COTE: Bag And Love System

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. No matter whether she will encounter setbacks or not, this is something that Ichinose Honami must go through. The real class competition has yet to begin. She must familiarize herself with these things as soon as possible so that she can achieve better growth.

　　 The last time she saw Sakayanagi, she left a deep impression on Hashima Hikaru. That silver-haired girl was definitely not a simple person, and he was destined to not gain any advantage if he came into contact with her.

　　 This is a very good opportunity for training and it is only right to entrust it to Ichinose Honami.

　　 "Oh, everyone has already arrived at the reward party, and they are urging us on in the group chat."

　　 The girl in front held her cell phone and her eyes were shining with joy.

　　 "Yes?"

　　 "Let's go quickly, the students are waiting."

　　 Ichinose Honami's face was filled with joy. Although she had just accepted an important information gathering mission, after learning about the group's dynamics, she immediately focused her attention on him.

　　 "OK."

　　 Hashima Hikaru nodded lightly. School was over, so it would be nice for everyone to celebrate. The students of Class B had been through a lot with him during this period, so they really needed a moment to relax.

　　 After the two of them walked to the address sent to the class group, they found that it was a relatively large restaurant that had been reserved by the students of Class B. There were familiar faces inside.

　　 After the two of them entered the awards party venue, the classmates inside cheered and welcomed them, making the atmosphere in the room even more lively.

　　"Hashima-san, Ichinose-san, thank you!"

　　"You are the absolute protagonists of today's reward party, please take your seats."

　　 Shibata shouted to the two from his seat. He had already unbuttoned his school uniform and looked very relaxed.

　　 Hashima Hikaru and Ichinose Honami were sitting at the table in the middle of the restaurant, surrounded by the most active classmates in the class, including Shibata Sa, Kanzaki Ryuji, and several girls led by Ando.

　　 After they took their seats, the reward party for Class B officially began.

　　 With delicious food in front of them and some good friends around, the atmosphere in the restaurant became more and more lively, driven by the people of Class B.

　　At that moment, a new message appeared on Hashima Hikaru's phone.

　　 Kushida Kikyo: Hashima-san, are you free lately? I've been waiting to treat you to a meal, please reply if you receive it.

　　 The Hashima thought about it and immediately sent a reply.

　　 Hashima Hikaru: Tomorrow will be fine, is it okay in the afternoon?

　　 Who knew that after sending this message a reply would come the next second? Has this guy been playing with his phone the whole time?

　　 Kikyo Kushida: Great. See you at the family restaurant in Keyaki mall. See you there.

　　 Hashima Hikaru: Yes.

　　After the boy put down the phone, he thought it was a good time.

　　 Anyway, the task of investigating Sakayanagi's attitude has been assigned to Ichinose Honami, and the point recovery plan has been completed.

　　 Now I should start raising the stock price of the stock characters. There is also the [Shiina Hiyori stock] that was just launched today. The initial stock price is 30 and the issue amount is 3,000, which is also a good target.

　　 "Let me wait to meet you tomorrow, Kushida-san."

　　 After a lively reward party, Hashima Hikaru opened the dormitory door, holding his uncomfortable stomach.

　　 He had just been besieged by classmates from class B at a dinner party. Aside from Shibata and the others, whom he was very familiar with, classmates he had barely spoken to before also approached him and started a conversation.

　　 Not only that, there is also the classic toast during dinners.

　　 Seeing his classmates more enthusiastic than the others, Hashima Hikaru naturally had to face them and responded to their enthusiasm one by one. As a result, his stomach suffered.

　　 Although they are all underage and cannot drink alcohol, they will feel uncomfortable if they drink too much. Shibata and Kanzaki Ryuji, who were beside him, seemed to have foreseen this. Not only did they not help him, they kept filling his cup and fanning the flames, asking the girls to come closer and toast with him.

　　 If Ichinose hadn't stopped him in the end, Hashima Hikaru might have died in that restaurant today.

　　 "Those bastards must have planned to get me drunk a long time ago!"

Hashima Hikaru walked to his chair cursing and sat down. Although his body felt uncomfortable, the lively mood that had just spread to the atmosphere had not diminished.

　　 It had been a long time since he had been so indulgent. In the first fifteen years of his life, he had studied hard to fulfill his dream of continuing to study. Although he had some friends at school that he could talk to, they were not many, and naturally, he had long since lost contact with them.

