But who was like that?
"Since you think I'm a beautiful girl, why haven't you looked me in the face once since you came into my room?"
Why wasn't I looking at you? Did you really have to ask?
Hearing that, Kamio Tatsuya finally gave up pretending and looked up at Kamuro Masumi.
But his gaze seemed to have a mind of its own. In the blink of an eye, it landed on the bare strip between her skirt and her over-the-knee socks.
As if something there was drawing him in.
Shinji!
I think I finally understand why you said something like that.
But I still have to criticize you.
One year isn't enough. Three years minimum, you bastard!
Noticing Kamio Tatsuya's gaze, Kamuro Masumi felt uncomfortable and stood up. Kamio Tatsuya's gaze moved with her.
Seeing what he was doing, Kamuro Masumi wanted nothing more than to lift her leg and plant her foot right in his face.
One by one, what are you all doing?
Kamio Tatsuya followed one principle.
If he said he wouldn't look, he wouldn't look.
If he wanted to look, he'd do it openly.
Sneaking a peek would only make a girl think he was a creep.
Not everyone had a pair of eyes that knew how to appreciate beauty, and Kamio Tatsuya considered his own taste pretty good.
So after Kamuro Masumi said that, Kamio Tatsuya began openly sizing her up.
As the saying went, "When a flower is in full bloom, if I don't stop to admire it, I'd seem like I had no appreciation for beauty."
"You really don't hold back."
"Weren't you the one who told me to look?"
Kamio Tatsuya raised his gaze to her face.
"I'm going back."
Kamuro Masumi picked up the schoolbag lying on the bed.
"Don't let me keep you."
Kamio Tatsuya looked away, picked up his teacup again, blew on the steam, and took a satisfying sip.
This girl!
She really knew how to get on his nerves!
Not long after Kamuro left, someone knocked on Kamio Tatsuya's door again.
Was this ever going to end? Hadn't she already left?
But when he opened the door, it wasn't Kamuro Masumi outside. It was his classmate, Horikita Suzune.
"What are you doing here?"
One unexpected visitor after another. Kamio Tatsuya hadn't expected either Kamuro Masumi or Horikita Suzune to show up.
He'd thought Hirata Yosuke would be the first to come see him.
That guy was easy to figure out. He wouldn't give up on any of his classmates, so of course he'd come to comfort Kamio Tatsuya after his punishment.
Especially since the whole thing hadn't been entirely Kamio Tatsuya's fault.
It had only taken him a week to figure that out.
"Are you planning to make me stand here and talk to you?"
Why was everyone saying the same thing? Honestly.
Kamio Tatsuya sighed and stepped aside.
After entering the room, Horikita Suzune noticed the two cups of tea on the table.
"Someone else was here?"
"Yeah, a friend."
Kamio Tatsuya picked up the teacup Kamuro Masumi had used and emptied it into the sink. After rinsing it, he poured Horikita Suzune a cup as well.
The tea leaves had been steeping in the pot for a while, though, so the tea was rather dark.
He figured it would taste bitter, too.
But Horikita Suzune probably wouldn't care.
"By the way, what did you come here for?"
Unlike Kamuro Masumi, Horikita Suzune didn't sit on the bed. Instead, she sat down in front of the small table.
Now that was what a normal person would do.
Kamuro Masumi really had no sense of boundaries.
"I've been thinking a lot lately."
Kamio Tatsuya added water to the teapot as he listened to Horikita Suzune.
"According to you, Class A is full of the school's elite, while Class D is full of defective products."
"That's right. I did say that."
Kamio Tatsuya sat down and poured himself some tea. After the water he'd added, its color had lightened considerably. It should taste just right now.
"Then you admit you're a defective product, too?"
"That's right." Kamio Tatsuya admitted it without hesitation. "What's so bad about admitting it? Nobody's perfect. Everyone has flaws. If there really were someone without a single flaw..."
He let out a couple of cold laughs. "Then I'd have to wonder if they were even human."
He'd never thought he was perfect. Even after being reborn, he didn't think he was perfect.
"Don't you feel even a little bit dissatisfied?"
