What made Kuroha Akira most uneasy was…
He genuinely couldn't figure out the Class Rep's true intentions this time around.
Back in the day, he could firmly believe that this was just another one of her "humanity tests." But after multiple rounds of receiving benefits—especially the last time when the Class Rep actually showed him under her skirt and let him sniff the scent of original panties worn by a real JK—Kuroha Akira found it increasingly hard to grasp where the proper boundaries were supposed to be.
Maybe, in the Class Rep's twisted perception, it was perfectly normal to offer such exaggerated rewards to a good friend…
No way!
No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible!
The Class Rep wasn't some ultimate pure maiden completely ignorant of health and physical education. She was an experienced veteran who understood everything. There was no way she didn't realize that casual teasing could easily lead to things getting out of hand.
Or… was she genuinely putting herself in the role of a girlfriend?
If she were a girlfriend, this kind of flirtation would be fine. But the problem was that the Class Rep had previously said she'd allow him to find a girlfriend… How much truth was there in that statement? How much was just talk?
Kuroha Akira had originally thought he had a decent grasp of the Class Rep's personality and character. But this suddenly open-ended reward—which made him feel totally unsettled—had once again caused him to lose all judgment where she was concerned.
He now faced the Class Rep as if facing some kind of eldritch being. He couldn't be certain of anything anymore.
I can't tell! I seriously can't tell!
Forget it. If I can't figure it out, I'll just treat it as non-existent.
Overthinking stuff you can't solve only leads to self-inflicted headaches. So Kuroha Akira decided to take a different approach.
Besides, when he thought about it carefully, the two benefits of "looking" and "touching" weren't even that rare for him anymore.
As for looking—he'd already seen Shirai Shiori's naked self. As for touching—he could self-serve and caress Shinomiya's silky smooth legs every single day…
It seemed like there was no need to obtain these two benefits from the Class Rep. Treating the Class Rep as merely a substitute for those things would be way too extravagant.
And this was a rare one-day usage right. Wouldn't it be a bit of a waste to use it just for lewd purposes?
Wasn't this an excellent opportunity to exploit the Class Rep's intellect and labor instead?
Ah, I see…!
The cunning Class Rep—she deliberately tried to lure me into lewdness!
Because whether it was "looking" or "touching," the Class Rep didn't have to do anything at all during the entire process. At most, she'd just change clothes. For her, that was the easiest task! She might even enjoy it herself!
Phew… Good thing I realized it in time. Otherwise, I would've fallen for the Class Rep's big trick—blinded by mere lust and foolishly wasted such a golden opportunity to exploit her.
Kuroha Akira successfully broke free from the triple-thought dilemma of "to touch or not to touch," "can I touch," and "should I touch." He returned to the crucial question: what to make the Class Rep do. He decided to temporarily put aside the specific use of the one-day usage right.
"Let's talk about it later. It's not like I absolutely have to make Echi-rated requests, Class Rep. And don't always tempt me with your body like that."
Asato Hitomi tilted her head, touching her cheek with a finger, and replied,
"Well, after all, I don't have enough money yet to pay you, Akira-kun. So I can only sell my body~"
During this time, Asato Hitomi had already been taking private lessons from her mother, completing basic business theory knowledge, and had already made solid progress. If Kuroha Akira were to check her proficiencies, he'd find that Asato Hitomi had several new Lv1 skills appearing on her left hand. Her progress was no slower than Shinomiya's—in fact, due to the versatility of her A-rank academic ability, her theoretical knowledge accumulation was even faster.
"If you can't afford it now, you can pay later. I also accept installment payments, Class Rep."
"Like Akira-kun, I also hate the feeling of being in debt. Especially owing a good friend—it makes me feel really bad. So I still want to pay it off all at once."
"Oh, right… Speaking of which, why are we already discussing the reward content? Whether I can actually persuade Takanashi-san to come back to school is still an unknown, isn't it?"
Asato Hitomi stood up, picked up her bento box, put her hands behind her back, turned to face Kuroha Akira, and said with a narrow-eyed smile,
"I think that as long as I ask Akira-kun, anything can be resolved smoothly."
"It seems I have your deep trust, Class Rep."
"Hehe. I now trust Akira-kun more than I trust myself, you know?"
She spoke very exaggeratedly, but Kuroha Akira didn't take her words literally. He only saw them as the highest possible compliment to himself.
"It seems that to live up to your trust, Class Rep, I'll have to put in even more effort."
After talking for so long, it was almost time to return to the classroom. Kuroha Akira also stood up and asked the Class Rep,
"So, are we visiting Takanashi-san's home today?"
The Class Rep shook her head and then laid out the upcoming schedule.
"No need to rush. Today, I'll first contact Takanashi's aunt and get her permission. Tomorrow there's a class meeting to decide on the Cultural Festival program. Once that's settled, the class will temporarily have no more worries for me. Then I plan to take Akira-kun to visit Mirai-chan's home the day after tomorrow."
"So we'll see Takanashi-san this Friday?"
For Kuroha Akira, this would be the second time visiting a girl's home. The first time was Shirai Shiori's place.
"Yes. These next two days, I also want to investigate who else fought with Mirai-chan and find out the reason why she fought with them. Actually, Saionji Makoto asked before, but Mirai-chan didn't tell her. I think that's the key."
Kuroha Akira nodded in agreement.
"That makes sense. Not wanting to talk about it probably means there's a deeper problem… If I can know the specific ins and outs, I'll be more confident in persuading Takanashi-san. So I'll leave the information gathering to you, Class Rep."
"Okay, leave that part to me. Akira-kun, you just prepare your 'speech' well."
"My speeches are always impromptu. I don't need to prepare specifically. Besides, genuine words spoken from the heart are more moving."
"I see… That's true."
No wonder even Shiori is convinced by you… It seems that mouth of yours played a crucial role.
Conversely, if I just shut Akira-kun's mouth, could I completely 'disable' him?
Asato Hitomi inadvertently discovered Kuroha Akira's biggest weakness.
"Well then, Akira-kun, you can continue to think about the reward content. I also want to know what you'll make me do."
"I'll go back and think it over carefully. I will definitely… hmm, excavate your value as much as possible, Class Rep."
Actually, Kuroha Akira wanted to say "exploit," but that sounded too crude, so he changed his wording on the fly. As a result, it happened to strike a chord deep in Asato Hitomi's heart.
Value.
That was the word she cared about most.
She had always been searching for her own value—the value of "Asato-san" beyond just her name.
So if Kuroha Akira could truly excavate her value, she would be very willing to show him everything about herself.
"That's wonderful! I'll be eagerly awaiting the day Akira-kun exercises his one-day usage right…"
Compared to Kuroha Akira—the recipient of the reward—Asato Hitomi, the one granting the reward, was even more excited for the upcoming "reward time."
But in reality, even if Kuroha Akira only made some shallow, lewd request, she'd be very happy.
Because then she could show him her naked body. That way, she could catch up to Shiori.
If he touched her, she'd surpass her completely.
The reason she'd proposed a one-day usage right and deliberately steered the conversation toward Ecchi-related topics was precisely for this ultimate goal.
Jealousy made the girl's heart deeply scheming.