Classroom of the Elite, I Have a Life Simulator

Karuizawa Kei finally understood this truth when she was in the fifth grade of elementary school. From then on, she was no longer willing to easily apologize for mistakes that clearly weren't her own. Since it was useless anyway, there was no need to perform such ingratiating acts. This only invited further bullying, and this time, having been truly physically hurt, Karuizawa Kei found herself unwilling to seek help from her parents again.

Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei were not originally in the same school. In fact, the elementary school Kitagawa Ryo attended looked much more prestigious than the one Karuizawa Kei attended. However, this did not affect their relationship. After all, they were just eleven or twelve-year-old children wearing the same uniforms and carrying similar-looking school bags. When school let out, the streets were packed with identical elementary students. Everyone mingled, talking and playing together; who could tell the difference?

But after hearing what Karuizawa Kei had to say, Kitagawa Ryo suddenly felt a small sense of mission. He then said to Karuizawa Kei:

"I'm going to transfer to your school."

Karuizawa Kei was left feeling dizzy by this shocking declaration. Of course, she agreed, nodding and saying yes.

She didn't know what these words meant, nor did she know if it would be easy to achieve. But what Karuizawa Kei was certain of was that she truly wanted to study in the same class as Kitagawa Ryo. Humans are social creatures after all; even if it were only Kitagawa Ryo, that was enough. At the very least, she could prove that she was someone who had a friend. Someone with a friend wouldn't be a pathetic child in class who had no one to team up with for gym and no one to share a lunchbox with.

And so, the very next day, Kitagawa Ryo really did transfer to Karuizawa Kei's school and class.

As Karuizawa Kei watched Kitagawa Ryo neatly write his name on the blackboard to introduce himself, a tremendous sense of stability and tranquility enveloped her. It was as if a castle had descended from the heavens, its magnificent walls guarding her—and she was the princess within that castle.

Within a week of transferring, Kitagawa Ryo aggressively got into a fight with several boys in the class. Kitagawa Ryo took on four at once and ultimately emerged victorious. Under the gaze of the entire class, he stood by Karuizawa Kei's side. Kitagawa Ryo had controlled his strength well; although the four boys were wailing in pain on the ground, they didn't seem to have any serious injuries. In Kitagawa Ryo's words:

"Teachers and schools love nothing more than to avoid trouble. Any incident can be brushed off as 'horseplay' or 'childishness,' so an immature person like me was simply having a friendly scuffle with these boys."

Under Kitagawa Ryo's protection, Karuizawa Kei finally made it through the remaining year and a half of elementary school. In their graduation photo, she stood to the left of Kitagawa Ryo, wearing her black and white uniform, secretly holding his hand under the cover of the crowd. This subtle thrill and excitement would still occasionally make her heart skip a beat even long after.

Karuizawa Kei enlarged the portion of the graduation photo featuring the two of them to make a portrait. She placed it in a frame and set it neatly on her desk.

But after their elementary school days ended, Karuizawa Kei had to accept the reality that she could not attend middle school with Kitagawa Ryo. What made her feel even more anxious and uneasy was that Kitagawa Ryo was being taken abroad by his parents to receive his education. It wasn't just middle school; even his future high school and university might not be in Tokyo.

What was worse was that within half a month of being separated, they lost their only way of contacting each other.

After entering middle school, Karuizawa Kei immediately became the focus of her class. Thirteen or fourteen-year-old youths had already developed the inclination and capacity for romantic interest. They began to gradually realize the differences between girls and boys, so the cute-looking Karuizawa Kei actually had quite a bit of popularity right when she enrolled.

"Karuizawa-san, don't you think the boys in our class are so annoying?"

Being spoken to within a group of girls, Karuizawa Kei nodded in agreement:

"Ah... yes, they are."

As if they had found a common topic, several girls huddled together to discuss the boys in class who were dim-witted and had piercing gazes. To girls who were a bit more precocious, boys at this age were like monkeys with an excessive desire for attention, always jumping around and being overly noisy and restless.

"But Tomoda-san from the next class seems pretty nice. He speaks politely and looks good, too."

A girl chimed in with a giggle.

"Wow, I didn't expect Sayu to like that kind of boy. With that physique of Tomoda's, where it looks like he'd be blown away by the wind, if you were in danger together, Sayu might even have to carry him while running."

The girls talked about their preferences and exchanged information; this in itself was a form of circle-building. They would arbitrarily label others based on what was said, and as for getting to know them, that was a matter for later. Remembering everyone's characteristics was the priority.

"What kind of boys does Karuizawa-san like?"

Upon hearing this question, everyone turned their gaze toward Karuizawa Kei at her seat. She felt a bit flustered, but she happened to hear another girl sitting nearby answer for her:

"Karuizawa-san had a very good childhood friend back in elementary school. I heard he even fought someone specifically for her."

The girl named Emi Eura looked somewhat similar to Karuizawa Kei. She smiled only after seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on her again:

"It seems no one in this class went to the same elementary school as Karuizawa-san. That incident was the talk of the town back then."

"Wow, there was actually something like that?"

"What's that boy like? Is he handsome?"

"Fighting someone for a friend sounds kind of cool."

For these girls, who were equally full of energy, this topic undoubtedly excited them all at once, and they bombarded Karuizawa Kei with questions.

"Um, Ryo is studying abroad now."

Karuizawa Kei awkwardly told them the truth about Kitagawa Ryo, but the word "abroad," which sparked endless imagination, only piqued their curiosity further.

"But Ryo might transfer here eventually. Back in elementary school, he specifically transferred to my class."