　　 Now, in this completely closed campus, as he becomes more and more familiar with his classmates, Hikaru Hashima develops an inexplicable sense of belonging.

　　 It is true that humans are social animals.

　　 "Forget it, don't think about useless things, just focus on business."

　　 Hikaru Hashima touched his belly and looked at his system panel.

　　The stocks he has purchased so far are only [Ichinose Honamk Stock] and [Kushida Kikyo Stock], and he still has 118,000 in available funds.

　　 The boy thought about the analysis of the [Kushida Kikyo Stock] stocks. This was a very important sample. In addition to the relatively low initial stock price, more importantly, the way the stock price dropped was almost entirely related to Horikita Suzune.

　　 At present, Hikaru Hashima has agreed to Horikita Manabu's request to help Horikita Suzune grow, so he will definitely have contact with her many times.

　　 However, it is still unclear at what point Kushida's stock price will drop. Only after completing this experiment can we accumulate experience and obtain more funds in the future.

　　 But before that, their stock price must rise, otherwise it will all be in vain.

　　 --------

　　In classroom B on the second day, the aftermath of yesterday's celebration had yet to dissipate. Although everyone was tired, they still had a smile on their faces.

　　 "Good morning, Hashima-san!"

　　 "Good morning."

　　 After saying hello, when Hashima Hikaru returned to his seat, he found that his deskmate, Ichinose, had yet to arrive. He couldn't help but wonder if the other party had gone to bed too late the night before.

　　 Probably a few minutes later, as the boy was flipping through the book in his hand, a familiar fragrance approached and a girl's soft voice reached his ears.

　　 "Good morning, Hashima-san."

　　"Good morning, Ichinose-san. It seems like you're a little late today."

　　"Hehehe, I actually started implementing the plan yesterday." Ichinose looked at Hashima Hikaru with a smile on her face, a hint of pride in her tone.

　　"Really? Then I'm all ears. How did Ichinose-san complete her mission?"

　　"Yesterday I got in touch with the girl from Class A that Ando knows, and learned from her that Sakayanagi usually performs with a girl named Kamuro Masumi."

　　"I got Kamuro-san's contact information and sent her a message, asking her to convey my thoughts to Sakayanagi-san," Ichinose took out her cell phone and showed it to Hashima Hikaru, "Sakayanagi-san didn't refuse and agreed to the request for a private meeting."

　　"It's not easy at all, we've been around a lot."

　　 Hashima Hikaru glanced at the message history on the chat page, which contained the communication records between Kamuro and Ichinose.

　　 Then he saw a very important piece of information and his expression suddenly changed.

　　 Did Ichinose and Sakayanagi have a date today?

　　 Hashima Hikaru hurriedly asked, "Ichinose-san, where are you planning to meet today?"

　　 "It's at the Keyaki mall's cafe. The place was chosen by Sakayanagi-san."

　　 "That's right, I understand." The young man nodded and felt relieved.

　　 If they're not in the same place, there shouldn't be a problem.

Although Ichinose Honami knew that Kushida was going to invite him to eat, judging from his behavior that day, it was not certain what would happen if the girl saw him meeting Kushida.

　　 Hashima Hikaru still cares about Ichinose's feelings, and the best possible scenario is not to meet her.

　　 "I also learned a lot of information about Class A from that classmate." Ichinose did not notice the change in the boy's expression and continued, "Class A is really divided. The Katsuragi faction and the Sakayanagi faction are classmates, but they never act together. They even eat separately."

　　 Ichinose Honami was very confused by this situation and softly muttered, "We all belong to the same group, why do we have to do this…?"

　　 "Heh, this is probably the characteristic of Class A."

　　 Hashima Hikaru thought it was normal and explained to Ichinose Honami, "The students of Class A already have different tendencies, and this is even more so after they learned about the hidden rules."

　　 "Everyone understands that the school considers them to be the best students in the class, so they naturally have their own pride. Katsuragi and Sakayanagi have gained recognition from some people thanks to their strength and have established their own factions."

　　 "Without an obvious reason, defecting will be seen by others as a sign that they made a mistake in the first place, which will lower their own evaluation, so everyone wants to annex the other party's faction to prove that their choice is the most perfect."

　　 "I'm afraid these people will remain like this until the special exam begins."

　　 "Why can't we all join together…?" Ichinose nodded slightly, but she still felt a little aggrieved.

　　"Well, let's stop talking about useless things. What time do Ichinose-san and Sakayanagi-san have their appointment?" Hashima Hikaru changed the subject and asked Ichinose about the specific meeting time.

