Classroom of the Elite, but It's a Diary Style 11

One, a person clinging desperately to the past, filled with such profound regret over the choices made during her own student days that she developed an obsession: if she couldn't reach Class A herself, perhaps seeing the class under her command ascend would finally bring her peace.

Yet, she had absolutely no intention of acting on such an obsession. Far from taking action, she spent her time wallowing in defeat, even finding the leisure to stab her own class in the back and trip them up at every turn.

Utterly rotten.

The other, maintaining a facade of a decade-long close friendship, while secretly harboring a grudge over events from their student days. The reason she chose to become a teacher had nothing to do with passion or aptitude.

It was solely to keep a hawk-like watch over her "dear friend," ensuring that the class under her rival's care would never truly reach Class A.

The former refers to Chabashira Sae, and the latter, naturally, is the homeroom teacher of Asakusa Toru.

...Though, in the eyes of other students, she is likely just a cheerful, empathetic big sister whose only flaw is a fondness for alcohol.

In fact, if her dear friend isn't involved, Hoshinomiya Chie is quite blameless, aside from her drinking.

If.

But as long as one is within the Advanced Nurturing High School, it is truly difficult not to get tangled up with that dead woman.

No matter what she does, it can be twisted into a move for the sake of class warfare. As long as it concerns the struggle between classes and involves keeping her dear friend's class firmly under her heel, Hoshinomiya Chie will stop at nothing.

"Ahaha, Asakusa-kun, really now, don't play dumb." Hoshinomiya Chie waved her hand with a smile. "Weren't you standing there all friendly-like with the people from Class C yesterday?"

"My, I almost thought you were planning to transfer to Class C right at the start of the term."

"However, seeing Asakusa-kun come to class properly today makes me feel quite relieved, you know?" Hoshinomiya Chie rested her cheek on one hand, her index finger raised and swaying casually. "So, could you tell me why you were with Sakagami-sensei yesterday?"

"You don't really want to transfer to Class C, do you?"

A class transfer requires twenty million Private Points; that fact cannot be disclosed for free for the time being. While it doesn't directly relate to the first month's special exam, it serves as a very clear warning.

Hoshinomiya Chie did not believe Sakagami Kazuma would make such a mistake.

Yet, the student before her had indeed been mingling with a homeroom teacher from another class.

This was... truly intriguing to her.

"If I said yes... what would you do, sensei?" Asakusa Toru asked casually, scanning the office around him.

In truth, he had been here with Sakagami Kazuma just yesterday.

The teachers' office before him did not belong solely to Hoshinomiya Chie. Several other teachers who were also homeroom instructors shared the space with her. However, those teachers didn't seem to have returned yet, leaving the office feeling somewhat empty.

There was actually a consultation room right next door, but Hoshinomiya Chie had no intention of taking him inside, choosing instead to sit at her own desk and make him stand while they spoke.

Asakusa Toru couldn't tell if this was meant to pressure him or if she had simply forgotten that a consultation room existed.

Either way, it didn't matter; he had no intention of being a model student, nor did he plan to accept this interrogation with submissiveness.

Abandoning the idea of pulling a chair from another teacher's desk, he instead sat himself right on top of Hoshinomiya Chie's desk.

Since she wanted him to look up at her, he would let her look up at him from a closer distance.

"Eh, eh..." Both his words and actions were unexpected, which only piqued Hoshinomiya Chie's interest further. Although she had a slight objection to him sitting on her desk, she was far more concerned with the reason behind it.

Thus, she put on a look of pure curiosity:

"Why, why?"

"..." After staring at Hoshinomiya Chie for a moment, Asakusa Toru simply changed his tune: "I was lying. I have no intention of transferring classes."

He had pushed too far.

Would this woman actually get curious?

He had been thinking about how to fabricate the contents of the Diary for the past few days, and he had subconsciously started trying to manipulate the emotional atmosphere.

He needed to change that.

Although the possibility of revealing a flaw here was slim, it wasn't zero.

...Try as hard as possible not to blur the line between his persona inside and outside the Diary.

After reflecting for a brief moment, Asakusa Toru stopped playing games, surrendered, and offered the "excuse" he had prepared.

"Actually, I'm an old acquaintance of Ryuen from Class C," he said. "Since it's rare to see each other again at the same high school, I couldn't help but go over and catch up."

"Then, before I knew it, I had followed them to the Class C area. By the time I realized it, it didn't feel right to just head back to my own class, which is why things ended up like that yesterday."

Heh, if Ryuen heard this, he would probably laugh his head off.

A fine "old acquaintance," a fine "catching up."

He caught up to the tune of two million Private Points.

"Eh, is that so?" Hoshinomiya Chie's interest cooled instantly.

It was a very reasonable excuse, a very normal explanation. For a high school student who had just enrolled on the first day, doing such a thing wouldn't be considered strange at all.

But, it was very boring.

Chapter 19: Do Not Dream Impossible Dreams

Receiving such a dull answer caused Hoshinomiya Chie to lose interest in Asakusa Toru immediately. Although his actions didn't seem entirely ordinary, she had no intention of pursuing the matter further.

After offering a few generic, teacher-like platitudes that could apply to anyone, she let Asakusa Toru go.

Pushing open the office door and heading toward the classroom, a figure appeared in the hallway just at the right moment.

Chabashira Sae.

Her brown ponytail was held high, and her curvaceous figure filled out her teacher's uniform; the lines displayed by her frame were undeniably mature, possessing a quality distinct from that of a younger woman.

