A Pie Falling from the Sky

Faced with a scene like this, surely no boy would choose to refuse, right?

Toru Hasegawa decisively chose to join in, blending into the group chat filled with Class D boys.

"I'm going to go fill out the application form for the Basketball Club now."

"See you tomorrow, then."

"See you tomorrow."

Starting with Sudo's words, the group dispersed once again.

Sudo headed alone toward the table labeled "Basketball Club," while Masumi Kamuro reluctantly went over to the Art Club.

Remaining where they stood were the four of them: Toru Hasegawa, Arisu Sakayanagi, Suzune Horikita, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked bluntly, "Were you investigating us just now?"

Suzune Horikita immediately cast a look of surprise at him, not understanding what he meant.

"What, are you feeling anxious?" Toru Hasegawa neither admitted nor denied it. "Classmate Sakayanagi has already taken control of Class A, you know."

"That sort of thing doesn't matter... What I really want to ask is, you were watching me during the entrance ceremony yesterday, weren't you? I want to know the reason why."

He actually noticed? Toru Hasegawa felt that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was a bit too sharp; perhaps this explained why Arisu Sakayanagi was so interested in him.

"Because you're special."

Using vague words to replace a direct truth or lie can serve to confuse the listener.

As for how exactly to interpret that... sorry, please fill in the blanks yourself.

"Special?"

"Not everyone can maintain a completely expressionless state at all times, but you managed to do it, so I took a few extra looks."

After Toru Hasegawa explained one of the meanings behind "special," Suzune Horikita nodded in agreement:

"That is indeed strange, but I'm more interested in your act of probing our class's intelligence just now. Could you explain that to me?"

"Let Ayanokoji explain it to you. Since he was the one who raised the question, he should understand it himself."

Toru Hasegawa shrugged indifferently, passing the trouble off to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Forget it, I'll find the answer myself." Suzune Horikita gave up on the possibility of asking Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and instead continued to speak to Toru Hasegawa, "Could you come with me for a moment?"

"Oh, sure."

Toru Hasegawa guessed that she might be dissatisfied with his actions just now.

The two left, leaving only Arisu Sakayanagi and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka on the floor.

"Finally, we have a chance to be alone again," Arisu Sakayanagi said.

The First Gymnasium was vast, and since there was no one else around them, a certain level of privacy was guaranteed.

Seeing this, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka only said calmly, "I only agreed to one chance. After this one time, regardless of who wins or loses, you are not to continue disturbing my life."

He only wanted to spend these three years as an ordinary high school student.

"That goes without saying."

"Hasegawa... you really didn't tell him about me. That is the reason I agreed to your request."

"After all, I don't want outsiders to disturb the duel that belongs only to you and me."

Faced with this somewhat overly ambiguous reply, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not speak, but he had no intention of leaving either.

The two waited quietly as time ticked by.

On the other side, with Toru Hasegawa, who had been called out by Suzune Horikita.

"Why did you say those things just now?"

"Huh? I said quite a lot just now, could you remind me?"

"The things you said when everyone was being quiet." Suzune Horikita pinpointed the issue precisely.

"That." Toru Hasegawa nodded as if suddenly enlightened, "I just didn't want the atmosphere on the floor to become so heavy."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing else."

Toru Hasegawa certainly had other reasons, but he had no need to explain them to Suzune Horikita.

"By the way, the Student Council President, Manabu Horikita... he is your older brother, right?"

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Toru Hasegawa asked out of the blue.

"That's none of your business," Suzune Horikita said coldly, complex emotions flickering in her fox-like eyes.

Toru Hasegawa said deliberately, "Is that so... well, I plan on joining the student council anyway, so I'll just ask the President himself when the time comes."

"You wouldn't dare?!" Suzune Horikita glared at Toru Hasegawa like a cat with its fur standing on end.

"What, are you going to try and stop me?" Toru Hasegawa looked at Suzune Horikita's reaction with a half-smile.

Isn't this a bit too easy to read?

"Don't tell my brother..."

This was the first time Toru Hasegawa had seen Suzune Horikita act like a little girl, and shamefully, his heart skipped a beat.

Is this what they call a gap moe?

After purging the feelings that shouldn't exist from his heart, he continued, "You ask me, and I agree? Do you really have that much value?"

Even though he hadn't done anything yet, he had inexplicably gained the upper hand in front of Suzune Horikita.

Suzune Horikita was stunned for a moment, then pursed her lips.

That's right, what kind of position did she even have to ask him not to do that?

Thinking of this, she frantically searched for anything she could use, and a method immediately came to mind.

"I can give you 50,000 private points."

At a time when everyone was only allocated 100,000 private points, 50,000 was already a significant amount.

Suzune Horikita didn't believe he wouldn't be tempted.

However, she overlooked one thing.

That is, the initiative had never been in her hands.

Since Suzune Horikita was willing to pay 50,000 private points for something that hadn't even happened yet, it meant that this matter carried a lot of weight in her heart.

Exposing one's weakness to others is a huge taboo, and this point had already been firmly grasped by the other party.

Toru Hasegawa said bluntly, "90,000."

Suzune Horikita slowly widened her eyes, staring straight at Toru Hasegawa.

"What's wrong?" Toru Hasegawa felt a bit uneasy under her gaze.

"I thought you were a nice guy." Suzune Horikita sighed softly and took out her phone, resigned to her fate. "I didn't expect..."

Was that just his disguise?

The favorability rating above Suzune Horikita's head dropped directly from 70 back to the initial 40, and in exchange, 90,000 private points were credited to his account.

The value of a matter depends solely on how much the person involved cares about it. Clearly, Suzune Horikita's obsession with her brother had reached a pathological level, to the point where she wouldn't even allow something that hadn't happened yet to occur.

And Toru Hasegawa had also added his fourth friend at this school; incidentally, the first three were Arisu Sakayanagi, Sudo, and Ike.

"Pleasure doing business with you."

He hadn't expected to get 90,000 private points so easily, and thinking about how Suzune Horikita had been the one to ask him out, Toru Hasegawa was afraid he would wake up laughing in his sleep tonight.

And the most crucial point was that it was entirely a verbal agreement!

The kind without any recordings!

Toru Hasegawa was very sure of this because she was just too naive! She had opened her phone right in front of him, letting him see the contents in their entirety.

However, since there was a transfer record, if he were to break the agreement, he might be labeled as a fraudster by the school.

After completing the transfer, the two returned to their original spot.