　　"Four thirty, at the Beech mall cafe," the girl read the message on her phone.

　　"Okay, then I hope Ichinose-san successfully obtains the information."

　　 Hashima Hikaru smiled, knowing that time would make things much easier, and besides, the cafe and the family restaurant were on two different streets, so they would never meet no matter how hard they tried.

　　This time the advantage is mine!

　　The day passed quickly and when the school bell rang, Hashima Hikaru began to prepare her things. He and Kushida Kikyo had agreed to meet at four o'clock, which was earlier than the time agreed upon by Ichinose Honami and Sakayanagi, so this was a safe choice.

　　"Hashima-san, do you have any plans for later? Do you want to go sing together?" Shibata walked over. Ever since he gave Hashima Hikaru a drink last time, he now really likes to play with him.

　　 On the one hand, it's because Hashima has a good temper and basically never gets angry, and on the other hand, everyone is confident in his abilities and hopes to have a good relationship with him.

　　"No, I have something else to do. I'll definitely do it next time."

　　 Hashima Hikaru smiled and walked out of the classroom without explaining in detail to Shibata, leaving the boys from the sports department standing there in a daze.

In his opinion, Hashima Hikaru should often act together with Ichinose Honami, but when he turned around, the pink-haired figure had also disappeared, it seemed like these two people had plans for today.

　　 "Actually."

　　 Shibata muttered softly, then picked up his bag and went to find Kanzaki Ryuji, who was also an active classmate in Class B, and they were currently good friends.

　　 After leaving the classroom, Hashima Hikaru was the first to return to the dormitory. He changed into a set of private clothes he had bought earlier. After all, it was his first time seeing Kushida Kikyo in private, so it would be best to dress in a way that would make a good impression on the other party.

　　 His purpose is to improve his favorability, so appearance cannot be ignored.

　　 This is a light-colored casual autumn outfit, a shirt paired with straight pants. Compared to the burgundy school uniform, it looks gentler, less student-like, and more mature.

　　 "That's it. That's it."

　　 Hashima Hikaru stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his appearance. The casual and stylish clothes matched the boy's already spectacular face, making him look even more attractive.

　　 He took his phone and sent a message to Kushida to tell her that he would be leaving immediately, then opened the bedroom door and walked out.

　　 I have been to the Hashima Hikaru family restaurant in the Keyaki shopping mall many times. As it is a popular venue among countless students, there is never a shortage of customers and you can see a lot of people every day, so it is necessary to make reservations in advance.

　　 As it was Kikyo Kushida who was inviting her to dinner this time, she naturally reserved a seat early.

　　The short-haired girl also placed a lot of importance on this encounter. She stayed in the dormitory for a long while before leaving. In addition to putting on some nice private clothes, she also put on some light makeup to make her cute face even more charming.

　　 "That's fine."

　　 Kushida was sitting at the table fixing her hair, expressionless on her face, which was her state when she was alone.

After all, it's very tiring to pretend to be an energetic little angel all the time, and there's no need to maintain that image when you're alone.

　　 "Good afternoon, Hashima-san!"

　　 The girl looked at herself in the mirror, and a bright smile appeared on her lips. Practicing greeting before leaving could make her feel more confident.

　　 After walking out of the dormitory door, her face regained its gentle expression and she headed towards her destination.

　　 She would also meet some classmates she knew along the way, and after greeting them, they couldn't help but ask her who she would meet today after dressing up so beautifully.

　　 "It's a secret."

　　 The girl is already familiar with this kind of language skills, which not only won't hurt her image, but will add a touch of cheerfulness to her image.

　　 Nowadays, Kikyo Kushida is still the energetic little angel loved by countless people.

　　 Just as she was about to arrive at the family restaurant, she saw the figure standing at the door.

　　 The boy was tall and wearing light-colored casual autumn clothes. There was no expression on his handsome face, but he exuded a strange charm to those around him.

　　 Many girls deliberately slowed down their pace just so they could look at him a few more times, and some bolder ones came up and talked to him, asking his name and class.

　　 Kushida took small steps towards Hashima Hikaru. She had to admit that the other person's appearance was in line with her aesthetic taste. If the girl didn't want to fall in love at all now, she might consider choosing him.

　　 Just as she was about to approach, Kushida heard Hashima's response to a senior who came to chat with him.

　　"Hey, senior, do you want to be my friend? I'm Shibata from class 1B and I'm single right now."