Chapter 692 680: Solicitation

Walking along the hallway of the club building, Asakura looked out the window and happened to see several tour buses slowly driving into the school's front courtyard.

Those were the students of Toyogasaki & Tsukinomori Joint Academy who had arrived to participate in the second round's club battles of the Triwizard Tournament.

Asakura's gaze lingered on the buses for a few seconds, an instinctive thought flashing through his mind: In fact, according to Sobu High's regional zoning layout, having large buses packed with students enter through the front gate was actually not very convenient; the road leading to the front gate was rather narrow, and they had to navigate around the sculpture and flowerbed. In contrast, the side gate—which was right next to the parking lot—would have been the far more suitable choice, offering not only wider roads but also more convenient boarding and disembarking.

However, he quickly figured out the underlying reason—to demonstrate the importance placed on Shuchiin, one of the co-hosts of the Triwizard Tournament, Sobu High's board of directors made a special ruling to have Shuchiin's buses enter through the more prestigious front gate to showcase hospitality. Yet on second thought, having opened the main gate for Shuchiin, letting Toyogasaki enter through the side gate when they were also arriving for the tournament would appear overly disrespectful and insufficiently fair. Thus, they simply treated both alike and directed Toyogasaki's buses to drive in through the front gate as well, avoiding unnecessary trouble and gossip.

After a brief glance, Asakura withdrew his gaze and continued walking toward the Student Council office.

Just a few steps forward, however, he suddenly stopped and looked toward a nearby corner.

A girl with blue-and-white hair was curled up over there.

"Isn't this the stock-god girl?" Asakura said in surprise.

"Just what on earth is that bizarre title supposed to mean..."

The girl looked up at Asakura with a look of 'what does this mean?', followed by an expression of 'don't bother me', and continued curling up in the corner.

Asakura raised an eyebrow, instinctively glanced out the window, and suddenly realized something.

"...Could it be that you're hiding here from those people from Toyogasaki?"

"None of your business." The girl's voice came out muffled, tinged with a slight distortion.

Asakura rubbed his chin. "Could it be that you owe money?"

The girl snapped her head up and glared at him, her eyes filled with vigilance.

"And it must be a rather large sum, right?" Asakura continued, "Speaking of which, I don't recall seeing you around the school last year... Did you transfer to Sobu High?"

The girl's gaze grew even colder, but it had zero effect on Asakura.

If anything, he became even more excited.

And so, Asakura deduced with absolute confidence.

"Looks like your creditor is someone from Toyogasaki," he said. "How much do you owe them? 10,000 yen? 20,000 yen? Judging by your attire, you don't look like the luxury type... It can't exceed 50,000 yen, right? For a student, that truly is quite a hefty sum."

The girl rolled her eyes at him and returned to silently holding her knees, burying her face between them and curling into a tiny ball.

Asakura was completely thrown off by her reaction.

Did I guess wrong?

Speaking of which, this kid's name... seemed to be Sakiko, right?

Sakiko, Togawa... Huh, this name subtly rings a bell...

Where on earth have I heard it before...

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration zipped through his mind.

Immediately afterward, the words Yukino had once spoken in the past (back in Chapter 290) slid smoothly across the surface of his cerebral cortex.

"The Togawa family's top executives were scammed at the time, defrauded of tens of billions in liquid funds by a partner."

That was it.

Back then, Yukino indeed appeared to be trying to help a student named Sakiko, hoping to get her to suspend part-time work outside the scope of school permissions...

Right, right, that's it—I've understood everything.

Asakura nodded.

Immediately following that, however, his brows furrowed again.

Is that... really right?

It doesn't seem quite right.

Granted, there was no question that she owed money; otherwise, it wouldn't explain her PTSD-like reaction when debts were mentioned just now.

No matter how one thought about it, though, the creditor for that debt of tens of billions couldn't possibly be a student from Toyogasaki, right?

In that case, was the reason she acted like this something else?

Asakura stroked his chin, recalling how Anon in his club previously also showed intense resistance toward meeting her past classmates. While her reaction was clearly not as severe as Sakiko's, it felt like they were fundamentally similar in nature.

"Did you study at Toyogasaki before?" Asakura asked.

