A Way to Shift the Situation

"Does that sound good?" Toru Hasegawa pretended to mull it over before asking, "What do you think of this school?"

"Huh?" Airi Sakura hadn't expected Toru Hasegawa to suddenly ask her something like that.

"The first month was an assessment set by the school. Would a normal school put its students through a trial like this? And then there were the hundred thousand points we got in the first month. I wonder how many people were blinded by them." Toru Hasegawa went on at length. "After taking all that into consideration again, I wanted to ask what you think the next three years will be like."

What did she think about the future?

Airi Sakura had never considered a question like that. She had simply enrolled as expected, thinking that once she got in, she would be able to change at least a little.

But aside from an unexpected romance, she had changed very little.

"I... I don't know."

Toru Hasegawa sighed helplessly. "The teachers haven't explained it to us clearly yet, but there must be a reason for the class assignments. It's very likely that only students who graduate from Class A will receive the promises the school made earlier. Do you understand what that means?"

Airi Sakura stared blankly and shook her head.

Toru Hasegawa was genuinely at a loss for words this time. Should he just spell out the truth, or wait for her to figure it out herself?

He decided to give her some time.

"All right, let's deal with dinner first."

Toru Hasegawa took the ingredients out of the plastic bag and began rinsing and preparing them.

Cooking wasn't actually that much trouble. The annoying part was preparing the ingredients and cleaning up afterward, so having someone lend a hand made things much more efficient.

The two of them went about their business in the tiny dorm room.

Toru Hasegawa's words kept circling through Airi Sakura's mind.

Toru Hasegawa was in Class A, and she was in Class D. Why had he said all that to her?

What did it all mean?

Airi Sakura didn't believe Toru Hasegawa would say something without any basis.

While they waited for the miso soup, Airi Sakura's whole body suddenly jolted.

"What's wrong?"

"D-does that mean we'll... have to compete against each other from now on?"

"Oh, you figured it out? Good." Toru Hasegawa smiled, but didn't seem inclined to elaborate.

For the rest of dinner, neither of them spoke.

An eerie silence settled over the dorm room.

When they were done, Toru Hasegawa walked Airi Sakura to the door.

"Can we... still be friends?"

"Hm? If you don't want to, then we don't have to be."

"No, I do!" Airi Sakura hurriedly blurted out, then lowered her voice. "Actually, I don't mind if I don't graduate from Class A..."

Though she had spoken very quietly, Toru Hasegawa had heard every word.

There was no helping it. His ears were simply too sharp now. He heard everything, whether he was meant to or not.

"Did you just say something?" Toru Hasegawa asked deliberately.

"No, nothing!"

That really was an interesting expression. Smiling, Toru Hasegawa watched Airi Sakura hurry away.

He had never thought Airi Sakura could become a sort of spy for him in Class D. To be honest, he could hardly picture her acting as a spy.

And trying to prey on her here and now would be a mistake, too.

For the moment, he only wanted to get the facts straight. That was all.

The next day, during the Student Council's regular meeting, Toru Hasegawa made President Horikita a suggestion about the school's phone replacement service.

"It's fairly unusual for students to accidentally break their phones. Still, I'll take your suggestion to the school."

After hearing Toru Hasegawa's proposal, Manabu Horikita nodded slightly. This was exactly the sort of thing the Student Council was for.

When the meeting ended, Miyabi Nagumo stopped Manabu Horikita, who was about to leave.

"Is something the matter?" Manabu Horikita asked, remaining calm despite the unexpected interruption.

"After running into you yesterday, I've been thinking about a lot of things. You don't have anything planned for the rest of the day, do you, Senpai?" Miyabi Nagumo asked, as if he had already done his homework. "Would you mind spending some time with me?"

Hearing him talk like some kind of lovesick guy, Akane Tachibana stepped forward. "President Horikita won't let you have your way. President, turn him down."

"Tachibana, go make tea."

"Huh?"

Though she didn't understand what was going on, Akane Tachibana obediently went to make tea.

"Senpai has been avoiding a fight all this time. It's been frustrating," Miyabi Nagumo said with a smile.

"I'm not going to reject your ideas outright," Manabu Horikita replied coolly. "I simply want to avoid pointless competition."

"So I came up with a good idea. Forget the Special Exam. How about you and I have a one-on-one match this afternoon?"

"If that's enough to satisfy you, I can humor you."

"No, no. Whether I'm satisfied depends on how I feel afterward." Miyabi Nagumo wasn't about to make any promises. "Anyway, I can take that as a yes, right?"

"Have you finally learned to consider how your friends feel?"

"Think whatever you like." Miyabi Nagumo shrugged and glanced at Akane Tachibana, who was making tea nearby. "You really are devoted to her, Senpai."

Toru Hasegawa slipped away quietly. His instincts told him that staying would lead to trouble.

The meeting was over, after all, and there was no rule in the Student Council that the newest member had to be the one to lock up.

As it happened, he ran into Ran Morishita at the convenience store.

The moment she spotted him, she set down what she was holding and came over.

"If possible, I'd rather people didn't get the wrong idea about our relationship."

"Sounds like you have a dirty mind." Ran Morishita had taken the liberty of pinning that accusation on Toru Hasegawa, though he couldn't exactly deny it from the bottom of his heart...

Toru Hasegawa decided to ignore the girl following him like a ghost for the time being and started shopping for a toothbrush to replace the one he had broken the day before.

He might as well buy a few extra towels, too.

They were everyday necessities, and they weren't very expensive.

When he paid, Toru Hasegawa deliberately covered the number on the receipt and slipped it into the plastic bag as casually as he could.

In some ways, the school's system made it convenient for people to check how many points they actually had. But in almost every other way, it seemed more harmful than helpful.

What would happen if he went out with friends and they accidentally found out he had an unusually large number of points...?

All in all, it was nothing but trouble.

Toru Hasegawa was already thinking about registering a second account. His instincts told him there was plenty of room to work with, and the school must have considered that possibility as well.

Trust and betrayal had been happening endlessly since ancient times, and people had eventually turned them into stories that were passed down through the ages.

"Didn't you just buy daily necessities two weeks ago, when school started?"

"Yeah. By the way, what does it have to do with you what I buy?" Toru Hasegawa's tone sharpened slightly, hoping the girl beside him would take the hint and back off.

"I'm observing a human named 'Toru Hasegawa.' It's a highly meaningful undertaking."

Though he had expected as much, Toru Hasegawa still sighed. He no longer knew what to do with this girl.

Then an idea suddenly popped into his head.

"I can recommend an excellent person for you to observe. I'm sure you'll be interested."