When he returned to the classroom.
Dokuho Kouya went to his seat and asked the girl sitting beside him,
"Sayo, do you know any students from Class D?"
The short-haired girl, who was already sitting at her desk, blinked. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "I think I only know little Kikyo from Class D."
"But you know little Kikyo too, don't you, Kouya?"
Dokuho Kouya nodded. "We did exchange contact information a few days ago."
The little Kikyo they were talking about was Kikyo Kushida from Class D.
The adorable girl loved making friends so much that she wanted to befriend her entire class—and even the whole year group.
One day, when Dokuho Kouya went to the cafeteria for lunch with Sayo Ando and the others, he happened to meet Kikyo Kushida and exchanged contact information with her.
"If you want to ask Class D about something, Kouya, you can just contact little Kikyo."
Sayo Ando said warmly, "Little Kikyo is easy to talk to and really kind. I'm sure she'd be happy to help you."
Hearing her, Dokuho Kouya furrowed his brow slightly. "Sayo, I thought I'd warned you to be wary of Kikyo."
Back when school had just started, he had made a point of emphasizing that every student in Class D was defective, each one deemed by the school to be society's trash.
Especially those who seemed bright and polished on the surface. They might have done terrible things in middle school, which was why they had been assigned to Class D.
When he exchanged contact information with Kikyo Kushida, Dokuho Kouya had warned his friends not to think of her as just an ordinary girl. They had to remember that she was in Class D and must have done something very serious to end up there.
"I know, but there's really nothing about little Kikyo that seems off."
Sayo Ando scratched her cheek with a slender finger. "Still, we did as you asked. We haven't told little Kikyo anything about the class competition, and we haven't acted too close to her."
Aside from Dokuho Kouya's friends, everyone in Class B was wary of Kikyo Kushida.
Being friends was fine, but they couldn't be the kind of friends who shared everything.
By now, the people in Class B had learned just how awful the defective students in Class D could be.
On the surface, Kikyo Kushida seemed kind to everyone, academically gifted, and practically flawless.
That only made them wonder how terrifying the flaw in her character must be for her to have been assigned to Class D.
"Good. I'm glad you understand." Dokuho Kouya nodded in satisfaction.
If the students in Class B still told Kikyo Kushida their secrets after he had warned them, they would be downright foolish.
"Are you trying to find out something about Class D, Kouya? If so, it might be easier to ask little Kikyo."
Although Sayo Ando was wary of Kushida, there was nothing wrong with chatting and asking questions as long as she was careful not to reveal any secrets.
"I want to know what classes in Class D are like."
Dokuho Kouya thought Class D would probably start out with zero points, just as it had in the original story.
But to be safe, it would be better to check how things were going in their classes.
If his appearance had changed the plot hints related to Class D, he would have to take the initiative and find some way to make sure Class D ended up with zero points.
Some might ask, "Don't you have a system?"
With the system's animated viewpoint, shouldn't it be easy to see what was going on in Class D?
Dokuho Kouya's answer was that the idea sounded great, but reality was another matter.
For him, living in this world, the evaluation period lasted a whole month.
But for the people watching the anime, it might take less than half an episode.
Recently, Dokuho Kouya had used the animated viewpoint to watch the first episode.
As it turned out, the episode hadn't even finished covering everything yet.
The first half showed someone giving up a seat on the bus, the students introducing themselves, and Sudo at the convenience store.
The second half showed the club orientation and swimming class.
There were still eight minutes left. Without an ending theme, those minutes should cover what classes in Class D were like.
Those few minutes would probably be selected from the month of classes.
They might show that day, or the last day of the month.
If he waited for the anime to reveal what happened, Dokuho Kouya would probably have no time left to step in and change things.
"So you want to know what classes in Class D are like, Kouya."
Hearing what he said, Sayo Ando nodded thoughtfully, then added, "In that case, I'll ask little Kikyo for you."
"Would you?"
Dokuho Kouya was a little surprised that she had volunteered.
"Aren't we friends, Kouya? It's only natural to help a friend."
The short-haired girl gave him a sunny smile. "Besides, little Kikyo and I are both girls, so it'll feel more natural for us to chat. She won't get suspicious."
If Dokuho Kouya suddenly contacted Kushida and started asking about classroom discipline, it might seem strange to her.
But if Sayo Ando talked to Kushida, she could bring up the subject from all sorts of angles and then casually move on to classroom discipline, minimizing the chance that Kikyo Kushida would get suspicious.
"Then I'd appreciate it, Sayo." Dokuho Kouya thanked her.
At his thanks, the girl's pretty face flushed slightly. "I'm happy I could help you, Kouya."
With plenty of time to relax over lunch, Sayo Ando used her phone to contact Kikyo Kushida.
After chatting about all sorts of things, she finally brought up the classroom discipline they were most interested in.
"Little Kikyo said that during class, lots of people in Class D whisper to each other and play on their phones. Some of the girls take out little mirrors to put on makeup, and the boys in the back rows shout loudly."
"Besides that, some people skip class all the time."
Seeing the message on her phone, Sayo Ando furrowed her brows and said worriedly, "Their class sounds like such a mess. If things keep going like this, they'll get very few points next month."
"Sayo, don't tell them about the class competition."
Seeing that she felt sorry for them, Dokuho Kouya reminded her.
"I know."
Sayo Ando nodded, then tapped the keys on her phone to keep chatting with Kikyo Kushida.
After chatting about a few more unimportant topics, Sayo Ando made an excuse that she had something to do and ended the conversation.
"Kouya, did that help?"
After finishing her conversation with the girl from the other class, Sayo Ando looked at the boy beside her with eager anticipation.
"Thanks, Sayo. You were a huge help." Dokuho Kouya thanked her.
Now that he knew Class D was still just as hopeless as it had been in the original story,
he could finally relax.
Before you continue