Welcome to the Love-First Classroom

May 1.

The morning class bell rang, and Chabashira Sae walked into the classroom carrying a poster tube.

Her expression was even more serious than usual during class.

She stood at the podium and swept her gaze around the classroom. Just as her students were so nervous their hearts felt ready to leap out of their chests, she said solemnly:

"You really are a bunch of..."

Their hearts rose and fell with her words. Just when they thought the verdict was going to be awful, she finally said:

"You really are a bunch of little geniuses."

"Congratulations. Your Class Points for this month are 500. Starting today, we're Class C." Chabashira's lips curled into a slight smile.

"..."

But instead of the cheers she'd expected, the students from the former Class D looked at one another and sighed.

"Why is it only 500? Didn't our points get cut in half this month?"

"I worked so hard, too."

"Sigh, I can't spend money however I want this month."

Hearing their shameless, almost boastful complaints, Chabashira's mouth twitched.

"This is already a good result. In the school's history, no class has ever been promoted from Class D to Class C in its first month. You should be happy."

If they hadn't lost so many points the week before, their total would have been even higher.

A lot of people had guessed as much.

So Kushida reminded them:

"Let's keep working hard next month, everyone. It's not impossible for us to make it to Class A someday."

By then, Chabashira had already posted the point totals for every class on the blackboard.

Class A: 970

Class B: 650

Class C (their class): 500

Class D: 490

Seeing Class A's overwhelming lead of 970 points, the students felt intimidated.

Quite a few were already thinking of giving up.

"This is way too hard. How are we supposed to make up 400 points?"

"Why bother chasing them? 500 points is plenty."

Watching the class's mood plummet, Chabashira looked a little disappointed.

Just then—

"Listen to me for a moment."

At the back of the classroom, a beautiful girl with a dignified bearing stood up. Her voice wasn't loud, but her commanding tone immediately silenced everyone, and all eyes turned to her.

When they saw who had spoken, several students began whispering:

"Isn't that Jingu's girlfriend? I saw them feeding each other in the cafeteria the other day. I felt full just watching."

"Horikita has no shame. She's always all over her boyfriend, clinging to Jingu-kun wherever he goes."

"Maybe she looks cold on the outside, but she's actually the secretly seductive type? I hear a lot of guys are into that. Think she's pretending on purpose? Maybe she's targeting Jingu."

Listening to them slander her under their desks, Horikita's face flushed dark red.

Even Ayanokouji, sitting by the window to her left, was looking at her differently.

She gave a slight cough and said frostily:

"Giving up isn't an option. Now that the scores are out, the other classes have already started competing. Class D in particular is only ten points behind us. They'll definitely target our class next and try to push us back down to Class D."

"And everyone knows what it's like in Class D. It's the school's bottom class. You might as well call it a class of 'trash.'"

"There's just one thing I want to ask you: are you really willing to be treated like trash, like good-for-nothings?"

"Can you really accept enduring everyone else's contempt for the next three years, and facing more mockery than you can count?"

Those few brief remarks left the class deep in thought.

It was obvious. No one wanted to be looked down on. Everyone had their pride.

Except Yamauchi.

Horikita's words had struck a nerve. That was even more infuriating than having no points.

When students from the upper classes called you a good-for-nothing, you couldn't argue back if you were in a lower class.

You could only talk back once you'd proven your worth.

Just then, a furious shout suddenly rang out:

"Who cares about Class A or Class B? We'll just beat the crap out of them! What the hell are you scared of?!"

Horikita glanced at Sudo in surprise, then replied calmly:

"If even an idiot like him isn't afraid, what do the rest of you have to be afraid of?"

"Hey, Horikita! Who're you calling an idiot?" Sudo glared at her.

But the aloof beauty ignored him and quietly sat back down.

Sudo gritted his teeth in anger.

"Damn it. If you weren't a girl, I'd have punched you already."

Sudo failed to notice Bai Ye, seated in front of him, glance his way.

Sudo's outburst gave the others confidence, and they began encouraging one another.

"Yeah! It's just Class A. If we could beat the old Class C, we can beat Class A too. Let's do this!"

"Horikita was so cool just now. No wonder Jingu fell for her. Should we go make friends with her later?"

"Forget it. She only has eyes for her boyfriend. She doesn't even look at anyone else."

"Wait, if she's Jingu's girlfriend, did he teach her to say all that?"

"Probably."

Feeling the curious looks coming his way, Bai Ye frowned slightly and met Kushida's faintly resentful gaze from the row in front.

"I really didn't teach her."

Seeing how clear and natural his eyes looked, Kushida believed him a little more.

Bai Ye remained calm on the outside, but inside, he was a little surprised.

He hadn't expected Horikita to say something so moving...

Maybe he'd influenced her?

He had indeed been talking to Horikita about all sorts of things these past few days. Maybe she'd remembered what he said and summed it up today in her own words.

That was a good thing for him. Although Horikita Manabu didn't want Suzune to become his shadow, he felt differently.

He was happy to see Horikita Suzune take on his colors, her body and soul becoming his.

He'd even thought that since Horikita was like him, the right choice was for her to develop in his direction.

After class, several girls still gathered around Horikita, hoping to become friends with her.

After all, Horikita had looked so cool just now, and what she'd said had struck a chord with them.

Women had a tendency to seek out strong peers for protection, especially girls with forceful personalities who weren't afraid of men.

Shinohara and Karuizawa were both like that. That was why they had girls rallying around them.

And Horikita happened to fit the bill.

If she weren't so cold, her personality alone would have made it easy for her to lead the second-largest group and rival Karuizawa's.

But now, surrounded by girls, Horikita's lovely face was icy. She instinctively looked toward Bai Ye, hoping he'd help.

The other girls noticed and turned toward Bai Ye too, watching as he walked over.

Horikita brightened, thinking he was going to send them away. But instead, he said:

"Isn't this nice, Suzune?"

Then he turned to the girls around her.

"I'm counting on you to look after Suzune. Please be sure to befriend her."

"You're too kind, Jingu. It's our pleasure."

"Since you asked, Jingu, I'll do my best to win Horikita over and make her my friend."

As Horikita's gaze grew increasingly strange, Bai Ye exchanged a few polite words with the girls, then said:

"Suzune and I still have something to talk about. You should head back for now. I'll talk to her."

"We'll leave it to you, Jingu."

"Jingu, you have to be friends with me too, okay? Horikita alone isn't enough."

One by one, the girls left. He stepped forward and took Horikita's hand, leading her out of the classroom while she was still trying to figure out what was going on.