Signing an Agreement

"Hey, come with us!" After school, Hoshino was on his way to the Student Council when two burly figures suddenly blocked his path.

"Huh?..." Hoshino had been lost in thought, so he was taken aback. He instinctively tried to back away, but when he looked up and got a better look, he realized they were Ishizaki and... who was the other guy?

Oh, right! The tall, dark-skinned guy who always hung around Ryuen, the one wearing sunglasses. With that build and that face, he looked like a thug at first glance.

Seeing that Hoshino seemed ready to struggle and run, the two moved closer. The tall, dark-skinned boy even put a hand on Hoshino's shoulder.

That hand was huge! It was probably bigger than Hoshino's head! Feeling the pressure on his shoulder, Hoshino gave up trying to get away.

"Wait! Wait! Ryuen sent you, right? I'll cooperate. Could you not get so close?" Hoshino nodded toward his shoulder.

By then, Hoshino had calmed down, though he was still a little nervous. Both of them were huge. Ishizaki wasn't so bad, but the other guy was seriously intimidating!

Once they saw that Hoshino wasn't going to run, the two of them stepped back a little and walked him toward the school building, one in front and one behind.

Now that he had some idea what was going on, Hoshino wasn't very nervous anymore. He felt around in his jacket pocket with his right hand.

Thank goodness! It was still there! He hadn't forgotten it when he changed clothes!

Feeling around, Hoshino switched on the camera. At this close range, even if he couldn't record video, capturing audio would be enough.

"Does this count as kidnapping?" Hoshino relaxed a little and glanced around. It had been a while since school let out, and the building seemed nearly empty.

"..." Ishizaki looked annoyed, as if he wanted to say something, but seemed to have been specifically told not to. He swallowed the words that were about to come out, looked away, and kept walking.

"Ryuen sure isn't considerate, making an injured guy run errands!..." Hoshino rambled, but then he noticed something strange.

During the hearing, Ishizaki had been far away, so Hoshino hadn't paid attention. But the wound on Ishizaki's face looked... kind of fresh?

Sigh—there were so many holes in their story!

"Where are we going?"

"..."

After being ignored so many times, Hoshino stopped trying to make conversation and quietly followed behind Ishizaki...

"Creak—" The door to the rooftop opened. Ryuen and Ibuki were leaning against the wall, and at the sound, both turned to look.

Once Hoshino entered the rooftop, the tall boy behind him stayed outside and pulled the door shut. This didn't look like a friendly meeting!

Was Ryuen really planning to get physical? Hoshino felt uneasy, but he couldn't let it show. He took a quiet, deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Hey, Ryuen!..." Hoshino didn't know what to say in this situation. He looked at Ryuen awkwardly, and Ryuen responded with a faint, smug sneer.

"...Kid, enjoying that 500,000?" Ryuen slowly approached and leaned close to Hoshino's ear, his voice full of menace.

"...Mm—yeah, I guess I am." Hoshino thought it over, then took a few steps back to put some distance between them.

Hoshino guessed Ryuen hadn't brought him here just for the 500,000 points. There were plenty of chances to get more points; choosing this moment probably had something to do with the Sudo Incident. Still, Hoshino wasn't sure whether this guy might suddenly lose it and beat him up.

"Hmph. Let's get down to business. Rule in Class C's favor at the hearing, and I'll give you another 500,000 personal points." Ryuen suddenly turned serious.

"Huh?"

That was something Hoshino hadn't expected! He'd assumed Ryuen would threaten him, but it turned out he was offering a bribe. It seemed Ryuen had gotten a little smarter.

Ryuen stood there, waiting for an answer, the smug smile on his face making it seem like he already had Hoshino in the palm of his hand.

"...What excuse are you planning to use?" Hoshino suddenly realized something was off. Ryuen was planning to fabricate evidence!

"I have that covered." Ryuen's answer confirmed Hoshino's guess. Things had gone so far that it would be hard to bring them to an end without a specific excuse.

"...If you're going to fabricate evidence, you don't really need me, do you?"

"Telling you in advance is the safer option..."

Hoshino didn't believe a word of that! But with the extra time, he'd more or less figured it out.

Ryuen's scheme was pretty clever! If Hoshino agreed, his class would almost certainly ostracize him. He'd be ruling in Class C's favor in front of everyone. Even if there was "evidence," those guys in Class D were impossible to reason with.

And Ryuen might come up with an excuse so flimsy that anyone could see through it. Hoshino would end up looking like a complete scumbag!

Maybe Hoshino himself was Ryuen's real target! Only now did Hoshino finally catch on.

As a student council secretary, Hoshino could get in the way of Ryuen's plans at times. Ryuen wanted to drag him down with this!

Too bad Hoshino would never have agreed in the first place!

"...Ryuen, I've got something here that I think you'll find pretty interesting." As he spoke, Hoshino pulled out his phone, opened the recording, and handed it over.

"What a bunch of idiots!" Ryuen only needed one glance for his expression to darken.

"How about it, Ryuen? Want to talk about a price?... And just so you know, don't even think about destroying it. I've got as many copies as you want!"

"Heh. A price? At worst, I'd get suspended for two weeks and lose a few points!" Though it was clear he'd lost the upper hand, Ryuen remained composed, as if he still had everything under control.

"...Haha, Ryuen, are you an idiot? Do you know what day it is the week after next?"

"Oh? What..." Ryuen had only gotten halfway through his question when he seemed to realize something. His eyes widened, and his expression darkened.

"The school rules say that anyone who misses an exam without a valid reason gets a zero! Suspension—well, I don't think that counts as a valid reason." Hoshino deliberately paused and pretended to think it over.

"...Name your terms." Ryuen had calmed down by now. Ibuki and Ishizaki, standing beside him, still looked confused.

"Then let's go..." Hoshino ignored the three of them and headed out first...

Agreement Between the Parties

Class C (hereinafter referred to as Party A) and Hoshino Hoshiya (hereinafter referred to as Party B) hereby enter into the following agreement:

1. Each student in Party A who agrees to this contract shall transfer 20,000 personal points to Party B each month. Any shortfall shall be carried over to the following month. If Party B is expelled, the points shall instead be deducted directly. This agreement shall remain in effect until graduation.

2. Party B shall delete all videos in his possession related to the Sudo Incident and shall not share them. Any violation shall result in immediate expulsion.

3. Party A shall not harass Party B in any way from this point onward. Any violation shall result in immediate expulsion.