Natsukawa watched Ichinose. Her expression was still perfectly composed, but she was lightly biting her lip, and the index finger of her right hand absentmindedly rubbed the edge of her tray. It was clear that she wasn't nearly as calm inside as she appeared.
"Ichinose, why don't you get your classmates behind you settled first? I'm a bit of a social recluse, and having so many people staring at me is pretty overwhelming."
Ichinose suddenly seemed to remember something and turned around. The Class B girls behind her first looked surprised, then quickly shifted to expressions of eager curiosity. When they saw Ichinose looking their way, they didn't wait for her to say anything. They quickly found a table with plenty of empty seats nearby, sat down, and launched into eating and chatting as if they were having a grand old time. But every single one of them had an ear turned toward the two of them.
Seeing how things had turned out, Ichinose's cheeks flushed slightly, and some of the urgency left her. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she sat down beside Natsukawa. "Natsukawa-kun, can you tell me now?"
"This is just my personal guess," Natsukawa said, choosing his words carefully. "But all the signs suggest that this school isn't as simple as it seems. The personal points probably aren't distributed at a fixed rate. They're likely tied to what the school calls 'ability.'"
Ichinose's brows furrowed slightly. "I also felt that something was off, but I hadn't thought that deeply about it. If what you're saying is true, what should we do now?"
"That's not all. I suspect this school's 100 percent advancement rate doesn't apply to everyone. It's a special privilege only some students get to enjoy. Everyone else is just a pawn the school is willing to sacrifice! If our 'ability' doesn't satisfy the school, we might not even get a single point each month. And in the worst case, we could be expelled before the year is over!"
Natsukawa knew how much Ichinose cared about her classmates, so he deliberately made things sound dire. Everything he said was true, but other than failing to enjoy the 100 percent advancement rate, most of the students in Class B wouldn't face any of those other consequences.
"Is that really true?!"
Ichinose was clearly shaken. This was the first time she had encountered such a wonderful school with free tuition, and she had also found such wonderful classmates. They had even promised to work hard and improve together. With those two happy things coming together, it should have been a moment of pure joy. So why... why had it turned out like this...? Only now did she realize that the wonderful future they had imagined wasn't as easily within reach as they had thought.
"I can help you, you know. I can help you make Class B's shared dream come true."
Natsukawa leaned close and whispered in Ichinose's ear, as if he could see exactly what she was thinking.
If Ichinose had been given enough time to think, she would surely have been able to turn adversity into strength and lead her classmates through the trials the school had in store with even firmer resolve. But Natsukawa didn't give her time to think. After painting a bleak picture of the future, he offered her a way to protect everyone, leaving her with little choice but to follow his lead.
"Th-That's true?!"
Ichinose stared straight at Natsukawa as if she had found a lifeline.
"Of course. You're the first friend I made at this school, Ichinose. I'll do everything I can to help you. I can tell you about the true nature of this school and the danger lurking beneath our feet. But even the information I have didn't come for free. Would you be able to reimburse me for some of the cost, Ichinose?"
"That's wonderful, Natsukawa-kun. I don't know how to thank you. If we can really protect every single person in Class B, then it'll be worth any sacrifice."
"You don't need to thank me, Ichinose. This is a fair deal."
"No, even so, I still have to thank you, Natsukawa-kun. I can't bear to imagine us enjoying school life without knowing anything, only to be told one day that one of our classmates is going to be expelled."
"All right, but thanking me won't get you a discount. I'm not asking for that many points—just one million," he whispered.
He said the final number right next to Ichinose's ear, quietly enough to spare Sakura across the table even the slightest shock at the twists of Classroom of the Elite.
The warm breath tickling her ear made Ichinose feel a little embarrassed. Then, hearing such a huge sum, she couldn't help but look surprised.
"That much? There's no way one person could afford that many points."
"Since this concerns the whole class, everyone in the class can chip in. Don't worry, Ichinose. My price is definitely reasonable. You can check with your homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya-sensei. If you bought this information from her, it would cost two million personal points. You can consider the information I've shared a free gift, to show you I'm sincere."
"I see. So the points Hoshinomiya-sensei said could buy anything really do include this sort of thing. Thank you, Natsukawa-kun. I'll discuss it properly with my classmates. You're very perceptive. If you don't mind, I'd like to talk with you more about these things in the future. Class B and Class D may be in different classes, but I think we can help each other."
"Of course." Natsukawa nodded. "I admire you too, Ichinose."
Ichinose smiled happily, her smile once again as warm as the sunshine. She sat with him for a little longer, and after they exchanged contact information, she relaxed. Then she turned to Sakura. "And who's this?"
"Sakura Airi, my classmate," Natsukawa introduced her.
"Hello, I'm Ichinose Honami." Ichinose smiled at Sakura, but Sakura kept her head down and managed a barely audible "Hello," her fingers nervously gripping the hem of her clothes.
Ichinose didn't mind. Instead, she turned to Natsukawa and asked jokingly, "You've been sitting together for lunch after just one week of school. Are you two dating?"
"No, no, Sakura and I just happened to run into each other in the cafeteria. By the way, could I ask you a favor, Ichinose? Sakura's pretty shy around people. Would you be willing to be friends with her?"
"Of course, Natsukawa-kun. Sakura, I look forward to getting along with you."
Ichinose reached out to Sakura, who reached out in turn. After they shook hands, the three of them started chatting. Once Natsukawa and Sakura had nearly finished eating, the two of them said goodbye and left. Ichinose returned to the Class B girls.
"She's so nice..." Sakura murmured after Ichinose had left.
"Yeah, she's Class B's guardian angel, after all." Natsukawa smiled. "But please keep what we talked about earlier a secret for now."
Sakura nodded earnestly. "I-I won't tell anyone."
After leaving the cafeteria, Natsukawa and Sakura walked together toward their classroom. When they were nearly at the school building, Sakura suddenly gathered her courage and said, "Natsukawa-kun, thank you... You helped me twice, and you even helped me make a friend. If... if you don't mind... could we be friends?"
As she said it, her cheeks turned as pink as cherry blossoms. Her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes, and although her gaze still darted away, a glimmer of hope shone in her eyes.
Natsukawa smiled and nodded. "Of course. We're already friends. And I should thank you for not minding that I took the liberty of finding a friend for you. Go on back to the classroom. I'm going to buy a drink and rinse my mouth out."
Watching Sakura walk away happily, Natsukawa felt a trace of warmth in his heart. In this world where ability was everything, someone as sincere as Sakura was one of the rarest treasures.
At the same time, however, he knew that the peaceful days wouldn't last much longer. The system's debt, the school's secrets, and the Special Exam that was coming soon would all arrive one after another.
He needed to grow strong enough to face the challenges ahead.
Before you continue