The Keyaki Mall, the largest shopping facility in Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, was also the main spot for students to hang out. As the summer vacation neared its end, students from all grades gathered to make the most of their remaining break, creating a particularly lively atmosphere.
However, the summer heat hadn't fully subsided yet, and even girls whose favorite pastime was shopping found it hard to endure the sweltering outdoors. As a result, the popularity of various cafes rose, each one packed with resting students chatting animatedly about school gossip.
"I heard the first-years caused quite a stir this year. Apparently, they split more than 83 million points from the Special Privilege Exam?"
"Huh? Is there already someone in the first year capable of leading the entire grade? I remember that even Miyabi only started doing that after becoming a second-year."
Two second-year girls were chatting idly, stirring the ice in their drinks. One of them, a pretty girl with sun-colored hair adorned with a sunflower hairpin, seemed interested and looked up curiously.
"Seems like there really is a rising star among the first-years. Now that you mention it, he does resemble Nagumo a bit. I think he was also placed in Class C at the start, but in this summer's exam, even Class A lost out to him."
"Now that you mention it, I kind of remember something."
Asahina Nazuna tapped the table with her index finger, hesitating as she said, "Do you remember the brawl earlier this semester between some second-years and a first-year from Class D?"
"It was brushed under the rug, wasn't it?"
"Not quite. Miyabi told them to drop it because the other side had evidence that could instantly flip the situation."
"Oh, so there was something going on behind the scenes."
The girl nodded thoughtfully and then teased, "Speaking of Nagumo, how are things going between you two? I heard he's about to become student council president."
She knew full well that Asahina Nazuna and Nagumo Miyabi had been classmates since elementary school and that there were rumors about Nagumo pursuing Asahina.
"Miyabi, huh?"
Asahina sighed, rubbing her temple. "Honestly, I don't really want him to become student council president. I feel like he'll cause a lot of trouble with that personality of his."
"Pfft, come on Asahina, have a little faith in him. He led Class B to Class A and practically unified the grade. At this rate, the school's special exams will be his playground."
"That's exactly why I'm worried. I kind of wish someone would punch him in the face and knock him down a peg."
Asahina traced circles on the table with her finger. "And about him pursuing me? Please, I know he's a total playboy. At the beginning of the student council recruitment, he tried to get me to join, and when I refused, he immediately nominated Ichinose from the first-year. He flirts with girls left and right."
"Ichinose? From Class B—oh wait, she's in Class C now. Ichinose Honami, right?"
"Who else could it be? Dropped to Class C in just one semester, that's fast."
"Maybe Class C is just that strong this year, especially with that Kitagawa Ryo guy."
"Kitagawa Ryo... if he joins the student council, maybe he could rein Nagumo in a bit?"
Asahina muttered, glancing out the window—only to suddenly widen her eyes as if she saw something unbelievable.
"Hey... isn't it against the rules to keep pets at school?"
"That's true. But the mall does have a cat cafe. If you want to pet some cats, you can go there."
"That's not what I mean."
She pointed toward the two figures approaching outside. "If I'm not mistaken, that guy is carrying a cat, right?"
"Oh... let me see. That's Kitagawa Ryo."
"That's him?"
"You mean you've never seen him before, even after all that talk?"
"Why would I interact with first-years? We don't even have classes together. Plus, they just came back from outside, didn't they?"
Asahina explained with a sigh. There was a clear information gap between upperclassmen and underclassmen. The school had strict rules about leaking information, so unless they were in the same club, upper and lower years rarely interacted. Of course, exceptions like Kushida Kikyo and Ichinose Honami existed thanks to their outgoing personalities.
"Forget the guy. What's with the cat? And it's super cute too."
Asahina practically pressed her face against the glass. Few girls could resist the charm of a fluffy, adorable kitten.
"They've been walking for a while and no one from the student council stopped them. Maybe they got approval?"
Driven by curiosity, Asahina quickly whipped out her phone and called her childhood friend Nagumo Miyabi, the vice president of the student council. Might as well use that connection.
"Yo, rare to get a call from you."
A slightly flirtatious male voice answered.
"Ready to accept my confession of love?"
Rolling her eyes, Asahina clicked her tongue. "Maybe when you beat President Horikita."
"Soon. You'll see at next semester's sports festival."
This time, Nagumo didn't brush off the topic and replied seriously, only to switch back to his playful tone right after.
"So, what did you call about? You wouldn't phone me just for this boring chat."
"Oh, I was just at the Keyaki Mall and saw Kitagawa Ryo walking around carrying a cat. Isn't that against school rules?"
"Ah, that."
Nagumo furrowed his brow, recalling the boy who had barged into the student council room that morning, leaving quite the impression.
"Remember the school motto? Anything can be bought with points."
"Are you saying he bought the right to keep a pet? How much did it cost? I'm kinda tempted now."
"Uhh... you might want to hold off on that."
Nagumo hesitated before explaining, "He didn't buy permission to keep a pet. He registered the cat... as a student."
"Huh?"
Even someone as worldly as Asahina was dumbfounded. She nearly knocked over her drink and frantically steadied the cup.
"Twenty million personal points can be used to transfer classes or nullify an expulsion. In other words, the school values a student at twenty million points."
"Kitagawa paid twenty million."
Even Nagumo, with all his power and ability to exploit the school's system, couldn't comprehend such an extravagant act. He could never afford to casually spend that amount on a cat.
"Hard to believe, right?"
He teased, noticing Asahina's stunned silence.
