A bumper harvest indeed

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Ah—so damn annoying! I've had enough!"

"Seriously, everything is infuriating, that bitch Horikita... playing all high and mighty... fake pretentious piece of trash!"

Heavy panting echoed from the rooftop, accompanied by the dull thuds of metal being violently kicked. The short-haired girl kicked the iron railing dozens of times, as if it were Horikita herself, venting all her long-suppressed anger in one go.

The figure hidden in the shadows would not have been exposed, but someone sent a message at the wrong time, and the phone's short notification chime rang out suddenly.

That single soft sound was exceptionally clear in the silent hallway.

Kushida froze abruptly, whipping her head around toward the direction of the sound.

Her face resumed its usual amiable expression, but there was not a trace of warmth in the depths of her eyes, leaving only chilling vigilance.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Hoshinomiya Rinyu."

In the shadows, the boy slowly stepped out, emerging from the dim concealment and exposing himself to the hallway lights.

His expression was calm, betraying no emotional fluctuation from having just witnessed the other's loss of composure.

Kushida lowered her head, took strides to walk up quickly, and stopped only when she was a fist's distance away from Hoshinomiya, lifting her chin to stare straight at him.

Those eyes had lost their usual clear radiance, leaving only a piercing chill.

"You heard everything, didn't you?"

"Obviously, and even if I said I didn't, you wouldn't believe me anyway."

Kushida continued to glare at him fixedly, slowly uttering a threatening remark from her lips.

"If you dare breathe a word about today, I will never let you go."

Hoshinomiya Rinyu showed no excessive emotion on his face, only a teasing smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh~ Just you?"

"It seems you don't realize your current situation."

Kushida's expression sank abruptly, the calmness she had just forced herself to maintain on the verge of shattering. She clenched her hands tightly, her fingernails digging slightly into her palms, her lowered voice wrapped in suppressed hostility.

"If you spread what happened today, I'll go to the Student Council and accuse you of molestation."

The smile on Hoshinomiya's face had not faded yet, his tone composed and detached.

"You don't have any evidence at all. Your word alone won't be enough to convict me."

Kushida's pupils constricted as she abruptly raised her hand to grab his arm.

Yet the moment her fingertips were about to touch his clothing, Hoshinomiya Rinyu's figure flickered and vanished from before her eyes instantly.

Kushida's whole body tensed up as she immediately turned to look left and right, her gaze sweeping rapidly across every corner of the empty hallway. The other's traces were gone, leaving only her somewhat hurried breathing in the corridor.

"No need to panic like that."

A voice sounded out slowly, out of nowhere, right behind her.

Kushida whipped her head back to face Hoshinomiya Rinyu head-on.

"I have no intention of spreading what I saw and heard today, and of course, there's nothing you can do to me either. However..."

"I intend to make a deal with you."

Hearing the word deal, Kushida's brow furrowed slightly, her solemn and tense expression replaced by upturned lips and a sneer.

"A deal? What do you want to get from me? You wouldn't happen to have your eyes on my body, would you?" Kushida laughed out loud, as if afraid no one would hear.

Hoshinomiya Rinyu's expression remained calm, ignoring her teasing joke.

He merely glanced lightly at the other before speaking slowly.

"I need you to collect various intelligence within Class D for me—conflicts among classmates, everyone's trump cards, private movements. Report back to me regularly with whatever information you dig up. With your saintly image, pulling this off should be a piece of cake, right?"

"In exchange, I will provide you with a reward of 30,000 points a month. You're not very well-off right now, are you? As for the content and scope of the next exam, it's not expensive either, I'll sell it to you for 50,000 points."

Kushida's pupils twitched slightly, and she instinctively retorted, "Then what benefits do I get?"

Hoshinomiya paused, looking straight at Kushida, his tone carrying a trace of mockery as he said unceremoniously, "You can claim inside Class D that you've obtained exam-related intelligence and make them pool points together. Don't you understand the concept of making a profit off the price difference? Is your brain really that stupid? Have you completely melted into a defective product of Class D?"

"Stop being so full of yourself!"

He gritted his teeth, a hint of hostility leaking from his gaze at having his sore spot poked.

"I have no intention of sinking to the level of that bunch of losers; I only do what benefits me."

With that, she leaned in slightly, acting as though no one would notice.

"Don't waste your effort. I'm talking business with you seriously. Your amateur tricks don't work on me."

