Just to Settle My Mind

Why would they do something so sleazy?

Weren't they afraid of socially humiliating themselves on the spot and losing their chance to find a partner?

So Kamio Tatsuya immediately came up with an excuse to turn them down. "Uh, I'm not really interested in this."

Ike immediately looked down on him.

"You really are boring."

Sure, you guys are a real riot.

When Kamio Tatsuya refused, Ike returned to the discussion group.

"For the bust-size rankings, I'm betting on Hasebe. Hasebe's definitely number one!"

Kamio Tatsuya, sitting at his desk, pricked up his ears.

Hasebe?

There was only one Hasebe in the class: Hasebe Haruka.

She really was pretty well-endowed. He'd seen her twice before, and both times he'd worried her shirt buttons might pop.

"Hey, hey, you've been watching her way too closely, haven't you?"

"What can I say? We're men. Our heads are always full of boobs and butts!" one boy said proudly.

You really didn't have to be so proud of that. Though what you said probably did apply to most men.

A full belly makes a man's thoughts turn to lust. You guys must've eaten too well. Let's see how you feel when you've spent all your living expenses by next month.

Then I'll be the only one who can still think about it!

And it's not like my head is full of nothing but boobs and butts. You guys aren't into faces and legs?

Don't tell me it's all the same with the lights off. I like keeping them on.

As for why he wasn't into hands, Kamio Tatsuya said he had no desire to be like some ordinary office worker.

That was just a bit too perverted.

"I wanna play too."

"Me too, me too."

The boys noisily gathered around and began discussing the girls' bust sizes with shameless enthusiasm.

Some of the girls in the classroom looked at them like they were garbage, their disdain and disgust practically spilling from their eyes.

Those guys might've temporarily lost their chance to find a partner.

But Kamio Tatsuya felt that a lot of girls weren't really in a position to look down on the boys. The previous night, while browsing the school forum,

he'd found rankings of the first-year boys.

There were lists like "Boys You Most Want to Date," "The Hottest Boys," and "The Most Gloomy Boys."

Kamio Tatsuya would never believe those threads had been made without girls taking part.

So, birds of a feather flock together, no matter their sex.

"I wanna bet too. By the way, I'm betting on Sakura."

The one who suddenly spoke up was Yamauchi Haruki, the tough guy who'd once bragged about making it to the national billiards tournament back in elementary school.

But after observing him for a week, Kamio Tatsuya thought he was probably full of hot air.

Then Yamauchi rose onto his tiptoes to peer at a certain spot before bending down again and lowering his voice. "I'm only telling you guys this, but actually, Sakura confessed to me."

"Seriously?"

The news was so explosive that none of the boys believed him.

"It's true, it's true. But keep it a secret, okay? Anyway, I turned her down, obviously. That kind of plain girl isn't my type. I saw her wearing casual clothes once.

"But if she isn't on Kushida or Hasebe's level, I'm not interested. I don't like those dowdy girls."

What the hell, that counts as spreading a sexual rumor about her, doesn't it?

Kamio Tatsuya wasn't happy.

Sakura Airi was the girl he'd met on the bus on the first day of school. She'd actually warned him about something then, so he'd had a good impression of her.

That shy girl who could barely get a word out without stammering would confess to trash like you?

Are you trying to make me laugh to death so you can inherit my three million?

You're just spouting nonsense because she isn't in class right now, aren't you?

Bastard!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got!

Kamio Tatsuya had once heard something that he thought made a lot of sense.

If you're too strong, people distance themselves from you. If you're too weak, they push you around. Only when you're about as good as they are can they accept you without a second thought.

So only people who knew how to disguise themselves as ordinary could live carefree lives.

But that sort of life was out of Kamio Tatsuya's reach.

With three million in his hands, he was already different from everyone else.

He'd made Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kouhei promise to keep their deal secret yesterday, but Kamio Tatsuya didn't believe they'd really keep quiet.

They'd definitely keep it under wraps for the first month, since that money was essentially hush money.

But in the second month, after the school's rules were made public, the deal would become leverage against Kamio Tatsuya.

If people found out he'd sold information to Class A, it could be portrayed as a betrayal of Class D.

It was obvious what effect the revelation of that information would have on Kamio Tatsuya.

He'd planned to spend a peaceful month keeping his head down, but now it looked like those plans might change. If that was the case, why should he keep putting up with them?

As he thought this, Kamio Tatsuya took a book with a white cover out of his bag and threw it at Yamauchi Haruki.

