Classroom of the Elite, I Can Add Points Infinitely Chapter 37

"Good afternoon, Shiina."

"Good afternoon, Aragaki-kun." Shiina Hiyori set down her book to return the greeting, casting a curious look his way. "Didn't you send a message at noon saying you had nothing to do today and wanted me to help you find some books on fortune-telling?"

"My apologies. I ran into an unexpected situation on my way here, so I am indeed late..."

Aragaki Shun took the materials he was meant to study from Shiina's hands. Without any intention of hiding it, he gave the girl a rough summary of the events that had transpired, starting from his collision with Sakura.

Shiina listened quietly as the boy recounted his chance encounter with the plain girl and his subsequent suppression of the clerk at the electronics store. Her expression remained unchanged, as calm and breezy as ever, though for some reason, she sighed at the end—

"So, Aragaki-kun went off to play the hero saving a damsel in distress..."

"Hero saving a damsel?" Aragaki Shun raised an eyebrow, as if savoring the meaning of the phrase, before shaking his head in denial. "I wouldn't call it that!"

"I merely nipped a threat in the bud. Had I not provoked him, that clerk might not have had the guts to actually do anything."

Evil is judged by actions, not by thoughts; if one were to judge by thoughts, no one in this world would be perfect.

Even Aragaki Shun admitted that when he encountered certain beautiful women, he couldn't help but have thoughts that were difficult to share with others.

He was no saint; when faced with beauty, his heart would occasionally ripple.

Just as in the leisurely times he spent reading with Shiina Hiyori, Aragaki Shun was often drawn to the girl's temperament and poise, fantasizing about making the moment last forever, thinking that spending a lifetime with her would be a wonderful thing.

One has to admit, while it is hard to say how many true talents Kodo Ikusei Senior High School actually recruits despite the massive resources spent scouring the country, there is no doubt that the proportion of beautiful girls among the students is shockingly high.

As the leader of Class A, Aragaki Shun had plenty of opportunities to interact with the girls in his class on a daily basis.

To say nothing of others, he was surrounded by three distinct beauties: his deskmate Ichinose Honami, the girl in front of him Shiranami Chihiro, and the girl behind him Himeno Yuki.

Living in such an environment every day, it would be a lie to say he was completely indifferent or had never fantasized about anything scandalous.

After all, he was a normal man—neither a Liuxia Hui, nor a eunuch, nor a monk who had severed all desires.

Oh, wait. Temples in Sakurajima were managed and inherited by families; monks didn't have to follow strict celibacy, as they also had to marry and have children to pass the temple down to their descendants.

But regardless, no matter how much his mind wandered, it was only fantasy. As long as he wasn't truly swayed by desire or acted upon those wicked thoughts, no one could judge him for the impulses hidden deep in his heart.

Therefore, his method of goading the clerk into losing his composure wasn't an act of justice, let alone a hero saving a damsel.

He had simply, based on his own preferences, labeled the clerk as a "potential future threat" and decisively taken action to deal with him.

"Not a hero saving a damsel?" The literary girl looked puzzled. "Isn't it because Sakura-san is a very pretty beauty that Aragaki-kun was so proactive in helping her solve her trouble?"

Why does Shiina seem a bit off?

Aragaki Shun looked at Shiina Hiyori, who remained as tranquil as ever with little emotion on her face, and a sense of inexplicable guilt suddenly welled up in his heart.

He had promised to read with Shiina, yet he had been lured away by another woman and failed to arrive on time; he really was guilty of a grave offense.

Wait, why was he self-flagellating like this in his heart?

When he decided to take Sakura Airi to the electronics store, hadn't he already sent a message to Shiina saying he might be late?

And the literary girl had expressed her understanding at the time.

Thinking of this, Aragaki Shun righteously wiped away that strange feeling in his heart. He stopped dwelling on such things and responded to Shiina Hiyori's question with the mindset of a casual chat.

"Sakura-san is probably decent-looking, but she seems to intentionally hide herself. With her glasses and tied-up hair, she dresses like a plain girl and seems to have no intention of interacting with her peers."

