AFTER CONFIRMING that Horikita still hadn't arrived at school, I decided to
wait near the entranceway. I figured it would draw too much attention if I were
to casually start talking to her about this subject in the classroom.
Shortly afterwards, Horikita showed up. She gave me a puzzled look, not even
considering that I might be there waiting for her.
"Good morning. Are you waiting for someone?" she asked.
"Yeah, something like that, I guess. She just got here," I replied.
"I see," said Horikita.
She briefly turned and looked over her shoulder. When she noticed there was
no one else around whom I seemed to be particularly acquainted with, she
turned back to me once more.
"Me?" she asked.
"Yeah. There's something I wanted to run by you really quick."
"I'm guessing it must be something important, if you were standing around
waiting for me," said Horikita.
We started walking.
"Important…? Yeah, I suppose so. I think it could be important. As it happens,
I had the chance to speak with Nanase Tsubasa, from Class 1-D a little while
ago, funnily enough. So I tried proposing a little something to her class," I told
her.
"Oh? And what kind of proposal would that be?" said Horikita.
"I thought I'd try bringing up the idea of our classes working together, Class D
to Class D."
"Knowing you, that's quite a bold move," said Horikita.
I was sure Horikita had been agonizing over how to form a relationship with
Class 1-D, herself. I was prepared for her to get angry with me for going ahead
and proposing a partnership without her permission, but…
"Have you checked the status of Class 1-D's current partnership situation?"
asked Horikita.
"Yeah. None of them have settled on any partnerships yet. I'm sure
Sakayanagi and Ryuuen are probably putting them on the backburner as
potential candidates, too," I replied.
It was only natural that they'd focus their attention on high achievers from
the upper-level classes who were willing to cooperate for a reasonable number
of points, rather than the students from Class D who were asking for an
exorbitant sum.
"I'm sure that's not all, either. It would take a certain amount of work to
comply with Housen-kun's aggressive policies. I'm sure that from the
perspective of the upper-level classes, dealing with him would just consume a
great deal of extra time and effort," said Horikita.
"Maybe."
"Did you make this proposal to Nanase-san after understanding the
difficulties that would come with trying to confront Housen-kun? Or did you
perhaps reach out to her in the hopes of forming a collaboration in secret, so
that Housen-kun wouldn't find out?" asked Horikita.
"What do you think?" I asked.
I deliberately turned the question back around on her, without really giving
her an answer myself. If she was no longer planning on teaming up with Class 1-
D at this point in time, then I was fine with calling everything off.
"I've re-analyzed our situation in this special exam, in my own way. Would
you care to hear me out?" said Horikita.
"I'm not confident I can really give you any pertinent advice, though."
"I'm not expecting any."
Apparently, she just wanted me to hear what she had come up with. It
probably had something to do with what I mentioned to her today about Class
1-D.
"First of all, when you look at the first-years as a whole, it's obvious that the
most popular students are the ones with exceptional academic ability," said
Horikita.
"Yeah. If I remember right, Shiratori said he'd been approached by both Class
2-A and Class C about drafting an agreement with him, using points," I replied.
"But no one among Shiratori-kun and his friends has formed a partnership
yet. I think it's fair to assume they were unable to come to a settlement based
on points, then. At any rate, the sum they asked us for, five hundred thousand
points, was far too steep a price," said Horikita.
When you considered the fact that the reward for placing in the top five was
one hundred thousand points, and the reward for placing in the top thirty
percent was ten thousand points, even asking for two hundred thousand points
was way too much.
"I wonder how many points Hashimoto-kun and the others offered them,"
said Horikita.
"Who knows? But it's probably safe for us to assume that it was a far cry from
five hundred thousand," I told her.
It was impossible to know the answer to that, unless you happened to be the
person involved in the negotiations.
"I would guess there probably wasn't that big a difference between the offers
Class A and Class C made. If I had to say, Class A's offer might have been a little
smaller," said Horikita.
She had probably deduced that by checking the OAA app constantly, up until
this morning. Between Class A and Class C, more students in Class C had
finalized their partnerships.
"In terms of public image, Class A naturally has the advantage over Class C.
Most people would choose Class A, unless there was an enormous difference in
the number of points they were offering. With that in mind, we can guess that
Class A is hoping to snatch up first-year students by leveraging both points and
the value of their status as Class A, while on the other hand, Class C, is offering
more points to offset their inferior public image and win students over,"
reasoned Horikita.
I nodded, showing that I agreed with her conclusions.
"But I find Ryuuen-kun's thought process a little strange. If you want to win in
this exam, then drawing the top-scoring students over to your side is at least
the bare minimum you need to do. But that would inevitably mean having to
compete against Class A to snatch up talent. And if Class C pits their wallets
against Class A, I can't imagine Class C would stand a chance of winning. Trying
to shoot for first place in overall scores just seems reckless," said Horikita.
Ryuuen had said that he was going to threaten people. But the truth was that
his class didn't stand a chance of winning that kind of competition.
"He should be going after the students Class A isn't interested in, even if that
means lowering his standards a little," I replied.
Students who had a B-or even a C+ in academic ability would do well enough.
It would be much safer to shoot for second place in overall scores.
"Well, I suppose trying to make sense of what he's thinking is probably
pointless, but… Anyway, I'll get back on track now. The remaining class, Class B,
is trying to create relationships built on trust with the first-year students,
drawing in people without regard to academic ability, to save the weak. Firstyear Class D aside, we can assume that many students with an academic ability
ranking of D or below have been saved by Ichinose-san," said Horikita.
She briefly turned around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping on
our conversation. After she made sure no one was listening in, she continued
speaking.
"Which means our current objective is to reach out to the mid-tier students in
each class. The people who have an academic ability ranking between C+ and B-
," said Horikita.
The students in that range probably wouldn't be approached with big offers,
and there would probably be quite a few of them still available. Going after
those students while Class A and Class C were scrambling to snatch up the topscoring students was a good move.
"So does that mean you're retracting your plan of forming a partnership with
Class 1-D?" I asked.
"No. That plan is still on. In fact, if anything, I should say it's seeming more
and more like the optimal choice for us," said Horikita.
"So, you'll abandon trying to get the average students from other classes?"
That could certainly be called a drastic decision. Since we were behind the
other classes in our grade level, we needed to establish a lot of partnerships, as
soon as possible.
"It's not like we're going to sit around and do nothing, of course. This might
be a somewhat malicious way of doing things, but I intend to pretend to play
the money game in order to buy us some time. The mid-tier students think they
aren't going to get tempting offers of huge sums of points, unlike the highachievers. In that case, we'll give those students a little taste of what it feels like
to be desired. We'll make them think that they can do a little haggling of their
own," said Horikita.
"You mean your goal is to make Sakayanagi and Ryuuen have to spend their
points not just on acquiring the top-scoring students, but on getting the midtier students, too?"
"Well, I'm skeptical about just how effective it'll be, but I figure I can probably
draw some of their attention that way. And in the meantime, I intend to cut a
path into Class 1-D. Which is exactly why what you're telling me now is just
what I wanted to hear. I've been thinking of contacting Nanase-san myself,"
said Horikita.
"But isn't Housen exactly the person who wants to play the money game?"
"Yes, that's certainly true. But I have to wonder, are points really all he's
after? When he came up to the second-year floor, he said, and I quote, 'You
can't even form pairs unless we pick you. So, I figured, hey, I'll lend you
incompetent, braindead morons a hand.' Which means his goal is our class.
Would he have really phrased it that way if he was only after points?"
Horikita asserted that there should be some room for negotiation, aside from
using Private Points.
"The fact that he purposefully said, 'See you later,' directly to me just before
he left seemed to indicate something, too."
"Yeah, that's certainly true. I think it's safe to say that Housen only has his
sights on our class," I replied.
