Classroom of the Elite, Starting with a Zero, I'm Just Going to Lay Flat Since I Know the Plot

"At the same time, I won't tell anyone about your situation."

"However," Nakano Yuu said, "I hope you can do me a favor."

"Then, Nakano-kun, what is it that you... you want me to do?" Sakura asked curiously.

"It's just the question I asked you earlier. I want to know about places in this school that don't have security cameras, um, and are also quite secluded and rarely visited by others," Nakano Yuu said.

"This school has many special exams, and there are many students. Sometimes, it's hard to find a suitable place to discuss strategies for these exams."

"S-so, you mean a place for official business?" Sakura summarized.

Official business?

If it's for contacting students from other classes or within one's own class for the sake of exams, then it could indeed be interpreted as a place for official business.

But Nakano-kun felt that sometimes, even if it wasn't for official business, one might still want to go to such places.

However, he still said aloud, "Yes."

"I see..." Sakura nodded, "I know of five such places."

It seems I was right to come to her.

Nakano Yuu knew that Sakura had been a gravure model in middle school, and although she intentionally dressed plainly in high school to hide her identity, she still loved taking selfies.

Given her timid personality, the places she would choose for her selfies were basically those without cameras and where few people went.

"But if it's for discussing exam strategies, Nakano, Nakano-kun, couldn't you go to Horikita-san's room?"

"I saw you go there once before," she said. "So, are you and Horikita-san actually..."

No, why did the topic shift to this? And he had only been to Horikita-san's room once, for goodness' sake. How could she have run into him then?

But.

This means Sakura-san is willing to help, right?

Consequently, after agreeing to help, Sakura-san chose not to continue studying.

According to her, "Waaah, my emotions are too volatile today. I can't calm down at all, I can't study at all," and so the two of them left the library together.

Sakura had scouted out all five of the locations she provided.

Hmm, roughly where they were.

She had confirmed there were no issues, which was why she was willing to share these locations.

But by revealing her cherished secret bases, it was basically certain that she would have nowhere left to take photos.

As someone who could read Horikita-san's expressions, Nakano-kun noticed that while Sakura had been excitedly preparing to lead him to her secret bases, her footsteps had gradually become heavy as they walked.

So, Nakano Yuu added, "If you're worried about taking photos, I can help."

"If you need to take photos, I can keep watch for you."

"C-can you?" Sakura seemed a bit hesitant.

"Of course," Nakano-kun nodded.

Because helping Sakura was a good thing.

1. I can see Sakura's true self.

2. Sakura is skilled at photography, and I can ask her for some tips.

At the very least, the elite training Nakano Yuu had received didn't include photography skills. And as someone with a slight touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder, discovering a new skill while being completely ignorant of it was quite agonizing.

"I-is that so—"

Sakura-san stared at Nakano-kun's expression, and Nakano-kun offered the same sincerity he used when facing Horikita-san.

However.

Even though she was just checking if his attitude was sincere, Sakura quickly looked away after making eye contact, her face flushing red rapidly, her hands gripping tightly as if she were a steam engine.

She really is completely defenseless.

Nakano-kun discovered that the "handsome guy tactic" which had zero effect on Horikita-san was actually quite effective on Sakura.

At the very least.

During that brief moment of eye contact, Sakura quickly turned her head away, hesitated for a moment, and then pulled something out of her black school bag.

"This is my camera," Sakura Airi said. "U-um... I'll leave it to you from now on."

Does this mean she doesn't want me to keep watch, but rather wants me to help her take photos?

Then, the ticket to learning photography skills has basically been secured.

Of course.

The pink camera Sakura-san handed over must have been used, so perhaps it already contained photos she had taken.

As a gentleman, Nakano-kun still had his manners.

He nodded.

And so, I began following Sakura Airi toward the first location without security cameras.

This was the closest spot to the library.

It was the school building, or more accurately, the laboratory building.

"The school doesn't have many lab classes, and this building is often empty. Since these are likely unimportant laboratories, they haven't installed any cameras," Sakura explained to me.

We had already entered the building via the exterior staircase.

We then headed straight for the second-floor hallway.

"So this is the place."

Since last month's curriculum didn't include any lab sessions, this was my first time visiting this area.

However, I was quite interested in this venue.

That was because I recalled an event from the original story where Ryuuen intentionally arranged for someone to provoke Sudo Ken.

