Palette Cafe, the premier cafe on campus by popularity. Female students loved hanging out here during lunch breaks and after school.
Fuyuji Mikage sat in his seat, expressionlessly sneaking glances at the pairs of fair, smooth thighs beneath pleated skirts.
Truly brimming with vitali—
"You really aren't a cute kouhai, are you? There's clearly such a beautiful senpai right here, yet you look specifically at other girls." A slightly teasing voice dragged him back to reality.
Fuyuji Mikage turned his head helplessly. A tall senpai with long silver hair had crossed her black-stocking-clad legs leisurely, sipping coffee.
"So, Senpai, what did you pull over here for?"
Kiryuin Fuka raised an eyebrow, slung her left arm over the back of the chair, and revealed an uninhibited grin. "You're the one who ca snooping around our second-year territory for information, and yet you ask why I dragged you here."
"Senpai, is there a possibility that I was just wandering around?" Fuyuji Mikage lifted his coffee cup, took a sip, and tentatively probed.
"A 'wander' specifically dedicated to observing student classrooms—now that's a first for ." Kiryuin Fuka rcilessly exposed Fuyuji Mikage's lie.
I shouldn't have glanced at those black stockings. Fuyuji Mikage wailed inwardly.
The plan had been going so smoothly. He'd already finished scouting the third-years and the first-years. But when he was finally checking out the second-year Class B, he was captivated by those crossed, swaying, black-stocking-clad beautiful legs.
The next second, he was discovered by the owner of those stockings and forcibly dragged here.
And this senpai is so strong too...
Fuyuji Mikage rubbed his reddened neck.
"Couldn't it just be that I was captivated by Senpai's aura?" At this point, Fuyuji Mikage threw away all sha and desperately quibbled.
Hearing this, Kiryuin Fuka rested her chin on her hand, pondered seriously for a mont, and nodded as if it were a matter of fact.
"That is indeed a possibility..."
"..." Fuyuji Mikage wanted to speak but stopped.
"If it were , it wouldn't be strange for a wandering kouhai to be captivated." As she spoke, Kiryuin Fuka seed to have already convinced herself of this explanation.
"Forget it, forget it." Fuyuji Mikage decided to just co clean. "I really was scouting for intel."
Facing this unconventional senpai, Fuyuji Mikage didn't dare to keep clowning around. If he was seen through, so be it. It wasn't a big deal.
"Such a sha. I thought I was about to have a kouhai who admired ."
"Senpai, did you even believe that yourself when you said it?"
"Of course. I have quite a bit of confidence in my charm." Kiryuin Fuka flicked her long hair confidently.
"Ahem, back to the main topic." Fuyuji Mikage straightened his posture and pulled the conversation back to the beginning. "Senpai, what exactly did you bring here for?"
Generally speaking, among 160 first-years, even if soone was 100% certain that a person wasn't from their own year, they usually wouldn't take the trouble to go up and ask.
This was also the basis of Fuyuji Mikage's confidence to strut openly through various classes.
He hadn't expected that a girl would actually, under the public eye, just drag him away directly.
"Nothing much." Kiryuin Fuka said flatly. "I was just a bit bored, then ran into an interesting kouhai, so I pulled him over."
Fuyuji Mikage was sowhat losing his composure. "I hadn't even said a single word to you and you already thought I was interesting? Just because I glanced a second longer at your stockings?"
"Ho... so that's what you like."
Kiryuin Fuka revealed a mischievous smile, slightly lifting her long legs to make them appear even more slender.
"Ahem." Fuyuji Mikage couldn't maintain his poise and quickly averted his gaze.
"Because the mont I saw you, my intuition told you were interesting. It's always been quite accurate."
"Intuition..." Fuyuji Mikage muttered darkly, "Senpai, do you happen to know a girl nad Morishita Ai?"
"Morishita Ai? Who? Is she similar to ?"
"My troubleso back-seat pain of a classmate. Both people I can't handle."
"Then I'd quite like to et her."
After chatting idly for a while, Fuyuji Mikage felt ti was running short and spoke casually.
"A senpai like you should know the purpose behind my intel gathering, right?"
"Investigating the school rules?" Kiryuin Fuka said with interest, "You could try currying favor with your senpai, you know. Perhaps, seeing as you're my admirer, Senpai might reveal so intel to you."
Watching Kiryuin Fuka's carefree deanor, Fuyuji Mikage lifted his coffee again and took a sip. A bitter taste spread through his mouth.
Given the formidable observational skills and physical ability this senpai had displayed so far, she should be one of the top figures among the second-years. Theoretically speaking, she indeed might know a great deal of intel.