"It's... strangely romantic. Maybe there's a special bond between them. Like, he found the kitten on a rainy day, barely alive."
"Spending twenty million points... that's beyond romantic!"
Contrary to Nagumo's expectations, Asahina looked deeply touched.
"By the way, since the cat's registered as a student, does it have a name?"
Nagumo pulled up the registration file with a few keystrokes.
"Yeah, it does. Since it didn't have a surname, we used Kitagawa's last name for convenience."
"Let's see... the name is Hotaru. Kitagawa Hotaru."
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"You really don't care about how others see you, do you, Kitagawa?"
"Aren't you the same, senpai? And I bet you don't have a single friend either."
"Jeez, juniors who talk like that are never popular."
"I don't consider myself someone meant to be liked anyway."
Kitagawa Ryo strolled leisurely down the hallway of the Keyaki Shopping Center with Hotaru cradled in his arms. It was the kitten's first time outside of his room, and she was full of energy, ears perked up and head raised, curiously observing her surroundings like a newly-hatched chick. Her amber eyes blinked with innocent wonder, drawing the attention of students and even shop staff. If it weren't for the loud flash alerts on cameras, someone might have tried to snap a photo.
After all, in all the years since the establishment of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, this was likely the first time a student had ever kept a pet.
Even Kitagawa and the tall, striking girl beside him were overshadowed by the little creature.
"Haven't found your spot yet, Kiryuin-senpai?"
"Don't rush me. I only drink coffee at a specific place. I'm not interested in anywhere else."
With silver hair cascading past her waist and a height exceeding 170cm, Kiryuin Fuka spoke in the confident tone that matched her image.
She was the first student from this school that Kitagawa had met on his first day. Before heading to class, he had snuck into the convenience store to gather information and noticed some free items on display. Just as he was about to take two free shampoo bottles for evidence, he was informed that even free items needed to be registered with a student ID. Since he hadn't received his yet, he was about to give up when the peculiar senpai appeared.
Perhaps it was the style of his uniform, but she immediately recognized him as a new first-year. Intrigued by a student already prowling the store and trying to take freebies, she offered to help him with the transaction.
Even though the items were free.
In return, she asked him to agree to an odd condition. But since there was no deadline, Kitagawa had long forgotten about it.
"Here it is. Come on in."
Kiryuin finally located her favorite café and pushed the door open with gusto. Turning her head, she warned:
"Even though you bought this cat a student ID, better not bring her inside. Leave her at the door. Ask the front desk to keep an eye on her."
"Got it."
Kitagawa was well aware that bringing a pet into a food establishment was frowned upon. He gently patted Hotaru's head, signaling her to wait obediently.
She promptly lay down near the entrance.
Still, not entirely reassured, Kitagawa chose a seat near the door so he could keep an eye on her. It wasn't long before a crowd of students gathered around the kitten.
He might need to get her a "Do Not Feed" sign soon.
Kiryuin, who had already ordered her drink, got straight to the point:
"Nagumo is becoming the new student council president. Probably next semester."
After reluctantly tearing his eyes from Hotaru and washing his hands, Kitagawa nodded.
"I heard Kiryuin-senpai used to be in Class 1-A but got pushed to Class B because of him."
"I'm not telling you this for some petty reason."
Kiryuin scoffed.
"People with real ability can thrive without graduating from Class A. The incompetent ones won't have smooth lives even if they do. This school is only three years of our lives. It'd be foolish to let it define your entire future."
Kitagawa chuckled at the sight of her sprawled confidently across the sofa.
"You're quite the interesting person, senpai."
"Still not as interesting as the guy who spent 20 million points on a cat."
Kiryuin smirked.
"I'm just telling you this stuff about Nagumo to make things more entertaining."
"So you do know a lot about the student council, huh?"
Kitagawa rested his chin on his interlocked fingers, his voice calm.
"But I'm curious—what's your stance in all of this?"
"My stance? My personal stance doesn't matter at all."
Kiryuin shrugged indifferently.
"Like you said, I don't really have friends. I'm always alone in class."
"With your looks, making friends should be easy."
Kitagawa hadn't interacted with her much, but he was sure that if she weren't deliberately keeping others at arm's length, there's no way someone like her would be isolated.
"Maybe I'm just unlucky. People tried to include me in group activities early on, but it all kind of fell apart."
More like no one could stand your weird personality.
As Kitagawa picked up his drink, he noticed that the crowd around Hotaru had grown. The store even brought them a complimentary shaved ice dessert, likely thanks to all the attention the kitten had attracted.
Kiryuin helped herself to the treat without hesitation, seemingly enjoying her current lifestyle.
"Looks like there's a crowd gathering. Wanna check it out?"
"Aww, what a cute kitten!"
"Why is there a cat here? Is it a stray?"
"No way. She's way too clean to be a stray."
A new group of girls, out shopping, had been drawn to Hotaru. They squatted around her, clearly wanting to pet her but hesitating.
"Kitty~"
One girl finally dared to reach out and touch Hotaru's head.
Sensing the air shift, Hotaru lazily lifted her head. The first thing she saw were a pair of white sandals, then smooth ivory legs, rounded knees, and a girl in a sleeveless dress smiling warmly at her. Blue eyes shimmering with kindness and curiosity reached out with care.
"Now I'm starting to believe you really do bring bad luck, senpai."
Kitagawa sighed, looking at the scene.
To Karuizawa Kei's surprised reaction, the kitten—who had ignored everyone else—suddenly leapt into her arms and snuggled lovingly against her fingers.
What a misfortune indeed.
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