What Do You Mean, Horikita's Biggest Fan? / Talking About Romance ...

Kushida Kikyo looked just like Ichinose: a kindhearted girl who cared about her class.

An angel?

The word suddenly came to Hashiba Hikaru's mind. Her initial stock price was the same as Ichinose's, which naturally made him think of that.

That made him even more curious about the short-haired girl in front of him. If she really was easy to get along with, there was nothing wrong with becoming friends with her. He could even raise her affection level a little and earn some funds.

"Um, are you done asking your questions, Honami?" Kushida's gaze shifted to Hashiba beside her. Smiling, she asked, "Hashiba, you came along today too. Did you have something you wanted to ask?"

"?"

The boy looked up and met Kushida's cheerful gaze, feeling a little surprised.

She's pretty perceptive.

"I do. There's something I'd like to ask you about too. After all, just like you, I'm an assistant who supports our class leader, so I'm sure we have plenty in common."

"Is that so?"

Kushida gave a slight nod, her expression turning interested. "Then go ahead, Hashiba. If I can help, I'll tell you everything I know."

Chapter 39: What Do You Mean, Horikita's Biggest Fan?

As soon as Kushida finished speaking, Hashiba Hikaru responded without the slightest hesitation.

"It's simple. Sometimes, when I run into problems in class, I feel like I don't know where to draw the line." A troubled look crossed the boy's face. "I mean well and genuinely want to help everyone, but sometimes my efforts end up backfiring."

"When that happens, what do you think I should do, Kushida?"

"Hmm. If your intention is to help the class, then I think whatever you do is a good thing." Kushida furrowed her delicate brows, her expression turning serious. "But you still have to be careful about how you help. You can't make everyone feel pressured."

"Yeah, that's what I think too. I'm worried that my good intentions might cause trouble, so sometimes I don't dare to help."

"That's okay. Before you help, you can have a good talk with your classmates. Make sure you really understand what they're thinking before you act, and then you won't end up making things worse. Everyone will be grateful to you, too."

Kushida Kikyo smiled, then added, "No wonder I've heard everyone say Class B is so united. It turns out Honami and Hashiba are both working so hard. You even worry about things just to help your class. You're both more impressive than me."

"Not at all."

Ichinose Honami felt a little embarrassed. She glanced at Hashiba Hikaru, then continued, "Actually, I'm curious. What's Hirata like when he leads Class D? Is he a kindhearted student like you, Kushida?"

"Of course. Hirata is very reliable, and both the boys and girls trust him." Kushida thought for a moment, then lowered her voice. "And because he's so reliable, a lot of girls in our class like him."

"But it seems he's already accepted Karuizawa's confession. They're dating now."

"What!?"

Ichinose Honami's expression changed. She stared in shock. "They're already dating?"

"Hehehe, don't go telling everyone I'm a blabbermouth. Lots of people already know." Kushida put on a bashful expression. "Karuizawa sometimes goes shopping with Hirata, holding onto his arm. They're not even trying to keep it a secret."

"I see."

Hashiba Hikaru nodded, then continued, "In that case, Hirata must have a lot of influence in his class. Even dating someone doesn't affect the girls' trust in him."

"That's right. Hirata is so handsome, after all!"

As she said that, Kushida looked at Hashiba Hikaru again, seemingly hinting at something. "Hashiba, you're handsome too. Haven't any girls in Class B confessed to you?"

As soon as she said that, the two across from her immediately changed expressions. Hashiba was surprised she would ask, while Ichinose Honami's expression darkened and the smile vanished from her lips.

"Um, no girls have confessed to me so far," Hashiba Hikaru said with a smile, glancing at Ichinose, whose expression had turned strange. "Besides, I think school should come first right now. I haven't really thought about dating."

"Don't ask him things like that, Kushida." Ichinose's smile was strained as she picked up Hashiba Hikaru's train of thought. "Hashiba is always trying to find ways to help the class. He probably hasn't even thought about dating."

"Okay, sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Don't take it to heart, Hashiba."

Kushida Kikyo immediately apologized, but her keen eyes had naturally noticed that Ichinose Honami's expression had changed the moment she asked. It had been obvious.

Heh. Honami really does care about Hashiba.

"It's fine. It's not a big deal, so you don't need to apologize, Kushida. We're the ones who came to ask you for advice today. We should be thanking you."

Hashiba Hikaru smoothly launched into some polite pleasantries. "Let me treat you to a meal later, as thanks for listening to us."

"Eh? I only told you a little about my class. I didn't do anything that important." Kushida looked flattered and quickly waved her hands, trying to refuse.

