Underclassman Amanzawa: "That's right, Kushida-senpai. I came back from two years in the future!"

So Classmate Kushida was an expert at using this channel.

And it was even easier to understand why she was here, and why she seemed to be following them.

Classmate Kushida had always been focused on and devoted to Horikita. Now there was another person she needed to keep an eye on, so naturally she'd seize the chance to build a closer relationship with him.

Just now, Nakano Yuu had deliberately said he'd ordered coffee for Classmate Kamuro. Classmate Kushida hadn't shown any surprise, which suggested that this kind of thing seemed perfectly normal to her.

But in fact, Kamuro was the one drinking warm water.

That meant she'd arrived quite late. She hadn't witnessed Kamuro stealing anything or watched him make Kamuro sign an IOU.

So perhaps she really had come to help.

She wanted to get closer to him, then confirm whether Horikita had told him about her past.

You sure are hardworking, Classmate Kushida.

But...

"Even though I fell in love with Classmate Kamuro at first sight, I'm sorry to say she rejected me outright."

"And that's probably pretty embarrassing, so I hope you won't tell anyone," Nakano Yuu said.

So he was asking Classmate Kushida to keep it secret?

Classmate Kushida loved learning other people's secrets most of all, so she agreed at once.

But Nakano-kun had something to prepare for: he needed to find a suitable place to talk.

The shopping street was a bad place for a conversation. They could run into people or be seen, and there might be cameras. He needed somewhere quiet that hardly anyone visited.

Meanwhile, Classmate Kamuro had already returned to the student dormitory.

The school was strange, and its rules came with their own demands, but one had to admit that the accommodation was quite good. Everyone had a single room, giving her—someone who disliked being around others—a place to catch her breath.

But just as she stepped out of the elevator onto her floor, she noticed that the door to the room next to hers had opened.

"Well, if it isn't Kamuro Masumi, my classmate?" Classmate Sakayanagi had apparently just come out of her room.

Through the door, which hadn't yet closed, Kamuro could see the room's furnishings. They were quite elegant and cute.

It was clear that Sakayanagi lived a refined life, like a little princess.

Kamuro, however, recalled drinking water with Nakano Yuu—well, she'd been drinking water, while Nakano Yuu had been drinking coffee—and what he'd told her.

"Don't approach Sakayanagi Arisu on your own. Just let things take their course." That was what he'd said.

It was strange. He wanted her to become a spy by Sakayanagi's side, yet he was telling her to wait.

"Sakayanagi's very wary. She isn't interested in prey that comes to her. She only likes to hunt for it herself. To put it plainly, simps don't have a future."

That was why she found him so irritating.

"If you just leave everything alone, you'll fall into Sakayanagi's hands sooner or later. Then you can do your job as a spy."

That was even more irritating.

"..." Kamuro.

The memory in her mind was one thing, but Sakayanagi greeting her now was another. Kamuro didn't respond.

But she was usually like this, so the students in her class had probably already labeled her as hard to get along with.

"Hehe." Sakayanagi didn't seem to mind her attitude. But as she passed Kamuro, she suddenly turned around.

Kamuro watched as Sakayanagi's delicate nose seemed to twitch.

"Oh, it seems you were just with someone."

"Let me guess. Nakano Yuu from Class 1-D?" she said.

"..." Kamuro.

??

Kamuro's expression didn't change, but she felt a little uneasy.

Was Sakayanagi Arisu just a bit too scary? Had she really just picked up on some scent?

That was right.

Nakano Yuu was annoying and obnoxious, but he was also rather vain. He didn't have the unpleasant smell of sweat that most guys did. If anything, he smelled kind of nice. He was probably wearing some sort of men's cologne.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Kamuro continued to scowl.

"I just went to the shopping street by myself. I'm not interested in romance," Kamuro said coldly.

"Sorry." To her surprise, Sakayanagi actually apologized sincerely. "I don't know many people at this school, so I was testing you. That Nakano-kun is my ex-boyfriend."

"I don't want anyone in my class getting involved with him," she said.

?

Kamuro's eyes almost widened despite herself.

Because...

Wait, if you were going to test her, couldn't you have stuck to questions about your ex-boyfriend?

Kamuro suddenly remembered that Nakano Yuu had said he and Sakayanagi had broken up. Sakayanagi might even interfere with him or take revenge on him.

And Sakayanagi did seem like the sort of person who could do something like that.

But it seemed Nakano Yuu had gotten one thing wrong.

Sakayanagi Arisu was even scarier than he'd thought.

Yeah.

But not to her. To Nakano Yuu. At that moment, Classmate Kamuro finally felt a little satisfaction.

A plug for another Classroom of the Elite fanfic with over a million words.

Synopsis: Lured by the promise of free tuition and room and board, Shirogane Miyuki resolutely enrolled at Ikusei High School.

After the ordinary genius Sakayanagi Arisu, the wild genius Kouenji, and the artificial genius Ayanokouji, Ikusei High School gained another hardworking genius.

