019 Ayanokouji's Plan / Heating with Lips / The 2-Million-Point Insurance
At 8:00 AM, three new pieces of intel refreshed on schedule.
Kiriyama Ikuto (3rd Year, Class B): Due to the massive gap in class points with Class A and with only two semesters left until graduation, he is hesitating whether to defect to Nagumo Miyabi's side. After school today: Ishizaki Daichi, accompanied by Shiina Hiyori and Ibuki Mio, will corner Shimizu Akira with the goal of inviting him to join the Class C team. The Uninhabited Island Exam: Only groups that complete specific tasks and achieve high rankings will be granted priority to form "Large Groups."
Shimizu Akira read through them one by one, processing the information.
'Vice President Kiriyama, huh.'
Thinking back, they hadn't met in a while. That man was far more pragmatic than one might imagine; when Akira gave him that million points back then, Kiriyama had accepted it with very little hesitation.
Now, it seemed he was considering surrendering to Nagumo just to graduate from Class A.
Akira didn't look down on him for it. Horikita Manabu had made it clear: graduating from Class A meant the freedom to choose any top-tier university or career path with an elite pedigree.
Graduating from Class B, despite being only one step away, was no different from a regular high school experience.
It was heaven and earth.
'So, I respect his choice. Wait, if he drops out of the race, that's one less rival for Honami, Kikyo, and Suzune in the Student Council President election. Is that a good thing?'
Regarding the second point: Ishizaki sure was dreaming big, wanting to invite him to the team. And Hiyori was going along with it?
The last point was the most critical. It revealed a hidden rule for the island exam. Forming Large Groups wasn't automatic; you needed to earn the right through performance. This meant groups with low comprehensive ability might not even get the chance to merge.
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At noon, Hirata Yosuke called a class meeting. Kanzaki Ryuji, showing his tact, stood up and left the room to give them privacy. Hirata looked at his phone and read out the compiled data:
"The card distribution for our class is as follows: 8 Lead Cards, 7 Bonus Cards, 7 Half-off Cards, 8 Free Rider Cards, 7 Insurance Cards, 1 Trial Card, 0 Nullify Cards, and 0 Increase Cards. By the way, the Trial Card is with Ayanokouji-kun."
Excluding Kanzaki, who had transferred to Class D, Class B had exactly 38 students. The situation was as Akira expected: the common cards were distributed evenly, roughly seven to eight per class.
"What does the Trial Card do again?" someone asked.
"Idiot, you forgot?" another classmate chimed in. "It gives you the right to 1.5x the class point reward, but if the group doesn't rank in the top 30%, you get penalized."
"Whoa, that's strong! If we get first place in a Large Group full of our people, couldn't we get 450 class points?"
"But the risk is high. If we end up at the bottom, the whole group gets punished."
"Shouldn't we give that card to Shimizu or Hirata? They have a better chance of ranking high."
In the eyes of Class B, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was just an average loner—nowhere near as reliable as Shimizu or Hirata.
Horikita Suzune coughed, interrupting the chatter. "Have you forgotten the rules? You can't exchange cards within the same class. So there are only two paths: either the card stays with Ayanokouji and we build a high-win-rate team around him to avoid the penalty, or he sells it to another class."
"Sell it? If another class gets lucky and ranks high, we'd lose out big time."
"But to build a team around him, we'd need three boys or a 1-boy-2-girls setup. We need reliable partners."
"I could join Ayanokouji-kun's group," Hirata offered.
"No need." Ayanokouji spoke up, a rare occurrence. "There's a third way. I'll form a solo group first. During the exam, if we have a chance at a high rank, others can join me to form a six-person group. If we have no chance, the group stays just me, and I'm the only one penalized."
The classroom went silent for a few seconds.
"That's actually a pretty good idea."
"Ayanokouji-kun is surprisingly smart!"
"But isn't that a bit cruel to you?"
While they liked the plan, they felt it was unfair to him. Ayanokouji thought for a moment and said, "In that case, can I apply for 500,000 personal points from the class fund? I have the Trial Card; other class leaders will be targeting me. To avoid being expelled, I need these points to buy useful cards from other classes for protection."
Hirata nodded immediately.
"That's reasonable. He could sell the card for that price anyway. Better we pay him directly. What do you all think?"
With the core members—Suzune, Kikyo, Akira, and Hirata—all agreeing, the rest of the class had no objections. Suzune transferred the points to Ayanokouji.
She then returned to the main topic: "I suggest everyone try to form 1-boy-2-girls teams."
Hirata explained: "This is an island exam. Having a boy is great for fire-making, wood-gathering, and heavy lifting. Conversely, most boys aren't great at cooking or organizing supplies, so girls make life much easier. Pure 3-boy or 3-girl teams are too limited."
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On the rooftop, Akira was eating lunch with Kikyo, Haruka, and Airi. He opened the box of snacks Shiranami Chihiro had given him that morning.
"Wow, so cute!"
"These cookies are so detailed!"
"Who gave these to you, Akira-kun?"
"Shiranami Chihiro from Class D," Akira explained. "I traded cards with her, and knowing you guys eat with me, she made these for you to try."
