Chapter 201: The Frugal Snow Fox!
Manabu understood what Yuto meant.
Yuto wasn't assuming that the final exam in mid-July would reuse questions from previous years. He simply wanted to use an old exam to measure how well his classmates were studying.
"I'll bring the exam papers you need tomorrow," Manabu said.
"Thanks a lot. See you tomorrow."
"Mm."
After leaving the student council office, Yuto was surprised to find Suzune's slender, dignified figure standing off to one side of the hallway.
She hadn't left yet?
The moment Suzune saw Yuto come out, she quickly walked over.
"What did my brother talk to you about?"
So that was why she'd stayed behind.
She wanted to know what Manabu had said to Yuto.
A mischievous smile appeared on Yuto's face.
"Senpai asked me how his little sister has been doing lately."
Suzune immediately became nervous.
"What did you tell him?!"
"Smile at me once. If you smile, I'll tell you."
"..."
Suzune froze for a moment before glaring angrily at the smiling Yuto.
"Just tell me!"
"Smile first~"
Suzune pressed her thin lips together while her eyes began wandering uncertainly.
She genuinely wanted to know what Yuto had told Manabu.
So she had no choice but to smile.
Perhaps from embarrassment, or perhaps annoyance, a faint blush appeared on her normally cool face. She forced the corners of her lips upward and gave Yuto a smile that...
Didn't really look like a smile.
"Ah, Horikita, stop smiling. That looks way too awkward. It doesn't resemble a smile at all."
Suzune immediately became furious.
This guy had just demanded that she smile, and now he was criticizing her for smiling badly!
How infuriating!
Seeing even her breathing grow faster, Yuto decided that if he teased her any further, the embarrassed and angry snow fox might actually hit him.
So he stopped while he was ahead.
"Let's talk while we walk."
"...Fine."
Manabu hadn't actually mentioned Suzune at all during his conversation with Yuto.
That meant Yuto had no choice but to make something up.
Whether his fabricated story simply sounded too natural or Suzune trusted him far too much, she never suspected that he was lying.
For someone as sharp as Suzune, it was surprisingly easy for Yuto to fool her.
"Horikita, I just asked your brother for copies of the first-year final exam from his year. A few days before our final exam, I want to use them to test everyone's current level."
"He said he'll bring them to the student council tomorrow. Go pick them up for me, then make thirty-seven copies."
"I understand."
Suzune nodded and accepted the request.
"By the way, Horikita, how many personal points do you still have?"
"A little over eighty thousand. Why are you asking?"
"Making copies costs points, right? I was worried you might not have enough. Don't worry, though. Once you're done, I'll transfer whatever you spent back to you."
"No need. Making copies won't cost very much."
"Even if it isn't much, I can't make you pay out of your own pocket for something I'm asking you to do."
"Just consider it my contribution to the class."
"If you're putting it that way, fine."
Yuto smiled.
"But you're seriously good at saving money. It's already been two months, yet you still have more than eighty thousand points."
"That's because I've eliminated almost all spending on three meals a day."
Food, clothing, housing, and transportation were usually major expenses.
Suzune rarely bought unnecessary clothes.
She had eliminated most of her meal expenses.
The student dormitory was free, so housing cost nothing.
And since they lived on school grounds, transportation expenses were practically nonexistent.
That was why, even after two months, Suzune still had more than eighty thousand personal points left.
"You've been skipping meals?"
Yuto looked at her in surprise.
He carefully examined her complexion. Her skin looked healthy and bright, with none of the weakness someone would show from undereating.
"Who would skip meals?"
Suzune rolled her eyes at him.
"The supermarket provides free ingredients. I cook all three meals myself using those."
"I see."
Yuto finally understood.
Because the supermarket offered free ingredients, Suzune didn't need to eat at the student cafeteria.
Aside from buying some seasonings, her food expenses were almost nonexistent.
"Shimizu, you didn't know that the supermarket provides free ingredients in addition to free daily necessities?"
"I genuinely didn't."
Shopping for ingredients had always been handled by Chabashira and Airi.
Yuto's only responsibility was eating the meals they carefully prepared.
"I'm actually surprised, Horikita. I didn't know you were good at cooking too. You prepare all three meals yourself?"
Suzune glanced at him.
"It's only cooking. Anyone can do it if they read a book or look up instructions on the school network."
"Horikita, you make it sound like if I handed you a book on building nuclear weapons, you could follow the instructions and produce a nuclear bomb."
"You...!"
Suzune became irritated.
"How can you compare cooking to building a nuclear bomb?!"
"Hahaha~ I'm just saying some people could have an entire cookbook in front of them and still fail to make anything edible."
"Hmph!"
Suzune didn't bother arguing further.
Yuto smiled at her.
"Horikita, didn't you say before that you wanted to earn five million personal points and repay your brother? You've only got a little over eighty thousand now. That's still a long way from five million."
Suzune's expression immediately dimmed.
"I don't think I can accomplish it..."
"Hm?"
Yuto raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Was Suzune giving up?
That proud snow fox was actually admitting defeat?
"I was too arrogant before. I assumed I'd definitely find some way to earn five million personal points, but reality has proven that I don't have that ability."
