A deal with the third-years

It was the lunch break after lunch.

Most students would probably choose to rest in their classrooms, while some would go to a café or their dorms.

So Natsukawa found an excuse, said goodbye to Hiyori and the others, and headed alone toward the third-year classroom area.

It looks like I should avoid gathering too many targets together until their Affection Rating reaches 90.

With that thought, Natsukawa arrived at the Class 3-C classroom area.

Natsukawa had come to trade for points. He no longer cared much about money in the outside world anyway, and he remembered Koenji doing something similar in the original story.

He had come to Class C because, in the original story, the third-year Class A led by Horikita Manabu was formidable, with a lead of around 300 points over Class B.

While Class B might still have some hope of catching up, most students in Class C probably had no confidence in taking on Horikita Manabu.

Trading money for points should be easier with them.

After all, they would graduate at the end of this school year.

For example, in the original story, the second-year Miyabi Nagumo had once recruited people from Classes B, C, and D during a special exam to scheme against Horikita Manabu together. With benefits guaranteed, Class C had even had one student voluntarily withdraw to frame Ju Qian.

As a result, Horikita Manabu had lost a large number of class points and twenty million personal points to protect Ju Qian. In the end, though, they still had not managed to turn things around, beat the class led by Horikita Manabu, and become Class A.

In this island nation, seniority seemed to matter a great deal. Juniors always used respectful language with their seniors. Probably no lower-year student would choose to come to the upper-year area to make friends, since that would be strange.

Natsukawa's presence naturally drew the curiosity of many upper-year students in Class C.

A girl from Class 3-C blocked Natsukawa's path and asked:

"Are you a newly enrolled first-year? What brings you here?"

Natsukawa answered with complete ease:

"I'm looking for your class leader. There's a deal I'd like to discuss with him. I'll wait over there in that empty skybridge. He can come over if he's interested, but please tell him I'll only wait five minutes!"

The girl also looked at Natsukawa Tatsuya with considerable surprise. He showed none of the stiffness a junior would have when facing a senior.

Having spent two years at Advanced Nurturing, she, like the other upper-year students, had matured considerably and understood the school's rules. So she could tell that Natsukawa was a "capable" new student.

"Mm-hmm, what an interesting junior! I'll pass your words on to our class leader exactly as you said them, though I don't know whether he'll come."

"But I'm interested in talking to you myself, to see what kind of deal this is. Go ahead and wait there."

"Okay, thank you."

So Natsukawa left the Class 3-C classroom and went to a nearby skybridge where there were no students, looking at the scenery below and in the distance.

Before long, a reasonably good-looking male student came over with the girl from earlier.

He neither looked down on Natsukawa nor made any other attempt to test him, carrying himself like a leader.

He spoke:

"I'm Class C's leader, Yamashita Chusheng. I hear you want to discuss a deal with me. Could you tell me about it?"

Natsukawa replied:

"Hello, I'm Natsukawa Tatsuya."

Giving his name in return was basic courtesy when speaking to someone for the first time, so Natsukawa was used to it.

"Yamashita, as far as I know, your Class C is quite far behind the Class A led by Student Council President Horikita Manabu in points, isn't it? I suppose having to face someone like Horikita Manabu could even be called divine punishment."

The girl giggled and said:

"Did you come here just to pick a fight? If you don't give us a proper answer, you could earn the hostility of all of Class 3-C!"

Yamashita frowned and raised a hand to stop her.

After a moment of silence, Yamashita said calmly:

"What do you mean by that? I assume the deal you mentioned has something to do with this?"

Natsukawa smiled and said:

"You really are magnanimous, Yamashita. You didn't even get angry. Then I'll get to the point."

"You'll all be graduating in another year. As things stand, Class C will definitely have a hard time rising to Class A. Have you ever considered exchanging your personal points for cash?"

"What do you mean?"

Natsukawa continued:

"As far as I know, the school takes back your points after graduation, doesn't it? And the school only buys them back at half their value. Even if you buy other goods and resell them outside the school, you'd still take a considerable loss!"

"I'm willing to pay you twice the value of your points in exchange for them."

"I've also deduced that the school has special assessments where points will be very useful. They aren't just living expenses handed out to students."

Natsukawa had added that last part because he knew that, during the first month in the original story, upper-year students were bound by a confidentiality rule and could not reveal the school's rules to the new students.

By presenting his own deduction, he made it possible for Yamashita to discuss special exams with Natsukawa within the rules, since Yamashita had not been the one to give him that information.

At that point, the girl sounded somewhat tempted:

"Yamashita, Natsukawa's offering us a good deal! Points are useless to us anyway. There's absolutely no way we can beat Horikita Suzune!"

"Shut up!"

"Natsukawa, it seems you're very capable! You've already realized that the school holds unconventional special exams!"

Yamashita spoke:

"It's a good proposal, but why should I trade with you? Even if we can't rise to Class A, I still want to keep our points and have a proper match against Horikita Suzune, even if I only beat him once!"

It seemed that after two years at school, the third-year leaders had developed a relationship of mutual appreciation as rivals...

Natsukawa continued:

"Even if you won't think of yourself, shouldn't you think of your classmates, Yamashita? With a more favorable way to exchange their points, wouldn't it be a greater help to them in pursuing further education or finding other work after graduation?"

After pondering for a moment, Yamashita finally compromised and replied:

"All right, you win! I'll persuade everyone in Class C. They all trust my decisions, too. But I can only give you some of our points each month. We'll keep the rest to handle exams, and when we graduate, we'll give you everything left!"

"But I want triple their value! With your ability, you must know how useful points are at this school, right?"

Natsukawa smiled and said:

"A wise decision! I agree, Yamashita. Consider it my way of making friends with you!"