In Classroom of the Elite, My Love Stock Market Only Wants a Full Position

He recalled the time he spent with Kushida Kikyo today. The qualities she displayed, her keen observation skills, and her social ability to quickly close the distance with strangers—when these traits were combined, it was certain that she was an outstanding talent.

Yet, a Kushida like this had been assigned to Class D by the school, which could only mean one thing.

Her past had already been discovered by the school, and even knowing that her overall aptitude was high, the school had still assigned her to Class D.

Perhaps this past is quite complicated, leaving the school with no choice but to make such a decision.

The boy clicked his tongue. He had expected the newly listed stock to be a simple girl whose share price could be easily raised, just like Ichinose Honami, but he hadn't expected to learn so much after just one interaction.

Hidden true colors, wanting to get classmates expelled—everyone is only in their teens, so why are you carrying such a heavy past?

Forget it, there's a way around every corner. I'll know once I get to Class D.

Hashiba Hikaru looked at the newly listed [Kushida Kikyo Stock] on the system interface. Her initial share price was 10 points; as long as he raised it by a point, he could earn a fair amount of funds. The boy thought that if he discovered this person was truly a hassle during his subsequent interactions with her, he could just cash out and run.

After a while, he suddenly thought of another approach.

As for Ichinose Honami, Hashiba Hikaru had always been her comrade-in-arms, and since he had a bit of a crush on her, he was unwilling to do anything that would lower her share price. But since this classmate Kushida had now appeared, he could boldly experiment.

[Kushida Kikyo Stock]

[Share Price Increase Suggestion: Establish a relationship of trust, help her hide her past, and get Horikita Suzune expelled.]

[Share Price Decrease Risk: Frequent contact with Horikita Suzune, becoming an ally or friend of Horikita Suzune.]

If I raise her share price first, and then interact with Horikita Suzune right in front of her, will it lower the price?

Hashiba Hikaru leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin. He had to admit that this idea instantly tempted him. If the experiment succeeded, Kushida Kikyo would be a qualified ATM for system funds, and she would surely be able to cough up a lot of gold coins.

I hope you don't disappoint me. See you on Monday, classmate Kushida.

A light smile appeared on the boy's face. After the analysis was over, he felt even more anticipation for the day he would go to Class D.

When the comfortable weekend ended, time quickly arrived at the second week after school started. Hashiba Hikaru had stayed in his dorm during the break, and other than chatting with his classmates from Class B on his phone, he had no desire to go out unless it was for something important.

After finishing his daily hour of exercise as usual in the morning, Hashiba Hikaru walked into the Class 1-B classroom. He spotted Ichinose Honami sitting at her desk at a glance. The girl still wore a vibrant, energetic smile on her face today, which made anyone who saw it feel better.

"Good morning, Hashiba-kun!"

"Good morning, Ichinose-san," Hashiba Hikaru said as he walked to his seat and sat down, turning his head toward the girl. "Let's go to Hoshinomiya-sensei's office to print the contract first, then we'll head to Class D to sell the rules before school ends this afternoon."

"Mm-hmm, I've already prepared the brand-new handwritten rules."

Ichinose nodded and took a brown notebook out of her school bag. This was a task she had taken the initiative to handle yesterday; since the rules sold to Class A last time were written by Hashiba Hikaru, she felt she should take charge this time.

"Before we go to Class D, shouldn't we send a message to classmate Kushida first?" Ichinose held her phone, asking for Hashiba Hikaru's opinion. "Ask her to have the students of Class D stay for a while after school, saying there's something to announce."

"Did you also interact with classmate Kushida on Sunday, Ichinose-san?"

"Yes, I intend to get on good terms with classmate Kushida. After all, she is the assistant to Hirata-kun, the leader of Class D, and she has a lot of influence in the class."

Ichinose Honami wore a look of confident radiance as she said easily, "I learned some information from classmate Kushida yesterday, too. Would you like to hear it, Hashiba-kun?"

"Oh?"

Seeing that the girl had already started taking initiative, Hashiba Hikaru felt a bit gratified. It seemed that after that time she shed tears, Ichinose Honami had truly grown quite a bit. To think she was even acting behind his back—that was truly impressive.

"Then please tell me, Ichinose-san. I'm ready."

"Hehehe," the pink-haired girl stared at Hashiba Hikaru beside her, a serious glint flashing in her eyes. "When we were talking about studying yesterday, I heard classmate Kushida say that there are many students in their class who are very good at their studies."

"What do you mean specifically? Are their total subject scores very high?"