In exchange for giving up on trying to secure the top spots, Horikita had set
three core principles: "No one will get expelled," "We're not participating in the
money game," "Aim for third place or better in overall scores." It wasn't an easy
task, but that was exactly why we were focusing on Class 1-D.
"At any rate, Housen-kun is certainly not going to be easy to deal with
through ordinary methods. I have a backup plan." Apparently, Horikita had
devised some plans I didn't know about. "I'm currently in talks with some
people in Class 1-B about setting up a collaborative partnership."
"Wait, speaking of 1-B… Do you mean you talked with the guy who went to
the same junior high you and Kushida went to? Yagami?" I asked.
I thought back to what I saw in the OAA app this morning after it updated.
How Kushida and Yagami had confirmed partnerships.
"Kushida-san and Yagami-kun partnered up together yesterday.
Unfortunately, I don't remember anything about any of the students younger
than me at my old school, but he could be important. He seemed to place a
good deal of trust in Kushida-san. And we've already been negotiating with him
behind the scenes. Hopefully, if things go well, we can find more collaborators,"
said Horikita.
Though this was good news, there was something that worried me.
"Are you giving Kushida instructions?" I asked.
Given how much Kushida hated Horikita, I wasn't sure how seriously Kushida
would try to help us.
"I'm well aware of how difficult that would be for me, all things considered.
Which is why I'm working through Hirata-kun as a go-between," said Horikita.
"I see. I suppose Kushida can't afford to slack off then."
If Kushida's negotiations with Yagami resulted in even just a few students
being brought over to our side, it would mean some of our partnership
problems would be solved, and we could focus more on studying.
5.3
"GOOD MORNING, Horikita-san. Do you have a minute?" asked Yousuke,
coming over to Horikita's seat after first period ended and the break began.
I could see what was happening from my own seat, more or less.
"I went around and talked to a few people yesterday, but it seems I can't
really get anyone to work with us that easily, after all. There were some kids
who said they'd consider teaming up with us, but, well…" said Yousuke, trailing
off.
Even though he talked to people who played soccer, just like him, it sounded
like things hadn't gone so smoothly. Besides, no matter how good Yousuke was,
it would be difficult to get first-year students who had only just joined the club
to really open up.
"The first-years asked for points, didn't they?" asked Horikita.
Yousuke nodded. Horikita continued speaking.
"Well, they have the chance to sell themselves for a high price, so I suppose
that's not surprising."
Just as we had imagined, the problematic point buyout idea was running
rampant all throughout their entire grade level.
"They told me they were approached by Class 2-A, wanting to partner with
them. And that Class C came asking to partner with them too, in exchange for
points. It wasn't just the kids I talked to, either. From the sounds of it, almost
every single student who got approached by Class A also got an invitation from
Class C, too," said Yousuke.
"I suppose that's only natural, considering the competition over who gets the
smart kids is quite stiff." Horikita had already predicted this would happen.
However, the words that came out of Yousuke's mouth next were not what she
expected.
"But apparently, even some of the kids with C and D ratings have been
approached. I heard some stories about how the invitations came with offers of
pretty hefty sums of points, too," said Yousuke.
"Meaning they're not necessarily prioritizing the students who are more
capable academically?" said Horikita.
"As far as I can tell, yeah," said Yousuke.
"I see. If you can remember any specific names, could you share those with
me?"
"Of course."
Yousuke proceeded to list off names of first-year students who were known
for a fact to have received invitations from Class A. Horikita looked up their
names in the OAA app, and quickly understood what was going on. The
students who were being invited excelled in some other area, even if their
academic abilities weren't so great. They were valued for their high physical
ability rating, or for their adaptability rating or societal contribution rating.
"I see… Well, actually, I expected as much," said Horikita.
"Maybe they're looking ahead to the future, and not just focusing on shortterm results, then," said Yousuke.
This wasn't necessarily the only special exam where we'd be cooperating with
the first-year students. If there were more instances where we had to work
together, we might need skills other than academics at the time. Save the
students who had concerns about their academic prowess, and make use of
them later in their field of expertise—I was sure that was what Class A was
thinking.
That being said, it was interesting that even Class C, led by Ryuuen, was doing
the same thing. They weren't just going after students with a high level of
academic ability. They were following in Sakayanagi's footsteps, right behind
her.
"It would be great if we could do the same, but, well…" said Yousuke, trailing
off.
"That would be difficult, I know," replied Horikita, finishing his thought.
We were Class D. Sakayanagi was Class A. Even the kids who had only just
started attending this school already knew which class had the better
reputation. When considering their future, it was only natural that they'd favor
the superior class, which could help them out more.
"Thank you. Can you keep looking into things for me?" asked Horikita.
"Sure. If I find anything, I'll be sure to let you know."
Yousuke gave Horikita a bright, cheerful smile and then returned to his seat.
Shortly afterward, I got an instant message from Horikita.
"So, there you have it."
It seemed like Horikita had sensed that I was eavesdropping on her
conversation with Yousuke.
"Hirata-kun certainly is dependable, isn't he?" she added.
"For sure," I replied.
He and Horikita had gotten into a spat once before, but that was in the past
now. Yousuke worked tirelessly for the sake of the class, making him very
dependable. His communication skills and high intelligence were assets, of
course, but his greatest strength was his high degree of trustworthiness. He had
a great track record. If Yousuke was involved, people believed he had things in
hand. That was exactly why Horikita was willing to discuss her strategy with him
so openly.
"We're at a disadvantage just because we're Class D. It's going to be a tough
road ahead," said Horikita.
"Even so, we gotta make do. Good luck."
"You do realize you have a part to play too, right?"
"You mean the thing with Nanase?"
"Yes. I'd like a response as soon as possible. Tell her that we're ready to go
whenever she is."
So, she was saying we ought to move quickly and seal the deal. To strike while
the iron was hot, as they say. After all, if we didn't, the other classes would
keep taking more and more of the best people out there.
"It'll probably be the day after tomorrow, though. I have to take care of that
other problem first," I replied.
"Of course. I know that," said Horikita.
5.4
CLASS ENDED for the day, and we still hadn't gotten a response from Nanase
yet. Even if she did respond now and tell me we were on for today, Horikita and
I wouldn't be able to do anything. There was a more immediate problem that I
urgently needed to take care of—namely, the rather sudden promise we'd
made Amasawa the other day, to serve her a home-cooked meal.
If I managed to score a passing grade, then we could get her to partner up
with Sudou. An extremely enticing offer. But the hurdle I had to clear was by no
means low.
When I arrived at the entrance of Keyaki Mall ten minutes prior to the
scheduled time of our meeting, it seemed Amasawa wasn't around yet. So I just
stood there, not bothering to check my phone or anything, but just
nonchalantly watching the students come and go. Students of all grade levels
came into the shopping mall, talking about this or that while they walked
around.
The temperature this morning was a little higher than normal, but as evening
approached, it gradually got cooler. It seemed the temperature was going to
drop a little more at nighttime. Eventually, just when it was about the time we
had agreed to meet, Amasawa appeared.
"Perfect, Ayanokouji-senpai," she said as she approached me with a big smile,
nodding several times, as if she were satisfied about something.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"You waited at the place you were supposed to, before the girl got there. And
you didn't even like, do anything else, either" said Amasawa.
She was unexpectedly sharp. Or rather, I should say she understood my
actions quite well, even the trivial ones. When she said I didn't do anything else,
she probably meant that I wasn't messing around on my phone or calling
anyone while I waited.
Soon, Amasawa would put me to the test. Meaning, I had to serve her a meal.
When I considered that fact, I supposed I could have spent the time I stood
around waiting for her to look up various kinds of recipes, trying to devise a
plan at the last minute.
But, if I had to express it in a way that was easy to understand, that would be
like staring intently at your textbook right up until the bell rang on the day of a
written test. Of course, looking up information on my phone wouldn't have
violated any of the rules Amasawa had set. However, it probably would've
made me appear like someone who wasn't confident in his cooking.
