She didn't seem particularly noticeable, but the camera he'd gotten had confirmed that Sakura Airi really was a bona fide beauty.
So to Nakano Yuu, this already counted as having a meal with a beautiful girl. He was in a pretty good mood.
After all, what guy could turn down being surrounded by beautiful girls?
"Y-yes, it's fine," Sakura Airi replied hastily.
Though she'd said that, she still seemed a little flustered.
Nakano-kun was treating her to lunch today.
But Nakano-kun was spending far too much. The cost of one meal was already equal to what she spent in a whole day. She didn't think she was worth him spending so much on.
"Um... is it really okay if I don't get involved this time?" Sakura still had something on her mind.
She'd arrived a little late today, and when she got to class, she heard that Sudo had hit someone and that Class C had reported him to the Student Council.
Then Nakano Yuu had stepped forward and acted as Sudo's witness.
Hirata had also dealt with the matter quickly.
He said he'd have the teacher contact Class C and tell them their class had an eyewitness. If they didn't want the fight to be ruled mutual combat, Class C would have to withdraw its complaint.
As long as they didn't take it further and neither side admitted the incident had happened, neither side would be punished.
It seemed like the matter had been settled right away.
But Sakura knew very well that Nakano-kun wasn't the only eyewitness. She was one, too. Yet Nakano-kun had said he'd seen it alone, as if he were protecting her.
"About that..." Nakano Yuu shook his head. "Don't worry about it."
"Ryuuen-kun from Class C will withdraw the complaint on his own."
"Besides, the main event is still to come," Nakano Yuu said. "You remember what I said yesterday when we saw that scene, right?"
What had he said?
Nakano-kun had said quite a lot, and Sakura remembered most of it. The one she hadn't understood last night was, Of course we'll play along and make a little profit.
In other words...
Did Nakano-kun want to make some money from this?
But how would he do that?
While she was thinking about it, Airi noticed that Nakano-kun had started eating.
That's right.
It was time to eat. Nakano-kun wasn't just handsome; even the way he ate was nice to look at. She wished she could keep watching him.
"..." Sakura.
About ten seconds passed.
"..." Sakura.
Sakura still seemed lost in thought.
Oh no! What was she thinking about? Startled back to her senses, Sakura hurriedly began eating.
"So you really are here!"
A few students hurried over to the cafeteria on the second floor. One of the boys looked around, quickly spotted where Nakano Yuu was, and headed toward him.
The one leading them was the red-haired boy with a middle part whom Nakano Yuu and Sakura had just been talking about: Ryuen Kakeru.
"What a coincidence, Ryuen-kun," Nakano-kun said, slowly looking up at him. "I thought you'd come sooner."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryuen stepped forward and slapped his left hand down on the table.
That was the whole story of how Ryuen had stopped Nakano-kun as soon as he arrived at the cafeteria.
Everyone in Class C knew Ryuen had a bad temper, and they also knew he was quite violent.
That was because he'd brought his class under control through violence.
But even in a class like that, there were students willing to follow Ryuen.
Ryuen had brought two students with him.
One was very tall. His name was Yamada Albert. Ryuen couldn't beat him in physical ability or a fight, but he could make Albert's life miserable. After losing to Ryuen once in a challenge, Albert was harassed by him everywhere—even when he went to the bathroom. Unable to take it anymore, Albert chose to submit and became Ryuen's top thug and bodyguard.
The other student also looked like a hotheaded punk, and his face and hands were wrapped in bandages. He was clearly injured.
He was one of the three students who had fought Sudo last night. His name was Ishizaki Daichi.
Nakano Yuu looked at Sakura. The three's sudden arrival had made her a little uneasy, and she'd probably recognized Ishizaki Daichi as one of the three who'd fought Sudo yesterday.
"Whatever you want to talk about can wait," Nakano Yuu said. "I'm eating."
"..." Ryuen. "You think I'm just going to obediently wait for you?"
"You can go get some food and eat first," Nakano Yuu said. "Of course, I suggest you eat now, because what we're about to discuss might make you lose your appetite."
Lose their appetite?
Ryuen would never forget the message he'd received.
[Buddy, since you've found a way to make money, don't keep it all to yourself. Give me half!]
Ever since he'd met Nakano Yuu, the guy had always been connected to points.
He was a real skinflint.
So...
Not only had he predicted that Ryuen would bring people to find him, he also wasn't worried in the slightest. He clearly seemed confident.
Ryuen immediately understood that whatever came next wouldn't be easy to resolve.
And Nakano Yuu had good reason to be confident.
Ryuen had received word from Sakagami that a student in Class D had found an eyewitness who could prove the two sides had fought each other. Class D was demanding that they withdraw the complaint.
