"Then that concludes our homeroom."
Chabashira-sensei hurried out of the classroom as soon as she finished speaking.
The Class D students watched her leave, then began preparing for their first lesson in a somewhat gloomy atmosphere.
It was only a few days into May, but plenty of students still hadn't recovered from the reality they'd learned about on May 1.
Some were disheartened after being labeled "defective," some had been forced into poverty because they lacked points, and others were facing expulsion after failing their exams.
There was still a while before midterms, but some students were already on pins and needles.
But none of that had anything to do with me. As long as I paid attention in class, avoiding a failing grade would be easy.
It wasn't exam season yet, so I'd head to the Chess Club after school.
I had to find a way to make up for the 500,000 points I'd spent today.
I've got a little over 300,000 left. I'll set aside 100,000 and gamble with the other 200,000.
My goal was to break a million, at the very least.
Last month, I'd turned 50,000 into 860,000. This time, I'd aim for more than 1.5 million.
I was planning how to get organized as I packed up my books, ready to head to the bathroom, when suddenly—
Crash!
The classroom door flew open, and Shiina rushed into Class D. The instant she saw me, she sprinted over—
"Hikigaya-kun...!"
Before I could say anything, she wrapped her arms tightly around me. "Huhhh?!"
Her sudden move left me frozen in place, while all my classmates stared at us, dumbfounded.
As cold sweat trickled down my back, Shiina, still holding me, spoke up:
"First, I have to apologize. You spent 500,000 Private Points on someone like me..."
As she spoke, she hugged me tighter. Through my shirt, I could feel the small but unmistakable softness of Shiina's body.
At the same time, the classroom erupted.
"Hey! Did you hear that?! She said 500,000 Private Points!"
"Yeah, she definitely did."
"That guy's popular with the girls and he's got points saved up!"
"Die, normies!"
"But where'd he get 500,000 points?"
"Who knows? The real question is what he spent 500,000 on..."
Listening to the chatter, I knew I was in trouble.
To people who'd never received any points, I was basically a gold mine.
I still had points left, so people were bound to come begging.
But for now, Shiina came first.
Shiina looked up at me, tears in the corners of her eyes. I managed to move my right arm, pulled a handkerchief from my pocket, and gently wiped them away.
"Don't worry about it. I did it because I wanted to. You don't need to apologize."
In truth, I wouldn't have minded giving Ryuen 500,000 points, either.
After all, I'd earned that money through the dubious method of gambling on board games.
More importantly, if I could keep Shiina from looking sad, it was worth it.
Of course, I'd rather die than say something that embarrassing out loud.
"Even so... I'm the one who caused trouble for you, Hikigaya-kun..."
"I don't consider it trouble, so please stop apologizing."
"...Okay."
I really didn't want to see her looking so guilty, and my tone had grown sharper without me realizing it.
Shiina seemed to sense the anger in my words and nodded obediently.
"Then I'll thank you instead... Thank you for spending your points on me."
Shiina looked up at me with a rare smile.
Her charm was beyond anything I'd expected, and my heart skipped a beat. But she wasn't finished.
"After we parted yesterday, I was so sad. I didn't want us to separate. I wanted to keep talking... I just couldn't stop crying."
Her red, swollen eyes made it clear she really had cried a lot.
"But thanks to you, Hikigaya-kun, I can keep spending time with you and Classmate Sakayanagi from now on, so..."
Shiina paused, then suddenly broke into a radiant smile.
"Hikigaya-kun, thank you so much. Please stay by my side forever."
As she spoke, she buried her face against my chest.
"Uh... What am I supposed to do about this?"
I looked around. Everyone was watching, and there was no way I could count on any of them.
I could probably force her away, but if I hurt her or made her sad, I'd feel bad, too.
In the end, I could only let Shiina hold me and gently rub her back to comfort her.
Now that my classmates knew I had 500,000 points—and Shiina had hugged me in front of everyone—my peaceful school life was well and truly over.
But I wasn't going to blame Shiina for it.
She had exposed my secret, true, but strangely enough, I didn't feel all that upset.
Shiina kept hugging me until the teacher arrived for the first lesson and told her to let go.
Afterward, some of my classmates came swarming over like hyenas, and all I could do was sigh.
