"..."
Kikyo Kushida nodded, albeit reluctantly.
To be honest,
she was determined to be friends with everyone,
but she especially didn't want to deal with Kijima Tsukur.
He'd brazenly analyzed her on the bus, nearly embarrassing her and getting her ostracized. What a creep.
"Class D?"
Kijima Tsukur furrowed his brow, genuinely surprised this time.
He'd thought they were from Class C.
When he thought of Class D,
the first people who came to mind were Horikita Suzune and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.
There weren't many people he'd met twice who'd left an impression on him. Horikita Suzune and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji were two of them.
Both the self-centered Horikita Suzune and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, who liked to disguise himself, had left some impression on him.
That was right.
He'd only met them twice.
Kijima Tsukur had already realized that the guy named Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was putting on an act, and probably trying to hide his abilities, too.
The reason was simple.
When Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was accused by Horikita Suzune on the bus, he hadn't stuttered. He'd only seemed a little embarrassed.
But when they met for the second time,
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji had stuttered a little while introducing himself, giving the impression that he wasn't good with words.
At the time,
Kijima Tsukur had decided he was putting on an act. He just hadn't cared.
But either way,
neither of them seemed like the sort of person who'd go unnoticed.
Now, though, Class D's representatives were Hirata Yosuke, Karuizawa Kei, and Kikyo Kushida. Kijima Tsukur found it rather strange.
"Um..."
Hirata Yosuke asked, puzzled, "Is there a problem with Class D?"
"No."
Kijima Tsukur replied calmly.
Forget it.
Whatever was going on with Horikita Suzune and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, no one could affect him.
Just then, footsteps sounded again.
Three students from Class 1-C walked onto the rooftop.
Everyone was taken aback when they saw the three of them.
Three male students appeared before them.
The one in the middle, standing in the center, was a short-haired blond boy with glasses. Beside him stood a burly Black student.
But the one who drew the most attention was the other boy.
He looked wild and unruly, with long red hair falling over his shoulders. The corners of his eyes were dark, and his right cheek was swollen, clearly from being hit.
Everyone studied the three of them, and they studied everyone in turn.
From the rooftop entrance onward, the students were clearly divided into three groups.
Straight ahead were Kijima Tsukur and the others, seated on chairs. To the left was Ichinose Honami, and to the right were Hirata Yosuke and the other students from Class D.
The blond boy at the head of the group took a few steps forward, pushed up his glasses, and smiled shrewdly.
"Oh? Is everyone here? We shouldn't be late, should we?"
Ichinose Honami and Hirata Yosuke exchanged a glance, then looked toward Kijima Tsukur.
After all, the invitation had come from Class A, so Kijima Tsukur should be in charge.
"No."
Kijima Tsukur studied the newcomers,
his gaze settling on the redhead as well.
The benefit of limiting each class to three representatives was now apparent. There was clearly a little distance between him and the other two, as though they belonged to separate circles.
In fact,
the injury on his face might even have been caused by a conflict within his class.
However!
That wasn't the issue.
Even though he was clearly the one being ostracized,
the injury on his face showed he was at a crushing disadvantage, yet this guy had still come here as one of Class C's representatives.
A person's strength wasn't measured only by physical power. It was also measured by mental fortitude.
To become one of Class C's representatives under these circumstances
was proof of considerable mental strength!
Based on his first impression, Kijima Tsukur was more inclined to believe that this guy would become Class C's real leader.
"Hm?"
Hearing Kijima Tsukur's reply,
the blond at the head of the group frowned, clearly displeased.
Their guests had arrived. They were all leaders of their respective classes. What kind of attitude was that?
Never mind.
There was no need to dwell on such trivial matters.
He placed his right hand over his chest and smiled like an elite.
"Everyone, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Kaneda Satoru from Class 1-C. The two behind me are Albert Yamada and Ryuen Kakeru."
"..."
Their names made it easy to tell them apart. The Black student named Albert nodded.
Ryuen Kakeru showed no reaction.
His dark eyes narrowed to slits, probably because of the pain, while his gaze quietly swept over the surroundings.
"Pardon them. My two companions aren't very talkative."
Kaneda Satoru spread his hands and said with feigned regret, "Please don't take offense."
At that moment,
Ichinose Honami and Hirata Yosuke exchanged glances with the others.
Everyone had more or less figured it out.
The guy named Kaneda Satoru had an air of elitist arrogance and was desperately trying to take control of the conversation.
Apparently, Kaneda was the only one who hadn't realized that the people around him already saw him as a clown.
Dealing with someone like that was simple.
Just humor him.
"Well, now..."
Seeing that Kijima Tsukur had no intention of speaking, Ichinose Honami broke the ice.
"I'm Ichinose Honami from Class 1-B..."
"I'm Hirata Yosuke from Class 1-D."
"Class D..."
Kaneda Satoru was clearly somewhat dismissive, and his attitude toward the two of them was obviously different.
After the three classes introduced themselves,
Kaneda led Albert and the others to a stop three steps in front of Kijima Tsukur, then furrowed his brow.
There was no helping it.
Whether he stood or sat, whether he was far away or close by,
he'd seemed rude when he was standing there earlier, but now he felt uncomfortable.
Facing Kijima Tsukur, who was seated, and this disrespectful behavior, he couldn't help feeling put off at this distance.
"You must be Kijima Tsukur from Class A, right?"
Kaneda Satoru pushed up his glasses and lifted his chin slightly, looking down his nose at him.
"Just like that woman this morning, you students from Class A are a strange bunch. When someone introduces themselves, you should give your own name. And when someone else is standing, you shouldn't sit while talking to them. Does Class A not even know basic manners?"
At this,
Katsuragi and the others frowned, staring coldly at him.
This was clearly Kaneda trying to throw his weight around.
Antagonizing the other side so rashly served no purpose beyond drawing attention to himself and scoring a few points in a verbal spat.
No matter how reasonable his words might have been, Katsuragi and the others didn't care. Whatever happened within the class, they had to stand together against outsiders.
Kaneda's blatantly provocative behavior
was simply foolish.
"Now, now."
Hirata hurriedly tried to calm things down. "Rather than that..."
Suddenly.
Before Hirata could finish, Kaneda took a heavy blow to his left thigh and dropped to one knee, lurching sideways. Fortunately, there was an empty space beside him.
Kaneda reacted instantly, turning around to glare at his classmate.
"Ryuen, haven't you learned your damn lesson yet?"
Right after that,
Katsuragi, Ichinose, and Hirata Yosuke all reacted at once. They hurried between the two, taking a few steps in a single stride.
"Hey, you..."
The three spoke at the same time, then exchanged a glance in perfect understanding. They left the lead to Katsuragi from Class A, the host of the meeting. Katsuragi looked at Ryuen and said gravely,
"Hey, don't get angry. Is there some sort of problem between you two? If someone's bullying you, we can stand up for you!"
It wasn't just Katsuragi. Everyone around them was completely dumbfounded.
Kamuro Masumi and the others had just seen it, too.
Just as Hirata was about to speak, this guy named Ryuen had sidestepped and kicked Kaneda to the ground.
The three class representatives from Class C had arrived together, and now they were fighting among themselves.
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