Taking a Hit

Eyes wide, Totsuka asked what most of the students in Class A were wondering.

The personal points for June hadn't been issued yet. Even counting the 100,000 personal points Totsuka had lost and the Student Council position that was rumored to have sold for 400,000, the total still came to less than 700,000.

"As long as you have this in this school, personal points aren't hard to come by." Aoyama pointed to his temple and answered with a serious look.

If you could show enough ability, it wasn't impossible to get another class to wave Twenty Million Personal Points at you to buy your transfer.

Meanwhile, in the Class D classroom.

A convincing-looking security camera was handed to Horikita Suzune by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

He'd asked his classmate Sotoumura Hideo, Class D's resident tech geek, to make it. It was good enough to fool the students.

Whether Aoyama's influence in the tea room had been greater or Ayanokoji's, Horikita Suzune and Ichinose had settled on a plan over the past few days. They were going straight after the three students who had been beaten by Sudo.

Compared to the shrewd Ryuen, Ishizaki and the others were all brawn and no brains.

It wouldn't be difficult to use outside factors to make the three of them believe that the Special Building had security cameras.

The difficult part now was figuring out how to get Kushida to invite them out.

"Please, Kushida. I'm begging you." Sudo bowed his head in front of Kushida with his hands clasped together, pleading with her.

Among the first-years outside Class C, only Kushida, who had friends everywhere, could get Ishizaki and the other two to go to the Special Building without raising their guard.

"Are you saying you want me to be the kind of person who deceives her friends, Sudo? I really hate being deceived by my friends."

Help Horikita Suzune?

Kushida Kikyo didn't think she could do that. Besides, deceiving Ishizaki and the others would seriously damage her reputation.

It was a thankless task.

"I know you're reluctant, Kushida, but if Sudo gets suspended this time, he won't be able to become a regular on the basketball team." Ayanokoji backed him up without changing expression. "You probably know Sudo's dream."

"I'll even prostrate myself if you want, Kushida. Please help me just this once."

Turned down again, Sudo pleaded even more earnestly, but Kushida didn't look at him. She turned her gaze to Ayanokoji, who had spoken up for him.

"I'm friends with Aoyama, too. He told me that if Ayanokoji joins the Student Council, he can take care of Sudo's problem."

"Ayanokoji, you're Sudo's friend, right? I think joining the Student Council would be a good thing."

This is a disaster—how did I get dragged into this again?

By the way, were Kushida and Aoyama close?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt utterly hopeless. He didn't know why Aoyama had suddenly taken an interest in him, or why he'd engineered things so that Sudo would pester him.

Since enrolling at Kouiku, he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.

"This has to be a joke, right? I'm not good at academics, my physical abilities are average, and I'm gloomy with no good points at all."

"I don't think Aoyama would do that."

"But you can't be sure. If he's making fun of me, I feel like I might jump out the window."

Under Sudo's burning gaze, Ayanokoji had no choice but to pull out his trump card.

From today onward, he was going to be the touchy sort who'd threaten to die if anyone made fun of him. No one could force him to do anything now.

Of course, it would also ruin his reputation.

"I can only ask you. Please help me just this once, Kushida."

Stunned by Ayanokoji's words, Sudo could only place his hopes back on Kushida.

Ayanokoji, who had just backed him up, took the opportunity to slip away and return to his seat.

"Could you get Aoyama to persuade Kushida?" Ayanokoji looked indifferently at Horikita, who seemed lost in thought.

He thought getting Aoyama to persuade Kushida would have two benefits.

First, it could solve Sudo's problem. Second, he could test what kind of relationship Aoyama and Kushida had.

Without his realizing it, Aoyama seemed to have become quite involved with Class D.

He wondered whether it would affect his peaceful life.

"Wait a moment. I'll ask him."

After thinking it over, Horikita decided Aoyama might be able to handle this. He'd persuaded Kushida to support her last time, too.

[How many personal points would it take for you to persuade Kushida to lure Ishizaki and the other two from Class C to the Special Building, under the pretense of meeting up with friends?]

Horikita had typed out the message, but hesitated.

There was another question she had to consider: whether Aoyama Shiki was someone she could trust.

Once she sent this message, Aoyama was smart enough to figure out what they were planning.

Don't disappoint me, Aoyama.

Feeling conflicted, Horikita Suzune finally sent the message.

Even if he betrayed her, she could cut her losses in time.

Hitting a Wall

You've disappointed me so much, Horikita Suzune.

In the Class 1-A classroom, Aoyama had stopped grinning after receiving Horikita's message.

With Class C having seized the advantage first, Class B and Class D couldn't counterattack perfectly by playing fair.

He'd provoked Sudo into pestering Ayanokoji to get him moving, then sent Yamamura to follow them and get a rough idea of what was going on. He had only one goal—to catch Class B and Class D breaking the rules without them noticing, then extort a little money from them.

Now Horikita Suzune had practically told him outright that she was planning to make a move, and was even asking him to help with Kushida.

If he stepped in to extort them now, it would be too much, and it would ruin his reputation as well.

Aoyama Shiki hadn't expected the first time he'd hit a wall since enrolling at Kouiku to be at Horikita Suzune's hands—and without her even realizing it.

[Let's talk more over lunch in the cafeteria.]

Aoyama finished typing and sent the message, then put away his phone and waited for class to start.

