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

During one's student days, it is not uncommon to set up all sorts of messy conditions, pose various questions, and discuss the choices one would make under those corresponding circumstances.

The most common questions are: if you had money, what would you do first? If you were an adult, what would you do? If, if, if—

Although the vast majority of such questions are just impulsive, off-the-cuff remarks made without a second thought.

But sometimes, such questions precisely indicate that you want to understand the other person on a deeper level.

In other words, it means she likes me, which is why she would ask me such a question.

After a burst of brainstorming, Asakusa Toru arrived at a conclusion that even he found a little amusing.

What a self-absorbed guy, truly pathetic.

Liking or not liking, it probably isn't like that. Perhaps because of this face, or perhaps because he and Shiina Hiyori had spent some time together in the library, he thought that Shiina Hiyori should have at least a slight favorable impression of him.

But, a favorable impression is just that. He naturally has a favorable impression of all pretty girls, but that doesn't mean he likes all of them.

...However, a message?

Upon seeing the word "message," Asakusa Toru thought of the messages he hadn't received for several days.

Although he had received two messages from the Little Princess and Handprint Sister on that day at the end of April, the message function seemed to have disappeared after that; it hadn't popped up at all.

He had originally thought that Horikita Suzune would consider sending him a message after becoming friends with Kushida Kikyo that day, but she acted as if she had forgotten about the existence of messages entirely and did nothing.

...Could it be that Hiyori asked this question because she intends to send herself a message?

Inexplicably, such a thought popped into Asakusa Toru's mind.

But soon, he turned his head and dismissed this possibility.

A message isn't a term exclusive to the Diary, and it's far too late to start thinking about what to write in a message now. Besides, would anyone really treat the person behind the Diary as a "favorite author"?

Setting aside whether she likes him or not, writing a diary doesn't make one an author.

Moreover, if this were true, the feeling of being asked in person by her how to write a message to him... is very subtle.

With a smile, Asakusa Toru stopped dwelling on the reason why Shiina Hiyori asked such a question and instead began to formally think about how to answer it.

No need to think too seriously; after all, this isn't an exam.

But if there really were such an opportunity...

Picking up his pen, Asakusa Toru wrote his answer on the paper and then returned it to Hiyori.

"..."

Right on cue, the library door opened once again, and Ichinose Honami and Kanzaki Ryuji, who were quite late, arrived at the library one after another and took their seats beside him and Shiranami Chihiro.

"How did it go, how did it go?" Ichinose lowered her voice to confirm the situation with Shiranami Chihiro.

Shiranami Chihiro very quietly pushed the "fruits of labor" in her hand gently toward her direction.

Her gaze swept lightly over the workbook, and Ichinose couldn't help but reveal a smile, whispering into Shiranami Chihiro's ear:

"Oh, not bad at all."

"Impressive, impressive."

The soft voice and breath brushed past Shiranami Chihiro's ear, and her earlobe turned red in an instant.

When the person you like whispers in your ear like this, not having any reaction would be a disservice to the feelings in your heart.

Very, very good. She felt she could work twice as hard again.

After encouraging Shiranami Chihiro in this way, Ichinose Honami slowly stood up, moved behind Asakusa Toru's chair, grabbed the back of the chair with both hands, and leaned forward.

In the same way, leaning close to his ear, she whispered softly:

"Asakusa-kun is also very impressive, you know~"

"..." Without a word, Asakusa Toru raised his hand and pushed her back.

Is she coaxing a child?

In any case, except for Shibata Hayate, who couldn't make it, the Ichinose study group was now complete.

Although, in reality, Shiranami Chihiro was the only one here who needed to put in extra effort, the presence of an atmosphere-building team was also very necessary.

When you look up and want to slack off, seeing the people around you still working hard, you inexplicably get the thought: maybe I should keep studying for a while longer.

"..."

Soon, the Ichinose Group entered a state of study one after another. Aside from the sound of pages turning, the only thing that could be heard was the friction of pen tips sliding across paper.

Shiina Hiyori had no intention of continuing to disturb Asakusa Toru, but instead gently unfolded the paper that Asakusa Toru had casually handed back.

On the page, Asakusa Toru had written these words:

[I would ask him how it feels to French kiss Herzog]

Shiina Hiyori: "...?"

...Which author is she asking about?

Chapter 81 It's Time to Interrogate Chabashira Sae

Study group, daily tasks, and regular White Room training.

The mundane daily life passed in a flash, and in its place came the day of May 8th.

[Today's Diary Plot Index: C]

"Hoh... I thought I'd have to wait until the end of the month." Raising an eyebrow at the bright, glaring letter 'C', Asakusa Toru, currently in his dorm room, felt somewhat surprised.

In his memory, nothing particularly special actually happened at Advanced Nurturing during the month of May.

It was nothing more than study groups and mobilizing for study groups, buying past exam papers, and then preparing for the final exams.

In a word, it was a plotline where the masterpiece first showed its potential.

But now... with him aggressively spoiling the plot and changing the original trajectory, whether Ayanokoji Kiyotaka would still act for the survival of Class D, or whether the failing group in Class D would still need to buy past exam papers to get through their crisis, was hard to say.

However, there was one thing that likely wouldn't change.

That was the incorrect midterm exam scope that Chabashira Sae had outlined for the students of her Class D.

