COTE: Starting With Love Stock Market System

After clearing out his stocks, Hikaru gazed at the girl in front of him—Kushida Kikyo—and spoke slowly.

"Now, Kushida-san, you and I share a secret. You don't need to worry about me spilling it. After all, you still have leverage over me."

"Hmph!"

The blush on her face faded as the short-haired girl recomposed herself. She lightly patted her cheeks and shifted her gaze toward the distant sea.

"Hikaru-kun, after seeing this side of me… what do you think?"

"Hmm. I think everyone has a bit of darkness in their hearts," Hikaru replied calmly as he stood beside her. "Letting it out isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"But the way I acted just now must have been terrifying, right?" She tilted her head, watching Hikaru's profile.

"To me, it just means I understand Kushida-san a little better now. That's all. It's not a big deal—it's not like you actually hurt anyone."

"Well… It might have hurt the railing." Hikaru chuckled, deliberately shifting the topic to ease the tension between them.

Now that he had liquidated his Kushida Kikyo shares, Hikaru's next move was to strategically lower her stock value by displaying a friendly relationship with Suzune in front of her.

This meant that a direct fallout with Kushida wasn't ideal—not yet. He might need to buy back her stocks later, and with 5,000 shares of this treasure stock, keeping an open line of communication was the smart play.

"You really know how to say all the right things, don't you, Hikaru-kun?"

After some casual conversation, Kushida's expression had already returned to her usual friendly and charming persona—the coldness from before had completely vanished, as if nothing had happened at all.

Women truly are born actors.

Hikaru sighed inwardly as he observed her. Then, he brought up something that had been on his mind.

"How's the search for the eyewitness going?"

"We've got a lead," Kushida turned to look at him and explained. "Horikita-san said she noticed someone in our class who might have witnessed the incident."

"Someone from your class…?" Hikaru immediately asked, "Who is it? Are you close to them?"

"It's Sakura Airi," Kushida recalled their limited interactions. "She's really shy and doesn't have many friends in class."

"If that's the case, how did Horikita determine that she might be the witness?"

Just hearing that name made Kushida annoyed again. Back in Ayanokoji's dorm, Suzune had analyzed the situation, explaining that when Kushida asked the class if anyone had seen anything, everyone had instinctively looked up—except for Sakura, who kept her head down and seemed visibly uneasy.

And that was where Suzune had stopped, dropping a few cryptic remarks before leaving, while everyone else praised her deduction skills.

That moment had ignited Kushida's frustration, driving her to this secluded spot to vent.

"Horikita said that when I called for witnesses in class, she was the only one who kept her head down and looked uncomfortable. It's likely that she's involved in some way."

"Is that so?"

Hikaru nodded. Whether the deduction was accurate or not, simply talking to her could yield useful information.

Besides, right now, his objectives aligned with Class C's. They wanted to prevent Sudo's expulsion, while Hikaru needed to ensure Ryuen's plan didn't succeed—he couldn't allow him to expand his influence within the class.

"So, how do you plan on approaching Sakura-san?"

"Hmm… Everyone decided to leave it to me. Since she's so shy, it might be easier for her to open up if it's another girl talking to her."

"Ichinose-san must be keeping a close eye on your situation, right?"

"Honami-chan? She said she'd wait for my conversation with Sakura first. If she's not the witness, we'll have to keep searching."

"Makes sense. Right now, everything is still speculation. Without concrete proof, we're working in the dark."

Hikaru stroked his chin. He wanted to find a way to monitor the search process personally—it could also serve as valuable information for the upcoming Student Council hearing.

But from the way Kushida described her, Sakura didn't seem like someone easy to approach.

For now, it was best to let Kushida take the lead.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Kushida-san. Hopefully, you'll get a breakthrough. I'll be keeping an eye on this matter."

Hikaru nodded, indicating his continued involvement.

After chatting a bit more, the two finally parted ways and returned to their dorms.

---

Once inside his room, Hikaru immediately pulled up his system panel.

[Character Information]

Name: Hashima Hikaru

Age: 15

Intelligence: 7

Charm: 8

Physical Ability: 4

Owned Stock: Ichinose Honami × 3,000

Funds: ???

"I managed to secure a huge amount of funds in one go. The question is, which stock should I invest in next?"

Hikaru scanned the Stock Market Interface, reviewing the options that had been listed but he hadn't bought into yet. There were three available stocks:

1. [Horikita Suzune Stock]

Initial Stock Price: 100

Shares Issued: ???

2. [Chabashira Sae Stock]

Initial Stock Price: 50

Shares Issued: ???

3. [Shiina Hiyori Stock]

Initial Stock Price: 30

Shares Issued: ???

"Horikita Suzune's initial stock price is ridiculously high—100 points! A full investment would cost 300,000… that's way too risky. Plus, I haven't even used the Stock Analyzer on her yet, so I have no idea how her value might fluctuate."

"As for Chabashira-sensei… I'll put her aside for now. We're not in the same class, so she's not a priority."

That left Hiyori as the last option.

During his previous rule-selling operation, Hikaru had already used the Stock Analyzer on her, and the results were clear—she was a classic bookworm.

[Stock Increase Recommendation]:

Befriend her through shared interest in literature

Discuss mystery novels with her

Gain her personal recognition

"These actions don't directly involve class competition… That might actually make things easier. It keeps things simple and avoids unnecessary trouble."

With that thought in mind, Hikaru made his decision—he would find an opportunity to approach her soon.

If this stock turned out to be an easy investment, all the better.

~~~

Read 30 Chapters Ahead

> patreon.com/HudaLin