Classroom of the Elite, A Hypocritical Gray Life

"Are you leaving already? You haven't even responded to a young girl's affection, and you're just going to leave so heartlessly? Especially after doing such a terrible thing to Ichinose."

"T-Teacher Hoshinomiya! Please, stop joking around!"

"You're no fun at all. Isn't this kind of thing interesting?"

"It is not!" Ichinose replied, pouting, while I offered an explanation to make my escape.

"...As you can see, doesn't Ichinose still have matters to discuss with you? I won't disturb you any further."

"Ah, that's right. Honami still has things to talk to me about regarding the student council."

"Yes."

"I see... The faculty meeting is about to start soon, so I suppose it can't be helped. Damn it, I was so close to succeeding. Anyway, I'll leave Raku-kun's affairs to Honami from now on."

"I, I will be careful."

Compared to Teacher Hoshinomiya, if Ichinose is the one dealing with me from now on, perhaps the trouble will be much less. After saying my goodbyes, I retreated from the teachers' office with my own victory in hand.

Ayanokoji followed me out shortly after.

"..."

"...Just asking, you wouldn't happen to have been dragged in for a lecture by your homeroom teacher because of your grades, would you?"

"...You heard that?"

"No, I just assumed you might be in the same boat as me..."

"If you're talking about changing my grades, that's asking for the impossible."

After saying this, Ayanokoji and I sighed in unison, then started walking in sync, only to stop at the exact same moment.

"You aren't going straight back to the dorms now, are you?"

"...Don't ask, let's just go."

I refused to answer questions about our inexplicable connection. If fate had arranged it this way, there was nothing I could do about it.

"Are we going to end up living together in the future?"

"Please don't cast such a painful curse on me. I had no connection to you before entering this school. At the very least, our ill-fated connection will end once we graduate." I started walking again at the same time as Ayanokoji, which made me add, "...Probably."

"That's not a very confident statement... But, have we really never met before?"

"There shouldn't be any possibility of that... You wouldn't happen to have an impression of seeing me, would you?"

I often wandered through dark alleys late at night in the months before school started; the possibility of being seen during that time was quite high.

"I just feel like you look very familiar."

"It's probably just that some of my features resemble someone you know. I don't seem to have any memory of meeting you, and I personally don't think I've done anything to attract outside attention."

"I just have that feeling. I don't have any memories of meeting you either."

"What kind of delusion is that? Please, you must think in the direction of us being strangers, otherwise, I'm going to get scared."

"That shouldn't be a problem."

What kind of person is this? If there really is some soul-linked ill-fated connection between us, if I were to die, would he follow me?

A chill ran deep into my soul at the thought, yet this fear was quickly extinguished before we reached the dorms. It was because of an extremely harsh female voice.

"Ayanokoji, wait!" An ice-cold beauty exuding a distant aura followed close behind.

"Who is this..." I asked Ayanokoji, confused, and he provided the answer quickly.

"Horikita-san, do you still have business with me?"

"Of course. I still have questions about what happened just now." After speaking, Horikita glared at me with eyes that said, get lost if you don't want to die. I felt an immediate urge to retreat, but for the sake of my pride as a man, I just swallowed nervously.

"She's my neighbor. Horikita Suzune. Because her grades aren't great, the homeroom teacher arranged for her to tutor me."

Damn it, how can we be similar even in this regard? Isn't this woman just filling the role of Ichinose?! Is this universe some strange fusion of parallel worlds, splitting my soul into two, placing one in Class B and one in Class D? Isn't that absurd!

"...That sounds tough. I won't disturb your conversation." I waved my hand sheepishly and escaped from the crossfire.

"The score just now... was it really a coincidence?"

As I entered the dormitory gate, I heard that student, Horikita, ask Ayanokoji that question.

Everywhere I go, it's a damn coincidence.

Chapter 15: In This World Full of Estrangement

The Selected Works of Mao Zedong once defined the concept of unity.

"Unity means uniting with those who have different opinions from you, those who look down on you, those who do not respect you, those who have had friction with you, those who have struggled against you, and those who have suffered losses because of you."

Clearly, this is not something that can be achieved easily. As things stand, how to achieve such unity has become a profound subject. Not only because there are too many factors to learn, but also because it involves changes in individual psychology. One must know that the human heart is the hardest thing to design; very few people can fully control the psychological direction of others. At the very least, I cannot.

However, Ichinose can easily treat this profound subject of unity like children playing with building blocks. The current Class B can be said to be a regular object pieced together from various irregular small parts. This assembly was not forced by violence, but is a genuine, perfect fit.

If I were to try to do this, I could hardly imagine what the outcome would be.

Would it be a complete puzzle? Or just a single remaining piece?

I don't know, but what I do know is—a puzzle is a complete set.

"Take this seriously, we're in the middle of a test."

"Aye~"

A miscalculation.

I picked up the pen I'd dropped while zoning out and quickly resumed answering the test paper. This study session was a project initiated by Ichinose to help classmates improve their grades and avoid expulsion due to poor academic performance. As the student ranked seventh from the bottom, I was, without a doubt, a participant in this grand endeavor.

If only there were a regret pill in this world, I could travel through time and secure a decent score. While it might not be a perfect score, it would at least be enough to escape this painful study session project.

"Ichinose told me the reason you aim for sixty points, but just to be safe, I need you to show your true ability so we can gauge where you stand."

"But reaching fifty points is already enough to stay out of danger, so why insist on chasing such high scores..."

"Just take it seriously for once."

"Ah—stop hitting my head, that hurts."

