Furukawa
Advanced Nurturing High School; Library; yesterday...
"I need you two to do a favor for me. I don't know exactly if it'll work, but I'm hoping it does," said Horikita. "I want you two to find a second or third-year student. Preferably a student from Class D, or a student who has almost no Private Points. Ask them for the answer sheet from their midterm test during their first-year."
"Horikita-san, are you...?" said Karuizawa.
She nodded. "That's exactly what I'm doing. With this strategy, we can pass the test easily and without the risk of expulsion." Using the answers from the old midterm test the previous students took. A smart idea indeed.
"You two are the only ones I trust to do this, Karuizawa-san, Furukawa-kun. So please, do this for me."
Advanced Nurturing High School; Cafeteria; present day...
After receiving the details of our mission that day, Karuizawa and I both headed towards the cafeteria during our lunch break to scout for some upperclassmen.
"There are quite a lot of them..." said Karuizawa. "This is going to take a while, won't it?" she asked me.
"Maybe. Maybe not," I said. "If we look at what they're eating, then we can easily find who we need."
"Eh?" Karuizawa looked at me with a confused face.
"You need Points to buy food, especially certain meal sets. However, there is one meal set that anyone at this school could get." As I looked around the cafeteria, I spotted a lone male student sitting by himself, eating that specific meal seat. "There." I pointed and Karuizawa looked.
"The vegetable meal set...? Oh!" Karuizawa finally realized it.
"It's free, and not many people like eating it. However, if you're low on Points or don't have any Points at all, then you have no choice but to eat it. In other words..."
"He's our guy..." Karuizawa said, finishing my sentence.
To be sure, I pulled out my phone and opened the OAA app. I looked up the student's picture and found him to be in Class 3-D. He was definitely a perfect target. Karuizawa and I both nodded at each other, then the two of us went over to the third-year student, surrounding him from both sides.
"Excuse me," I said. "If you don't mind me asking, do you have the answer sheet for the midterm test of your first-year?"
He slowly turned to me. "Who are you?"
"I'm Furukawa, a first-year from Class D." I pulled out my phone and showed him my name on the OAA app, giving him proof.
"A first-year..." he sighed. "And you want the answer sheet from the midterm test of my first-year you say?"
"That's right, senpai."
"What makes you think I have the answer sheet?" he asked.
"I don't. That's why I'm asking if you have it. And if you do, I would like for you to give it to us."
He stared at me for a moment, then placed down his chopsticks and turned to face me. "Let's say I give you this answer sheet you're looking for. What do I get in return?"
Karuizawa turned to look at me, waiting for me to answer. "The thing you desire most, senpai: Points."
He continued staring at me for a moment, then turned to look at the vegetable meal set he had. It was a healthy option and a cheap one at that, but those who craved meat and good-quality food such as him couldn't see themselves eating it everyday. I was using that to my advantage. I had the bait, and I was simply waiting for him to take the bite.
"How much are you willing to give though? This can't come cheap."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Do you have it?" I asked again.
He stared at me for a moment, then he nodded, confirming that he had it. "It's somewhere in my room. It may take a while to find it, but I'll make sure you get it by the end of the day."
"Hm. How much do you want for it?"
"20,000 PP."
"T-That much...?" said Karuizawa. "Furukawa-kun..." I raised my hand, gesturing to her to stay quiet.
"Lower it to 16,000 PP and consider it a deal."
"Wha...?!"
"If you want 20,000 PP exactly, then throw in the answers for the mock test of your first-year as well. But if you're only going to give the midterm test answers, then I'm afraid 16,000 PP is our max."
He stared at me for a moment, confused by what I asked for. But then he nodded, agreeing with me. "Alright... I'll give both to you by the end of the day."
"Good. To make sure you keep your word though, I'll have to give you half now and the other half later until I receive it."
"That's fine with me." With that, Karuizawa and I left him and we went on our lunch break with the last remaining minutes we had. The two of us sat down on a bench with two cold drinks in our hands, taking a sip from them.
"Furukawa-kun, was that...really necessary? Giving him Private Points?" Karuizawa asked.
"It's a price you'd have to pay if you want to get what you want. Besides, nobody would give anything away so easily, especially at this school."
"That's true..." she said, looking down. "But...why did you ask for the answers for the mock test? We only needed the midterm, right?"
"By looking at the answers from our mock test and theirs, we can tell if it's the same. If it is, then that means the midterm answers are most likely the same as well, meaning it's safe for us to use."
"I see...! So that's why you negotiated for less Private Points!"
I nodded. "If we were to give him that amount of Private Points for a single answer sheet, it would've been a waste. But if we bargained for more than that, then the price would be worth it." I also had a hunch that Horikita wanted those answers as well.
"Hm...still...20,000 PP? WIll you be able to pay that much on your own?" she asked.
"I can manage it. It's fine." Karuizawa went in front of me and looked at my face. "Hm?"
"Let me help pay as well!" she offered.
"There's no need for you to do that," I said. "You've already done enough, helping me with the search."
"Well to be honest, you kinda did everything..." she muttered. "Just let me help pay for it, Furukawa-kun! I'll pay the other half, alright?"
