In Classroom of the Elite, Ichinose You Will Regret It

Ichinose stopped in her tracks, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion.

At this moment, Uesugi Gen suddenly realized that the girl who loved to smile before him, The smile of the girl who had openly declared yesterday that she wanted to help all her classmates, The smile of the girl who had leaned over this morning, asking him with a grin if he needed any help, Had vanished without a trace.

All that remained was a silent girl, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Uesugi Gen remained silent for a long time before speaking, "I'll go back and apologize to Horikita-senpai. I hope he won't mind. You can apply again in two weeks, and I'm sure you'll pass then."

Ichinose gripped the hem of Uesugi Gen's shirt with one hand and shook her head, "No need, Uesugi-kun, let's just go back."

"I can still help my classmates even if I don't join the Student Council."

Chapter 12: The Beautiful Thief

Uesugi Gen had finally encountered a problem that was unimaginably troublesome.

It was the dilemma that had plagued countless sages throughout history—no matter how much wealth or intelligence one possessed, it was a puzzle everyone eventually faced: what to have for dinner.

Inside the supermarket, Uesugi Gen had been pacing the aisles for over ten minutes.

After much deliberation, he finally made his choice and reached out to the shelf.

Instant noodles!

The number one choice for the lazy, famous for its convenience; just pour in the seasoning, add boiling water, and wait three minutes to get a bowl of noodles that weren't half bad.

Decided, you're the one.

Hm? The moment Uesugi Gen grabbed the instant noodles, his peripheral vision caught something.

A girl with purple hair tied in a half-ponytail, possessing an excellent figure and appearance, was acting with such natural ease that, in the blink of an eye, she casually slipped an item into her skirt pocket.

She was quite a beautiful girl; tall, wearing shiny leather shoes, her long, slender legs perfectly toned. Adding the attribute of a "beautiful thief" created a sense of contrast.

Judging by her nimble movements and calm expression, this probably wasn't her first time stealing.

Logically speaking, school had only just started, so it shouldn't be out of financial necessity. Was it for the thrill?

It would be quite troublesome if she were caught doing something like this.

Uesugi Gen rubbed his chin, his smile gradually becoming more mischievous.

The item she had stolen just now was small, only about the size of her palm—likely an accessory like a hair clip.

Furthermore, having succeeded once, she hadn't left yet and was still lingering in the supermarket.

As such, it was highly likely she would attempt a second theft.

While thinking, Uesugi Gen slowly reached his other hand into his pocket.

With the hand holding the instant noodles, he pretended to lose his grip, letting the bowl slip and crash to the floor.

Clatter!

The moment the noodles hit the ground, Uesugi Gen simultaneously activated the recording function on his mobile phone.

Japanese phones had distinct sound effects for starting and stopping recordings.

Since that was the case, he had to mask it with another sound.

Uesugi Gen picked up the noodles with one hand while pulling out his phone with the other, pretending to be engrossed in it.

He couldn't help but feel that if he were discovered, he would suffer social death.

Shocking! A handsome-looking youth turns out to be a perverted stalker with abnormal intelligence, or a handsome youth caught filming a beautiful girl in broad daylight.

If he were caught, he would have no choice but to emigrate to Mars.

To prevent this, Uesugi Gen focused all his attention on observing his surroundings.

The gazes of the few people nearby, the number of security cameras, the blind spots within the camera ranges, and the flow of people entering and exiting were all under Uesugi Gen's control.

Here it comes!

After her first success, the beautiful thief hadn't stopped; she was pressing her advantage.

She arrived at the less crowded aisle where toiletries were displayed.

She picked up two bottles of skincare products, appearing to carefully compare the differences, but in reality, she had tucked a smaller bottle into her palm.

After looking for a while, she seemed unsatisfied and moved to put the bottle back in its original place.

The moment she placed the product back on the high shelf, the smaller bottle slid from her palm into her long sleeve due to the difference in height.

Nice!

Uesugi Gen put his phone away and left, feeling satisfied.

As for this video, I have big plans for it myself.

The girl's name was easy enough to dig up—after all, there were only 160 people in the whole grade.

Kamuro Masumi from Class A? No, she should be called Klepto Masumi!

She's actually from Class A? Theft like that should have a massive impact on class placements.

Either this girl has never been caught stealing, or the school's background check wasn't thorough, or maybe the school deliberately slotted someone like her into Class A to balance the strength between classes.

He pulled out his phone and registered a new account.

Added her as a friend, passed verification, sent the video—all in one smooth go.

He closed his phone and played a quick game first.

Ten-odd minutes passed.

He looked at LINE: read, no reply.

Uesugi Gen was a bit curious about what choice she would make.

About half an hour later.

The first message came in.

Kamuro: [Go ahead and report me. I'm not intimidated by your threats. Even if the school finds out, it'll just be a minor punishment.]