"Classmate Kushida said that sometimes the teacher asks some rather difficult questions that everyone can't figure out for a while, but there is one student who can answer immediately, which really impressed her."

"Who is it?"

Hashiba Hikaru suddenly thought of something, and the corners of his mouth curled into a meaningful smile.

"Classmate Kushida said her name is Horikita Suzune, and she is a very beautiful girl."

"..."

So it really is her?

The boy reached up and pressed his brow. He was very confused about Kushida's attitude in his heart. Since she wanted to get the other girl expelled, why would she mention her name to others? Were the two of them on good terms, or not?

"Does Hashiba-kun happen to know this Horikita-san?" Ichinose Honami, who was beside him, saw the "as expected" expression on the boy's face and felt a tightness in her chest, quickly pressing for an answer.

"No, I don't know her. Why would you ask that, Ichinose-san?"

Suddenly sensing a change in the atmosphere, Hashiba Hikaru immediately explained. In any case, he really didn't know her; he had only seen her once from afar.

"That's good. I thought Hashiba-kun was hiding something from me."

"Haha... no way..."

Chapter 42: The Ensemble Drama of Class D, Part 1

When the bell for class rang, the students of Class B entered a focused state. Since last week, under Hashiba Hikaru's advocacy, everyone had become accustomed to concentrating on their studies, so class time always passed by particularly quickly.

Soon, it was time for school to end on Monday. Everyone knew that Hashiba Hikaru and Ichinose Honami were going to Class D to sell the rules today, so after the teacher left, the classmates gathered around.

"Hashiba-kun, are you two heading out?"

"Yes, we are about to head to Class D. This is the second link in our point recovery plan."

The boy smiled and took the contract documents he had printed at noon out of his desk. Just like the ones for Class A, there were forty copies in total, and he would need everyone in Class D to sign them later.

"Good luck, Hashiba-kun, we'll be waiting for your good news!"

"I believe Hashiba-kun will definitely succeed; everyone has seen your capabilities for themselves."

"Good luck to you too, Ichinose-san, I look forward to your successful collection of the points."

"Mm-hmm, please rest assured, everyone."

Ichinose Honami nodded at the students of Class B. Time waited for no one; she had already messaged Kushida and needed to get there as soon as possible.

"Let's go, Hashiba-kun."

"Alright."

The two of them took the notebook recording the rules and the stack of contracts, walking toward the Class D classroom under the watchful eyes of their classmates in Class B.

As the lowest-ranked class, the Class D classroom was some distance from Class B. Hashiba Hikaru and Ichinose walked side by side, becoming a scenic sight in the hallway during the after-school rush.

Upon reaching the door of Class D, Ichinose felt a little nervous, but Hashiba Hikaru was indifferent. He encouraged the girl beside him with a look before walking into the classroom with her.

Since they had contacted Kushida Kikyo in advance, the students of Class D had not left yet. Instead, they were sitting impatiently in their seats, looking around. When they saw the two figures enter the doorway, they all turned to look.

"Good afternoon, everyone in Class D! I am Hashiba Hikaru from Class 1-B."

Hashiba Hikaru greeted the students in the classroom with a smile. His demeanor was very relaxed; after all, they were all first-year students, so it wasn't as if they could do anything to him.

"Hashiba-kun, you're here."

At this moment, upon seeing Ichinose Honami and Hashiba Hikaru walk in, Kushida Kikyo immediately greeted them with a beaming smile.

"Mm, good afternoon, Kushida-san."

Ichinose nodded at her, then stepped forward to stand beside Hashiba Hikaru.

Just then, a handsome-looking boy walked up to the two of them. He looked at the boy and girl before him and asked gently, "Good afternoon, you two. I am Hirata Yosuke from Class D. Kushida-san mentioned earlier that we should wait a bit after school; were you the ones she was waiting for?"

"That's right, Hirata-kun."

Hashiba Hikaru nodded at him. He had to admit that this guy was quite handsome, and with his gentle demeanor and the aura of confidence he carried, it was no wonder he was popular with the girls.

"Could we take a little bit of your time in Class D? We have some things we'd like to discuss, which is why we asked Kushida-san to have everyone stay behind."

"I heard from Kushida-san that you have something very important to tell us, right? The time is no problem; I trust Kushida-san's judgment."

The boy named Hirata seemed very easy to talk to. After hearing what Hashiba Hikaru had to say, he immediately turned to the students of Class D in the classroom and said, "Please, everyone, look over here. These two are friends of Kushida-san, and they have something they would like to tell us."