The same went for making a call, which would make her think that I was
seeking someone's help. Therefore, I deliberately chose to do nothing to make
it appear as though I were cool and collected. I had intended to try to implant
that impression into Amasawa's subconscious mind, but she had detected what
I was doing right off the bat.
"Well then Ayanokouji-senpai, shall we?" said Amasawa, lining up next to me,
and quickly taking me into the mall with her.
"To buy ingredients, right?"
"Yep! Well, that too. You gotta buy the stuff for what you'll make for me. Do
you have any cash?" asked Amasawa.
"A reasonable amount."
In truth, I really didn't have that much. But I wasn't going to say anything
excessive in front of an underclassman.
"Ooh, yay! I won't be shy then, in that case. Um, let's see, I think I've heard
from my classmates that they sell all the essentials here and stuff, but… I
wonder where they keep the shopping baskets?" said Amasawa.
Rather than heading straight for the supermarket, she headed over toward
"Humming," a store that specialized in carrying everything you needed at home.
She picked up a blue shopping basket that she found near the entrance to the
store. What she said earlier, "that too," stuck in the back of my mind. I knew I
was going to cook a meal for her later, but did that mean there was something
else I needed to do besides buy the ingredients?
Amasawa stopped by the kitchenware section of the store. When I first
started at this school, I'd come by here a few times to buy the things that I
needed. Aside from students, the teachers and other adults who worked in the
café and the cafeteria and such also needed these products, so there was a
particularly large section of the store dedicated to kitchenware. I remembered
not being able to find what I was looking for right away when I first came here.
It seemed like all sorts of new products had hit the market since I'd been here
last, which was some time ago. Considering the fact Amasawa had stopped
here, I wondered if she was planning to buy some kind of special appliance or
utensils. There were countless tools here after all, like peelers, graters, mortars
and pestles, etc. Some of those things, of course, I didn't have.
What I found strange was that Amasawa never asked me what tools or
utensils I already had. It would've made sense for us to at least discuss what I
already had and didn't have. If she were worried about losing time, we would
have had plenty of time to talk about it while we walked around, but I held back
my desire to check with her, choosing to let Amasawa run the show for now.
Instead, I tried to bring up a topic that had nothing to do with cooking
utensils.
"Do you not cook for yourself, Amasawa?" I asked.
"Me? Oh, I don't think I've ever cooked before. I'm not the kinda person who
really cooks and stuff. I'd rather be fed than feed someone else," explained
Amasawa.
Just then, she stopped in her tracks, apparently having arrived at her intended
destination. The process so far had gone incredibly smoothly. Amasawa looked
away from me, towards\ the shelves of merchandise. She crossed her arms and
pondered something for about half a minute, as if struggling to decide
something. Then she must have come to a decision because she muttered, "All
right," to herself and nodded.
"Okay, so, first of all, we're gonna need a cutting board, right? Then, like, a
kitchen knife? Then we're gonna need a bowl, a whisk, and then also, also,
we're gonna need a pot and a ladle," said Amasawa, throwing the items into
the basket one after another as she listed them off.
The last item she tossed into the basket was a big spoon. Apparently, it was
called a ladle. I had a hunch that something was off.
"Wait, hold on a second. I pretty much have almost all of those things in my
room already though," I told her hurriedly.
"Oh, no worries, no worries! I'm just having you buy these things for me. For
when you cook for me," said Amasawa.
She was just having me get all these for her…? Even the cutting board she
picked out was much better quality that the one I had back in my room. It
looked like it was made from Japanese cypress and it cost a little over fourthousand points. The rest of the cooking utensils she picked out were highquality items, too.
It seemed she still had other items to cross off her list, because she moved
over to check out the next set of shelves. As soon as she got there, she picked
up a fruit knife without a second's hesitation.
"For someone who claims to be a good cook, having a good petty knife is a
must, right?" said Amasawa in a somewhat casual tone before tossing the item
into her basket.
I was a total amateur who had no idea that fruit knives were called petty
knives. Oh, and by the way, the petty knife was also a high-priced item, coming
in at nearly three thousand points. Even though there were several cheaper
options right there on the shelf next to the item she'd picked up, she didn't pay
any attention to them. As far as I could tell, the only differences were whether
they included a sheath and whether they were made in Japan.
Once again, the product she'd chosen was quite an extravagant one.
Apparently, people skilled in the art of cooking were expected to have mastered
handling small kitchen knives like these.
"Hey, uh, just asking, but who is paying for these…?" I asked.
"Oh, come on, you are, of course, Ayanokouji-senpai! Obviously," she replied.
I already knew that. But the total cost of all these items easily exceeded
fifteen thousand points. I supposed that meant I might as well just throw away
the cheap stuff I was using now. If I thought about the fact that I could use this
high-quality cookware when I cooked for myself in the future, maybe it would
help me stomach this?
"Oh, and I already told you this just a bit ago, but remember, you're buying
these to use them for me, and for me only. So don't go wearing them out with
everyday use, okay?" said Amasawa.
"Are you some kind of evil demon?" I asked her, vocalizing my rather
unpleasant thoughts.
Unpleasantly enough, it seemed she'd been expecting me to voice my
concerns and say something vulgar in the process.
"If you wanna call it off, it's okay. You can quit any time, y'know," she teased
provocatively, while clutching the edge of the shopping basket.
She was taking ample advantage of the fact that I was in a vulnerable position
and couldn't refuse. Still, if I thought of this as a way to get Sudou partnered
with an A-rank student, then fifteen thousand points or so was an incredibly
good deal. I just had to think of it that way.
"No, I understand. I accept all of your conditions, so feel free to pick out
whatever you want, and I'll buy it," I told her.
"Do you think I'm a bad girl?"
"No, I don't."
Amasawa stared intently into my eyes. Then, she smiled. I couldn't tell if that
was because she knew something, or because something was eluding her.
"Then we're all good, senpai," said Amasawa.
And so I had to buy everything, from the pot to the ladle and everything else.
And with the horrifying condition that they all be used only and exclusively for
Amasawa.
5.5
AFTERWARD, we went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients, which was
the main purpose of our coming to the mall in the first place. In the end, the
trip cost me about twenty-thousand Private Points. Needless to say, this was
the first time I'd ever bought so much stuff. The plastic bags I carried in both
hands were so heavy that the handles were digging into my fingers.
No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn't narrow down exactly what
Amasawa was going to have me make for her. based on these ingredients.
She'd had me buy all kinds of things, from vegetables to meat to fruit. However,
there were some dishes I could identify as possibilities. For instance, the fact
that she had me buy fish sauce and chili peppers gave me some ideas.
It was just that, well…if she intended for me to use all these ingredients, that
would be fine. But it was also quite possible that she was mixing in some extra
ingredients to fake me out, just to give me a hard time. Considering the things
Amasawa said and did today, I couldn't help but suspect that was a possibility. It
would probably be close to impossible for me to narrow down exactly what she
was going to have me do at this current stage.
"All right, that's everything! Well then, shall we get going back to your room,
senpai?" asked Amasawa.
She sounded as enthusiastic as a girl talking about going to hang out with her
boyfriend in his room. But there was no way I could feel even a speck of
giddiness, myself. After all, if I couldn't make a dish that satisfied her, this
arrangement would most likely be broken off. And on top of that, making
delicious food for someone was a rather abstract task. If this was a test where
she'd already made up her mind to fail me, then it would just end up being a
waste of both my points and my time.
However, I had no choice but to quietly accept these developments for now.
I'd never imagined Horikita's spur-of-the-moment decision could lead to
something so exhausting and bothersome. I didn't discuss things like the cost of
ingredients beforehand with Horikita and Sudou, but considering my expenses,
I'd like to bring this up to them later. I supposed I'd just tuck that thought in the
back of my mind for the time being.
