Points Negotiation

Kageya Shinjitsu looked completely calm, as if he'd known they were coming all along.

Horikita Manabu spoke first.

"After reviewing the matter, the school and the Student Council have decided that every second-year student involved in this incident as a minor participant will receive one demerit. Three demerits in total will result in expulsion. In addition, all of them will be suspended for three days. The main participants will be suspended for two weeks and receive a demerit. You two will also be compensated with points."

"Furthermore, their classes will all lose points because of this incident. That's a matter for the school to handle."

"If you agree, we can discuss the compensation amount, and then you can sign a letter of understanding. If you don't agree, you can appeal here, and we'll renegotiate the matter."

"Oh~~ Compensation, a letter of understanding..."

"It was just a misunderstanding with the upperclassmen. I don't think there's anything I can't accept."

Kageya Shinjitsu had underestimated how lenient this school could be.

He'd thought someone might be expelled or something.

But all they got was a demerit and a two-week suspension?

Was it because his injuries weren't serious, and the main perpetrators had all been beaten up?

Or was it because they'd looked into his background and thought he was the one who'd set them up?

As he speculated, he wondered how many points he ought to get.

"Underclassman, I'm here to negotiate compensation in points on behalf of the second-years."

"If you're willing to sign the letter of understanding, we're prepared to compensate you with two million personal points and Karuizawa with two hundred thousand points for emotional distress."

"You don't need to worry about medical expenses and the like, either. We'll cover all of them."

Miyabi Nagumo spoke politely.

Only he knew how badly he wanted to kill Kageya Shinjitsu.

"Whaaat??? Two million personal points?"

"I don't think I'm particularly short of two million~~"

"That doesn't feel very sincere."

Kageya Shinjitsu looked at Miyabi Nagumo as he spoke.

"Well, we can still discuss it."

Miyabi Nagumo wanted to hit him, but managed to swallow his anger.

He knew it wouldn't be that easy. Two million was just their opening offer.

"We can discuss it? How about twenty million, and two million for Karuizawa?"

Kageya Shinjitsu made an outrageous demand, laying his ambition bare.

"..."

"Impossible. There's absolutely no way we can offer that much."

"Twenty-two million in total? Even if the entire year pooled its points, we couldn't raise that much. If you really want points, then let's negotiate reasonably."

"If it's twenty million, we'd rather have them suspended longer or even expelled."

Miyabi Nagumo laid his cards on the table.

He'd underestimated how ruthless this underclassman was.

Seeing Miyabi Nagumo's resigned expression, Kageya Shinjitsu realized that the amount was far beyond what they'd expected.

That made sense, after all. This was a school; it wasn't like he could get beaten up outside and earn tens of millions.

He looked at Horikita Manabu.

"President, what do you think would be appropriate?"

"Here are the details of previous fights. You can use them as a reference."

As if he'd known he'd be asked, Horikita Manabu took a document from the book in his hands.

It recorded the outcomes of some previous settlements.

"Some people received one or two million, and even tens of thousands. Looks like the upperclassmen are being pretty sincere."

Kageya Shinjitsu quickly skimmed through it.

The highest compensation was six million. That injury must have been pretty serious.

Unfortunately, the document only gave a general description and no details.

"Good. At least you understand that."

"Underclassman, you rarely get an opportunity like this to receive so many points."

"I can tell you that there aren't many people in the entire school who have a million points."

Miyabi Nagumo spoke quickly.

He wanted to seize the opportunity to reach an agreement.

"Upperclassman, there's no need to rush. Why don't you tell me why you're so eager to settle this?"

"I assume it has something to do with the school's system, right?"

Kageya Shinjitsu's interest shifted away from the points and toward the other man.

"I've heard you're an exceptionally capable upperclassman. Not only are you the Student Council president, you led what was originally Class B past Class A in just one year and took control of the entire year. Even the former Class A students have to watch what they say around you."

"..."

"What is it you want to know?"

Miyabi Nagumo said with a headache.

"So, has this incident affected your class? Or you personally?"

"I heard that students from Class C, Class D, and Class A were involved. Class B—or, rather, the former Class A—doesn't seem to have anything to do with it..."

Kageya Shinjitsu thought back over what he'd heard.

That did seem to be the case.

"So I was wondering—did I accidentally do something bad? Could this affect the vice president's control over the year?"

"If Class A loses too many points and drops to become Class B, will you hold it against me?"

He scratched his head and looked at Miyabi Nagumo with a grin.

"That's terrifying."

