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

"Refreshing!"

To celebrate, Aoyama took a cola from the fridge and took a blissful, deep gulp.

His mood right now was exactly like the soda commercials: cool to the core and soaring with spirit.

[Take me with you on your night run tonight.]

Wanting to share his happiness with someone, Aoyama thought of Kamuro first.

Karuizawa, who had just performed a show-off in front of everyone, was likely surrounded by her peers, and Yamamura was usually studying at this time of night.

The only person he knew who was free was Kamuro, who didn't care much for studying and had no other friends.

Kamuro Masumi: [Huh? Isn't tonight your study time?]

Just as Aoyama knew Kamuro went for night runs, Kamuro knew that Aoyama usually stayed in his dorm to study at night.

Aoyama Shiki: [For the sake of the cute Kamuro, study? Screw that!]

Kamuro Masumi: [Save that line for Yamamura, and I refuse.]

Aoyama Shiki: [Is there really no chance at all?]

After waiting a while for a reply from Kamuro and receiving nothing, Aoyama knew his request to share his joy had fallen through.

In that case, he would test the efficacy of the Stamina Potion, his white-tier reward.

Without feeling too disappointed, Aoyama began doing bodyweight exercises in his dorm, using a one-hour limit to compare and test the effects of the Stamina Potion.

As for the results, his physical recovery speed was about twice as fast as normal.

Considering it was a white-tier reward, this effect was already quite good.

After testing the potion, the sky outside the window had long since darkened, so Aoyama finished his wash and crawled into bed.

April 9th, Class D for first-years.

The bell for the first period of morning class had already rung, and the homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, was already standing at the podium.

Yet, the seat of one student in the room remained empty.

"Class dismissed."

As soon as the bell rang, Chabashira, dressed in a black OL professional suit, left the classroom.

The late student who walked in through the back door midway was like air in her eyes, just as it had been in the past.

"Sudo, you idiot, you're late again. Didn't Kushida and the others say that this would deduct class points?"

"Class points represent the personal points we get next month."

Seeming to have held it in for a long time, Ike Kanji, a friend of the late student Sudo Ken, immediately went over to complain.

In the past, he hadn't known that class points would be deducted, so he would have ignored Sudo's actions just like Chabashira did, but that wasn't the case anymore.

This concerned his own personal interests.

"Huh? Are you lecturing me? I overslept, what do you want me to do? Yamauchi was playing on his phone during class just now, too."

Deducting class points meant harming the interests of all the students, so those who were dissatisfied with his tardiness cast their gazes toward Sudo one by one.

The large crowd of glaring, hostile eyes made the hot-tempered Sudo both annoyed and anxious.

To avoid becoming the target of everyone's ire, he decisively dragged one of his two friends, Yamauchi Haruki, who had been playing on his phone during class, into the mess.

"Ha?? I was properly using my body to block the surveillance camera; there's no way I'd get points deducted." Facing Sudo's accusation, Yamauchi Haruki stood up and loudly defended himself. "Besides, didn't you play on your phone last week, Ike? You even put it right on the desk."

As long as one's brain wasn't the size of a walnut, everyone understood that whoever caused class points to be deducted would be treated with hostility by their classmates.

"It's hard to say if you really blocked the camera completely, and you don't think the teacher at the front is just a decoration, do you?"

"Yamauchi playing on his phone, what does that have to do with you being late for class?"

Because of various issues, the three of them had been dubbed "The Three Idiots" by their classmates, and as they pointed fingers and shifted blame, a cold voice rang out in the Class D classroom.

The words not only criticized Yamauchi, whose build and appearance were both average, but also Sudo, who was over 1.8 meters tall and clearly a delinquent with his dyed red hair.

"Don't think that just because you're a girl, I won't hit you."

Sudo, who was already struggling to save face, flew into a rage, glaring fiercely at Horikita Suzune, who had just spoken.

"You can try."

