Kiruyin entered the store and started to look around. The store looked just like a normal store outside. If not for the point tag that is. He slowly examined items when he saw a girl with thigh-length purple hair that is tied in a long ponytail on the right side with bangs to the right side and purple gradient eyes.
She was roaming around a fridge like a dog looking for an opportunity to steal. Its obvious what she wants to do.
'Is she a second year?'
Kiruyin thought but instantly discarded the idea when he saw the red ribbon on her neck. She shouldn't have any shortage on points.
So that means only thing.
'A thrill seeker...'
Kiruyin couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. People do shoplifting out of desperation or greed, and here she was, shoplifting because her life is boring and monotonous.
'It's an evil world we live in~. But does she not notice the camera? Why are all the people in this year so blind to suspension?'
Kiruyin couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment. But still, as a normal citizen of Japan, helping others is a must. He was standing in a place where it will difficult for the girl to notice him. And he was not moving even a bit. So it's even more easy to miss him.
He had planned that after browsing through all the items and familiarising himself with the price, he would buy a beer can and go to Keyaki Mall. But now that his concentration was broken, he felt bored instantly.
The girl opened the fridge to take a bear can but in that moment, Kiruyin whistled loud enough for her to hear. She snapped her head in breakneck speed towards Kiruyin. Their eyes met. Her cold purple gradient eyes staring into his eyes. Then he used his eyes to gesture towards the camera. The girl looked over and her eyes instantly widened in shock.
She looked back at Kiruyin and he have a nod and thumbs up then walked towards the free items booth. The girl stood there for few moments before she put the can back inside the fridge. She looked back at the camera, it was directly monitoring the area she was and captured everything.
Decorations were placed around it, making it hard to see. She sighed and berated herself.
Kiruyin on the other hand, walked towards the free time section with a wide smile.
'Free stuff~~!!!'
Even the thought of taking something out of a shop without paying was thrilling.
'I'm not like her, I'm just excited that I will walk through the door, walk right past the clerk, without paying. While he just watches! Not some weird habits!'
Thinking that, his mood plumped down. He didn't feel that excited anymore. Heck, even his drive to take the stuff altogether was gone.
"Whatever. Free is love."
Even though this statement greatly contradicted with the philosopcal phrase he spouted when he got into the school about free being the most expensive, he didn't care.
Even when the voice in his mind was trying it's best to make him feel embarrassed, Kiruyin's mind was like an immovable mountain that was fixated on getting free stuff no matter what.
He stopped infront of the section and read the instructions carefully.
"3 items per month... hmm~ not to bad~ no~t bad. Now you."
He then started to look for the things he wants. Four items caught his attention. Brush, soap, shampoo and scrub.
He feel into great dilemma but ultimately eliminated scrub. It's cheap anyway. He took brush and soap but just when he grabbed the shampoo bottle, another hand grabbed it at the same time.
"I grabbed the bottle 0.5 seconds before you. So it's mine by the logic of first come first serve."
"..."
The girl said with her sterne expression. Her long black hair falling down like a river of black water. Her piercing red gradient eyes staring into Kiruyin's eyes. He just gave this girl a deadpan before letting go with a nod.
He changed his mind then. He put the soap down. Took a rexona and a bottle of fragrance. With that done, he started to walked towards the receptionist.
'She is following me isn't she?... probably not. There is only one exit after all.'
Kiruyin arrived infront of the receptionist and leaned a bit towards him.
"I want to buy a beer can."
The receptionist narrowed his eyes.
"Minors aren't allowed to buy those."
"I'm not going to buy those. You will. 5000 points. How about it?"
Kiruyin offered the receptionist with a smile. The girl from before still lingered behind him. Standing with her arms folded before she left.
'I wonder what she will do?'
Kiruyin was curious. Will that girl report him? Or maybe try to exploited him? Or maybe something else? He couldn't help but feel anticipation because of that.
"... You want me to buy a can with my points then give it to you?"
Kiruyin nodded. The receptionist studied the inclined Kiruyin with narrowed eyes before nodding and going into the shop. Few moments later, he returned with a beer can. Water droplets forming on its body.
