Ichinose Is a Rich Girl

Karaoke.

It had been almost a month since Hiyori had last come to a place like this.

The last time she'd come, she hadn't made any particularly good memories. If anything, it had been awful.

But she hadn't expected so much to change in just one month.

For example, Hiyori now had a boyfriend.

She could chat with him every day, go on dates with him, and do all sorts of things together.

In the past, she'd never imagined something like this could happen, no matter what.

"Hiyori, this is a microphone. If the two microphones touch, it'll get noisy. We call that feedback, but it's really just interference."

Kujo kept introducing her to new experiences, and Hiyori's heart was in turmoil.

She'd never been exposed to these things before.

She'd had few friends and rarely gone out. Now, she gazed dreamily at his profile.

Had she really changed so much?

"Hello!"

With a cheerful greeting, the best girl in their year pushed open the door and came in.

Hiyori knew her. She was Ichinose Honami from Class B.

The last time they'd met, she'd asked Hiyori if she could go out with her Kujo-kun to discuss something important between their classes.

Later, Hiyori had also asked Kujo-kun out of curiosity what Ichinose had wanted.

Kujo-kun said Ichinose had taken him to a private room, treated him to a big meal, and said she would become a pillar of their year.

Kujo-kun had told her so much.

Hiyori's heart had wavered a little.

Did Kujo-kun have special feelings for Ichinose?

They were surely different from his feelings for Hiyori. Whenever Kujo-kun talked about Ichinose, he always seemed to have very high expectations of her.

She was grateful that Kujo-kun told her all of this.

But didn't that make her seem like a girl who could only get jealous?

She trusted him so much, Kujo-kun.

Kujo-kun was such an idiot!

Kujo had no way of knowing what Hiyori was thinking at that moment.

He picked up a microphone and looked through the songs available at the school. He chose one at random, then played the original recording.

Yoshioka's "Cherry," huh?

Ichinose and Hiyori watched Kujo go through the motions. For a moment, they were both dazed, completely at a loss.

But Ichinose was good at reading the mood.

Watching Kujo act silly with a straight face, she figured he must be about to discuss something he didn't want others to hear.

Ichinose straightened her posture a little.

Kujo had many reasons for inviting Ichinose.

The most important and urgent one was that he wanted to borrow money from her.

This midterm exam was the only exam in Kujo's memories that was worth manipulating Class Points for.

At its core, this midterm was an academic exam where students could buy past exam papers from upperclassmen, memorize the answers to the exact questions, and pass without a scratch.

This year's first-years weren't in the same situation as in the original story.

The classes hadn't fallen out with one another.

They hadn't yet reached the point where every class had to compete against the rest.

If Kujo could get his hands on enough Class Points now to convince the school to raise the exam's difficulty and, in turn, earn a greater exam reward, it would be a very good deal.

The main reason Kujo thought this plan had a chance of succeeding was Ichinose.

Ichinose was someone he could trust. She was the only person capable of leading the entire first year down an alternate route.

And she had a great deal of Class Points at her disposal.

In the original story, Ichinose was Class B's "bank."

Once Class B's students learned about the possibility of Class Points, they voluntarily entrusted most of their points to Ichinose to curb their excessive spending and help the class.

But in this life, Ichinose was the one who had told Kujo about all this.

In other words, Ichinose now had at least three million Private Points in her hands.

If Kujo laid everything out and explained why he wanted to borrow the money, she would most likely lend it to him.

But Kujo didn't want to take advantage of her kindness.

If he wasn't mistaken, the upcoming exams would include a Sports Festival exam where the entire year competed, an expulsion vote exam at the end of the first year, and a Command Tower exam where two classes fought against each other, among others.

It was important to build a friendship with Ichinose herself, and even with her class.

That was why Kujo had chosen karaoke, a place first-years often visited.

After all, he had no intention of hiding the fact that he was close to Ichinose.

And most importantly—

Kujo looked at Hiyori, who was sitting beside Ichinose. He also hoped Hiyori would learn to be a little more outgoing from her.