Before long, the stern-faced teacher walked into the classroom.

Perhaps because teachers weren't allowed to interfere too much in the students' affairs, almost all of them kept their distance from the students.

Except for the oddball who was the homeroom teacher of Class 1-B.

"What's there to take a picture of?"

At lunchtime, Horikita Suzune went to the cafeteria as Aoyama had asked.

When she opened her homemade lunch box, Aoyama conspicuously took a picture of it.

"Don't worry about it. I have my reasons."

As Horikita looked puzzled, a faint smile appeared on Aoyama's face. He sent the picture, which showed almost no meat, to someone saved in his contacts as [Siscon Brother].

Better send me a hefty compensation payment, Horikita President.

"Let's talk about the important stuff first. Can you persuade Kushida to help?" Horikita Suzune frowned, feeling that something bad was happening.

"Getting what you want is easy. There's no need to persuade Kushida."

Aoyama replied without looking up, exchanging messages with Horikita Manabu.

Getting Kushida to cooperate by ordering her around would be easy, but it would make her resentful. After all, it would damage her reputation and hurt her interests.

So he'd come up with a way to keep Kushida out of it.

"How many personal points?"

"That can wait. Let's eat first."

[I had a plan I'd been working on for days that could have earned me a million personal points. I had to give it up, and it's all Suzune's fault.]

[But she's poor, and this is what she eats for lunch.]

Focusing his attention on Horikita Manabu, Aoyama considered what amount he could get away with.

He definitely couldn't ask for too much. Even the wealthiest household had its limits. Horikita Manabu had plenty of personal points at his disposal, but most of them were class funds.

It was hard to say whether he even had a few million of his own.

Horikita Manabu: [She's her, and I'm me. Do what you want to punish Suzune. It'd be even better if she got expelled.]

Who said I was going to punish Suzune, President?

Aoyama smiled mischievously. Knowing what Horikita Manabu expected of Horikita Suzune, he naturally wasn't going to give Suzune any trials to help her grow stronger.

The siblings hadn't met privately since enrolling. That was entirely because Horikita Manabu kept his distance from Horikita Suzune.

Because Horikita Suzune respected and depended on him too much, Horikita Manabu had treated her coldly back in middle school. He'd even told her cruelly to stay away from him.

He wanted his sister to become more independent, instead of acting like a parasite who merely followed in his footsteps, doing whatever he said.

Seeing his sister imitate him at every turn and become more and more like him, Horikita Manabu had eventually even fled to Kouiku.

[The best way to get revenge on someone is to turn her into a useless person.]

[From now on, I'll spoil Suzune rotten. I'll make sure she has everything handed to her and never has to lift a finger, greatly reducing her contact with her classmates.]

[I'll solve any problems she encounters at school for her, and get her to stop thinking. She can leave everything to me.]

[After graduation, we'll get married. She obviously won't need to go to university.]

Aoyama typed rapidly on his phone, and his smile grew wider and wider.

His reply might not look credible at all, but Horikita Manabu was smart enough to understand that Aoyama knew how much he cared about Horikita Suzune, his younger sister.

Even though the two of them seemed to be on bad terms and didn't talk, Aoyama could tell that Horikita Manabu loved his sister dearly.

"Who were you messaging just now? You looked so happy."

Aoyama put his phone back in his pocket. Horikita Suzune knew it was a little presumptuous, but for some reason, she still wanted to ask.

"A senior who's about to give me a windfall." Aoyama happily picked up a piece of fried chicken and put it in his mouth. It was crispy on the outside and tender inside.

Tonight, he had a date with the Student Council President.

A date that was sure to leave him with something to show for it.

"This is pretty good. You should try some too, Suzune."

Aoyama picked up a piece of chicken about the size of his little finger and held it in front of Horikita's mouth.

She was still growing, so she ought to eat more meat. How could she grow properly if she ate so little? He absolutely wouldn't let the Student Council President's little sister go without a decent meal.

"Just eat it yourself. I don't need any."

"Twenty percent off."

"..."

Horikita Suzune pressed her lips together. Her eyes darted left and right before she slightly opened her delicate pink lips.

Once she bit off the chicken, a faint blush had already spread across her snow-white, delicate face.

"Forty thousand personal points."

Seeing that wonderful expression eased some of Aoyama's frustration at having to abandon his plan.

Since he wouldn't have to do much, he wouldn't charge her too much.

"Explain." Horikita looked somewhat embarrassed and angry.

"Kushida doesn't want to deceive her friends, right? Then don't make her deceive them."

"Have Sudo or Ayanokoji tell Kushida they forgot their phone and ask to borrow hers to make a call. Then, with her phone in your hands, you can invite Ishizaki and the others in Kushida's name."

"If you say something like, 'Kushida was so easy to fool,' while dealing with Ishizaki and the others, I don't think Kushida will be too angry."

As long as they solved the problem of Kushida's reputation, she wouldn't complain too much.

"That's completely underhanded. If Kushida follows up on it, we'll be in serious trouble."

"If you're going to make Kushida do something she doesn't want to, you should have been prepared for that from the start, Suzune." Aoyama met Horikita's beautiful eyes. "I can guarantee Kushida won't follow up on it."

"...Deal."

After a moment's silence, Horikita Suzune nodded, her face expressionless.

The two of them quietly finished their meal together without another word.