The next day, inside Mos Burger.
Ryuen walked into the restaurant with a gloomy expression.
"Ryuen, over here!" Hashimoto Masayoshi waved to him.
"Oh? Class A sent you, huh? Where's your leader, Sakayanagi?" Ryuen asked casually as he sat down.
"Well..." Hashimoto Masayoshi said with a toothpick between his teeth. "Of course she couldn't come because she had something to take care of."
Ryuen said nothing, and Hashimoto Masayoshi made no effort to break the silence. He simply waited quietly for the others to arrive.
Before long, Ichinose and Horikita Suzune entered together. As soon as they came in, they spotted Ryuen and Hashimoto Masayoshi.
"Suzune, Class D sent you, huh?" Ryuen said with interest.
"Is there a problem with me being here?" Horikita Suzune pulled out a chair and sat down. At the same time, she shot Ryuen a fierce glare.
"And calling someone by her first name without permission is very rude."
Ryuen didn't answer. He simply turned to Ichinose. "Isn't Horikita Etsuka coming?"
Ichinose's expression didn't change at all. She asked in confusion, "Why would you think Horikita Etsuka was coming?"
"No reason. I'd rather talk with him than with you."
Ichinose remained unfazed and rested her chin on her interlaced fingers.
"Well, this is certainly awkward."
"I don't see any awkwardness in your expression," Ryuen said. As if he'd thought of something, he turned to Suzune and asked:
"Horikita Suzune... Are you and Horikita Etsuka related?"
"Yes. He's my younger brother. Why? Is something the matter?"
Horikita Suzune admitted it frankly. There was no point in hiding it, and she couldn't have hidden it anyway.
"Nothing." Ryuen reclined in his chair in a more relaxed position, a hint of mockery in his eyes.
"It's pretty pathetic that he's in Class B while you, his older sister, are in Class D."
"Class placement doesn't—"
"Do you believe that yourself?" Ryuen cut Horikita Suzune off. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the table.
"Now that things have come to this, is there any point in saying something so stupid?"
Horikita Suzune clenched her teeth slightly, but her expression didn't change.
"Uh, why's the atmosphere so hostile?" Seeing things take a turn, Ichinose hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
"Anyway, aren't we here to discuss how to resolve this matter?"
"Yeah. If you want to talk about that sort of thing, do it in private," Hashimoto Masayoshi chimed in.
"Fine." Ryuen let his imposing air subside, then slowly spoke. "You did win this time. Tell me your terms."
Ichinose spoke first. "Class C will pay two million points, and we won't let this get out."
"Two million points? You've got some nerve." Ryuen rubbed his temple with one hand.
"Just tell me what price you have in mind. Don't bother with this pointless haggling."
After all, if a class had forty students on average, all their points combined would only amount to four million. Even with Ryuen ruling through force, plenty of students would still rise up in protest.
"One million points. That's our bottom line," Ichinose said bluntly.
Hashimoto Masayoshi pulled a contract out from under the table. Ryuen took it and read:
Class C will give A, B, and D one million points. Classes A, B, and D will destroy all footage taken inside the special teaching building on the afternoon of May 28 and guarantee they won't disclose it.
The one million points will be divided as follows:
Class B: 500,000 points
Class A: 300,000 points
Class D: 200,000 points
Ryuen looked over it, sneering as he read.
"So you had this ready all along." He pointed at the guarantor section. "Even the Student Council has stamped it. You really came prepared."
Hashimoto Masayoshi shrugged and said helplessly, "The boss has his reasons. To be honest, there are some things I still don't know."
Ryuen picked up a pen and signed his name. Then he stood up and said, "The one million points will be transferred to your three accounts separately."
With that, he got up and left without hesitation.
He stopped at the door and turned around, speaking in a low voice.
"I accept this defeat. But next time, I'll take you all down one by one."
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Hashimoto Masayoshi replied.
Only then did Ryuen disappear from sight.
The other three didn't linger, either. After exchanging a few words, they left Mos Burger.
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For the leaders of each class, this had been nothing more than a minor skirmish, but the people carrying out their orders had run themselves ragged.
The three students from Class C, especially Ishizaki and the others, had not only taken a beating but had gotten nothing out of it.