If I recall correctly, it was called the Sudo assault incident. Ryuuen deliberately set up three students to clash with Sudo, inciting a brawl between both sides.

But afterward, he beat those three students who had fought Sudo until they were severely injured, then falsely accused Sudo of attacking them.

Logically speaking, it was absurd for three people to gang up on one and still end up being the ones injured; any normal person would immediately sense they were lying.

Yet, this frame-up was actually accepted, allowing him to test the limits of the school's tolerance for such rules.

Following that, Ryuuen frequently employed underhanded tactics to deal with other special exams.

We had now reached the corner of the hallway.

However, there were some voices coming from up ahead.

"Damn it! Where are you? Come out!" This was a somewhat familiar voice.

Before long, I saw a familiar face.

He was a tall, thin boy with a red buzz cut. He looked difficult to get along with and had the air of a delinquent, but once you interacted with him, you'd realize he was just a big, simple-minded guy.

This person was Sudo Ken.

He was the student I had pinned my hopes on to bring athletic pressure to other classes, serving as my stepping stone.

During the study session, Sudo had accepted my advice and ended it early.

But.

That excuse about needing to find middle school textbooks and returning to club activities first was a lie.

In reality, he had been lured here by students from another class.

"What exactly are you trying to do!" Sudo was confronting three boys, all of whom were from a different class. One of them was someone I had seen by Ryuuen's side.

It was safe to conclude that all three were students from Class C.

"Beat him!"

Without hesitation, the Class C students launched their attack. One student immediately wrapped his arms around Sudo's waist, and another landed a punch directly on Sudo's shoulder.

"You bastards! You want to fight? Bring it on! You're clearly just jealous that I made the starting lineup!"

Sudo Ken roared in anger, clenching his fists as if he had completely let go of his restraint.

In his mind, it was obvious that the other side had struck first.

Even if this were brought to light later, he would only be acting in self-defense.

When that time came, he would surely be absolved of most of the responsibility.

In that sense, he didn't need to hold back at all.

I have to say, it was truly asking a lot of Sudo to be able to think that far ahead.

Unfortunately, he had fallen into a trap.

"A-a fight, and it's Sudo-kun—"

Sakura Airi, standing beside me, also noticed the scene unfolding ahead.

"Yeah, a fight," I said.

I wondered what kind of expression I should be wearing.

I had only come here to confirm a suitable place for us to talk and discuss things, and I had just been thinking about the Sudo assault incident, yet here it was, playing out right before my eyes.

"Wh-what should we do!" Sakura looked at me, at a loss for what to do.

As a girl, she probably hadn't encountered this kind of situation very often.

"Yeah, what should we do," I sighed inwardly, then reached out and took the camera Sakura had just handed me.

"Anyway, recording it is definitely the right move," I said, quickly hitting the button on the camera.

"Did you turn off the shutter sound?" I whispered to her.

"I-it's off," she replied hurriedly.

Good.

Because there are many perverts and recording is so convenient, cameras and recording equipment generally keep the shutter sound, making them easy to be discovered, but there is no such worry when using a camera now.

And he also turned on the recording function.

Judging from the current situation, Sudo has already taken the bait and is fighting with three students from Class C.

Going out to stop them would be useless, and besides, why should he stop them?

Sudo was hit earlier, and he is currently counterattacking. Furthermore, he has the upper hand.

That's right, aside from being bear-hugged and punched twice at the very beginning, the rest has been his counterattack.

Noticing this, the two of the three Class C students who had each taken at least one punch reacted quickly.

"This guy Sudo is crazy!"

"Let's go, let's go!"

And the three from Class C quickly retreated.

"Hmph, bad luck!" Sudo also left while cursing. "What a waste of time; I might as well have gone back to read a few more pages of my book, since I already took leave from my club anyway."

Hmm.

Although Sudo is easily provoked, that is his shortcoming.

But as today's tutor, Nakano-sensei still has a bit of a teacher's heart for Sudo.

At the very least, let's keep him from ending up in that disciplinary trial like in the original story.

After all, Horikita also participated in the disciplinary trial in the original story, and Horikita clearly has other uses; there is no need to waste time over there.

"Nakano-kun, wh-what should we do?" Sakura Airi, who had witnessed almost the entire process, appeared very flustered.

What should we do, you ask?

I should say you ought to thank him, Sakura-san.

Because in the Sudo assault incident from the original story, you ended up taking the stand as a witness, and not only were the selfies on your camera seen by everyone, but they also didn't play a decisive role.