"Is there something that absolutely has to be said right now? I have club activities, don't make me late!"

A boy with red hair sat in his seat, his tone of voice quite aggressive.

After he finished speaking, two other boys behind him chimed in.

"Yeah, I'm in a rush to get back to the dorms, I have important things to do."

"Can you hurry up and say it? Is three minutes enough?"

"Hey, Yamauchi, you're just rushing back to the dorms to play games, aren't you? It wouldn't hurt to be delayed a little." Someone teased, seemingly on good terms with the boy who had spoken.

"What do you know? Time is money. I have to seize every opportunity to grind for materials so I can increase my combat power."

Seeing the boys suddenly start chatting loudly, a look of embarrassment appeared on Ichinose Honami's flushed face. She hadn't expected the students of Class D to be so uncooperative, and she looked at the boy beside her with worry in her eyes.

But to her surprise, even though the Class D students below were acting poorly, Hashiba Hikaru still wore a smile on his face, as if he didn't care at all.

"Um, could everyone please quiet down? It won't take much time, please trust me."

Hirata displayed his aura as a class leader at this moment. He glanced at the composed Hashiba Hikaru and said to the boys who were heckling below, "Please, stop the commotion."

Upon seeing Hirata's intervention, the students of Class D calmed down a little; after all, they were on decent terms with Hirata.

"Hirata-kun is truly impressive, worthy of being a class leader."

Hashiba Hikaru praised him casually and stepped onto the podium to prepare his speech.

"Good afternoon, students. Perhaps some of you were distracted or didn't notice me walk in, so I'll reintroduce myself."

"My name is Hashiba Hikaru, and I am a student in Class 1-B. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Just say what you have to say! I'm not interested in your name! Don't waste my time!"

The one who spoke was still the impatient red-haired boy. He was tall and carried an air of someone not to be trifled with.

"Don't be so impatient, classmate. I'm about to get to it."

Hashiba Hikaru was not angered by his hostile attitude. He was only here to collect points, and since Class D was viewed by the school as the worst class, the boy naturally had no interest in building friendships with these people. He didn't care what people who didn't matter thought.

"What I want to tell everyone in Class D has to do with the unique nature of this school."

Hashiba Hikaru naturally picked up the chalk left on the podium by the teacher, turned around, and wrote these large characters on the blackboard before looking at the group in Class D. "School has been in session for a week now. Hasn't anyone noticed anything unusual about this school?"

Before coming to Class D, the boy had already devised the execution strategy for this plan.

Unlike the excellent Class A, if he simply showed them the contract, they wouldn't necessarily believe him and might even walk away, which would make the situation more complicated.

Therefore, Hashiba intended to first use some obvious issues to grab their attention, then take out the contract, and finally proceed with the transaction of rules.

"Unusual?"

Standing nearby, Hirata and Kushida exchanged glances; they had never expected this to be what Hashiba Hikaru was going to say.

"What kind of anomaly are you talking about? How come I haven't noticed anything?"

The boy who had spoken up earlier wore a look of disdain, feeling that the classmate in front of him, who looked like a pretty boy, was just trying to be mysterious.

"Yamauchi, please quiet down for a moment and let Hashiba continue," Hirata immediately looked over, signaling for the other to shut up.

"Tch!"

The boy named Yamauchi Haruki muttered something, but he did not continue to argue.

"Heh, everyone has been living here for a week now; you should have noticed the rather unusual arrangements around the school," Hashiba Hikaru's gaze swept across everyone, his tone relaxed.

"For instance, why are there free items in the convenience store? And why can we eat vegetable sets in the cafeteria without spending any money?"

"Think about it for a moment. Since we are issued points every month, why would the school set up free, fail-safe options?" The young man wore a smile on his face. "Isn't that redundant?"

"Does Hashiba have some kind of discovery?"

After pondering for a moment, Hirata asked.

"Don't be so impatient, Hirata. Let everyone think about it first; after all, what we need to do requires the cooperation of all of you."

Hashiba Hikaru looked gently toward Ichinose beside him, signaling for her to hand him the stack of contracts she was holding.

"Once everyone realizes it, I will continue. That is the best way to persuade you all."

"But..."

Kushida Kikyo was thinking rapidly. She didn't know what exactly Hashiba Hikaru and Ichinose were planning to do right now, but she quickly associated it with her interactions with the two of them over the weekend.

Could it be that they were probing me for information?

Was it all for this moment today?

"Are you trying to say that some people will run out of points in the future?"