Transaction

Suzune Horikita had never imagined that, even at this point, Ken Sudo still had not managed to pass English.

Before the exam, Ken Sudo had said he fell asleep while studying at night and had not memorized the English test material. To keep him from being expelled, she had even deliberately held back her score in English.

She turned the matter over and over in her mind, trying to find a way to spare Ken Sudo from expulsion.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji watched her like this in silence. No one could tell what he was thinking.

Suzune Horikita sorted through her thoughts again and again, trying to seize upon something.

She always felt that the key to breaking the deadlock lay somewhere nearby, but every time that faint clue seemed within reach, it slipped away.

Just then, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji spoke at a volume only Suzune Horikita could hear.

"Come to think of it, how many points did your brother spend to make that deal with Miyanomae, with Miyanomae deleting the video as the condition?"

Suzune Horikita looked at Ayanokoji, her eyes full of confusion. She did not understand why he was asking this question at such a moment.

After all, that deal—where seven hundred thousand points had been spent on the condition that Miyanomae delete the video—had ultimately resulted from her calling her brother out on her own and getting him secretly filmed. Those seven hundred thousand points were the price her brother had paid to clean up her mess.

"I remember it was seven hundred thousand. Why are you asking that now?"

"Nothing. Just asking."

Suzune Horikita frowned, but a flash of insight suddenly crossed her mind.

A transaction.

Right. A transaction.

When they first enrolled, Chabashira-sensei had said that points could buy anything related to the school.

Then could they also make a deal with a teacher to buy points, or the right to take a makeup exam?

Her breathing quickened, and her fingers unconsciously clenched. At last, she had firmly grasped that vague clue.

She immediately stood up and called out to Sae Chabashira, who had just reached the classroom door and was about to leave.

"Chabashira-sensei, I want to make a deal with you."

Sae Chabashira, who had just reached the door with her hand on the sliding door handle, stopped at those words.

She turned around and fixed her gaze on Suzune Horikita, as though she had finally found something worth lingering for.

The entire class turned to look at Suzune Horikita, their expressions plainly showing their confusion.

They did not understand why she had suddenly stopped Chabashira-sensei, much less how the word "deal" had come from her mouth.

To the students of Class D, transactions were always exchanges of interest between important people.

It was a realm ordinary students like them could not touch, and they had never imagined they could sit at the same negotiating table as a teacher and discuss terms.

"A deal?" Sae Chabashira did not immediately return to the podium, but there was a rare trace of interest in her tone. "Interesting. Let's hear it."

Suzune Horikita took a deep breath, suppressing all the unease and tension churning in her chest before she spoke.

"Chabashira-sensei, I want to use points to buy one point from you so that Sudo can pass."

"Or buy him the right to take a makeup exam."

As soon as she finished speaking, murmurs broke out throughout the classroom.

"Hey, hey, hey, what is Horikita talking about?"

"Buying grades with points? Can something like that actually be done?"

"Has she lost it?"

The class's chatter came at her from all sides, but Suzune Horikita ignored every word of it. Her eyes remained locked on Sae Chabashira's face without wavering.

Sae Chabashira looked at Suzune Horikita. A trace of surprise appeared in those eyes that were usually indifferent to everything happening in the class.

After a moment, she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorframe.

"Horikita." Her tone was far more serious than it had been when she announced Ken Sudo's expulsion from the podium.

"Do you know what you're saying?"

"I do."

"Buying grades with points, buying makeup exam rights with points." Sae Chabashira repeated it. "Do you think the school would allow a transaction like that?"

Suzune Horikita did not answer Sae Chabashira's question immediately. She lowered her head and pressed her lips together, quickly arranging her words in her mind.

"When school began, Chabashira-sensei said that points could buy anything in the school."

Suzune Horikita raised her head and looked Sae Chabashira directly in the eye.

"I just remembered those words, so I was wondering whether things like grades or makeup exam rights could also be traded with points."

Sae Chabashira narrowed her eyes.

"Anything? Horikita, you certainly know how to pick apart words."

She chuckled softly, then straightened from the doorframe and slowly walked back to the podium.

Her gaze swept over the students in the class again. When it reached Suzune Horikita, it stopped, and she began assessing the girl before her anew.

"If that's the case, how many points do you intend to offer?"

The moment she said that, she had effectively acknowledged that such a deal was possible.

"Huh?! Seriously? It can actually be done?"

"Buying grades with points? Isn't that just paying to pass?"

"Wait, then wouldn't you never fail as long as you had enough points?"

Chattering voices rose from all directions.

Sae Chabashira raised one hand, signaling for everyone in the class to be quiet.

Just as Suzune Horikita took a deep breath and prepared to state the number she had in mind—

"Hold on."

A hand rose from beside her.

The entire class's attention was drawn toward the boy who usually had almost no presence.

"I think it would be better for Chabashira-sensei to name the price. After all, you represent the school. If the school allows this kind of transaction, there should be a corresponding price list."

"Interesting. You're saying you want me to reveal my bottom line first?"

Ayanokoji did not answer, and Sae Chabashira did not press him further. She withdrew her gaze from him and looked back at Suzune Horikita.

"Fine. First of all, the prerequisite for a deal is that you can afford the corresponding number of points."

"Since he put it that way, I might as well tell you."

"The right to take a makeup exam for one subject costs fifty thousand points."

Then she raised one finger. "One point costs one hundred thousand points."

"A makeup exam only costs fifty thousand, but one point costs one hundred thousand."

"So a makeup exam is half the price."

"But... what if he still can't pass?"

Chattering voices once again rose from all directions.

Kanji Ike turned to Haruki Yamauchi and said, "Hey, a makeup exam only costs fifty thousand. That's way more worthwhile than buying one point, right?"

"It's cheaper, but what if he still can't pass the makeup exam? Wouldn't those fifty thousand points be wasted?"

"That's still cheaper than a hundred thousand!"

But Sae Chabashira was not finished. "Oh, right. If it's a makeup exam, the passing line might be recalculated. So, what will you choose?"