The problem was...
"Can Senpai actually tell ?"
"Ha ha ha!"
"You really are interesting..." Kiryuin Fuka laughed unrestrainedly in the cafe, "That topic is indeed sothing that cannot be disclosed."
I knew you were lying! The corner of Fuyuji Mikage's eye twitched.
Her laughter gradually subsided. Kiryuin Fuka continued her explanation: "We second- and third-years are all under a gag order and cannot proactively divulge information. If it's serious, we might even get expelled."
Expulsion, huh... No wonder the number of students in the second and third years was so much lower.
Fuyuji Mikage looked at the smiling senpai opposite him, his thoughts flying.
Generally speaking, the dropout rate in Japanese high schools is about 1% to 1.5%. Applied to Advanced Nurturing, that's roughly two to three students per grade.
Yet the reality was that Advanced Nurturing, which claid its student intake absolutely required a recomndation from the middle school, had an expulsion count several tis higher than that figure.
There was only one possibility—there was a problem with the school's system, and it included expulsion penalties.
"So, will you continue investigating? Senpai can give you so directions for your investigation."
Fuyuji Mikage set down his coffee cup. "No, I think it's about enough. Judging by the current situation, with our class's points, we can rest easy for the ti being."
"What's your class?" Kiryuin Fuka asked casually.
"Class A."
"So that's how y—"
Kiryuin Fuka froze, narrowing her eyes. "You little brat, you actually tricked Senpai into spilling information."
Fuyuji Mikage silently pushed the nu toward her and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Just confirming a hypothesis. After all, I had no evidence."
As expected! Corresponding to personal points, the class also had its own points, used to rank the various classes. Otherwise, they would have just called them points directly.
Kiryuin Fuka didn't spare Fuyuji Mikage's wallet in the slightest, waving her hand to order a large strawberry cake.
"Oh well." Kiryuin Fuka stirred her coffee cup with a spoon. "After all, you figured it out yourself. Since you're so capable, Senpai will give you one more hint. This one should be fine—your teacher probably said it too..."
Saying so, her slender fingers tapped on the table. "Points can buy everything. That is ant literally."
Literally ant...
Fuyuji Mikage's pupils sharply constricted.
So that's it. No wonder Mashima-sensei's phrasing had been so strange back then.
"In that case..." Fuyuji Mikage looked up. "Can I trade for related intelligence with Senpai?"
"You learn quite fast." Kiryuin Fuka spread her hands. "Unfortunately, no. Otherwise, upper-year students could perfectly use this to circumvent the school's censorship—like telling their kouhai acquaintances the intel, teaching them to transact with points, and then returning the points to them later. If you want it, you'll have to purchase it from the school."
"Specifically how many points would it require?"
"Hmm... at least over a million, I'd say."
Fuyuji Mikage was speechless. Adding his and Morishita Ai's points together wouldn't even make a fifth of that.
Although he could tell the people in his class this news and they'd probably be able to pool together that many points, doing so would essentially be cheating.
Morishita Ai would probably imdiately declare victory in their match.
Taking the strawberry cake handed over by the server, Kiryuin Fuka watched the pondering Fuyuji Mikage with interest.
"So, wanna go for it? Personally, I wouldn't recomnd this transaction, though. You'll find out this stuff sooner or later anyway."
"Senpai..."
"Hmm?"
"How many points does that graduation privilege cost to buy?" Fuyuji Mikage asked another question.
Straight to the heart of the matter!
"Not bad, Kouhai. Senpai sees you in a new light. How did you think of that?"
Fuyuji Mikage pondered for a mont, then said, "Without sufficient bait, the fish in the pond will only swim leisurely. That's not what the school wants. The only thing here capable of making students compete desperately is that privilege of a 100% advancent and employnt rate."
"20 million points." Kiryuin Fuka dropped a terrifying number.
"..."
Did the school think it was funny? A person who could legally earn 20 million points in this roughly 1,000-student school—who would even care about that single job opportunity?
If such a business prodigy didn't have the school begging them to return and give a speech in the future, the school could count itself as having steel backbone.
"Whew—"
Exhaling a long breath, Fuyuji Mikage rubbed his sowhat swollen temples.
So much intel, combined with what he had deduced himself, the true nature of the school was probably pieced together about seventy to eighty percent. Enough to beat Morishita Ai, probably.
That person is surely still lurking in so corner right now.
In that case...
Fuyuji Mikage raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile of assured victory.
Morishita Ai, I win!
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