The girl remained motionless.

"If not Toyogasaki... Tsukinomori?" Asakura asked again.

The girl's body shuddered almost imperceptibly.

Bingo. A knowing smile surfaced at the corners of Asakura's mouth.

Presumably feeling that reacting would give away her tell to Asakura, the girl still maintained an indifferent facade.

"Although it's not a big deal... I've become a temporary member of the Student Council," Asakura said nonchalantly. "In a little while, our Student Council will definitely hold a reception with the Student Council of Toyogasaki & Tsukinomori Joint Academy. But thinking about it carefully, our school doesn't really have much worth showing visitors... How about I lead them on a tour around this club building... What do you think?"

"Is ridiculing others and watching them squirm really that amusing to you?"

Sakiko finally snapped. She raised her head once more, glaring fiercely at Asakura. Unlike her previous hostility, her gaze this time was far sharper, resembling a vicious hound contemplating where to sink its teeth.

"Not really. It's just that I personally dislike being ignored after taking the initiative to start a conversation, that's all."

Asakura spread his hands.

Speaking of which, when she refused Amakusa Shino's invitation earlier, she indeed mentioned not wanting to appear before the students of Tsukinomori; thinking about it now, that explained the whole situation.

After all, the Togawa family used to be quite prominent. As a member of the Togawa family, being forced to transfer schools due to household debt would certainly make her feel somewhat inferior in front of former friends.

"How truly, exceedingly self-centered," the girl said, staring at him with distaste.

Asakura pulled out his phone: "Hello, Hiratsuka-sensei? The students of the Toyogasaki delegation... Mmh, the portion originally from Tsukinomori, could I be put in charge of receiving them? It's fine, I've already registered with President Amakusa."

Sakiko looked at Asakura in shock, her delicate face wearing a stunned look of 'Are you actually doing this for real?'

Only after Asakura hung up the call with great satisfaction did the girl grit her teeth and speak to him: "Just what on earth do you want?!"

"To see your current expression," Asakura replied with a beaming smile.

"Just how far do you plan to toy with people?! Where on earth did I ever provoke you?!" The girl ground her teeth and demanded.

"Hmm..."

Confronted with her question, Asakura thought carefully and realized that the other party had genuinely never provoked him before.

If anything, the time she gave him pointers on buying stocks at the internet cafe back then was actually doing him a favor.

Looking at it this way, what he was doing truly gave off the impression of repaying kindness with enmity.

No. There's no such thing. Asakura rationalized defensively in his heart.

From the other party's previous behavior, Tsukinomori had already become her inner demon.

He was merely helping her overcome this mental block and achieve peace of mind.

If one's mind isn't clear, how can their martial arts advance!

She ought to be thanking me!

And so, Asakura said with a clear conscience: "Not really, but you can consider what President Amakusa said earlier."

"Are you a broker for that perverted president?"

Asakura: "..."

It seems Amakusa Shino's reputation among the students hasn't been very good lately.

Seeing Asakura stay silent, the girl gritted her teeth.

"...I don't have that much time."

"Is it to work part-time to earn money?" Asakura asked.

"Yes. Unlike a young master like you who lives in comfort, I have to earn money to sustain my life—don't look at me with pitying eyes. I'm not saying this to gain anyone's sympathy, but simply stating facts. I don't have that much free time to play house at school with former classmates."

Sakiko said stubbornly.

"You're mistaken about that."

Asakura shook his head: "Less than half a year ago, I was no young master, but a pitiful person whose monthly living expenses were only 3,000 yen, who had to work odd jobs everywhere to make a living just like you."

"Wh..."

The girl looked at Asakura in surprise.

3,000 yen a month, averaged out to 100 yen a day, which is about three eggs—practically next to nothing.

He actually lived such an austere life too...

"Then until a little over three months ago, I finally changed my life through my own hard work!" Asakura continued.

"Hard work?" The girl widened her eyes, the original distaste in her pupils fading considerably, replaced by a look of curiosity, "So what on earth did you do?"

"I inherited a sweets shop from a distant relative."

"..." The girl's eyes went completely dead.