???

Uesugi Gen was dumbfounded. Weren't you the one being so stubborn? I haven't even stated my terms, and you're already rushing to go down in flames with me.

That's why threats hate these kinds of people who aren't swayed by temptations—they blow up at the drop of a hat, leaving you with no moves.

But this clearly didn't match Uesugi Gen's expectations.

If things kept going like this, all the effort he'd put into filming this video would be for nothing.

Uesugi: [Calm down, no need to rush. You haven't even heard my terms. Don't worry, I won't make it hard for you.]

Kamuro: [No need. Report me if you want. No matter what you say, I won't listen.]

Gotta hand it to Class A, the top class—they really are something. This approach was indeed the optimal solution in a certain sense.

No helping it; this girl wouldn't budge with soft or hard tactics, so Uesugi Gen had to settle for second best and lower his demands to the minimum.

Uesugi: [How about you set the terms? My request is simple: tell me about the daily happenings in your Class A. Anything at all—just think of it as us new friends getting acquainted.]

The message went out, followed by the familiar read, no reply.

Ten-odd minutes later, a reply came from the other side.

Kamuro: [What... exactly do you want?]

Was this girl smart, or did she have killer intuition? Any normal person would agree to terms like that.

But from her message, the text between the lines oozed utter distrust.

Uesugi: [Simple. Since threats won't work on you, let's be friends. Better to gain a friend out of thin air than an enemy.]

Kamuro: [Heh, guess whether I'd believe that.]

Uesugi: [Come on, your personality's pretty likable. Since you didn't refuse, I'll take that as a yes. As a friend, please consider my proposal.]

In the girls' dorm, Kamuro Masumi stared at her phone, her expression flickering uncertainly.

She couldn't figure out what the other side really wanted.

The rhythm of the conversation had always been in his control; she was completely suppressed. Once he figured out her psyche, she'd never turn the tables.

After a long moment, Kamuro Masumi gritted her teeth, pocketed her phone in her skirt, changed her shoes, and left the dorm.

You think you're so smart? Perfect—I've recently met someone else who thinks they're clever too. Let's see who's smarter between you two.

"Truly heartbreaking, Kamuro. You only tell me about something like this now? If you'd come to me right away, I'd have been delighted to handle it for you."

The speaker was a silver-haired girl wearing a white beret, her porcelain-doll face flawless, short hair brushing her shoulders, her fair slender neck dipping into a subtle collarbone; her skin below that was hidden, but her modest chest and petite frame could easily make people mistake her for a middle schooler.

She held a cane in her hand, suggesting she might have trouble walking.

You're no different from that guy at heart—both just want to boss me around. Kamuro Masumi ranted inwardly.

But compared to some unknown quantity she couldn't read, Kamuro Masumi would rather be bossed around by the girl in front of her.

At least—this one definitely couldn't outrun her.

"Though I never expected Kamuro to have such a little hobby. If I'd known, I wouldn't have bothered trying to buy you off with points."

The silver-haired beret girl covered her mouth and chuckled lightly.

No, I take it back—your personality is even worse than that guy's on the phone.

"Cut the nonsense and help me solve this problem quickly. I can't figure out the other party's intentions. Here, these are the chat logs."

Kamuro Masumi curled her lip and handed her phone to Sakayanagi Arisu.

Sakayanagi Arisu rested her cane on her knees and took the phone.

As she lightly moved her fingers across the screen, Sakayanagi Arisu began to offer commentary with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"A new account created specifically for Kamuro-san... and you rejected the other party's proposal right away."

"I didn't expect that the usually not-so-bright Kamuro-san would make such a correct choice. So, the condition is for Class A to..."

When she saw the condition proposed by Uesugi Gen, Sakayanagi Arisu's scrolling finger suddenly froze, and her commentary came to a halt.

"That's exactly why I can't figure out that guy's intentions."

Kamuro Masumi sat to the side and rolled her eyes in a cute manner.

"Hey, Kamuro-san, did you know... about the hidden rules of this school..."

After carefully reading through the chat logs between Uesugi Gen and Kamuro Masumi, Sakayanagi Arisu revealed a smile like a child seeing a new toy.

"Hidden rules? Does such a thing exist?"

Hearing Sakayanagi Arisu's words, a giant question mark appeared in Kamuro Masumi's mind.

"Goodness, I thought Kamuro-san would have noticed something was off, at least to some extent."

Sakayanagi Arisu let out a cute sigh and then explained to Kamuro Masumi, "This school is a school where ability is everything, you know..."

"Huh? Students are divided into four classes from high to low based on their value, competing against each other, and only the class with the highest score, Class A, can graduate from this school? Why didn't you tell me such an important thing sooner?"

Upon learning the truth, Kamuro Masumi stood up from her seat with a start, speaking to Sakayanagi Arisu in shock.