Classroom of the Elite: It's Not Meritocracy, It's Me Ruling the World! Chapter 31

"..."

Kikyo Kushida also nodded with great reluctance.

To be honest, she was determined to be friends with everyone, but she really didn't want to have any contact with this person, Kijima Tsukur.

He had analyzed her without any restraint on the bus, almost causing her to lose face and be ostracized; it was such a turn-off.

"Class D?"

Kijima Tsukur frowned slightly, genuinely surprised this time.

He had assumed they were from Class C.

When it came to Class D, the first impressions that came to mind were Horikita Suzune and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

There weren't many people he had met twice who had left an impression on him, but Horikita Suzune and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji were two of them.

Whether it was the self-centered Horikita Suzune or that guy Kiyotaka Ayanokoji who liked to disguise himself, both had left some impression on him.

That's right.

Only two meetings.

Kijima Tsukur had already seen that the guy named Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was disguising himself, and was likely still thinking about hiding his true strength.

The reason was simple.

When facing Horikita Suzune's accusations on the bus, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji hadn't stuttered; he had only seemed a bit embarrassed.

But the second time they met, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji had stuttered a bit during his self-introduction, giving off the impression of someone who wasn't good with words.

At that time, Kijima Tsukur had judged that he was putting on an act, but he simply hadn't cared enough to pursue it.

But regardless, neither of them should be the type of people to be buried in obscurity.

Yet now, the representatives of Class D were Hirata Yosuke, Karuizawa Kei, and this Kikyo Kushida, which truly made Kijima Tsukur feel a bit strange.

"Um..."

Hirata Yosuke asked with some confusion, "Is there a problem with Class D?"

"No."

Kijima Tsukur said indifferently.

Forget it.

Regardless of what was going on with Horikita Suzune and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, no one could influence him.

Just then, footsteps sounded once again.

Three people from Class 1-C walked onto the rooftop.

Seeing the three people before them, everyone was stunned.

Three boys appeared in everyone's line of sight.

Standing in the center was a man with short blonde hair and glasses, and beside him was a burly black man.

However, the most eye-catching one was the other boy.

He looked unrestrained, with long red hair draped over his shoulders, dark circles under his eyes, and his right cheek was red and swollen, clearly having been beaten by someone.

As everyone observed the three of them, they also observed this side.

From the rooftop entrance forward, there were clearly three distinct groups.

Directly opposite were Kijima Tsukur and the others sitting on chairs, on the left was Ichinose Honami, and on the right were Hirata Yosuke and the others from Class D.

The leading man stepped forward a few paces, pushed up his glasses, and revealed a shrewd smile:

"Oh? Is everyone here? We shouldn't be late."

Ichinose Honami and Hirata Yosuke exchanged glances, and finally turned their eyes toward Kijima Tsukur.

After all, this was an invitation from Class A, so Kijima Tsukur should be the one leading.

"No."

Kijima Tsukur observed the group, his gaze also landing on the red-haired guy.

The benefit of limiting it to three people was now apparent; there was a clear distance between him and the other two, obviously indicating two different circles.

Furthermore, the injuries on his face might even have been caused by internal conflicts within his class.

However!

That was not the issue here.

The issue was that despite being the one ostracized, and despite the injuries on his face indicating he was in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position, this guy had still come here as a representative of Class 1-C.

What truly reflects a person's strength

is not just physical prowess, but also mental fortitude.

To be able to become one of the representatives of Class 1-C under such conditions

was enough to prove the strength of this person's mental state!

From the first impression, Kijima Tsukur was more inclined to believe that he was the more likely candidate to be the actual leader of Class 1-C.

"Hmm?"

Hearing Kijima Tsukur's words, the blonde man leading the group frowned, clearly displeased.

Guests had arrived, and everyone here was a leader of their respective class; what kind of attitude was this?

Forget it.

There was no need to dwell on such trivial matters.

He covered his chest with his right hand and said with an elite-like smile:

"Everyone, nice to meet you. I am Kaneda Satoru from Class 1-C, and the two behind me are Albert Yamada and Ryuen Kakeru."

"..."

One could clearly distinguish the two by their names; the black man named Albert nodded.

Ryuen Kakeru showed no reaction.

His dark eyes were narrowed into slits, likely due to pain, yet his gaze was secretly scanning his surroundings.

"Apologies, my two companions aren't very good with words."

Kaneda Satoru spread his hands and said with feigned regret: "I hope you all won't take offense."

At this moment.

Ichinose Honami, Hirata Yosuke, and the others exchanged glances.

Everyone had basically figured it out.

This guy named Kaneda Satoru had a sort of elite arrogance and was desperately trying to seize control of the situation.

It was likely that Kaneda alone was unaware that he was being viewed as a clown by those around him.

Dealing with such a person was simple.

Just humor him.

"Not at all."

Seeing that Kijima Tsukur had no intention of speaking, Ichinose Honami smoothed things over:

"I am Ichinose Honami from Class 1-B..."

"I am Hirata Yosuke from Class 1-D."

"Class 1-D..."

Kaneda Satoru was clearly dismissive, showing a noticeably different attitude toward the two.

After the three classes finished their introductions.

Kaneda led Albert and the others to a spot three steps in front of Kijima Tsukur and stopped, then frowned.

There was no helping it.

Whether standing, sitting, far, or near.

Moving further away would seem impolite, but standing here felt uncomfortable.

Facing Kijima Tsukur, who remained seated, this distance made one feel somewhat unpleasant regardless of the circumstances, given such disrespectful behavior.

"You must be Kijima Tsukur from Class A, right?"

Kaneda pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, lifted his chin slightly, and said with disdain:

"Just like that woman this morning, you Class A people really are a bunch of weirdos. Don't you know the most basic etiquette, like stating your name after others introduce themselves, or not remaining seated while others are standing during a conversation?"

As soon as these words were spoken.

Katsuragi and the others clearly frowned, watching the other party with cold eyes.

This was clearly Kaneda trying to use his position to pressure them.

Such rash behavior to offend the other party served no purpose other than to assert one's own presence and gain a momentary verbal advantage.

Even if what was said made perfect sense, Katsuragi and his group wouldn't care about that; regardless of internal class dynamics, they had to present a united front to the outside world.

One could only say that Kaneda's act of blatantly provoking the other party was...

Simply trying to be too clever for his own good.

"Now, now."

Hirata hurriedly tried to mediate: "Rather than this..."

Suddenly.

Before Hirata could finish, Kaneda took a heavy blow to his left thigh, causing him to collapse sideways; fortunately, there was an empty space there.

Kaneda reacted instantly, turning his head to glare at his classmate.

"Ryuen, you still haven't learned your lesson, have you?"

Immediately following.

Reacting simultaneously, Katsuragi, Ichinose, and Hirata Yosuke took a few quick strides to block the space between the two.

"This student..." x3

The three spoke at the same time, exchanged a tacit glance, and deferred the lead to the host, Katsuragi of Class A. He looked at Ryuen and said in a deep voice:

"This student... please don't be angry. Is there... some issue between you two? If someone is bullying you, we can handle it for you!"

It wasn't just Katsuragi; everyone around them was completely bewildered.

Just moments ago, Kamuro Masumi and the others had witnessed it.

Right as Hirata was about to speak, this person called Ryuen had shifted sideways and kicked Kaneda directly to the ground.

The three class representatives from Class C, who had arrived together, were actually fighting among themselves.