Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye. After saying goodbye to Shiina, Hoshino headed to the reading area on the fifth floor of the library.
"How have you thought it over, Hoshino-kun?" Sakayanagi asked without looking up from the book in her hands.
"You're pretty impressive, Sakayanagi." Hoshino praised her in a casual, nonchalant tone, without answering her question.
"Is that so? Thank you for the compliment!" Sakayanagi closed her book and looked up with a bright smile.
"...You really don't hold back!"
"That's simply the truth. There's no need for me to pretend to be modest, is there?" Sakayanagi casually replied as she straightened her clothes.
"True..." Hoshino was at a loss for words. "Let's get down to business! What are the terms of the wager?"
"The same as before. If you win, I'll give you 500,000 points. If you lose, you'll become my friend. We'll even sign an agreement! You can set the rules!" Looking at Sakayanagi's smug expression, Hoshino wondered: If I punched her, would she cry?
He decided against it. If he actually did that, he'd probably never want to attend this school again.
"Fine! Here are my rules: We'll each guess how many points our class's rating will earn us. Points from any other source won't count. Whoever guesses closer wins. How does that sound?"
"Hmm... No problem! Who goes first?" After a moment's thought, Sakayanagi agreed to Hoshino's rules.
"Wait, don't we need a teacher to witness this? The booklet we got at the start of the school year said a teacher had to be present when we signed an agreement, didn't it?" Hoshino didn't start the wager right away.
"Yes! Then..."
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, could I ask you to witness this?" Hoshino cut Sakayanagi off and spoke toward the nearby bookshelf.
"Sure! I had no idea little Hoshino was so capable. You even managed to get in touch with Sakayanagi! Very impressive! And what about you, little Sakayanagi?" The lively Hoshinomiya-sensei wore her usual smile.
"Of course. Hoshino-kun, have you made thorough preparations? I'm looking forward to this!" Sakayanagi looked briefly surprised, then resumed her confident smile. "In that case, I'll go first..."
"Wait, there's an additional rule!" Seeing Sakayanagi about to speak, Hoshino hurriedly interrupted her, feeling a little nervous.
"Hmm?... Little Hoshino, you're being so cautious? Aren't you afraid people will say you're picking on a girl?" Hoshinomiya-sensei made another offhand remark, looking not the least bit hurried.
"Uh... I just feel like Sakayanagi's not someone to underestimate. It's always good to be cautious! And as for who's picking on whom, that remains to be seen!" Hoshino glanced at Sakayanagi beside him.
"Let's hear it!"
"Additional rules: We each have to send our guess to Hoshinomiya-sensei by phone. We only get one chance, within the next hour. If we don't answer, we lose by default. Hoshinomiya-sensei must tell us truthfully whether the other person has submitted an answer, but she can't reveal it early or give us any hints, intentional gestures, or expressions. We'll reveal our guesses only after next month's points are distributed. Neither answer range can exceed 1,000 points. If both guesses fall within the range, whoever has a midpoint closer to the actual number wins. If they're equally close, it's a draw. How does that sound?"
"Hmm... Fine." Sakayanagi nodded, a hint of puzzlement in her eyes, and turned to look at Hoshino.
"Shall we start?" After Sakayanagi and Hoshinomiya-sensei exchanged contact information, Hoshino asked tentatively.
"Mm!"
"Good! Let's begin! It's now 5:38 p.m.! The deadline is 6:38 p.m.! You each get only one try! Good luck, little Hoshino!" Hoshinomiya-sensei glanced at her watch and spoke with a touch more seriousness.
There was no point in pretending anymore. Since he'd made the rules himself, Hoshino turned his back to Sakayanagi and put on an air of deep thought. He typed, deleted, typed again... After repeating this several times, he sent his answer to Hoshinomiya-sensei.
When he turned around, Sakayanagi was looking at him with an easy smile.
"You've already answered? That was fast!"
"Yes!" Sakayanagi covered her mouth with a light laugh.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei?" Hoshino still wasn't quite convinced. He looked at her with a wary, doubtful expression.
"Yes, you've both submitted your answers." Hoshinomiya-sensei answered seriously, then went right back to her lively, unserious self. "Little Hoshino, are you that afraid of little Sakayanagi?"
"Ah... a little. Who wouldn't be after talking with her?" Hoshino breathed a sigh of relief and finally relaxed.
"Honestly, Hoshino-kun, it's not nice to say that about a girl!... Still, I think I'm starting to understand why you were placed in Class D." After voicing her mild displeasure, Sakayanagi gazed at Hoshino with interest.
"Now that we're done, can I leave?" Hoshino felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze.
"Sure, sure! I'll come too!" As she spoke, Hoshinomiya-sensei linked her arm with Hoshino's and pulled him into the elevator.
Left behind, Sakayanagi watched Hoshino and Hoshinomiya-sensei leave with a smile. Then she returned to the table and opened her book, though an unusual light gleamed in her eyes...
"Little Hoshino, I didn't expect you to have a plan like that! Don't you think you're losing more than you stand to gain?" Hoshinomiya-sensei was still puzzled. She'd seen both answers and had a fairly good idea what was going on, but wasn't the price a little too high?
"Well, we'll only know in the end." Hoshino gave a vague answer and offered no further explanation.
I'll need to do a few more things to make sure my guess is right.
"Honestly, little Hoshino, you won't even tell me? I'm crying, I'm crying..."
"I'm going to sit in the library for a little while. What about you, Hoshinomiya-sensei?" Hoshino ignored her "performance."
"I think I'll head back. It's not good for a girl to be out alone at night! Aren't you going to walk Chie back, little Hoshino? Come on, come on..."
After she put it like that, he had to walk her back. Hoshino could feel his blood pressure rising. She was so annoying!
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