Although they were interrupted by Kushida Kikyou, Hashima Hikaru continued chatting with Horikita Suzune for another half hour afterward.
His goal was to help her perform better in the upcoming student council hearing. Ideally, she would counter all of Class D's tactics, which would achieve his purpose of keeping Ryuuen down.
As long as Ryuuen's influence couldn't penetrate his class, Hashima's Class A could focus their main attention on Class B, led by Katsuragi and Sakayanagi in future class competitions.
As for the bottom-ranked Class C and Class D, their class points were significantly lower than Class A's—almost several times the difference. Such a gap couldn't be closed quickly. It was sufficient to just keep an eye on their movements.
To maintain the first-place position, one needed to pay attention to all classes below, but with varying degrees of focus. This was the most efficient approach.
After finishing his conversation with Horikita Suzune, Hashima returned to the dormitory.
Having successfully lowered Kushida Kikyou's stock price, he felt he needed to plan more carefully how to acquire funds in the future. Based on the characteristic that the [Trading Store] refreshed its merchandise monthly, it was possible that good skills or items available this month might disappear next month, so he had to seize the opportunity.
The young man opened his system panel.
[Character Information]
[Name: Hashima Hikaru]
[Age: 15]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Charm: 8]
[Stamina: 4]
[Owned Stocks: Ichinose Honami stock ×3000, Sakura Airi stock ×5000]
[Funds: 357,000]
"I still haven't bought the skill I want most this month..."
Hashima stared at the [Combat Technique (Master)] skill in the [Trading Store], priced at 250,000 funds. No matter what, this skill was definitely worth acquiring.
Since this school wanted to create a miniature simulated society, complete with areas deliberately left without surveillance cameras, wasn't it implying that students could engage in rule-breaking activities?
Whether due to male instinct or considering the recent class fighting incident, Hashima felt that mastering such abilities would definitely yield high returns.
"Hmm... no more hesitation, I'll buy it now."
After pondering for a few minutes, the young man made up his mind.
[Do you wish to purchase Combat Technique (Master)?]
[Purchase complete. 250,000 funds paid. Current funds: 107,000.]
After purchasing this skill, Hashima stood up from his bed.
Countless images depicting battle scenes suddenly appeared in his mind, from basic punches to various kicking techniques. Like a slow-motion movie, the images were imprinted into Hashima's memory one by one.
"So that's how it works..."
The young man closed his eyes, feeling his body absorb the combat techniques. He began pacing slowly around the room, constantly changing the positions of his hands and feet.
This insight continued for more than an hour until he heard someone knocking. Only then did Hashima open his eyes.
"Really, I was just getting into it. Who is it?"
The young man ended his immersive combat technique review and turned to open the door.
However, he hesitated for a moment before placing his hand on the doorknob, as he guessed who the visitor might be.
"Open the door right now."
A cold female voice came from the other side of the door. It was indeed Kushida Kikyou.
As the door opened, Hashima immediately saw the short-haired girl's frosty face.
"Good afternoon, Kushida-san."
Hashima didn't care what she was thinking. He continued to play dumb, waiting to see what she wanted to say.
"Let me in first."
At this moment, Kushida Kikyou was surrounded by a thick gloomy aura, completely different from her usual soft and friendly demeanor. Her face seemed to carry a hint of irritation as she stepped directly into the young man's bedroom.
Witnessing this scene, Hashima laughed inwardly. Today's incident had indeed had a big impact on her.
"Kushida-san looks really upset. Did something happen?" Hashima asked softly, pretending nothing had happened.
"What's your relationship with Horikita?"
"Um, why would Kushida-san ask that? We're classmates, of course. What other relationship could there be?" The young man touched his hair, displaying a puzzled expression.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Kushida Kikyou fixed her eyes, filled with dark energy, on Hashima's face and said coldly, "That's not the answer I want to hear. What were you doing with her?"
"Didn't you say you would be completely honest with me? Now answer my question!"
"Kushida-san, don't get too excited. I'll explain."
After briefly calming her, Hashima looked at the short-haired girl's face and said, "It was actually about Sudo-san. Since Horikita-san was selected as your class's spokesperson, right?"
"When I met her on the way, she said she wanted to hear my opinion on how to better handle the upcoming student council hearing."
