"I'll take my time looking through these books. If I find any I think are good, I'll recommend them to you."
"Sure. So what are you planning to do now? Leave right away, or stay a little longer?"
"I'll stay for a while. It's only a little past three. I'll head out after dinner tonight."
Spending a Saturday with Shiina Hiyori was a wonderful experience. With a beautiful girl reading a novel beside him, he could relax by looking up now and then when his eyes grew tired, taking in her lovely face and the greenery behind her.
"Want to go out for dinner together? You didn't eat much at lunch, either. It's on me."
"Sure, but you don't have to pay. I don't mind."
"Well, I did ask you for help for quite a while, and Ryuen... Ah."
Hearing Hoya's words, Shiina couldn't help covering her mouth and giggling. "Looks like you're not exactly devoted to Ryuen, either."
When he was beside Ryuen Shoko, he was always calling her "Big Sis." But when she wasn't around, he called her Ryuen instead.
"Heh. You know what Ryuen's like. If it weren't inappropriate, I'd want to call her a lunatic."
"How can you say that about Ryuen? She's not that bad, is she?"
"Not that bad? Then let me tell you all about her."
Hoya started telling Shiina about the outrageous things Ryuen did to him, while Shiina listened with a constant smile, trying not to laugh.
How should he put it? The two of them really did feel like a pair of bickering sweethearts.
Although Ryuen Shoko seemed to enjoy picking on Hoya, she had never done anything too extreme. She was much more tolerant of him than she was of her other classmates.
Even the worst things she'd done—making him lick her feet or using him as a footstool—felt more like... a couple's private games.
When he was her footstool, she even let him use his phone. Was she punishing him or not? It felt like she'd only gone halfway.
As for making him lick her feet... she probably just wanted to see how he'd react. She wanted to see him get upset and try to resist, but when he actually seemed ready to lick them, she stopped him.
It was the kind of game where you hurt yourself by eight hundred to deal a thousand to your opponent.
"So what do you want to eat? I'll buy it."
"Sure. But what are you thinking of getting, Hoya?"
"Me... a wild greens set meal."
"Huh? Isn't that a little too plain?"
While checking out at the supermarket, she'd noticed Hoya still had plenty of points.
He had more than quite a few students in Class D.
Wondering why she knew what the Class D students were like? She'd seen them bragging many times about spending loads of points on all kinds of pretty little dresses. Of course she knew.
They still naively thought they'd really get a hundred thousand points every month.
Even though Horikita had told everyone on Friday that they wouldn't receive a hundred thousand points every month, only a few people had actually listened.
Well, Kushida believed it, since Hoya had mentioned it too. But she'd still spent just a little too much. Yes, only a little.
After all, unlike everyone else, she had a money tree, even if it was hard to get money out of it.
There were two reasons Class D students didn't believe it. First, they usually didn't think about a problem until disaster was right in front of them. Second, they figured that even if they got less, they'd still receive forty or fifty thousand points.
They would never have imagined that they'd get zero points in their second month. Not even Horikita would have expected it.
Oh, Ayanokoji had figured it out. She liked observing her surroundings, so of course she could tell how many people had violated the student handbook.
Yes, the student handbook—a book hardly any students even read, let alone finished carefully. It really did say that students weren't allowed to sleep in class, use their phones, and so on.
After all, these were basic rules everyone was supposed to know at school. Once they got to high school and no one kept an eye on them, they'd all let loose.
It wasn't just Class D. Even though Ryuen had brought it up in Class C, nobody paid much attention. Nobody slept or used their phones, but some people still daydreamed or doodled.
Who could blame them, with Ryuen sitting in the front row? She naturally couldn't see what everyone was doing during class.
Even Shiina sometimes snuck a look at her outside reading. She didn't sit by the window, so the teacher on patrol never noticed her slacking off.
"You're really only eating this much?"
"Yeah, it tastes great, and it even has mushrooms. To be honest, I thought the wild greens set meal would only have bitter vegetables, but it actually seems pretty nutritious."
That was true. Even free food wasn't made too badly. Someone inspected it every year, since the strange points system still had to guarantee students the basics—food, drink, and other necessities. So the wild greens set meal had to be nutritious.
And Hoya wasn't only eating the wild greens set meal. He'd added a fried egg, too.
Chapter 64: Your Class A Will Stick Together? Yeah, Right
Honestly, it really did taste great.
"Uh... I guess."
Shiina couldn't understand why Hoya was enjoying his meal so much. Even a well-behaved girl like her preferred to eat some meat.
After all, she read every day and used up a lot of mental energy. As for her figure... she kept her eating in check and exercised every day, too.
She went for a run, for instance. The track was right outside the library, so after exercising her mind, she exercised her body. Once she was done, she went back to the dorm, showered, and got ready for bed. Her life was very fulfilling.
Perhaps this was the kind of high school life she'd always dreamed of. She didn't like conflict, and she'd come to this school simply because it didn't charge tuition.
"But it's so sad seeing you eat like this..."
"Sad? Then how about you give me a piece of meat?"
"Give you a piece... Why don't we share it?"
Hoya had joked about her giving him some meat, and Shiina had figured they might as well eat together.
