Guaranteed to Win

They chatted along the way, and the group returned to the first-year dormitory before dark.

Unlike Yamamura and Kamuro, who went straight back to their rooms, Aoyama stayed in the lobby on the first floor. A few minutes later, the person he was waiting for stepped out of the elevator.

A lock of black hair on the left side of her head was braided and decorated with a bow made from a white ribbon. Horikita Suzune's hairstyle was as cute as she was.

"Let's go. I've already arranged to meet the person I wanted."

Horikita noticed Aoyama set off as soon as she approached. They headed for their destination: the area behind the third-year dormitory, which, like the area behind the first-year dormitory, had no surveillance cameras.

The same vending machines, the same benches.

There, Aoyama met the person he had arranged to see: a third-year student who was over 180 centimeters tall and even more muscular than Sudo.

The Basketball Club captain, Senior Ninomiya.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Senpai."

"Just get to the point. I don't like wasting time."

After Aoyama greeted him, Ninomiya raised his head from the bench. A flash of impatience crossed his resolute face.

His stern expression eased a little only when he saw that Aoyama had a girl with him.

"Sudo Ken from Class 1-D of the Basketball Club keeps showing up late to class and refuses to change. Every time his Class Points get deducted, it pains me."

"I can't hear what you're saying." Ninomiya looked shocked and, after claiming he couldn't hear, continued, "Besides, I remember the person who introduced you said you were from Class 1-A."

In other words, why should a Class A student like Aoyama care about what happened in Class 1-D?

"This Class D girl is paying me fifty thousand Personal Points to deal with Sudo's tardiness."

"You were the first person I thought of, Senpai. We can split the money, and we'll both be happy." Aoyama plopped down on the bench and met Ninomiya's gaze without batting an eye.

If you wanted to blackmail someone, you had to use what mattered most to them.

At Kouiku, Sudo feared nothing and no one—but there was one person he couldn't afford to offend, because that person could kick him out of the Basketball Club.

Professional coaches with impressive résumés, top-of-the-line post-game cryotherapy chambers—the sports clubs at Kouiku showed what it meant to have money to burn.

And for Sudo, whose dream was to become a professional basketball player, leaving the Basketball Club would practically mean the end of that dream.

"I'm the kind of club captain who'd threaten a member over a few tens of thousands of points?"

"You want more money, huh?"

As if a trigger had been pulled, Aoyama blurted out the words. Then he noticed an awkward look on Ninomiya's face.

Damn, he'd actually guessed right.

"Thirty thousand."

"I, Ninomiya, stand tall and upright."

"Thirty-five thousand." Aoyama's smile faded.

"You're the Basketball Club captain. Would you really threaten your own member over thirty-five thousand Personal Points?"

"Forty thousand. That's the most I can do. Keep in mind that I only got fifty thousand."

Aoyama placed a hand on Ninomiya's shoulder and pressed down hard, making his position clear.

If Ninomiya didn't agree, they'd fall out. Then neither of them would get any extra income, and they'd both walk away empty-handed.

"How far do you want me to go?" Thinking this was Aoyama's bottom line, Ninomiya hinted that he was taking the job.

"For the next two months, stop by the first-year dormitory on your way to school. I'm sure Sudo would like to get closer to you, Senpai."

Aoyama pretended to be annoyed and spoke coldly. Ninomiya readily accepted his request.

Forty thousand Personal Points might not seem like much to a current first-year, but to Ninomiya, whose class had long hovered just above a hundred Class Points and who received only ten thousand Personal Points a month, forty thousand was a lot.

"You really got Senior Ninomiya all turned around and fooled."

Ninomiya left happily with the money, and Horikita Suzune took his place.

Watching the whole thing as an observer, she felt like she'd learned something.

If she'd handled the negotiation herself, she probably would've paid more than forty thousand Personal Points.

"It was just a little trick." Aoyama didn't think it was anything special, either. It would only work on students with little experience.

"But I don't think many students could pull it off."

"Even if you flatter me, next time you want me to do something, it won't be this cheap. Since this was my first job, I'll charge you only a tenth."

A hundred meals could be counted as one hundred thousand Personal Points. Subtract the forty thousand he'd just handed over, and Aoyama would only pocket sixty thousand Personal Points.

He hadn't made much, but he'd solved the problem that was currently troubling Class D the most.

As far as the benefits to Class D went, even a conservative estimate put them at several million Personal Points.

"I'll give you a piece of information for free. Starting next month, Class 1-B will probably collect a certain share of Personal Points from its students on the first of every month to use as class funds."

Aoyama didn't mind collecting Personal Points from individual students, but it was inefficient.

If the leaders of every class collected Personal Points, it would make it easier for him to come up with clever pretexts to rake them in. Ideally, he'd go three years without a job, then make enough in one go to live off for three years.

"You've even reached into Class B?" Horikita looked surprised. She hadn't expected Aoyama to move so quickly.

In just two short weeks since the school year began, he'd planted informants in both Class B and Class D.

They were all students. How could he be this capable?

Aoyama neither confirmed nor denied Horikita's misunderstanding. "You could say that, or you could say otherwise."

It wasn't of much use right now, but if Horikita thought he had an information network in Class B, he might be able to take advantage of that later.

"If you get the chance, remind Hirata to collect Personal Points from Class D. I'm expensive, you know."

Horikita didn't seem to grasp the deeper meaning of his words, so Aoyama spelled it out for her.

He was here to make money, not to do charity work. Horikita Suzune was a special case because she was Horikita Manabu's younger sister.

After Horikita Suzune said she understood, Aoyama stood up from the bench and headed back to his dormitory. Horikita Suzune naturally went with him.

The sight of the two of them walking together was secretly photographed by a girl with her hair tied up in a bun.

