Aren't You Going to Say Thank You?

After classes ended the next day, the afternoon slowly wore on until five o'clock.

Makoto Nishikado led the students of Class B to Gymnasium No. 1.

A club fair was being held there, just as had been announced over the school broadcast.

Before coming, Makoto had already explained to the Class B students why joining a club was important.

"The rules at this school are full of unknowns, but one thing is certain: if you excel in a club here, you can earn Personal Points."

"However strange this place may be, at its core, it's still a school, and schools never turn away students who can bring them honor."

Makoto was sure of that, even without any inside information.

The clubs at Sakurajima School weren't just casual gatherings of students with shared interests. They competed in official events.

From school leagues to national competitions, every contest had the whole school on edge.

If a student stood out in one of these events, they could earn Personal Points and make the school famous among its peers.

For any school that cared about its reputation, the performance of its clubs was a top priority.

Advanced Nurturing was no exception.

By the time all of Class B had arrived, Gymnasium No. 1 was already bustling with people.

A red carpet covered the center of the gymnasium stage. Club representatives took turns going up to introduce their clubs with enthusiastic speeches.

After each representative finished, they stepped off the stage and went to an area along one side of the gym, where simple tables had been set up.

Interested first-years followed them there, and the representatives patiently answered their questions.

Some handed out carefully designed club brochures, while others proudly showed off their clubs' certificates of achievement.

After all, Advanced Nurturing High School had only a little over four hundred students, and starting a new club required at least three members.

The larger sports clubs, like basketball and soccer, had no trouble recruiting, but the other clubs were racking their brains to attract new members.

"Everyone, go ahead and split up. Find a club that interests you."

At Makoto's order, the students of Class B dispersed.

As for Makoto, he didn't head over to the Go Club's area just yet.

While waiting for someone, Makoto opened his Personal Terminal.

[Name: Makoto Nishikado]

[Class: First-Year Class B]

[Student Number: s01t004661]

[Gender: Male]

[Account Points: 1086452]

"That's crazy. They just handed me a million?"

Just as they'd agreed, every student in Class B had contributed 50,000 Personal Points, for a total of two million.

Since he'd reminded them the day before, none of the Class B students had gone on a spending spree, and everyone could afford to hand over 50,000 points.

Of the two million, one million was the class fund. Honami Ichinose was holding it to cover the cost of preventing expulsions.

The other million had been entrusted to Makoto, so he could spend it whenever necessary to explore the school's rules.

The weight of that trust made Makoto feel a little embarrassed.

He'd always been used to going it alone, so he hadn't expected to earn this level of trust at a school so full of competition.

In the original story, Honami had worked hard for Class B and never given up, even after her Darkening. After failing, she'd even considered dropping out to make room for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

Now Makoto could understand how she felt.

And on top of the Personal Points, system notifications kept ringing in his mind.

In just one day, the students of Class B had contributed a million Emotion Points to him.

Some of those points came from their admiration for his decisions, while others came from all kinds of emotional reactions during their interactions with him.

He had to admit, Class B was a great place to be.

"That's because you're amazing. Everyone looks up to you."

A slightly weary voice sounded beside him.

Makoto turned and saw Yuki Himeno.

She stared at him with dead-fish eyes. She hadn't followed his instructions to go look around, probably because she wasn't interested in clubs.

"You don't look very energetic. Is there a club you want to join?"

Makoto asked with a smile.

Himeno leaned close and lowered her voice to complain. "I'm in the Go-Home Club. Why did I have to come, too?"

She was ordinary in every way. She had no athletic talent or artistic flair, and couldn't think of a single club that would suit her.

As far as she was concerned, attending the club fair was a complete waste of time.

Besides, she had neither the interest nor the energy to join a club.

Why had she had to come along?

Makoto raised an eyebrow and teased her. "You could've refused. Were you expecting me to speak up and refuse for you?"

He knew why the entire class had come. It wasn't just because club activities were important. The other major reason was that the Student Council had organized the fair.

According to the information Honami had gathered, the Student Council President was Horikita Manabu, the leader of Class A's third-years.

Horikita had managed to preserve Class A's standing and keep all his classmates together. He'd become someone the students of Class B looked up to.

They'd come to the club fair because they wanted to meet this outstanding class leader.

Everyone wanted to come, and those who didn't could only go along with the crowd.

So Himeno had "volunteered" to come.

Even if she'd been forced to volunteer, it still counted as volunteering.

Just like office workers who couldn't refuse their boss's demands to work overtime, she was doomed to a never-ending pile of work.

"I have to read the room, too. You know that, and you're still picking on me," Himeno muttered.

As Makoto's deskmate, she'd had a "long-standing grudge" against him.

Every day after class, people crowded around Makoto's seat to ask him all sorts of questions, leaving her seat crammed in among them.

She was going to take this chance to air her grievances.

"Himeno, I've got a way to help you. You can be my loyal dog—no, I mean, my assistant."

Makoto deliberately fumbled his words.

[Triggered Yuki Himeno's emotions. Gained 1597 Emotion Points.]

Himeno glared at him and said, annoyed, "Both of those descriptions are awful. And why me?"

She could understand why Makoto needed an assistant.

As the class leader, he'd inevitably have times when he couldn't do everything himself.

He could hand off the less difficult tasks to an assistant.

But why her?

There were plenty of people in Class B who'd be willing to help Makoto.

"I'm doing this to help you. Think about it. You're always reading the room so the others won't reject you, which means you can't turn down their invitations, right?"

"But if you say you're running errands for me, you'll have an excuse to refuse."

"I'm the class leader. Helping me is official business, so they'd feel awkward trying to stop you."

Makoto put on the air of a caring boss, all eloquence and shamelessness.

He acted like he was thinking of Himeno, though a glint of slyness shone in his eyes.

He was obviously looking for free labor, but the way he put it made it sound like he was solving some enormous problem for her.

"I feel like you're tricking me."

Himeno was torn.

Logically, what Makoto said made sense.

But emotionally, she couldn't accept it.

That jerk wanted her to do all the dirty, exhausting work, then expected her to be grateful.

What kind of logic was that?

Makoto, whose logic made no sense at all, was utterly confident, his tone uncannily like Golden-Haired Milk Dragon's.

"Am I not solving your immediate problem? Aren't you going to say thank you?"