For now, to help me accept this situation as openly as I possibly could, I
decided to go ahead and ask Amasawa a question I'd been wondering about.
"Hey, isn't it kind of strange to want to ask a guy you don't even know to cook
you a meal and feed you, though? I mean, wouldn't someone normally feel a
strong sense of opposition to that kind of thing?" I asked.
That was just my own personal opinion, of course, but I thought most people
would feel very reluctant to do such a thing. I mean, you didn't just look at your
food. You actually had to put it in your mouth and swallow it. You'd be
concerned about things like taste and hygiene, and therefore, want to know
who was making your food, how they were preparing it, and so on. As you got
to know a person, a relationship based on trust would form, and those concerns
would gradually fade.
"You think? But isn't it kinda like eating out at a restaurant? I mean, you have
no idea what goes on in the kitchen at a restaurant, since the one cooking your
meal is a stranger, after all," said Amasawa.
Well, it was certainly true that we didn't know exactly how food in the school
cafeteria was prepared or anything. But while the restaurant scenario and this
situation might seem similar on the surface, they were quite different in reality.
"But even if they're only making you a single rice ball, restaurants strictly
adhere to sanitation regulations. That's completely different from having some
random stranger cook for you, isn't it?"
"Really? If anything, I feel like I'd rather be in a situation where I could see the
person cooking right next to me, though. You can see everything about them
then—what they look like, how they move about, how they prepare stuff,
everything. You can even tell how careful they are about stuff like hygiene. On
the other hand, in some restaurants, you can't see the kitchen at all, right? I
mean, there are some places out there that are super nasty. They're so
unsanitary that they've got bugs and stuff," argued Amasawa.
She was saying that if she could actually see the person, she didn't care if he
was a stranger.
"Besides, I think I've got a general idea of how things work at this school. In
the unlikely event that I end up dropping to zero points, I'd have to pinch
pennies to get by, right? But I wouldn't have to worry about all that if I get
senpai to cook for me," said Amasawa.
I see. In other words, if I managed to make something tasty for her now, she
was planning to have me do it again. This wasn't a one-and-done situation. Her
intention was to make sure she had a steady meal plan in case of emergency.
As for me, well, I supposed it would be a good opportunity to improve my
cooking skills. But I had to wonder if she'd be willing to pay for the cost of the
ingredients.
"So, can you see where I'm coming from?" she asked.
"More or less," I replied.
Amasawa flashed a toothy grin. However, I still had my doubts about whether
it was the best thing for her to ask a senior student, and a boy on top of that, to
do something like this for her. I would think it would be a lot easier for her,
down the road, to make such a request of a classmate or someone of the same
sex whom she was good friends with.
Well, I supposed I shouldn't complain, since I was going to benefit from this.
"Anyway, I am like, super particular when it comes to taste, y'know. So, if it's
not really good, then the deal's off. Okay?" said Amasawa.
"Yeah, I know. I know just cooking something isn't enough to meet your
requirements."
It certainly wasn't a low bar for me to cross, but I just had to do the best that I
could. The cooking skills Horikita had taught me in one night would be vital,
though I had to wonder how much I'd really be able to make use of techniques
I'd learned in the short amount of time since we accepted Amasawa's proposal
yesterday.
Even so, Amasawa probably wasn't an opponent I could deceive all that
easily. I could tell from the ingredients she had me buy that she was eager to
put my skills to the test.
Shortly afterward, we arrived at the dormitory building. Amasawa placed her
palm over her brow, trying to keep the sun out of her eyes as she looked up at
the building.
"I'm actually feeling a little nervous, going into the second-year's dorms," said
Amasawa.
Even though she said that, she didn't look very nervous. If anything, she
looked like she was enjoying herself. Like she was just going out to have fun,
like normal.
"Oh, but I guess the building's like, exactly the same as ours," said Amasawa,
giving me her impression after taking a long look at the exterior of the building
and then around the lobby when we got inside.
"Yeah, I suppose they probably are," I replied, casually agreeing with what she
said, though I had never once gone to the dormitory buildings for the other
grade levels before.
We got a few looks as we passed some of the students from the other classes.
I suppose that was only natural, since I was walking with a first-year girl (not to
mention the fact I was carrying tons of groceries). Amasawa casually waved at
the senior students as they passed by, but her doing just drew more eyes to us,
so I wanted her to stop it. I hurriedly went into my room with Amasawa in tow
before any strange rumors got started.
"Thanks for having me! Oh, wow. It's, like, super tidy in here. And real clean,
too!" said Amasawa.
"Oh, I just cleaned up in a hurry last night, since I was inviting an
underclassman over and all."
I'd done that so she wouldn't smell anything that would make her think I'd
practiced cooking in the middle of the night. Now, then… The next steps were
extremely important.
After I set my book bag and the bags containing the food and kitchenware on
the floor in front of the kitchen, the first thing I did was start to boil water in the
electric kettle. Then I walked into the living room area with Amasawa and
encouraged her to take a seat. I could have had her sit someplace where she
wouldn't have been able to see the kitchen, but I deliberately chose not to do
that. It was important I ensure she could see me from the side if she looked
over at me.
"I'll put on some coffee. You can go ahead and watch TV if you'd like to," I
told her.
"Thanks, senpai," said Amasawa.
I proceeded to make her some coffee with the water I had brought to a boil
just a few minutes before. I told her to wait a bit before drinking it. Amasawa
picked up the remote control I'd left on the table nearby and started randomly
flipping through channels.
While it wasn't an ironclad plan, there was a reason why the sound of the TV
was very convenient for me. Subtly guiding her to watch TV and having the
remote control placed nearby had been the right decision.
I headed into the kitchen, showing her I intended to get to work as soon as
possible. If she casually tried to stand right next to me and monitor what I was
doing, I would have had to stop her, but it didn't seem she was going to do that
after all.
"Oh, and looking stuff up on your phone is against the rules, 'kay?" warned
Amasawa, looking over at me.
"Man, you're strict. I think a lot of people look up stuff on their phones while
they cook nowadays, though."
"So you're not feeling confident?" she teased.
"I didn't say that."
"Then good. Because in my mind, a good cook is someone who knows recipes
by heart," said Amasawa.
Even though she hadn't explained any of that to me yesterday, I casually went
along with it. I'd already predicted it would be something she looked for.
"In that case, I'll put my phone next to my bed," I told her.
I plugged in the charger cable and set my phone down next to my bed.
Amasawa nodded, a look of satisfaction on her face, and picked up her cup of
coffee.
"I'd like to get this show on the road before it gets too late. So, what am I
making?" I asked her.
"All right, I'll tell you! What I'm going to have you cook, senpai, is… tom yum
goong!"
"Tom yum goong…?" I replied.
That seemed to explain why she had me buy fish sauce and chili peppers,
since those were considered essential in Thai cuisine.
"Can you do it? Pleeeease, senpai?"
The dish that Amasawa had tasked me with making was tom yum goong. I had
never made it before in my life, of course. Actually, I'd hardly ever heard about
it, let alone tasted it, in the first place. It wasn't a dish ever served to us in the
White Room. I had seen on TV that it was popular with women, but that was
about the extent of my knowledge.
If I were to try and make it right now, relying only on my existing abilities, I'd
probably fail. Not only did I not know the specific ingredients needed to make it,
but I also had no idea what steps were actually involved in preparing
everything.
So what exactly had I done all of last night then, you ask? Well, nothing rash
like trying to memorize the recipes of all sorts of cuisines from every era and
country. And I didn't master basic cooking techniques, either. Considering there
was the possibility Amasawa might permit me to look at recipes on my phone, it
would've been nonsensical for me to spend my time memorizing recipes.
