Mash-Up: Anything for Money

The next day, Hakuto groggily climbed out of bed. He walked into the bathroom, splashed cold water on his face, and looked at the memo stuck to the mirror.

Because of his job, he often puts notes on the bathroom mirror to remind himself of important things. 

He didn't want to forget something and leave a bad impression on his customers.

"Huh? Is today Ginko's match?"

Hakuto glanced at the memo, relieved that he had written it down.

After all, knowing Ginko's personality, if he forgot, she wouldn't remind him in advance—she'd settle the score afterward.

That meant stepping on his head with her black-stocking-clad foot as punishment.

"Today is also the day I go to Hoshino Umi, but luckily, Ginko's match is in the afternoon."

Hakuto was glad Sayuri had canceled their contract a few days ago. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to fit this into his schedule.

Tearing the note off the mirror, Hakuto left the bathroom, got dressed, grabbed a few pieces of bread from the fridge, and headed out.

After a while, Hakuto arrived at the gates of Hoshino Umi Academy. 

He thought his journey into the world of superpowers was about to begin—until the school security stopped him, shattering his illusion.

"Sir, I really am an exchange student. Didn't you already check my documents?"

"But I never received any notification about it."

"Doesn't the principal's seal on this document hold more weight than a notification?"

"Since when has Hoshino Umi Academy ever had exchange students?"

It wasn't that the guard was overly suspicious. 

It was just that Hoshino Umi Academy had existed for years, and while there were transfer students, there had never been any exchange students.

After all, every student here either had superpowers or showed signs of developing them.

The school's main purpose was to take in all superpowered individuals, so they didn't allow outsiders in—let alone send their students out.

That made Hakuto the first exchange student in Hoshino Umi Academy's history.

Seeing that the security guard still wouldn't let him through, Hakuto gave him a once-over and sighed.

"Uncle, you used to be a superpowered individual too, didn't you?"

The guard's face instantly showed a hint of shock.

"As I thought..."

To make Hoshino Umi Academy feel more like a normal school, they had security guards.

But since they couldn't let regular people learn about superpowers, they could only hire former superpowered individuals—those who had aged out of their abilities after puberty.

"Do I need to show my ability?"

Supercalculation wasn't an easy ability to demonstrate, but since it had a time-stopping-like feature, he could just pretend it was teleportation.

Just as Hakuto was about to show off his power, a familiar voice interrupted him.

"Oh, there's no need for that."

"Hmm?"

Hakuto turned his head and saw that, at some point, Tomori Nao had appeared beside him, holding his exchange student documents.

"When did you get here?"

"Right when you asked if you should demonstrate your ability."

Nao didn't even glance at Hakuto. Instead, she spoke directly to the security guard.

"I'm Tomori Nao, the student council president. I can vouch that this guy is indeed an exchange student."

And so, with Nao's help, Hakuto smoothly entered Hoshino Umi Academy.

She led him to the classroom where he would be studying as an exchange student.

Looking at Nao sitting at the front and a familiar middle-parted head in the back of the classroom, Hakuto sighed, even though he had expected this outcome.

If he could get the 2 million yen without joining the student council, he would have been much happier.

"My name is Shiratori Hakuto. I'm an exchange student from Toyosaki Academy. I'll be here for the next few months—please take care of me."

Hakuto stood at the podium, naturally introducing himself. Compared to the times he had to stand before the entire school for a public apology, this was nothing.

"Hakuto was the top student at Toyosaki Academy. He will be staying with us for the next few months, so let's give him a warm welcome."

"Oh~ he's handsome!"

"And he's Toyosaki's top student? Why would someone like him come to our school?"

Following the teacher's arrangement, Hakuto was seated next to Takajo Jojiro.

"Hey—"

Just as Jojiro was about to strike up a conversation, Hakuto cut him off.

"Takajo Jojiro, I've seen you before. Last week, you followed me for quite a while."

Though Hakuto had never met Jojiro face-to-face, he had deduced what had happened to Nao using his ability.

Naturally, he had also noticed Jojiro in the process.

Jojiro was briefly stunned but quickly realized that this was Hakuto's power at work.

"Super Calculation is terrifying."

"Yeah, otherwise, do you think Nao would have insisted on bringing me to Hoshino Umi just for an exchange program?"

Throughout the two morning classes, Hakuto barely paid attention. His top student status wasn't bought—it was earned. But more importantly, he knew he wasn't here to study.

Sure enough, as soon as the second class ended, Nao set down her portable music player and walked over to Hakuto and Jojiro.

"Our informant has news."

"Looks like it's time to get to work. Let's go."

Hakuto smoothly stood up and left the classroom, as if he had done this a hundred times before.

Nao and Jojiro exchanged glances, then followed him out.

Before long, they arrived at the Hoshino Umi Academy student council office. The familiar long table and map were still there, but this time, there was an extra person.

And that person seemed to be arguing with the student council president.

"You acted so confident, but in the end, I was the one who led the way here."

"If you keep running your mouth, I'll calculate all your embarrassing childhood moments and spill them."

"You couldn't even figure out where the student council office was..."

"I didn't bother to calculate it, not that I couldn't!"

Jojiro stood there watching their argument, unable to get a word in.

Just then, the office door swung open, and a man, completely drenched, slowly walked inside.

"This is the informant. His ability tells us the locations of superpowered individuals."

"But given your ability, I suppose I don't even need to explain that."

"I can super calculate, but I'm not omniscient."

Hakuto indeed had some knowledge of the informant, but he didn't want to give them the illusion that he knew everything.

It was like going to a fortune teller—if the fortune teller asks for your birthdate and you say, 'Shouldn't you already know?' that would be ridiculous.

A single drop of water fell from the informant's fingertip onto the map, soaking the area where it landed.

Watching the scene unfold, Hakuto suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the next second, a deep voice came from the informant's lips.

"Ability... Plunder."

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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute]

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