The receptionist scanned the beer and paid the price before inviting Kiruyin inside a place where there was no camera.
"There, 5,500 points. And give me black plastic bag. Not the green one."
The transaction was made. Kiruyin held the can by it's top, waiting for the receptionist to return with a black bag. He will drink the beer can. And the green one was slightly transparent. It will be problematic if it got caught in camera.
~~~~
"Please visit again!"
Few Moments later, Kiruyin walked out while drinking the deer from the can while it was wrapped around by the black bag. No one would be able to tell what drink the can is. He had wrapped the with a precision that it looked like the can had black skin.
"Ahhh~~ this. Is life!"
'So you can buy anything... one more puzzle solved or... suspicion proven.'
Kiruyin thought as he took another sip. He felt the familiar burning sensation spread through his throat. A kind of exhilarating feeling spread through his brain. Kiruyin didn't know why but drinking alcohol makes him more somber, instead of drunk.
'Maybe because my brain is constantly doing unnecessary stuff all the time, taking alcohol lessens the burden thus making me feel better?'
He wasn't so sure with his hypothesis. But anything was possible in with big wide world.
"Hey, I have few questions to ask. Why did you take things from the free section instead of buying better items?"
A sharp yet sweet voice helted his merch towards Keyaki Mall. He turned around and the saw the black haired girl walking up to him with her usual expression.
"Umm. Cause I like free stuff?"
The girl narrowed her eyes. Clearly not convinced.
'But why?'
Which confused Kiruyin.
"Do you take me for a fool?"
"I can do nothing about it when you make a fool out of yourself. Trying not to find hidden meaning in literal everything. I meant what I said."
Kiruyin said with a helpless expression.
"Hmph! Say what ever you want. But I know you know something about the S-System don't you? I will buy the information from you. How much do you want?"
She said as she took out her phone. Kiruyin looked at her profile for a moment before smiling.
"Heh~. Now your talking. Follow me."
He said and turned around. The girl behind him humphed triumphantly. Feeling validated. Kiruyin paid no mind to her and found an alley where students barely passed by. The beer also ran out. He threw the can into a nearby trash bean and turned to face the beautiful girl that had been following him silently.
'... She would look great with short hair... and of course with gentler expression.'
For a second, he was mesmerised by her beauty.
'The world really does feels more close after drinking huh.'
He thought with a languid expression. A slow feeling spreading through his body and mind. Making him very relaxed.
"So? Tell me what you know and the price."
Kiruyin chuckled at her response. He walked up to the vending machine in that alley and purchased a latte. He thought of how much to ask then a perfect way to get maximum benefit came to his mind.
"If you want to know everything. That would be 1 million points."
He looked over his shoulders with a relaxed smile. The girls eyes instantly narrowed.
"Your making fun of me."
"I'm not. But let me tell you what you can get by paying that amount. The whole mechanism of the S-System. Class division rules. Like, why the students are placed in the class they're assigned to. Also an idea of how much points you will get next month... and stuff like that. But you can certainly not want to do anything with me. That's fine because next month, everything will more or less be cleared."
'Probably.'
Kiruyin wasn't sure about the last statement but from the attitudes of the teachers, it was clear that they will not intervene with whatever the students does. They will act like NPCs, giving the students a false sense of freedom and triumph before crushing them with reality.
Because by the time they realise what happened, they will have nothing. Their bad behaviours and other actions will result in class points deduction.
Kiruyin remembered the Class-D guys. This girls classmates.
'They will most probably get zero individual points next month won't they?'
Looking at the girl infront of him, he could understand why she was in Class-D, instead of other class. From what he noticed, this girl has a brain in her skull that is actually doing some work.
Not wrapping herself with the comfortable delusion like her classmates. She would at least be in Class-C, if not in B. But her personality is the problem.
'She is too cynical.'
That's her biggest flaw. In an environment where coordination is mandatory, her lone wolf drip is basically a curse.
Kiruyin opened the can of latte and took a sip. The relaxed feeling was very much gone now. The girl infront of him was in deep thought after hearing his offer.