The longer Suzune remained at this school and the more she understood its systems, the more ridiculous her original plan seemed.
Ordinary students could barely earn additional points at all.
Simply managing to live comfortably here already meant they were doing well.
Suzune turned toward the handsome boy walking beside her.
Yuto was exceptionally capable.
On the very first day of school, he had already noticed the existence of class points and soon afterward began earning enormous amounts of personal points.
Even her brother couldn't compare with him in that respect.
Precisely because Yuto was always beside her, Suzune could compare herself against him and see just how far behind she really was.
"That doesn't sound like you, Horikita. I didn't think you were someone who gave up that easily."
"I never said I was giving up."
Suzune straightened slightly.
"I'll still keep trying. I'll earn five million personal points before my brother graduates."
She suddenly remembered something.
"Shimizu, if both of us get perfect scores on the final exam, who receives first place in the scholarship?"
Everyone in Class C was studying seriously now.
And unlike during the midterm exam, there were no leaked exam papers from Ike that forced Suzune to manipulate her score.
This time, she could use her full ability and aim for perfect marks.
That raised an important question.
If both she and Yuto achieved perfect scores, who would be ranked first?
First place paid one hundred thousand personal points.
Second place only paid seventy thousand.
That was a difference of thirty thousand points.
"Anyone with a perfect score shares first place and receives the full one-hundred-thousand-point scholarship."
"I see."
Suzune immediately began calculating.
If she earned perfect marks in all five subjects, she could receive five hundred thousand personal points purely from the ranking rewards.
And that wasn't all.
There was also the scholarship based on score improvement.
Yuto had previously told Class C that for every point a student's final-exam score exceeded their midterm score in a subject, they would receive two thousand personal points.
"Horikita, during the midterm you deliberately controlled your score to around fifty-one points because you wanted to lower the passing mark."
"If you score one hundred on the final, that's an improvement of forty-nine points."
Yuto smiled.
"Forty-nine times two thousand gives you ninety-eight thousand personal points. That's almost another first-place scholarship."
"So I could potentially earn close to one million personal points from the scholarship system?"
Suzune looked genuinely surprised.
She hadn't carefully calculated it before.
Now she realized just how much she could potentially earn.
"It's possible, assuming you actually get perfect scores in every subject."
"I'll show you that I can!"
Suzune answered confidently.
She had absolute confidence in her academic ability.
She was determined to get perfect marks.
"Shimizu, are you heading to the classroom to study now, or going to the library?"
"Neither. I promised Kei we'd go watch a movie."
Yuto pointed toward Keyaki Mall.
Suzune pressed her lips together slightly.
"I see. Have fun."
"Horikita, don't spend every waking moment studying. Why not enjoy school life once in a while? Go shopping with someone, watch a movie, grab a drink together."
Suzune's face remained expressionless.
"Shimizu, do you think I have any friends I'm close enough with to invite out?"
"..."
Apparently, she really didn't.
That was rather depressing.
Technically, Suzune did have one friend she could invite out.
Yuto.
Unfortunately, Yuto had girlfriends to spend time with.
Three of them, in fact.
"You've got your brother. Invite him shopping."
"...How could I bother my brother over something that trivial?!"
Yuto looked at her with an amused smile.
She obviously just didn't have the courage to invite Manabu out.
When they reached a fork in the path, Yuto said goodbye and headed toward Keyaki Mall.
Suzune didn't immediately leave.
She remained where she was, watching his back disappear into the distance.
Only after she could no longer see him did Suzune press her lips together and quietly head toward the library.
She was going to study.
Suzune's school life was extremely monotonous.
Attend class and study.
Go to the student council after school.
Return to her dormitory and continue studying at night.
Classroom, student council, dormitory.
Those three places formed nearly her entire daily routine.
Her only real entertainment was reading classic novels from the library.
If nothing unexpected happened, Suzune could probably spend all three years of high school living exactly like this.
Then again, maybe not.
She had spent all three years of middle school buried in her studies because she hadn't had a single friend.
But high school was different.
Now she had Yuto, the one person she could genuinely call a friend.
Perhaps his presence would eventually change her unchanging life.
...
The next afternoon after school, Suzune went to the student council office alone.
There had been very little work lately, so Ichinose and the other council members simply stopped by, reported in, and left.
Suzune stayed behind.
She still needed to collect the old final exam papers from Manabu for Yuto.
Manabu was the last person to arrive.
He entered carrying a brown envelope.
The envelope looked vaguely familiar, and Suzune immediately guessed that it contained the exam papers Yuto had requested.
Manabu stepped into the office and looked toward his sister, who was still sitting at her desk.
"Suzune, there's no student council work today. Why are you still here?"
"Brother, Shimizu asked me to collect the final exam papers from you, so I was waiting."
"I see. Here."
Manabu handed her the brown envelope.
Suzune accepted it, then gathered her courage.
"Brother... if you want to know how I've been doing lately, you can just ask me directly."
"Hm?"
A trace of confusion appeared on Manabu's face.
When had he ever asked about how Suzune was doing?
"Suzune, what are you talking about?"
…
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