"I don't have a hobby of digging into other people's business, so I didn't really study whether she was pretty or not. She's just a stranger I met by chance. If we're fated, perhaps we'll become friends later; if not, it would be hard to get familiar in the next three years, let alone after that."

Aragaki Shun didn't know if Shiina was truly jealous.

He didn't want to dwell on whether this was just a misconception born of his own wishful thinking.

In any case, he had no ulterior motives regarding Sakura Airi, so he might as well tell Shiina his true thoughts rather than playing those games of misunderstanding and reconciliation.

Fortunately, Shiina was not the type to make unreasonable trouble. Upon hearing his description of Sakura Airi, she merely gave the boy a reproachful look. "How can you directly label a girl as a 'plain girl'? Aragaki-kun, you are far too blunt."

"My apologies, but I can't help it. That was my first impression of Sakura."

Aragaki Shun spread his hands. "If you don't believe me, you can go to Class D and say hello to her yourself. Then you won't be talking about heroes saving damsels anymore."

Sakura Airi certainly wasn't ugly, but if one were to put her next to Aragaki Shun and ask anyone in the school to judge, it would be impossible to say the boy was the one benefiting from the pairing!

With all his attributes reaching the limits of a normal human, coupled with so many skills and talents, even if Aragaki Shun couldn't see his own charm stat, he was confident that no one his age could surpass him in that regard.

It was only because he disliked being surrounded by noise and intentionally projected an aura that told bystanders to stay away; otherwise, if he were to imitate Ichinose Honami even slightly, he could have a crowd of people following him around every day.

Faced with the boy's somewhat narcissistic attitude, Shiina Hiyori wanted to say something but stopped. Looking at his exceptionally handsome face, she ultimately couldn't find a point to refute.

But this only made the girl feel more stifled in her heart.

That's right, Aragaki-kun is different from me; he has always had many people around him.

79. Shiina Hiyori becomes heavy-hearted

Shiina Hiyori could feel her state of mind becoming turbulent.

This was something that shouldn't have happened.

Aragaki-kun was not a loner like her, someone who always stayed by herself and lacked friends to talk to.

He was the leader of Class A, and in the past, he had occasionally delayed his arrival at the library due to class affairs. Today, he had only failed to arrive on time because he had encountered an unexpected situation.

But even so, the boy had politely sent a message to indicate he would be late.

At the time, Shiina Hiyori hadn't thought much of it. After all, accidents happen to everyone in life, so she had been very understanding and told the boy to go ahead and do what he needed to do.

It is as simple as that. No matter how you look at it, once such a trivial matter has passed, there is no reason to dwell on it, let alone feel sullen because of it.

"What exactly is wrong with me?"

The literary girl looked at the beloved book in her hands, but she, who could usually immerse herself in stories with ease, was now restless and unable to calm her mind. It felt as if a breath was stuck in her chest; her mood had inexplicably turned gloomy, and she felt completely listless.

Aragaki Shun, sitting opposite her, suddenly gave a start and glanced curiously at Shiina Hiyori, who seemed no different than usual.

However, relying on his instinct, he could vaguely sense something strange suppressing the air.

Perhaps due to the long-term influence of literature, whenever Aragaki Shun read with the girl, he would be affected by her intellectual and ethereal temperament, easily immersing himself in the focused reading atmosphere and completely forgetting the passage of time.

For Aragaki Shun, this kind of time where he didn't have to think about anything and could simply enjoy himself in the ocean of knowledge was exceptionally relaxing and comfortable.

In that state, there seemed to be a silent understanding between him and Shiina Hiyori; they didn't need much verbal communication to naturally follow the atmosphere and understand each other's thoughts.

But now, he found it difficult to enter that state. The girl opposite him, who should have given off a light and soft impression, now inexplicably felt heavy, like a feather soaked in water.

Aragaki Shun simply put down his book, rested his chin on one hand, and stared at Shiina without blinking.

