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

Regardless of whether he was actually wrong or not, it is never wrong to blame someone else first.

"Because it is an 'exam'." Suddenly, at that very moment, a light voice rang out from outside the door.

Immediately following that, appearing at the doorway was a delicate silver-haired princess who looked as if she had come from a wonderland.

Class A, first year, Arisu Sakayanagi.

Chapter 41 You Don't Understand

The bell for the end of class had long since rung.

Silent, contemplative, confrontational, and mutually accusatory—various atmospheres caused time to tick away bit by bit.

As the teacher for this period, Sae Chabashira was in no rush to start the lesson. Even if this entire period were used for Class D to think, she wouldn't mind; as long as they could concretely reach a 'conclusion', that would count as a success.

Therefore, even though the short break had arrived, she had no intention of letting her students off, continuing to occupy their break time to explain the 'special exam' they had spent 200,000 points to obtain.

But what she didn't expect was that on the third day, before any relationships had even been established, and during a break time that rarely saw visitors... a guest from another class would actually appear here.

"What, am I not welcome?" The silver-haired princess leaned on her cane, standing at the entrance of Class D with a beaming smile.

And behind Arisu Sakayanagi, a cold-faced girl with purple hair stood quietly like a guard.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself." As if she had suddenly remembered that the people in Class D might not know her, Arisu Sakayanagi first scanned the entirety of Class D, then said softly: "Class A, first year, Arisu Sakayanagi."

"Good afternoon, defective products."

"..."

"...Huh?" It was Suzune Horikita who furrowed her brows.

"Eh..." It was Kiyotaka Ayanokoji who remained expressionless.

"Hey, hey, hey, isn't she a super cute girl?!" It was Kanji Ike who widened his eyes abruptly.

"You are all high school students now, so you shouldn't be unfamiliar with the word 'exam', right?" Seeing that no one seemed to directly state their refusal of her entry, Arisu Sakayanagi took it upon herself to assume Class D had tacitly allowed her entrance, and she began to walk around Class D step by step, leaning on her cane.

While wandering, she continued to explain the meaning of what she had said: "Defining the scope, assessing aptitude, testing the mastery of knowledge, and challenging the level of ability."

"Before an exam, the teacher will answer all your questions about the knowledge, but once you enter the assessment, are you still allowed to ask the teacher questions?"

As her words fell, Arisu Sakayanagi's footsteps slowly came to a halt.

She stood before the desk of a girl with deep blue hair in twin tails.

'Meiyu Wang'.

The only Chinese student in the first year.

With beautiful eyes and long, deep blue twin tails, she couldn't help but keep her head lowered. On her cheeks, which carried a hint of childishness, there was a faint, subtle air of timidity that made one feel she might be easy to bully.

She was the perfect target for bullying.

However, it looked like she hadn't been bullied yet.

Was it because she didn't attend middle school in Japan?

"Hello." Arisu Sakayanagi's hand rested gently on her desk: "Would you like to shake hands?"

"Eh?" Stiffly, Meiyu Wang raised her head.

Such, such a cute person...

But... a handshake?

Why would she approach her?

Although she didn't quite understand, looking at Arisu Sakayanagi's smiling face, Meiyu Wang still cautiously reached out her hand and gently shook the other girl's hand, which was far softer than her own.

"Is, is this okay?" Blinking, Meiyu Wang met Arisu Sakayanagi's eyes and asked in a small voice.

"..." A flash of surprise crossed Arisu Sakayanagi's eyes, but she didn't pay it much mind, instead nodding with a light smile: "That's right, that's all."

Are you trying not to expose yourself in class?

Or are you deliberately pretending that I haven't discovered you?

But when I walked in, your evasive gaze had already completely exposed your identity.

Everyone was looking at me, the visitor; you were the only one who didn't look over proactively and instead avoided my gaze.

However, it really is unexpected that the person who was babbling and spreading rumors about herself in the Diary would actually be such a seemingly easy-to-bully person in reality.

Is this what they call a contrast?

In any case, the so-called game of hide-and-seek ends here.

As a way to kill time, it was quite interesting.

Releasing Meiyu Wang's hand, Arisu Sakayanagi turned around and walked toward the exit of Class D.

Seeing her disappear from the doorway without hesitation, the people in Class D finally reacted belatedly to the fact that someone from Class A had just been there.

"...So, what exactly did she come here for?"

Someone suddenly asked this question.

Outside Class D, in the hallway.

Sakayanagi Arisu walked slowly back toward Class A, leaning on her cane, while the girl behind her, Kamuro Masumi, couldn't help but step closer.

"...What exactly did you come here for?" She asked the question that was on everyone in Class D's minds.

The corners of Sakayanagi Arisu's mouth curled upward: "Didn't I say so from the very beginning? I came to see someone."

"That girl just now? She didn't look like anything special," Kamuro Masumi said, puzzled. "I have a feeling you might have found the wrong person."

