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

"Take a break. Is there anything interesting you'd like to share with me lately?"

Thinking about how Yamamura hadn't come to the study session yesterday, Aoyama had decided to give her some private tutoring.

After helping Yamamura study for over an hour, he rested his head on her lap, thinking he would chat with her to let her rest.

"Classmate Sakayanagi approached me a few days ago." Racking her brains, Yamamura could only think of Sakayanagi speaking to her as something remotely interesting.

Avoiding Aoyama these past few days, her schedule had consisted only of school, the dormitory, and the occasional trip to the vending machine.

Other than Sakayanagi Arisu, the only people she had spoken to were the supermarket cashier and the cafeteria staff.

"Sakayanagi? When?"

"Wednesday afternoon, by the vending machine."

Aoyama's focus shifted away from the soft sensation of her lap. Yamamura's presence by the vending machine was even lower than usual; she wasn't exactly easy to spot.

Furthermore, if the person who approached her was Sakayanagi, he didn't believe it was a chance encounter.

"Tell me exactly what happened," Aoyama said seriously.

If his guess was correct, Sakayanagi had found an accomplice and begun acting in the shadows, and the ultimate target of her scheme was undoubtedly him.

Given the physical limitations that required Sakayanagi to use a cane, she couldn't do much without assistance.

The students who were close to her included Kito Hayato, Machida Koji, and Hashimoto Masayoshi.

While listening to Yamamura recount the events, Aoyama analyzed which student might be assisting Sakayanagi.

Kito Hayato, who looked more like a delinquent than even Ryuen, was actually a student with a strong sense of justice who prioritized the collective interests of the class.

As for Machida Koji, he was skilled at avoiding risks; it wouldn't be easy to get him to stir up trouble.

As for the last one, Hashimoto Masayoshi, he was the type who would do anything for money.

"Miki, I need your help again."

After hearing Yamamura describe what happened that day, Aoyama realized that Sakayanagi was trying to pull a fast one on him.

To think she wanted to poach Yamamura from his side—it was truly despicable.

It seemed that if he didn't show his claws, they would mistake him for a sick cat.

Monday afternoon.

Yamamura Miki of Class A, first year, submitted an application to the Student Council.

The request was simple: she had lost an important item last week and hoped to retrieve it by checking the school's surveillance footage.

She had already prepared the private points required to pay for the surveillance access.

"I happen to be free, so leave this matter to me." Nagumo tossed his hair back handsomely and flashed a gentle smile at the somewhat timid Yamamura.

A Class A student from the first year had delivered herself to his doorstep; he felt she might be useful in the future.

Therefore, he volunteered to the Student Council President, claiming he was free to take Yamamura to check the footage.

"I apologize, Horikita President, but I don't really like being around boys with dyed hair. I feel that as students, we should be more professional."

"If possible, please do not assign Vice President Nagumo."

Before Horikita Manabu could respond to Nagumo's proposal, Yamamura spoke the words Aoyama had instructed her to say.

Before coming to the Student Council, Aoyama had anticipated that Nagumo might try to snatch the task.

"I am also free, President."

Smiling at the stiff-faced Nagumo, Aoyama recommended himself.

Naturally, the task fell to him.

He also brought along Kamuro, and the three of them set off for the surveillance room to check the footage.

"The 'lost important item' part is a lie, isn't it?" Kamuro probed, watching Aoyama's expression.

If the loss of an important item were true, Yamamura, with her fragile personality, should have been crying or looking miserable. Instead, Kamuro could read a sense of happiness on her face.

She was much happier than she had been last week.

"You guessed right, and there's a reward for it, too."

"What reward?"

Aoyama snapped his fingers. "The reward is that we'll also check the surveillance footage of your recent whereabouts."

Although he currently only knew that Sakayanagi had her eyes on Yamamura, he couldn't afford to let his guard down regarding Kamuro either.

After all, Kamuro had a bad habit of stealing for the thrill of it, and he didn't know if she had curbed that behavior since joining the Student Council.

"Ha!? Why check mine? And what kind of reward is that, you jerk?"

"Do you have some unspeakable secrets?"

Aoyama reached out to poke Kamuro's icy-faced cheek, and as he expected, his hand was swatted away halfway there.

"Last week, didn't it look like Yamamura and I were growing distant? Then Yamamura got approached by Sakayanagi."

"I have a feeling Sakayanagi has her sights set on me, and you are all people close to me."

Because he wanted to lull Sakayanagi into a false sense of security, Aoyama maintained the same act at school as he had last week, keeping a certain distance from Yamamura.

For the time being, he had changed his way of addressing her from Miki back to Yamamura.

Kamuro interrupted Aoyama's words with a hint of annoyance, "Are you afraid that I'll be persuaded by Sakayanagi to turn against you?"

"If I thought that, may I be struck by lightning, alright?"

Aoyama helplessly raised his hands in a vow. He hadn't expected Kamuro to misunderstand his intentions, thinking his purpose in checking her whereabouts was to see if she was secretly in contact with Sakayanagi.

He was simply checking to see if anyone was tailing Kamuro.

