The Handprint of the Contract

After Natsukawa's CPU-like processing, Kushida raised her head. The hostility in her eyes had mostly dissipated, replaced by a look of scrutiny and hesitation. She stared at Natsukawa for a long time, seemingly evaluating the credibility of his words.

Suddenly, she made an unexpected move.

She lunged forward, grabbing Natsukawa's right wrist. Her grip was strong, and her fingertips were ice-cold. Before Natsukawa could react, she pulled his hand and pressed it firmly against the school uniform shirt covering her left breast.

Natsukawa's palm could clearly feel the soft texture of the girl's chest, as well as a slightly rapid heartbeat—well, the heartbeat was actually Natsukawa's own; after all, the girl's front armor was too thick to feel anything else.

"Ugh..." A flush of unnatural crimson spread across Kushida's cheeks. Whether it was anger, shame, or something else, her eyes remained exceptionally firm, even carrying a hint of a desperate, scorched-earth ruthlessness. "A verbal promise isn't enough... This is the guarantee. If you dare to speak of this, I'll accuse you of sexual assault. I won't wash this shirt; I'll keep the... fingerprints on it forever. I hope you, Natsukawa-kun, will... keep your word."

Natsukawa was stunned. He had anticipated that Kushida might pull a stunt like this, but he hadn't expected her to initiate it with zero-frame speed. How was he supposed to defend against that? However, he quickly regained his composure. Looking at her slightly provocative yet flustered eyes, he suddenly smiled. Instead of pulling his hand away, he applied a slight pressure with his fingers, beginning to gently knead and stroke.

"Ngh!" Kushida shuddered as if struck by an electric current. Her face turned bright red in an instant, and she shoved Natsukawa away, stumbling back several steps. She instinctively covered her chest with her hands, her eyes filled with shock and indignation.

"You...!"

"Since you want to preserve the evidence, let's see it through to the end. I'm just helping you increase the credibility." His tone was calm, as if nothing had just happened. "To show my sincerity, although I don't know why you are so obsessed with Horikita, I can help you establish a connection with her."

Kushida's eyes lit up, but they were immediately filled with suspicion: "How will you help?"

"You'll know that in due time." Natsukawa left her in suspense and turned to head downstairs. "Just keep acting like your usual self. Of course—you don't have to keep up the act in front of me."

As he descended a few steps, Kushida's voice came from behind him, restored to its usual energetic, sweet, and pleasant tone, as if the hysterical demon from a moment ago had never existed:

"It's a deal then, Natsukawa-kun~! Please continue to take care of me in the future!"

Natsukawa didn't look back, merely waving his hand casually.

At this moment, in the empty stairwell, only Kushida Kikyo remained. She leaned against the cold wall and slowly slid down to the floor, panting heavily. The flush of shame and anger on her face gradually faded, replaced by extreme exhaustion and bewilderment. She looked down at the faint wrinkles on her uniform shirt and recalled Natsukawa's affirmation of her efforts, her expression complex and unreadable.

After a long while, she slowly stood up, carefully patting and smoothing out her skirt, combing her slightly messy hair with her fingers, and taking a small mirror from her bag to calibrate the expression on her face bit by bit.

A few seconds later, that familiar, energetic smile appeared on Kushida's face once again. She took a deep breath and walked down the stairs with light steps, as if the previous scene had been nothing more than a phantom.

When Natsukawa returned to the library, Sakura Airi was still in her previous posture, like a quiet porcelain doll. Only the subtle sound of turning pages proved her focus. The sunlight shifted across her red hair, outlining the contours of her profile even more softly.

"Sorry for the wait." Natsukawa sat down opposite her and placed the chemistry textbook he had brought on the table.

Sakura shook her head gently to indicate it was fine, though her gaze fell curiously on the brand-new chemistry book.

Natsukawa opened the textbook and began to break down the basic concepts for Sakura. His explanation remained simple and easy to understand, attempting to express complex chemical reactions in a more vivid way. Sakura listened very intently, nodding from time to time and occasionally asking a small question. Although her voice was still very quiet, it was a world of difference compared to her initial state of barely daring to speak.

When they reached a deduction regarding the periodic law of elements, Natsukawa was using his pen to draw a diagram on a piece of scratch paper. Sakura suddenly whispered: "Um... Natsukawa-san, this point... the teacher seemed to mention in class that it isn't within the scope of this midterm exam..."

