After the exam came the day off.
In normal times.
The day off was undoubtedly the most welcomed day for all students.
When the day off arrived, everyone would often gather in groups of three or five to play to their heart's content on campus, enjoying the rare campus time.
Some would also choose to rest quietly in their dorms to relieve the stress of studying.
However, this week's day off was very different from usual.
The students of First Year Class D, with the exception of a very few members, mostly had no desire to go out.
They were waiting.
Waiting for the exam results to come out.
To find out their grades a step ahead, people kept privately messaging Chabashira-sensei, annoying Chabashira-sensei to no end until she finally announced news about the exam in the class group chat.
The results would be available by Monday at the latest.
But even though everyone already knew the results would be announced on Monday.
They still couldn't escape the oppressive atmosphere.
Because besides the hurdle of grades.
There was also a hurdle called points.
Due to Sudo's violent incident.
No matter how many points were earned this month, they would not be paid next month, which meant that the 100,000 points allocated at the start of the school year had to last for three months of living expenses.
It seemed a bit unbelievable.
However, if they had been informed in advance, they could have managed by spending frugally, but the school wouldn't be so kind as to tell them to save their points.
The poor souls who spent all their points in the first month.
Even without the worries of exams, they could only stay cooped up in their dorms on their day off, almost lying motionless to avoid expending energy.
Because on their day off, the school only provided two meals.
Those without points could only queue up to receive the vegetable set meal.
For some reason, the vegetable set meal on the day off was exceptionally unappetizing, so everyone, to avoid getting hungry from strenuous activity and being forced to eat the vegetable set meal.
So they lived a difficult and arduous shut-in life.
But for Amane... this was no problem at all.
She didn't come to school to live like an ascetic monk.
Naturally, she ate and drank as she pleased, and when she had nothing to do, she would go shopping, watch movies, sing songs, and drink some milk tea with cute girls.
"Megumi~ Let me feed you, ah~"
Amane picked up a takoyaki and brought it to Karuizawa's mouth.
Facing Amane's somewhat abrupt action, Karuizawa's face showed difficulty.
"Why can you call me by my name so naturally? Also, everyone is watching, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
Karuizawa's mind raced, desperately trying to figure out how to avoid the embarrassing situation of being fed in public.
"What's wrong with that? Aren't Megumi and I friends?"
Amane deliberately teased, bringing the takoyaki closer to Karuizawa's mouth.
Matsushita and Wang Meiyu next to them directly pretended not to see.
Only Shinohara was still smiling mischievously.
"Karuizawa-san, just give up. Everyone here is spending Amane-san's points."
Shinohara's words made Karuizawa sigh helplessly.
It seemed there was no escaping it.
After all, she still owed Amane ten thousand personal points, and if she didn't even give her this much face, it would seem a bit heartless.
But... being stared at still felt so embarrassing.
She had never been this close to another girl.
"I remember you really liked that skirt we saw last time, Megumi."
"That one costs eight thousand points..."
"Ah~"
Amane didn't directly answer Karuizawa.
But her actions hinted to Karuizawa that as long as she cooperated, even an eight-thousand-point skirt could be casually given to her.
Where did Amane get so many points?
Karuizawa still couldn't resist the temptation, blushing as she bit into the takoyaki, then quickly chewed and swallowed it.
"How does it taste?"
"It's okay, I guess? Wait, is this one so expensive? Oh no, I ate it too fast, I didn't even taste it!"
Karuizawa looked at the price tag of one hundred points per takoyaki, somewhat frantic.
Who knew something could be so expensive! It was such a waste that she ate it so quickly out of embarrassment.
Karuizawa's annoyed expression, clutching her hair, caused Shinohara and Matsushita to laugh.
Wang Meiyu, on the other hand, shyly covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh.
Amane, meanwhile, generously transferred points to her.
Seeing that Amane would give her points for such a simple matter, Karuizawa was a little surprised.
"Speaking of which, Amane-san, where do you get so many points?"
Matsushita keenly asked the question everyone wanted to know.
Keeping wealth hidden was undoubtedly the best choice for ordinary people.
But for Amane, points were meant to be spent, and not only spent, but spent valuably.
"I helped someone make a huge amount of points, and they gave me half," Amane said, sounding half-true, half-false, making it hard to judge the veracity.
"Eh? Isn't that like a lucky encounter? It sounds a bit..." Shinohara didn't state it explicitly, but her meaning was clear.
"Well, the points have already been given to me, so that can't be wrong, right?" Amane spread her hands.
Seeing how readily Amane paid, everyone couldn't help but believe her to some extent.
Originally, Karuizawa, Shinohara, and Matsushita were just casually browsing.
They ran into Amane and Wang Meiyu at the entrance of Palette, who had just finished watching a movie and were planning to buy some drinks and continue shopping.
Amane generously treated them to milk tea, so they formed a group of five and explored the shopping center and snack street.
They were just about to return to the dorms.
"That's great. I wish I could encounter something like that too," Shinohara said with a hint of envy.
"I think even if you did, Satsuki, you wouldn't be able to seize the opportunity," Matsushita said, half-jokingly, half-seriously.
"Ah, ah, ah, Chiaki!! Don't look down on me, hmph!" Shinohara, however, only thought Matsushita was joking with her, so she put on a facade of being angry.
Watching the two playfully bicker, Amane and Karuizawa exchanged smiles.
Amane was purely enjoying the show, while Karuizawa felt a bit helpless.
Originally, Shinohara and Karuizawa got along well, but recently, Shinohara seemed to want to form her own clique, even poaching members from Karuizawa's group.
This made Karuizawa somewhat annoyed, but her limited influence prevented her from stopping it. Coupled with her recent financial difficulties, she couldn't strengthen her group members' relationships through social means, which greatly troubled her.
However, Amane's appearance gave her some ideas.
"How wonderful it would be if we could all enjoy school life so easily together every day," Karuizawa began with a classic evasive negotiation tactic.
The beginning and end were all nonsense; there was only one keyword: "we."
"I also really like this kind of life, but without effort, there's no reward. Without points, it would be impossible to move forward in school," Amane narrowed her eyes slightly.
Her answer to Karuizawa was "reward."
What seemed like an ordinary, unremarkable sentiment actually contained the meaning that Karuizawa was trying to recruit Amane into her group.
Amane indicated that she could join and was willing to pay a certain price, which was points, but she wanted to know what kind of reward she would get for joining Karuizawa's group.
Karuizawa felt a stomach ache because she currently had nothing. Meeting someone as powerful as Amane, she had no way to offer a reward that could move her.
However, the reward Amane wanted wasn't something uninteresting like points, but Karuizawa Kei herself.
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