Once it was decided that I was going to be the one cooking for Amasawa,
Horikita had set two plans of action into motion. The first part of the plan was
to teach me the basics. How to handle fundamental tools in the kitchen, like
knives and such. I spent most of my time practicing things like slicing, julienning,
dicing, and chopping. The techniques that would be more obvious, visual
indicators of your skill in the kitchen.
Of course, my skills were nowhere near the level of a professional's. I was, at
best, at around the skill level of an average person who just so happened to
know their way around the kitchen a little. It would be impossible for an
ordinary person to master cooking in just half a day, but I was confident in my
ability to pick up skills quickly. At the very least, I'd probably gotten to the level
of someone who cooked several times a week.
I'd been able to accomplish that precisely because I didn't spend even a
second on learning things like recipes or how to cook anything. Of course, that
meant there was no way I would know how to make the dish Amasawa had just
tasked me with cooking.
Which was where Horikita's second plan of action came in. A way to check the
recipe in real time, using a phone. But Amasawa had forbidden me from looking
at my phone, and my poor phone was being held hostage right by my bedside.
Even if I had a tablet or something at the ready, hidden somewhere, there was
a chance Amasawa might spot it. In fact, she occasionally turned her watchful
gaze over in my direction from time to time.
Those things were all factored into our calculations. I took something less
than two inches long out of my right pocket, which was in Amasawa's blind
spot. At first glance, it looked like a normal earplug. I casually inserted it into my
right ear, where Amasawa wouldn't be able to see it, then cleared my throat, to
give a signal.
Horikita's voice came from the small wireless earphone that I had inserted
into my right ear.
"I've heard everything you talked about, loud and clear. I never imagined
she'd ask you to make tom yum goong," said Horikita.
The idea was that Horikita, who had free access to her computer in her room
and could look up information, could give me instructions on how to cook the
dish in real time. Sudou's phone was inside the bag placed down on the floor by
my feet. And audio streamed from Sudou's phone to the wireless earphones. I
had been on the phone with Horikita since before I went shopping with
Amasawa.
During the time that Amasawa and I were shopping at the mall, Horikita went
back to her dorm room and got everything in order. The wireless earphone was
something we had bought yesterday. In the unlikely event that Amasawa got up
and walked over to see how I was doing, I could casually pretend to scratch my
head, remove the wireless earphone and put it back in my pocket. Since I was in
a position where Amasawa could easily observe what I was doing, that meant
that I could see what she was doing, too.
Thanks to all that, I could make this dish without having to worry about the
recipe. We had already worked out several signals to use in situations like if
Horikita went through her instructions too quickly, or if I needed her to repeat a
step. From this point on, how well Horikita and I communicated over the phone
was going to be extremely important. Even if I knew what ingredients and
utensils I'd be using, I had no visual references to go off of.
I had to cook a dish called tom yum goong somehow, and left on my own, I
would have been at a complete loss. What remained to be seen was just how
well Horikita could give me specific instructions over the earphone, and how
well I could produce something based on those instructions.
"By the way, there's something I'd like you to check with Amasawa-san first,"
asked Horikita, who proceeded to tell me her question through the earpiece.
It would be annoying if Amasawa asked me to make additional things for her
later, so I did as Horikita instructed and asked her, repeating the question in my
own words.
"Amasawa. You don't need a whisk to make tom yum goong, and you don't
need to use a Petty knife, either. If you're going to ask me to make you
something else besides that, I'd like you to tell me now," I told Amasawa, with a
glare.
"Well, I was gonna ask you later, but I was thinking of having you peel some
apples for me," replied Amasawa. Apparently, she had been intending to place
an additional order. "The rest of the food is stuff for you to enjoy later, senpai.
Oh, and as for the utensils that you don't use this time around, you can use
them the next time I pay you a visit."
It sounded like the petty knife was actually going to see some use today,
though I'd originally doubted whether I'd need it at all. But some of the other
things were going to go in storage for a while.
"Double-checking was the right call, then. I taught you how to handle the fruit
knife the other day. You can manage, right?" asked Horikita.
I had no idea how well I could apply techniques I'd only learned overnight, but
I figured I'd probably manage just fine.
"Let's shoot for about fifteen to thirty minutes of cooking time. Okay?" said
Horikita.
Now, then, let's see just how well I can make this.
5.6
ALTHOUGH IT TOOK SLIGHTLY LONGER than expected, I somehow managed to
make the tom yum goong, just as I had been instructed. And now the time had
come for me to serve the completed dish to Amasawa. I'd never imagined I'd be
serving a home-cooked meal I made myself to someone I'd only just met. And a
girl, no less.
I placed the tom yum goong on the table and then came back with an apple in
hand. I probably needed to show Amasawa that I could handle using a Petty
knife, right in front of her.
"I normally use a regular kitchen knife to peel stuff, so I'm not really used to
doing it this way. So I might be a little off," I said, putting that out there as
something of a disclaimer before I got to work on peeling the apple.
"Wow, awesome! Incredible! You can handle it so well! You definitely pass on
knife skills," said Amasawa.
I was nowhere close to a professional, but I supposed it didn't look like this
was the first time I had ever picked up a knife in my life, at the very least. I laid
out the apple slices that I had finished cutting up.
"By the way, when I think of tom yum goong, I usually think of cilantro. Do
you not like it or something?" I asked her.
Cilantro wasn't among the items that she had me buy today.
"Hm, well, yeah. I guess? But I figured that if I had you buy cilantro for me,
you would've guessed I was going to have you make tom yum goong," replied
Amasawa.
From the sound of it, she had been on her guard the whole time then, and
deliberately chosen to skip the cilantro. I supposed that was because she was
trying to prevent me from pulling off any tricks, after all. I could understand
why she'd tried to avoid giving me opportunities to exploit, but it was still pretty
excessive.
"Do you mind if I go ahead and start cleaning up?" I asked her as I brought the
cutting board and Petty knife I'd used to cut up the apple back into the kitchen.
"Uh, yes I do mind! You've gotta plant your butt right here and wait for my
verdict," replied Amasawa, directing me to sit down in front of her.
Since I couldn't exactly defy her demands, I gave up on cleaning for the time
being, and returned to the living room from the kitchen, as she had instructed
me to do.
"All right. Time to dig in!" said Amasawa, slowly bringing a spoonful of piping
hot tom yum goong to her mouth.
She didn't seem to have any qualms whatsoever about having someone
watch her eat. But I supposed I was like her in that regard, as I didn't mind
having people around me, either. At any rate, once she was done eating,
Amasawa slowly brought her hands together in a gesture to show that she was
quite satisfied.
"Thank you for the meal," she said.
She didn't seem to have eaten like a bird or anything, considering the bowl
looked like it had been licked clean. But, well… though I'd tasted the dish myself
before I served it, I had no idea whether the flavor was right. I hadn't made any
mistakes with the measurements or anything, so I didn't think there were any
problems. Even so, if Amasawa said she wasn't satisfied, then this battle would
be over. It would end in our defeat.
"So, senpai, your tom yum goong is…"
Amasawa paused for a moment before giving her judgment.
"Yeah, I guess it's so-so. It wasn't particularly tasty or anything, but it was
good enough that I don't think I'd mind having it again," said Amasawa.
She didn't touch on the thing I was most immediately concerned about—
namely whether I had passed her test.
"Anyway, I'll help you clean up," said Amasawa, picking up the bowl and
spoon she had used and heading into the kitchen.
She didn't just clean up her dishes, for some reason. She started to actually
help me clean up everything, for real.
"I'll handle it," I told her.
"No, no, I've got it, really! Besides, I forced you into making all this for me, so
let me do at least this much. Take a seat and relax, senpai. I'm definitely no
cook myself or anything, but I contribute at home by helping my mom with
cleaning up, so I'm pretty good at that part of the job," said Amasawa.
