"Good morning Horikita-san. Do you have a moment?"
During the break after first period, Yōsuke went and paid a visit to Horikita at her seat.
For whatever reason, I decided to watch over them from my own seat.
"I went around talking to a bunch of people yesterday, but it's proving difficult to get anybody to cooperate. A couple people told me they'd be willing to pair up, but..."
Despite being fellow comrades of the soccer club, the recruitment process didn't seem to be progressing very smoothly. After all, getting the first-year students who had only just joined the club to completely open up to him would be difficult, even for somebody like Yōsuke.
"They asked you for points, didn't they?"
Upon seeing Yōsuke nod in response, Horikita continued.
"They've got the opportunity to sell themselves at a high price. It's not surprising."
Private point buyout tactics had spread throughout the entirety of the first year, just as I had imagined.
"I was told that Class 2-A reached out to them, asking them to pair up, but then Class 2-C went and offered points for the same thing. It's not just the guys I talked to either. Class C has tried to poach nearly everybody that Class A has reached out to as well."
"It's only natural since the smart students are so hotly contested."
Deep down, Horikita had already predicted this.
However, what Yōsuke said next was a little bit different.
"Though, it seems that they've even reached out to some students with C or D ratings. I've even heard stories that they were willing to pay large sums of points for them as well."
"So you're saying that they aren't necessarily prioritising the academically stronger students?"
"As far as I can tell, at least."
"Alright. If you can remember anybody's name in specific, could you perhaps share them with me?"
"Of course."
Yōsuke listed off the names of the first-year students that he knew Class A had given offers to. Horikita then looked each of those names up in the app and quickly understood what was happening.
Even though those who had been approached had low Academic Ability ratings, they each had something exceptional about them outside of that. They were valued for their excellent Physical Ability, Adaptability, or Social Contribution ratings instead.
"I see... As expected, I should say."
"Instead of getting caught up on the short-run, they're probably thinking about the long-run."
This wouldn't necessarily be the only exam where we'd have to cooperate with the first-year students. That being the case, non-academic skills would naturally become essential. The thought process is that, by providing a lifeline to the students who are academically insecure now, they would be helpful in their own field of expertise later on down the line. It was a decent plan.
Setting that aside, the interesting thing about this was that Ryūen's class was doing it as well.
Instead of just aiming for the students with high Academic Ability ratings, they were closely following in Sakayanagi's footsteps.
"It would be great if we could do that too, but..."
"That would be difficult, wouldn't it?"
We were students of Class D whereas Sakayanagi was from Class A.
Even those who had only just enrolled here should already know which class had the better image.
Considering their future, it was perfectly understandable that they'd prefer to lean on the more superior class when they need help.
"Thank you. Might I ask that you continue to look into this?"
"Yeah. I'll report back to you if I find out anything else."
Yōsuke beamed at Horikita with a bright, refreshing smile and went back to his seat.
Shortly thereafter, I received a text message from Horikita.
[So there you have it.]
I see. It seemed as though she caught on to the fact that I had been eavesdropping on them.
[Hirata-kun is truly reliable, isn't he?]
[I guess.]
He had butt heads with Horikita at one point, but now that was water under the bridge.
As someone who always gave 100% for the sake of the class, he was a very reliable person.
Of course, his intelligence and communication skills were nothing to scoff at, but his biggest strength was his trustworthiness.
He had a strong track record that made people believe that he could handle anything.
That was also why Horikita was willing to freely discuss strategy with him.
[As Class D, we have to bear with the handicap. It's an uphill battle.]
[We don't have any other choice. Good luck.]
[You do know that you need to play your part as well, right?]
[You mean the thing with Nanase?]
[Yes. Can you reply to her as soon as possible? Tell her we're ready at any time.]
She wanted to move forward with it quickly; To strike while the iron is hot, as they say.
After all, if we didn't, the other classes would snatch away all of the talented students from us.
[Well, I'll get to it tomorrow. I've got to take care of that other problem first.]
[Of course I know that.]