"Hello, Kushida."
The boys sitting at their desks immediately greeted Kushida Kikyo, who stood before them. She really did have a beautiful face, nearly on par with Ichinose Honami's. They were both top-tier beauties.
When it was Hashiba Hikaru's turn, he had just finished greeting her when a new message appeared on his System Bar.
[Beep! Kushida Kikyo Stock is now available!]
[Current stock price: 10]
[Number of shares issued: 5,000]
"!"
Hashiba Hikaru's expression changed when he saw the notification. After waiting several days, he'd finally found another new stock—and this time, he was very satisfied with it.
Another stock with an initial price of 10. This was the ideal target for going all in.
"Classmate Hashiba, I heard you're Ichinose's assistant. You must be very capable."
Kushida had no idea what was going through the boy's mind. She simply started asking questions out of habit, hoping to get closer to him.
"Not really. I just do a few small things for the class." Hashiba Hikaru shook his head slightly as he studied the short-haired girl across from him. Her expressions and movements seemed entirely natural. She was clearly very good at socializing.
"Classmate Hashiba, you're so modest. I hear your name from Honami all the time."
Kushida Kikyo and Ichinose Honami seemed to know each other well; even the name she used was a nickname.
"I do not! Don't make things up, Kushida!"
A blush rose on the pink-haired girl's cheeks. She hurriedly tapped Kushida on the arm, then said to Hashiba Hikaru, "Classmate Hashiba, we've paid the bill. We can go now."
"Okay."
After everyone left the Yakiniku Restaurant, they decided to keep wandering around Keyaki Mall while they still had time. Hashiba Hikaru didn't mind, so he followed along behind them.
With Kushida Kikyo joining them, there were now seven people in the group. As an acquaintance of Ichinose's, she fit right into the atmosphere among them.
The girl was also very good at reading people. Before long, she had gotten to know all of their Class B classmates.
"A social butterfly, huh?"
That was the first impression Hashiba Hikaru formed as he watched her.
But she was a Class D student, which meant the school had judged her to be among the worst. Yet Kushida gave him no such impression at all.
Looks like she's no simple girl either.
Hashiba Hikaru quietly watched the short-haired girl's every move. Her initial stock price of 10 was certainly tempting, but he needed to carefully plan how to approach her.
Horikita Suzune's Discovery
When the alarm clock by her bed rang for the first time, Horikita Suzune sat up without the slightest delay.
Next came getting dressed, washing up, and tidying herself.
The girl stood before the mirror and straightened her long black hair. Her exceptionally beautiful face was expressionless. It was her first week living in the dorms at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, and she was in Class 1-D.
The past few days of school had left Horikita Suzune in a foul mood. This place was far too lax.
Not only had the school given every student 100,000 points' worth of spending money on the first day, but the teachers also seemed to have no desire to manage classroom order. They did nothing when students passed notes or played on their phones during class.
As soon as the bell rang, the teachers left on time. They wouldn't stay even one second longer.
This left Horikita Suzune, who held herself to strict standards, deeply dissatisfied. She had thought the school her older brother attended would be excellent. It was reputed to have the best graduation and employment rates, so how could it tolerate students behaving however they pleased?
Even so, although she saw her classmates doing whatever they wanted, Horikita Suzune had always kept to herself and had no interest in socializing. She still had no intention of meddling in their affairs. They had nothing to do with her.
When she entered the classroom that morning, the atmosphere was the same as before. No one seemed interested in studying. The girls huddled together to talk about fashion and trends, while the boys either discussed games or loudly told vulgar jokes.
Horikita Suzune could feel some of her classmates looking at her when she walked in, but she didn't care in the slightest. After returning to her seat, she took out the book she had borrowed the day before and began to read.
A handsome boy sat beside her. His name was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. He had once been on the same bus as Horikita Suzune, and the two of them had even spoken once.
But Horikita Suzune had soon forgotten that conversation. She had come to this school to pursue the one goal that mattered most to her. No one else was worth her attention.
After school, the black-haired girl went to the cafeteria alone. Just as she was about to enjoy the meal she had picked out, she felt someone watching her.
