A Deal

"A wise choice."

When Ichinose signed, Hoshino Kanade finally breathed a sigh of relief. His grand plan to accumulate points had taken its first step.

"What do we do next?"

After all the ceremonious preparations, they could finally get to the reason they had met.

"Like I said before, only Class A can receive the employment and further education guarantees the school advertises."

"The school assigns students to different classes based on 'ability.' Class A is the strongest, and Class D is the weakest."

"Class Points are the measure of a class's 'ability.' When Class B's points exceed Class A's, Class B becomes Class A."

Ichinose stared at the tabletop, her brows knitting and relaxing. Her fingers wound absently around a lock of hair. She seemed to be thinking it over.

"Well? Do you need some time to process it?"

"No, I understand." Ichinose quickly absorbed the information she had just received and put it to use.

"But if that's the case, our classes should be in opposition. Why tell me all this?"

"I have no intention of rising to Class A alongside Class D."

"So you mean..." Ichinose seemed to understand.

"Your teacher probably told you that points can buy anything, right? Two million points can buy your way straight into Class A."

In truth, Hoshino Kanade didn't think two million points were worth it for a place in Class A. If he wanted to continue his education, he could just take the exams. And if he wanted to get into his ideal company, he could simply work there part-time.

"Now we get to the terms of our cooperation. We need to sign the contract before we can continue."

It was called an information-sharing partnership, but in truth, it was an information trade.

He had already given Ichinose so much information for free. If she chose not to sign the contract, she might figure most of it out herself in a few days.

Still, given Ichinose's character, even after making use of Hoshino Kanade's information, she would probably send him the points of her own accord.

He wasn't worried about failing to make any points.

Ichinose took the contract. It was quite detailed, but the gist was simple: two million points in exchange for the contents of the first exam.

It was only the fourth day of school. None of the classes had realized they could collect their classmates' personal points to use as class funds.

Ichinose currently had only 88,488 points on her student ID. When she saw the two-million-point figure, she even felt like fleeing this sorrowful place.

Fortunately, the terms in the contract were extremely lenient. She could pay the two million a month later, or, if she felt the information wasn't worth that much, she could pay whatever amount she thought was fair.

It was all sincerity and trust.

Ichinose didn't let the goodwill cloud her judgment. After thinking it over, she couldn't find a reason to refuse. Hoshino Kanade had left the initiative in her hands; if she were unscrupulous, she could even take his information for free.

The feeling of being trusted warmed Ichinose's heart. No wonder Hoshino Kanade had gotten a girlfriend after just two days.

"Looking forward to working with you."

Ichinose smiled brightly and extended her hand to Hoshino Kanade.

"Likewise."

Her palm was soft and warm. If Kiyona's hand was "a blade forged from moonlight," then Ichinose's was "silk woven from morning dew."

Hoshino Kanade's original plan for his deal with Ichinose had been to take points with one hand and trade information with the other. But after watching Kushida make friends with everyone, he suddenly realized something.

Classes B and C still seemed to be choosing their leaders. They hadn't grasped the importance of the class as a whole, so they definitely hadn't collected their classmates' personal points.

For all he knew, Ryuen might even be sneaking up on Albert while he was in the bathroom.

If Hoshino Kanade didn't loosen the terms, there would be no deal at all.

He had revised the contract on the night before the trade, but after racking his brain, he still couldn't think of a better approach.

In the end, since his trading partner was Ichinose, he simply handed over all the initiative.

Fortunately, the deal went smoothly.

He'd have to rethink his approach to a deal with Class C, too, and choose the right time. This was so difficult.

As for a deal with Class A, all he could say was, "Maybe next time."

Slacking off was great. Once Hoshino Kanade finished his deal with Class C, he was going to take it easy, too.

Watching his Class D classmates sleep or pass notes during class while he still had to study made Hoshino Kanade unbearably jealous.

Though he sometimes passed notes in class, too.

Kiyona must have picked up bad habits from her classmates. She was actually passing notes with him, even though they sat in front of and behind each other.

All Hoshino Kanade could say was, if Kiyona liked it, that was fine.

Well, school life like this was pretty nice, too. What a shame he wouldn't get to see it after the first month.

"What should we have for lunch today?"

Besides figuring out how to earn points, the biggest question each day was what to eat.

With Hoshino Kanade's indecisiveness and Kiyona's lack of strong opinions—she was fine with anything—they ultimately had to rely on Hoshino Kanade to make the decision.

"I heard the cafeteria has a new dish today."

"I don't mind."

"Crucian-Squid Duo Rice Bowl. It's served over squid-ink rice, topped with teriyaki squid and pan-fried crucian carp."

The squid ink had a faint fishy smell, but a little lemon juice had been added to reduce it and bring out the flavor. It sounded reasonable.

The dark rice contrasted with the reddish-brown teriyaki squid and the golden crucian carp slices. Garnished with scallions and white sesame seeds, it looked great, too.

Such an elaborate dish for only 1,123 points? What a bargain.

Hoshino Kanade gazed at the dish, and a lyric popped into his mind without warning:

"On that day, the squid, the squid arose.

On that day, the crucian-squid, the crucian-squid arose."

It was a new dish, and the students were willing to give it a try. Hoshino Kanade and Kiyona had to wait in line for ages before they could get some.

"Let's eat." ×2

They ate their meal in silence.

In truth, no matter how exquisite the presentation, it couldn't disguise the bizarre flavor and combination.

It was more like a culinary experiment that tried to break with tradition.

The edible squid ink had a slight fishy taste, which clashed with the mild sweetness of the freshwater crucian carp.

Although lemon juice had been added to balance the squid ink's flavor, too much lemon juice would damage the crucian carp's proteins, making the meat tough and robbing it of its fresh taste.

And considering the customers and the price, the squid ink wasn't very good quality. Its fishy smell was rather strong, so they had added far too much lemon juice.

More importantly, they had added lemon juice not just to the squid ink, but to the teriyaki squid and the crucian carp slices as well.

A moderate amount of lemon juice could indeed enhance the squid and crucian carp's flavor, tenderness, and complexity.

But wasn't adding lemon juice to everything a bit much? Was lemon juice absolutely necessary?

The final result was unforgettable: the fish sank and rose in sour sauce, its fishiness and sweetness locked in a vicious struggle, while the bottom of the dish held the remains of its flavor.

All he could say was that the chef had handled it terribly. This was a complete failure of a dish, and it had wasted so much lemon juice and so many ingredients.

Judging by the students around them, most of them looked unhappy. They probably wouldn't try it again.

However, some students said the food's taste didn't matter; they liked anything cooked by that particular chef.

They must have ruined their taste buds by eating too much. There was no saving them.

It was worth mentioning that the squid ink had stained Kiyona's teeth. She said she'd go back to the dorm after school, so Hoshino Kanade would have to go to the library alone that afternoon.