"She's quite thoughtful," Haruka noted.
"I almost feel bad eating something this cute!" Kikyo thought for a moment.
"I didn't know Shiranami had such high 'girl power' skills. Maybe I should invite her to hang out."
The snacks had inadvertently boosted Chihiro's favorability with his three girlfriends. Akira began eating the lunch Kikyo had made for him: sausages, fish tofu, fried chicken, sushi, and rice balls. Typical Japanese bento—made in the morning, eaten cold at noon.
Akira took a bite. It was good, but he couldn't help but think it would be better hot. He wasn't used to cold meals.
Kikyo caught his expression. "What? Is Suzune's cooking better?"
"I didn't say that," Akira twitched. "I just prefer hot food."
"Akira-kun is so strange," Haruka laughed. "We all eat it this way. Bento is meant to be cold unless you go to a convenience store to heat it, but heated rice balls aren't great anyway."
"Then why not make it fresh?" Akira bit into a piece of sushi.
"Then it wouldn't be a bento anymore, just a regular meal!" Kikyo pinched his ear playfully. This guy was perfect except for his weird quirks regarding Japanese customs.
Seeing him struggle slightly with the cold rice, Kikyo picked up a piece of fish tofu from her own box and held it to his lips. "Aaah~"
This was their first time doing the "feeding" thing. Akira didn't hesitate and ate it.
"How is it? Is it warmer now?" Kikyo smiled. They say feeding your partner adds "psychological heat."
"Mhm," Akira nodded. It wasn't actually warm, but he didn't want to kill the mood.
"Liar," Haruka propped her chin on her hand. "The food is still cold."
"How did you catch that?" Akira asked, defeated.
"Because," Airi added seriously, "when Akira-kun is asked a simple question, he usually answers immediately. If he thinks for more than two seconds, he's definitely lying."
'Are these girls studying me under a microscope?' Akira wondered.
"Then let me heat it for you," Kikyo said.
Akira thought she was going to a microwave, but instead, Kikyo picked up a sausage and put it in her own mouth. Five seconds later, she took it out with her chopsticks and held it to his lips.
"Ah..."
Akira froze.
'You call this 'heating'?!'
Still, he obediently opened his mouth. The moment the sausage entered, he felt two temperatures: the slight chill of the food and the lingering warmth of Kikyo's mouth.
"How about now? Hot?" Kikyo winked.
"It is... indeed warm." Akira chewed, unsure of how to react.
Haruka was doubled over laughing. "Kikyo, that 'heating' method is amazing! I want to try too!" She picked up half a piece of sushi, put it in her mouth, and then held it out to him. "Akira-kun, open up. See if mine is hotter than Kikyo-chan's. I held it in for extra seconds!"
Akira nearly choked.
'Is this a contest of duration?'
"Haruka, that's cheating," Kikyo huffed.
"It's called being devoted!" Haruka argued.
"My love for Akira-kun is scorching!"
Airi's face was beet red. She wanted to say something but couldn't.
"Airi, your turn," Kikyo said mischievously.
"Eh?! I-I..."
"Don't be shy~" Haruka stuffed the chopsticks into Airi's hand. "If you don't do it, Akira-kun will think you're playing favorites."
Airi's fingers trembled. She looked at the food, then at Akira, and finally, with the resolve of a soldier going to war, she put a piece of fish tofu in her mouth.
Silence on the rooftop. Five seconds... ten... fifteen...
Akira watched Airi's face go from pink to crimson, then to a full-blown "steaming engine" mode. "Airi, that's enough..."
Airi snapped her eyes open and hurriedly held the tofu to his mouth. "P-Please... have some..."
Akira ate it. "Mhm. Very hot."
Airi slumped, covering her face in her hands, while Haruka laughed so hard she couldn't stand.
"Akira-kun," Kikyo said seriously, "from now on, we'll heat every bento like this for you. Okay?"
Akira stared at her. She wasn't joking.
"I think it's a great idea!" Haruka chimed in.
"Solves the cold bento problem and brings us closer. A win-win!"
Akira looked at the still-recovering Airi, the eager Haruka, and the smiling Kikyo. "...Are you serious?"
"Dead serious. We care about your nutrition."
Akira realized that if he agreed, every meal would be an "ordeal." If he didn't, they'd find even crazier ways to mess with him. He made a difficult decision:
"Actually... I think cold bento is fine. Really. We shouldn't lose Japanese tradition."
"But you just said you wanted it hot?"
"I changed my mind. I was moved by your 'warmth.' I can feel your heart more in the cold food."
Haruka snorted.
"Akira-kun, your survival instincts are off the charts."
"No, it's a rational conclusion," Akira pivoted the topic quickly.
"Anyway, for this exam, I'm going to give each of you 2 million personal points."
"Why?" Kikyo asked.
"The rules say a Large Group of six costs 6 million points to prevent expulsion," Akira explained.
"But forming a group of six is hard. In a group of three, if something goes wrong, it's 2 million per person. I have over 40 million points right now. Giving 2 million to each of my seven girlfriends—14 million total—is just buying insurance for you all."
He loved making points, but the whole purpose was to use them when it mattered.
And there was no better time than now.
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