The Straw Millionaire

"Thank you for your attention. However, as a teacher, I cannot accept anything from students without a reason."

After a pause, Mafuyu proceeded with the lesson.

"Be careful. You too, as the student council president, should look like one. Wouldn't it be troublesome if there were rumors of bribing teachers?"

Mafuyu looked around. Many students walked in the corridor, but none paid attention to them. She sighed in relief silently.

Shinichi raised his eyebrows slightly, observing an expression that needed no further questioning.

"You won't accept anything?"

"Nothing can be collected."

"How about some homework?"

"..."

Mafuyu glared at him, turned, and planned to leave.

Shinichi dropped his playful expression and suddenly took a step forward. "If you can't accept it without a reason, can you exchange it with me?"

"Exchange?"

She looked back with confusion.

Shinichi nodded. "Have you heard of the Straw Millionaire? It's a story about starting with a straw, continuously bartering, and eventually becoming wealthy."

"I've heard of it before..."

"I brought an orange here in the morning, and I've exchanged it about five times until I got this chocolate bar."

Shinichi scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Though it was just a coincidence, initially, I didn't think of the Straw Millionaire story... But now that I've reached this point, I still want to see what I can get in the end, and I happened to know that Kirisu-sensei needs this chocolate to supplement calories and sugar..."

"Is there something from you that you can exchange with me? Anything is fine."

Shinichi looked at her from top to bottom, then his eyes stopped, focusing on the round and full chest stretching the suit.

With slightly narrowed eyes, he smiled and suggested, "By the way, the pen in your pocket looks really nice."

"..."

Mafuyu fell silent, staring at the chocolate in his hand, then at his sincere expression. She hesitated, then slowly loosened her cheek.

"Speechless. Because you said that..."

"Do you agree? Great!" Shinichi smiled happily.

The next moment, Mafuyu discarded this silly idea into the trash.

"Right, I'm not worried that the teacher will show off again and give you chocolate until you pass out from hypoglycemia. I just want to play the Straw Millionaire game. Please don't misunderstand."

"..."

Mafuyu stared at him expressionlessly, then sighed softly after a few moments.

"It doesn't change. Your way of caring for others always makes people dislike you."

Shinichi handed the chocolate to her with an indifferent expression.

"In that case, don't think I care about you. Besides, half of what I just said is true. Believe only half of it."

Mafuyu looked at the Snickerdoodle, shook her head, and put it in her pocket.

"Thank you."

"Yes."

"Also, there's no point showing off in front of you. I already understand it very well."

"What?"

Those words sounded like bubbles in her mouth, making Shinichi unable to hear them clearly. He watched her red lips open and close slightly.

"It's okay. After eating this chocolate bar, I'll make time to go to the cafeteria to buy bread, so don't worry."

"Is that so...? That's good."

Shinichi tilted his head. His sudden softening confused her a bit, but as long as his goal was achieved, the rest didn't matter.

"As for the pen... Its value is slightly different. I'll give it to you as a replacement."

Mafuyu thought for a moment and pulled out a coupon-like paper from her pocket.

"This is a limited edition cafeteria exchange coupon that I planned to use today... You can exchange it for a large bowl of grilled pork rice. I heard the portion is so big that even adults can't finish it. Now that the cafeteria is closed, I can't use it, so I'll give this as a replacement."

Shinichi took it with a blank expression. "It's not worth it; the chocolate is just over a hundred yen..."

"The important thing is not the price but the value it can generate."

Mafuyu waved her long hair and immediately turned around with a serious look.

"Good luck. I hope in the end, you can find something useful for yourself, 'Straw Millionaire.'"

After saying that, she walked to the teacher's office without looking back.

Shinichi stood there, turning away from her back, looking at the exchange voucher for yakiniku rice bowl in his hand, and thinking for a moment.

Although "Straw Millionaire" was a temporary idea he came up with to deal with Mafuyu, now that he remembered it carefully, the development of everything seemed to have a real feeling.

If there was such a thing as a "plot," then with whom should he exchange this rice bowl voucher...

Shinichi had already thought of the next candidate, or more precisely, there weren't many people to choose from.

A bowl of grilled pork rice, which even adults couldn't finish, was clearly an easy thing for her.

△

"This is a limited edition cafeteria exchange voucher —?! Asada-kun, where did you get so much treasure!"

"Heroes don't care about their origins... No, don't worry about how you got here. I can't use this; do you want it?"

"Of course! Wait, Asada-kun, do you want to give me this treasure? How can I repay you? It's too valuable!"

"...Do you want to trade something? Barter."

"Alright, wait a moment; I'll find it..."

"To act so respectfully..."

"Ah, found it! This is also a limited edition. It's Nino's favorite high-quality aromatic facial tissue! Although it may not be as expensive as grilled pork rice, it's the most valuable thing on my body!"

"Oh, facial tissue..."

"Or should I help you press your shoulders and use my physical strength as compensation... or do something else..."

"Enough, enough, Fumino is still listening there, don't say words that will cause misunderstanding."

"Hmm? Asada-kun, do you mean if I'm not here, you'll ask Itsuki to exchange her body for the yakiniku coupon?"

"Eh?! Fumino, what I was talking about was workforce, not body!"

"Because she completely misunderstood."

"Hmph! If you didn't have the wrong idea first, how would you know that I misunderstood?"

"If you didn't misunderstand first, how would you know that I have wrong thoughts?"

"If not..."

"If not..."

"Wait, wait, both of you, if you keep arguing like this, there will be no end..."

△

Overall, Shinichi successfully exchanged the fragrant facial tissue from Itsuki, and it was time to go home after school.