Sometimes, Kujo felt he really was a very calculating person.

But he didn't actually want to be like this. He didn't want to be calculating.

All of this was driven by the soul of an adult and the instinct to pursue profit, even though he was living as a student.

"Have you thought about what you want to do after graduation, Ichinose?"

Ichinose propped her chin on her hand and thought carefully about Kujo's question for a while.

She would probably pursue further studies.

Her family wasn't particularly well-off, so getting a job was also an option.

"I haven't really thought it through before. What do you think, Shiina?"

Ichinose looked at Hiyori. Hiyori blinked, then answered her question:

"We've still got three years. We can take our time thinking about it."

They were only in their first year, after all.

Usually, when students were close to graduating, the school invited their parents to career counseling sessions and offered students employment guidance.

By then, each student should have a fairly clear goal.

Right now, everyone was focused on adjusting to their new environment. At most, they might worry about the school's exams.

Ichinose asked Kujo curiously:

"What about you, Kujo? What are your plans for the future?"

The moment Kujo opened his mouth, he said something startling.

"Milk the school for all it's worth before graduation. If you're not planning to graduate from Class A, points are useless anyway. Before graduation, just trade them to the underclassmen for a different future."

Huh?

Ichinose froze at his words.

Then she saw the mischievous grin on Kujo's face and realized he was joking.

Hiyori beside her, however, seemed to be genuinely considering it. She said:

"You mean something like exchanging students' points for goods?"

Kujo shrugged without saying anything.

Watching Kujo and Hiyori play off each other, Ichinose's eyes moved between them. Then inspiration struck, and she more or less understood what they meant.

At this school, points could buy anything.

But Kujo had deliberately said the points were useless.

Did Kujo want Class B's points?

Ichinose understood what Kujo was implying.

Recently, Ichinose had also heard an interesting piece of news from the Student Council.

Apparently, a first-year student had recently asked third-year students for points.

Horikita Manabu kept a close eye on the third-years' points, while the second-years' points were basically all under Nagumo's watch.

But if Kujo wanted to ask her for points—

Why not just say so?

If he asked outright, she wouldn't refuse him.

No.

What she should be thinking about now was why Kujo needed such a large amount of points.

Was there something he wanted to buy?

And would it benefit Class B as well?

Otherwise, Kujo probably wouldn't have approached her.

Ichinose had more or less figured it out, so she asked Kujo:

"Kujo, have you run into some kind of trouble lately? Do you need support in the form of Private Points?"

Ichinose really was too clever.

Kujo hadn't even finished his long preamble before Ichinose guessed what he was after.

Maybe that was the unfortunate result of talking with her so much lately.

Kujo didn't answer Ichinose.

But not answering was the same as not denying it.

"The points I have belong to all my classmates, so I can't make the decision myself. But I can ask everyone in the class. I'd like to know exactly what you have in mind, Kujo."

Kujo sat on the sofa and squeezed Hiyori's hand.

They hadn't discussed it beforehand, but he was very pleased with how Hiyori had backed him up just now.

Kujo and Hiyori had looked to the future together countless times, but this was the first time they'd discussed it in front of someone else.

In response to Ichinose's question, Kujo explained his plan.

He wanted to borrow 2.5 million points from Class B in his own name.

That was no small amount.

If Class B used that many points all at once this month, it would be risky.

After all, Ichinose wasn't just Class B's leader; she was also a member of the Student Council.

Class B's students were worried that Ichinose might need points for something while serving on the Student Council, so they were willing to entrust all their points to her.

They trusted Ichinose to manage their points, but they also wanted to make sure she had enough points to make the right decision at any time.

So, in exchange for borrowing the enormous sum of 2.5 million points interest-free, Kujo promised Class B that he would give them his full support in one of the upcoming exams.

"Is 2.5 million enough? I'll pay."

?

Ichinose's response left the room silent for a moment.

What happened to all that caution you showed just now?

Ichinose!