Horikita Suzune looked around, but she didn't see anyone strange. The other students in the cafeteria were either eating at their tables or lining up to get food.
"Am I just imagining things?"
After setting aside her doubts, Horikita Suzune chose a relatively quiet corner and started eating. Just then, she heard a quiet discussion. It was coming from two boys seated diagonally in front of her on the right.
They were eating too, but they also had notebooks in their hands, as if they were recording something.
"How's it going, Tsube?"
"I've got it down. Sotomura from Class D has been choosing the 2,000-yen pork cutlet set meal for lunch every day. After he finishes, he buys two bottles of juice in different flavors."
"Good. This guy knows how to enjoy himself."
"Hey, isn't that Yamauchi?"
"What is it?"
"That guy's a famous blabbermouth. I've talked to him a few times and gotten a lot of information out of him."
"Ninomiya... You didn't do anything unnecessary, did you?" Tsube's voice carried a warning. "Have you forgotten Classmate Hashiba's orders? Don't do anything that could make them suspicious."
"Come on, Tsube, don't worry," Ninomiya said easily. "He's just a Class D student. How could he be that perceptive? I just started talking to him about games, and he opened up to me right away."
"I see. Don't act on your own again. Be careful not to interfere with Classmate Hashiba's plan."
"Relax, relax."
Ninomiya shoveled a couple of bites of food into his mouth, but he never took his eyes off Yamauchi Haruki up ahead.
When Horikita Suzune heard their conversation, suspicion immediately clouded her face. She couldn't understand what the two boys were doing. Were they keeping tabs on someone?
Yamauchi Haruki and Sotomura Hideo were both students in Class D, so Horikita Suzune recognized them.
"They've divided their work clearly. They're eating, but they keep their eyes on their target the whole time." Horikita Suzune's expression turned grave as she thought it over. "It sounds like they're carrying out orders from someone called Classmate Hashiba, and they care a lot about his plan."
"Strange guys..."
As Horikita Suzune considered what she had discovered, she suddenly noticed Ninomiya's expression change. He immediately raised his voice to the boy beside him. "Hey, Tsube. Isn't that Yamauchi holding the latest handheld console?"
"...Yeah." Tsube's expression changed too. In a low voice, he said, "I thought that console cost 30,000. He really doesn't mind spending, does he?"
"Damn it!"
Ninomiya's previously relaxed expression turned sour. He said to Tsube, "We have to tell Classmate Hashiba about this tomorrow. Just as I thought, Class D students are all trash. How dare they spend their points so freely? It's only been a few days since school started!"
"Yeah. If they spend all their points, Classmate Hashiba's plan could run into serious trouble."
The two boys exchanged a look, their expressions turning a little strange. Not long after, they left the cafeteria together.
After hearing their conversation, Horikita Suzune's pretty face turned as cold as ice.
She picked out several key details from what they had said.
They were keeping watch to find out how the other students were spending their Private Points.
Their targets were in Class D.
Class D students were trash.
These details immediately caught Horikita Suzune's attention. She couldn't understand why the two boys had said such things. Then the girl began to connect them with what she had noticed in her class over the past few days.
A theory gradually took shape in her mind, but Horikita Suzune didn't know where to begin investigating. For now, she could only keep her discovery to herself.
Besides, she didn't know which class the two boys belonged to.
But since she had seen someone keeping watch on her classmates, surely someone had been assigned to watch her too. Perhaps the person behind that gaze she had felt just now was the one.
Horikita Suzune decided to be more vigilant from now on. She found the word "trash" extremely hard to accept.
Horikita Suzune had always held firmly to her own principles. She would never allow anyone to label her that way. She had to find out what was going on!
And Another String of Good News
When Friday arrived, Hashiba Hikaru got up early for his morning exercise, as he had grown accustomed to doing.
Over the past few days, he had gradually found his rhythm. It was still a little uncomfortable, but once he got used to sweating, the benefits of exercise had made his posture straighter and his whole body seemed much more energetic than before.
After showering, he arrived at the classroom of Class 1-B with the half-eaten bread still in his hand. But the moment he stepped inside, that familiar feeling came over him again.
