Classroom of the Elite, I Also Want to Be a Good Person

"The leader of Class A is Katsuragi—and it will only ever be Katsuragi, unless I am expelled."

"One final warning for you all: if you intend to move against me, you had better make sure it's a killing blow. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Because there was no profit in it, Aoyama had no interest in the internal power struggles of Class A, nor did he want to waste much energy on them.

Coupled with the fact that he didn't particularly like Sakayanagi, he simply acted as the overbearing executive and designated his own choice.

While making that designation, he also acted as a sort of "nuclear weapon," making the difficulty of Sakayanagi's rise to power several times greater.

If she wanted to deal with Katsuragi, she would have to destroy him first; and if she couldn't destroy him, he had the ability to drag all of Class A down with him.

As long as Sakayanagi couldn't come up with a perfect plan to deal with him, her supporters wouldn't dare follow her orders to take action.

As long as Aoyama remained in Class A, the leader of Class A would only ever be Katsuragi.

The class meeting ended, and Katsuragi lived up to Aoyama's expectations by becoming the leader of Class A.

The first thing he did upon taking office was to suggest collecting class fees for emergencies, with the final agreed-upon amount being twenty-five percent of the monthly points issued by the school.

"The other students will hate you for this, Aoyama."

On a bench by the vending machines in the hallway during the break, Yamamura stroked her hands, her expression filled with worry.

No one likes being threatened.

She hoped that Aoyama would be liked by more of their classmates.

"Are you saying that you're going to hate me too, Yamamura? I don't want that." Raising an eyebrow, Aoyama replied in a playful tone.

Not long ago, feeling that it was too distant for her to keep calling him "Aoyama-kun," he had told her to just call him Aoyama.

"How could I ever hate Aoyama? I... I..."

"I knew it. It's impossible for Yamamura to hate me. If I were hated by such a cute girl, I would be heartbroken."

Placing his hand on Yamamura's head, which had shifted from panic to a shy blush, Aoyama stroked her hair with pleasure.

A shy expression is the best makeup for a girl, and her stone-blue hair had a high-quality texture, feeling indescribably soft to the touch.

A girl who is so obedient is truly endearing.

"There's something I'd like to ask of you, Yamamura." Having arranged to meet her here during the break, Aoyama naturally had a reason for seeking her out.

Although, after the impulse to stroke her hair, he felt that he could come see her even without a reason.

"I will do it carefully."

"Then let's exchange phones first. I'll need you to use my phone this time."

After smoothing out the side ponytail that draped over her shoulder, Aoyama took his phone from his pocket and handed it to Yamamura.

Student phones were specially made by the school and contained a small feature that many first-year students hadn't noticed yet.

Friends could view each other's locations.

As long as this feature wasn't disabled in the settings, Aoyama's phone, which had Kushida as a friend, could monitor her location at any time.

"It should only take a few days. I need you to track Kushida Kikyo from Class D. You can check her location here."

"If you find anything interesting, remember to record it."

Because her true nature wasn't as pure as Ichinose Honami's, Kushida accumulated a great deal of dark emotion while wearing her mask and playing the angel to please others.

When she reached her breaking point, she would seek out an empty place to vent by cursing and smashing things.

Chapter 28: The Sensible Suzune

"How many students in Class C failed?"

"Six."

In the girls' dormitory in the evening, Aoyama Shiki answered Horikita Suzune's question before popping a piece of tempura into his mouth.

The taste lived up to its golden appearance; it was crispy, fragrant, and delicious.

Perhaps because she had many questions to ask, the meal today was more sumptuous than usual.

After the teachers of each class explained the rules in the morning, the results of the end-of-April quiz were announced, and the exact date for the mid-term exams at the end of May was set.

As for the warning that failing the mid-terms would lead to expulsion, only certain students in Class C and Class D were truly terrified.

"About the same number as Class D. It seems the academic standards of Class D and Class C are about the same," Horikita muttered to herself.

The number of students who failed the quiz in Class D was seven, with The Three Idiots accounting for three of those spots without exception.

Hirata, acting as the good guy, had immediately invited the seven students who failed to form a study group.

"Do we lose class points if a student is expelled?"

Regarding Sudo, Yamauchi, and Ike, Horikita Suzune's first thought was to give up on them.

Faced with the lifebuoy thrown by Hirata, the three of them had refused simply because they were jealous of how popular he was.

"No, but you will if they drop out voluntarily without a valid reason." Aoyama handed a paper cup to Horikita.

Soon, the happy water that had reached the bottom of the glass was filled up once again.

How could one eat fried food without a glass of happy water to go with it?

With a gulp of the ice-cold cola, Aoyama felt refreshed from head to toe.

"How does Class C have so many class points? Based on the number of failing students and my observations back in April, Class C has quite a few people like Sudo who act just like delinquents."

"There are too many problems to list. As payment, help me massage my back later."

Thinking about how Class D only had two hundred and fifty points left made Aoyama feel weary.

To squeeze money out of Class D, they actually had to have money to begin with. The same went for Horikita Suzune; he had long since stopped counting on selling information to make a profit from her.

"I don't know how, but I can learn." Horikita Suzune's expression didn't change much.

She didn't find Aoyama's request unreasonable. It wasn't the first time she had paid off a debt with labor, and a back massage was simple enough.

"The reason is that the leader of Class C is Ryuen Kakeru, a delinquent who seized power through violence. If you defy his will, you get beaten—regardless of whether you're a boy or a girl."

"Isn't that just bullying?"