Chapter 20: A Sure Win

"Class dismissed."

On Monday of the third week since school started, Class 1-A reached the end of the school day in peace.

Amid the laughter and chatter, students left the classroom in small groups. Before long, fewer than ten students remained.

"Where's the Student Council room, Katsuragi?" Aoyama went over to ask while Katsuragi was still in the classroom.

Feeling that he was just about ready, Aoyama planned to meet the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu. If he couldn't get the Vice President position right away, he still had nearly two weeks to prepare.

If he could use the hundred thousand Personal Points Totsuka had lost in their bet as dirty money, he'd have a real shot at making it big.

He might even become Kouiku's gambling god.

"On the fourth floor, second-to-last room on the left side of the stairs. There's a sign on the door."

"Thanks."

"Are you applying to join the Student Council? They're probably busy right after school. It'd be best to go in half an hour or an hour. And you should button your shirt all the way up."

Seeing that Aoyama looked ready to leave immediately, Katsuragi offered his advice earnestly. He didn't show the slightest sign of hoping Aoyama would fail.

"If I can get in, I can get in no matter what. Besides, I don't like feeling constrained." Aoyama tugged at the collar of his shirt, which was missing two buttons. "That's good advice, but I'll have to politely decline."

Dropping by during a quiet moment would keep people from resenting him, and projecting a composed image would help. Both pieces of advice had their uses.

"You really are something..."

Totsuka, who had been standing beside Katsuragi with a blank look on his face, couldn't help speaking up when Aoyama didn't take the advice.

"Totsuka." Katsuragi cut him off, then looked at Aoyama with a serious expression. "In that case, I can only wish you luck."

"I appreciate the thought. If all goes as expected, I'll succeed."

For Katsuragi's sake, Aoyama ignored Totsuka's displeasure. He left the classroom and headed straight for the Student Council room.

As he reached the floor where the third-year classrooms were, he saw a girl with her hair tied in a bun at the stairwell landing. Her eyes widened in surprise when she spotted him.

Her purple hair was short, not even reaching her shoulders. She had a youthful face and was on the short side, making her look more like a middle schooler than a high schooler.

"Good afternoon, Tachibana-senpai." Their eyes met, and Aoyama stopped.

Her appearance was distinctive enough that he recognized her.

Tachibana Akane, a Class 3-A student and the Student Council Secretary. She was Horikita Manabu's closest confidante, and it was obvious that she had strong feelings for him.

She got jealous and possessive whenever students, male or female, grew close to Horikita Manabu.

"Why does Aoyama-kun know who I am?"

"Then why does Tachibana-senpai know who I am?" Aoyama smiled and asked in return, making Tachibana Akane even more flustered.

"That's because the President—"

She stopped herself halfway through and glared at Aoyama, annoyed.

She thought her junior was good-looking, but he was also a little too flippant and cheeky.

"Are you going to the Student Council room, Senpai? I'm headed there, too." Aoyama knew Horikita Manabu had looked into him, so he wasn't surprised.

As Nagumo gained more and more control over the second-years, Horikita Manabu had no choice but to turn his attention to the first-years.

"What are you going to the Student Council for?"

"It's nothing major. I just want to join the Student Council."

"The President's busy right after school." Holding a folder, Tachibana Akane led the way.

By the time they entered the Student Council room, quite a few students were already there. Most of them immediately looked over at Aoyama, the new face in the room.

"I'm Aoyama Shiki from Class 1-A. I'm here to apply for the Student Council Vice President position!"

Before Tachibana Akane could introduce him, Aoyama shouted at the boy sitting in the main seat, then added in his normal voice, "Did I sound enthusiastic enough, President Horikita?"

"You certainly have guts." Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses. While everyone else seemed to be holding back laughter, his expression remained unchanged.

With his neat, short hair and cold, unsmiling expression, Horikita Manabu looked like someone who was clearly capable at a glance. Even in the Student Council room, where just about everyone was talented, he stood out like a crane among chickens.

But there was one other person in the Student Council room who stood out just as much.

...Miyabi Nagumo, the Student Council Vice President from Class 2-A.

"He seems like an interesting junior. I think we could bring him in right away." Nagumo spoke kindly to Aoyama, his expression calm and confident.

"Are you giving up your position to me, Vice President Nagumo? Then I'm very grateful. When do you plan to resign?"

He really was someone Horikita Manabu couldn't deal with. With just one sentence, he'd tried to claim Aoyama as one of his people and make Aoyama grateful to him.

He could forget about it.

Aoyama grumbled to himself about Nagumo, then promptly distanced himself from him and showed Horikita Manabu where his loyalties lay.

"It seems you have a problem with me, Aoyama-kun. But that's fine. You're still welcome to join."

Nagumo's expression stiffened for a moment, but he quickly returned to his easygoing demeanor, as though an adult wouldn't mind a child's rude remark.

"There's no precedent for a first-year to become Student Council Vice President."

"There's no precedent for a first-year to become Student Council President, either, is there, Horikita-senpai?" Aoyama made it clear that he knew about the Student Council. "And isn't Kouiku all about merit?"

As Tachibana Akane looked at him with admiration, Horikita Manabu's mouth also curved up slightly at the reminder of his past achievement.

"Do you think you're more capable than Vice President Nagumo?"

"I'm a sure win."

While the entire Student Council watched him with varying expressions, Aoyama showed no sign of stage fright. He'd practically made an enemy of Miyabi Nagumo.

"I admire your confidence. I once had a period like that, too—"

"Only President Horikita has the right to tell me he admires me."

Aoyama interrupted Nagumo. He might as well have carved the word "loyalty" into his forehead for Horikita Manabu to see.

Vice President Nagumo? What kind of worthless nobody was he?