You Must Like Him, Right?!

"Just the literal meaning."

Furious at Gojo Satoru's smug, obnoxious expression, Horikita Suzune was about to strike him again, but Ayanokoji stopped her.

"We're all classmates. It's normal to joke around. There's no need to get physical, right?"

"Ow, that hurts."

Although he'd taken a heavy blow to the waist, Ayanokoji still managed to speak without changing his expression.

Looking at the spot she'd hit, Ayanokoji couldn't help complaining to himself.

I got a nickname too, so why am I the one getting hit? Is this what normal high schoolers are like?

Seeing Ayanokoji wince after her attack, Horikita's anger temporarily subsided. She didn't strike him again, but instead issued a cold warning.

"Blindfold Guy, if you give me another nickname, I'll knock you flat!"

Ignoring Horikita's confident threat, Gojo happily watched Ayanokoji without saying a word.

When Horikita realized she was being ignored, it felt like she'd punched a pillow, but there was nothing she could do about it.

With Gojo staring at him the whole time, Ayanokoji couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat.

Does Gojo-kun have some kind of weird fetish?!

Unable to withstand that intense gaze, Ayanokoji asked again.

"Is there something on my face? It's a little uncomfortable having you stare at me like that, Gojo-kun."

"No, there's nothing there. I just kind of like you, so I kept looking."

Startled by those almost-confessional words, Ayanokoji felt uneasy, but pushed through his discomfort and asked,

"You mean that literally, too?"

"Exactly!"

Gojo grinned and continued sizing up the Ayanokoji Kiyotaka standing before him.

Watching the whole exchange from the sidelines, Horikita shuddered. As she looked at the two of them gazing into each other's eyes as if exchanging flirtatious looks, she muttered,

"Perverts!!"

Still ignoring Horikita, Gojo finished sizing Ayanokoji up, then held out his right hand and said with a smile,

"Wanna be friends? I'm really interested in you!"

Looking at the hand Gojo had offered, Ayanokoji felt like crying.

He really did want to make friends, but why did the first one have to be a "pervert"?!

Although he wasn't very willing, he still shook Gojo's hand.

After all, he wasn't exactly normal himself at the moment, and he needed more social interaction to develop. Gojo's abilities so far seemed like they could be of great help to him.

After they exchanged contact information, Gojo answered Ayanokoji's first question.

"I'm not interested in joining a club. I'm just here to freeload. I spent too freely yesterday, so now I don't have many points left. How about you sponsor me?"

"Don't mind him! I already warned you yesterday. Someone like him doesn't deserve any sympathy."

Horikita, who was standing nearby, finally snapped when she heard Gojo say he was short on points. She erupted again.

Why had someone with such a nasty personality become her classmate?! She'd only come to this school to follow in her brother's footsteps, so why did she have to put up with this kind of misery?!

"Let's go!"

"But..."

Ayanokoji tried to say something, but Horikita cut him off forcefully.

"Weren't you the one who shamelessly begged me to come with you after school? Now that I'm leaving, you're just going to watch me go by myself? Is that how you repay me? Is that how you treat a companion?"

After hearing all that, Ayanokoji felt like his CPU was about to burn out.

He'd only invited her along to check out the club recruitment because she had no friends, just like him. Did asking her twice really count as shamelessly begging?

He was just about to argue when she'd already grabbed his hand.

Watching Horikita drag Ayanokoji away, Gojo felt completely baffled.

But when he looked at his phone and saw that 20,000 points had been deposited, his mood lifted again.

I've got my foot in the door.

"Kei, Maya!!

Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Jeez, Chiaki, you took forever in the bathroom."

"Yeah, Maya and I have been waiting for almost twenty minutes!"

Hearing them complain, Matsushita Chiaki hurried to apologize.

"Sorry, sorry. I wasn't feeling well."

"Really?! Are you okay? Why don't you go back to the dorm and rest? Maya and I can keep looking around."

Worried about her friend, Karuizawa Kei urged her.

"Yeah, you two go ahead. I'll head back."

