Kamuro Masumi: "..."
Could that damned lovey-dovey couple stop stepping on me every time they get affectionate? I don't want this weird sense of involvement!!!!
Watching their interaction nearly bring them nose to nose, Ichinose Honami, who'd been made a classic example, instinctively wanted to stop them again. But yesterday's shadow still lingered, and in the end she merely opened her mouth before saying nothing.
But Shiranami Chihiro, who had also become a classic example, was different.
First she looked at Hoshino En in surprise. Then her gaze shifted back and forth between him, Sakayanagi Arisu, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Finally, she broke into an excited smile, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Hoshino En. There was no wariness or anger left in her gaze—only gratitude and encouragement.
It seemed she'd come to some sort of wonderfully strange misunderstanding.
"So... aren't you getting off the elevator?"
Just as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka fell into thought, steam began to rise from Sakayanagi Arisu's head, and Hoshino En was congratulating himself on once again becoming the hero who saved the world, a cool voice rang out from the corner of the elevator, barely containing its anger.
It was Horikita Suzune.
She'd closed the book she'd been reading and was glaring angrily at the three people standing in the middle of the elevator.
"You worked so hard to get into this school, yet all you think about every day is flirting and playing friendship games... What could people like you possibly accomplish in the future?"
She scolded the three without hesitation, then took the opportunity to point out that Kushida Kikyo had been waiting outside her door to walk her to school every day for the past month. After that, she tossed her hair, pushed past Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and strode out of the elevator.
At her words, Hoshino En and Sakayanagi Arisu looked at each other, then at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was still thinking, and finally at Horikita's departing back. They were at a loss for words.
They knew their own circumstances best. If they didn't have the ability to outperform everyone in their studies, how could they possibly goof off?
Could that girl really not understand something so simple? Had studying driven her crazy?
"Kiyotaka, are you still going to be friends with her?"
"Huh? What?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked up from his thoughts. His clear gaze made it obvious that his mind had been elsewhere.
"Forget it. What about you, Kushida?"
Hoshino En turned to Kushida Kikyo, who was chatting with Wang Meiyu to distract herself, and asked.
"Of course. I'm not giving up!!"
That was what she said, but Hoshino En felt like the resentment radiating from her was about to overflow.
Looks like she was in for another rough night.
"Sakayanagi, Kiyotaka, let's go... Kamuro, you too."
Hoshino En first ushered the still-distracted Ayanokoji Kiyotaka out, then helped Sakayanagi Arisu out of the elevator, and finally let Kamuro Masumi follow.
"At least she got one thing right. The elevator doors are no place to argue."
First Semester of First Year
Chapter 52: The Result of the Bet
As soon as Hoshino En and the others stepped out of the elevator, they ran into Ryuen Kakeru and Katsuragi Kohei, who were enjoying the show.
"Yo, Starry Eyes. And the little girl from Class A. Getting all lovey-dovey first thing in the morning, huh!"
"Sakayanagi, as a Class A student, you should be mindful of your image. You can't behave so improperly in public."
One offered a "friendly greeting," while the other admonished Sakayanagi Arisu like a stern older brother.
"Good morning, A-Sho. But compared to Sakayanagi and me, I think you and Katsuragi make a more unusual pair."
Hoshino En patted Ryuen Kakeru's arm with his free hand, then sized him and Katsuragi Kohei up.
"How are the two of you standing together without getting into an argument?"
"We almost did, but that little girl was shouting so loudly that we worried it'd cause trouble. Katsuragi had the other Class A students clear out the bystanders."
Ryuen Kakeru nodded toward the Class A students who had formed a human barrier.
Luckily, the building was occupied entirely by first-year students, and Class A had handled things amicably, so there hadn't been a commotion.
"Good morning, Katsuragi. But I don't think there's anything wrong with what I did. I am, after all, a young girl in the prime of her youth."
Sakayanagi Arisu gave Katsuragi Kohei a slight nod, but showed no sign of admitting she'd done anything wrong.
"You..."
"And Dragon Boy, I wanted to tell you this yesterday. I'm not a little girl. Don't look down on me because of my height and build!"
Leaving Katsuragi Kohei speechless, she turned to Ryuen Kakeru and retorted.
"But from the outside, you look exactly like a little girl! Tsk, looks like Starry Eyes's future kids are in for a rough time."
"You..."
This time, it was Sakayanagi Arisu who was left speechless.
What Dragon Boy had said... Should she retaliate against his prejudice, or compliment him on his good eye?
"Stop! Don't start fighting yet."
Before the two sides could escalate things, Hoshino En cut in.
"Katsuragi, A-Sho, what are you actually doing here? Don't tell me you really just came to watch the show."
At the mention of it, Ryuen Kakeru smiled, while Katsuragi Kohei quietly invited Ichinose Honami and Shiranami Chihiro, who had just stepped out of the elevator, over.
Ichinose Honami and Shiranami Chihiro: ...Huh?
Kushida Kikyo, who loved watching the drama, also pulled Wang Meiyu along to eavesdrop nearby.
Wang Meiyu: No, please, Kikyo! I don't want to go over there. They're scary!!!
"Actually, about your bet with Sakayanagi, Katsuragi and I made a bet of our own yesterday: whoever lost would help the other get this month's exam answers."
