Classroom of the Elite: After the Information Refreshed, They Always Want to Conquer Me!

"Out of all the freshmen, you're the only one eating the free meal." She said this while sitting down opposite him without a hint of hesitation.

The premium set meal on her tray stood in stark contrast to the meager free ration in front of Shimizu Akira.

Shimizu Akira swallowed his food at a leisurely pace, then looked up at the girl across from him: "Good afternoon, Kamuro. Are you willing to forgive me now?"

He suddenly recalled that over-the-line joke from last time; the girl seemed to still be holding a grudge.

"Kneel and apologize, and let me step on your head to make amends." Kamuro Masumi gave a cold snort, her slender fingers tapping lightly against the edge of her tray.

But then, her gaze swept over the free meal in front of Shimizu Akira, and her tone softened ever so slightly: "...However, considering you actually listened to what I said and are honestly eating the free meal to save points..."

She poked at the food on her own tray with a fork: "...I'll spare you this time."

Shimizu Akira was momentarily speechless, his expression stiffening in a subtle way.

He did remember that Kamuro Masumi had warned him in a chat message to be mindful of his point usage, but he hadn't expected her to remember it so clearly.

--Though she had guessed the reason entirely wrong.

He was only saving up to rent surveillance equipment.

"...I ordered an extra portion, so it's your lucky day." Kamuro Masumi suddenly turned her head away and pushed a small bowl of golden, crispy popcorn chicken toward him.

Shimizu Akira's gaze swept over the lonely ramen on her tray—it was clearly a side dish she had split off from her own meal.

A flash of realization crossed his eyes, but he only smiled gently: "Then thank you, Kamuro."

Sometimes, accepting kindness without making a scene is the best way to show respect to the giver.

The corners of Kamuro Masumi's mouth curled into a tiny, uncontrollable arc, but she immediately straightened her face: "...You don't even know how to pretend to decline? You really are thick-skinned!"

She suddenly pointed her chopsticks at Shimizu Akira, her tone carrying the arrogance typical of Class A: "Speaking of which, since you already know the truth, you should understand—even if your Class D reveals the truth, it won't change anything. After all..." She dragged out the tone intentionally, "you are just the leftovers that were picked over. Do you really think you'll be that obedient?"

"At the beginning of next month, your class will have at most two or three hundred points, right? Barely enough to have a decent meal once in a while. But I'm different; Class A has three or four times as many points as you do~" This boast was delivered with high-and-mighty pride, yet her eyes kept glancing toward the popcorn chicken in front of Shimizu Akira, as if checking to see if he was eating it properly.

Shimizu Akira wore a faint, elusive smile as he chewed the crispy chicken slowly. Regarding the millions of points about to hit his account, he chose to remain silent.

He saw it clearly—Kamuro Masumi wasn't genuinely mocking him; she was just clumsily trying to maintain her pride as a Class A elite while offering help without leaving a trace.

"Yes, yes." He nodded submissively, playing along with the girl's small vanity.

"How were your entrance exam scores?" Kamuro Masumi asked suddenly.

"I failed every subject except for physical education," Shimizu Akira answered honestly.

Kamuro Masumi's expression stiffened. She looked him up and down, her gaze finally resting on the solid lines of his arms: "...No wonder you ended up in Class D. You're just an idiot who only knows how to train his muscles."

"By the way," she suddenly straightened her back and pointed at him with her chopsticks, "my entrance scores were much better than yours! So get that 'looking down on me' thought out of your head!"

Shimizu Akira realized then—so she was still hung up on his careless words from that day.

"I said the wrong thing that day." He put down his chopsticks, his expression turning uncharacteristically serious, "I promise, I won't have such rude thoughts again in the future."

He had to admit, even though Kamuro Masumi always put on an overbearing front, both her straightforward personality and her principles were far purer than most people in Class D.

Especially her awkward way of showing concern, which made Shimizu Akira feel that she was exceptionally genuine.

Kamuro Masumi's fingertips slid rapidly across her phone screen, and suddenly, a "ding" notification sounded in Shimizu Akira's pocket.

