You'll Have to Pay More

"Who is that student named Sakura?"

Shortly after the message was sent, a reply from Kushida Kikyo arrived.

"Oh, look who finally found the time to check his messages, Mr. Busybody?" She didn't answer his question; after all, having been left hanging for so long, anyone would be in a foul mood.

"I'll give you 50 points to buy a lollipop and cool off."

Seeing the 50 points transferred by Uesugi Hara, Kushida Kikyo, who had been full of resentment, felt both annoyed and amused.

Was she really that easy to brush off?

Seeing that she was slow to reply, Uesugi Hara couldn't help but ask, "Where'd you go?"

"That's a secret for our class. Why should I tell an outsider like you?" she retorted sharply.

"Uh... how about 5,000 points as a spy fee?"

"I am a member of Class D! How could I possibly betray class information!"

Uesugi Hara rolled his eyes internally: Haven't you told me plenty already? But he didn't say it out loud, only asking, "Then what do you want?"

"You'll have to pay more!"

Hiss~ How did such a cute girl turn out like this?

"...I'll add another 5,000 points."

"Deal!" She had long since grown tired of days without points!

After receiving the transfer from Uesugi Hara, Kushida Kikyo readily provided the information he wanted.

For her, betraying the class carried no psychological burden whatsoever.

"Sakura-san is just an inconspicuous girl in our class. She's always alone, keeps to herself, has a submissive personality, and her hairstyle is hopelessly outdated."

Although Uesugi Hara wanted to refute that, it was indeed an accurate description of Airi.

"I see. And who told you this?"

"Horikita said so."

That woman had that kind of ability? To be able to track it down to Airi?

"How would she know?"

"I don't know either, but she said that when she heard there was an eyewitness, only Sakura-san's reaction was different from the others. I didn't notice it myself, and I don't know if what she said is true or not."

"Besides, Horikita seems very certain that Sakura-san is the eyewitness," Kushida Kikyo added.

I might have underestimated that woman, but why didn't Ayanokoji notice? Logically, his observational skills shouldn't be weaker than hers.

"So, what do you plan to do?"

"Go find Sakura-san and get the situation cleared up, of course. What else would I do? Are you suggesting I wait for Horikita to go find her?"

If someone really had to approach Airi, Uesugi Hara would still choose Kushida Kikyo. Compared to the cold and rigid personality of Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyo's approachability was clearly impeccable.

But the problem was whether Airi would resist interacting with them.

"Have you guys even considered that she might not want to interact with you at all?"

"Are you joking? Who would reject the cute little Kikyo?"

"Uh... does Horikita Suzune count?" Uesugi Hara couldn't help but tear down her confidence. "I've seen her reject you several times already."

"Do you still want to hear the news or not?" Kushida Kikyo bristled again.

"Please, continue."

"As long as I make a move, Sakura-san will definitely be willing to help Class D," Kushida Kikyo said, full of confidence.

"You're that good?" Uesugi Hara didn't believe her.

"Of course!" Kushida Kikyo remained very confident in her own charm.

"Alright, I have nothing else to ask." Uesugi Hara ended the chat.

Uesugi Hara didn't know if the result of Kushida approaching Airi would be good or bad.

If Airi was willing to help Class D, while it might not necessarily turn the tide for the class, she might be able to grow from the experience.

But if Airi refused, he feared that some people in Class D would be relentless, pestering her and causing her distress.

Although Uesugi Hara didn't want to drag Airi into this incident, he knew that, in the end, the decision had to be made by Airi herself.

It wasn't that he couldn't help Airi solve it, but he couldn't protect her every single second, so he also wanted Airi to grow.

That was why he would guide Airi in his daily life, but the effects weren't very obvious.

She needed to truly experience some things before she could take that step.

Uesugi Hara sighed, wondering if Kushida could actually persuade her.

Forget it, no point in overthinking it. Let's go boost Airi's resistance first.

With that, he logged into his alt account with practiced ease and clicked on Shizuku-chan's backend.

Time to look at some legs.

The next day.

"Uesugi, I heard that Class B is helping Class D, but our class hasn't had much of a reaction. Do you think that might be a bad thing?"

"Kamuro, part of the reason Class B is helping Class D is that Class C is also an enemy of Class B. The reason Class B's class points fluctuated so little is precisely because Class C has been harassing them for the past two months, isn't it?"

"I see. What about the other side of it?" Kamuro Masumi realized, then asked further.

Uesugi Hara first glanced at the curious Kamuro Masumi, unable to tell for a moment if she was truly naive or just pretending.

"Morishita, why don't you enlighten her?" he said to Morishita Ai, who had been secretly peeking at them from the corner of her eye.

He didn't use the word "tell," but the more sophisticated "enlighten," hoping to pique her interest.

As a result, he watched as Morishita Ai pulled the ruler she often used to dismember erasers from her pencil case and tapped Kamuro Masumi on the head three times.

"Kamuro Masumi, do you understand now?" After finishing, she said earnestly to the bewildered Kamuro Masumi.

Ah, this... he really shouldn't have held any hope for Morishita Ai...

Uesugi Hara sighed in his heart, "I'll just explain it myself."

"You know who the leader of Class B is, right?"

"I do." Following Sakayanagi around, she was aware of a few things.

"Then do you know her personality and the atmosphere of Class B?"

"Ichinose is a friendly and helpful person. As for the atmosphere of Class B, let me think," Kamuro Masumi said, as if pondering.

Uesugi Hara didn't interrupt her, turning instead to look at Morishita Ai, who was looking at Kamuro Masumi with a sense of exasperation.

"Morishita, don't take things from TV dramas as reality," he said helplessly.

"Shut up, Uesugi Hara. It's Kamuro Masumi who is too dull."

Kamuro is indeed quite... no, how could he badmouth his own good friend?

He almost fell for Morishita Ai's trap again.

"Could it be that you used the wrong tool? People use a disciplinary ruler, while you used a straight ruler," he said with a straight face.

Morishita Ai: "...I see." She looked at Kamuro Masumi, then toward the podium, a look of eagerness flashing in her eyes.

Uesugi Hara: Did I do something wrong?

The conversation between the two didn't last long, and Kamuro Masumi finally regained her focus.

"Unity and harmony?" she said uncertainly.

"Exactly!" He quickly interrupted Morishita Ai's train of thought, raising his voice.

"That's why when Ichinose gives an order, Class B is willing to help Class D."

"And since our class hasn't been provoked by Class C, nor do we have a leader who is eager to help others, very few people in our class are willing to waste their time helping Class D."

"I see. But Uesugi, it's one thing to badmouth Sakayanagi, but did you have to say it so loudly?" As she spoke, she pointed toward Sakayanagi Arisu.

Uesugi Hara slowly turned his head to look, just in time to see Sakayanagi Arisu's displeased expression. After all, being badmouthed in front of the whole class wouldn't make anyone happy.

Many people in the class also cast curious glances their way.

Uesugi Hara could only smile and pretend he didn't know anything, as if nothing had happened, saying, "I was just joking with Kamuro! Everyone, please continue with what you were doing, keep going!"