Classroom of the Elite: Just Want to Be a Slacker

Since he could not study with this guy watching him anyway, Kamio Tatsuya simply stood up, packed his books into his bag, and followed Yamada Albert out of the library.

He had assumed this guy would take him somewhere without surveillance cameras and beat him up. If that happened, Kamio Tatsuya had planned to make a run for it halfway there.

To his surprise, though, their destination was actually a barbecue restaurant in Keyaki Mall.

Kamio Tatsuya had even been to this barbecue restaurant before, with Kamuro Masumi. It held some wonderful memories for him.

After entering the restaurant, Kamio Tatsuya was led by the Black Guy to a private booth, where he saw the person who had specifically asked to meet him: Ryuen Kakeru.

"You're here. Have a seat."

Kamio Tatsuya frowned, unable to tell what this guy was plotting.

Still, in a place like this, he was not about to beat him up, right?

After confirming there was no danger, Kamio Tatsuya tossed down his bag, sat in the chair across from him, and used the tongs beside him to pick up a piece of already-cooked meat.

We have no grudge against each other. He wouldn't poison me, would he?

Want to Pick a Fight? Just Say So

Since Ryuen had not spoken up, Kamio Tatsuya naturally had the patience to wait. Besides, it was indeed mealtime, so filling his stomach mattered more than anything else.

After wrapping a piece of meat in lettuce and stuffing it into his mouth, Kamio Tatsuya felt deeply satisfied.

He was genuinely starving, after all.

"Tastes good."

"Looks like you're quite satisfied with this place."

"It's alright."

Kamio Tatsuya replied while eating.

Watching Kamio Tatsuya remain completely unfazed even while sitting across from him, Ryuen narrowed his eyes. At first glance, this guy looked like nothing more than a small fry, yet unexpectedly, he had this kind of nerve.

Just then, someone appeared: Shiina Hiyori.

Judging by how slightly out of breath she was, she had probably run all the way here.

"Oh? Didn't expect you to come, Hiyori."

Seeing Shiina arrive, Ryuen greeted her without a care.

"Why did you bring Kamio here behind my back?"

Kamio Tatsuya had never seen this expression on Shiina before. She looked extremely angry.

"Of course I couldn't tell you about something like that. Besides, you came anyway, didn't you? Sit down."

Ryuen really was an unreasonable bastard. With just a few words, he left Shiina unable to press the matter any further.

"Sit down first, Shiina. Whatever it is, we can talk after you sit."

"Sorry, Kamio. I got you involved."

Shiina Hiyori's face was filled with apology. It did not look like she was putting on an act with Ryuen.

"It's fine. I'm happy enough when someone treats me to a meal," Kamio Tatsuya said indifferently. "So, Ryuen, we're neither friends nor relatives. You didn't call me here just for dinner, did you?"

Ryuen's hand, which had been tending the meat, stopped. Then he raised his head and looked at Kamio Tatsuya with a faintly amused smile.

"Do you really not know why I called you here?"

Kamio Tatsuya's heart skipped a beat. This guy... couldn't he know I'm Anonymous, the one who made those posts? Well... it would not be strange.

"I can more or less guess, but I'd still like to hear you say it yourself."

That's right. What if what I guessed is different from what you want to say? Wouldn't that mean I'd be exposing myself?

Then we'd just be staring at each other awkwardly.

Right?

Ryuen, meanwhile, shot Kamio Tatsuya an annoyed glare.

"You really have a nasty personality."

Hey, hey, hey. You're the one who had a Black guy block me in the library. Do you really have the right to say that?

"Takes one to know one."

"I heard that during the first week after school started, you used information about the Behavioral Ethics Exam to extort three million Private Points from Class A."

Damn, so it really was that bastard Sakayanagi. She really did leak it. Kamio Tatsuya had thought she had been suspiciously quiet lately. So this was what she had been waiting for.

Sigh, whatever. He had not expected her to actually keep it secret in the first place. At the end of the day, it had only been a verbal agreement.

"What do you mean, extort? That makes it sound awful. It was clearly a transaction both sides agreed to."

Kamio Tatsuya looked highly displeased.

"So you admit it happened?"

"You've put it so clearly already. What's the point of denying it?"

Kamio Tatsuya felt that Ryuen could be pretty long-winded sometimes.

"Why not leak the information to Class D? If you told them the news..."

Before Ryuen could finish, he noticed Kamio Tatsuya staring at him as if he were an idiot.

"Fine, I admit that was a stupid question." Ryuen rubbed his head, feeling that this guy really was different.

"What you actually wanted to ask was whether I'm the person anonymously posting all over the forum, right?"

Seeing Ryuen's conflicted expression, Kamio Tatsuya rolled his eyes. This guy was really incapable of being straightforward.

Since you already found out from Sakayanagi about me knocking... uh, making a deal with Class A, then you must have also learned from her that I might be the Anonymous Poster.

And now that we're face-to-face, you're still endlessly probing around? Damn, what a hesitant little bitch.

In truth, that really was what Ryuen had wanted to ask. The conversation had simply gone off track halfway through.