"All right, then, I'll take you up on that. Oh, by the way, what's my score?
How'd I do?" I asked her.
Amasawa fell silent for a brief moment as she continued to clean. Only the
sound of the evening news on the TV could be heard throughout the room.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. I guess I've gotta tell you what your score is. Hm, not
sure…" said Amasawa, hesitantly, looking like she was pretending to think it
over.
She must not have liked how the ribbon on the right side of her hair was
sitting, because she kept adjusting it while she pondered, checking her
reflection in her phone, taking the ribbon off and then putting it back on. Not
long afterward, she finished adjusting her ribbon, and then proceeded to give
me her verdict.
"As I just told you a little while ago, it was so-so. The execution wasn't bad,
and the flavor wasn't bad either," said Amasawa.
"So, I just barely passed then. Wow, harsh."
"Well, I am very particular when it comes to food, y'know," said Amasawa,
looking at me with a big smile on her face. "I guess that means whether I come
back here to eat again depends on how hard you work, senpai."
I supposed that meant my cooking skills weren't at the level where it made
her want to drop by and have me cook her a meal that often, then. Still, "soso"… That was harsh. I was a little hesitant to ask her if that meant we failed,
but I decided to go ahead and do it.
"So does that mean we failed? You're not going to help with Sudou?" I asked.
"Well, while I can't really say you passed, it's true that you can cook. Still, I
need to repay you, since you bought all this expensive stuff for me and you did
let me eat for free. So I'll team up with Sudou-senpai, in recognition of your
efforts, senpai," said Amasawa.
It didn't seem like she was satisfied, exactly, but I'd apparently just barely
managed to meet her standards. Just as I was starting to think things were
going to get difficult, I was met with welcome news. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'll be done cleaning up in just a bit, so hold on a bit longer, okay?" said
Amasawa.
I couldn't exactly just sit there and stare at her while she was hard at work
cleaning up, so I just quietly watched the news playing on the TV while I waited.
Amasawa came back out of the kitchen shortly afterward, so she must have felt
like she'd done the job to her standards. Then, she started fiddling with her
phone, showing me the screen all the while. She submitted a partnership
request for Sudou. As long as Sudou responded to her request sometime by the
end of day, then their partnership would be a done deal.
"Sudou's busy with club stuff right now, so I'll let him know what's up later. Is
that okay?" I told her.
Of course, the truth of the matter was that Sudou couldn't respond right
away, since I had his phone.
"Yeah, totally okay. Well, I feel bad for dragging this out so late, so I'll head
back to my room now. See you later, Ayanokouji-senpai," said Amasawa.
Everything had proceeded without a hitch. She moved toward the exit to
head back to her own room.
"Amasawa. I'm grateful to you for pairing up with Sudou. You're really doing a
big favor for Sudou, and Horikita, too," I told her.
"It's all right, no biggie. But you can go ahead and shower me with your
appreciation still, okay?" said Amasawa flippantly as she put on her shoes.
"If you don't mind, there is something else I'd like to ask you, since I've got
you here."
Just as I was about to come out and ask, though, Amasawa, who'd finished
putting her shoes on, turned back to look at me.
"You want to know if I'll be middleman between our classes, you mean?" she
said quickly, without missing a beat.
Well, it wasn't like she was in Class A and had an academic ability ranking of A
for nothing. She was quite quick-witted.
"Yeah, exactly. There are lots of people in our class who are struggling to find
partners, like Sudou. If you could introduce us to even just one student who
was willing to help, it'd really be appreciated," I told her.
"Sorry, but I think that's probably a no-go," said Amasawa, clasping her hands
together and apologizing.
She promptly turned down my request.
"Ah, but it's not because you or Horikita-senpai did something wrong, okay? I
do think I can trust you guys, y'know. But, well, I don't really get along with my
classmates all that well. I mean, when we met up yesterday, I was all by my
lonesome, remember?" said Amasawa.
"Now that you mention it, yeah. You're right."
Back then, there'd been lots of students going around the mall with their
friends. But Amasawa was by herself.
"I guess it's because people say I lack tact or something, or that I tend to be
pretty blunt. It's kinda hard to make friends with that kind of personality. Which
is why I can't really help you all that much. Sorry, okay?" said Amasawa.
"Nah, the fact that you're partnering up with Sudou for us is more than
enough. If you have any issues, let me know. I might be able to do something to
help."
"Yeah, okay, thanks! Okay then. See you later! Bye bye!"
While I'd failed to establish a connection with Class 1-A, this was probably
enough for the time being.
"Well, I guess that's that," I muttered to myself.
I hung up Sudou's phone, which had still been on a call this whole time, then
proceeded to call Horikita using my own phone.
"Good work. It seems things worked out well, somehow," said Horikita, words
of gratitude coming out of her mouth almost as soon as I got on the call with
her.
"I get the feeling we were saved by Amasawa's kind-hearted judgment."
"Even so, this means that Sudou-kun's problem has been solved. That was an
excellent outcome," said Horikita.
It was wrong of us to have used such a dirty trick on Amasawa, but in the end,
it had helped. All we had to do now was make sure Sudou picked up his phone
and accepted the partnership request before time was up. Considering the
time, he'd probably be showing up any minute now.
"Why did you ask Amasawa-san to act as an intermediary between our class
and Class 1-A, though? Putting aside the matter of her personality and the
number of friends she has, didn't you consider it would be difficult to negotiate
with them, since we're Class 2-D?" asked Horikita.
Horikita had never said anything about trying to work with Class 1-A as part of
her strategy for this special exam, simply because it was too difficult to build a
collaborative partnership with them.
"I just asked that as a formality. The truth of the matter is that we're having
trouble finding partners. So it would've been suspicious if I didn't say something
to that effect," I replied.
If we appeared as though we had no other options, we'd be giving people the
impression we were really grasping at straws when we talked to them and
asked for their help. If we didn't give people that kind of impression, but
instead made them think we did have some options, they would suspect we had
some other strategies that we were working towards.
"Meaning… you didn't want Amasawa to realize that we were giving up on
Class 1-A from the very beginning, and targeting B and D instead?" said Horikita.
Horikita hadn't even considered using Amasawa to win her class over to our
side, since she'd already decided to focus on those two other classes. This
whole time, she'd only been hoping to take advantage of the unexpectedly
fortunate opportunity that had fallen into our laps and get a partner for Sudou.
"None of us really know anything about what Amasawa is actually like. Which
is exactly why what happened today could end up getting out to the rest of the
new students, or even to everyone in our grade level. I took that into
consideration. I might just be worrying too much, though."
After hearing me say all that, Horikita went silent for a few moments.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's just…your thought process, it's… How do I put it? It's extremely
calculating and clever," said Horikita.
"It's not really all that big a deal."
"No, it very much is a big deal. Sure, it sounds obvious when you spell it out to
me like that, but the fact that you thought that far ahead is a different matter
entirely. I'm starting to understand why my big brother was paying so much
attention to you, I think. But the old you wouldn't have explained everything to
me so clearly. What happened?" Horikita seemed to have some concerns about
how I was acting, and the possibility that I'd changed.
"I don't really have an ulterior motive or anything. Anyway, the next issue is
what to do about the remaining students. I'll let you know when I hear back
from Nanase," I replied.
"Y-yes, you're right. I'll be waiting until I hear from you then," said Horikita.
After I got off the phone with Horikita, I decided to check how things looked
in the kitchen. It had been thoroughly tidied up. Not only had the dishes been
washed, even the sink and such had been carefully cleaned and wiped down.
Everything looked as good as it did when I first came to this room a year ago.
The cutting board, dishes, kitchen knife, Petty knife, pot, ladle, etc., that I had
used had all been neatly put away. Everything looked perfect.