Hoshinomiya Rinyu stepped half a step back, widening the distance between them.

"Let's add each other on the terminal first." Hoshinomiya Rinyu took out the device in his hand and handed it over to Kushida Kikyo.

"Tomorrow night, go to your dorm, or come to mine—your choice." Once he finished speaking, he turned around and quickly prepared to leave.

Anger surged within Kushida Kikyo's chest, filled entirely with reluctance, but since her weakness was in the other's hands, she had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.

······

Hoshinomiya Rinyu walked slowly along the evening campus pathway, intending to stop by the vending machine near the dormitory building to buy a can of drink before returning to his room.

The setting sun on the horizon was fading, and the streetlights on both sides of the road lit up one after another, casting patches of overlapping long and short shadows on the ground.

The confrontation with Kushida just a moment ago was still lingering in his mind; his expression remained calm on the surface, but inwardly he was reviewing that rather unpleasant trade negotiation, yet he clearly held the initiative.

Walking forward a short distance, a familiar female figure came into view—it was Horikita Suzune.

She walked in a hurry with a tense expression, failing to notice Hoshinomiya Rinyu by the roadside, and headed straight toward the direction of the quiet alley on the side of the teaching building.

Hoshinomiya Rinyu hurriedly hid in a nearby, rather dense patch of bushes, quietly watching those two figures.

He saw the person in front of Horikita Suzune turn around, pressing her step by step against the cold wall.

His face thus emerged into view—Student Council President Horikita Manabu.

The tall figure cast a heavy shadow, trapping Horikita Suzune firmly between the wall and himself.

Suzune's body stiffened slightly; this oppression coming from her elder brother made her instinctively avoid the other's gaze, her shoulders tense.

"Suzune." Horikita Manabu spoke, his voice low and cold, devoid of a shred of familial warmth, "Are you still stubbornly insisting on staying in this school?"

Just as Horikita Manabu raised his hand to strike, a brown-haired figure darted out from the side, steadily catching the heavy blow.

"Horikita-president, isn't it a bit much to use violence against a first-year female student in broad daylight?"

The one who appeared was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

Just as Horikita Manabu was about to strike at him, a figure walked out from the bushes at the side—it was none other than Hoshinomiya Rinyu, who had been watching from the shadows just now.

His left hand held a terminal, the recording function already activated, with the duration lasting about five minutes.

"I've recorded some rare evidence~" Hoshinomiya Rinyu chuckled softly, his fingertips gently tapping the screen.

He put away his phone and walked toward the three of them.

Whoosh—the sound of a whistling wind swept past.

Seeing the other party put away his phone, Horikita Manabu didn't hesitate and kicked out.

Hoshinomiya Rinyu casually raised his leg, using his side knee to deflect the blow.

When Horikita Manabu tried to strike again, he discovered that Hoshinomiya Rinyu had somehow arrived behind him, a chopping hand squarely poised against his neck.

"H-How... how could this be?" Horikita Suzune opened her mouth in astonishment.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was also thinking in his mind, silently noting down the entire process that had just taken place.

"Good moves, practiced before?" Horikita Manabu asked with some curiosity, a flash of approval sweeping through the depths of his eyes.

The two men dropped their combat stances.

"I only know a little bit of calligraphy and musical instruments," Hoshinomiya Rinyu said calmly.

Ayanokoji's brain short-circuited for a split second; that seemed to be his line.

"Horikita-senpai, I'd like to make a trade with you." Hoshinomiya Rinyu stated his purpose.

"N-No, you can't, Brother." Horikita Suzune seemed very resistant, wanting to reject the offer on her brother's behalf.

"Suzune!"

Horikita Manabu did not continue, instead looking straight at Hoshinomiya Rinyu.

"Two million points. Delete the video and cloud backup."

"Deal."

After Horikita Manabu added him as a friend and transferred two million points to Hoshinomiya Rinyu, Hoshinomiya didn't dawdle either, deleting the video and backup right in front of all four of them.

"Brother!"

Horikita Suzune still wanted to say something, but Horikita Manabu had already waved his hand and left.

Her expression as she looked at Hoshinomiya Rinyu was very complicated.

Horikita and Ayanokoji left first, while Hoshinomiya Rinyu bought several cans of cola.

The phone screen still stayed on the message: "When I'm not around, please take care of Suzune."