"Huh? Then I'll order a couple more dishes. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you if I only eat this much plain food."
"But you're already paying for my meal. Don't refuse, or I'll be upset."
Shiina pouted, looking a little indignant. Hoya turned his chopsticks around and poked her cheek. "All right, don't be mad. We'll share, okay?"
"Mm-hm. Let's share."
They simply moved the plates of small dishes to the side and started eating together.
"But aren't you being a little too frugal?"
"I can't help it. I went over budget today, so I have to save some points. Sometimes I need to spend points to hire people, too. I have to save where I can. Besides, compared to before, I could eat the free wild greens set meal for a whole semester."
The wild greens set meal really did taste great. But once everyone had points, they naturally wanted to eat something better. And eating the wild greens set meal meant you were broke. Most high schoolers cared about their image, so they wouldn't put themselves through that.
"Oh, isn't that Hoya? Having a good time eating a girl's food, are you?"
The two of them had been laughing and eating happily, but of course someone had to come along and cause trouble.
Sakayanagi Arisu had walked over, with Kamuro Masumi beside her carrying two meals.
"Sakayanagi. What can I say? I'm broke. How about you treat me to a meal, ma'am?"
Hearing Sakayanagi Arisu's words, Shiina Hiyori's expression turned sour. She'd wanted to argue back, but Hoya raised a hand to stop her and answered instead.
His reaction made Shiina realize that Hoya and Sakayanagi got along fairly well. That was probably why Sakayanagi could be so mean to him.
Friends could get away with making nasty jokes to each other.
"Sure. I can just give you points."
Sakayanagi casually sat down beside Hoya, while Kamuro took the last seat.
Hoya had chosen a table for four, so it was now full.
"And what would I have to do in return?"
"In return... how about you become my servant, like Kamuro?"
Sakayanagi meant that he'd have to serve her just like Kamuro did.
"Ah, then I'll pass. Big Sis would tear me apart if she found out."
Hoya shrugged and answered as if he didn't care.
It sounded like a joke, but Sakayanagi never joked when she said things like that. If Hoya had actually agreed, he would have sold himself to her.
Sakayanagi could tell that Hoya wasn't as simple as he seemed. If she could recruit him for just a few points, he'd be a huge asset.
Would Hoya give her what she wanted? Their battle had begun right there at the table.
"If you don't want points, I can at least treat you to some dishes. Kamuro, let's move our plates to the side, too."
"Yes, Miss."
Soon, everyone's small plates were placed in the middle, with a bowl of rice at each of the four seats. Each of them ate the rice in front of them.
As they ate, Hoya tried to get a read on Class A.
"I remember Katsuragi is the one leading Class A right now?"
"That's right."
"Why don't you challenge him? You two should be about equal in influence, shouldn't you?"
"Ah... I wanted to see how capable he was. The fact that he can match me makes him pretty impressive."
Sakayanagi didn't care who led Class A. She just wanted to have fun.
And it was easier to have fun after becoming the leader. If there wasn't any amusement to be found, she could create it herself.
"Is that so? He's lucky to have such a beautiful girl keeping an eye on him."
"Is he lucky? If he is, then you're lucky too."
"Now you're joking. How could I be lucky? If you were in Class C, I could be serving you instead of Big Sis."
"You do make a point. You can come and serve me if you want."
"I'll pass. We're in different classes, and we don't share the same goals. We're enemies, not friends."
"Then we could become friends, couldn't we?"
"Mm-hm. No way."
Hoya shook his head, smiling. "Class C has already joined forces with Class B. Naturally, our target is Class A. So if you're not going to lead them, I won't go easy on your class."
"So if I become the leader, you'll go easy on me?"
"Hmm... how about I make sure you don't lose too badly? Don't worry, if you run out of points, I can give you some."
"I'll take you up on that. If you end up down and out, you can come to me."
Sakayanagi and Hoya were both smiling, but the tension around the table hadn't let up.
"Hahaha, then I'm really looking forward to it."
Hoya laughed and picked up the soup beside him for a sip. "Ahem. So you really aren't planning to take all the power for yourself?"
"No rush. There are a lot of fence-sitters in Class A, and I'd like to see if I can bring everyone together."
"So you won't unite unless there's a crisis?"
"That's right."
"Do you know who the last person to try that was?"
"Who?"
"The principal."
That comment completely explained what he thought.
Many Japanese people might not know much about the principal, but the well-read Sakayanagi certainly did.
He believed that you had to settle things at home before dealing with outside threats. Everyone knew how that turned out: faced with a powerful enemy, he eventually chose to cooperate.
"Are you saying... Katsuragi and I will work together? Ha! That means you're admitting your class will lose."
"Yeah. But will the two of you really work together?"
Chapter 65: I've Told You What Needed Saying
Hoya had laid out the path, but Sakayanagi Arisu would never accept it.
She had never thought Class A mattered all that much. She was someone who lived for amusement, and having fun always came first. If she truly cared about honor and points, she would have chosen to work with Katsuragi instead of setting herself up as his rival.
"Tsk. If you won't listen, there's nothing I can do."
Hoya clicked his tongue softly. There was no way he could control what that thrill-seeker wanted to do.
Before you continue