"Why should I? My worth isn't determined by what other people say." Kamio Tatsuya gave Horikita Suzune a puzzled look.
This girl seemed to be taking things a little too seriously.
Even the most capable people couldn't earn everyone's approval. Why care so much about what other people thought?
"Is that all you came here to talk about?"
"More or less." Horikita Suzune sighed.
This girl was getting harder and harder to understand. She'd come all the way to his room just to say this pointless stuff. Why bother? She was keeping him from his game.
Horikita Suzune sat silently for a while, then drained her cup of tea.
"Thanks for the tea. I'm going back."
"Don't let me keep you."
Horikita Suzune picked up the schoolbag lying on the floor and left Kamio Tatsuya's room.
Before long, someone knocked on his door again.
What the hell, was this ever going to end?
Kamio Tatsuya had just turned on his game console and was getting pretty annoyed.
He opened the door with a scowl and saw the third visitor of the day.
And this one was even more unexpected.
Kushida Kikyo—the girl who claimed she wanted to be friends with everyone in the class—was standing outside Kamio Tatsuya's room.
Hey, hey, did Yamauchi Haruki know you were visiting me?
He'd declared he wouldn't date anyone unless she was in the same league as you or Hasebe.
Wasn't that basically an outright confession?
And now you're standing outside my room. If Yamauchi Haruki found out, his expression would be priceless.
"Um, Kamio, I'm really sorry. Am I bothering you?"
Why apologize right off the bat?
Had you done something that called for an apology?
Oh, my face looked unpleasant. Okay, I forgive you.
"It's nothing. I'm just not used to having so many people visit me one after another," Kamio Tatsuya explained. "Anyway, what did you want, Kushida?"
Honestly, Kushida Kikyo seemed completely harmless, but Kamio Tatsuya didn't really want to get involved with her.
He just wanted to get through these three years in peace. There was no need to get too involved with someone whose true nature was unclear.
"I was worried that you might be feeling down after being punished, but it looks like I was worrying for nothing."
You don't look worried at all.
"Aren't you going to invite me in, Kamio?"
He felt like he'd heard that line somewhere before.
A few minutes later, Kamio Tatsuya poured Kushida Kikyo a cup of tea, too. It wasn't freshly brewed, of course. It was still the same pot of tea, just topped up with water.
"Actually, I came because of Horikita."
Horikita?
Horikita Suzune?
Why were you coming to him about her?
Kamio Tatsuya was at a loss. Did she realize she was causing trouble for people?
But if he said that out loud, she'd definitely dislike him, so he played along. "What's up with Horikita?"
"Horikita is always by herself. Some of the girls are starting to have a problem with it."
What the hell did that have to do with them?
Kamio Tatsuya was fed up. Was her being alone getting in anyone's way?
The dorm rooms at this school were single occupancy, so it wasn't as if sharing a room would cause friction. If she preferred to do her own thing, that was her choice.
Who were these ugly girls to meddle in someone else's business?
And you still say it wasn't your fault
Although he didn't understand Kushida Kikyo's motives, there were plenty of people who kept to themselves. Horikita Suzune wasn't the first he'd met, either.
So Kamio Tatsuya didn't think there was anything particularly wrong with what Horikita Suzune was doing. Choosing to be alone was her business.
"That's her choice, and she hasn't done anything to inconvenience anyone, has she?"
"Of course I understand that. But there are a lot of people who are worried about her, too."
Kushida Kikyo's face was full of concern. It was hard to tell whether she was sincere.
Either way, she was pretty impressive, in a way.
"I'm not that close to her. You've come to the wrong person," Kamio Tatsuya said, turning her down outright. "Even though I sit next to her, we barely talk in class. It's Ayanokoji, who sits next to her, who chats with her all the time. Besides, I'm going to be suspended for a week, so I probably can't help you."
I don't want to get caught up in this kind of trouble, so I'll leave it to you, Ayanokoji. Now we're even.
"But I just saw Horikita come here."
Damn, were you following her?
That's not a good habit!
"Oh, I asked her to explain the key points from the teacher's lessons. I'm going to miss a week of class, and she looks like an excellent student with high academic ability."
Before you continue