Hashima mixed truth with lies to respond to Kushida Kikyou, his expression very serious: "That's why we went to the coffee shop to talk."
"Is that really all?"
Kushida Kikyou didn't quite believe this explanation because she clearly saw him giving Horikita Suzune meaningful looks. If it was just a chance meeting, how could they act so familiar?
"Of course. After selling the hidden rules to your class last time, I guess Horikita-san felt I might be more perceptive in some ways, and could possibly help."
"You certainly don't want Sudo-san to be expelled, right?"
"Indeed."
Kushida Kikyou nodded silently. She carefully examined Hashima's expression but couldn't find any flaws.
"Then I'll accept what you've said for now."
The short-haired girl certainly hadn't let go of her suspicions. Compared to Hashima, who she had "leverage" over, Horikita Suzune was the person who concerned her more.
Until she completely resolved the issue with that woman, Kushida Kikyou would never truly feel at ease.
"Of course it's true. I would never deceive Kushida-san." Hashima's demeanor was very sincere. As the saying goes, it's not lying if you don't get caught.
Besides, he wasn't worried about Kushida Kikyou confronting Horikita Suzune to confirm. If she could actually take that step, she wouldn't have needed him to help come up with ideas to get closer to Horikita Suzune earlier.
"So what did you discuss?"
"Just about the upcoming student council hearing. Horikita-san shared her approach with me, and I made some suggestions to help her respond better."
Hashima recalled their earlier conversation. Horikita Suzune was actually quite smart, but perhaps because she had been immersed in her own world for too long, she tended to overthink some issues.
After the young man's guidance, she had already realized she could start with the surveillance cameras. Although the special teaching building where the violent incident occurred had no monitoring, that didn't mean other places weren't monitored.
If she could obtain crucial surveillance footage, it might become a key turning point.
However, she would have to figure out the rest herself. Hashima was clear about one thing: fulfilling the agreement was one thing, but he wasn't interested in being a babysitter. He'd rather spend time improving his relationship with other stock characters.
"I see. In that case, I should thank you on behalf of our class's Sudo-san for extending a helping hand."
"I just offered some perspectives. It's not a big deal."
"But I think Hashima-san is really impressive, getting Horikita-san to approach you." Kushida Kikyou tried probing from another angle.
"It was just a coincidence."
Hashima didn't want to dwell on this topic and looked at the girl's face, asking, "Apart from asking me these questions, does Kushida-san have anything else to discuss?"
Hearing this, Kushida Kikyou shook her head. She had rushed over just to confirm what kind of relationship Hashima had with Horikita Suzune.
Her secret might possibly be known to Horikita Suzune, but she took some comfort in the fact that the cold black-haired girl was always alone without any friends, so she might not have anyone to confide in.
But when she witnessed Hashima meeting this woman in the café, Kushida Kikyou panicked. He had already seen her other side, and if he discovered that more important secret, things would spiral out of control.
Kushida Kikyou would only ever trust herself, so she absolutely couldn't allow this to happen.
That's why she rushed over—to seek answers. Unfortunately, Hashima's attitude remained impenetrable, directly shifting the topic to helping the class, making it impossible for her to continue pressing.
"Then shall I walk Kushida-san back? It's getting late," Hashima tentatively asked when he saw Kushida's silence.
"It's fine. I can go by myself."
Kushida looked back at Hashima, her face once again displaying a gentle expression as she smiled and said, "Since Hashima-san has provided an explanation, I'll accept it all. I trust you won't deceive me."
"Of course."
The young man nodded, watching as Kushida Kikyou rose and left the room.
Hashima had already mastered how to deal with this girl with two faces. Whatever she asked, he would answer until she had nothing more to say.
His goal was to reduce Kushida Kikyou's stock price back to the initial price of 10 points. Since he had successfully started this today, he couldn't stop.
He needed to continue meeting with Horikita Suzune and diversify their interactions. As for excuses, he would select them based on the circumstances.
As long as he maintained a good attitude on the surface, Kushida couldn't do anything to him. With so many secrets of her own, there was no need to worry about her cutting ties completely. This perfectly aligned with Hashima's ATM vision—the girl was an excellent source of funds.