Haruka Hasebe

"Kuraku, wait!"

Hearing the voice, Kuraku stopped. He didn't turn around, but kept his hands in his pockets. After taking a deep breath, he spoke with quiet resignation.

"What do you want now?"

"I came to see you off. I..."

"There's nothing for us to talk about. Go."

Kuraku cut him off, but their homeroom teacher soon broke the strange atmosphere.

"What are you two grown men doing, acting all lovey-dovey?"

"Kato Satsu, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Come on! This awkward atmosphere isn't my fault. He wouldn't let me finish!"

Satsu was practically frantic. Why had he kept ending up in these situations with men ever since coming to this school?

"Then I'll get straight to the point. Kuraku, can you give me the points you have left?"

In theory, it was possible. Although the decision had been made to expel him, the paperwork hadn't been processed yet, so Kuraku could still use his points.

But how could anyone be so shameless?

Everyone knew Satsu had played a part in Kuraku's expulsion. And now he was just going to ask him for a favor out of the blue? Not to mention all the things Satsu had said that the cameras couldn't record.

"Why should I give them to you?"

"Once you leave the school, your points will be useless. You might as well put them to one last use. Give me all your points, and I'll get Tano Matsuyama expelled."

"How about it?"

Seeing Kuraku fall silent, Satsu didn't rush him. He simply waited.

Kuraku was tempted. First, he really had no use for the points anymore. Second, he couldn't swallow the fact that he'd been deceived for so long. Third, he didn't have many points left, and it was almost impossible to get anyone else to do this for the same amount.

There was a risk that Satsu would take the money and do nothing, but that risk existed with anyone. Kuraku was being expelled, and there was nothing he could do to them afterward.

At least after all this, Matsuyama might hold a grudge against Satsu. That would give Satsu a reason to get Matsuyama expelled.

"I agree. But you have to get Sae expelled too!"

"Deal!"

Once they'd made their agreement, Kuraku readily transferred the points. The total came to 23,159.

It was less than Satsu had expected, but he was already quite satisfied. After all, he'd made a net profit of sixty thousand points on the very first day of school.

With a full 160,000 points, he'd be able to get by comfortably even if no more points came in for the next month.

"Not bad at all~ A whole 160,000."

Satsu was so caught up in his excitement that he hadn't even noticed when Chabashira-sensei had appeared beside him.

"Sensei!"

"Don't be nervous. Having money is a good thing at this school." Chabashira turned to Suzune and said, "Isn't that right, Horikita?"

Suzune, standing nearby, didn't respond for a long time. Chabashira shrugged, apparently bored, and left.

Suzune still didn't seem to have fully recovered from her dejected state. She only glanced briefly at Satsu before leaving.

"Ah, things are moving so slowly!"

Watching Suzune's back, Satsu couldn't help feeling disappointed. His plans to get to know either Ayanokoji or Suzune had gotten off to a rough start.

And as for taking things further, becoming good friends with them... the day he completed his character collection still seemed a long way off.

Since this was proving difficult, Satsu decided not to put all his eggs in one basket. There were still three years ahead of him, after all. He went to the supermarket and bought some daily necessities and gifts.

It never hurt to make more connections at this school. When he got back to the dorm, he could pay his neighbors a visit and, at the very least, get acquainted.

By the time Satsu returned to the dorm, it was already completely dark. Looking at the empty lobby, he couldn't help complaining.

"Why am I always finishing last at everything today?"

But his displeasure quickly vanished. Looking at the key to Room 403, he was thrilled.

From what he remembered, Ayanokoji lived right next door in Room 401. It seemed the heavens were on his side.

After returning to his room and tidying himself up, Satsu picked up the gift he'd bought and knocked on Room 401's door.

The door hadn't opened yet, but a voice came from inside first. "Kikyo, you're here?"

"Why is that a girl's voice?!"

Satsu had just realized something was wrong when the door swung open. Standing there was Haruka Hasebe, wrapped in a bathrobe!

She'd clearly just finished bathing. In her hurry to answer the door, she hadn't even had time to dry her hair. It hung damply around her, several strands clinging to her snowy skin.

"Holy—forgot to turn off auto-aim." (Kato Satsu)

After reflexively glancing over Hasebe, Satsu hurriedly shut his eyes and turned his head away.

"Kato?!"

When she saw it was Satsu, Hasebe quickly closed the door. "Sorry, let me just get ready."

Hearing how flustered she sounded, Satsu replied politely, "It's okay. I'll wait."

She's surprisingly hot! She must have mistaken me for Kikyo. Her bathrobe isn't even wrapped properly—I can catch a glimpse! (Kato Satsu)

After taking a few shallow breaths, Satsu finally managed to rein in his instincts.

Since the mood's already set, wouldn't it be a waste not to make use of this face?

Then he undid a button on his collar, revealing a little of his collarbone.

With my mind-reading ability, watch me stir up those waves.

About ten minutes later, the door opened again. Hasebe kept it only slightly ajar and tried to sound composed. "What do you need, Kato?"

Looking at the half of Hasebe's face visible through the gap, Satsu said warmly, "I'm glad you remembered my name."

"Um, you introduced yourself this afternoon." Her voice was so quiet that it was almost impossible to hear unless you concentrated.

No inner voice! How is that possible?!

Realizing his mind-reading ability might have failed, Satsu promptly gave up on flirting and got straight to the point.

"I thought I'd come by and introduce myself to my neighbor. I didn't expect you to live here. Sorry—I should have told you why I was knocking."

As he spoke, Satsu held out his gift.

Hasebe cautiously accepted it. "I didn't expect you to be living next door, either."

Still no inner voice! But she didn't deny living here. What's going on? Doesn't Ayanokoji live here? (Kato Satsu)

"I'm in Room 403, so we'll be neighbors from now on. I hope we get along."

"Mm."

"Then get some rest. I won't keep you."

"Okay."

After leaving Hasebe's door, Satsu didn't head straight back to his room. He looked downstairs, and only after confirming that he could read the thoughts of the people below did he return to his room.

"What's going on?" (Kato Satsu)

Meanwhile, Hasebe leaned back against the door.

She touched her cheeks with both hands, feeling the heat radiating into her palms.

After a long while, Hasebe finally came back to herself. She took a deep breath, then opened the welcoming gift Satsu had brought.

A box of chocolates.