"How much do you know about this school's vacations, Onizuka?"
"Vacations? I really don't know much about them. Lately... I've been busy with some other things."
When he had been having some "friendly" matches with a few upperclassmen, one of them had told him things like:
"Just wait until vacation, and you'll learn what despair means, you Class D trash!"
But he hadn't managed to find out any accurate information. No matter how many times Onizuka asked, no one would say anything.
And buying the information with points would cost a full twenty million points. The school was truly keeping a tight lid on that.
"Onizuka, I imagine you've been busy dealing with the situation with Class C, too?"
Hearing Ichinose say that, Onizuka glanced sideways at her.
"Looks like you're pretty well-informed, Ichinose. Even in our class, hardly anyone knows about those [three people]."
"Onizuka, I think you mean [four people]," Ichinose corrected him.
As if suddenly realizing his mistake, Onizuka said, "Oh," and tapped his forehead.
"Sorry, sorry. I've been so busy with all this that I'm getting a little mixed up. But how did you find out, Ichinose?"
"Well~ Since the points were delayed, I asked some friends on the Student Council."
"But you really have been through a lot, Onizuka. Having something like this happen..."
Ichinose looked at Onizuka with concern and sympathy.
"It's not so bad. I just wish they'd learn not to cause trouble."
"That's true. But they're still your classmates, so you can guide them little by little. Do your best, Onizuka!"
"It's fine. After this lesson, I imagine they'll behave for a while, right?"
Clearly, Ichinose hadn't realized that Onizuka meant Ryuen and the others, not Sudo.
But Onizuka clearly had no intention of correcting her.
"I've noticed that whenever I talk with you, Onizuka, the conversation always goes off track. We were just talking about the Special Exam over vacation. How did we end up on this?"
Hearing Ichinose complain, Onizuka felt helpless. She was the one who had changed the subject first.
With such a good opportunity to gather information right in front of him, it would be a disaster if he didn't make good use of it...
"Sorry, where were we?"
"We'd only just started before the subject changed... I wanted to talk about the Special Exam over vacation," Ichinose said helplessly.
"Class A and Class C have been treating our class worse and worse lately."
"Class A is still all right. It seems like they've had some trouble within their class recently. Class C is the one I really can't stand. They keep causing trouble in the strangest ways," Ichinose said, sounding fed up.
Onizuka nodded without the slightest objection to what Ichinose had said.
As if those two classes would ever get along with Class B!
"So you want to..."
"Cooperate!"
"Cooperate!"
They spoke in unison.
Onizuka noticed that Ichinose seemed a little embarrassed, so he spoke first to break the awkward silence.
"What kind of cooperation do you have in mind, Ichinose? It'd be hard for Class D to play a positive role in certain actions, wouldn't it?"
Hearing Onizuka say this, Ichinose hurriedly waved her hands.
"How could that be? Just like you, Onizuka, there are lots of capable people in Class D. I believe you won't be Class D forever!"
"Then why not talk to Hirata or Kushida? They're the ones who can shape the direction Class D takes, aren't they?"
"It's not that I look down on myself, but honestly, I'm actually one of the more inconspicuous people in all of Class D."
Seeing Onizuka keep insisting on that point, Ichinose grew flustered and began to stammer.
"Th-that... Don't say that, Onizuka. You're very capable, just like..."
She seemed to have suddenly remembered something.
"Just like the swimming competition! Didn't you earn quite a lot of points all at once, Onizuka?"
That was quite a stretch. It had happened a long time ago, so there was no need to bring it up now.
Besides, all he'd done was swim a little faster.
That left only two possibilities. No... just one!
Those defeated upperclassmen generally wouldn't tell their embarrassing stories to their underclassmen, especially the people in the Student Council, who were even more concerned about saving face.
Sakayanagi Arisu's case was an exception. Clearly, her source of information wouldn't be as mild as Ichinose.
"Ichinose, Hoshinomiya-sensei asked you to come talk to me, didn't she?"
At Onizuka's sudden question, Ichinose visibly panicked.
"Huh? N-no, it's... I came on my own..."
Ichinose let out a heavy sigh, realizing she couldn't keep up the lie.
"I told her I'm not very good at lying. Honestly, the teacher should've just been open about it."
"But you really are sharp, Onizuka. You figured it out and everything." She looked at Onizuka, who was sitting beside her.
"Not really. I just have a clear understanding of myself."
"Hoshinomiya-sensei didn't just ask you to come talk to me, did she?"
Onizuka narrowed his eyes slightly, leaned back against the chair with his body completely relaxed, and spoke without expression.
"You're wrong, Onizuka~ Hoshinomiya-sensei only asked me to come talk to you. She told me to handle everything else however I wanted."
After watching Ichinose's expression closely, Onizuka felt that she didn't seem to be lying.
"Well... I don't have any objections to cooperating. I can pass along the proposal to work with Class D to Hirata and the others when I get back. I imagine they won't refuse."
Onizuka paused slightly.
"I just don't know if you need any extra help, Ichinose."
"What extra help?" Ichinose asked, looking puzzled, as if she didn't quite understand what Onizuka meant.
"I can help you as an independent party."
Hearing Onizuka say this, Ichinose still couldn't quite understand.
"But aren't you a member of Class D? Isn't that what our cooperation is?"
Onizuka shook his head, then spoke:
"Class D is Class D, and I'm me. You'd better not lump me together with them, Ichinose."
As if she had finally understood what Onizuka meant, Ichinose called out, unable to accept it.
"Are you saying that, when necessary, you'll act as a [traitor], Onizuka?"
"B-but they're your classmates. They're people you can trust with everything. How can you do that?"
Tsk. He knew this would happen. Being too kind wasn't a good thing at this school.
"Don't worry about all that. Just think of me as a devil, Ichinose. Will you accept?"
"Think about your classmates. You don't want them to end up unable to make it to Class A and leave in disgrace, do you?"
Ichinose sat with her head bowed, thinking for a long time. At last, she made up her mind.
"Then, Mr. 'Devil,' what's your price?"