"There's a saying that everything requires evidence, and Ryuen is a smart man. He won't leave evidence behind easily."

Katsuragi Kōhei, Ichinose Honami, Ryuen Kakeru, and Hirata Yosuke—of the current leaders of the four classes, Aoyama felt that the most outstanding one was Ryuen Kakeru, that delinquent who appeared so reckless and arrogant.

He was ruthless to others and ruthless to himself; he had both brains and a sense of responsibility.

After being defeated and becoming a burden to his class, the first thing he thought of was dropping out so that the class wouldn't continue to bleed because of him.

"You seem to think quite highly of Ryuen." Horikita Suzune's beautiful eyebrows arched slightly.

"Hmm, based on my judgment, Ryuen is much stronger than you, Suzune. Of course, he's also stronger than Hirata."

After eating and drinking his fill, Aoyama began to hold court.

"Katsuragi's style is to blindly pursue stability; he doesn't know how to adapt. That's fine if his opponents aren't strong."

"As for Ichinose, she's just too kind. Even when she's being bullied, she's afraid to hit back for fear of hurting the other person."

"And Hirata? He's indecisive. Just like Ichinose right now, he can only serve as a deputy."

"Aside from his penchant for using violence to solve problems, Ryuen is generally qualified as a leader in every other aspect."

Talking so much had made him thirsty, so Aoyama drained the happy water in front of him in one go. Horikita Suzune, acting like a virtuous wife, immediately refilled it without a word.

"You aren't in that position, so don't worry about those affairs. Before considering how other class leaders are doing, I think you should be thinking about how to become the leader of Class D."

Seeing how sensible Horikita Suzune was being, Aoyama decided to offer her some advice.

It wasn't that Hirata lacked ability, but his personality flaws made him unable to handle stubborn fools like Sudo and Yamauchi. If Sudo and the others refused to pay the class fees, how could the other students be expected to pay?

"Although Hirata will listen to your suggestions, he will also listen to everyone else's. Having only the right to suggest isn't enough."

"I have a way to seize the leadership of Class D through force."

"The success rate is quite high, but you would lose a lot in the process."

Rubbing his chin, Aoyama derived a similar version of the plan based on his forced promotion of Katsuragi that morning.

Class D's points were down to two hundred and fifty. Although that was a small amount, it could still be used as a point of leverage.

Hirata only had one bottom line: as long as there was no bullying in the class, he was very easy to threaten.

As long as Horikita was willing to abandon her positive reputation, and with the help of Karuizawa and Kushida—whom he had already targeted—forcing the entire class to accept Horikita as their leader was very likely to succeed.

If she promised, "If I fail, I will step down and stop causing trouble," it would significantly reduce the resistance from the students of Class D.

Giving Horikita one chance was all it took to protect those remaining two hundred and fifty points; that was the perfect reason to convince oneself.

"What is the method?" After a moment of silence, Horikita Suzune sat up straight and looked at Aoyama earnestly.

In her purple-red eyes, set within her exquisite face, there seemed to be a flicker of determination.

"This morning, I..."

With a faint smile, Aoyama began to recount his actions from that morning and the method he had derived from them in detail.

As for whether Horikita Suzune chose to do it, he wouldn't force her.

If she wanted to become the leader of Class D quickly, this was likely the fastest way, though it also carried the most severe side effects.

Once implemented, Horikita Suzune could forget about making friends in Class D.

Anyone who got close to Horikita Suzune would be ostracized by the other students in Class D.

Late at night, at Aoyama's dormitory.

"Kushida-san really has so many friends."

"She smiles so gently, as if she never gets angry. She's a very impressive person."

Sitting on the familiar cushion, Yamamura reported on the tracking she had done that evening, speaking with a hint of envy.

After school, she had begun following Kushida from a distance, witnessing how Kushida spent the entire evening like a hostess, playing and interacting with friends, whether individually or in groups.

He had hopped between three or four different places in a single night, making friends across every class.

"You were right about Kushida being impressive, but you were wrong about the first part." Taking back his phone, Aoyama logged back into his chat account.

Compared to Hirata, he felt that Kushida was even more impressive.

To be able to befriend the Three Idiots of Class D, Kushida's stress tolerance was likely as high as a three-story building.

Not everyone could flash a truly charming smile and agree with idiots while they were doing idiotic things.

To put it in layman's terms, it was like eating chocolate that tasted like feces while constantly praising it, and doing so every single day.

"Have you ever seen Kushida-san angry, Aoyama?" Yamamura rubbed the end of her side ponytail.

"I've seen it from a very far distance, and Yamamura, you'll be able to see it soon enough as well."

Taking in the reply from Horikita Suzune on his phone, the corners of Aoyama's mouth curled up slightly.

Chapter 29: A Busy Early May

"Buzz, buzz, buzz."

"Buzz, buzz, buzz."

So tired.

I don't want to go to school.

Opening her eyes, Kushida Kikyo immediately reached for her phone the moment she woke up.

She scanned the newly received messages, and upon finding none from Aoyama Shiki, she let out a sigh of relief.

Opening her personal terminal, the five-digit number, which hadn't been very large to begin with, had shrunk even further.

At the end of last month, she had used the excuse of being short on private points to decline invitations from many friends to hang out, and yesterday had been the first day of May for the distribution of private points.

"Go die ten thousand times, you idiots."

As her phone hit the duvet along with her arm, Kushida felt a sudden urge to stab someone when she thought of the Three Idiots of Class D.