That eyewitness was Nakano Yuu from Class 1-D.
As for Nakano Yuu, whether or not he really was an eyewitness, Ryuen was certain from their previous encounters that the guy was dangerous.
"Big bro Ryuen!" Ishizaki Daichi had never met Nakano Yuu before, so he was shocked that someone would be so disrespectful in front of his big brother.
"Go get some food first," Ryuen said. He was silent for a few seconds, then gave the order.
"Huh?"
Ishizaki looked surprised.
"Go get your damn food!" Ryuen barked, showing no courtesy at all.
Perhaps Ryuen was worried Nakano Yuu might try something, because after getting their food, he and the others sat down not far from Nakano Yuu.
They were probably keeping an eye on him.
"I feel a little pressured," Sakura-kun said.
"It's fine. We're not the ones under pressure right now," Nakano-kun reassured her.
Nakano Yuu had originally thought the Sudo assault incident might not be that simple, but judging by Ryuen and the others' reactions, perhaps it really wasn't.
The Sudo assault incident had happened in the original story.
So it wasn't strange that it had happened now, but the timing was wrong. Sudo's fight had taken place after the midterms, when Class D had already earned some class evaluation points.
So if they lost the points they'd worked so hard to earn, the whole class would lose heart.
But right now, Class D had zero evaluation points.
They were already at zero, so what was the point of Class C picking a fight with them? Ryuen's class had 503 class evaluation points, after all.
It wasn't worth it.
But the incident had still happened.
There'd be no point in Ryuen attacking a class with zero points for no reason. But what if another class had hired him?
That would be different.
So Nakano Yuu had sent Ryuen a message.
If Ryuen reacted, that would mean another class really was involved—or at the very least, that class had offered him enough to make him act.
Now the attack had failed, and Ryuen's own bargaining chip was even under threat. No wonder he'd overreacted.
So Ryuen had come over in person.
Since he'd come straight to Nakano Yuu, it was only natural that Yuu would repeat the message he'd sent him.
[Buddy, since you've found a way to make money, don't keep it all to yourself. Give me half!]
After finishing his meal with Sakura, Nakano Yuu let her leave first.
In Nakano Yuu's eyes, Ryuen was practically a walking cash cow. But to the other students, he was the leader of a bunch of delinquents—someone dangerous to deal with.
Ryuen had already come over.
"So you deliberately sent your little girlfriend away. Now we can talk properly, right?"
"I have to say, your taste is pretty bad. You picked such an ordinary girl. If you don't pay attention, you hardly even notice she's there," Ryuen-kun taunted him.
With Sakura-kun gone, Nakano Yuu didn't have to keep being gentle.
"Heh. Ryuen-kun, your taste is the one that's really bad."
"If she were that ordinary, do you think I'd choose to eat with her?" Nakano Yuu shot back.
Damn.
So the girl from earlier was actually beautiful? It wasn't unheard of. Some students definitely hid their real appearance.
With her hair tied up and glasses on, she really did look like the typical anime character hiding her beauty.
But Ryuen wasn't interested in women.
"So what are you trying to say?" Ryuen Kakeru asked. "I've already withdrawn the complaint against your Class D."
"You suddenly showed up as an eyewitness. You were probably just making it up, but I'm doing you this favor and withdrawing the complaint against Sudo from your class," Ryuen said.
"So you've already withdrawn the complaint?" Nakano Yuu asked.
"What do you mean?" Ryuen's gaze instantly sharpened.
He had experience with that tone, expression, and choice of words.
Every time this guy was about to take money from him, he acted like this.
"Well, I just wanted to confirm the facts: you filed a complaint with the Student Council, then had no choice but to withdraw it after Class D found an eyewitness," Nakano Yuu said.
"Enough with the small talk. Tell me, who hired you this time?"
"Class A or Class B?" Nakano Yuu asked.
This school had changed somewhat because of his presence and the original male protagonist's absence, but he was still concerned about Class B.
Class B seemed stronger than it had been in the original story. It was as if they'd gotten some kind of buff.
"Do you think I'd tell you? Or maybe my students just couldn't stand that Sudo guy, so they asked him to come out," Ryuen said.
In other words, Ryuen-kun flatly denied being hired.
He took all the blame upon himself.
"If that's what you're saying, then there's nothing to discuss," Nakano Yuu said. "You attacked students from Class A before, and they lost points because of the fight, didn't they?"
"So how many points would you lose if you falsely accused another class now?"
"..." Ryuen.
Damn.
Ryuen suddenly understood why this guy had stepped in, and why Class D had chosen to have them withdraw the complaint instead of having the fight ruled mutual combat. Class D was already at zero points. They weren't afraid of losing any.
But all they'd done was make Class C withdraw its complaint.
Before you continue