"You... your personality is way too weak, isn't it?" She frowned, using a tone of disgust to hide her own discomfort, "You just agree with whatever I say... Forget it, since you're so obedient, I'll lend you 10,000 points for now."

Kamuro Masumi stood up abruptly, her tray clattering crisply in her hands, "Don't eat this pathetic meal anymore. Sitting with you... I find it embarrassing."

Before Shimizu Akira could respond, she walked quickly toward an empty seat in the distance.

Halfway there, she stopped suddenly and threw a line back without looking over her shoulder: "...Remember to claim the points. Don't force me to come to Class D to find you in person!"

"Kamuro Masumi... she really is a good person."

Shimizu Akira watched her retreating back and sighed to himself involuntarily.

Despite being so bluntly rejected, a strange warmth bloomed in his heart.

He looked down at the remaining chicken on his tray and suddenly realized—this must be Kamuro Masumi's way of showing she cared.

067 Kushida Kikyou is a textbook perfect girlfriend

[Ding~ Today's intelligence has been updated]

[Intelligence 1: Ryuen Kakeru of Class 1-C currently has 3,016,500 points]

[Intelligence 2: Kanzaki Ryuji was assigned to Class 1-B due to his overly passive attitude during the interview]

[Intelligence 3: Hashimoto Masayoshi of Class 1-A is a double agent]

Just as Shimizu Akira reached his seat in the classroom, the daily intelligence notification echoed in his mind. He browsed through it word for word.

First, the first item—

(Hmm? Ryuen Kakeru actually has that many points?)

Shimizu Akira immediately reflected on his own previous arrogance; it turned out he wasn't the one with the most points. Looking at it this way, Ryuen Kakeru, the leader of Class 1-C, was much wealthier than him, with his points having already broken the million mark.

(Could it be class funds?)

He didn't think the other party would earn points reasonably through trades like he did, and connecting it to Ryuen Kakeru's status as the leader of Class C, he subconsciously guessed that this might be the total points of the entire class.

(Hmm? In that case, Class C is actually quite united?)

This was somewhat unexpected for him.

He looked at the second item.

He had heard of Kanzaki Ryuji long ago; after all, the guy was a well-known handsome student in Class 1-B.

(How is there another person assigned to a different class because of their interview attitude?)

Kouenji Rokusuke in his own class was the same.

(Is the authority of the interviewers a bit too broad?)

Thinking about it carefully, all students were evaluated through a series of tests by interviewers and then assigned to different classes based on those evaluations.

It would be one thing if one person's class assignment was affected by their interview attitude, but now a second one had popped up; this was clearly an issue with the school.

He looked at the third item.

He didn't have any impression of this person named Hashimoto Masayoshi.

("Double agent" refers to a fence-sitter, right? In other words, this person will be someone else's subordinate in the future, betraying their own faction to cooperate with others?)

He just didn't know who he was currently affiliated with.

Perhaps he wouldn't just betray a certain faction; he might even sell out his entire class.

Shimizu Akira kept his composure and stayed on guard.

The third period in the morning was math, which was Shimizu Akira's strongest subject.

As much as he had a headache over language arts in this life, he was just as skilled at mathematics.

The teacher was lecturing on vectors, a topic Shimizu Akira was already intimately familiar with.

After all, during his years as a game designer in his past life, he had written too many spreadsheets for programmers and later taught himself game development. The application of vectors in games was incredibly comprehensive.

Judging fields of vision, performing collision detection, and implementing character action logic—all of these required vectors.

Although most situations could be solved with the tools built into the game engine, there were times when he had to write the code himself.

Lunch break.

Just as Shimizu Akira was planning to go eat, his phone vibrated.

He swiped the screen open with his left hand and found a message from Kushida Kikyou.

Kushida Kikyou: Shimizu-kun, don't forget our agreement~

Kushida Kikyou: I will count all the votes I secure toward your quota!

He immediately understood that she was hinting at the election.

--She actually wants to count everyone she recruits as his contribution?

--It seems that the 80,000 points were purely hush money to her.