But before the four geniuses could compete on the same stage, a voice from the future appeared in Shirogane's mind.

They claimed to be his future daughters, and their mothers came from the four classes in his year.

Shirogane: Wait, if you do this, how am I supposed to compete between classes?

Daughters: Daddy, what are you saying? Don't you like us? Don't you want us to be born?

Shirogane: Uh, no, it's just that there are so many of you. How am I supposed to support you all? All right, Daddy will work hard for you!

Three years later, everyone looked at the man who had become Student Council President, graduated from Class A, and even made two small fortunes at school.

Sakayanagi: This is what a hardworking genius looks like. My judgment was impeccable.

Horikita Suzune: He really is astonishing.

Shinomiya Kaguya: No, you're both wrong. Shirogane is strongest only when he's in love with someone!

Chika: Exactly! Shirogane is strongest when he's in love with one person, and if he's in love with lots of people, his strength multiplies! He gets even stronger!

Shinomiya Kaguya: ...Fujiwara, be quiet!

Classroom of the Elite: Shirogane Miyuki Edition

Chapter 21: Amasawa, the underclassman: That's right, Classmate Kushida. I came back from two years in the future!

It seemed they had both gotten what they wanted. Classmate Kushida and Nakano-kun returned to the student dormitory together from the shopping street. The boys and girls lived in the same building, with the boys on floors one through four and the girls on floors five through eight.

It was worth noting that Classmate Kushida hadn't asked Nakano-kun to buy her coffee after all.

After all...

Although she thought Horikita had lent Nakano-kun the points, and that he'd have to pay Horikita back eventually, she chose to buy it herself.

She even lent Nakano-kun 5,000 points.

She didn't know what Classmate Kushida was thinking, but since she'd offered to lend him the money, Nakano-kun naturally accepted.

Class D was in a bad way right now, and they probably wouldn't have much spending money next month, either. Classmate Kushida was popular with everyone in class, so she'd lent money to nearly everyone who asked. After all, it was a good way to boost her popularity.

So the fact that she could still lend Nakano-kun 5,000 points was impressive. She'd even cut back on her own meals to afford it.

In other words, she was showing Nakano-kun her goodwill.

Although Nakano Yuu wasn't short on money, why would anyone refuse when someone offered to lend them money?

Probably no one would.

Back in class, Nakano Yuu had received a transfer from Ryuuen and openly said he'd borrowed the points from Horikita Suzune. He wouldn't deliberately hide how many points he had, but he also wouldn't lend money to his classmates.

Well, he wouldn't lend it to most of them.

So wasn't there an obvious way to stop people from asking to borrow money?

Borrow some from someone else first.

So he'd used Ryuuen's transfer in class to make it seem as though he'd borrowed money from Horikita Suzune. Now Classmate Kushida had offered to lend him money, too.

There was no doubt that Classmate Kushida was putting on an act.

And generally speaking, if a girl put on an act in front of you, it meant she wanted something from you.

You didn't call someone out for trying so hard. Nakano-kun had read the original story and knew what fate awaited Classmate Kushida, so he didn't interfere with her pointless efforts.

But...

After being out all day, Nakano-kun went back to his room and, as usual, took a shower first.

The facilities at this school were pretty good. There was hot water whenever he wanted it, so he could shower whenever he liked.

He also liked to think while he showered. That day, he suddenly realized that, as someone who'd transmigrated, he seemed to be missing some of the usual perks transmigrators got.

For instance, a blank year in his memories.

It was as if he'd forgotten something.

But he didn't seem to have gotten the usual transmigrator benefits, either—like being over eighteen centimeters long, or getting a system, superpowers, or something similar. None of that applied to him.

Was there some special reason for all this?

As the hot water from the showerhead poured over him, Nakano-kun began to ponder the meaning of life.

Meanwhile, Classmate Kushida had also returned to her dorm room.

Unlike most girls, who liked to shower at night, she preferred to wash in the morning.

So although she went into the bathroom, she didn't feel like showering. She gazed at her lovely, charming reflection in the large mirror.

Despite her appearance, which was as angelic as could be...

"Ah, this is so annoying."

That cold, irritated voice came from the girl named Kushida Kikyou.

She kept her voice low. The dorm rooms weren't that soundproof, and if she spoke too loudly, someone might hear her. The dorm doors weren't that thick, either.

For Kushida, having so many friends and learning their secrets was both a joy and a burden.

The joy was that few people could do what she did, and she could. It made her feel special, and she liked being recognized for that.

The burden was that becoming friends with people and earning their trust—and their secrets—wasn't easy. It took social skills, effort, and consideration for others. Once she learned someone's secret, she had to keep it confidential. People all had connections with one another, and friends could like or dislike each other in completely different ways. To get along with so many different people, she had to remember everything about them. The web of connections was enough to drown her.

An ordinary person could only have one or two friendships like this. But Classmate Kushida's goal was to maintain a great many of them at once.

The pressure from living that way would explode someday.