"It's to help you remember. Who else would use such a bizarre excuse to aim for those kinds of scores?"

"Tch... here, I'm done." I quickly handed over the five papers in my hand. "This should be the last test, right?"

"Not necessarily. Even though we've been at this for five days, whether I can truly 'conquer' you remains an issue."

"Why does that sound so strange? A grown man 'conquering' another man..."

"If you've got nothing better to do, read your textbook more. Even if you gave it your all, it's not like you'd score that well. Twenty papers in total, including today's five, and it's a question of whether you can even hit eighty."

"Seventy is already quite high, though... come to think of it, did you volunteer to be a tutor? Or is this just a sense of responsibility as vice-representative?"

"I volunteered. As for the responsibility of being vice-representative, I didn't even consider it. If we're talking about leadership, Ichinose handles everything in the class; I'm just here to provide support."

"You're really energetic."

"I'm not like you, doing whatever it takes just to save some effort."

"No, I still have my bottom line."

"I look forward to the day I get to see that bottom line of yours."

"That sounds like I'll never have a moment's peace... so, why are you doing all this?"

"To avoid any expulsions. You know that the increase or decrease of class points in this school is determined by the S System. If we could grasp everything about the system, we would undoubtedly establish a massive advantage. The problem is that we currently know nothing about it, so the best way to handle this unknown is to prevent any potential accidents."

"You're planning to reach Class A, aren't you?"

"I suppose it's a competitive spirit; I don't want to be judged as a loser. As it happens, Ichinose also has the intention of leading everyone to Class A, so if possible, I want to contribute my own strength."

He calls it a competitive spirit, yet he is capable of rational judgment.

"Assisting Ichinose in reaching Class A, huh..."

"Yes. I understand that I lack the qualities of a leader, but if it's Ichinose, there shouldn't be any problems... at least for now."

While Kanzaki and I were talking, I looked over at Ichinose, who was tutoring some girls not far away.

"She doesn't have that kind of thought at all."

"You just need to make sure you don't cause trouble for us."

"You make it sound like I'm prone to causing trouble."

"Alright, the results are out." Kanzaki didn't directly respond to my sarcasm, instead carefully comparing the five test papers in his hand with previous records.

"How is it?"

"Seventy-three, seventy-four, seventy-five, seventy-six, seventy-seven... your scores this time are truly interesting. Are you sure you're actually trying? From the perspective of someone grading these, I keep feeling like you're just picking the correct answers on purpose."

"Do you think I'm a god? That I can get them right whenever I want? Besides, the papers you gave me didn't have the point values marked on the questions."

"I know that, which is exactly why I find it strange... forget it. Regardless, I've identified your weak points, so we just need to focus on targeted training from here on out. As for that habit of yours... I suggest you correct it sooner rather than later."

"You've already found them?"

"Five days is enough to catch a few tails. Knowing the problem makes things easier. No, wait, there's still the issue with Okabe and the others... Hey, stop messing around, you guys!"

"Sorry, sorry, it's just that the papers are way too simple."

"If you get such dangerous scores on the next exam, I won't be the one to save you."

"Haha, sorry, we really are studying hard."

Although Okabe earned the title of last place in the quiz, the individual academic ability of every student in Class B is quite strong, and Okabe is no exception. This mistake was purely because he played too much back in April.

"Kanzaki, how are things going on your end?"

"Not bad. Basically, everyone has reached seventy points or higher. From here on, we just need to solidify the basics and conduct targeted training, and there shouldn't be any issues."

"Is the progress okay?"

"It should barely be in time. Regarding the breakthrough of weak points, I've only managed to compile the data for Raku; the others will likely need another two or three days."

"It really is a bit too heavy a burden, isn't it... then I'll take over Raku."

"...Handing Raku over to Ichinose for tutoring? But—" Kanzaki frowned, his right hand rubbing his chin repeatedly.

I don't know what you're hesitating about, but please don't treat me like some piece of cargo being handed off to others. Since you chose to tutor me, at least take some responsibility for me.

"That way, things will be much easier, right? The number of people I need to tutor is smaller than yours, and Chihiro is helping out too. Raku's weak points have already been identified, so it should be easy to take over, right?"

Shut up! That is nothing but a devil's whisper; Kanzaki, you must not be deceived!

"Well, after all, it's quite easy to find the mistakes Raku made."

"Could Raku-kun still be slacking off?"

"I have been working very seriously."

Are you kidding me? How could the fruits of over forty minutes of effort be so easily erased by a single sentence of yours? Those were results I earned through my own hard work.

"I can vouch for that much. I've observed Raku's expression while he was taking the test; he wasn't slacking off, though he did seem to zone out quite often."

"If you're going to testify, it would be better to delete that last part; it was completely unnecessary."

"That's impossible. No matter how I think about it, there's no way you could stay focused."

"That's so mean. I have moments where I'm focused, okay?"

"Then feel free to focus to your heart's content under Ichinose's command."

Hey! You're personally sending me straight to hell!

"Kanzaki-kun has agreed, so there shouldn't be any problems on your end, Raku-kun."

"Of course I have no objections, haha."

How could I possibly have no objections? A guy like me getting mixed into a group of girls is inappropriate no matter how you look at it!

"These are the materials I just organized regarding Raku. They should be very easy to understand. If you can't make sense of them, come and ask me again."

"No problem. Let's go, Raku-kun."

"..."

I glared at Kanzaki with resentment, but he looked completely indifferent, not even sparing me a glance. Turning my head, I saw Ichinose wearing a bright smile. Once I realized that, I sighed from the bottom of my heart about the difficult life that awaited me.

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