Squandering Money

"Hey, that student over there, your name's Sakura, right?"

Without hesitating, Karuizawa headed straight toward Sakura.

Wasn't it perfectly normal for a popular girl to bully an unnoticed nobody?

As a popular girl, if she did not bully her, would all her efforts have been for nothing?

"Y-Yes..."

Sakura lowered her head, her voice tiny.

Fortunately, there were not many people in the classroom, so Karuizawa could barely hear her.

"Um, could you lend me some points? Not much... five thousand points would be enough. You eat bread every day anyway, so you do not spend much."

Ten thousand points were equivalent to 500 yen, so five thousand was around 250 yen.

She really had the nerve to ask.

In fact, Sakura had bought a camera at the beginning of the school term, so she did not have many points left to begin with.

Sure enough, Sakura looked conflicted. If she lent them out, she would probably starve to death in a few days.

"No way. You are not even willing to lend me five thousand points?"

Karuizawa's expression turned unpleasant. She was exceptionally good at threatening people. After all, she had been treated that way plenty of times herself.

Seeing that Karuizawa had clearly already borrowed points yet was still targeting Sakura, Suzuki Tsubame frowned slightly.

Originally, he had not wanted to interfere when Karuizawa Kei went to borrow points from Kushida. Kushida was not exactly a good person anyway.

Evil people would naturally be dealt with by other evil people. It would have been nice to let her suffer a little.

But if she would not even spare Sakura, Suzuki could not tolerate it.

After all, Sakura had done nothing wrong. Though she had clearly been terrified, she had still stepped forward to testify for Sudo. A good person like her should not be treated this way.

"Karuizawa, if you need points, come borrow them from me."

"I still have quite a lot left, more or less."

Suzuki Tsubame's offer did not tempt Karuizawa.

After all, if she borrowed from Sakura, she would not need to pay it back.

Suzuki Tsubame had taken first place in the boys' division during the previous class swimming competition.

Even Hirata, who had joined the Soccer Club, had only managed fifth place.

It was easy to imagine just how good his physical abilities were.

Unless she had no other choice, Karuizawa did not want to provoke him.

"Why would I borrow from you? We are just ordinary classmates, aren't we?"

Karuizawa's tone improved considerably, and she looked like someone who was easy to get along with.

It stood in stark contrast to how she had spoken just now.

Suzuki Tsubame nearly lost his composure.

This girl really changed her attitude depending on who she was dealing with.

"Since you can borrow from Sakura, why can't you borrow from me? Or do you look down on me?"

As he spoke the last part, Suzuki Tsubame's tone grew heavier and his gaze sharpened.

His serious expression startled her.

"N-No..."

Since Suzuki Tsubame had put it that way, Karuizawa had no way to refuse.

Looking troubled, she cautiously asked:

"Suzuki, how much can you lend me? Just so you know, it may take me a long time to pay you back."

Without replying, Suzuki Tsubame opened the scan function on his phone.

He walked over to her and transferred points to her by scanning.

"Ones, tens, hundreds... one hundred thousand, one hundred thousand points!"

By the time she finished counting, Karuizawa's face was full of shock. Had he not spent a single point last month?

How did he still have so many points, and why had he transferred all of them to her?

"Suzuki, I cannot take these points. This is far too much."

Karuizawa looked deeply uneasy. If it had only been a few thousand points, she would have dared to accept them.

But one hundred thousand points? Even if she sold herself, she could not pay that back.

"It is fine. Do not borrow from them again in the future. If you are short on points, come find me. I still have plenty."

"Huh?"

Suzuki Tsubame's words completely confused Karuizawa Kei, and she instinctively asked:

"Then... I'll be going now?"

Although she did not know why Suzuki Tsubame was being so kind, she did not think too much about it.

Free points were free points.

"Mm-hm."

Suzuki Tsubame neither confirmed nor denied it. He would find a way to collect it back in the future anyway.

"Th-Thank you. You really are a good person."

Karuizawa instinctively felt that Suzuki Tsubame did not care about such a small amount of points at all.

And that was indeed true.

Unfortunately, she had called him a good person too soon. Suzuki Tsubame did not like making unprofitable deals.

"Thank you..."

Only after Karuizawa left did Sakura Airi dare to speak. It seemed she had been badly frightened by her.

"Take out your phone."

At the start of the school term, Sakura had eaten yakisoba bread. It had tasted just as bad, but at least it had been somewhat nutritionally balanced.

Suzuki Tsubame did not recognize the bread she was eating now.

But it was obviously the kind with no nutritional value whatsoever. Just looking at it made Suzuki Tsubame feel parched.

Even in his previous life, he would not have taken a single bite of it.

"O-Okay."

Sakura meekly took her pink phone from her desk and handed it to Suzuki Tsubame.

Since they had interacted yesterday, and Suzuki Tsubame had helped her again today, Sakura was not as resistant to him.

Of course, the biggest reason was still his handsome face, one that could rival the readers'.

Opening Sakura's S System, he transferred another hundred thousand points to her. He had plenty of points and did not care about such a trifling amount.

Besides, points were not meant to be saved.

"Eat properly from now on. You are not allowed to eat this kind of unnutritious food again, understand?"

Returning her phone, Suzuki Tsubame warned her.

"Th-This is too much. I... I cannot take your points."

Sakura raised her head, her voice trembling slightly.

She held her phone out toward Suzuki Tsubame, wanting him to take the points back.

She had already been shocked when Suzuki Tsubame lent Karuizawa one hundred thousand points.

She had not expected him to turn around and transfer another hundred thousand to her.

Although she did not have many points left herself.

She could not accept a reward she had not earned.

"Woman, are you trying to defy me? I have never taken back anything I have given away."

He stared directly into her sky-blue eyes.

Suzuki Tsubame realized that her eyes were huge.

Even those old-fashioned red-rimmed glasses did not detract much from her perfect face.

"B-But..."

With Suzuki Tsubame looking at her like that, Sakura suddenly felt a little shy. Avoiding his gaze, she lowered her head again.

Suzuki Tsubame reasonably suspected that if Sakura ever had children, she could be entirely self-sufficient.

Shaking his head, he threw out those lewd thoughts.

"Didn't you get along quite well with Hasebe yesterday?"

"She came to ask you to go to the cafeteria with her just now. Why did you not go?"

Yes, Hasebe had come to find her at noon.

Since she had fallen out with the popular girls, she wanted to go to the cafeteria with Sakura.

"B-Because I bought bread."

Sakura spoke softly and gently.

Because she was embarrassed, her volume dropped another few levels, becoming almost inaudible.

Fortunately, Suzuki Tsubame was standing close enough to barely hear her.

That was probably not her only reason. Bread could be eaten anytime.

The bigger reason was likely that she did not have enough points.

Suzuki Tsubame did not expose her. Instead, he warned her:

"You are not allowed to eat bread anymore. Go eat properly in the cafeteria with Hasebe."

"If you do not have enough points, come ask me for them. Do not scrimp and save."

Suzuki Tsubame showed her the balance on his phone, letting her see what he was capable of.

Sakura counted them one by one. Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands...

"Th-That much!"

Sakura looked utterly bewildered, her mind completely blank.

More than five million. It would not even be easy to get that much by robbing a bank.

"If I ever see you gnawing on bread again, I will confess to you in public while all our classmates are present. Do you understand?"

For an introvert, whether confessing in public or being confessed to in public.

Both were practically executions at a busy marketplace.

"I... I understand."

Since she could not refuse, Sakura could only accept it.

She would try her best to save up.