Brushing her black hair behind her ear, the cold beauty with long hair cascading down her back stood up from her seat.

She, Horikita Suzune, would never yield to violence.

Chapter 15: The Most Annoying Girl in Class D

"Everyone is a classmate, we can talk things out properly, no fighting."

"Kushida, don't you agree?"

In the back of the classroom, where the air was thick with gunpowder, Hirata Yosuke saw that the situation was turning sour and immediately stepped in front of Horikita Suzune, blocking the stare-down between her and Sudo.

At the same time, knowing that Sudo likely didn't care for him much, he immediately called over the beloved Kushida Kikyo.

"Hirata is right, Sudo-kun, don't be too impulsive; fighting is bad, you know." Wearing a smile that felt like a gentle breeze, Kushida stood beside Sudo, having arrived a little late.

Under normal circumstances, Kushida, whose seat was closer to the two, should have intervened in this dispute faster than Hirata.

"But this woman is just too infuriating; she doesn't know how to talk at all."

"Horikita-san's personality is a bit difficult, I know, but fighting will likely result in a heavy deduction of class points. Could you please try to endure it for a little while, Sudo-kun?"

Pressing her palms together, Kushida made a pleading gesture.

Faced with such a gentle request from a popular, cute girl, and realizing that actually throwing a punch would only make his classmates dislike him even more, Sudo abandoned the idea of teaching Horikita a lesson.

"Continuing to bicker like this will only lead to more class points being deducted." Just as Kushida used both soft and firm tactics to persuade the hot-headed Sudo, Hirata also knew how to handle the prideful Horikita.

A conflict that seemed headed for an uncontrollable outcome vanished into thin air thanks to the combined efforts of Hirata and Kushida.

Yet, the essence of this conflict had not been alleviated in the slightest.

If Sudo continued to act on his own and kept showing up late in the future, Class D would inevitably face a major disaster sooner or later.

"Hmph, just keep muddling through then."

With a cold snort, Horikita left the classroom and headed toward the teachers' office.

Under the persistent pestering of Hirata, she had joined the class group chat.

After discovering last night that the volume of messages was somewhat overwhelming, she clicked into the group and discovered a fact she couldn't accept.

If what Karuizawa, Hirata, and the others said was true, then why on earth was she assigned to Class D?

The worst of the four classes.

"Students with excellent grades at enrollment are assigned to Class A, and the worst students are assigned to Class D. Is this true, Chabashira-sensei?" As soon as she entered the teachers' office, Horikita directly questioned her homeroom teacher.

"I can answer that for you: it is true."

Facing Horikita's accusatory tone, a look of deep mockery rose on Chabashira's face. Just as Horikita was about to flare up, a gentle male voice answered her.

"Class 1-A, Aoyama Shiki."

"This is a hidden rule for the first years. Teachers are not allowed to inform students before May 1st, but it's hard to say now, since students from three classes already know."

Aoyama Shiki hadn't expected that after being called to the office by his homeroom teacher during the first period, he would run into Horikita Suzune, the younger sister of the student council president, just as she was questioning her teacher out of dissatisfaction with being assigned to Class D.

Stared at by those exquisite, questioning eyes, he offered an explanation after interjecting.

"Is that alright? Mashima." Looking toward the stern-faced Mashima, Chabashira wore a playful smile.

As the homeroom teacher for Class C, Sakagami Kazuma naturally wouldn't hide what happened in the counseling office from his colleagues; the news that an incredible talent had emerged in Class 1-A quickly spread throughout the faculty.

However, the other teachers didn't feel much envy toward the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A.

After all, Aoyama Shiki, who was essentially helping the enemy, was clearly a thorn in the side who refused to be managed.

Mashima sighed, "Do as you like."

As the person in charge of first-year affairs, Mashima knew there was no longer any need to hide this rule from the students of Classes B, C, and D.