"Besides, there was no need to come all the way to Class D just to shake hands, was there? You could have just had anyone send word and call her over."

"You don't understand," Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head gently.

From the very beginning, the other party had said that this was a game of hide-and-seek.

Since it was a game of hide-and-seek, there must be two roles: the hunter who does the seeking, and the one who hides.

Sakayanagi Arisu never considered herself the type who needed to skulk and hide.

Therefore, she was the hunter.

And since she was the hunter, why would she need to hide or hold back?

Find the target she had identified, walk up to confirm it, and declare her victory.

It was that simple.

Although it seemed she had only shaken hands with Wang Meiyu, one must never look only at the surface of things.

This was a declaration of victory, a proclamation that she had seen through the essence beneath the other party's timid facade, and likewise, it was a threat.

She welcomed Wang Meiyu to continue writing her diary; the nonsensical content could add a bit of amusement to her own dull life.

But she was forbidden from fabricating any more rumors about her.

The look in her eyes during that handshake had conveyed exactly that meaning.

"Fine, fine, I don't understand. You understand everything best," Kamuro Masumi shrugged.

First-Year Class B.

"...Sakayanagi-san from Class A went to Class D today."

"It seems... she just went to shake hands with Wang-san from Class D?"

"Is she... planning to be friends with her?"

"To think she's already started making friends in other classes, that's really something."

The students in the class were chatting idly during the break. Although he hadn't actively tried to listen, their voices kept drifting into his ears.

However, the more he heard, the more Asakusa Toru felt that something wasn't right.

Asakusa Toru: "...?"

What was this about Sakayanagi Arisu going to Class D to shake hands with Wang Meiyu?

Chapter 42: Capital, You Win

Last night, after spending a little time in the White Room for some post-meal exercise, and following that up with some simple training using the voice recorder as a hidden weapon, Asakusa Toru had drifted into a peaceful sleep.

By pushing his body to the point of total exhaustion, he could fall asleep quickly even without doing anything else.

And with the Membership Card helping to convert the energy gained from his meals into physical attributes, he was able to return to his peak mental state upon waking up.

There was no need to stay up late, nor was there a need to race against time to use up all the Membership Card's duration; as long as he could feel the changes in his body bit by bit, greeting each day with a full spirit was enough.

After all, he was still a high school student.

A high school student should act like a high school student.

...Anyway, there wasn't much else to do in the fully enclosed Advanced Nurturing school.

He still hadn't beaten Amazawa today; he had been stepped on by her little feet once again.

Sooner or later, he would be the one stepping on her.

However, he wasn't in that much of a rush.

Continuing to grow at his current pace, Asakusa Toru felt that in less than a year, two or three months' worth of time on the Membership Card would be enough for him to crush Amazawa.

The boost from the Membership Card was unexpectedly powerful; even his thinking felt much clearer while he was getting beaten up in the White Room.

One could only say it was worthy of an S-rank reward.

The room key card he had obtained yesterday couldn't even compare.

After all, there was a full three-grade gap between S and C.

After his customary energy replenishment, Asakusa Toru arrived at the Class B classroom once again.

Almost as soon as he stepped into the classroom, Asakusa Toru felt the gazes of his classmates and heard their voices drop instantly.

The small, trivial movements and nudging between them quickly ended, and then, taking advantage of the time before class, a boy with a subtle, somewhat ambiguous gender—though one could vaguely tell he was male—approached him with a bright, sunny smile.

"Good morning, Asakusa-san."

Shibata Hayate, a fair-skinned boy with considerable potential, seemed to be in the soccer club; he possessed excellent athletic ability and was the type who, despite not showing much muscle on the surface, was unexpectedly strong underneath.

"I want to be friends with you," he said.

Ichinose Honami had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation with Asakusa Toru, but that was no reason for them to give up on approaching Asakusa Toru themselves.

Even without experiencing it firsthand, they could imagine the level of isolation felt by someone who failed to integrate into the class group from the very beginning.

Ichinose Honami's attention could not remain on him forever, and besides, everyone did not want Ichinose to be with Asakusa Toru all the time.

--Little Honami belongs to everyone!

So...

[Became friends with 'Shibata Hayate']
[Became friends with 'Shiranami Chihiro']
[Exchanged contact information with all classmates]

Asakusa Toru did not have much desire to socialize proactively, but he was not one to resist interacting with others either.

They say you shouldn't hit a smiling face, let alone these classmates who had taken the initiative to approach him and offer friendship out of concern for his social situation.

Friends, at times, could prove unexpectedly useful.

For instance, they could be used as sacrifices when encountering danger... no, wait, when one was short on cash, one could shamelessly walk up and say, "Aren't we friends?" to guilt-trip them.

...Sorry, those both seem a bit excessive.

In any case, establishing social connections had no downsides.

Asakusa Toru was not worried about his free time being hijacked for various reasons after becoming friends, nor was he worried about being guilt-tripped into handing over money.