"Hey, Hikigaya! What's with the 500,000 points?! You really had that much saved up?!"
As soon as the first lesson ended, more than a dozen classmates, led by Ike, crowded around me.
I'd expected it, but this was a real pain.
"...So what? Let me make one thing clear: I didn't get them by scamming anyone."
"Then tell us how you earned them!"
Ike spoke up, and the other curious students joined in.
Looks like I wouldn't get away unless I explained.
"If you wager your own points and challenge a club, you can compete against them in a gambling match."
I took out my books as I spoke, ready to read, when Yamauchi pushed his way over.
"What clubs are there?!"
"I earned mine at the Chess Club. I've heard the Shogi Club, Game Club, and even some sports clubs accept challenges."
Though with the sports clubs, it depended on who the captain was that year.
Apparently some captains were strongly against gambling.
"I'm warning you in advance: if you take part, the risk is yours. I got taken for 200,000 points by the usual tricks."
Betting was up to them, but if they lost, they shouldn't come complaining to me.
"Seriously...? But you should still have plenty of points left, right?!"
"You're basically saying, 'You've got points to spare, so lend me some,' aren't you? Forget it. You're the ones who spent more points than you could afford."
"Please! I can't take any more wild vegetable set meals! I promise I'll pay you back!"
"No way. Besides, Yamauchi, you're probably going to get expelled, right? If you do, I'll never get back the points I lent you. I'm not taking a deal that'll lose me money."
Ike and Yamauchi were both at risk of being expelled after the midterms.
If they were expelled, any points I lent them would be down the drain.
"I'm not getting expelled!"
"Can we really trust someone who spent all of April goofing off?"
Besides, expecting idiots who couldn't even pass a middle-school review quiz to pass their midterms was a pipe dream.
Just then, Ike came over with his schoolbag and pulled out a game console.
"Then, Hikigaya! Buy my console! It comes with a game cartridge, memory card, and charger. Twenty-five thousand points!"
I checked the retail price. The whole set would cost a little over 30,000 points brand new.
In other words, it was a used set for 6,000 points less than the new price.
I'd been planning to buy a game console once I saved up enough points anyway, so I might as well take the bargain.
Besides, Ike was actually asking nicely, unlike Yamauchi.
"...All right. Give me your account details."
"Really?! Thanks!"
Ike happily piled the equipment onto my desk, and I used my terminal to transfer the points to his account.
"I sent them. Check for yourself."
"Got it... Awesome! I won't have to eat wild vegetable set meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner anymore!"
Ike struck a triumphant pose.
It looked like he'd been almost completely broke before I transferred the points.
Spending 100,000 points in a month was just stupid.
"Please, Hikigaya! I saw you've still got 300,000 in your account. Lend me some~"
When Yamauchi spoke up, the other students crowded around—including people I'd never even spoken to.
I seriously felt like beating every last one of these jerks up.
Just as I was getting annoyed, the bell saved me.
They had to go back to their seats now, right? Otherwise, they'd hurt the class's points... Wait, no, our class points had already bottomed out.
Looking at our dismal class points, I watched the crowd finally disperse from around my seat. But at this rate, they'd definitely be back during the next break...
Three hours later...
Ding-dong, ding-dong—
As soon as the lunch bell rang, I stood up, ready to make a run for it.
Sure enough, classmates had come begging for points during every break. If they cornered me during lunch, I'd be done for.
I was about to dash out of the classroom when the door suddenly opened and Shiina walked in.
"Hmm? What's up, Shiina?"
There was probably no one else in Class D she'd come all this way to see.
"Yeah. I wanted to invite Hachiman-kun to eat lunch in the cafeteria with me."
"...Huh?"
Her unexpected words left me frozen in place.
It wasn't that she'd invited me to eat. It was that she'd called me by my first name.
"Wait, did you just call me by my first name?"
"Yes. I wanted to call you Hachiman-kun from now on."
As she spoke, she suddenly took my hand.
Her unexpected move left even the classmates who'd been about to gather around us speechless.
As everyone stared at us in shock, Shiina tugged me out of the classroom by the hand...
"Then let's go, Hachiman-kun. Oh, and from now on, please call me 'Hiyori.'"
The girl said it with a radiant smile.
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