He returned to his seat.
"You're amazing, Kitagawa-kun. School has only just started, and you've already discovered so much."
A soft female voice came from beside him, carrying undisguised admiration.
"It's all thanks to your rice ball, Ichinose. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have had the energy to speak."
At those words, a faint blush appeared on Ichinose Honami's fair cheeks, and she hurriedly waved her hands. "N-no! I just happened to bring an extra one."
"Thanks to you, Kitagawa-kun, I suddenly feel a lot more reassured." The girl sitting in the row ahead could not help chiming in. Her name was Onodera, and she had been fairly quiet during these first few days of school.
"Yeah, good thing you warned us earlier, Kitagawa-kun. Otherwise, I would've spent loads of points buying figurines." Another boy nearby scratched his head as he joined the conversation.
Sure enough, Class B had its own otaku who could not resist figurines.
Kitagawa Kai merely shook his head slightly. "I just noticed a few details. More importantly, everyone was willing to believe me and act together."
Riiing-
"But it's time for class now."
The teacher's clear, sweet voice rang out from the podium right on cue.
Class officially began.
Hoshinomiya Chie watched as the already well-behaved Class B students became even more self-disciplined and focused after learning the rules.
Perhaps the points they had left at the end of the first month really could exceed Class A's.
The thought surfaced again, and this time, even she felt an almost unbelievable flutter of excitement.
Her gaze swept over the two quiet figures at the back of the classroom again.
One had seen through nearly all the rules right at the start of school, swiftly transforming a sense of crisis into a collective plan of action: stockpiling points and selling information.
The other possessed perfect leadership... no, perhaps the more accurate term was the ability to bring people together.
This would probably make history at Advanced Nurturing.
Lunchtime.
Ichinose Honami took a deep breath and turned to Kitagawa Kai with a serious expression. "Kitagawa-kun, we need to first figure out who in Class A we should talk to."
"As for candidates," Kanzaki Ryūji walked over with a notebook that seemed to already contain a few key points, "Class A's central leader is either Katsuragi Kohei or Sakayanagi Arisu."
"Katsuragi is steady and pragmatic. As for Sakayanagi, she's physically frail, but she has a particularly sharp mind."
"Approach Katsuragi Kohei first. Let's go straight to Class A's classroom." Kitagawa Kai barely hesitated.
Familiar with the original story, he knew Sakayanagi did not care about the students in Class A and might very well be unwilling to make a deal.
"Understood." Kanzaki nodded and closed his notebook.
"Okay!" Ichinose immediately stood as well, quickly straightened the skirt of her uniform, and looked at her two companions. "Let's head over, then."
The corridors were even livelier at lunchtime than between classes, with students heading to the cafeteria in twos and threes or gathering by the windows to chat.
Class A's area was on a relatively quiet side of the school building. As they approached, they could clearly sense a subtle difference in the atmosphere.
The students talking in the corridor generally kept their voices low, and their behavior seemed more composed as well.
Class A's classroom door was shut, but through the windows, they could see quite a few students still inside, some studying on their own and others discussing things quietly.
"Should we just knock?" Ichinose asked softly.
"Wait a moment." Kanzaki gestured for her to look toward the other end of the corridor.
A tall, bald boy with a stern face was walking toward the classroom while speaking quietly with another student. It was Katsuragi Kohei.
The timing was perfect.
Ichinose took a deep breath, put on her usual smile, and stepped forward to meet him.
"Katsuragi, sorry to bother you."
Katsuragi Kohei stopped and turned his gaze toward Ichinose, then noticed Kitagawa Kai and Kanzaki behind her.
His gaze lingered a moment longer on Kitagawa Kai's face in particular.
He merely nodded slightly. "Ichinose from Class B, and Kitagawa and Kanzaki as well. What can I do for you?"
"We'd like to speak with you about the school's hidden rules, Katsuragi." Ichinose Honami took the initiative in handling the conversation.
Hidden rules?
Those words instantly sharpened Katsuragi Kohei's gaze.
"Perhaps you could take a look at this first, Katsuragi." Kitagawa Kai stepped half a pace forward and took out the standard-form contract he had prepared.
Katsuragi accepted the papers and unfolded them, and Totsuka Yahiko leaned closer to look as well.
They were two copies of the standard-form "Contract" used internally at Advanced Nurturing High School, with clear clauses and a rigorous format.
Party A shall be Class 1-A, hereinafter referred to as Party A.
Party B shall be Class 1-B, hereinafter referred to as Party B.
Party A shall provide one million personal points to purchase the information supplied by Party B.
Party B shall provide Party A with information determined by the witness to be worth no less than one million personal points.
Party A:
Party B:
Witness:
It also included confidentiality and restriction clauses for Party A.
Katsuragi's gaze swept quickly over the contract, and his expression grew more serious.
Class B's thorough preparations meant this was no spur-of-the-moment idea. They had come prepared.
"One million points?!"
That was equivalent to every student in Class A paying twenty-five thousand points!
"One million points..." Katsuragi raised his head, his gaze piercing straight toward Kitagawa Kai. "Kitagawa, how can you guarantee that this information is truly worth at least one million points? Who, specifically, is the witness mentioned in the contract?"
"The witness can be your class's teacher, Mashima Tomoya."
"Mr. Mashima..." Katsuragi repeated the name. Having their own homeroom teacher serve as witness would give Class A an additional layer of protection.
"Yes." Kitagawa Kai nodded, his tone candid.
Katsuragi's tone grew graver. "One million is no small sum. I must discuss this contract with the other members of my class."
"Of course. A decision this significant deserves careful consideration."
"I'll be as quick as I can," Katsuragi replied in a low voice, pushing open the door and returning to the classroom with Yahiko.
Ichinose Honami let out a soft breath and lowered her voice as she spoke to Kitagawa Kai. "Kitagawa-kun, isn't suggesting Mr. Mashima as the witness a little too risky? What if he thinks our information isn't worth that much..."
"It's precisely because it's Mr. Mashima that he'll judge it strictly by its value, rather than simply favoring one class," Kitagawa Kai explained.
Of the four classes' teachers in the original story.
Mashima Tomoya was the most normal one: dedicated, fair, and impartial, without pulling any nonsense.
Class C's Sakagami Kazuma prioritized his class's interests and allowed Ryuen Kakeru to use violence, but he could still be considered within the bounds of normality.
As for the other two, each was more outrageous than the last.
Hoshinomiya Chie appeared sweet and cute on the surface, but in reality, she got completely drunk in her dorm every day, did not care about her class at all, and thought only of bringing Chabashira Sae down.
Chabashira Sae desperately wanted to lead her class up to Class A and prove her ability, yet she gave up trying right at the start of school and had no sense of responsibility toward her class.
Kanzaki Ryūji looked thoughtful. "More importantly, Class A seems to have two leaders right now."
Kitagawa Kai nodded, his gaze returning to Class A's tightly shut classroom door.