Homeroom was smaller than the orientation room. About forty students found their seats. Jay sat in the back near the window. Ayanokoji and Horikita sat next to each other. Ike and Yamauchi sat next to each other, with Sudo behind them. The room quieted when a woman with dark hair stepped in. She had a look in her eyes that said this year was about to be a disappointment. She took the front of class and spoke: "Welcome to Class D. You all have great value for being accepted here. The school has decided to give you all 100,000 private points. One private point is equivalent to one yen. In this school, there is nothing you cannot buy with Private Points." A gasp echoed through the room. "That is all. Class dismissed." She left the room and murmuring began. "100,000 points." "So much money!" "I'm gonna live it up!" Jay on the other hand stayed silent. He knew what this was. A test. A test of what forty idiot kids would do with 100,000 yen and how fast they would lose everything. He stood and left the room. Walking out into the school hall he bumped into a girl. "Oh, excuse me. My name is Kushida Kikyo! What's yours?" She smiled at him, false warmth and all. "Uh, my name is Jay. Nice to meet you." "So nice to meet you too!" She gripped his hands in hers. "My wish is to be friends with everyone in this school! Can I get your number?" "Um.. sure." He took out his phone from his pocket, which he now noticed was different from his old one. It opened with the ANHS logo on the home screen. He turned to the phone app and went to his number. He held it out and she put it in with the practice of someone who had done this hundreds of times before and planned to do it hundreds of times again. "Thank you so much!" She smiled. Perfect. Too perfect. She turned to leave. Jay hesitated, then said: "Wait a minute! I was gonna head to Keyaki Mall if you wanted to come." Kushida turned around and smiled. "Yes, I would love to!" "Great. Let's go." Jay led Kushida out of the school building and towards a mass of shops and restaurants called Keyaki Mall. As they neared the place Kushida spoke up. "So, what's your favorite color?" "Red. What about you?" "Yellow. Thanks for asking."
Keyaki Mall announced itself before they got there. Tons of people walked about. There was a wide glass frontage anda particular hum of a place built for people with money and time. Students from other classes walked about, still riding high from the hundred thousand points. "So where are we going?" "I need a couple things." Jay looked around. He found the suit shop in between an office depot and a coffee shop. He stepped in and Kushida followed him. The shop smelled of leather and shoes. A woman was ironing a suit as Jay walked up to her. He told her what he wanted. She walked over to one of the suits and pulled it down. She went to the shoes and got a pair. She gave it to Jay and Jay gave her his phone. She buzzed it against a payment device and gave it back. It read 49,500 points. "Over half your points." Kushida said. "You spent them on a suit?" "Yep." "For what?" "You'll see." Jay led Kushida out of the store and they walked a bit more. "Ooh! Crepes!" Kushida ran off to a Crepe store and Jay followed. He didn't really want crepes but he followed anyway. "Do you want one?" Kushida asked. "Not really." "Oh, ok then." Kushida bit into her crepe. "Mmm! Peach!" She smiled at Jay. Jay woudn't admit it, but he enjoyed this. Even though he knew it was just a performance, he enjoyed it. Back at home all he had was his Ninjago and his Lego sets. The girls in his grade never talked to him. He didn't have any friends. "Jay?" She tilted her head adorably. "You went quiete." "It's nothing. I'm just enjoying spending time with you." "Me too!" Jay took out his phone and opened the online shop. He bought toilet paper, deodorant, soap, pots, pans, and other essentials. He clicked buy and spent 4 thousand points. "Ready to go?" "Yep!" As they prepared to leave, a black haired girl appeared. She took a look at Jay, then at Kushida and grunted. She walked off. "Horikita!" Kushida cried, reaching out her hand. But Horikita didn't slow down. Kushida lowered her arm, smile fading. Jay came up behind her. "Don't worry about it Kushida. she's like that with everyone." "Horikita-san doesn't like me very much." "It's not you. Like I said, she's like that with everyone." "I know. But I still wanted to be friends with her." Kushida took Jay's hand and clenched it. "How about this. Would you like to go get some coffee?" Kushida had a small smile. "Yes. I would like that."