Watching Matsushita Chiaki hurry away, Maya asked in confusion,

"Didn't Chiaki just go to the bathroom? Why did she come back with an envelope?"

"Who knows? Maybe someone handing out club recruitment flyers gave it to her on the way back."

It had already been two days since she'd exchanged contact information with Ayanokoji.

Fiddling with the fighting game handheld on her desk, she ignored the teacher at the front of the room and happily played her game...

K.O.

She won with ease, then looked up at the clock beside the blackboard.

16:20

Class would be over soon.

Come to think of it, this was probably the first time in days she'd stayed in the classroom until the end of the school day.

I'm such a good student. I've improved again!

She praised herself in her mind.

"Ding, ding, ding~"

The bell rang, and most of the students rushed out of the classroom in a crowd.

She had just stood up when she sensed someone approaching from behind.

"G-Gojo-kun! Thank you so much for helping me on the bus on the first day of school!"

I finally said it! Good job, Airi!

Sakura Airi thought excitedly. She'd been wrestling with herself over it for days, but every time she tried to thank him, Gojo left before class officially ended, and she never got the chance.

At last, she'd caught Gojo-kun before he left early. This time, she had to work up the courage!

Gojo turned toward Sakura Airi, who had come over to thank him, but he looked a little confused.

It wasn't that he'd forgotten why she was thanking him. He was just surprised by Sakura Airi's personality.

She was so timid, and most of the class avoided him now. Yet she'd managed to come talk to him in the classroom, in front of so many people. That was what puzzled him.

"No problem. It was nothing."

Gojo waved a hand in reply.

"Yeah! But still, thank you, Gojo-kun."

She ran straight out of the classroom as soon as she finished speaking. That was her limit. Being watched by so many people made her extremely uncomfortable. She was already timid, and now she'd become the center of attention.

"Hey, hey, Chiaki, look! Someone else has made a move on your target!"

Watching what was happening over by Gojo, Sato Maya hurried to point it out.

"Huh?! What do you mean, my target?"

Matsushita Chiaki's mind was full of question marks. Since when had Gojo-kun become her target? No, no, he really was her target, but definitely not in the way Maya meant!

"Huh!? He isn't? But I've seen you watching Gojo-kun all the time these past two days!"

Sato Maya was at a loss. She'd seen Chiaki sneak glances at Gojo all the time these past two days, and now she wouldn't even admit it.

That's not true! I just happened to find the invitation he threw away, so I was curious and kept watching him.

Of course, she could only scream that helplessly in her mind. The truth was just too unbelievable.

Ever since the Student Council President announced that the Student Council was recruiting, many outstanding first-year students had submitted applications, but every single one of them had been rejected. That included Ichinose Honami, who was now the leading voice in Class B, and Katsuragi Kohei from Class A.

Yet Gojo Satoru had received an invitation before recruitment even began. There had to be some secret about him—he might even be hiding his true abilities, just like her.

Especially since he'd thrown the invitation away. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she might have thought he'd dropped it by accident. But that wasn't important. What mattered was the invitation itself.

Seeing Matsushita Chiaki fail to argue back, Sato Maya felt even more certain she was right and went straight into reassuring her.

"Gojo-kun has a pretty awful personality, and he skips class a lot.

But he's handsome! Sure, he wears a blindfold, so you can't see his whole face, but the lower half you can see is enough to tell he's a total hottie. He's got a nice voice, too, and he's tall.

He didn't hold back when Kanji Ike harassed him. Even Ken Sudō, with his short temper, didn't dare say a word after Gojo Satoru taught him a lesson. He even avoids him every day.

He even turned down someone like Kushida Kikyo, a campus goddess!

If you could date him, you'd feel so safe! You wouldn't have to worry about anyone stealing him from you!"

Listening to Sato Maya ramble on and on about Gojo Satoru, Matsushita Chiaki was stunned. She couldn't stop grumbling to herself.

Girl, which one of us has been watching Gojo Satoru?! He has all those good points? How did I not know?!