"Oh, come on, Kushida. Just say yes. I feel bad about asking you to come out so early today." Ichinose Honami glanced quickly at Hashiba's expression. She knew he still wanted to find out more about Class D, so she was happy to keep persuading Kushida.

"Do you have an important appointment today, Kushida? If you do, then we can't help it."

"Um... no, I don't."

The short-haired girl with golden hair looked hesitant, but seeing how firm the other two were, she eventually nodded in agreement.

"Great! Do you have a favorite kind of food, Kushida? I'm paying, so order whatever you like."

Hashiba Hikaru looked pleased that she had agreed. He wanted to keep observing this little angel, whose personality was so similar to Ichinose's, and find out what kind of person she really was.

"I don't have anything I especially like. Hashiba, you can decide. Anything's fine with me."

"All right, then let's go to that popular family restaurant. Their food is pretty good."

Hashiba Hikaru remembered the place they'd gone to for their first meeting. The students in Class B all liked it, and it had received plenty of praise.

"Sounds good."

Kushida nodded in agreement.

Then Ichinose Honami invited Hashiba Hikaru to get up. Since their goal today was to gather information, she planned to walk around Keyaki Mall with Kushida Kikyo.

There was still plenty of time before lunch, so making the most of it to chat with Kushida was something the two of them had agreed on.

As the group moved down the street, Hashiba Hikaru secretly used the system to buy a [Stock Analyzer]. He wanted to see what was going on with Kushida Kikyo's stock.

[Stock Analyzer used.]

[Kushida Kikyo Stock]

[Stock information: A cute girl who brightens the mood in class. She has a wide circle of friends and can quickly become friendly with strangers. She has another side that few people know about, and an extremely aggressive streak in her personality.]

[Suggestions for raising the stock price: Build a relationship of trust, help her hide her past, make Horikita Suzune drop out.]

[Risks that could lower the stock price: Interact with Horikita Suzune, become Horikita Suzune's ally or friend.]

"Uh...?"

After reading the analysis, Hashiba Hikaru was left completely baffled.

What kind of ultimate Horikita fan was this? Both the ways to raise and lower her stock price had something to do with her.

Wait, wasn't Horikita Suzune already listed in the system?

Could she be in Class D too?

That was some incredible information.

Chapter 40: Talking About Romance

On Saturday, Hashiba Hikaru and Ichinose Honami spent a delightful morning at Keyaki Mall with Kushida Kikyo. All three were talkative, so there was never an awkward lull in the conversation.

As the two girls chatted, the boy often chimed in at just the right moments. Though Ichinose Honami had only just met Kushida, the two of them already acted like old friends.

Ichinose was familiar with nearly all the topics young people liked, so she and the short-haired girl chatted happily. Since Kushida had agreed to meet her so early in the morning, she clearly wanted to make friends too, and the atmosphere had been pleasant all along.

When noon came, the three of them went to the family restaurant where they'd made a reservation for lunch. As usual, Hashiba Hikaru let the ladies order first.

Once the server took their orders to the kitchen, the three of them started chatting again.

"Has anything interesting happened in your class recently, Kushida?" Hashiba Hikaru held a clean glass, ready to pour himself some tea. "Could you tell us about it?"

"Anything interesting?" Kushida touched her chin, putting on a thoughtful expression. She looked a little uncertain. "I can't think of anything. Everyone's busy with their own things. Nothing particularly unusual has happened."

"Is that so?"

Ichinose Honami blinked her beautiful eyes, her voice full of curiosity. "I'm actually curious about Hirata, whom Kushida mentioned earlier. Now that he has a girlfriend, does he act affectionate with Karuizawa in class?"

"No," Kushida said with a smile. "Even though they're dating, they mostly spend time together after school. They don't show it in class."

"And because Hirata is so considerate, he still treats the other girls gently even though he has a girlfriend. I heard that makes Karuizawa a little jealous."

"I see."

A look of surprise crossed Ichinose Honami's face. She wasn't actually curious about the love life of some guy she'd never met. She wanted to find out what Hirata, the person chosen to lead Class D, was really like.

"Honami, if you were dating someone, would you let your boyfriend be just as nice to other girls?"

Kushida asked with a smile, watching Ichinose. She hadn't given up on finding out how the girl felt.

"Eh, me?"

At the sudden question, Ichinose Honami's gaze instinctively shifted toward Hashiba Hikaru beside her. But the boy was just looking over calmly, his expression perfectly normal.

Seeing how completely unconcerned he looked, the girl felt a faint pang of disappointment. Still, she kept her gentle smile as she replied to Kushida. "If that happened, I might get pretty angry too."

"Right? I think so too."

Kushida Kikyo promptly nodded, agreeing with the answer. She had no intention of dating anyone just yet, but there had already been plenty of boys confessing to her during their first few days of school.