Everyone was startled by Kamio Tatsuya's actions.

"Y-you what are you doing?"

Yamauchi Haruki had clearly been taken by surprise. Once he recovered, he demanded angrily, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I don't have any white gloves, so I'm using a book with a white cover instead." Kamio Tatsuya dusted off his hands. "Prepare to duel, you bastard!"

Nineteenth: Just to Set Things Right

"Prepare to duel, you bastard!"

With Kamio Tatsuya's roar, he charged forward and kicked Yamauchi Haruki to the ground before he could react.

Then he climbed on top of him, ready to land a couple more punches.

Kamio Tatsuya's body wasn't very tall, and he wasn't all that strong.

But taking on trash like Yamauchi Haruki wasn't difficult.

Especially since he'd struck first.

Just as Kamio Tatsuya's fist was about to hit Yamauchi Haruki's face, he felt a force hoist him up, stopping him from swinging his fist.

"Calm down, Kamio."

Hirata Yosuke's voice rang out behind him. "You guys, come help too. Hurry and pull them apart."

The last part was directed at the other students in the class.

A group of boys rushed over and dragged Kamio Tatsuya back to his seat, while another group helped Yamauchi Haruki to his feet.

As the boys held Kamio Tatsuya back, Yamauchi Haruki snapped out of his daze. Fear gave way to anger.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you bastard?"

"I just wanted to teach you a lesson. Is making up rumors about a girl just to satisfy your vanity something a normal person would do?"

Even with so many people restraining him, Kamio Tatsuya's presence didn't diminish in the slightest.

"You're awfully quick to defend her. Don't tell me you're after her?"

Yamauchi Haruki wasn't much good at anything else, but he could be pretty quick with his mouth.

"Heh. That's none of your business."

Kamio Tatsuya certainly wasn't going to admit it. The girl in question was standing at the classroom door, and judging by her expression, she'd clearly heard what he'd just said.

A boy fighting for a girl—did he really need to explain the reason?

"What are you doing?"

Just as Yamauchi Haruki was about to speak up and save face, Chabashira-sensei entered the classroom after noticing the commotion.

"Nothing. Just a typical high school fight," Kamio Tatsuya said casually, rolling his shoulders now that he'd been let go.

A typical high school fight? Did he even hear what he was saying?

Chabashira Sae sighed to herself. It had only been a week since the school year started, and the class was already fighting. What was wrong with this batch?

"Hirata, tell me what happened."

At Chabashira-sensei's words, Hirata sighed and gave her a detailed account of what had just happened.

After hearing him out, Chabashira Sae's expression darkened.

"Kamio, is what you said true? Did you really intend to use violence against Yamauchi?"

You're not even asking why? You're just asking whether I meant to use violence?

You're not a very good teacher, are you?

Kamio Tatsuya readily admitted it.

"That's right. If Hirata hadn't stopped me in time, my fist would've already had an intimate encounter with his face."

Then Chabashira Sae turned to Yamauchi Haruki.

"Yamauchi Haruki, do you wish to file a complaint against Kamio Tatsuya for using violence against you?"

Yamauchi Haruki's eyes lit up at this. Holy crap, was this his lucky day?

"I do! I want to file a complaint! He kicked me really hard just now. I'm in so much pain!"

Seeing this, Kamio Tatsuya wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but Chabashira Sae's expression seemed to grow even darker.

"In that case, both of you will stay after class at noon." Chabashira Sae delivered her verdict. "Get ready for class."

The morning classes ended before long.

After Kamio Tatsuya's outburst, the boys' bust-size betting was dropped altogether.

During that time, Yamauchi Haruki flashed Kamio Tatsuya a smug look more than once.

Kamio Tatsuya didn't care at all and just carried on with whatever he was doing.

"I didn't expect you to be so impulsive."

After school, Horikita Suzune looked at Kamio Tatsuya with a complicated expression as she prepared to eat her lunch.

"I just wanted to set things right."

At that moment, Chabashira-sensei appeared at the classroom door, and Kamio Tatsuya stood up and walked over.

Yamauchi Haruki followed right behind him.

"Yamauchi Haruki, I'll ask you again. Are you sure you want to file a complaint against Kamio Tatsuya?"

"Of course! That bastard nearly killed me!"

Heh. Now he was really exaggerating.

A faint smile appeared on Kamio Tatsuya's lips.

After hearing Yamauchi Haruki's words, Chabashira Sae gave up entirely and simply walked ahead in silence.