After lunch, the two of them strolled leisurely side by side across the athletic field.
Though she wanted to look away, Kamuro Masumi's gaze kept drifting toward Gojo Satoru's face.
Finally,
she couldn't hold it in any longer and asked,
"You said you were afraid of being targeted by perverts. Why aren't you wearing your blindfold?"
But Gojo Satoru didn't answer. Instead, he simply wrapped his arms around Kamuro Masumi.
"Waaah! I'm so sad right now!"
The sudden hug startled her, but when she heard the faintly tearful note in Gojo Satoru's voice, she patted his back to comfort him.
"There, there. Don't cry. What's wrong?"
"I can't tell you! I'm just really sad!"
"Are you a little kid or something?!"
She wanted to comfort him, but his childish words still managed to irritate her.
This time, though, Gojo Satoru didn't say anything. He just held her quietly.
About five minutes later,
Gojo Satoru finally pulled his arms away, reluctantly. His usual smile returned, and he said cheerfully,
"Phew! Shinsuke energy fully replenished. I'm alive again!"
Seeing that Gojo Satoru had perked back up, Kamuro Masumi asked again,
"So what actually happened? You're acting really strange today."
"Secret!"
He raised his right index finger to his lips and answered with a mysterious smile.
"Hmph! If you don't want to tell me, then forget it. I don't care!"
Kamuro Masumi stormed toward the school building, no longer paying any attention to the cryptic Gojo Satoru.
Seeing Kamuro walk away in a huff, Gojo Satoru hurried after her, grinning as he said,
"Don't be mad. I was just joking.
"Hey, want to go out together this weekend?"
At his invitation, Kamuro Masumi stopped. But she didn't look happy; instead, her expression turned a little serious as she said,
"Sorry, I can't hang out with you for a while."
"Huh?! Why? Is it because of what happened just now? I can apologize! I'm sorry!"
Seeing Gojo Satoru apologize in a fluster, Kamuro finally laughed and explained cheerfully,
"Hahaha, no. It's just that I made plans with Classmate Sakayanagi. She's going to help me catch up on my schoolwork."
"Oh, I see. That's a relief."
"But don't get too happy just yet. It's almost May, and based on what we've seen in Class A, the school probably won't hand out the usual 100,000 points every month.
"Especially your Class D. Your class has the worst learning environment, so you'll get the fewest points. You may have a lot of Private Points, but the school seems to judge certain things based on each student's individual behavior. And you skip class all the time—that's dangerous!
"Just look at you now. You're not even wearing your uniform, so you must've skipped class again!"
Gojo Satoru didn't answer. He just kept smiling at Kamuro.
Unable to bear his gaze, Kamuro Masumi fumed,
"I'm worried about you! Can't you take this seriously for once?"
"Huh? Did you forget, Shinsuke? I'm the strongest!"
Gojo Satoru looked away and spoke confidently, then added,
"But I'm happy to see you worrying about me!"
That's right! It feels like I've never understood him. He got that many points on the very first day of school. There's no way he couldn't see the school's hidden rules.
"Hmph. Just be careful, okay? Don't get yourself into trouble!
"I'm going back to class. Don't follow me, or the girls will crowd around you again."
With that, she ran off without giving Gojo Satoru a chance to reply.
Was she jealous?
"Kamuro-san, where's your friend?"
"Kamuro-san, is your friend an upperclassman? What class is he in? What's his name?"
As soon as she got back to class, several girls crowded around her.
Irritated by their questions, Kamuro Masumi answered bluntly,
"He's Gojo Satoru from Class 1-D. If you've got the guts, go after him!"
Not that Satoru would ever be interested in you!
Kamuro Masumi thought confidently, then returned to her seat.
"So he's in our year!"
"Huh? Is there someone like that in Class D?"
"Could he be that chuunibyou who's always skipping class?!"
Their chatter continued to spill out.
"Kamuro-san seems to really like that Gojo-kun."
Sakayanagi Arisu and her lackey, Hashimoto Masayoshi, came over to Kamuro Masumi's desk.
"Huh?! What does it have to do with you whether I like him or not? You flirtatious creep!"
"That's true, it has nothing to do with me. But he seems to know me?"
Hashimoto Masayoshi said with a helpless look.
That caught Sakayanagi's interest too, and she spoke up.
"That was two weeks ago, wasn't it? A girl from Class C came over and challenged you to a duel."
"Exactly! I tried everything to make her understand that I didn't know some weirdo with silver hair and a blindfold. But she wouldn't believe me. She kept saying, 'He knows you, so how could you not know him?'
"I finally managed to explain it to her, but she still scolded me. I was completely innocent!"
Hearing that, Kamuro Masumi remembered what had happened back then, but she still shot back,
"She must've scolded you because you said something flirtatious!"
"Huh?! But..."
Before he could finish, Sakayanagi interrupted,
"Well, that makes things interesting. Why would he know Hashimoto-kun? And why deliberately shift the blame onto him?
"Kamuro, did you tell him about it?"
"Why would I tell that flirtatious creep about him?"
Kamuro Masumi said angrily.
At that answer, Sakayanagi didn't say anything more. She slowly returned to her seat.
So this is the student Father wants me to defeat?
May 1, morning.
Most of the students in Class D looked uneasy in the classroom.
"Have your points arrived?"
"Huh?! You haven't gotten yours either?"
"Didn't the teacher say they'd be deposited on the first of every month?"
"Everyone, don't panic yet! Maybe there's just a minor glitch in the school system. Let's wait until the teacher gets here and ask her!"
Hirata stepped forward to reassure them.
"Yeah, everyone, just stay calm!"
The class angel, Kushida Kikyo, stood up and chimed in.
"But..."
Before Kanji Ike could finish speaking, their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, had already entered the classroom.
When they saw their homeroom teacher, the students started complaining again.
"Teacher! What about this month's points?"
"Yeah! Why haven't they been handed out? I need to pay back my loan!"
"Weren't they supposed to be automatically deposited into our student card terminals on the first of every month?!"
"Bang!!"
"Quiet!"
After hearing the barrage of complaints, Chabashira Sae slammed her textbooks onto the lectern.
Silence...
When the classroom finally quieted down, Chabashira Sae ignored the students' odd looks and began writing on the blackboard.
Class A 940 Class B 650 Class C 490 Class D 0
As they stared at the classes and numbers listed there, a terrible feeling began to creep into most of their hearts!
"The S System monitors students in real time and calculates the results. These are the points you earned this month. You didn't read that wrong. It really is zero! You're a bunch of fools."
This had to be a joke, right?!
Most of them couldn't accept the truth.
Hirata couldn't hold back any longer. Trembling, he asked,
"Teacher, could you explain why our points are zero?
"And what exactly does this 'S System' you mentioned mean?"
Chabashira was so exasperated by the stupid question that she almost laughed. She answered mockingly,
"Do I really need to explain? Just look at how you've behaved since the start of the school year!
"If every class period counts as one evaluation, then you've accumulated a total of 226 tardies and absences this month!"
Before you continue