How on earth was this any different from those joke-like news stories: 'Bought a Maybach through my own hard work after three years of entrepreneurship—lost three million in the venture, parents subsidized five million'?!

"Let's get back to the Miss Student Council President's request,"

Asakura continued as if nothing had happened.

"There's nothing to talk about. I already said I don't have time—"

Feeling that she had been toyed with, Sakiko refused coldly.

"Although it's not something to be proud of, in this joint exam, I placed rank one in the second year," Asakura said.

"..."

Sakiko said nothing, but Asakura could easily decipher the 'Who the hell asked you to brag about yourself?' look from her slumped, pretty face.

As a side note, the joint exam results hadn't been released yet; Asakura's score was leaked to him by Hiratsuka.

"Not 'Sobu High's' rank one in the second year, but rank one across the second year of all three schools."

Asakura continued: "Although you might not have listened carefully... at the previous all-school assembly, the headmaster mentioned that top students in this joint exam receive prize money—one portion for entering the top ten, an extra portion for scoring a victory point against Toyogasaki, and yet another portion for scoring a victory point against Shuchiin."

He counted on his fingers with a serious air: "As of right now, it's roughly around 300,000 yen. It's not a whole lot, though I feel rank one across all three schools might pull in a bit more extra... well, it's better to calculate conservatively for now."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Sakiko looked at him somewhat impatiently: "If you just want to show off, please go find someone else!"

"I don't have much interest in money. If you can represent Sobu High and contribute in some club battles, I can make the call to transfer this money to you as a scholarship."

Asakura said with a smile.

"...I don't need charity from others."

Sakiko gritted her teeth.

This wasn't just spoken out of anger.

In fact, if the girl hadn't insisted on her own choices, she could have completely remained the young lady of the Togawa Financial Conglomerate. Although over 10 billion yen was a substantial loss, it was far from crippling for the Togawa Financial Conglomerate.

It was just that the girl chose her current path herself, shouldering debts that did not belong to her, struggling to survive alongside her alcoholic father under a burden far beyond what someone her age should bear.

"It's not really charity, after all, there are conditions." Asakura extended a finger: "If you can participate in a match, you get 50% of the total prize pool. Consider this an appearance fee. After all, even bands performing at livehouses usually get an appearance fee. And if you can secure victory points in the club battles—whether against Toyogasaki or Shuchiin—you get an additional 50%... How about it?"

He said: "This isn't charity; it's compensation. Fulfilling 'conditions' to obtain 'compensation' is only natural. If you can achieve extra 'challenges,' there will be extra 'gains.' How much you can get depends entirely on your own ability. What do you think?"

"Then, what if I can defeat both Shuchiin and Toyogasaki at the same time?"

As if deliberately trying to put Asakura on the spot, the girl stared at him and asked.

"Then I'll personally fork out an extra 50% from my own pocket." Asakura spread his hands quite straightforwardly: "Anyway, the sweet shop has been quite profitable lately."

Sakiko's breath hitched.

Calculated on a base of 300,000 yen, if she could really max out the score, she could earn 450,000 yen just by going through the motions of a club battle once. That was better than working grueling jobs for an entire month.

As long as she was careful not to run into those few acquaintances of hers... disguised participation shouldn't be an issue, right?

Thinking about it carefully, Tsukinomori was a prestigious girls' academy before, and the students were all rich young ladies; they might not participate in chaotic club battles like this at all. What if the ones sent over were only students from Toyogasaki's main campus?

Seeing the girl's visibly tempted expression, Asakura smiled slightly and delivered the final strike.

"If you're willing to help out, then as a return... I can let you work part-time at my sweet shop," he said: "My sweet shop is located on Usagiyama Shopping Street, not far down the slope from the school. Whether considered from the perspective of commuting or safety, it is the best choice."

"...I understand."

The girl fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Very good," Asakura only then reached his hand out toward the girl with satisfaction and said: "From now on, we are comrades-in-arms. Let me reintroduce myself: my name is Asakura Takuma."

The girl shook hands with him symbolically. In that instant, Asakura noticed that quite a few calluses had grown on her hand, slightly rough, entirely unlike what a pampered young lady would have: "My name is Togawa Sakiko."

"Pleasure working with you."