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

Although she didn't seem to have much presence, the camera she held confirmed that Sakura Airi was a genuine beauty.

For Nakano Yuu, this meant he was currently dining with a beautiful girl. He was in quite a good mood.

After all, what boy could refuse the company of a beautiful girl?

"I, I'm ready," Sakura Airi replied hurriedly.

Even though she said that, she still seemed a bit flustered.

Nakano was treating her to lunch today.

But Nakano was being far too extravagant; the cost of this single meal was equivalent to her daily expenses. She felt she wasn't worth him spending so much money.

"Um... is it really okay for me not to come forward about what happened?" Sakura was still preoccupied with that matter.

She had arrived late today, and as soon as she reached the classroom, she heard about Sudo getting into a fight and being reported to the Student Council by Class C.

Then, Nakano Yuu had stepped forward to act as a witness for Sudo.

This matter was then quickly handled by Hirata.

He said he would have the teacher contact Class C and inform them that their class had an eyewitness. If they didn't want the fight to be classified as a mutual brawl, Class C would have to choose to drop the complaint.

As long as no formal report was filed and both sides denied the incident, neither would be punished.

It seemed to have been resolved directly.

But Sakura knew very well that Nakano wasn't the only eyewitness; she was one too. Yet, Nakano had claimed he was the only one who saw it, as if he were protecting her.

"About that," Nakano Yuu shook his head and said, "don't worry about it."

"Ryuen Kakeru from Class C will choose to drop the complaint himself."

"Besides, the main event is still to come," Nakano Yuu added. "You know what I said when we saw that scene yesterday, right?"

What he said?

Nakano Yuu had said quite a few things, and Sakura had remembered most of them. What she couldn't understand last night was that one sentence: [Of course, it's to play along with their scheme and then make a small profit.]

In other words.

Did Nakano hope to make a profit from this incident?

But how could he make money from this?

While she was thinking this, Airi noticed that Nakano had already started eating.

That's right.

It was time to eat, and not only was Nakano handsome, but the way he ate was also quite pleasing to the eye. If only she could keep watching.

"..." Sakura.

Ten seconds passed.

"..." Sakura.

Sakura seemed to be lost in thought again.

Uwaaaaah, what was she thinking? Startled, Sakura hurriedly began to eat her meal.

"I knew you'd be here!"

Not far away, a few students hurried to the second-floor cafeteria. One of the boys looked left and right, quickly confirming the direction where Nakano Yuu was sitting.

Then, the leader of the group walked toward Nakano Yuu.

The leader was the boy with the red, center-parted hair that Nakano and Sakura had just been discussing: Ryuen Kakeru.

"What a coincidence, Ryuen," Nakano said, slowly looking up at him. "I actually thought you'd be here sooner."

"What kind of joke are you playing!" Ryuen stepped forward and slammed his left hand onto the table.

That was the entire process of how Nakano was immediately intercepted by Ryuen after arriving at the cafeteria.

Ryuen's temper was not good; this was common knowledge in Class C. Furthermore, the students of Class C knew that Ryuen was quite violent.

Because he had consolidated control over the class through violent means.

But even in such a class, there were those who were willing to follow him.

Ryuen brought two students with him.

One of them was very tall, named Yamada Albert. Ryuen couldn't beat him in terms of physical strength or fighting ability, but Ryuen knew how to make him miserable. After losing a challenge to him once, Ryuen harassed him regardless of the occasion, even following him to the restroom. Eventually, unable to take it anymore, Albert chose to submit and became Ryuen's top enforcer and bodyguard.

The other student also had the look of a "little prince of brawling," and currently, his face and hands were wrapped in bandages. He clearly looked injured.

This person was one of the three who fought with Sudo last night, named Ishizaki Daichi.

Nakano Yuu looked at Sakura, who felt a bit unnatural due to the sudden arrival of the three. She also mostly recognized Ishizaki Daichi as one of the three who had fought Sudo yesterday.

"If you have something to say, wait a moment," Nakano Yuu said. "I'm eating."

"..." Ryuen. "Do you think I'm going to wait for you obediently?"

"You can go get your food and eat while we talk," Nakano Yuu said. "Of course, I advise you to eat first, because the topic we're about to discuss might make you lose your appetite."

Is he trying to make me lose my appetite?

Ryuuen would never forget the message he had received.

[Hey brother, since you've found a way to make money, don't keep it all to yourself. How about splitting it fifty-fifty?]

Ever since he met Nakano Yuu, this guy had constantly been linked to points.

He was, in every sense, a complete parasite.

So.

Now, not only had he anticipated that Ryuuen would bring people to find him, but he was also completely unfazed. He clearly seemed very confident.

Ryuuen immediately understood that what was about to happen might not be easily resolved.

And the other party had the capital to back that up.

Because he had received notice from Sakagami that the students of Class D had found an eyewitness who could prove that both sides were involved in a mutual fight, and they were demanding that he drop the charges.

And that eyewitness was Nakano Yuu from Class 1-D.

