No Money to Renew Your Rental Boyfriend? Karuizawa Kei: Then I'll Work for It!

May 2nd, Palette Cafe.

At this time in the past, the cafe would always be packed with Class 1-D students. Now, only a sparse few remained.

Tatsuya Sakuya sat by the window on the inner side, lightly swiping across his phone screen with his fingertips.

Half an hour earlier, he had sent Karuizawa Kei a message on Line:

Tatsuya Sakuya: [Meet at Palette Cafe at two this afternoon. Bring the tutoring materials.]

Karuizawa Kei: [Sato already saw us at the dorm entrance yesterday... What if we run into someone else from class again today?]

Tatsuya Sakuya: [Wouldn't that be even better? Am I someone who can't be seen in public?]

"Typing..." had appeared above the chat box for a full half-minute before a reply laden with resignation finally popped up:

Karuizawa Kei: [O-k-a-y. I'm heading over now.]

Karuizawa Kei wore flawless, elaborate gyaru makeup, but the slight furrow between her brows and the anxiety she could not hide in her eyes revealed how the zeroed-out points and threat of expulsion had tormented her into near sleeplessness last night.

She warily looked around, and only after confirming that none of her classmates were present did she quickly walk over, pull out a chair, and sit down.

"Phew... It's scorching. You really had to make me come all this way in this heat."

Kei complained out of habit, but when her gaze fell on the chocolate and milk tea on the table, she was genuinely delighted.

"Last time, you said you liked chocolate. Here."

Tatsuya pushed them toward her.

"Guess you do have some sense."

As she nibbled on the chocolate, she secretly studied the boy across from her from the corner of her eye.

Since Chabashira Sae had announced from the podium yesterday that Class 1-D's points had been reduced to zero, the entire class had fallen completely into despair and infighting.

Only Tatsuya Sakuya before her had remained detached, composed, and calm from beginning to end.

As though all of this had long been within his expectations.

"Had your fill of looking? Your rental boyfriend really is handsome, isn't he?"

Tatsuya met her gaze and noticed that she had become a little engrossed in staring at him.

"W-who was looking at you?"

Like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, Kei hurriedly opened the tutoring materials in front of her.

"I was looking at the questions. Hurry up and start tutoring me."

"Then we'll start with the indefinite integrals we left off with yesterday."

"Phew... I finally finished these three big problems."

Kei went limp against the back of her chair and let out a long breath.

"It feels even more exhausting than running eight hundred meters. But I can feel the knowledge going into my brain. This feels pretty great."

"Your aptitude isn't bad. You just used to put all your energy into socializing."

Tatsuya gave an objective assessment as he closed the test paper.

Hearing the praise, Kei's heart skipped slightly, and a flash of secret delight at being acknowledged appeared in her eyes.

"Of course. If I get serious, passing is easy."

"Since today's study task has already been completed beyond expectations..."

Tatsuya paused, neatly gathered the materials in front of him, and looked straight at Kei across from him.

"Then shouldn't we talk about business now?"

"What business?"

Kei paused in confusion and blinked.

"Last month, you hired me as your 'rental boyfriend' for a fee of ten thousand points."

Tatsuya laid it out calmly.

"According to our original agreement, this service is settled monthly. Yesterday was May 1st, so theoretically, it was already time to renew."

He directly raised the central question.

"Karuizawa, do you still plan to renew your rental boyfriend service for May?"

The instant those words fell, Kei suddenly remembered that there was such a thing.

Everything Tatsuya had done was based on being her rental boyfriend.

If she did not renew, she might lose everything she had now.

But if she renewed, she would have to pay him ten thousand points every month.

Points.

She had completely overlooked the most critical issue.

When school had started in April, she had possessed a full one hundred thousand Private Points.

But over the past month, in order to maintain her glamorous image as the "gyaru queen bee,"

she had bought expensive clothes and cosmetics, gone out to eat with the girls in her circle, and squandered nearly all the points she had left last month.

Then, on May 1st yesterday, Chabashira Sae's announcement that the Class Points had been reduced to zero had directly cut off all of her future sources of income.

Now, Kei could not even scrape together one thousand points in her personal account.

"I-I..."

Kei bit her lower lip, unsure how to answer.

She could not come up with those ten thousand points.

"Shiba..."

Kei raised her head, her voice trembling faintly.

"Our class's points were all deducted. You know that too, right? I really can't come up with ten thousand points right now, but..."

"I know."

Tatsuya nodded in understanding.

"Then, could you let me owe you first?"

Kei anxiously leaned forward, her tone nearly pleading.

"Once our class gets points from the next exam, I'll definitely pay you double... No, triple!"

Tatsuya said nothing.

"With Class 1-D's current situation, it's still unknown whether everyone can avoid expulsion in the midterms. Raising the Class Points in the short term is practically impossible."

"How could this be..."

Kei trembled all over and slumped against the chair like a deflated balloon.

Tatsuya immediately continued.

"Since you don't have any points available to spend, working in exchange for compensation is also a reasonable form of payment."

"Huh?"

Kei froze and blinked at him.

"Work in exchange for compensation?"

"That's right."

Tatsuya leaned forward slightly.

"For the period ahead, you will need to act according to my instructions. There is something I need your help with right now."

"Help with something?"

Kei's heart suddenly jumped. Her instincts told her that whatever the man before her was planning was definitely no ordinary matter.

"What kind of help? Let me make this clear first: I absolutely won't do anything illegal or anything that would get me expelled for breaking school rules."

She hurriedly added the warning.

"Nothing like that. Didn't I say before? I won't let you get expelled."

"This concerns the fate of Class 1-D in the midterms, and it concerns you as well."

"Right now, you only need to answer me one question."

"Will you help me, or not?"

Kei stared blankly at Tatsuya.

That deep aura of complete control over the situation made her feel awed, yet the unease that had lingered in her heart for so long miraculously settled down.

She took a deep breath and slowly nodded.

"As long as you keep your promise, I agree."