"Is Mochizuki-san quitting school?"
"Shh, keep your voice down."
"Sorry."
Well, of course I'd be surprised if I heard that the class's most elegant beauty was quitting our high school.
Mochizuki Haruka is admired by all the boys in the class.
Of course, I, Yasunaga Renji, am no exception. I’d like to get close to her too.
"Is she moving away?"
"No, it seems to be a money issue."
"Seriously…?"
There had been rumors for a while that the Mochizuki family wasn't well-off.
Her middle school classmates mentioned it, her lunch was always quite plain, and despite being a girl at that age, she didn't wear makeup or any accessories. She often turned down invitations from friends after school or on weekends to work part-time instead. Everyone got the impression that she was struggling financially.
But I never imagined things were so bad that she'd have to quit school.
"Apparently, she has a lot of debt and can't afford to keep going to school."
"Where do you even get this kind of information?"
Is it really true that she's quitting school over money? Or is this just people jumping to conclusions?
Especially with girls—there's jealousy towards Mochizuki, who attracts the attention of boys despite not wearing any makeup. Maybe some of them spread these rumors.
"A friend of Mochizuki-san overheard it, and when they asked her, she didn’t deny it. That's how the story got out."
"Hmm, so she couldn’t lie to her friend, huh?"
It’s unfortunate that sensitive family matters had to be exposed like that. Her friend probably regrets bringing it up in public.
"Mochizuki has a younger sister, right?"
"Yeah, I think she’s in her last year of middle school and taking entrance exams this year."
"Mochizuki seems like the type who’d say she’s quitting school for her sister’s sake."
And then her sister would probably argue, "Then I won’t go to school either, I’ll just start working!"
"Sigh… so she’s really quitting, huh?"
"Yasunaga, did you like Mochizuki-san that much? Enough to sigh over it?"
"Not that much. It’s just… the idea of quitting school to work because she doesn’t have money… makes me imagine things, you know? The thought of someone so pure getting involved in… certain things is kind of… exciting?"
"You're the worst. But I get it."
Even though I was half-joking, the thought of Mochizuki working in the nightlife industry doesn’t sit well with me.
If that’s how it’s going to be, maybe I should just…
"Alright, I’m going to go make Mochizuki mine."
"Huh?"
My motto is 'strike while the iron is hot'—immediate action and decisive moves.
"Hey, Mochizuki!"
"What is it?"
She responded softly, but she looked visibly unwell. It’s not just the stress of quitting school, she probably hasn’t been eating properly either.
But she doesn’t need to worry anymore.
I’m going to take care of that.
"If you offer me your body, I’ll pay off your debts."
A loud stir spread through the classroom. That kind of lowly proposition was bound to cause a reaction.
"I’m not joking."
Her face twisted in a frown, but even that was unfairly cute.
"I’m serious. Look, here’s my bank balance."
"!?..."
I showed her the balance on my web banking app.
It’s a bit of a cliché, but between a lottery win and some stock investments, I’ve racked up quite a fortune.
For the record, minors can’t freely use large sums of money without their parents' consent, but my parents gave me permission, and I live alone in a pretty nice apartment.
Paying off a classmate’s debt shouldn’t be an issue.
"You don’t have to offer me your body until after the money’s transferred, so don’t worry."
"…………"
I didn’t want her to think it was a scam and call the police, so I made sure to be clear. Now, let’s see what she says.
"I refuse."
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