Today was one week after the entrance ceremony.
It was another sunny day in Class 1-D.
"Looks like I don't have to do anything. Our class probably won't get any points next month."
Sitting at his desk, he squeezed a hand gripper and scanned the room. The girls found his gaze extremely offensive.
But Kageya Shinjitsu didn't care.
Soon, his attention shifted to the boys.
What are those guys up to?
They're unusually excited this early in the morning.
And they got to class early, too.
Did I let something about myself slip?
Kageya Shinjitsu wondered.
He'd spent much of the day watching them.
He'd noticed something strange about the boys as soon as he arrived early that morning.
Usually, they showed up at the last minute, but today they'd arrived unusually early.
How strange.
Why would something like this happen? I'm curious.
Chapter 27: The Boys' Group Chat
Kageya Shinjitsu wasn't in the boys' group chat.
Among both the boys and the girls, he was a loner.
Part of the reason was that he'd missed his chance at the start. On top of that, after learning more about his classmates, he hadn't been particularly interested in joining them.
So it was only natural that he'd been left out.
As for the girls' group, that went without saying. The only way he'd get in would be if he cut off his own manhood.
The only group he was in was the class group chat, with more than thirty members. Kushida Kikyo had added him.
There was very little information in it, and hardly anyone spoke there. Most people preferred private messages or smaller groups.
Judging from what he'd heard, in a class of forty students, there were probably twenty or thirty small chat groups, if not more.
"Hey, Kageya, what're you thinking about?"
"Do you want to talk with your classmates? I could take you over there."
"You could make some friends."
As Kageya Shinjitsu watched the boys, Kushida Kikyo leaned close and spoke softly.
Perhaps she was trying to spare his pride. She came very close and kept her voice low, so close that Kageya Shinjitsu felt she'd kiss him if he so much as moved.
Her breath brushed his face as she spoke, and her sweet, feminine scent was strong.
"No thanks, Noda."
Kageya Shinjitsu deliberately got her name wrong, hoping she'd leave him alone.
He had no idea where she got the energy to keep hovering around him.
"Are you sure you don't want to go? I could ask Ike and the others to invite you."
Kushida Kikyo was used to being called the wrong name and remained calm.
By now, she'd accept any name.
"No thanks."
Kageya Shinjitsu refused without hesitation.
But his refusal was clearly useless. She didn't stop.
When the next class ended, Kanji Ike came over to Kageya Shinjitsu.
He glanced cautiously at the girl nearby, then spoke in a low voice.
"Hey, Kageya, we've started a small group chat for the guys. We've got something important to discuss today, so I'll add you."
His tone was blunt, as if it hadn't even occurred to him that Kageya might refuse. It almost felt like charity.
Kageya Shinjitsu looked at Kushida Kikyo.
She noticed his gaze, smiled, and raised a fist in an encouraging gesture.
"Kushida suggested it. We're all classmates, so come join us."
"You're surrounded by girls at this seat, so I haven't really wanted to come over. And you're always sitting here. Otherwise, I would've invited you sooner."
Ike spoke quickly.
His tone was a little impatient. He seemed uncomfortable standing there, surrounded by girls, and wanted to get back to the boys' group.
"Oh..."
Kageya Shinjitsu responded calmly. He was curious about what they were discussing, too.
So he agreed to join the group.
Kanji Ike didn't stick around. As soon as he'd added Kageya Shinjitsu to the chat, he ran off.
Watching him hurry away, Kageya Shinjitsu briefly wondered if he'd been a little too harsh.
But after entering the group chat, he abandoned that thought.
Some people really shouldn't be given points.
He quickly skimmed through the chat.
The latest messages had been sent the previous night, and the group had also been created then.
"Welcome, Kageya."
"Kageya's joining makes our group even bigger."
"Are you going to place a bet, too?"
"We've got swimming class later. We're planning to make a ranking of the bustiest girls in class."
"If we get the chance, we'll take pictures with our phones."
Kageya Shinjitsu quickly read through the messages and understood what was going on.
No wonder they'd been so excited that morning.
They really are a bunch of idiots.
Their brains are nothing but breasts and asses!
The boys had already decided that a classmate called Professor would pretend to be sick and watch the girls, taking pictures and so on.
Someone else had even made a ranking chart in PowerPoint.
They'd divided up the tasks and were working together.
They'd even noticed Kageya Shinjitsu joining the group.
Some of them were already thinking of giving him a job.
One person had said he didn't approve and thought it was going too far.
But the other boys were even more excited, and nobody seemed able to stop them.
It was worth noting that Hirata, the popular guy, seemed to have been excluded from the boys' group, so he wasn't in it.
Apart from him, there was also an oddball like Koenji Rokusuke.
Of course, if not for Kushida Kikyo, Kageya Shinjitsu would've been an oddball, too.
All the other boys were there.
"So, what do you think?"
"Kageya, you're probably reading the chat history, right?"
"Take a good look."
"We've got an odds sheet, too."
In the group chat, the guy called Professor sent an Excel file.
It listed every girl in the class, along with her odds. Every girl was included.
They wanted to bring Kageya Shinjitsu into the fold, too.
"..."
The top pick for the largest bust was Hasebe Haruka.
Her odds were 1.8 to 1.
Kageya Shinjitsu had heard of Hasebe Haruka.
His gaze involuntarily drifted toward her.
She was a girl with long blue hair and a rather pretty face. A small beauty mark beneath her eye gave her a distinctive look. She did have a nice figure, with a full chest and long, straight legs.
No wonder the boys had their eyes on her and ranked her first.
It was worth noting that she was also one of the class's loners.
She wasn't part of any group among the girls and wasn't popular.
Even though she was pretty cute.
Chapter 28: The Boys' Skills, and the Odds
Perhaps she'd noticed Kageya Shinjitsu looking at her.
Hasebe Haruka frowned from her seat.
She glanced at Kageya Shinjitsu, then quickly held up her textbook to shield herself and slumped over her desk, clearly hating being watched.
Kageya Shinjitsu was used to it. He was always watching people, and his gaze made many girls feel uncomfortable and annoyed.
That was why he was so unpopular with the girls. He was actually pretty handsome.
But he'd earned labels like gloomy guy, loner, and pervert.
After confirming Hasebe Haruka's name, Kageya Shinjitsu quickly finished reading the chat and looking over the chart.
It was worth mentioning that the boys really had put a lot of effort into it.
Maybe boys just had a knack for this kind of thing.
By the way, the girl with the longest odds was the cool, black-haired girl who'd blocked his way earlier: Horikita Suzune. If someone bet on her and won, they'd get more than thirty times their stake.
But given her figure, Horikita probably didn't stand a chance.
Her appeal had never been her figure.
Messages kept popping up in the group chat.
Some of the boys were placing bets.
And they were choosing all kinds of different girls.
Besides Hasebe Haruka, Kushida Kikyo had also become a popular pick.
Kageya Shinjitsu thought she had a good chance.
After all, she was always hanging around him. He'd felt it plenty, whether he wanted to or not.
But Yamauchi Haruki, who'd been interested in Kushida Kikyo before, wasn't backing her now.
Before you continue