The rules said you won by touching your opponent with your hands, so feet didn't count. Kicking was off-limits.
She could quickly bring her hand down and still touch Yagami Shizuka before he could touch her.
But she came up empty again, because Yagami Shizuka rolled away.
There wasn't enough room to move quickly, but rolling was still an option.
In that instant, Yagami Shizuka's decisiveness caught her completely off guard.
Even if Yagami Shizuka had successfully gotten behind her, the match wouldn't have been so easily decided. But when Kiryuin reached down, she couldn't help crouching, bringing her right into the path of Yagami Shizuka's palm.
Smack!
A sharp crack rang out.
"Ah!"
Kiryuin yelped and leaped forward, clutching her butt.
Yagami Shizuka withdrew his right hand and stared in shock, dumbfounded.
The system had actually made him smack Kiryuin's butt—and in front of a crowd, no less.
Quite a few students were watching.
He had to admit, it felt... springy, and... strangely wonderful.
Kiryuin Fuka clutched her butt and turned to glare at Yagami Shizuka, fuming.
If they hadn't made that bet, she'd have reported him for sexual harassment.
She'd never taken a hit like that in her entire life.
"Sorry, senpai. I didn't mean to." Yagami Shizuka scratched his head apologetically.
Kiryuin Fuka said nothing. A bet was a bet, and she had to honor her promise.
[You might think Kiryuin will gladly provide you with information, but in reality, she still won't accept defeat. The information she gives you will be unimportant. You can choose to ask her for a notebook.]
"How about this? I don't need you to give me any information, senpai. I just need one of your notebooks." Yagami Shizuka proposed a different condition.
"Huh?" Kiryuin couldn't understand what he meant. "What do you want my notebook for? Do you want me to write the information in it before handing it over?"
"No, no. I just want an ordinary notebook. You only need to give me one, as long as it has your name on it."
After a pause, Yagami Shizuka continued, "I know there are penalties for giving information to students in lower grades. I won't make you do that, senpai. I only need one of your notebooks. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I don't. Could you explain it a little more clearly?" Kiryuin felt rather embarrassed asking. How could an upperclassman be stumped by such a simple question?
But Yagami Shizuka didn't want to say any more. "You only need to give me a notebook."
Kiryuin Fuka had wanted to ask again, but in the end, she let it go. She had lost the match, after all, and still owed Yagami Shizuka money.
It was only right that she help him.
Besides, she figured he was probably just giving her a way to save face.
A few minutes later, Yagami Shizuka followed Kiryuin to the second-year corridor and waited patiently outside the classroom.
"Thanks, senpai." After getting the notebook, Yagami Shizuka thanked her. Once he confirmed there was nothing written inside, he felt reassured.
"I won't keep you any longer. See you, senpai."
"See you, kouhai. Come visit me sometime." Kiryuin waved lightly and watched Yagami Shizuka walk away.
"Fuka, what class is that kouhai from? You haven't sold information to a first-year, have you? I'm telling you, that's worth 50 Class Points. You'd better not do something like that." A girl about as tall as Kiryuin, perhaps a little taller, came over and asked.
"Of course not." Kiryuin waved her hand. "I gave him an ordinary notebook. There was nothing written in it."
Without proof, the girl couldn't say much. If Kiryuin had really sold information for points, they would find out soon enough. Then she could just cover the loss of Class Points herself.
The next day.
Before he even entered the classroom, he could hear everyone inside chattering away.
Some classes were discussing what to eat today and tomorrow, and what tasted good.
Other classes were talking about the girls' bust sizes. They'd even made a ranking and bought a measuring device, discussing their potential for growth as well.
Class A, however, was discussing the Class Points rules.
"Have you heard? Ichinose from Class B joined the Student Council!"
"Isn't that bad? They'll definitely get information before we do."
"Can the class leader even handle this?"
"It's not that bad. I heard Class B has no idea there are hidden rules at this school. As long as none of us tell them, they'll stay in the dark."
"But they'll find out sooner or later. Good thing we have Sakayanagi Arisu in our class, or we might be the ones getting played."
In the corridor, Yagami Shizuka ran into Morishita Ai, who was looking around for someone.
She stopped him and said, "You're gathering information, right? Do you need any? I've already collected some. It'll only cost you 100,000... no..."
She held up five fingers. "This much. Just 50,000.
"I'm telling you, Katsuragi asked me for it, and I wouldn't sell it to him even for 100,000. Fifty thousand is a special price for you."
Yagami Shizuka raised the notebook in his hand. "The information's all in here, so yours is worthless."
He reached out, moved Morishita aside, and walked on.
It took Morishita a while to realize what had happened. In just one day, her information had become worthless?
Who had beaten her to it? Damn it!
When he entered the classroom and reached Sakayanagi Arisu's seat, Yagami Shizuka casually placed the notebook on her desk, a hint of pride in his gesture.
Sakayanagi Arisu looked up at him, then at the notebook bearing Kiryuin Fuka's name.
She had to admit the boy had some ability. At the very least, she couldn't have accomplished that much in a single day.
She had been curious about Yagami Shizuka, so she'd been there yesterday when he beat Kiryuin Fuka in their match.
Others might not have known who Kiryuin was, but Sakayanagi certainly did. Given the circumstances, she had been sure Yagami Shizuka would lose. The outcome had proved her wrong.
In other words, by winning the match, Yagami Shizuka had obtained all the information from the upperclassman who knew the most about it, and he'd done so in just one day.
She'd really underestimated him.
And he'd even handed the information straight to her. Was that really all right?
Could it be that he hadn't been joking yesterday after all?
With a hint of doubt, she opened to the first page, thinking that she might as well see whether the information matched what she already knew.
"Blank."
There was nothing there. Her eyelid twitched.
She opened the second page.
"Blank."
Still nothing. She blinked rapidly.
"This... this..." She flipped through the pages quickly, but didn't see a single word. It wasn't until she reached the very end that she saw a few artistic characters written in pink marker: "Love you!"
"That's it?"
Those words weren't written by Yagami Shizuka, but by Kiryuin. Since they were at the back, he hadn't noticed them.
Before you continue