"Sorry for calling you out so late, Ichinose."
That night, at a bit past eleven, I invited Ichinose over to my room.
It wouldn't have been unusual for her to be on her guard and turn the offer down, but she didn't seem to have any issues with it.
"It's totally fine! Though, it's quite rare for you to reach out to me like this."
"It's because I really wanted to talk to you. For the time being, if it's alright with you, feel free to take a seat on the bed. The floor might be a bit cold."
After expressing her gratitude, Ichinose sat down on the bed.
"This… My heart's beating kinda fast…"
"Hm?"
"Oh. No, it's nothing. How come we couldn't talk over the phone?"
How come, huh?
I picked up a white cup as I set some water to boil in a kettle.
"I wanted to confirm a bunch of stuff with you that's difficult to convey just by talking over the phone."
"I see."
"I suppose I'll cut to the chase and ask you directly. What are you going to do about the exam?"
"Are you looking to continue this morning's conversation? Well, I've been putting a lot of thought into how to overcome the exam without anybody being expelled… I suppose."
"And has anything specific come to mind?"
I took a look over my shoulder and watched as she tried to answer the question.
Of course, it was just something I had said for politeness' sake.
We both knew that there was no other way to do it besides forking over twenty million private points.
"Uhm, not yet unfortunately… There's already not much time left, so I'm getting a bit anxious."
I couldn't see any signs that she was hiding something based on her words or behavior. I was reminded that, back during the cruise ship special exam, I had been impressed with Ichinose's unexpectedly adept poker face.
"I was thinking that you might go to president Nagumo for help."
"What kind of help?"
If they aren't properly prepared for it ahead of time, posing a question like this might cause the other person to become flustered, yet Ichinose still returned my question as if nothing revealing had been asked at all.
However, what I was about to say next would surely be enough to break her poker face.
As the water in the kettle began to boil, I prepared a cup of hot chocolate and handed it to her.
"Thank you."
"This supplementary exam is different than the ones we've had before. It can't be cleared without someone being forcibly expelled, with the sole exception being to save up twenty million private points. No matter how many points Class B has saved up, there's no way you've reached twenty million. With that assumption in mind, you would have no other choice but to seek assistance from a third party."
Ichinose eyes shifted to her hot chocolate, letting out small, steady breaths to cool it down.
"Is that so? Well, Asahina-senpai also knew about it. Though, I didn't think she'd tell you, Ayanokōji-kun."
She seemed to realize that there was no use in trying to hide it anymore, immediately making the connection as to how I knew what I did.
"Then, I'm guessing you've also heard about his condition for lending me the points we need?"
As I responded with a small nod, a bitter smile took shape on Ichinose's face.
"Isn't it just ridiculous? In so many ways…"
Lending out private points on the condition that she enters into a relationship.
Furthermore, she was seriously thinking about accepting this condition.
This was probably what she meant by 'In so many ways'.
"Nagumo-senpai more or less prohibited me from revealing anything about our deal. He told me that if I did, I can forget it ever existed in the first place. Though, since Asahina-senpai is the one who told you, I should probably be safe for the time being."
"Don't worry about that."
"You say that, but this doesn't have anything to do with you, right…?"
"True enough."
It was Class B's problem, and Ichinose's decision.
"How many more points do you need?"
"A little over four million."
Just by entering into a relationship, the four million points her class needed would be accounted for and they could make it through the exam without anyone being expelled.
"Nagumo's given you quite the condition."
"Yeah. It'd usually be impossible for someone like me to borrow points and go out with Nagumo-senpai. Generally speaking, since he's lending me the points, it only makes sense that he's in a position to ask something of me in return."
As I listened to her thoughts on the matter, I got an idea of what she was thinking. There was no way she'd allow someone to be expelled from Class B. For that very reason, she was preparing to sacrifice herself.
"It's pretty much the only way to save everyone in Class B."
"Is that so…?"
At this point, there was nothing I could say to help her.
Private points were the only thing physically capable of helping Ichinose right now.
Realistically, four million was a number that even I wouldn't be able to acquire, no matter how hard I tried.
"Are… you worried about me?"
"I'm sorry if I'm being impertinent."
"No at all. Rather, I'm super happy."
Despite her response, her expression was still a bit clouded.
"But, I'm still kinda troubled honestly… I probably wouldn't have wavered with my decision if I hadn't spoken with you."
Ichinose slowly took a sip of her hot chocolate.
"…So what do you think, Ayanokōji-kun?"
"About Nagumo's deal?"
"Yep. From your perspective, what do you think about what I'm trying to do?"
Ichinose's eyes locked onto mine.
I answered her, bearing the full weight of her expectations.
"It's a method available to you and you alone that can prevent a classmate from being expelled. It's available to you because you joined the student council and made connections with president Nagumo. Striking a deal with him to reach twenty million points is definitely one way to go about all of this."
"You don't look down on me for it?"
"There's no need to look down on you. Though, to be completely honest, I'm not sure if it's worth paying twenty million private points just to save a classmate."
"…Is that so?"
Ichinose slowly took another sip of her hot chocolate.
"Say, Ayanokōji-kun."
She continued to keep eye contact.
"Hmm?"
"Ayanokōji-kun, are you perhaps someone really amazing?"
For her to call me someone really amazing, I didn't know how to react.
I had only told her exactly what I had heard from Asahina.
"What leads you to believe that I am? Sorry, but it's not something I'm personally aware of."
"It only makes you even more amazing if that's true. After all, you…"
She held back the words she was about to say.
"What is it?"
"No, nothing at all."
It was as if she didn't even fully understand what she wanted to say.
As if her mouth had been moving one step faster than her brain.
"…What is this, I wonder…?"
Ichinose quietly murmured, seemingly asking this question to herself.
Although it had been a bit forced, I was glad to hear about this from her in person.
I could see that, no matter what happens, Ichinose would act for the sake of Class B.
After all of this anxiety, Ichinose would probably come to a decision.
That is, to enter into a relationship with Nagumo Miyabi.