In his conversation with Aoyama before Horikita arrived, he had confirmed that Aoyama truly understood these rules, rather than having stumbled upon the correct answer through half-baked guesses.

"Horikita, the school made no mistake in assigning you to Class D. Tell me, are you as excellent as Aoyama?"

"He is the one who, on the very first day of school, grew suspicious of the school's many anomalies and grasped the secrets behind them within a single week."

Seemingly in a teasing mood, Chabashira dragged Aoyama, an outsider, into the fray.

"I don't believe every student in Class A is as excellent as him." Horikita wasn't swayed by Chabashira.

If everyone in Class 1-A were like Aoyama, then their Class D might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes.

Compete with Class A? Compete my foot!

"I don't believe I made any mistakes during the entrance interview, I completed almost all of the written exam, and there aren't many girls who scored higher than me in the physical fitness tests."

"Who said the school only looks at academic and physical ability when sorting classes? Take Aoyama, for example; his physical ability score at enrollment was much lower than yours, yet he was still assigned to Class A." Chabashira sneered at Horikita.

"There is no doubt that the school's sorting is correct. If you can't accept it, you can apply for withdrawal right now."

"I... I will not accept the school's judgment of me. I will prove it." After a moment of wavering, Horikita's eyes became firm. Knowing that changing classes was a dead end, she didn't pester Chabashira further.

In any case, Chabashira had neither the ability nor the desire to help her change classes; wasting time was wasting life.

"Then may I leave now, Mashima-sensei? Class is about to start."

Watching Horikita leave the teachers' office with her graceful silhouette, Aoyama had no intention of lingering either.

In their previous conversation, he had hinted to Mashima that his goal was to secure twenty million personal points to ensure his victory; as for contributing to the class, he would leave that to the responsible Katsuragi.

"You may go back."

"Try not to come to me for things like this next time, Mashima-sensei."

Smiling at the helpless Mashima, Aoyama walked toward the classroom door. As soon as he stepped out, he found Horikita Suzune standing in the hallway, looking as if she had been waiting for him.

Her beautifully curved calves were wrapped in over-the-knee black stockings, and the skin visible in the gap between the stockings and her white pleated skirt was as fair as snow.

If Kamuro also wore over-the-knee black stockings, that absolute territory would surely look very good.

After using my new photographic memory ability to record the beautiful scenery of Horikita's absolute territory, Aoyama thought of Kamuro, who had a taller figure than Horikita.

"Have you managed to find out the rules for class placement?"

"I believe I introduced myself while we were in the teachers' office, Horikita Suzune."

With a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, Aoyama retorted to Horikita's rude behavior.

In the office, Chabashira kept dragging him into the conversation, so it was normal for Horikita to have some minor grievances against him, but being able to understand that didn't mean he had to accept it.

"How do you know my name?" Horikita's expression tightened.

In the office, Chabashira had never mentioned her name, and she had no connection with any students from Class A.

Could this person have investigated her? And why would he investigate her? Was it because of her older brother, the student council president?

"Don't overthink it; I just heard it from my childhood friend, Karuizawa."

Thinking about what he was about to say next, Aoyama couldn't suppress the twitch of his lips.

"She said the most annoying girl in Class D is named Horikita Suzune, and not a single person likes her."

"I think that is the reason why you were placed in Class D."

Chapter 16: Li Pi Hua Shan

"I don't believe there is anything about my behavior that would be annoying."

Her expression grew even colder, and Horikita Suzune's tone matched the look on her face.

Ever since entering Kouiku, she had considered every one of her actions to be correct; if someone found her annoying, it must be a problem with the person who felt that way.

If they hated her out of jealousy, then there was nothing to be done about it, and that was certainly not her fault.

"Even if what you say is true, the school administration wouldn't care about your opinion."

"If you go to question them, you'll only get a response like, 'I don't care what you think, I only care what I think.'"

Aoyama recalled a quote from a domineering CEO that had once been popular.