April 21st, Sunday
Yamauchi went to a nearly empty section of the electronics store. Well, nearly the whole Keyaki Mall was empty except for some most visited shops currently, since it had just opened up some minutes ago.
He picked up a modern-looking digital camera and looked at the price.
'Damn… 80k? This isn't even supposed to be professional level, I think.'
He checked around a few more cameras and quickly came to a conclusion: His knowledge in this field was close to none.
'Crap, I should have just called Kaito with me. Although he might not even know as much as I do.'
Just as he was wondering about whom to call, he noticed a shy girl with pink hair up to her waist hesitantly entering the shop.
"Sakura Airi, huh." He muttered under his breath.
Yamauchi had tried to start a conversation with this girl a few times in the past, but only managed to get her name, which he already knew.
She seemed to be a socially dead person, and couldn't hold a conversation with anyone. Even Kushida had failed to get her contact.
[Name: Sakura Airi
Class: 1-D
Physical stats:
Stamina - 43
Strength - 45
Combat technique - 31
Average physical stats - 39.67
Mental stats:
Academic ability - 48
Memorisation power - 49
Critical thinking - 45
Average mental stats - 47.67]
Her overall stats were probably the absolute worst in the year, if not the whole school. Even losing to the original Yamauchi.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! You finally came!" The clerk, likely in his 40s, spoke.
Hearing that voice, Sakura's body suddenly stiffened, eventually, she spoke out in a low voice.
"H-H-How do you know my na-name?"
"How would I not? Didn't you send in the request for that camera model? I found it from there!" The man replied with a chuckle. "Are you here to buy them?"
Hearing the clerk, Yamauchi went towards the counter. This was the very same clerk who had completely ignored him when he asked him about cameras.
"Ah, I didn't know you could speak." He said sarcastically, glaring at him.
Hearing that, the clerk's face suddenly darkened. But he suddenly hid it with his professional mask.
"Ah, I am sorry, sir. I didn't notice you coming. How can I help you?" The clerk asked, trying to keep his voice as neutral as he could.
Ignoring the clerk, Yamauchi went towards Sakura and offered a handshake.
"Sakura, right? As you probably know, I am Yamauchi Haruki. Nice to meet you!"
Knowing how socially introverted Sakura was, he intentionally decided to introduce himself again to give her time. Hesitatingly, she extended her soft palm and tried to express a smile.
"N-N-Nice to meet you too!" She replied, quickly taking her hand back.
In this short exchange, Yamauchi quickly concluded that it would be really difficult to have a long conversation. So he decided to stop beating around the bush.
"I heard you specifically put in a request for a digital camera. I am asuming you are here to buy it, right? If you want, I can help you with it. I am also looking for one for my friends, so I could use your help in return."
After thinking a bit, she quietly nodded and glanced at the clerk, who clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed because of the interference. Understanding the situation, he decided to stop pushing Sakura more and just put the showpiece on the counter.
"Uh… So what's the price and other details about this one?" Yamauchi asked, curious to know why she would specifically request this camera.
After learning the details, which he didn't understand at all, he was still impressed simply with image quality and the price. Since it only cost 40k points, he and the rest of his group could easily afford it.
Taking a photo of the camera and its details with his mobile, he quickly sent it to the group chat, which included him, Kaito, Hana, and Mii-chan. They had made it for Yuna, whose birthday was on 24th April.
Quickly, he got a reply.
Hana: Hmm, this one seems better than most models I could find online under 50k points. We can easily split the cost too, each paying 10k. I think you should just buy it right away.
Since he was feeling as if he was rushing a big purchase, Hana's reply gave him confidence. On the other hand, both Kaito and Mii-chan didn't have much knowledge, they just decided to go along with their plan.
Hana: Do you have enough to buy right now? If not, I can pay up for now.
Yamauchi quickly replied: No need, I have enough to buy. Just don't keep delaying your payment till the end of the next three years LOL
Then he glanced at Sakura, who seemed to be waiting for his help. Normally, he would have wondered how someone like her, who couldn't even talk to employees, could even live alone for three years, but then again, this clerk was a crazy level creep. Even he found himself hesitating to talk to him.
"Hey, uh, Sakura. If you want, you can transfer me 40k points and I can buy the camera in your stead. Though the purchase will be in my name if you do so…" Yamauchi calmly explained the situation to her.