Kushida felt that dating would seriously damage her image among her classmates. She'd rather be someone everyone could confide in—a good friend who could fulfill her wish and learn the secrets in different students' hearts.

Just thinking about it made her happy.

The short-haired girl curled her lips and put on an indignant expression as she declared, "If I were dating someone and my boyfriend dared to get too close to another girl, I'd be furious. I'd never forgive him!"

"Kushida, you must be really popular. If you ever choose a boyfriend, you'll have to keep your eyes open."

Ichinose kept the conversation on romance going, fixing her gaze on Kushida Kikyo's face as she spoke softly. "If you ever like someone, I'll cheer you on."

"Thanks, Honami! But I haven't met anyone yet. For now, I'd rather hang out with cute girls."

Kushida smiled. Though Ichinose Honami had been the one to bring up romance, Kushida had used the conversation to find out what she wanted to know.

For instance, what was the relationship between Ichinose and Hashiba?

After observing them from morning until now, Kushida Kikyo had already reached a conclusion. The two of them probably weren't dating yet, but Ichinose clearly seemed interested, while Hashiba's attitude was hard to read.

The boy seemed quite warm and easygoing, willing to chat with them about anything. But Kushida Kikyo, who had met plenty of people, knew that this was just him playing along.

Hashiba must have had his own reasons for coming to the gathering today. Kushida still didn't know what they were, so she could only try to provoke Ichinose and see how she reacted.

Unfortunately, even after bringing up romance—a topic that interested pretty much everyone, regardless of gender—she still hadn't gotten a reaction out of Hashiba. His expression hadn't changed at all.

After a while, the restaurant began serving their food. Kushida had to set aside her doubts for the time being and eat with the other two. As they ate, she continued trying to subtly gauge Hashiba Hikaru's attitude, but got nowhere.

Across from them, Hashiba Hikaru continued to chat with the girls, perfectly at ease, while thinking to himself.

Right now, his main concern was figuring out the relationship between Kushida and Horikita Suzune. Why did both raising and lowering Kushida's stock price depend on Horikita?

Thinking of Horikita Suzune brought back the image of the aloof girl he'd seen at the supermarket. Her haughty demeanor and stunning beauty were hard to forget.

When he went to Class D on Monday to sell them the rules, he'd probably get to meet Horikita. Before buying Kushida's stock, Hashiba Hikaru wanted to gather more information so he could be sure of his decision.

After all, the [Stock Analyzer] had clearly stated that this brown-haired angel had another side few people knew about. But what was that side like? Would it affect his plans to raise her stock price? For now, he still didn't know.

But building a relationship of trust shouldn't be too hard as a first step. The real challenge is her other side and making Horikita drop out. Hashiba Hikaru rubbed his chin, considering the possibilities. I'll have to wait until I meet Horikita Suzune to find out whether those two things are connected.

The three of them had come together to talk over a meal, and each of them had their own concerns. On the surface, though, the atmosphere stayed pleasant. Maybe that was what people meant by life being a play, and everyone an actor.

Chapter 41: A Brand-New Plan

After lunch with Kushida Kikyo, she said she had something else to do and took her leave. Ichinose Honami also had something she wanted to do, so the trio split up, and Hashiba Hikaru returned to his dorm.

His meeting with Kushida, along with Ichinose Honami, had been somewhat productive. Besides learning who currently led their class, he'd also gotten a general sense of her situation, such as the fact that she had a boyfriend and her standing in the class.

That meant that when he went to sell them the rules, he just had to persuade Hirata and Kushida, who was already popular in Class D, and he'd have a much better chance of collecting everyone's points. Time was running out.

If he waited any longer, those spendthrift students in Class D really might run out of points. Hashiba Hikaru's minimum goal was a million. Although yesterday's class meeting hadn't looked promising, it was still possible if he could successfully persuade Class D's leader to unite the class.

"The remaining issue is the stocks. That's the most important thing."

Hashiba Hikaru sat at the desk in his dorm room and wrote down two names in his notebook.

Horikita Suzune. Kushida Kikyo.

Both of them had stock information recorded in the system. The [Horikita Suzune Stock] had an initial price of 100 points and 3,000 shares available. The [Kushida Kikyo Stock] had an initial price of 10 points and 5,000 shares available—the exact same starting conditions as Ichinose Honami's.

After using the [Stock Analyzer] on Kushida Kikyo, he'd learned about two crucial ways to raise her stock price. One was to help her hide her past, and the other was to make Horikita Suzune drop out.

"That doesn't sound easy."

Hashiba Hikaru shook his head, his thoughts in a whirl.