After clearing the stock, Hashima Hikaru looked at Kushida Kikyo across from him and slowly said, "Now, Kushida-san and I have a shared secret. Please don't worry that I'll leak it, since my weakness is in your hands."
"Hmph!"
After the blush faded from her face, the short-haired girl regained her composure. She patted her cheeks and turned her gaze to the sea in the distance.
"Hashima-kun, after seeing this side of me, what do you think?"
"Well, I think everyone has some darkness in their hearts," Hashima stood with her, his tone very calm. "Venting it out is fine."
"But my behavior just now must have been pretty scary, right?" The girl turned to look at Hashima's profile.
"For me, it only means I've gained a better understanding of Kushida-san, that's all. It's not a big deal, since you didn't actually hurt anyone."
"Well, maybe you hurt the railing." Hashima joked, shifting the topic to make the atmosphere between them less tense.
After clearing the "Kushida Kikyo stock," Hashima's next plan was to decrease her stock price by demonstrating a friendly relationship with Horikita Suzune in front of her.
So now he couldn't directly break face with her, as he might want to buy back Kushida's stock in the future. This treasure stock of 5,000 shares would be better to maintain contact with.
"Really, Hashima-kun always says nice things."
After some casual chat, Kushida Kikyo's expression had returned to her public persona, no longer cold, with a softer aura, as if nothing had happened earlier.
Women are indeed born actresses.
Hashima watched her face, sighing inwardly.
He asked about something he was concerned with: "How's your search for witnesses going?"
"We have a lead," Kushida turned back to look at Hashima, explaining, "Horikita-san said she observed and found that a classmate of ours might be a witness to this incident."
"A classmate of yours..." Hashima quickly asked, "Who is it? Do you have a good relationship with her, Kushida-san?"
"It's Sakura Airi-san," the girl recalled her interactions with her, which seemed minimal. "She seems to have a very shy personality, so she doesn't have many friends in class."
"In that case, why does Horikita-san still think she might be the witness?"
Bringing this up made Kushida's heart start to feel annoyed again. At the time, in Ayanokoji's dormitory, Horikita's analysis was that when she was asking the class if anyone had witnessed anything, everyone had looked over, but Sakura had kept her head down, with an unusual expression on her face.
After finishing this analysis, Horikita had stopped. She said a few cryptic things and then left, but everyone seemed to approve of her, praising the black-haired girl for being very clever.
So this immediately ignited the girl's anger, making her come here to vent alone.
"Because Horikita-san said, when I was calling on everyone in the class to look for witnesses, only she kept her head down, and her expression didn't look right, which might be related to this incident."
"Is that so?"
Hashima Hikaru nodded. Whether this analysis was correct or not, simply having a conversation with her would likely yield some results.
Moreover, his current goal aligned with Class C's—Class C wanted to prevent Sudō from being expelled, while the boy himself needed to thwart Ryūen's plans and stop him from expanding his influence within the class.
"So, how do you plan to approach that Sakura girl?"
"Well... The class decided to leave it to me. Since she's so shy, it might be easier to talk to her if it's another girl."
"Ichinose seems pretty concerned about your situation, doesn't she?"
"As for Honami, she said she'd wait until I talk to Sakura first. If Sakura isn't the witness, then we'll have to keep searching."
"That makes sense. After all, everything is just speculation right now. Without concrete evidence, nothing is certain."
Hashima Hikaru rubbed his chin. He actually wanted to find a way to oversee the process of locating the witness—it could also help with the upcoming student council review.
But from what she said, the girl in question didn't have many friends and didn't seem easy to approach.
In that case, it might be better to let Kushida Kikyō try first.
"Then let's have Kushida approach her tomorrow. There might actually be a breakthrough. I'll keep an eye on how things progress."
Hashima Hikaru nodded, indicating that he would continue to offer his assistance.
After chatting for a while longer, the two finally parted ways and returned to their respective dorms.
Once inside his room, Hashima immediately opened his system panel.
[Character Information].
[Name: Hashima Hikaru]
[Age: 15]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Charm: 8]
[Stamina: 4]
[Stocks Held: Ichinose Honami Shares × 3000]
[Funds: 507,000]
"With this much money now, which stock should I invest in next?"
Hashima Hikaru felt like he was facing a happy dilemma. He began checking the [Stock Interface] for the three stocks that had been listed but which he hadn't yet purchased.
[Horikita Suzune Shares]
[Initial Price: 100, Total Shares: 3000]
[Chabashira Sae Shares]
[Initial Price: 50, Total Shares: 4000]
[Hiyori Shares]
[Initial Price: 30, Total Shares: 3000]
"Horikita Suzune's initial stock price is ridiculously high—100 points. Going all-in would cost 300,000. That's a huge investment, and I haven't even used the [Stock Analyzer] on her yet. I don't know how to boost her stock price."
"As for that cold-faced teacher, I'll hold off for now. She's not in my class, so I can set her aside."
Hashima 's gaze settled on the last option—[Hashima Hiyori Shares].
During his last visit to sell the rules, he had already used the [Stock Analyzer] on Hashima Hiyori. The results were clear—she was a classic literary girl.
[Stock Price Increase Suggestion: Become her book friend, discuss mystery novels together, and earn her exclusive personal approval.]
"These actions have nothing to do with class competition. It might even save me some trouble and keep things more straightforward."
Hashima silently made up his mind, deciding to find time to approach her later.
If this stock was easy to mine as well, that would be perfect.