Although she wasn't the smartest of students, quite the opposite actually, she understood what Yamauchi wanted to achieve. On the downside, she would have to share her contact with Yamauchi, and his presence will also be necessary in case she has to use her warranty.
But because of this, the clerk would have no way of getting more information about her, which was something she would really love to avoid.
After a moment of hesitation, she responded with a firm nod, causing the clerk to get annoyed even further, though he remained silent because he knew he couldn't do anything.
Once the deals were completed, Yamauchi happily left the mall a few minutes after Sakura did. Not only had he bought a good gift, but he also managed to get Sakura's contact– something even Kushida couldn't do. Though whether it would be useful or not was another matter, but who would mind having contact with a harmless girl? Certainly not him.
Although Sakura's first impression of Yamauchi wasn't that good, she had noticed drastic changes in her neighbour over the past few weeks. That was one reason why she had agreed to give him her contact information. While the main reason was that the alternative was to risk giving it to the clerk.
———
April 24th, Wednesday
Yamauchi went towards the lift, going to the 6th floor. As soon as the door opened, he found Hana and Mii-chan, dressed up in casual clothes.
"So you finally came, eh? I thought we were gonna have to wait for the rest of the day." Hana spoke as if she were really annoyed.
"Huh? Didn't Kaito come with you?" Mii-chan asked.
"Well, he's hellbent on taking the stairs today, as well," Yamauchi scoffed, "And I am literally 2 minutes late, the heck do you mean by 'wait for rest of the day'?"
The emergency door to the stairs opened as soon as he said that, revealing Kaito, his breath a bit heavy. His room was on the first floor, so he had climbed five floors continuously rather than just taking the elevator.
Looking at the three glaring at him, he smirked and said, "Hey, hey, no need to stare at me, I know I am handsome!"
"Sigh… Let's not keep her waiting anymore, a few of your classmates have already arrived." Hana said to Kaito, knocking at Yuna's door, which opened in a split second.
It wasn't Yuna who opened the door, but an angelic girl with strawberry-blonde hair, reaching up to her back, and alluring blue eyes.
[Name: Ichinose Honami
Class: 1-B
Physical stats:
Stamina - ??
Strength - ??
Combat technique - ??
Average physical stats - ??
Mental stats:
Academic ability - ??
Memorisation power - ??
Critical thinking - ??
Average mental stats - ??]
She seemed to be quite a lot like Kushida, really friendly with everyone, talkative, and helpful. Apart from the fact that she was superior to Kushida in all the stats, there was some difference between the two that Yamauchi couldn't exactly pinpoint.
"Ah, Kaito-kun! Oh, are these your clubmates? It is nice meeting you all, I am Ichinose Honami!" She said in a cheerful tone, letting them in. If not for the fact that Yuna was just inside, Yamauchi would have thought it was Ichinose's own room.
Inside, there were a few others, likely Yuna's classmates already present. With that, the whole room was filled with just enough people to not call it crowded.
Once the introductions were over, everyone celebrated her birthday, helped themselves with food, and played a few games. Since Kaito was closest to Yuna, he was naturally chosen to give her the gift along with the rest of her clubmates. While her classmates had gotten her a few gifts individually.
"Oh! This is really better than the previous camera I used. Thanks a lot!" Yuna was really surprised to find a brand new digital camera. "Was it your plan, Hana?"
"Well, sort of. But the one who found that piece was none other than Yamauchi!" Hana replied with a grin.
"Ah, well, I really gotta thank my classmate for that. If not for her, I probably wouldn't have found anything close to this." Yamauchi admitted. "Do you know Sakura, Mii-chan? It was her."
"The girl who sits behind you, right?" Mii-chan said, noticing that Yamauchi was surprised that she knew her, she continued. "Well, she's the only girl in class whose name I don't know, haha…"
Since they were in a girls' dorm, the party couldn't last as long as they wanted to, and thus reluctantly left early.
If there was one thing Yamauchi found amusing, though, it was that the ever-talkative Yuna was considered an 'introvert' in her class.
"Huh… is everyone in Class B a social freak? That may be how the school has divided students." Yamauchi muttered jokingly while going to his room. "Well, our class would definitely be for abnormal students then, no doubt."
He had been pondering this question quite a lot these days. While he had not found any absolute patterns yet, he was more than sure that the school didn't divide all the students randomly.
But alas, even if he were to find it out right now, it would be too late. Why? Because his class had already hit 0 Class Points a couple of days ago.