"Oreki-kun." Suzune suddenly looked straight into his eyes and, without prompting, took his hands in hers. Her eyes shone brightly, "What can I do for you next?"
She looked completely won over.
You too? Who would have thought you were like this, Suzune — so money-hungry.
Houtarou was shocked. In his Precognitive Dream, this future lawyer had been righteous and indifferent to money, often doing pro bono defense work for justice.
But now, even she couldn't resist when faced with huge amounts of Points?
Looking at it this way, Kikyō was truly extraordinary — she could have kept the 50 Class Points from guessing Kakeru in the island exam but chose to give them to the class, gaining only reputation.
But since Suzune had entered battle mode, that was good too. He could put her to use.
So Houtarou said, "The privileged student exam has a pattern, and we need to figure it out. We have the student lists for all groups now. If there's a privileged student in my class, I'll know immediately. Your side needs to provide information about privileged students too. Once we have enough information, we can deduce the pattern.
And we need to pay special attention to the students in your class. Class D students can't act — if they know they're privileged students, they'll leak it immediately. This concerns legitimately getting 80 million from the school, with us taking 40 million first. We need to handle it carefully."
Suzune: "..."
In other words, Class D students weren't reliable, and if the privileged student information leaked, their plan for all students to make money from the school would be ruined.
That made sense. Especially since Kakeru got 0 points in the island exam — he must be planning something. His class would become Class D as soon as they returned to school, and he definitely wouldn't accept that.
Someone who could survive seven days on a deserted island would definitely make some moves.
As for the class students... Hmm.
As a Class D student herself, Suzune knew well: Class D students absolutely couldn't keep secrets...
They needed to cut off contact between Class D students and Kakeru.
What Houtarou was suggesting was to prevent Class D students from knowing the privileged student information — in other words, they needed to confiscate all Class D students' phones before the exam.
This would definitely offend people. The class students would never agree to it.
"I understand." With 4 million points at stake now and another 4 million later, Suzune nodded seriously.
She would do whatever it took.
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Later that night at 2 AM, when everyone should have been sleeping, Houtarou received word that Kikyō was taking out the trash.
What the...
Suzune had actually asked for Kikyō's help in protecting the Class Points. She even offered to become friends with her for the sake of the exam.
This kind of thing... Kikyō found it disgusting.
She had been trying to befriend Suzune since enrollment, but Suzune had flatly rejected her, saying that since she disliked her, further attempts would only annoy them both.
She had ignored all those times Kikyō came to her door in the morning.
And recently, when everyone was having a celebration party for the island exam, Kikyō had specifically invited Suzune — only to be rejected again.
Houtarou had witnessed this scene.
| Houtarou Oreki — Me |
| So, did you agree? |
Being pestered by Kikyō, this was all he cared about.
| Kikyō Kushida — Big Little Girl |
| I agreed. |
| Although I suspect Horikita has ulterior motives, I can't refuse. I must become friends with her. |
Ah. So this girl still had her secrets. She felt compelled to stay entangled with Suzune.
Though Houtarou preferred not to get involved with her secrets, suspecting they were troublesome matters best left alone.
Still, Kikyō was surprisingly easy to talk to. Perhaps he could use this opportunity to make a request of his own?
Given how awkward he was with girls, he hoped she might help him gain some experience.
The book Honami was looking for earlier was titled "Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World!" (Sekai de Ichiban Oppai ga Suki!) — a yuri manga where one of the main characters had an obsession with breasts.
She wanted to get closer to the second female lead every day, especially since Chihiro had confessed to her. They could only reference the yuri work they had chosen.
Houtarou had gained some experience from this work and tried to apply it with Kikyō.
While reading chapter 13 that afternoon, the protagonist Chiaki recalled her childhood dream: becoming a beautiful girl's hand bra.
This thought seemed rather strange, or perhaps too embarrassing to say aloud.
"Then if I want..." Houtarou felt he could challenge himself.
| Kikyō Kushida — Status |
| No. |
She quickly refused.
After being rejected, he turned off his phone and went to sleep.
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The next day arrived. 7:30 AM.
All Class A students gathered at their usual restaurant, except for Arisu who was absent.
Masumi had reserved the entire place last night for 100,000 Points, giving Class A students private use of the venue.
Everyone ordered breakfast, but Houtarou and Kōhei weren't in the main dining area — they were in a side break room.
"Regarding this privileged student exam—" Kōhei said, "We still can't confirm how many privileged students will be in our class. After researching all night, it's clear that having too many privileged students in the class becomes dangerous. Since our class evaluation points are currently advantageous, I suggest we protect this lead."
In other words, they needed to prevent students from answering rashly and losing Class Points through wrong answers. Once they identified the privileged students in their class, they would need to protect them carefully.
He wanted to make a plan. This guy was steady as always.
"There's one method." Houtarou said, "If everyone aims for Result 1 and passes with points, it won't affect Class Points. But there's a cost. From the 500,000 private points reward students get, I'll take half — meaning 250,000."
"Oh." To this proposal, Kōhei nodded, "If that's the case, I can agree right now on behalf of my faction, students who trust me."
Houtarou: "?"
Taking 250,000 from each person? You're not going to resist? And you agreed so readily...
Kōhei's small group now had 19 members. His steady performance in this exam had attracted 2 more supporters.
Had he really agreed so easily?
After spending so much time with Class D students, Houtarou suddenly remembered his own Class A status.
Class A students prioritized maintaining their position above all else. They weren't concerned with individual exams — their focus was on graduating as Class A, which guaranteed free admission to their chosen schools and desired career paths.
That was the real prize, making them willing to sacrifice smaller gains along the way.
Their advantage now made this even easier.
Besides, when Kōhei had needed 1 million points to join the Student Council, his supporters had readily invested in him despite their limited points.
With Class A's cooperation secured...
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Meanwhile, in First-year Class D...
Yōsuke and Kikyō had called all Class D students, including Rokusuke, to gather at the theater.
"My time is precious." He stated.
He disliked Class D's group activities — or rather, he felt out of place among Class D students, believing many weren't worth his guidance.
He didn't want to waste his time.
Besides, they'd already secured their Class Points, and the 20 million task was essentially complete. He maintained his usual demeanor.
This was also his usual bodybuilding time.
"Sorry, Kōenji. This meeting is about protecting our Class Points." Yōsuke said gently, "Please join us."
"Oh?" Rokusuke's eyebrows lifted slightly.
Protect the Class Points? So they wanted to preserve their advantage?
The current Class Points standings were:
「Class A: 1801 Points」
「Class B: 970 Points」
「Class C: 490 Points」
「Class D: 730 Points」
Of those 730 points, 200 belonged to him. The class owed him 200 × 100 × 40 = 800,000 points monthly.
This was his minimum requirement — and a source of pressure.
After all, these hapless Class D students might find new ways to squander their Class Points. He needed to stay vigilant.
However, if these guys were willing to protect the points themselves, then he wouldn't need to make an effort.
Rokusuke found himself curious about how they planned to handle this situation.
"I suppose I'll stay for a while." He said, settling into a seat.
The theater lay empty and vast in the early morning.
Since it was only 7:30 — well before the 10 o'clock opening time — the stage staff hadn't arrived yet. The space contained only the 40 Class D students.
Once Yōsuke had smoothed things over with Rokusuke, Kikyō, the golden-haired angel, stepped forward.
"Please take a look at these materials." She said, maintaining her characteristic angelic smile.
The students watched as she began distributing a stack of papers.
"Eh..."
"What is this—"
"Could this be—"
⍟⍟⍟
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