Before long, the literary girl shifted uncomfortably, using her book to half-cover her face, revealing only a pair of purple eyes as she reproachfully questioned him, "Why does Aragaki-kun keep looking at me? Is there something on my face?"

"Because from the start of the semester until now, this is the first time I've seen Shiina so distracted. It feels a bit rare."

Shiina Hiyori was taken aback, but she quickly reacted, lowering her eyes so that her emotions were difficult to discern behind the cover of the book. "Sorry, I've made a fool of myself in front of Aragaki-kun. Is it because my distraction affected you?"

"It's nothing serious. I don't think there's anyone in this world who can focus on one thing forever. Sometimes when I find the teacher's lecture boring, I often think about when class will end or what set meal I should have at the cafeteria today."

"Shiina, let me tell you, for me, reading is a habit just like morning jogging; the main purpose is to enrich and train myself. But only gourmet food is my true hobby. Back in Chiba, I would specifically go to various famous restaurants alone just for a single bite."

"Pfft~ I didn't expect Aragaki-kun to have such a side. I really couldn't tell."

Shiina Hiyori pursed her lips and smiled. Outside the library, the two didn't have much contact, so she wasn't clear about what Aragaki Shun was like on a daily basis, nor did she know what his hobbies were outside of reading.

Thinking of this, the smile on the literary girl's face suddenly froze.

So that was it. She finally understood why she was so restless.

In the end, she and he were just ordinary book friends. Their contact was limited to this small corner of the library, and their time together was only those short two-plus hours every afternoon.

Of course, the girl had no complaints about this.

For Shiina, who had lacked friends since childhood and could only quietly savor mystery novels alone, meeting a like-minded friend like Aragaki Shun after coming to Kodo Ikusei Senior High School was already the greatest luxury she had once only dared to bury deep in her heart.

The literary girl considered herself not greedy; she had never asked for more, only hoping to maintain the status quo and spend a short, peaceful time with her book friend every afternoon.

However, even such a simple wish would always encounter various accidents?

Shiina Hiyori felt a bit dejected in her heart.

As the leader of Class A, Aragaki Shun sometimes had to be busy with Class A affairs and couldn't always come to the library on time.

She had understood and accepted this situation as early as last month.

And today, the reason Aragaki Shun couldn't keep his appointment on time was because of an accidental encounter with another girl.

Shiina wasn't at the scene, so naturally, she didn't know what the whole thing was about. She was just a little unhappy that her own time had been taken by someone else...

Moreover—"Anyway, they are just strangers who met by chance. Perhaps they might become friends if fate allows, but if not, it will be hard to become familiar in the next three years, let alone after three years."

Recalling Aragaki Shun's attitude toward Sakura Airi earlier, the literary girl felt even heavier in her heart.

She and Aragaki-kun should be considered friends now, right?

But the time they could spend as book friends, communicating freely and without restraint, was only three years.

Three years later, they would have to go their separate ways for their futures. Perhaps in the end, even their phone contact would be cut off, let alone meeting every day like they did today.

This kind of thing... this kind of future...

Watching Shiina Hiyori suddenly clench her delicate fist, causing the pages of the book to make a crisp sound, Aragaki Shun felt an inexplicable sense of alarm.

What exactly could she have imagined to make the usually elegant and calm Shiina perform such an action so out of character?

Aragaki Shun dared not let the girl continue to let her imagination run wild and quickly threw out an important project to change the subject.

"Shiina, I invited you to transfer to Class A last night, and you said you would consider it. A whole day has passed now, so it's time to give me an answer!"

Startled from her deep thoughts by Aragaki Shun and suddenly asked such a question, Shiina Hiyori's thinking stalled for a moment. When she finally came to her senses, she subconsciously turned a page of the book in her hand before looking up as calmly as usual.

But the next moment, meeting the boy's expectant gaze, the literary girl appeared perfectly normal on the surface, yet for some reason, she forgot the response she had prepared and instinctively asked the doubt in her heart.