Still, even though they hadn't gained anything, they were somewhat relieved. Ryuen hadn't blamed them; instead, he'd understood and tolerated their actions.
That afternoon, Ryuen called everyone in the class back to the classroom to investigate the traitor. Whether they found anyone in the end was another question.
Monday was the day the test results were announced.
The students from Class B came into the classroom. The class representative had already placed everyone's test papers on their desks.
Hoshinomiya staggered into the classroom, reeking of alcohol. Leaning against the lectern, she said dazedly:
"Hehe, good afternoon, everyone!"
"Teacher, it's morning."
"Yeah, teacher. Did you forget even that?"
After spending several weeks together, the students in Class B had long since gotten used to their teacher's drinking habit. Aside from the first day of school, she had a faint smell of alcohol on her almost every day.
"Oh? It's morning?" Hoshinomiya put a finger to her lips, looking thoughtful. She turned and stared blankly at the clock on the wall.
"Huh? It really is morning."
"Hehe, sorry about that. Well then, good morning, everyone!" Hoshinomiya rallied and greeted them again.
She picked up a piece of chalk and started writing on the blackboard, muttering as she did, "I won't go through everyone's grades one by one. You all did very well. Now I'm going to explain something extremely important."
As Hoshinomiya wrote, the students below began murmuring among themselves.
"Something extremely important? Is there anything more important than our grades?"
"I don't know. Could cleanliness be part of the assessment too?!"
In the back row, Himeno Yuki turned to look at Horikita Etsuka, only to find him resting his chin on his hand and gazing out the window.
"Horikita, aren't you interested in this important thing the teacher mentioned?" Himeno Yuki asked.
Horikita Etsuka turned around, and Himeno Yuki froze for a moment.
There were two stickers on Horikita Etsuka's eyelids, each with an eye drawn on it. They looked so realistic that if the stickers had been closer to his skin tone, no one might have noticed.
"Pfft." Even Himeno Yuki, who rarely laughed, puffed out her cheeks. "Horikita, what are you doing?"
Horikita Etsuka peeled the stickers off his eyelids. "Isn't it obvious? I'm sleeping."
Himeno Yuki nodded, but then frowned slightly. "You sleep like this every morning, Horikita. Aren't you worried about your grades at all?"
Horikita Etsuka casually pulled out a test paper and handed it to Himeno Yuki. She took it and looked at the satisfying score on it: 100 points!
"Th-this..." Himeno Yuki was stunned.
She paid fairly close attention during class, but her grades only stayed above average. Horikita Etsuka was different. He spent almost every morning sleeping, yet he still managed to get full marks!
"Your math score is really good, Horikita. You must have strong reasoning skills. But language arts isn't like math. If you don't study seriously, you could easily—"
Before Himeno Yuki could finish, Horikita Etsuka slid another test paper over.
Language arts, 96 points!
Himeno Yuki lay on her desk in a huff, her purple twin tails swaying back and forth.
How was that fair? Her deskmate slept through almost every morning and still got high marks! She paid attention in class, and yet her grades weren't as good as Horikita Etsuka's!
Horikita Etsuka smiled faintly and patted Himeno Yuki on the shoulder.
"Everyone has a study method that suits them. Once you figure out yours, you can more than double your efficiency. Then you'll have extra time to do the things you like. I can teach you."
Himeno Yuki raised her head. After a moment of silence, she said one word: "Okay."
"But there's a condition," Horikita Etsuka said.
"What condition?"
"You have to smile more often. Don't keep such a straight face. Has anyone ever told you that you look nice when you smile?"
"Smile?"
"Yeah. Why don't you try smiling at me first?"
Himeno Yuki looked at Horikita Etsuka, who wore an expectant expression. In the end, the corners of her mouth slowly lifted. But the next moment, she turned away. "No. I can't do it. It feels so weird."
"Himeno, smiling is easy. Look at me."
Himeno Yuki turned around, and Horikita Etsuka immediately flashed a sunny smile.
A faint blush appeared on Himeno Yuki's cheeks, and she felt warmth spread through her body.
For some reason, Horikita Etsuka looked especially good when he smiled. Every time he did, Himeno Yuki couldn't help blushing.
"All done! My masterpiece is complete!" Hoshinomiya finally finished her work on the blackboard, her head still spinning.
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