"How can I trust that your information is accurate? It's Barely start of the first day. And yet you claim to have figured out the hidden secrets of this school. Where did you learn the information from?"
"If you use your eyes to look around and brain to think, I think it will be fairly easy to figure out everything on your own."
"Are your calling me stupid?"
"..."
"...Sorry."
Kiruyin curtly apologised. And in response, the girl just snorted in disdain.
"I don't have that much on me. How about we sign a contract and I pay you back gradually?"
The girl offered her terms. Kiruyin didn't take it to heart. She probably won't be able to pay him back until the end of the year. He felt bad when thinking about the struggle she would have to go through. Besides, he wasn't looking for scrap money anyway.
He shook his head and took another sip. The girls expression soured visibly.
"I advise you not to make rash decisions. Most of the things will be revealed next month. But if you want an advantage, then I have a better offer. How about I tell you about points? That will be 50,000 points thank you very much."
He said with a kind smile.
"... I will judge the validity of the price after I hear what you have to say."
"Great! Let us sign a contract so that we don't scam each other!"
The girl nodded and Kiruyin sprinted to get paper and pen. Leaving the girl behind. He arrived few moments back. He used the vending machine wall to for support to write the terms.
"What's your name?"
"Suzune Horikita."
"Suzune Horikita... Nice to meet you. I'm Kiruyin Sakiho."
He said without looking away from writing. After a while, he was done and presented the contract with his sign already done.
——————
FAIR INFORMATION EXCHANGE NDA
Party A: Kiruyin Sakiho.
Party B: Suzune Horikita.
Clause 1. Party A shall provide Party B information without any falsehood. In return, Party B is obliged to pay 50,000 or satisfactory amount to Party A.
Clause 2. Under no circumstances shall Party B disclose Party A's identity to any one. Failing to follow will result in contract violation and will result in fine of 1 million points.
——————
"Fair right?"
Kiruyin said when Horikita was done reading and looked at him with her usual sterne expression. She didn't say anything and extended her hand. He handed her the pen which she graceful took and signed the contract.
While she was doing that, he quickly checked if there were anyone nearby.
Horikita handed back both the contract and pen to Kiruyin after raking a picture. He took it and put them inside his shoulder bag.
"AhemAhem!"
He cleared his throat before speaking. Horikita was looked at him with her arms crossed under her chest.
"First. There are two kinds of points. Individual points, which you and I use to do stuff. Then class points. The point that determines how much your will get in the next month to the subsequent one. It also determines your standing. Which class your in. Every class gets 1000 class points at the start. The ratio of is 1:100. Each class point is 100 individual points. And as for standing of your class. The more the better. If you have more class points than Class-C by the end of the month for example, you'll be promoted to Class-C and C will become D... Hmm~. I let out more than I intended to but oh well. These things are connected so... there is nothing I can do."
Horikita listened with a thought full expression. Her focus turning inward. Absorbing every bit of information provided by Kiruyin and examining their authenticity in her mind.
"Didn't you say that you can give mean idea of how much individual points we Class-D can get? Why didn't you say anything?"
She suddenly asked with a frown.
"That will cost another 50,000 individual points."
Kiruyin said with a smile and didn't elaborate more. Horikita stared at his face, trying to get some information from his expression. But he gave out nothing.
She sighed and took out her phone and transferred 50,000 individual points.
Leaving her with 48,580 points of her own.
Kiruyin received the points immediately. His points increased to 143,970 individual points.
'Slurp~tu~Noice~. First business Successful~~'
"Alright Horikita-san. It was a pleasure doing business with you. See you around then."
With that, he turned to leave but Horikita stopped him.
"Let's exchange contact information so that I can contact you for any information I need."
"Sure thing."
They exchanged contact and Kiruyin delayed towards Keyaki Mall for shopping. Horikita stood there for few moments. Watching Kiruyin's departing back with unreadable expression.
Before long, she turned and walked towards the dorms as well. She very useful information. She needed to think this through and formulate a plan to get herself to Class-A as soon as possible.