"Aragaki-kun, do you really want me to go to Class A?"

80. Shiina feels like she's being kept

"Aragaki-kun, do you really want me to go to Class A?"

As soon as these words left her mouth, Shiina Hiyori already felt a bit of regret.

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, and her eyes drifted involuntarily, as if looking for something to change the subject.

But the die was cast, and the words were out. The girl could only lower her head inadvertently, pretending to flip through the pages of the book, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"I... I was just mentioning it, nothing special."

She said softly, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible shyness.

Aragaki Shun watched the girl's fingers twisting the edge of the page subconsciously, as if trying to relieve her inner tension through this small action, and couldn't help but feel a bit amused.

If there was no special meaning behind it, then why go out of the way to emphasize that sentence?

I truly didn't expect to see such a cute expression on the face of the usually indifferent Shiina Hiyori; it suddenly gave me a refreshing sense of healing.

Of course, I definitely couldn't actually laugh out loud, otherwise, no matter how good Shiina's personality was, there was a possibility she would fly into a rage out of embarrassment the next moment.

Therefore, Aragaki Shun could only pretend he hadn't seen the awkwardness on the literary girl's face and answered her question as calmly as usual, "Both professionally and personally, I hope you can transfer to Class A as soon as possible, Shiina."

"Professionally, it would boost the overall strength of Class A. Personally, as a friend, I really don't feel at ease with you staying in the environment of Class C for long. Shiina, you should know the problems in Class C better than I do, right?"

Seeing that the boy didn't dwell on her slip of the tongue, Shiina Hiyori breathed a slight sigh of relief, yet she couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment at Aragaki Shun's overly natural reaction.

Besides, saying he was worried about her... she wasn't some little child.

However, she didn't dare to let her thoughts run wild any further. Forcing herself to shake off these strange emotions, she took the initiative to focus her attention on the serious matter the boy had brought up.

"The problems in Class C?" Shiina looked up, meeting Aragaki Shun's gentle yet forceful gaze, and a perfectly measured look of confusion appeared on her face, "Are you referring to Ryuen Kakeru using violence to unify the class, Aragaki-kun?"

"That's right. I admit that Ryuen Kakeru does have a certain level of ability, but I am even more confident that his Class C cannot possibly compete against our Class A. Since that's the case, wouldn't it be better for you to escape the quagmire of Class C sooner?"

"Aren't you being a bit too confident, Aragaki-kun?" Shiina Hiyori smiled slightly as she looked at Aragaki Shun's spirited demeanor, "Although most people in Class C lack ability, they are quite dangerous under the leadership of Ryuen-kun."

"Besides, my days in Class C are actually fine. Ryuen-kun only uses violence against those who don't submit to his rule. As long as I stay quietly to the side, no one will come to deliberately cause me trouble."

In fact, this was a modest statement from Shiina.

As one of the few intellectuals in Class C, possessing top-tier academic and analytical skills, Shiina's status in the class was currently quite good. As long as she didn't deliberately provoke Ryuen Kakeru, he wouldn't suddenly go crazy and lash out at her.

After all, there were very few qualified talents in Class C to begin with. No matter how much Ryuen advocated for violence, he wouldn't go out of his way to push away someone capable of serving as a strategist for the class.

It was just a pity that Shiina herself didn't like to fight with others, and her social skills were somewhat lacking, which resulted in her not making any close friends in the class even after more than a month since school started.

Otherwise, if the girl had really put her mind to it, not to mention competing with Ryuen Kakeru for the position of class leader, becoming the leader of the girls or the second-in-command of the class would have been a breeze.

"I believe that with your ability, Shiina, you certainly have no problem protecting yourself in Class C."

Aragaki Shun nodded in affirmation first, then shifted the tone of the conversation, speaking bluntly, "But it's been so long since school started, and you still haven't made any decent friends in Class C, have you?"

"Since that's the case, why not just transfer to our Class A? Whether it's overall strength or the daily atmosphere, our Class A is the best among the four freshman classes."