If there really was someone, he could set a trap and lure them right into it.

"You're saying there might be someone following me?" Kamuro pondered for a moment before understanding Aoyama's goal.

"Right, I feel like that's a possibility."

After explaining things clearly to Kamuro, the three of them arrived at the surveillance room.

After speaking with the staff on duty, they were quickly granted permission to review the footage.

While carefully screening the recordings, a familiar blonde-haired student appeared.

Although he was a blonde, it wasn't the blonde from Class 2-A, Nagumo Miyabi, but rather the blonde from Class 1-A, Hashimoto Masayoshi.

Chapter 53: Trap Card, Activate

In the recording, Hashimoto had initially been following Yamamura, but later on, his target shifted to Kamuro.

"Yamamura, you head back first. Kamuro and I still need to go to the Student Council."

After finishing the review, Aoyama ruffled Yamamura's hair and said goodbye to her outside the surveillance room.

He didn't actually head back to the Student Council as he had claimed; instead, he took Kamuro to the rooftop of the school building.

Looking down from above, the students on the playground looked like tiny figures.

Out of the blue, Aoyama spoke up, "If I planned to get Hashimoto Masayoshi expelled, would you assist me?"

If he wanted to make the students of Class A fearful once and for all, killing the chicken to scare the monkeys was always the most effective method.

Engineering Hashimoto's expulsion and letting every student in Class A know that this was the price for making an enemy of him would ensure that Sakayanagi could never find another collaborator in Class A again.

Of course, there was a small chance this could make Katsuragi lose his mind in anger, ending the unspoken agreement to leave each other alone.

"No."

Kamuro replied quickly without a second thought. She felt that Hashimoto didn't deserve expulsion just for tailing someone.

Moreover, based on what she knew from her time in the Student Council.

If a student was expelled for committing an offense, the class points would also be deducted.

This would make Aoyama even more despised by the students of Class A, and the class atmosphere would deteriorate rapidly.

Although she didn't exactly love school, she didn't want to hate it either.

"Then I'll listen to you; we won't get Hashimoto expelled." Aoyama smiled.

Since Kamuro didn't want to expel a classmate, he wouldn't do it.

Killing the chicken halfway—keeping him half-dead and bleeding him dry—wasn't an impossible alternative.

As for the downside, there was the risk that this chicken might still try to stir up trouble.

"What do you mean 'then I'll listen to you'? If you really wanted to expel Hashimoto, would you be this easy to talk to?" Kamuro's tone was somewhat disdainful; it wasn't her first day dealing with Aoyama.

If it were something he truly wanted to do, no matter how much he respected her opinion, he would pester her about it; he wouldn't just give up like this.

"Those who know me best, it's Kamuro."

Even a mosquito's leg is still meat; if the plan goes smoothly, he could probably squeeze quite a bit of profit out of Hashimoto.

The corners of his mouth curled up. On the empty rooftop, Aoyama began to explain his plans one by one.

Since it wasn't an extreme plan like expelling a classmate, Kamuro quickly agreed.

Starting the next day, Aoyama quietly began preparing for the plan.

Time slowly drifted into early July.

On the first-year bulletin board, the class points for each class were updated.

[Class A: 1040]

[Class B: 990]

[Class C: 880]

[Class D: 340]

Compared to June, only Class D had points deducted due to student conduct violations; the students in the other classes had fully adapted to life at Kouiku.

The personal points corresponding to the class points were soon distributed to the students, and there wasn't a single unhappy face in the Class A classroom.

"I'm taking a day off from the Student Council today; Aoyama, please let Horikita President know for me."

As the bell for the end of the school day rang and the teacher had just left the classroom, Kamuro called out to Aoyama, who was sitting in the back row.

After receiving an affirmative reply from Aoyama, she picked up her school bag and left the classroom at a leisurely pace.

"Sorry, I have somewhere I need to go first."

Bidding farewell to Motodo Chikako, who had intended to strike up a conversation, Hashimoto left the classroom with a composed expression less than five seconds after Kamuro had departed.

Since Kamuro, whom he had been tailing for days, had finally made an unusual move, he felt that he would likely gain something today.

[One hundred thousand personal points have been paid; you may begin the operation.]

Witnessing Hashimoto disappear from the classroom, Aoyama sent a message to a certain staff member at the school.

Just moments ago, he had spent almost all of the one hundred thousand personal points he had just received, leaving only a pittance behind.

And so, the plan to plunder Hashimoto's personal points officially began.

Was she skipping the Student Council just to space out at a convenience store?

Silently following at a considerable distance behind Kamuro, Hashimoto did not immediately follow her into the convenience store.

Having tailed Kamuro for some time now, he had discovered a strange quirk of hers.

That was, she would stand in front of the beer shelf in the convenience store for over ten minutes at a time, usually ending up leaving without buying anything at all.

But why go out of her way to come to this specific convenience store?

Hiding half of his body behind a door pillar and standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, Hashimoto lowered his head and pretended to look at his phone.

Because this convenience store was not on the way to anywhere, the people who frequented it were mostly school staff, and hardly any students ever visited.