Thinking of this, Asakusa Toru suddenly had an idea of what kind of diary entry to write today.

--It's time to grill Chabashira Sae.

But before putting pen to paper, there were other things he needed to figure out.

For instance, the rise in today's Plot Index must correspond to the plot that was originally supposed to happen.

After the study session, before the past exam papers...

May 8th...

Could it be the debut battle of Handprint Sister?

After thinking about it for a moment, Asakusa Toru found the key plot point.

The rooftop, true nature, and the handprint.

She had been venting her stress by cursing loudly on the rooftop, only to forget to lock the door and be forced to reveal her true colors.

Faced with such a disastrous situation, Kushida Kikyo chose a way to make others hide the truth... by grabbing someone's hand and pressing their fingerprints onto her own body, hoping to keep the clothes as evidence to threaten the other person, claiming she could accuse them of molestation.

To put it bluntly, it was a plotline with plenty of room for criticism, but one that unexpectedly made one's hands itch, wanting to press some handprints on someone.

...No wonder today's Plot Index is a C.

It seems the Plot Index isn't ranked according to the figures of the corresponding characters.

Then again, if it were ranked by figure, unless it involved a plotline related to the Little Princess, it would probably be quite difficult for the index to reach an A, given the average figure of the girls at Advanced Nurturing.

"..."

That felt a bit insulting to the Little Princess, but it didn't matter.

Who told her to be born flat-chested.

The ballpoint pen spun gently in his hand as Asakusa Toru opened the diary, yet he hesitated to write.

If he remembered correctly, this debut battle of Handprint Sister and the reunion of the Horikita siblings happened on the same day.

...No, I really can't understand how this Plot Index is calculated after all.

And if the Plot Index only changes based on the original plot, then wouldn't there be no room for him to maneuver?

Troublesome.

Whatever, for now, I'll just seize every opportunity where the Plot Index is higher than E.

Time to write the diary!

The spinning ballpoint pen stopped, and the pitch-black ink soaked into the diary's page along the point of contact.

[Nothing happened today...

So let's expose the top-tier homeroom teachers of Advanced Nurturing (loud voice)!

(Clapping)(Applause)

Everyone has been studying lately, immersed in a sea of questions, and nothing interesting has happened.

It's even made me feel a bit lazy.

This isn't good; if everyone is just focused on exams, can this school still be called a place where might makes right?!

Don't forget your original intentions!

There are so many extraordinary people here, yet I've already gotten used to their existence and haven't specifically written about them in my diary to roast them.

What do you call this? This is forgetting one's roots!

Anyway, that's that; today is the homeroom teachers' home turf.

As everyone knows, there are four homeroom teachers for the first years at Advanced Nurturing.

Let's just call them Square-faced Teacher, Drunken Teacher, Unethical Teacher, and Stupid Teacher for now.

There's not much to say about Square-faced Teacher; he's the most standard teacher, so standard that he even feels a bit out of place among the others. Perhaps because he feels being too standard isn't great, Square-faced Teacher has a backstory where he was a student in the same cohort as Drunken Teacher and Stupid Teacher.

The real heavyweights are the latter three.

The one who is an Unethical Teacher is just as his name suggests; he has no professional ethics whatsoever, lets his students run wild, turns a blind eye to everything, and is the biggest culprit when it comes to favoritism and malpractice.]

Although the students who benefited from his favoritism and malpractice probably liked him, it was somewhat unfair to the students in other classes.

Fortunately, this school had even more unfair, rotten teachers; compared to the other two heavyweights, Unethical Teacher actually seemed to have a shred of professional ethics.

...Hiss, I suddenly don't feel very motivated.

No, I need to change my approach.

"Ahem, this is the live broadcast of the Advanced Nurturing Teacher God-Man Ranking, and I am your host, Diary!"

The sky screen descends! The exposure begins!

After the fourth and third-ranked teachers, we now welcome the second-ranked rotten teacher!

Rotten Drunkard Lady!!!!

More of a slut than a teacher, more concerned with her best friend than any man, this drunkard lady who seems to be well-regarded among the students for her mature, adult demeanor is someone Square-faced Gentleman wouldn't consider as a woman no matter how he looked at it.

She only fools the kids.

I can't really judge whether she's promiscuous or not, but she does change male companions every single day; while one's private life is a personal matter, since she dares to act this way, she shouldn't blame me for attacking her.

However, the reason this woman managed to rank second on our Advanced Nurturing Teacher God-Man Ranking is certainly not just because of her private life.

If her personal conduct were just a bit rotten, one could simply stay away to avoid her.

But unfortunately, this dead woman is a teacher, and a stinking bitch who values her personal relationships and emotions above everything else—someone who would even sacrifice herself and trade away her morals, using every "foul" trick in the book just to step on her own best friend.

In short, if you all happen to run into Rotten Drunkard Lady, then... I can only wish you all good luck.

If you don't run into her best friend, I suppose she's just a bit messy in her private life, drinks a bit too heavily, brings the smell of alcohol to class, lacks the demeanor of a teacher, and has rather poor teaching skills.

Really, there is absolutely, not even a little bit, anything to be afraid of.

But if you do run into her best friend...

Then everyone should prepare themselves to be dragged down into the mud with her.