However, the face of this tall, statuesque beauty was perpetually set in a cold, icy expression that looked as if she'd just suffered a dozen personal tragedies.

...What a drag.

Cursing silently in his heart, Asakusa Toru brushed past Chabashira Sae as if nothing were amiss.

"..." Chabashira Sae stopped in front of the office door. Before entering, she glanced back at the retreating figure of Asakusa Toru, then gently pushed the door open.

"Class over? Little Sae?" Hoshinomiya Chie, sitting alone in the office with a relaxed posture, rested her head on one hand. "How's Class D feeling this year?"

"Ah, no need to answer. I can tell just by looking at your face."

"Mm-hmm, the school's assessment of the students this year hasn't shown much disparity, either." Nodding to herself, Hoshinomiya Chie flashed a smile. "Class D should just stay obediently in Class D, don't you think? Little Sae?"

"...Instead of worrying about Class D, you'd be better off worrying about your own Class B." Chabashira Sae replied with a cold face, returning to her seat. "Having to call a student to the office right after school starts—seems like a real problem child."

Since Hoshinomiya was the only teacher in the office at the moment, it wasn't hard for her to deduce that Asakusa Toru belonged to Class B.

Although how Class B fared had nothing to do with her, and a problem student there was none of her concern, Hoshinomiya's words were just too grating.

Ah, of course she understood what her "good friend" was implying.

Don't chase impossible dreams.

But... what if?

A glimmer of hope still lingered in Chabashira Sae's heart.

"Asakusa-kun? Oh, you saw him just now." Hoshinomiya Chie realized. "I just called him to the office for some trivial matter. Although he's a bit lacking in tact, as for being a 'problem,' there really isn't one."

"Who knows."

Chabashira Sae remained noncommittal.

The time spent being summoned to Hoshinomiya Chie's office wasn't long, and by the time Asakusa Toru returned to the classroom, the second period had just begun.

The fifty minutes of class time ticked away, and soon, the break arrived once more.

The diligent students, who had switched into "study mode" when the bell rang, quickly reverted to their relaxed states. Once the teacher left, the classroom immediately became noisy.

"Hey, hey, Asakusa-kun is back. Didn't you say you were going to be the first one to go talk to him?"

"I did, but he just feels subtly unapproachable. Tell me, how should I even start a conversation?"

"You're too indecisive! If you won't do it, I will!"

"Wait, wait! Ichinose-san is going up!"

Under the watchful eyes of her classmates, Ichinose Honami, who had been unanimously elected as the class representative yesterday, clenched her fists and took the initiative to walk up to Asakusa Toru's desk.

"Um, Asakusa-kun..." she said, taking out her Personal Terminal. "Would... would you like to exchange contact information?"

As soon as these words left her lips, the students observing from the shadows couldn't help but exclaim.

"Whoa, as expected of Ichinose, she's so direct."

"She easily did what we couldn't!"

"..." Asakusa Toru had just finished his own train of thought when he saw Ichinose Honami approach him. He raised an eyebrow, fished out his terminal, and said, "Perfect, I was just planning on looking for you."

"Add me yourself." He unlocked the terminal and tossed it casually to Ichinose Honami.

Scrambling to catch the terminal, Ichinose Honami replied:

"O-okay!"

Feeling inexplicably nervous, Ichinose operated Asakusa Toru's terminal and added her own contact information to it.

Seeing her name registered in his friend list, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

However, after finishing the registration, she didn't rush to return the terminal to Asakusa Toru. Instead, she silently let her gaze linger on his friend list.

...She wasn't the first person on the list.

Besides her, there was another name that had occupied the sole spot on Asakusa Toru's friend list before her.

'Ryuen Kakeru'

Ichinose Honami memorized the name.

Only then did she lift her hand and return the terminal to Asakusa Toru.

"And then, um..." She was just about to say something more, but Asakusa Toru, having taken back his terminal, casually pulled up his clipboard, opened the chat box for Ichinose, tapped the paste button, and looked up.

"Check your terminal," he said.

"Eh? Okay." Even though what she wanted to say was interrupted, Ichinose felt no anger at all; she simply opened her terminal obediently.

Immediately afterward, she saw a long string of messages.

Written on it was the... 'truth' about this school.

"..." Ichinose Honami froze.

The privileges exclusive to Class A, the hierarchical ranking of classes, the twenty million Private Points required for a class transfer, the special exam in the first month.

"Are these... true?" She found it hard to imagine.

Yet, it didn't seem entirely incomprehensible.

After all, one hundred thousand points was indeed far too generous for high school students.

"You can just confirm these questions with Hoshinomiya, right?" Asakusa Toru put away his terminal and rested his head on one hand. "Whether her reaction is to nod or to say she can't disclose it, the answer will be clear."

"As for why I know this or where I got the information, don't ask." Anticipating the question Ichinose Honami might ask, Asakusa Toru continued, "Personally, I don't really want to attract too much attention, so please just treat this as a conclusion you deduced yourself."

"It shouldn't be hard to work backward from the result to the cause, right?"

"...It's not hard, I suppose." Ichinose Honami gripped her terminal tightly.

Confirming with Hoshinomiya, the source of the information, standing in the spotlight for him—none of that mattered.

What she cared about more had never been any of those things from the very beginning.

The words she wanted to ask, but had hesitated to say, were...

"Do you remember me, Asakusa-kun?"

Chapter 20 Self-Satisfaction

This was not the first time Ichinose Honami and Asakusa Toru had met.