Regarding Nakano Yuu, regardless of whether he was truly an eyewitness, based on their previous encounters, Ryuuen was certain that this guy was dangerous.

"Boss Ryuuen!" Ishizaki Daichi, seeing Nakano Yuu for the first time, was shocked that someone would be so insolent in front of his boss.

"Go get your food first." Ryuuen remained silent for a few seconds before issuing an order.

"Huh?"

Ishizaki was a bit surprised.

"Get lost and go get your food!" Ryuuen gave the command without a hint of politeness.

Perhaps worried that Nakano Yuu might try to pull some trick, after Ryuuen and his group finished getting their food, they sat down at a table not far from Nakano Yuu.

It was essentially being watched.

"I feel a bit of pressure," Sakura said.

"It's fine, we aren't the ones under pressure right now," Nakano reassured her.

Nakano Yuu had originally thought that this Sudo assault incident might not be that simple, but looking at the reaction from Ryuuen and his group, perhaps it really wasn't.

The Sudo assault incident was something that existed in the original story.

It wasn't strange for it to appear now, but the timing was off; the Sudo fight was supposed to happen after the midterm exams, at a time when Class D had class evaluation points.

Therefore, once the hard-earned points were deducted, the entire class would be demoralized.

But right now, the class evaluation points for Class D were at zero.

Since they were already at zero, what was the point of Ryuuen's class coming over to provoke them? One had to remember that Ryuuen's class had 503 class evaluation points.

It wasn't worth it.

Yet, this incident had still occurred.

For Ryuuen himself, attacking a class with zero points was meaningless, but what if they had been hired by another class?

Then it would be a different story.

That was why Nakano Yuu had sent that message to Ryuuen.

If Ryuuen reacted, it would prove that there was indeed the shadow of another class interfering; at the very least, the other class had provided a bargaining chip that made it worth Ryuuen's while to act.

And now that the attack had failed, and he had even been targeted regarding the chip in his hands, Ryuuen's reaction was overblown.

Thus, Ryuuen had come over himself.

Since he had delivered himself to his doorstep, it was only natural to follow up on the message sent to him.

[Hey brother, since you've found a way to make money, don't keep it all to yourself. How about splitting it fifty-fifty?]

With that, after finishing his meal with Sakura, Nakano Yuu let her leave first.

Although in Nakano Yuu's eyes, Ryuuen was essentially a walking money tree, in the eyes of other students, he was a leader of delinquents—a very troublesome person.

And Ryuuen had already approached him.

"So, now that you've sent your little girlfriend away, we can have a proper conversation, right?"

"I have to say, your taste really isn't that great. You found such an ordinary girl; if you didn't pay attention to her, she'd have no presence at all," Ryuuen mocked.

With Sakura no longer around, Nakano Yuu didn't need to keep up his gentle facade.

"Heh, Ryuuen, your taste is the one that's truly poor."

"If she were just an ordinary-looking girl, do you think I would choose to eat with her?" Nakano countered.

Damn.

So, was the girl from just now actually very pretty? It wasn't impossible; there were certainly students who would hide their true appearance.

Her hair was tied up, and she wore glasses—it was indeed the classic trope of hiding one's looks.

However, Ryuuen had no interest in women.

"So, what do you want to say?" Ryuen Kakeru said. "I have already withdrawn the complaint against your Class D."

"You suddenly popped up as an eyewitness, but I assume you were just talking nonsense. I'll give you this face and drop the charges against Sudo from your class," Ryuen said.

"So, you have already withdrawn the complaint?" Nakano Yuu said, however.

"What do you mean?" Ryuen's gaze turned sharp in an instant.

Because he had experience with this tone, this expression, and these words.

Every time before he was about to be swindled out of money by this guy, he was like this.

"Well, I just wanted to confirm the fact that you filed a complaint with the Student Council, and then had to withdraw it after we in Class D found an eyewitness," Nakano Yuu said.

"Alright, enough nonsense. Tell me, who hired you this time?"

"Class A or Class B?" Nakano Yuu asked.

Although this school had been somewhat affected by his presence and the absence of the original protagonist, the situation in Class B still made him feel a bit concerned.

The current Class B seemed to be stronger than the Class B in the original story. It was as if they had received some kind of buff.

"Do you think I would say? Or rather, it was simply that the students in my class couldn't stand that guy Sudo, so they asked him out," Ryuen said.

In other words, Ryuen completely denied the claim that they had been hired.

He took all the responsibility upon himself.

"Since you say so, there is no need to continue this conversation," Nakano Yuu said. "You previously attacked students from Class A, and because of that fighting incident, the students in Class A had points deducted, right?"

"Then, if you were to frame other classes now, how many points would be deducted?"

"..." Ryuen.

Damn it.

Ryuen suddenly understood why this guy had appeared, and why Class D chose to have them simply withdraw the complaint instead of settling it as a mutual brawl. Since Class D was already at zero points, they had nothing to fear from point deductions.

But they only forced his Class C to withdraw the complaint.