesitated for a moment, glanced at Honami's expression, and finally chose to gently stroke Kei's long hair, which was tied into a high ponytail.

Well, the texture didn't feel much different.

At the very least, Makoto couldn't tell the difference at all.

Could this be the legendary "it's all the same with your eyes closed"?

"Mm-hmm, I'll keep working hard!"

Kei enjoyed Makoto's touch, completely oblivious to his true inner thoughts.

She only felt that it was great to be able to study seriously, and she was determined to keep it up from now on!

Noticing that the hour hand on the wall clock had gradually shifted toward the upper left, Makoto instinctively stopped his hand and hurriedly said:

"Alright, it's getting late. Kei, you can head back to shower and sleep now."

"...Mm."

Although she was still a bit reluctant to leave, Kei stood up obediently and gathered her things, preparing to depart.

"Is there anything else, Honami?"

Seeing that Honami had no intention of leaving yet, Kei couldn't help but ask.

"I have something I want to ask Makoto, and I'll leave right after."

Honami explained to Kei, though she certainly would have liked to stay...

But she didn't have a valid reason right now, which made things a bit difficult.

"...Alright, then I'll be going."

Kei closed the door behind her as she left.

"It's just the two of us now."

Honami said with a beaming smile.

Uncontrollably, a blush rapidly spread across her cheeks.

"It's unfair! Boys aren't allowed in the girls' dormitory after 8 PM, but conversely, girls can enter the boys' dormitory. I want to protest!"

Makoto denounced this unequal society.

"That's just how it is; Makoto should try to understand the school's difficulties."

Honami pursed her lips, then took out her phone, opened an interface, and showed it to Makoto.

"I have over 5.75 million private points on hand. Adding those to what you have, the 20 million private point requirement for a class transfer has already been met."

"Let's wait a bit longer."

Having already guessed that Honami would say this, Makoto refused. He had a better idea in mind.

"You just told me to make friends with others, and now you want me to transfer classes. Honami, you really aren't very considerate."

"What, do you have a problem with that?"

"No."

Makoto immediately caved.

It wasn't that he didn't dare to talk back; it was just... just giving Honami some face, that's all.

"Does Makoto not intend to transfer classes right now?"

Honami wanted to ask for the reason, though she didn't actually intend to force Makoto to transfer.

If Makoto were in Class B, Sakayanagi Arisu and the others wouldn't have many opportunities to interact with him, but once he transferred...

She wasn't about to make things unpleasant for herself; when one could enjoy something exclusively, one should do exactly that!

"It's better to save the private points. If I use them all up now, what would I do if I needed them in the future?"

Makoto explained. Just the thought of him going from being wealthy to a pauper after the transfer...

He didn't want that to happen!

"Hasn't Makoto already seen the future? Would something like that really happen?"

"Honami, you must have heard of the butterfly effect, right?"

"...I understand."

The two of them reached an agreement, though they each held different feelings in their hearts—

Makoto remained in Class B.

As Honami left the dormitory and turned toward the elevators, she caught a glimpse of something yellow flashing by.

How truly adorable.

She thought to herself.

After Honami left, Makoto tidied up his room.

At some point, his room had seemingly turned into an open-to-the-public restaurant where anyone could drop by for a free meal.

The lingering scent of citrus constantly stimulated Makoto's nerves, making him recall Honami's figure.

What a stubborn woman.

He shook his head, a trace of confusion flashing through his calm eyes.

It seemed... he was the same way, wasn't he?

Finishing the remaining milk that had already lost its chill, Makoto began his usual pre-sleep stretches.

Good night, wishing myself a sweet dream.

He drifted into a deep sleep.

"Good morning, Kanzaki."

"Did something good happen again yesterday?"

Kanzaki Ryuji rolled his eyes in annoyance, feeling that his desk mate had been a bit abnormal lately... or rather, perhaps too normal.

It was as if he had really come to this school just to date.

"I have something to give you."

Makoto stealthily took a set of test papers out of his bag and placed them into Kanzaki Ryuji's hands.

Most of the students in the class had already arrived, but because the two were sitting so close, no one noticed this scene.

They were already in the second-to-last row, so the probability of being noticed was quite small.

"...What is this?"

Kanzaki Ryuji asked in confusion, not understanding why Makoto was acting so mysterious, like a secret agent making a drop.

"These are the actual test papers for the next midterm exam."

Makoto said softly, raising an eyebrow.

"How about that? I treat you pretty well, don't I?"

"Let me guess... your girlfriend probably has a copy too, right?"

"You really are as sharp as a god!"

Makoto pulled back and gave Kanzaki Ryuji a thumbs-up, then leaned in stealthily to whisper, "Not only that, but Class D has a copy as well."

"Did you forget about Class C? Why not give them a copy too?"

Kanzaki Ryuji said irritably; if everyone had one, then what was the point!

"I wouldn't be the last one to know about this, would I?"

Seeing that Makoto had no intention of answering and had suddenly turned his head to start whistling, Kanzaki Ryuji felt his anger flare up.

"I really don't know if your assignment to Class B is our good fortune or our misfortune."

"Don't say that, haven't I been treating you quite well?"

Hearing this, Kanzaki Ryuji just sighed lightly:

"So, what do you want me to do by giving me these papers?"

"Well... we're friends, right?"

Makoto said, rubbing his hands together like a fly.

"Can I deny that?"

Although he said that, his body was honest enough not to show any signs of rejection.

"Don't be like that, I'm begging you, I'll treat you to lunch."

Makoto added to his offer with no backbone at all.

"What exactly is going on?"

Kanzaki Ryuji, casting a sidelong glance at Makoto, sensed that something was off.

─━ _ ─━✧

"Because Honami gave me an ultimatum to make some friends, so I thought of you, didn't I?"

"So, if that hadn't happened, you weren't planning on giving me these practice papers?"

Kanzaki Ryuji shook the stack of past exam papers in his hand with a smirk; he wanted to hear how his deskmate, who supposedly wanted to "make friends" with him, would explain this.

"How could that be!"

Makoto flatly denied it.

"In that case, I would have given them to you two days before the exam."

After a moment of thought, Kanzaki Ryuji understood what Makoto meant.

"Fine, I believe you. After all, aren't we friends?"

(╯▽╰)

"OK, I'll transfer the points to you right away."

Makoto was overjoyed, his fingers dancing nimbly across the screen, and soon 7,000 private points were transferred to Kanzaki Ryuji's account.

"So, by 'treating me to a meal,' you meant I should go buy it myself?"

"What else? Or were you planning on going with me?"

"I'll pass on that."

Kanzaki Ryuji had no desire to be a glowing third wheel.

"By the way, why 7,000 points?"

Kanzaki Ryuji, unable to grasp the logic behind this, couldn't help but ask. 7,000 private points—did the cafeteria even have a set meal that expensive?

"That? It's because I have a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder."

"I see..."

Kanzaki Ryuji still felt like something wasn't quite right. 7,000 private points and obsessive-compulsive disorder...

Just how many private points did he himself have right now?