The tip of Natsukawa's pen paused. He remembered now; Chabashira had deliberately misidentified the scope of this midterm. He hadn't noticed because he had been focused on the system tasks for the past two days. That woman Sae had too many tricks up her sleeve; she would even come up with such devious ideas just to ensure her students passed the midterm.

"Hmm, I might have remembered it wrong." Natsukawa replied without changing his expression, though he had already made up his mind. "But even if it isn't on the test, you should still learn it. It's the foundation for many future extensions."

At night, in the high-rise dormitory.

Ichinose Honami had just finished her evening self-study and was sitting at her desk, organizing the class affairs for the day. Under the soft light of the desk lamp, her pink-gold hair flowed like honey. Her personal terminal gave a special notification, and she picked it up to see it was from Natsukawa Sosuke.

"Ichinose-san, good evening. Sorry to bother you so late. I have some new thoughts regarding the class competition, I wonder if you have a moment?"

Seeing his name, the corners of her mouth lifted involuntarily, and her fingertips quickly unlocked the screen.

"Natsukawa-kun? It's fine, I haven't rested yet! (^▽^) Please go ahead, I've been looking forward to talking with you more!"

"Our previous focus might have been too concentrated on the 'competition' between classes. But have you ever thought that in this school, there might also be special exams that require 'cooperation'?"

"Cooperation?" A look of surprise appeared on Ichinose's face.

"Exactly. In the adult world, it's not just a zero-sum game of life and death; it's more often cooperation under competition, or rather, a coopetition relationship. The school's goal is to cultivate talent that can adapt to society, so there must be stages that test cooperation skills."

The message continued after a short pause, as if waiting for Ichinose to digest the concept.

"Therefore, I think that instead of waiting until we need to cooperate to find allies, we should start consciously cultivating and maintaining potential cooperative relationships now. Classes with similar goals can establish a certain level of tacit understanding and trust in advance."

"Natsukawa-kun means... our Class B and... Class D?" Ichinose's reply carried a hint of cautious probing.

"Exactly. We have a common goal—to reach Class A. At the same time, we face common potential threats—such as Class C. Establishing a connection in advance allows us to sharpen each other and provide mutual support when necessary."

"How should we do it specifically?" Ichinose's inquiry was filled with deep interest and a hint of eagerness.

When she saw Natsukawa's concept of "class cooperation," a flash of surprise crossed her blue eyes, and she immediately fell into deep thought.

Keywords swirled and combined in her mind. It wasn't that she hadn't considered other forms of interaction between classes, but Natsukawa's perspective was clearly more advanced and systematic. Yes, the school's ultimate goal was to cultivate talent that could adapt to society, so pure confrontation couldn't be the only theme. Cooperating with Class D could keep the unpredictable Class C in check and provide an extra layer of security for future uncertain exams. More importantly, Natsukawa was in Class D...

Thinking of this, Ichinose felt her cheeks heating up slightly. She subconsciously touched her face with her cool fingertips, took a deep breath, and tried to pull her thoughts back to the main topic. She picked up the terminal again, her slender fingers tapping rapidly on the virtual keyboard, her tone polite yet tinged with undisguised appreciation and excitement:

"Natsukawa-kun's ideas are always so eye-opening! (^▽^) I vaguely felt before that relying solely on our own class might not be enough to handle all types of tests, but I couldn't articulate the concept of 'coopetition' as clearly as you have."

She changed the subject, considering it cautiously, "However, how can we initiate this contact so that it seems natural and not abrupt, avoiding excessive vigilance from other classes, especially Class A and Class C?"

"The midterm exam is a perfect opportunity. Hirata Yosuke from our class is organizing a study group. You can use this as a reason to send a few students from Class B to make contact under the guise of exchanging study experiences and sharing review materials. Hirata-kun is also recognized by everyone as a good guy. This approach is based on academics, the motive is simple, and it's not easy to arouse suspicion."

Seeing Natsukawa's reply, Ichinose nodded thoughtfully. She imagined the scene and felt the proposal was indeed clever and feasible. She could even think of who would be suitable to send—Kanzaki-kun was steady enough, and Shibata-kun was more approachable...

"Using the study group as an entry point, Natsukawa-kun is so thoughtful. This way, we can substantially help students who need it while naturally opening a dialogue between the two classes. I will contact Hirata-kun tomorrow, and I will carefully consider the specific people and methods."

She put down the terminal, her mood inexplicably buoyant, not just because she had found a potential strategic direction, but seemingly because she had found someone with whom she could have such a conversation. Under the light, her slightly flushed cheeks and eyes shining with a soft glow revealed the girl's inner joy and restlessness.