COTE: Starting With Love Stock Market System

After carefully finishing Sakura's ice therapy, Hikaru set the towel aside and smiled at the girl sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Alright, Sakura-san. Now you can take it easy and get some rest. Remember to ice it again tonight, okay?"

"Mm, I will."

Sakura gazed at the boy standing in front of her. Ever since she had confirmed her feelings, simply looking at his face would stir those emotions to the surface.

"That's good, then. I'll be heading back for today," Hikaru said as he returned the towel to its place. With a hint of concern in his voice, he added, "If anything happens, don't hesitate to contact me. I'll come over right away."

"Mm."

The girl nodded firmly, giving him a gentle smile.

Sakura had already made up her mind. Even if she had to deliberately create opportunities, she was determined to spend more time with him—until she could finally gather the courage to confess her feelings.

"See you, Sakura-san."

As he closed the door to her dorm, Hikaru shifted his gaze to his system interface.

In truth, a notification had already popped up earlier, but he had been too busy taking care of Sakura to check it.

[Under your gentle care, Sakura Airi has confirmed her feelings and recognizes your importance to her. Sakura Airi's stock price has increased by 30. Current stock price: 150.]

"Huh? It jumped that much at once?"

Hikaru was momentarily stunned. In just one day, her stock had risen by a total of 40 points, bringing it to the same level as Ichinose.

Stocks unrelated to class competition really were the best—just spending time together and showing care could lead to such dramatic increases.

Feeling pleased with himself, he hummed a tune as he stepped into the elevator, his heart filled with anticipation for the future.

---

Just like that, Wednesday arrived in no time.

During this period, Hikaru had checked in on Sakura twice. She had only taken a single day off and was already back in class by Tuesday, seemingly fully recovered.

With that reassurance, he was able to shift his full attention to preparing Class A for the upcoming midterms.

After all, today was the day they would reveal the midterm exam papers to everyone. The results of this plan could directly impact their class's standing.

Upon entering the classroom, Hikaru immediately spotted Ichinose at her desk.

She had already finished making copies of the test papers the day before and now had them neatly stacked in her drawer. When she saw him, she greeted him with a bright voice.

"Good morning, Hikaru-kun!"

"Morning, Ichinose-san."

After taking his seat, Ichinose retrieved the test papers and showed them to him.

Their plan was to announce this information after school today, giving the class an entire day tomorrow to prepare before the midterm exams on Friday.

"Then after school, I'll leave the announcement to you," Hikaru said, tapping the fresh stack of test papers, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Mm, got it!" The pink-haired girl nodded firmly.

---

The school day passed quickly, and when the final bell rang, the subject teachers left the classroom.

Yet, none of the Class A students made a move to leave.

At lunch, Hikaru and Ichinose had already informed everyone to stay after class for an important announcement.

Now that the class had been fully unified under a single leadership, no one dared to ignore a request from these two central figures.

All eyes turned toward them, curiosity and anticipation in the air.

"Ichinose-san, it's all yours."

"Mm."

Taking a deep breath, Ichinose stepped up to the podium while Hikaru carried a stack of test papers to the front table.

Their roles were clear—Ichinose would explain the information while he distributed the papers.

"Everyone, please listen carefully," Ichinose began. "Hikaru-kun and I recently uncovered a very important piece of information regarding this midterm exam."

"What kind of information, Ichinose-san?"

"It's about the test papers," she explained, briefly exchanging a glance with Hikaru.

At that, he began distributing the test papers to the students in the front row, instructing them to take one copy of each subject and pass the rest back.

"Please take a look at these," Ichinose continued. "Each of you should receive five test papers—one for each subject."

As he handed them out, Hikaru added, "Make sure you take the correct subjects."

Within a few minutes, every student had five test papers in their hands, all staring in confusion at the sheets in front of them.

Ichinose's eyes swept across the classroom before she spoke again.

"What you're holding now is last year's first-semester midterm exam," she said slowly. "And what we discovered is—"

"The school reuses its midterm test papers!"

A wave of shock rippled through the class.

"No way!"

"Huh?!"

"Wait… does that mean this is the exact test we'll be taking?!"

Students hurriedly lowered their heads, scanning the contents of the papers in their hands.

"Ichinose-san, how did you and Hikaru-kun-kun get these?" Shibata raised his hand and asked.

"We purchased them from an upperclassman," Ichinose explained. "Not only that, but we also bought a past quiz from the same semester. After comparing them, we confirmed that the questions were identical."

"So that means if we memorize all the answers, we're guaranteed to ace the midterm?!"

"Yeah! I wasn't feeling confident about math before, but now I don't have to worry!"

Some students, particularly those weaker in certain subjects, visibly relaxed.

At that moment, Ichinose deliberately put on a serious expression.

"However, I want everyone to pay attention to one thing."

Her tone became heavier, commanding their focus.

"Hikaru-kun and I believe that tomorrow should be dedicated to memorizing these test papers."

"But for today, I don't want anyone to stop their regular studies.

"Even though past midterms have always been reused, there's no guarantee that this year will be the same. If, for some reason, the school decides to change the questions, we need to be prepared."

She paused before continuing, "So today, we stick to our usual study routine. Tomorrow, we focus on memorizing the test. That way, we'll be ready for any situation.

"Understood?"

A moment of silence followed before a wave of agreement spread through the class.

"Got it!"

"Yeah, that makes sense. We'll do as you and Hikaru-kun say!"

"This test paper is a godsend!"

"Thank you, Ichinose-san and Hikaru-kun. Having you two in our class is the best thing that could've happened!"

A satisfied smile formed on Hikaru's lips as he listened to his classmates' responses.

With their plan set in motion, everything was progressing smoothly.

~~~

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