Even though this whole situation had sprung up out of a proposal Horikita had
made, this was the first time I'd interacted so closely with a first-year student. If
Amasawa had come from the White Room, it wouldn't have been surprising for
her to try and pull something, but I saw no signs of that. I was certainly quite
cautious myself, but I had to wonder.
Considering the way she talked and how she acted, it certainly seemed like
she was a normal high schooler. The kind of knowledge she had seemed pretty
on par, too. If someone had just left the White Room, it would probably be
difficult for them to behave like Amasawa.
"More importantly, Amasawa got paired up with Sudou. I suppose that means
that eliminates her as a White Room suspect then, huh?" I asked myself.
That would be my conclusion if I had to make a judgment based on the
information available to me at present, including what I knew about which
other first-year students had already settled on partners. It was probably too
soon to come to such conclusions, though, regardless of who I was talking
about.
It did seem like partnering with me would put me on the fast track to
expulsion, but that being said, it wasn't the only way the White Room agent
could go about getting me expelled. It was possible that whoever this person
was, they were intentionally passing up this big chance to get me expelled, this
special exam, in order to find another opening to exploit. Someone couldn't
gain the kind of knowledge a normal high-schooler would have overnight, but it
was a different story if they were given more time.
Besides, it wasn't like there was nothing at all that bothered me about
Amasawa. There were some things she'd said and done that stuck out to me. It
might not be anything I needed to worry about, but it would be best if I could
deal with anything and everything that gave me cause for concern.
I wasn't just referring to Amasawa by that, either. I was also referring to
Housen and Nanase, who I'd most likely be coming into contact with in the
future. Out of the many second-year students around, those two made eye
contact with me first, right away. Any student who came into such close contact
with me should be regarded as suspicious, regardless of whether or not we'd
actually had a conversation. And from this point onward, I was going to be
venturing into dangerous territory by searching for candidates for partners.
Later that night, I received a message from Nanase. It said, "Let's meet
tomorrow after class."
5.7
THAT VERY SAME DAY, around when Ayanokouji was cooking a meal for
Amasawa, three students from Class 2-A gathered in one place to have a
discussion. They were Sakayanagi, Kamuro, and Kitou.
"It happened again. It sounds like the students we reached out to all got
invitations from Class C. And on top of that, it sounds like they've been offered
ten thousand points just to turn down any offers from our class, no strings
attached," said Kamuro, relaying what she was hearing from Hashimoto over
the phone. She added her own thoughts. "Wait, ten thousand points just to
decide not to partner with us? That's so dumb."
Class 2-C was offering a hundred thousand points in advance just to agree to
partner up with them. Then, after getting confirmation of a combined score of
five hundred and one points or more on the test, Class C would offer another
hundred thousand points on top of that, for a total of two hundred thousand
points.
"Fu fu. Well, it seems Ryuuen-kun really intends to throw down the gauntlet
with me," said Sakayanagi.
"So, what are you going to do? Do you want to fight back using points too?"
asked Kamuro.
"Well, if we have a contest of financial power, we'd certainly win. But don't
you feel like winning through the same strategy as your opponent lacks a
certain artistic quality?" said Sakayanagi.
"A certain artistic quality…? But if we need to be handing out a hundred
thousand or even two hundred thousand points, shouldn't we be getting in on
this too? I mean, it's clear that the new kids think the benefits of getting points
is huge," said Kamuro.
Word had already gone around the school that the new students were in an
advantageous position in this exam. A standard had been set where the honors
students asked for points in exchange for partnering up with people. After
hearing Kamuro's advice, Sakayanagi simply smiled back at her, but didn't
express agreement with what she'd said.
"So, what? Are you fine with losing, then? To Ryuuen?" said Kamuro.
"First of all, there is quite a significant difference in academic ability between
Ryuuen-kun's class and our own. If he's going to make up for that difference
with the help of the new students, he'll need to draw on quite a few people to
do so. And even if he does manage that, it's not as though his victory is
assured," said Sakayanagi.
"Yeah, sure, you might be right about that. But that doesn't mean we're
definitely going to win either, does it?" replied Kamuro.
"Correct. Even if Ryuuen-kun were to gather students with academic ability
rankings in the A range, that would make him just barely capable of competing
with us, wouldn't you say? Even if we did nothing at all, I would say that our
chances of winning would be a solid fifty percent," said Sakayanagi.
However, put another way, that also meant they had a fifty percent chance of
losing. It wasn't like Kamuro was getting heated up because she particularly
wanted to win or anything, though. It was because she couldn't possibly believe
that Sakayanagi, the girl sitting right in front of her, would just sit there and do
nothing.
"What do you imagine might happen if we said we'd pay out the same
amount?" asked Sakayanagi.
"What would happen? Well, Ryuuen would pay out even more, yeah?" said
Kamuro.
"Exactly. I'm sure he would probably increase what he was offering to two
hundred or three hundred thousand points," said Sakayanagi.
"But if we tried to outbid him, we could definitely get the smartest kids on our
team," countered Kamuro.
"And the cost of doing so would be a fair number of points. There's really no
need for us to deliberately risk losing millions of points. Don't you agree?" said
Sakayanagi.
"So, what, are you saying we can snatch up students even if we offer them
less? I can't really imagine the new kids are going to have a deep understanding
of Class A's reputation, though," snapped Kamuro, though Sakayanagi still
showed no signs that she was going to engage in a bidding war at all.
"I can tell quite clearly that Ryuuen-kun is determined to win first place
overall. He seems to have completely changed his policy from last year, when
he was simply out for money, like when he made that arrangement with
Katsuragi-kun," said Sakayanagi.
"He was planning on saving up twenty million points so he could win himself,
right?" said Kamuro.
"He's undergone quite a significant change of heart, it seems. He's realized
the importance of Class Points. Well, no. I suppose I should say it's more that
he's changed gears to make sure his class wins," said Sakayanagi.
Sakayanagi and Ryuuen hadn't had a single face-to-face interaction during this
special exam yet. However, it almost seemed as though they were discussing
things with one another, bouncing strategies off of each other.
"So… you're fine with this? With not offering to pay up Private Points?" asked
Kamuro.
"Oh, my, Masumi-san. I don't recall ever once saying I wasn't going to be
using points, hm?"
"Huh? But didn't you just say that competing by using points lacks a certain
artistic quality or whatever?"
"I'd like you to pass a message to the new students. Tell Hashimoto that we're
prepared to match Ryuuen-kun's offer," said Sakayanagi.
Kamuro pursed her lips at this puzzling order.
"However… even if the first-year students agree to our offer, please do not
tell them the deal is sealed," added Sakayanagi.
"Huh? Wait, what? I seriously am not understanding what's going on here,"
replied Kamuro.
"Fu fu fu. Ryuuen-kun, your strategy is actually quite convenient for me," said
Sakayanagi to no one in particular.
"For the love of… I have no clue what's what anymore," sighed Kamuro.
"Ah come on, what's the harm? If the princess says we gotta, then we just
gotta do what we've gotta do, right," replied Hashimoto over the phone in an
amused tone, having been listening in on the conversation the whole time.
"…I mean, I guess it's fine, whatever," said Kamuro.
Sakayanagi had instructed her followers not to confirm partnerships, even if
they found first-years who agreed to accept the set number of points they were
offering. Kamuro couldn't wrap her head around what it all meant, but she
passed the instructions on to Hashimoto, word for word.
Sakayanagi, looking over at Kamuro almost lovingly, seemed to feel a little
sorry for behaving too meanly earlier. She started to explain her reasoning,
giving her a few hints.
"Ryuuen-kun's strategy of engaging in an extravagant deal-making spree isn't
necessarily a bad one. By deliberately going around and striking up so many
deals with students, he's succeeded in forcing me to engage with him in a
bidding war. However, targeting the same students we already contacted,
making us directly compete to recruit them, was a clear error on his part. Since
Class C is inferior in terms of overall ability, he should be focusing solely on
students with a high level of academic ability," said Sakayanagi.
