This Happened in the Very First Class? (Continued)

But...

If she didn't speak up soon, she'd miss her chance.

"Um, Keima, would you like to have lunch together later...?"

Just as Airi Sakura worked up the courage to ask, a figure flashed past the corner of her eye.

Suzune Horikita walked up to Keima Katsuragi.

"Keima, do you have any plans for lunch?"

"What are you—?"

"Then you're free. Great."

Horikita didn't give Keima a chance to refuse. She simply said,

"Come with me later."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm buying you lunch."

Horikita spoke to Keima with complete seriousness.

Ever since she'd learned about the S-System from Teacher Chabashira and found out that the class rankings could change, Horikita had made up her mind.

She absolutely refused to remain in Class D.

She would make it to Class A.

Horikita didn't know that changing classes cost 20 million, so she had only one thing in mind: doing everything she could to raise the Class Points.

And there was only one direct way to do that.

Improve the class's grades.

Although the school year had barely begun, Horikita was already thinking about the midterm exams.

The quiz on the first day of school had given her a sense of the students' academic abilities.

Some of them... were truly hopeless.

Haruki Yamauchi and Ken Sudō, for example.

Horikita had observed their behavior.

Those two had done poorly on the quiz, and they'd also been the ones who'd broken the most class rules.

Even today, all they'd managed was not playing on their phones or sleeping through class. It was obvious they hadn't been paying attention.

If things continued like this, they'd undoubtedly do badly on the midterms, too!

Horikita absolutely refused to let them drag her down.

So she'd decided to talk things over with Keima today.

Although she couldn't stand some of Keima's behavior, she had to admit that he was an exceptional student.

More importantly...

Horikita had no friends. Keima was the only person she could really talk to.

"Huh?!"

At that moment, Airi let out a startled cry at Horikita's words.

W-What?

Why was Horikita suddenly treating Keima to lunch?

W-What should I do?

I was the one who asked him first... but I didn't know if he'd heard me...

Was there even such a thing as calling dibs?

Airi's mind nearly shut down. She'd never been in a situation like this before, and her spirits sank.

"What's wrong, S-Sakura?"

Hearing Airi's cry, Horikita frowned and looked at her in puzzlement.

To her, Airi was practically invisible in class.

She'd almost forgotten Airi's name just moments ago.

"N-Nothing..."

Airi hurriedly lowered her head, embarrassed.

All she wanted now was to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible.

I'll just wait until they leave...

"Come on, Keima."

Horikita didn't think much of it. She turned her attention back to Keima, her foxlike eyes fixed on him with a stern gaze.

"I refuse."

"What?"

"You suddenly show up and offer to buy me lunch. There's got to be a catch."

As he spoke, Keima turned toward Airi, who was about to bury her head like an ostrich.

"Besides, Sakura and I already agreed to have lunch together."

"Huh?"

Airi's head shot back up.

Had Keima heard what I said?

For some reason, hearing Keima say that made Airi feel happy.

But embarrassment quickly brought a flush to her cheeks.

"You two agreed to have lunch together?"

Horikita froze for a moment.

What kind of combination was this?

One of them stood out far too much in class.

The other... was almost completely unnoticed.

Horikita looked at Airi again and asked, as if to confirm,

"Is that true?"

Airi didn't dare meet Horikita's gaze. Horikita's eyes were too sharp.

Just looking at her was frightening.

Being stared at like that made Airi uncomfortable.

But even with her head lowered and her eyes fixed on her toes, Airi managed to answer,

"Mm..."

Her voice was quiet, but Horikita heard her.

Horikita didn't quite understand.

Still, she shook her head.

"Fine. It doesn't matter if Sakura comes, too. It'd be even better if she can help. Sakura, I'll treat you to lunch as well."

"Huh?"

This time, Airi was the one who froze.

Horikita was inviting her to lunch?

W-Why?

Was it because of Keima?

This was the first time anyone had ever invited Airi to eat with them, and she had no idea how to respond.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Keima sounded irritated as he spoke to Horikita.

She was already wasting his gaming time.

"I have something very important to discuss. It concerns the future of Class D."

"What's that got to do with me?"

"You play games in class, which has cost us a lot of Class Points. And judging by the way you're acting, you'll keep playing in the future. So you can't say this has nothing to do with you..."

"I've already made a deal with Sae Chabashira. I won't lose Class Points for playing games anymore."

"Huh?"

Horikita had meant to use the Class Points to guilt Keima into helping her, only to discover that he'd already taken action.

She bit her lip, a hint of frustration in her eyes.

She still had one last resort to get Keima to help her.

But... she absolutely wouldn't use it unless she had no other choice.

Now, though, she had no choice.

"I'll buy you games."

Keima had been about to ignore Horikita and walk away.

Most of his attention was on games, and the little that remained was on his mission.

He couldn't care less about Class D's future. It had nothing to do with him, so long as it didn't interfere with his deal with Sae Chabashira.

And he had almost no interest in reaching Class A.

But less than half a second after Horikita spoke, a smile spread across Keima's face. His eyes even seemed to light up.

"Deal."

Keima had already spent a lot of points on games and a handheld console. He'd also paid Sae Chabashira a fee for their deal, so his remaining points were running low.

He could get daily necessities and food for free, but game cartridges weren't free.

Under his earlier agreement with Elsie, he could use her points however he liked. But that had mostly been talk. Unless it came to an emergency, Keima wouldn't do that.

Still, he'd begun to feel the pressure.

Even though he'd bought plenty of games, if things continued like this, he'd be out of points to buy more before the first of the month.

That absolutely couldn't happen!

And now Horikita was offering to buy him games.

Could he really be this lucky?

Seeing Keima's delighted expression, Horikita immediately regretted it.

But a promise was a promise, so she could only grit her teeth and nod.

The cafeteria.

Four people sat around one table.

Horikita, Keima, Airi, and Elsie.

Their seating arrangement was a little strange...

Horikita sat by herself on one side, while Keima and the other two squeezed together on the opposite side.

A lavish meal had been laid out in front of the three of them. By comparison, Horikita's meal looked rather plain.