COTE: Popularity System

The next day, ten in the morning.

A cafe on the luxury cruise ship.

After waiting for quite a while, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka finally saw Horikita Suzune who had asked him to meet her.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Horikita Suzune sat down opposite Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and then ordered a coffee as if she were a regular.

"It's fine. I've been pretty free lately anyway." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression remained calm, showing no irritation at having waited for half an hour.

"Still, it's rare for you, Horikita, to be this late. Were you busy putting on makeup in front of the mirror? I never thought you had such a girly side."

Hearing this, Horikita Suzune narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at him with an unhappy expression. "Are you implying that I'm a tomboy?"

"I wouldn't dare." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. "I just noticed you seemed to be in a bad mood, and I wanted to make a joke to lighten the atmosphere."

Despite saying that, his expression remained as sleepy as ever, and he wasn't smiling at all.

Horikita Suzune rubbed her temples lightly. "Then your talent for joking needs some improvement. I just woke up too late today and wasted too much time. It wasn't because of makeup like you imagined."

Although her cold had improved, she was still suffering from it. Last night, after finishing her discussion with Takada Hikaru, she had simply lain on her bed, closed her eyes, and quickly fallen asleep.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded with a flat expression. "That's true. I also find it hard to imagine you putting on makeup in front of a mirror."

"I'm truly sorry for not satisfying your imagination."

After saying this, Horikita Suzune actually felt her previously foul mood improve quite a bit.

However, thinking about how she had been treated like a marionette by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka all this time, she still felt annoyed.

"Horikita, how did your discussion go with Takada-san yesterday?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked, wanting to get the conversation back on track.

"Takada-san said that if I could pay 5 million private points at once, he would agree to lower the points Class D gives him monthly to 200,000." Horikita Suzune recounted what had been agreed upon yesterday.

Recalling how Takada Hikaru had actually used the word "settle" last night, Horikita Suzune felt her heart filling with dissatisfaction and anger.

"That really is an excessive demand." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka commented.

If you calculate it carefully, you can understand. Class D is currently paying Takada Hikaru 324,000 private points every month. Lowering it to 200,000 means paying 124,000 fewer points.

School started in April, and it's already August. Class D only starts paying Takada Hikaru points from next month.

Assuming all students in Class D can stay in school for the full three years, which is 36 months, they would have to pay Takada Hikaru for 31 months.

That means Horikita Suzune would give Takada Hikaru 5 million private points, but in the end, it would only save Class D 3.844 million private points. This deal is a huge loss.

"I actually think it's quite normal."

Seeing the coffee arrive, Horikita Suzune picked up the cup, took a small sip, and after placing it back on the saucer, she said, "At the time, I told Takada-san that if my contribution was more useful than the points Class D gives, then the monthly points Class D pays should be lowered."

"Although the points I pay are far greater than the points Class D saves, Takada-san did not violate the terms I proposed."

Seeing her matter-of-fact expression, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was somewhat speechless.

After a pause, he continued, "But it's still too expensive. Didn't you try to negotiate to adjust the price?"

He was implying... no, he was clearly stating that she should have bargained.

He had spoken to Horikita Suzune privately yesterday, wanting her to use her labor to restore her reputation in the class. However, this blockhead didn't seem to get it. Even though he had performed a live negotiation during the midterm exams, she still hadn't learned how to apply it. It was ridiculous.

Horikita Suzune said, narrowing her eyes slightly with an unhappy look on her face, "I didn't agree. After all, asking me to pay for the stupidity of others in the class is not reasonable to begin with."

Just as Takada Hikaru said, she herself didn't care about the gazes of others, nor did she care about her status in the class, let alone bother with the living conditions of others.

Asking her to work herself to the bone to earn points just to help the idiots in the class? Impossible!

The others in the class intended to dump the blame for signing the unequal treaty onto her, but she wanted to point out that the class points going from 1,000 to 0 was also caused by them. She could shift the blame just as well, and with even better reasons.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka raised his eyes to meet her resolute ones. "Horikita, this is different from what you said on the island. On the day Ibuki took your special card, didn't you realize that you couldn't do anything on your own?"

That day, Horikita Suzune, who always fought alone, suffered a bitter defeat. At that time, she was suffering from a severe cold. Using a body that wasn't in its best condition, she fought against Ibuki Mio, who had combat experience, and was subsequently knocked unconscious.

Realizing she had held back the people in her class—the very people she had always looked down upon—Horikita Suzune finally understood that she couldn't accomplish anything on her own.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had thought she finally understood this principle and had the qualifications to become a class leader. Yet, less than two days later, she had reverted.

Horikita Suzune said with a solemn expression, "Ayanokoji, at that time I was just suffering from a severe cold and couldn't think clearly. Furthermore, I didn't know the people in the class had signed this kind of agreement behind my back and dumped all the responsibility onto me. Even if I keep the class in mind, it seems the people in the class haven't kept me in theirs."

Although Horikita Suzune didn't care about the opinions of those in the class, she didn't want to be burdened with an inexplicable blame.

Asking her to lead these people who only knew how to shirk responsibility and were brain-dead to Class A? Impossible!

Horikita Suzune said, "Also, after seeing what happened with Takada-san, I think that in this school, fighting alone is not something that cannot be accomplished."

"Didn't he manage to defeat Class B and Class C on his own?"

"Instead of spending so much time taking care of the defective products in Class D, I think it would be simpler to just take the route to Class A on my own."

This conversation did not go as planned.

After Horikita Suzune left, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sat silently in the cafe, looking down at the teacup filled with black coffee.

Horikita was regressing. There was simply no way she could meet the requirements to manage the class for him.

It seems it was time to find a new tool.