Chapter 12: The Twenty Million Point Plan
Following Honami's lead, the group marched into the family restaurant. The aforementioned Andou immediately went to the front desk to confirm their reservation, and soon a staff member approached.
"I'll show you to your table," said the young bandana-wearing server, quickly counting the group with a smile. "Seven people, correct?"
With Honami, three female classmates, Hikaru, Shibata, and Kanzaki, it made exactly seven.
"Yes, thank you," replied the girl named Andou with practiced ease—unsurprising for someone who'd reserved a restaurant on the first day. She'd clearly done this often in middle school.
When the server led them to an unusually spacious long table, everyone hesitated about seating arrangements.
Honami immediately took charge. "Girls, take the inner seats. Hanashima-kun, you'll sit next to me."
"Kanzaki-kun and Shibata-kun can sit opposite us. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me," said the athletic Shibata cheerfully, nudging Kanzaki toward the outer seats while the girls followed Ichinose to the innermost spots.
Hikaru wavered slightly at the row of girls, but when he met the pink-haired girl's expectant gaze, he obediently took his assigned seat at the end.
"Ehehe, I've got so many questions for you, Hanashima-kun. That's why I called dibs on sitting together." As soon as he sat down, Honami scooted closer with a mischievous grin.
Feeling the faint fragrance lingering around his nose, Hikaru seemed somewhat uneasy. After all, for the first decade or so of his life, he had been focused solely on studying and hadn't had many opportunities to interact closely with girls.
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Aren't we desk mates?"
Hikaru decided to divert his attention by changing the subject, turning to Honami beside him.
"I promise I'll answer anything. Besides, the reason I came to this gathering today was because I had something I wanted to say."
"Really?"
At this, Shibata Sō, sitting across from them, immediately perked up with excitement. "Hanashima-kun, do you have a new plan? Can I join?"
"It's just a thought…" Hikaru sighed helplessly. The morning's deliberations had already exhausted him, so he wasn't in the mood to formulate any plans today.
"That's fine too! Whatever Hanashima-kun suggests, we'll definitely participate."
This time, it was Andou-san, the one who had reserved their spot today, who spoke up. She was a delicate-looking girl who had clearly put on makeup before coming out, making her appear especially charming.
"Yeah, after we disbanded earlier, a lot of our classmates were talking about Hanashima-kun. Everyone's really happy to have someone like you in our class."
"And Hanashima-kun is so handsome too! I'm so lucky to be assigned to Class B! Lucky, lucky!"
Seeing the three girls suddenly start discussing him right to his face—while Honami watched with an amused expression, clearly enjoying the spectacle—Hikaru couldn't help but rub his temples. This was exactly why he disliked socializing. Time always ended up being wasted on trivial matters without him even realizing it.
"The guys have been talking about you too, you know," Kanzaki Ryūji, sitting opposite him, added fuel to the fire with a teasing tone upon noticing Hikaru's resigned expression. "Hanashima-kun managed to attract so much attention in just one morning. That's really impressive."
"I'd be much happier if you all directed that attention toward Ichinose. She's the real leader of our class."
"No, no, no. While I am technically the class leader, I also have a lot of faith in Hanashima-kun."
"Well, uh… maybe we should just order first."
Hikaru glanced at the clerk still standing beside them and decided to steer the conversation away for now, reaching out to take the menu from the other person's hand.
"Ladies first."
"Alright, does anyone have any dietary restrictions?"
Honami picked up the menu that was handed to her and began discussing with the classmates at the table about what to order for the meal. Seeing that everyone had finally shifted their attention away, Hikaru let out a quiet sigh of relief.
By the time the clerk took the menu away to relay the orders to the kitchen, the students of Class B at the table naturally started chatting.
Since they were all teenagers around fifteen or sixteen years old, the atmosphere was lively, and the topics varied widely—whether it was internet celebrities or scandals involving TV stars, as long as the conversation started, it quickly helped everyone bond.
It wasn't until the dishes began arriving that everyone's attention was drawn to the delicious food in front of them. After all, the chef here was quite renowned. As the saying goes, only love and good food should never be let down, so everyone eagerly picked up their chopsticks and dug in.
About twenty minutes later, seeing that the dishes were mostly finished, Honami wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin and got down to business.
"Hanashima-kun, you can share your thoughts now, right? We've all been waiting."
"That's right. Everyone's looking forward to hearing what new plan Hanashima-kun has to help the class."
After taking a sip of her orange juice, Andou-san smiled brightly, her eyes fixed on Hikaru's face.
"Alright, since this idea does require everyone in the class to help, I'll just tell you directly."
Hikaru decided to go all out, aiming to give Honami's "stock price" a massive boost.
Everyone watched as the young man took a deep breath, then raised two fingers and declared solemnly:
"I want to acquire twenty million private points."
"WHAT?!"
Everyone's expressions changed instantly. They hadn't expected Hikaru's proposal to be this.
Earlier, after Hoshinomiya-sensei explained the special rules regarding private points, no one had taken it seriously.
Even if those points could be used to transfer classes or avoid expulsion, the amount was simply too large. The students of Class B couldn't believe anyone could gather that much.
"Don't be too shocked. Remember what I said this morning—the competition between classes starts today."
Seeing how stunned everyone was by his suggestion, Hikaru merely smiled faintly before continuing.
"This twenty-million-point rule is actually very important. I suspect it's among the highest-priority rules in the school's system."
"Then why does Hanashima-kun want to collect so many points? Could it be... you're planning to transfer classes?"
"Of course not. I like Class B, so I'd never choose that option," Hikaru replied, his tone sincere as he looked at Honami, who had raised the question. "The reason I want to gather this many points is that I believe the future class competition might lead to an outcome none of us can accept."
"And that is... someone being forced to drop out."
Hearing this, the others were still processing his words, but Honami—usually so gentle—suddenly asked coldly:
"Why?"
The pink-haired girl's expression had turned icy, her face shadowed with a layer of gloom.
The other students, seeing her like this, immediately fell silent, not daring to speak.
"This is the information I've gathered," Hikaru could clearly see that Honami wasn't in the right state, yet he calmly showed her his phone screen. "This is an event announcement posted by second-year seniors on the school forum."
"Take a closer look at the participant count. Do you notice anything unusual?"
"?"
Honami was momentarily stunned before hurriedly taking Hikaru's phone. As she carefully examined the screen, she quickly spotted a crucial detail.
"Second-year Class B only has... 36 students?!"
"What?"
Hearing Honami's exclamation, the remaining classmates immediately gathered around to look at the information on Hikaru's phone. It was a dinner invitation posted by second-year Class B, with reservations for exactly 36 seats. The replies below also listed exactly 36 names confirming attendance.
This indicated one thing.
"That's right. After the first academic year ended, second-year Class B lost four students."
"Why do you think they left the school?"