Please don't tell me it's happening again...
"Classmate Hashiba!"
Someone immediately called his name from inside the classroom, and the boy's relaxed expression fell at once.
"What is it?"
Three times now. What new information had come in this time? Couldn't they let him have one peaceful day?
Hashiba Hikaru looked at the two classmates watching him. They were both boys named Tsube and Ninomiya. Apparently, their assignment was to keep an eye on students in Class D.
"We found some important information about Class D yesterday." Ninomiya looked a little tense. He took out his notebook and showed it to Hashiba Hikaru. "I was keeping an eye on Sotomura from Class D yesterday when I ran into another Class D student I knew. His name is Yamauchi Haruki."
"And then?"
"I saw him holding a brand-new handheld console. It costs 30,000 points at the electronics store."
"?"
Hashiba Hikaru's expression changed as soon as he heard that.
30,000?
Didn't that mean Yamauchi had already spent almost a third of his points?
School had been in session for less than a week, and he was spending that freely already. Did he really think he'd get 100,000 points every month?
"Is that all you found? Anything else?"
"We've got the spending habits of the students we're tracking, Sotomura and Ishikura, right here. They're both using quite a lot of points every day."
Ninomiya and Tsube hurriedly handed Hashiba Hikaru the notebooks they were holding. The more he read, the darker his expression became.
He realized he might have overestimated the students assigned to Class D. His original plan had been to wait another half month before collecting points from Class D. But if its students were all like this, there might not be a single point left to collect by then.
"Just... a string of good news..."
He had only just dealt with the problem in Class C, and now Class D was the next disaster waiting to happen?
At this rate, Class A seemed much easier to handle. But perhaps the timing had something to do with it. After all, everyone still had their points on the first day.
Hashiba Hikaru pressed his fingers to his brow and told Ninomiya and Tsube to return to their seats for the time being. Homeroom was in the afternoon. Once he had gone over all the information about Class D, he would have to make a decision immediately. Otherwise, there might be no points left to collect.
"Classmate Hashiba, are you okay?"
Ichinose, his deskmate, noticed his troubled expression and hurried over to speak to him gently. "Are you worried about Class D?"
"Yeah... Sort of. I'm afraid today's homeroom is going to give everyone a shock."
Hashiba Hikaru nodded slightly. Only after reading the notes had he understood why these students had been assigned to Class D.
The morning classes passed quickly. After the first class in the afternoon came the usual homeroom period. When Chie Hoshinomiya walked into Class B's classroom in her fashionable outfit and high heels, everyone realized that the crucial moment had arrived.
This was the first homeroom since the school year began, and the first time Class B would see the results of the plan set in motion by Hashiba Hikaru.
The first part of homeroom was the teacher's summary of the week's lessons and activities, along with announcements about upcoming assignments and school events. When it was all over, Hashiba Hikaru saw Hoshinomiya-sensei looking his way.
"That wraps up the first half. Now it's time for the class leader to speak. Ichinose, come on up."
Chie Hoshinomiya smiled warmly at the pink-haired girl whom everyone had chosen as their class leader. When Ichinose stood up, Hashiba Hikaru followed her. Everyone in the class understood that only the two of them together represented the true leaders of Class B.
"Everyone, you've probably made some progress on the plan I announced a few days ago. Classmate Hashiba will be handling the evaluation, so let's welcome him." Ichinose Honami smiled at the boy beside her, inviting him to come up and begin evaluating the plan.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
The class immediately applauded. Everyone was supportive.
"All right."
Hashiba Hikaru nodded. This was what they had agreed on, so he didn't hesitate before going to the center of the platform and looking over everyone in the class.
As soon as the boy stepped up, the atmosphere in the classroom grew tense. Everyone looked serious.
"I've just received some information about Class D, so today's first topic is the point-collection operation there." Hashiba Hikaru glanced at Ninomiya, who was sitting at his desk, and gave an instruction. "Those of you assigned to Class D, please stand up one by one and tell everyone what you've found. I'll take notes as you speak."
"Let's begin!"
Before you continue