However, Ryuuen wasn't doing that. He wasn't just trying to reach out to the
high achievers, but also to students that Class A was going to need in the future.
Students who had skills in areas other than academics.
"Does that mean that he's got a ton of Private Points saved up or something?"
asked Kamuro.
"Well, I have to wonder about that. Even if he does have the minimum points
required to pull this strategy off saved up, the number of points he can actually
move around might not be all that significant. Understand?" replied Sakayanagi.
"Wait, no, that'd be crazy though. He can only make offer after offer to all
these kids because he's got the points, right?"
"But you can make all the offers you like, even if you don't have a single point.
He only needs to pretend he has the points on hand."
Kamuro didn't immediately understand what Ryuuen stood to gain by doing
such a thing.
"If it weren't for Ryuuen-kun, we could have successfully brought quite a
number of talented new students over to our side by using our class's
reputation alone. However, he has forced us to engage in a bidding war by
trying to buy these students out. And what will he do next? He'll try to raise the
stakes even higher. Try to make us pay lavish sums, as much as we can possibly
spend," said Sakayanagi.
"I see… Huh, so that's it, then."
Even if Class A ended up nabbing the most talented students for themselves,
the fact that they would be forced into paying two or even three hundred
thousand points would work to Class C's benefit when it came to the
competition between the second-year classes.
"But we're at a disadvantage right now, aren't we? I mean, he's been pulling
off one success after another," said Kamuro.
"There's no need for us to panic at this stage. Some students have been
bought up by Ryuuen-kun, that's all. We can let him feel like he's winning, feel
like he's got a feather in his cap. He's made a few errors in judgment. Namely,
he underestimates the power of Class A's reputation. He thinks it can be
nullified if we were to stumble. And he's under the misapprehension that he
can get any number of collaborators over to his side if he offers them enough
money," said Sakayanagi.
"I don't really get it, but everything will work out as long as we do what
you've told us, yeah?" said Kamuro.
"Yes. That'll be enough for now," said Sakayanagi.
"I don't really like this. I feel like we're being forced to play along with
Ryuuen's plans. If we keep getting dragged into the messes he creates, I'm not
sure what's gonna happen."
"Please do not worry. It won't come to that. We're going to win this game
without any problems."
Kamuro let out a sigh, once again finding herself unable to wrap her head
around what Sakayanagi was telling her.
"There's no point in trying to rack your brain over it at this point in time, so
please don't let yourself get riled up by Ryuuen-kun. This special exam is
nothing more than a prelude. We're both trying to sound each other out right
now, while also keeping each other in check," said Sakayanagi.
"I can't wrap my head around any of this. I think I'm about ready to give up,"
said Kamuro.
"But… If at all possible, I'd prefer this didn't end in Ryuuen's self-destruction.
It's really no fun to finish this so easily," said Sakayanagi.
She looked out the window, praying that the enemy coming after her was
worthy of being her opponent.
5.8
ON THAT VERY SAME DAY, just two hours after Sakayanagi and Kamuro had
their discussion, Ryuuen sat with Ishizaki and Ibuki in one of the karaoke rooms.
"Seems like the Class 1-B kid we were hopin' to snatch up for two hundred
thousand has put our offer on hold, Ryuuen-san," said Ishizaki, reporting his
findings to Ryuuen after checking his phone.
"The hell? What, is two hundred large not enough to satisfy 'em or
something?" said Ryuuen.
"Well, uh, it seems like Sakayanagi said Class 2-A will offer the same number
of points, so…" Ishizaki trailed off.
"They don't wanna lose to us. How can we even win if we keep playing this
game? We're at a disadvantage," said Ibuki.
"I think Class A has a bunch of points. So yeah, we probably are at a pretty big
disadvantage…" added Ishizaki.
Even after hearing that news, Ryuuen simply fiddled around with his phone.
He didn't seem to be panicking at all.
"R-Ryuuen-san?" asked Ishizaki.
"Relax. I already know everythin' they're up to," said Ryuuen.
He shot a glance toward his empty glass, which prompted Ishizaki to hurriedly
fill it back up with water.
"Tell these kids we'll pay 'em a hundred thousand up front, plus another two
hundred after the exam," said Ryuuen.
"D-dude, seriously?" balked Ishizaki.
A total of three hundred thousand. The number of points being thrown
around had grown even greater.
"Most of the newbies probably aren't gonna come to a decision, though.
They're gonna be waitin' for Sakayanagi's counteroffer," said Ryuuen.
"Wait, aren't we basically nuking ourselves by doing this?" said Ibuki.
If they became short on funds, then there'd be nothing else they could do.
"Maybe it's hopeless to compete against Sakayanagi after all… Maybe we
ought to try goin' for second place…" added Ishizaki.
"I think so, too. Even if we had the same number of points to throw around,
we'd lose in terms of our class's reputation," said Ibuki.
After hearing Ishizaki and Ibuki analyze the situation, Ryuuen laughed. "Ha!
I'm bettin' that Sakayanagi chick probably has a smug grin on her face right
now, thinkin' she's won."
"She's just seen right through what you're doing. Even if you could actually
compete with her using Private Points, there's still the difference in our
reputation," said Ibuki.
"Meh, Class A's reputation is all show right now, nothin' more. Considering
how much those guys depend on their reputation, the amount of trust they'll
lose when that reputation falls apart is gonna be unfathomable," said Ryuuen.
"Okay, but even if that's true, what about the points? I mean, I guess if the
offers balloon all the way up to three or four hundred thousand, that won't be
too bad, but there's no way we can pay everyone," countered Ibuki.
"Ain't no need to pay. I ain't planning on giving anything to these punk kids
who keep askin' for more and more, like the sky's the limit," said Ryuuen.
"…Huh?"
"I ain't planning on forkin' over any points. I'm sussing out exactly what kinda
people these new kids are. You know what they say—money talks. But the
people who are willing to cooperate if you put up the cash are the people you
can bring over to your side any time. When you really need 'em to help out, just
pay 'em, and that's that. The real important people are the ones who intuitively
understand the things other than points," said Ryuuen.
"I'm sorry, I'm totally not gettin' any of this…" said Ishizaki.
"Sakayanagi probably thinks I'm after first place overall. But I never planned
on goin' after such a pitiful number of Class Points from the start. If we're
gonna completely crush Class A, we've just gotta wait for the right time. The
time when Class Points are really gonna fluctuate wildly, way more than now,"
said Ryuuen.
"So, does that mean that you did all of this just to find out which of the new
kids would roll over for points?" said Ishizaki.
"It was obvious from the start that we could fish for brats with points, if we
offered more. But there are already some kids who have partnered up with us.
Why do you think they chose to partner up with Class C?" asked Ryuuen.
"Huh… Yeah, actually, now that you mention it, I gotta wonder. Why?" asked
Ishizaki.
The first offer that Ryuuen had made was for fifty thousand paid up front,
plus an additional fifty thousand after the exam. But even though that offer
wasn't too high, some students had already accepted it and joined forces with
Class C.
"That reminds me. You always did meet one-on-one with people when you
were making a partnership agreement legit… Were you threatening them or
something?" asked Ibuki.
"Well, yeah, a little. You're right on that count," said Ryuuen.
So, the students, after being lured in by a generous sum of three or four
hundred thousand points, would fold after being interviewed by Ryuuen. In the
end, the agreed-upon price was far less expensive than it appeared to be on the
surface.
"I'm screenin' the new kids to see if they can understand that I'm better than
Sakayanagi," said Ryuuen.
He was selecting people who could instinctively identify the winning class
without factoring points or reputation into the mix. Those were the people
Ryuuen was really looking for in this special exam.
He was looking far into the future, well past the next year. His goal was to
take Sakayanagi and the rest of Class A down.