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Akira rubbed his bulging belly, feeling a bit too full from this meal.
Horikita's grilling skills were indeed impeccable.
The meat retained its elasticity perfectly, yet wasn't overly tough to chew.
He then noticed that, apart from the plate he haphazardly grilled at the beginning, Horikita had prepared almost all the remaining meat.
Akira's gaze unconsciously swept around.
The boys at other tables were diligently serving their female companions—a combination like his, where the girl was entirely responsible for grilling, was indeed rare.
What concerned him even more was that Horikita seemed to be solely focused on grilling, barely touching her own chopsticks.
"Let me take over—you should eat something too," Akira naturally extended his hand.
Horikita's movements clearly paused, her fingertips tightening slightly before relaxing, then she handed over the tongs. "...Alright."
Akira keenly caught a flash of reluctance in her eyes.
This discovery somewhat surprised him—could the seemingly aloof Horikita actually feel reluctant about such a small matter?
'As expected...'
Akira chuckled to himself.
His initial judgment was correct—Horikita appeared arrogant, but she was exceptionally considerate to those she acknowledged.
This was indeed a charming contrast.
"By the way..." Akira said casually, flipping the meat slices. "Can I just call you Horikita from now on?"
He'd been using honorifics these past days, but now he felt that the distance between them had shortened considerably.
Horikita was taking small bites of grilled meat when she looked up at his words.
She paused for a moment, feigning contemplation. "...I agree."
This dinner ultimately cost Akira nearly eight thousand of his private points.
At the checkout counter, Horikita scanned him with a slightly inquisitive gaze, seemingly shocked by his generosity.
However, Akira simply completed the payment as if nothing had happened, oblivious to her subtle reaction.
Because during the meal, his phone screen kept lighting up, receiving several important messages.
Student Council President Horikita Manabu sent a notification: Classes A, B, and C had officially signed monitoring system rental agreements with the Student Council.
The attached class point transfer details showed that, after deducting a five percent handling fee, this transaction brought him eight point five five million points, which, of course, included Akira's one point two million point principal.
Adding his original one hundred sixty thousand yen, his current balance was eight point seven one million points.
He naturally wasn't short on points.
However, this seemingly effortless windfall was actually built upon the clever utilization of the school authorities' monitoring equipment.
He knew better than anyone that such an opportunity was rare—if it weren't for the first month of new student enrollment, when class points were crucial for each class, this transaction would never have gone so smoothly.
His phone vibrated again, and three messages from different class leaders arrived consecutively:
{Why are all the monitoring records for the first week blank?}
{Permission confirmation received.}
{The first week's data was completely cleared; what exactly did you do?}
Akira's fingertip hovered over the screen for a moment, ultimately choosing to log out of this temporarily registered alternate account.
Let the three of them wonder.
Anyway, the transaction was complete.
He wasn't a customer service representative—he never said he'd provide after-sales service.
Akira glanced at the message on his phone screen again.
The message from Student Council President Horikita Manabu was concise and clear:
{First-year Class D's Kushida Kikyo has applied to pay the 3 million points through a school loan. What are your thoughts?}
Akira frowned slightly, quickly typing on the screen:
{President, could you explain the specific loan policy?}
Horikita Manabu's reply popped up quickly:
{The Student Council evaluates class points based on previous class performance and formulates corresponding loan policies. Loan amounts will be forcibly deducted from individual student points next month. This policy was initially established to promote goods like mobile phones and cameras, and the School authorities deemed it to have social practice educational significance, so it was incorporated into the official system.}
Akira pondered for a moment, then continued to ask:
{Does Class D really meet the conditions?}
Horikita Manabu's reply was detailed and professional:
{All classes have basic qualifications. Referring to the average class points of previous Class D's first-month performance, which was 350 points, each class can borrow 1.4 million private points. Given the special circumstance of the other party renting monitoring equipment, the Student Council has raised this assessment benchmark to 500 class points. Based on this calculation, Class D's total eligible loan amount this time is 2 million points (each person needs to repay 50,000 points next month).}
Akira keenly caught the key issue:
{But I need 3 million here.}
{There's still next month. If it's not enough, we'll continue to deduct, with an additional five percent interest each month.}
Akira continued to press: {What if that class's class points directly drop to zero?}
Horikita Manabu's reply carried a hint of deeper meaning: {Don't worry, no class in the school's history has ever scored zero for three consecutive years.}
Akira immediately understood—it seemed the school authorities had secretly set up a safety net, ensuring no class would completely collapse.
After all, the school was only for selecting more outstanding social talents, not to make students struggle for three years.
Horikita Manabu sent another option: {You can also reject the other party's loan transaction and sell the monitors directly to the school at a recycling price of 400,000 per unit.}
{I accept the loan.} Akira made his decision with almost no hesitation.
He secretly calculated: Given the current situation, Class D wouldn't fall to zero points no matter what.
Although the points deducted in the first week couldn't be recovered, with the monitoring equipment and an early understanding of the rules, he conservatively estimated that they could get at least four hundred class points this month.
If they couldn't even get four hundred class points, then a few people in Class D would truly be defying expectations.
Akira carefully read the installment repayment contract sent by Horikita Manabu:
{The repayment plan is as follows:
Second month: Class D repays 1.8 million (each person automatically deducts 45,000 private points per month)
Third month: Class D repays 1.2 million + 60,000 (5% interest) (each person automatically deducts 31,500 private points per month)}
"Everyone in the class owes me points? That's interesting—I've become the creditor of thirty-nine people."
Looking at this repayment plan, Akira suddenly realized a problem—as a "normal student" in Class D, he also needed to share the repayment like everyone else.
He would have to contribute seventy-five thousand private points as class funds.
However, these seventy-five thousand private points were a drop in the ocean compared to his over eight million points.