I stared at her in the eyes and I saw determination in them. I could refuse, but she would most likely continue this conversation, offering to help pay until I say yes. "Fine..." I sighed.
"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Oh, did you hear if Horikita-san was able to get Tsukamoto-kun back?"
I shook my head. "She failed yesterday. She says she's going to do it again later today after our study session."
"I see... It must be quite hard, trying to convince someone and all that," said Karuizawa.
"Yes..." I said quietly. The bell rings, signaling the end of our lunch break.
"I suppose I'll head back to class. Later, Furukawa-kun." Karuizawa waved goodbye and left.
I continued sitting there for a moment, then finished my drink and let out a sigh. "Now then...all I have to do is wait..."
Advanced Nurturing High School; My Room
After our study session in the library, I came back to my room to rest. When I opened my phone up, I saw notifications on my screen and pressed them. What popped up were the answers for the mock test and the answers for the midterm test, both sent by that third-year from Class D.
"Looks like I've retrieved them..." I fiddled with my phone, typing and sending a message to Karuizawa.
"I got the answers."
After I sent that message, I waited a few minutes, only to find the "read" icon and no reply from her. Was she busy at this time? Or...did that message not have enough information? I was not skilled in communication, so I didn't know if what I said was right or wrong. If she didn't reply soon, then I would most likely have to pay the other half as I intended to. Just then, Karuizawa sent me a message.
"Sorry...but how do you transfer Points to other people?"
That was the reason for her delay. She was trying to figure out how to send the Private Points. It was common for some people to not understand the full concept of the system involving Points, so it made sense.
"If you can't do it, it's fine. I can pay the rest," I texted. Just immediately after that, she sent back a reply.
"No, let me pay for it!" the message read. Even though it was just a couple words on phone, I can tell the determination she had just by reading it. Seeing that she had difficulty in transferring Points, and she really wanted to pay, I decided to offer some help.
"Alright. It may be difficult to give you directions over the phone, so we may have to do it face-to-face. Do you have time?" I texted.
"Sure," she replied.
I sent her the number for my dorm room, inviting her to come over. Once she received it, she prepared herself and headed on her way. In the meantime, I decided to brew some tea in a kettle for the two of us to drink. This would be the first time anyone's come to my room, especially a girl. It was getting close to curfew as well, so our conversation needed to be as short as possible. Otherwise, there'd be trouble.
Just after a while, there was a knock at the door and I turned off the stove. I went over and unlocked the door.
"Come in," I said.
"Thank you..." Karuizawa came inside and looked around. "Woah...your room is quite nice, Furukawa-kun."
It wasn't anything special. It just looked the exact same when we were assigned our dorm rooms during our first day. There were a few minor modifications made by me, but my room just mostly looked clean.
"Have a seat, Karuizawa-san. I'm brewing some tea right now, so I'll be right over when I'm done with it."
Karuizawa sat down. "You didn't have to make tea or anything, Furukawa-kun. I just came over for some help."
"Still, it'd be rude to not give you anything." I came over with two cups and the kettle filled with tea water. I placed a cup down in front of her and poured some tea, then poured some into mine.
"Thank you, Furukawa-kun." Karuizawa took the cup, taking in the smell of the aroma and drinking it. Once she did that, she suddenly stopped and froze, staring at the cup of tea she held in her hands.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"...What is this?" she asked. "This tea is...actually tasty!"
"It's just rose tea, that's all," I said.
"Rose? From a flower? So that's why it smells so good...!" Karuizawa let out a smile, one brighter than usual. She was showing me another side of herself just from drinking a simple drink.
"So, what problems were you having?" I asked, moving to the matter at hand.
"O-Oh, right. Ahem." Karuizawa pulled her phone out. "This is my first time transferring Points to someone else, so..."
"I see." I took a look at it and checked her total amount of Private Points. She had about 31,000 PP left, and she was planning to give 10,000 PP away.
"You looked at my Private Points, didn't you?" she asked with a stern look on her face.
"You're transferring Points, so of course I have to check it. I have to say, if you're this low, I suggest-" Karuizawa gave me a look, almost like she was fed up with me trying to tell her to not pay. "Anyways, here's how you transfer your Points..." I explained to her how to do it, guiding her as she does it with the phone in her hands.
"There. I sent it!" she said. I nodded, telling her that she did a good job, then I pulled out my phone and started typing. "What are you doing?"
"Telling Horikita our mission is complete." After sending her the message and after getting a reply from her, I turned off my phone and was about to put it away.
"Wait! Ask her about her progress with Tsukamoto-kun."
Right. At this time, she should've been with Tsukamoto, talking to him and trying to convince him to come back to our study group. Since Karuizawa reminded me, I decided to send a message asking her just that.
"Did things go well for you?" I texted. I waited for a moment, but it seemed like she had disappeared. After waiting a few minutes, she finally replied.
"Yeah, I got Tsukamoto-kun to come back."
I showed the screen of my phone to Karuizawa and she smiled. "That's great! Horikita-san did it!"
I nodded and put my phone away. "Yes...she did." Looks like Horikita is slowly growing...no, she's growing at a fast pace. Much more than I expected.