"Shinjitsu, you don't need to worry about that. I won't hold a grudge against a fellow student. I came here because, as Student Council vice president, I'm responsible for handling some conflicts between students. And since I'm a second-year, I became their representative."

Miyabi Nagumo wore a strained smile.

He didn't want to leave the impression that he held a grudge.

"You don't hold a grudge, but you're not denying that this incident affected you. I understand."

Kageya Shinjitsu returned Miyabi Nagumo's smile with one of his own.

"Underclassman, let's get back to discussing the compensation."

"I'll add another million points. You've looked over the previous cases, haven't you?"

"Many of them had injuries worse than yours, yet their compensation wasn't as high as yours."

Miyabi Nagumo's expression stiffened. He hadn't said anything, yet Kageya Shinjitsu had kept speculating about him. He could finally understand how Horikita Manabu must have felt back in the Student Council Office.

Miyabi Nagumo changed the subject.

"That's exactly the point. Many of them had worse injuries than me, but received less compensation. I don't think I'm lucky enough to have stumbled into such a good deal."

"There's only one possibility: someone's involved, and the stakes are too high. That's why I started asking questions. Now I've figured out who that someone is."

"If it weren't you, you'd be like President Horikita—barely concerned about this incident and just handling it by the book."

Kageya Shinjitsu looked at the person in front of him. Beside him, Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, standing calmly to one side.

"I think I understand what you mean."

Miyabi Nagumo looked at Horikita Manabu.

He remembered the other man warning him not to underestimate Kageya Shinjitsu.

"So what have you figured out?"

Miyabi Nagumo watched Kageya Shinjitsu, now calm again.

"Probably something about the school's system that we first-years don't know."

"Those punishments President Horikita just mentioned are probably what I'd get if I agreed to negotiate."

"So if I refuse, the second-years will face harsher consequences. Of course, I might not get a single point of compensation."

Kageya Shinjitsu considered the situation.

"Good. You understand. This is a win-win."

Miyabi Nagumo said.

"So I was wondering why you're offering me two million. The other students could just distance themselves from the few students who broke the rules. Those few couldn't possibly come up with two million themselves. In the end, the points would have to come from the class."

"Or can those few students just cough up two million whenever they want? I remember there were students from Class D among them, too. They couldn't raise that much even if they tried."

Kageya Shinjitsu continued analyzing the situation.

"They can't come up with two million themselves, and the class wouldn't be willing to help them out with points. So the only possibility is that their situation affects the class, forcing it to help. Given how this school works, that's probably the case."

"President Horikita said they'd be suspended. I remember that skipping class also costs points. Let me think... Could it be that as long as the suspension continues, the class keeps losing points? So the longer their punishment lasts, the more Class Points the class loses. And there might be exams involved, too. If the class has fewer students, that could cost it points as well."

"If that's right, expulsion would also come with a penalty. Losing a student would cost the class points. An ordinary class might be able to accept a suspension or expulsion, since things couldn't get much worse for them anyway—unless the school has a negative-points system. Then the students would all have to borrow money to stay in school. But as far as I know, that's probably impossible. If that were really the case, all the Class D students would have dropped out by now."

"That's probably about it. There's something else I'm curious about: how the school distributes points. Our teachers said we receive points on the first of every month. But what if this matter isn't resolved until after the first? Would the points keep being withheld? Since the school wouldn't know how many points to deduct until the matter was settled, it wouldn't be able to distribute them."

"All these things seem to have made it hard for the upperclassman who rules the second-years to accept the situation."

If someone suddenly offered you two million, either you'd done them a favor or they needed you.

You had to be careful of money falling from the sky.

"Why so quiet?"

"Did I get it wrong? That would be embarrassing."

"Or is there even more to it?"

Kageya Shinjitsu looked at the two men, who weren't saying anything, and put on an embarrassed expression.

"I'm wondering what you've been through to make you think in such a strange way."

"Someone offers you a benefit, and you start imagining all sorts of nonsense. What a frightening, twisted person."

Although he'd already seen some of Kageya Shinjitsu's records, Miyabi Nagumo felt that they only told part of the story.

His judgment and powers of observation were impressive.

And yet a guy like that was in Class D.

He suspected Kageya Shinjitsu was hiding something even bigger—something the school hadn't told them.

"I'm just an ordinary high school student. Why would you think such strange things about me, upperclassman?"

"Judging by your expression, my guesses were right—or at least mostly right."

"That makes me feel even more at ease. So, in exchange for the information, how about fifteen million points?"

Kageya Shinjitsu said.

"..."

"Impossible."

Miyabi Nagumo gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Fifteen million? Why not just rob them?