"You catch on quickly. So, are you or aren't you?"

"What if I said I was?"

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Ryuen's mouth. "Then I can only ask you to stay away from the students in our class."

Stay away from the students in Class C?

Kamio Tatsuya looked over at Shiina. Her expression was somewhat dejected, and her small hands were clenched tightly, making her look especially pitiful.

Kamio Tatsuya reached out and lightly patted her clenched fist, signaling for her to calm down.

Ryuen's expression darkened when he noticed that.

You bastard! Damn it, courting Class C's flower right in front of me, the leader of Class C? Aren't you being a little too arrogant!?

"You think Shiina might leak Class C's information by associating with me?"

Ryuen nodded faintly, still looking at Kamio Tatsuya with hostility.

"That's it?" Kamio Tatsuya could not help laughing. "Looks like you still don't understand me very well. Do you think I care about something as boring as class competition?"

"Probably not." Ryuen nodded. "Hiyori is the same in that regard, and she probably wouldn't betray the class's information either."

"Then why did you ask me to come here?"

"Although I trust Hiyori, there will naturally be people in the class who won't trust her because of this. The very existence of that possibility could affect my plans, and the resulting losses would be impossible to estimate."

If that's how you feel, why not just lock down the class and forbid Class C from interacting with anyone from other classes?

If you want to cause me trouble, just say so. Using Shiina as an excuse is really getting hard to watch.

"Even though what you said makes sense, I refuse."

"Oh? You really don't want to cut ties with Hiyori?" Ryuen smiled. "That's not impossible. As long as you're willing to sell out Class D's information."

Sell Class D's information? Be a spy...

So that's what he was waiting for.

That was not necessarily impossible. After all, Kamio Tatsuya hated Class D—not only the students of Class D, but also its teachers.

"Although I don't mind selling out Class D's information, wouldn't that make me look like your subordinate? So, I refuse." Kamio Tatsuya rejected Ryuen without a second thought. "But if we keep deadlocking like this, you definitely won't let it go. So let's make a bet."

Ryuen became interested at those words. He liked betting.

"A bet? What do you want to wager?"

"Until the Midterm Exam, you can do whatever you want. As long as you can make me suffer a setback, I'll agree to provide you with Class D's information. I'll even throw in an important piece of information as a bonus. But if you fail, then stay out of my business with Shiina from now on."

A smile appeared on Kamio Tatsuya's lips.

"Heh, are you provoking me?"

Ryuen smiled as well, looking somewhat excited.

"Call it whatever you want. Want to give it a try?"

"Heh. I hope you don't regret it."

Ryuen could not stand being provoked, so the moment he saw the teasing smile on Kamio Tatsuya's face, he immediately accepted.

To be honest, Kamio Tatsuya had no desire to get involved with Ryuen at all. But since Ryuen had obtained information about him from Sakayanagi, the current situation had become unavoidable. Shiina was merely an excuse.

If I backed down this time, how would I ever face anyone again?

If I backed down this time, Ryuen would only push his luck even further!

I might even have to take a detour whenever I saw him in the future. That'd be way too humiliating.

Do I not have any pride!?

Come to think of it, it's all that bastard Sakayanagi's fault.

Sigh, money from Class A really isn't that easy to take.

And Ryuen's an idiot too. He got used as Sakayanagi's knife so easily.

Just wait. Let's see how I deal with you.

A Honey Trap? Your Heart's Really Dirty!

As they prepared to leave after finishing the barbecue, Kamio Tatsuya seemed to suddenly remember something.

"Come to think of it, when did you find out that I got Three Million Points from Class A?"

"The day I hired students from your class to cause trouble for Class A."

I see. It seemed Ryuen had been up to all sorts of things since that day.

As the exam drew closer, nearly all the students had become tense. It wasn't just the first-years; the second- and third-years seemed to be the same.

Even the Three Fools of Class D, who had previously bragged that they could pass by cramming for a few days before the test, had changed somewhat.

Not only did they listen properly in class, but after class, they gathered around Horikita to ask for help with what they didn't understand.

But could they really pass the exam just by doing that?

Even if they got lucky and passed this time, what about the next Final Exam?

Since his seat was close to Horikita's, Kamio Tatsuya had overheard their discussions.

Horikita was currently using Cramming Education. Whether they understood or not, she simply stuffed knowledge into their heads and forced them to memorize it.

Unfortunately, the three of them had foundations that were far too poor.

Still, it had nothing to do with Kamio Tatsuya.

For the past few days, he had been guarding against Ryuen, wanting to see when he would make his move and what method he would use to attack.

To deny the other party any chance to pull petty tricks, Kamio Tatsuya had followed his usual routine these past few days.

He was either in the classroom, the cafeteria, the library, or the dormitory.

Ryuen also knew that annoying little tricks would never make Kamio Tatsuya admit defeat, so he had done nothing these past few days.

But Kamio Tatsuya also knew that this guy would never give up so easily. He probably did not even take the wager seriously.

Ryuen Kakeru, the leader of Class C. After school started, he had used violence to make the entire class submit to him—a textbook delinquent.