However, come to think of it, even though she had already revealed her true nature to him last night, she was still acting like a sweet girl in front of him?

Shimizu Akira: Are you sure about this?

Kushida Kikyou: ...It's fine! After all, I was the one who proposed it. Shimizu-kun doesn't actually have to do anything~

Shimizu Akira never expected that he could win this election by just lying down.

What surprised him most was Kushida Kikyou's attitude—she actually took the initiative to say he didn't have to do anything. This feeling of having everything handled for him gave him the inexplicable illusion of "living off a woman."

(Could this classmate be the type who would swallow her grievances just to maintain a perfect persona?)

Shimizu Akira's thoughts drifted away involuntarily, and a vivid image appeared in his mind: if Kushida Kikyou were to fall in love in the future, she would surely wear this gentle and lovely mask, playing the role of an impeccable, perfect girlfriend.

Even if she were annoyed by her boyfriend, she would only bite her lip, swallow her frustration, and run to the rooftop alone to stomp her feet against the wall to vent.

The next morning, she would be able to bloom with a sweet smile in the morning sun, as if nothing from the previous night had ever happened.

Regardless of whether her gentleness is real or fake, at least she is devoted to you, isn't she?

Of course, that is on the condition that the other party holds your dark secrets.

(Wait... thinking about it this way?)

A perfect girlfriend! This is practically a textbook-level perfect girlfriend!

Shimizu Akira couldn't help but compare in his heart: even if it were the universally gentle Ichinose Honami, she would likely stick to her principles and demand that the person who made the mistake apologize.

But Kushida Kikyou is different—in order to maintain the affection of others, she would rather hide away to vent her emotions than ever lose her temper with those close to her.

"Could it be... that Kushida Kikyou... is the best candidate for an ideal girlfriend..."

This sudden conclusion startled even Shimizu Akira himself.

Even knowing that she was two-faced, this personality trait actually made her rare.

The fact that she would never get angry at her boyfriend already put her ahead of 99% of women in the world.

What's even better is the dual-personality setup—it's like having two girlfriends at once, sometimes sweet and lovely, other times real and spontaneous.

This kind of gap moe not only fails to become tiresome, but instead adds a unique flavor to the romance.

Shimizu Akira gazed at the girl before him with her masterful acting skills and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Kushida Kikyou was truly impeccable—if one ignored her innate talent for performance.

Shimizu Akira: Kushida-san, you are still too kind.

Kushida Kikyou: ...Eh? I just want to be friends with everyone, it's not just simple kindness!

Kushida Kikyou: Um... actually, don't look at me like that, I have my own little selfish motives too! Just like that deal last night...

Kushida Kikyou: If I absolutely had to go on a date with a boy, honestly, it would be better if it were Shimizu-kun.

Shimizu Akira raised an eyebrow, watching as she quickly sent several messages. Sure enough, the next second, the topic shifted to the main point.

Kushida Kikyou: Um... actually, because I collected class fees recently, in order to raise those 80,000 points, I borrowed points from quite a few people!

The girl's subtext couldn't be more obvious: since I'm broke now, shouldn't you show some appreciation regarding those 80,000 points?

Shimizu Akira could almost see the virtual dialogue box popping out of the chat window: Desperately need points! Really, really want those 80,000 back!

He pondered for a moment and decided to be straightforward: Look, your 80,000 points are of great use to me; in short, there is no way I am giving them to you.

Kushida Kikyou remained silent for a very, very long time this time.

Kushida Kikyou: You won't even give me 30,000 points?

Shimizu Akira: Yeah, I can't give them to you.

Kushida Kikyou: I understand.

He could almost hear the sound of the beads on Kushida Kikyou's mental abacus scattering all over the floor.

However, Shimizu Akira still couldn't help but chuckle softly.

See! He was right, wasn't he! Even under these circumstances, she still didn't intend to tear off the mask and get angry.

068 Finally obtained surveillance access

Shimizu Akira no longer had time to pay attention to Kushida Kikyou's reaction, because Horikita Manabu had finally sent the text message he had been waiting for.