Classroom of the Elite, It's Not About Meritocracy, It's About Me Ruling the World!

Horikita Manabu enjoyed the time spent with his younger sister, nodding with a gentle smile:

"So, Suzune, you should also enjoy these three years of school life. I believe this school will satisfy you."

"Mm, I understand."

Horikita Suzune responded with a smile.

Strictly speaking.

She still needed to thank Kijima Tsukur!

After all, it was because of Kijima Tsukur's existence that Horikita Manabu gave up the idea of distancing himself from her and became willing to communicate and resolve their misunderstandings.

But!

Kijima Tsukur is stronger than Horikita Manabu!

Horikita Suzune absolutely refused to accept such an illogical claim!

Although she didn't know why Horikita Manabu held Kijima Tsukur in such high regard, she, Horikita Suzune, absolutely did not believe it.

As for the ALL-A that Kijima Tsukur spoke of, that was even more impossible!

But she would definitely promote to Class A.

Of course.

As a reward for helping them resolve their sibling misunderstanding.

If she had 20 million private points to spare, she wouldn't mind helping that naive fool Kijima Tsukur graduate from Class A.

That naive fool who answers whatever he's asked is heaven-defyingly strong?

Isn't that a joke?

She would definitely defeat Kijima Tsukur thoroughly!

And prove that her brother, Horikita Manabu, is the most outstanding person of all!

Chapter 35: Is Your Mind Full of Only Yourself?

Time passed.

A week went by quickly.

According to Hashimoto Masayoshi's observations, the performance of the other three classes had improved somewhat compared to before.

Although the content of the exam was still just speculation and the final results were unclear, it was certainly better than before.

On this day, there was a swimming class.

Yamamura Miki sat in the spectator stands.

The education at Advanced Nurturing was extremely relaxed; the instructor didn't mandate attendance, nor did they guarantee it would affect the class standing.

Therefore, most of Class A gathered in groups with friends or found a spot to study on their own, with only a few people racing in the pool for the 3,000 private points.

After all, swimming classes exist in Japanese elementary schools, and most people already knew how to swim by then.

Therefore, Yamamura Miki also found a spot to be alone.

She gently pinched her phone with her fair, delicate hands, her pretty face filled with disappointment.

Only now did she intuitively feel:

The number of contacts in her phone really doesn't equal the number of friends she has.

Over this past week, not a single person had contacted her proactively. Other classes were one thing, but even Kamuro Masumi and the others in her own class hadn't reached out at all.

Yamamura Miki couldn't help but sigh.

"Sigh..."

"If you want friends so badly, why don't you just reach out to them yourself?"

"Huh?"

Yamamura Miki was startled.

Her phone was tossed into the air like a hot potato before she managed to grab it, turning around to take a look.

She saw purple eyes behind a magnifying glass staring right at her phone.

The person who had arrived was none other than Morishita Ai.

"Mo... Morishita-san?"

Yamamura Miki was startled once again.

Although Morishita Ai seemed to listen to Kijima Tsukur, she had never seen the two of them interact within the class, and she had no idea what their relationship was.

"Mm."

Morishita Ai acknowledged this, then returned to the main topic:

"Since you want it, why not take the initiative?"

"I... I don't."

"But it's written all over your face."

"Ugh..."

Yamamura Miki didn't doubt her for a second; her face turned bright red and her voice grew much quieter as she explained:

"It's because I've had a low presence since I was little, and I'm easily overlooked. If I took the initiative and ended up being ignored halfway through, I think I'd be really hurt..."

"I see..."

Morishita Ai observed Yamamura Miki through a metaphorical magnifying glass.

Being ignored by others was bearable, but if she were ignored by someone she considered a friend, the blow would be multiplied.

If she communicated with Yamamura Miki more, she would be able to get what she wanted.

Although she didn't know why Kijima Tsukur said that, and Morishita Ai didn't even know what she wanted for herself...

But since Kijima Tsukur had said so, she would try to reach out.

Perhaps Kijima Tsukur's subtext was for her to investigate Yamamura Miki.

"Yamamura Miki, is that the reason you're always willing to stay by Kijima Tsukur's side?"

"It's not..."

Yamamura Miki instinctively retorted: "I just really can't bring myself to refuse, so I'm forced to do his bidding."

"Are you not good at saying no to people?"

"Mm..."

"Then I'll go tell him for you..."

"Eh!?"

Watching Morishita Ai turn to leave, Yamamura Miki instinctively grabbed her, even though she hadn't figured out why she did it herself.

But the next instant, she understood.

Perhaps she knew it herself.

Once she refused, given Kijima Tsukur's personality, he wouldn't try to keep her, and their relationship would end right there.

"Hm?"

Morishita Ai looked back, staring into her eyes:

"Yamamura Miki, I'm trying to help you. Why won't you let me go?"

"It... it might be..."

Yamamura Miki's eyes darted away.

If she didn't say anything, Morishita Ai might actually go and refuse on her behalf.

But the thought of admitting that made her feel pathetic, and Yamamura Miki felt incredibly ashamed just thinking about it.

It felt as if she were sacrificing her dignity just to beg someone to be her friend...

Yet after struggling for a long time, Yamamura Miki still nodded, her face burning red:

"It... it might be that you're right."

Even though Kijima Tsukur didn't have a shred of gentlemanly conduct, he never ignored her, and whenever he asked her to do something, he always phrased it as a request.

Precisely because of that, she had always allowed Kijima Tsukur to boss her around...

"As I thought."

Morishita Ai nodded as if it were a matter of course:

"Are you two together on the weekends, too?"

"Yeah..."

Yamamura Miki felt a bit speechless:

"On weekends, I have to help him cook, and helping him pick out clothes is one thing, but when we go shopping, he makes me carry the bags. He even specifically bought a camping chair and told me to carry it from now on."

Speaking of this, Yamamura Miki got worked up, as if she had an endless stream of complaints.

Now, not only did she have to carry her school bag every day, but she also had to lug around a camping chair. Kijima Tsukur was treating her like a servant; it was just too hateful.

Every day, she felt the urge to take that chair and smack it over that guy's head a few times.

However.

She seemed to have forgotten.

There was someone right in front of her observing her.

Morishita Ai, however, noticed that, the corners of Yamamura Miki's mouth were actually curling into a smile as she spoke ill of Kijima Tsukur.

"He isn't looking for you right now?"

"Other than when he needs my help, he basically never looks for me. That guy has nothing but himself on his mind."

As they spoke.

The two of them also looked around, searching for the figure of Kijima Tsukur.

In truth, there was no need to search specifically; he was simply too conspicuous. Very quickly, the two of them saw Kijima Tsukur and Sakayanagi Arisu sitting in the spectator seats to their left.

"Hm?"

Yamamura Miki was stunned for a moment, saying somewhat uncertainly:

"That's Classmate Sakayanagi, right?"

"Yeah!"

Having received confirmation, Yamamura Miki's delicate brows furrowed slightly without her realizing it:

"How could Kijima be together with Classmate Sakayanagi? For the past few days, Classmate Sakayanagi has seemingly been constantly criticizing Kijima for being foolish, saying he shouldn't have sold that information for 800,000 private points. Are those two okay?"

That's right.

Kijima Tsukur had sold information for 800,000 private points.

This was the current understanding within Class A.