Ryunosuke pulled out his phone, saw that it was already quite late, and intended to say goodbye to Hiyori before leaving.
Hiyori felt a bit reluctant; for her, it was rare to find someone to chat with who shared the same hobby. She actually wanted to discuss more, but unfortunately the young man had to go.
Hiyori reluctantly saw him off and decided to continue reading in the library. It wasn't that she had no friends or liked being alone—she simply wanted to find a quiet place to enjoy her favorite books.
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On the other hand, Ryunosuke had already returned to class. He had tried to see if he could "squeeze" these students again to get points, but unfortunately his efforts failed.
Once the students learned that purchasing exam questions from upperclassmen was Suzune's idea, they showed surprised expressions.
This was actually Ryunosuke's tactic to give all the credit to Suzune, while also fulfilling Manabu's request to look after his sister. Besides, since Manabu's points would be handed over to him after graduation, he couldn't just sit idle without doing anything, right? If not, he wouldn't feel comfortable accepting that money.
Suzune quickly stood up wanting to deny that it wasn't her idea, but Ayanokouji immediately stopped her and made her sit back down.
Suzune glared at him irritably. "What are you trying to do?!"
To calm her down, Ayanokouji used words that triggered Suzune's motivation. "Don't you want to prove yourself to your older brother? If so, just accept this credit."
"Akasaka gave you this credit so you could stabilize class morale, allowing you to lead the class more quickly. Don't waste his good intentions."
Ayanokouji patted Suzune's shoulder, making the girl stare at Ryunosuke with a complicated look.
However, Ryunosuke's goal of collecting points still wasn't achieved. None of the students were willing to chip in points. Some gave the excuse of not having money, others said to wait until next month.
(Tch, good thing I was prepared by taking points from Shiina earlier, otherwise I'd really have taken a loss.)
In the end, Hirata dug into his own pocket and pulled out about 8,000 points. Meanwhile Kushida—who knows what she was thinking, probably to strengthen her "good girl" image—pulled out 3,000 points (unclear if that was all her points or not).
As a result, only those two were willing to pay. On the surface, Ryunosuke was still down 9,000 points.
Ryunosuke shrugged resignedly as if he didn't care since he'd actually already broken even, but he still acted with a sour face as if he was deeply pained by losing 9,000 points. He handed over the exam questions with an annoyed expression.
Although Hirata promised to find a way to collect points next month to pay off the remaining 9,000 points, Ryunosuke didn't take it too seriously. To him, money paid upfront versus money paid in installments or on credit had vastly different values.
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On the other hand, Hiyori had handed over those exam questions to the real leader of Class C, Ryuen Kakeru.
Ryuen only glanced at them briefly then ordered his friends to copy the questions.
He greatly trusted Hiyori's intelligence. He was certain that as a smart person, Hiyori wouldn't deceive him with false information, especially since they were in the same class. There was no way Hiyori would do something that would harm herself.
When he learned that Hiyori had spent 20,000 points to buy those questions, without much talk Ryuen directly transferred 50,000 points to her.
Hiyori wanted to refuse, but Ryuen's attitude was very firm.
"Consider the extra 30,000 points as a bonus for you."
"I'm clear about rewards and punishments. If I can't even do something this small, how will my subordinates submit to me?"
Hiyori gave up and accepted the additional points. "If there's nothing else, I'll go first. I haven't finished reading my book."
She hugged her book tightly, intending to find a quiet place again.
Ryuen waved his hand impatiently. "Go ahead. I really don't understand what's so great about reading books. You're such a bookworm."
Hiyori took offense and retorted, "Ryuen-kun, books are very interesting. You just don't understand their beauty."
Ryuen sneered with a disgusted face. "This young master has hated studying all his life. You want to convince me to read? Dream on!"
"Why did I become a delinquent? Because I'm lazy about reading books." Ryuen propped his legs up on the desk.
Hiyori could only leave dejectedly. She always felt she didn't fit in with this class's atmosphere.
She wondered to herself why someone like her was placed in Class C when she felt she had no deficiencies.
She didn't know that the school arranged this to maintain balance; each class must have at least one or two people who could serve as pillars to create healthy competition.
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Back to Ryunosuke's side. He was preparing to leave for work at the Student Council, but was suddenly called by Suzune.
"Hey! How many more points are needed? Let me cover it." Suzune walked over with a tsundere attitude and pulled out her phone.
Ryunosuke initially didn't react.
Seeing this, Suzune frowned, then without further ado she reached into Ryunosuke's pocket to take his phone and transfer points.
Ryunosuke caught Suzune's wrist with a resigned face. "You're really rude, just taking a guy's phone carelessly."
Suzune freed her hand from Ryunosuke's grip, then continued reaching into the young man's pocket.
After successfully pulling out Ryunosuke's phone, she operated it and transferred 20,000 personal points, then threw the phone back.
Ryunosuke hurriedly caught his nearly falling phone with an annoyed face. "Hey, what's with your mood? Did I do something wrong to you?"
"Besides, you transferred too much, right? The shortage was only 9,000, why did you send 20,000?"
Suzune tossed her long black hair arrogantly, her face also looking displeased. "I, Horikita Suzune, never want to owe favors. Regarding you giving me all the credit this time, I'll remember it. I'll repay it if there's an opportunity."
Suzune grabbed her bag and prepared to leave. When passing by Ryunosuke's side, she stopped for half a second and whispered softly.
"Don't do things like this again in the future... I want to gain my brother's recognition through my own efforts, not through pity given by others."
Ryunosuke shrugged. "Then you'll have to work hard, sister of Horikita Manabu..."
"Hmph, you really are irritating."
When passing Ryunosuke, Suzune stepped hard on the young man's foot before leaving with her arrogant demeanor.
Ryunosuke looked at his stepped-on toe with resignation, then prepared to report to the Student Council.