"Katsuragi naturally sided with that little girl, while I bet on you, Starry Eyes."
"Now that all four classes have people here, we can reveal the results."
Ryuen Kakeru spoke confidently, while Katsuragi Kohei looked grave.
It seemed that, after Hoshino En's performance yesterday, they hadn't expected Sakayanagi Arisu to win.
"But you believed my judgment just like that? Weren't you worried I might have been lying to you?"
"Even if you were wrong, we wouldn't lose anything."
"...So you were really just watching us for fun?"
"Enough chatter. Are we going to reveal the results or not?"
Ryuen Kakeru had run out of patience. He was the first to speak.
"I received 49,000 Private Points this morning. That should convert to 490 Class Points."
"Class A got 95,000 points, so that's 950."
Katsuragi Kohei spoke next.
"Class B got 700 points."
After hearing the others, Ichinose Honami answered too.
Class A had 950 points, Class B had 700, and Class C had 490. Based on the two of them's predictions, Sakayanagi Arisu was off by 40 points, while Hoshino En was off by 60.
Clearly, Sakayanagi Arisu was in the lead.
Ryuen Kakeru's expression grew more serious, while Katsuragi Kohei first looked utterly incredulous, then smiled.
Only Class D remained.
But Sakayanagi Arisu's eye for these things was clearly sharper than Hoshino En's. The difference for the last class probably wouldn't be very large, so Hoshino En would have a hard time winning.
Besides, they both thought that even if Class D's standards were terrible, an open-book exam couldn't possibly leave them with zero points.
Hoshino En had seen their reactions. To be honest, they looked a little funny.
"A-Sho, after what happened today, you should learn one thing..."
He patted Ryuen Kakeru on the shoulder and lectured him.
"Never celebrate before the game is over. You can easily overlook important details and end up losing."
Seeing Ryuen Kakeru's expression grow even more serious, Hoshino En added, "Fortunately, if a private Betting Agreement isn't witnessed by a school teacher, the loser won't face any consequences for breaking it."
At that, Ryuen Kakeru visibly relaxed, but Katsuragi Kohei's expression changed.
"Hoshino, stop keeping us in suspense and tell us Class D's score."
Sakayanagi Arisu had a bad feeling. She tightened her grip on Hoshino En's left hand and urged him on.
"All right, all right. To be honest, I haven't even checked my phone today..."
As he spoke, he tried to take out his phone... But it was in his right pants pocket, out of reach of his left hand, and Sakayanagi Arisu had his right hand occupied.
So he promptly gave up on checking for himself and turned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was still thinking.
"Kiyotaka, you've checked your phone today, right? How many points did the school send?"
"Three thousand points."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka replied without thinking. He'd been recalling the faces of adults he'd seen before, planning to verify them with the school administration during lunch.
Hoshino En thought he'd be better off going straight to find the school administrator surnamed Sakayanagi rather than mulling it over here.
Three thousand Private Points—that was 30 Class Points.
Combined with their predictions from yesterday, Hoshino En's final result was 22.5, while Sakayanagi Arisu's was 27.5.
The tables had turned.
Since the winner was the one with the lower score, Hoshino En had won.
"Hoshino, you really are amazing~"
Sakayanagi Arisu squeezed Hoshino En's right hand.
She felt a little disappointed to have lost the bet, but even happier than she was disappointed.
Her family was far better off than Hoshino's. If Hoshino couldn't match her in ability, she really didn't know how she'd convince her father.
There was also the option of "scouring the school for Private Points, having Hoshino turn them all into cash, then dropping out and eloping with him," but she knew her body might not be able to handle such a plan. So if Hoshino could earn her father's approval normally, that would be for the best.
Ryuen Kakeru had won, but his expression wasn't as excited as expected. Katsuragi Kohei had lost, yet he seemed relieved.
"See? I told you never to celebrate before the game is over. After all, you never know what might happen next in this world."
Hoshino En smiled as he watched their expressions change again and again.
"And honestly, even I didn't expect this result. With Class D in that state, I can't believe they still ended up with 30 points."
First Semester of First Year
Chapter 53: The Truth Revealed, Class D Thrown into Chaos
"Kushida, did you receive this month's points?"
"Hirata, did you receive this month's points?"
When Hoshino En had escorted Sakayanagi Arisu to the entrance of Class A and brought Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to the Class D classroom, they heard people asking questions like these.
Whether they were boys or girls, whether they usually got along or not, their reactions were all remarkably similar. They were asking the people around them whether the school had sent them any points today.
If someone happened to answer "yes," the following barrage would begin:
"Then how many points did you get?"
"Huh? Three thousand too... Is the school's system broken?"
"Did the person in charge of sending the points make a mistake and send us 3,000 instead of 100,000?"
"Or is the school targeting Class D, deliberately sending the wrong amount so they can make things hard for us?"
"..."
People said all kinds of things. Even Hoshino En got asked something similar by Ken Sudō, who sat beside him.
How pathetic. The answer was so simple, yet not a single person had figured it out.
Or maybe they just didn't dare think about it. They couldn't accept that these were the points they deserved.
Sitting in the corner nearest the door, Hoshino En could take in the whole class's agitation, which only made him more irritated. Watching a bunch of idiots jump around in front of him wasn't much fun.
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