Although she hadn't been in contact with Kitagawa Ryo for almost two months, Karuizawa Kei still bit the bullet and spoke up. She was now even feeling a headache over why Emi Eura had brought up this topic, but facing the girls' expectations, she had no choice but to sketch out Kitagawa Ryo's image for them bit by bit.

And so, after the first day of school, almost the entire class knew that Karuizawa Kei had a super handsome boyfriend studying abroad who might transfer back for her at any moment. This shocking fact immediately made her classmates hold her in a kind of reverent awe. Hidden beneath this strange respect was a curiosity that grew wilder by the day, and those girls, carrying this bloodthirsty curiosity, wished they could turn into insects and burrow into Karuizawa Kei's veins to peek at her deeper, darker secrets.

This attitude turned into a strange aura. Karuizawa Kei felt as if she had been pushed by her classmates to a somewhat elevated position. Everything about her past was embellished and spread around; everything from her childhood became like a legend, rising and falling in their mouths. This made her feel a slight sense of pride amidst her panic.

Thus, within a week of starting middle school, Karuizawa Kei became the center of the girls' group in her class. Even without Kitagawa Ryo by her side, she seemed to have already escaped the risk of being bullied.

Karuizawa Kei was enjoying all of this.

Chapter 3: Plot Prologue: Return of an Old Friend (Part 2)

Karuizawa Kei began to pay more attention to her appearance, even though she was only thirteen. In the previous years, her impression of cosmetics was limited to the bottles and jars her mother kept in the bathroom cabinet. Although she had used simple skincare products like sunscreen before, after truly entering the girls' circle and even being unconsciously "worshipped" as the center by her classmates, Karuizawa Kei had to learn and adapt to this knowledge and fashion.

"Karuizawa-san, do you want to go to Ginza together this weekend? The mall there just got a new batch of the most popular hair ties and clips for this season."

During breaks, she would often receive such invitations from her classmates. Karuizawa Kei could only half-heartedly agree. Although she didn't know the brands they were chattering about, which were composed of English or even Latin letters, she could roughly realize that these things sounded quite expensive.

"Karuizawa-san's skin is so good. What brand of skincare do you usually use?"

If they only asked questions like that, Karuizawa Kei could still squeeze out a smile. Just as she was about to say she didn't really use skincare products, she heard the other person continue:

"The brand I usually use is actually quite effective, but it's not very cost-effective. It runs out in less than a week or two."

Once these words were out, Karuizawa Kei felt embarrassed to give her original answer, because it sounded like she was mocking others for having skin that wasn't as good as hers even when using high-end products. She could only struggle to recall a highly-rated skincare product she had seen in a TV commercial, and with some uncertainty and trembling, she blurted out its tongue-twisting English name, even missing a letter.

But this did not prevent Karuizawa Kei from receiving a look of near-worship from that girl in an instant. Perhaps in her eyes at this moment, Karuizawa Kei was a genuine young lady of high status, as if she had an endless supply of expensive cosmetics on her vanity every day, which the young girl would use one by one like a princess, revealing her swan-like slender neck and a confident smile in the mirror.

"Don't you think the school uniform is just too dowdy, Karuizawa-san?"

One day shortly after the start of the term, during a casual chat between classes, Emi Eura seemed to stumble upon this topic quite by accident:

"I used to think the black-and-white uniforms in elementary school were ugly, but compared to the one we're wearing now, they were practically masterpieces of design."

As if to add weight to her argument, she pointed to the somewhat old-fashioned blue ribbon at her chest:

"We aren't little kids anymore, yet we don't even have the right to choose our own clothes."

Karuizawa Kei had once heard Kitagawa Ryo speak of the three contradictions everyone faces in life, one of which was the tension between an individual's uniqueness and the social necessity of conforming to a group. Perhaps for these girls who had just entered the bloom of their youth, confining their beautiful selves within a uniform that made everyone look identical was indeed a difficult thing to accept.

And so, following Emi Eura's lead, most of the girls began to denounce the imperfections of the uniform design, complaining that the school lacked consideration, that the clothes were characterless, and that they were simply unattractive. After the conversation had made its rounds, it was theoretically time for Karuizawa Kei to provide the final summary and conclude the topic. She naturally chimed in:

"Exactly... I feel the same way. I mean, maybe there are times I don't really want to wear this, but then again, sometimes uniforms aren't so bad, right? But there's no doubt that everyone wants to dress up and look pretty, right?"

After finishing this summary, which she herself didn't quite understand, Karuizawa Kei prepared to pivot to the next topic. After all, time among girls was spent mostly on idle chatter; with a few clicks of their tongues, the breaks and lunch hours would flow by like water.

When the time came for their first group outing, Karuizawa Kei fell into a state of frantic anxiety. She turned her closet upside down, covering her bed with an assortment of shirts, skirts, sweatpants, and even undergarments. Although her family wasn't exactly wealthy, they could still provide her with seasonal clothing for the whole year. Plus, since Kitagawa Ryo had bought her a few pieces back then, her inventory was actually quite substantial.

Outfits and makeup—for the first time in her life, Karuizawa Kei worried over these two things. In the past, she never had to worry about such matters. No matter what she wore, Kitagawa Ryo never made any comments about her appearance. Ryo was just like his name suggested, always a bit Aloof. At first, Karuizawa Kei would ask him about it with concern, and he would politely reply that it suited her, so as time went on, she stopped paying much attention to it.

A white shirt with blue trousers, a blue sleeveless top with black jeans—Karuizawa Kei held two outfits, unable to decide. At school, everyone wore the same uniform, but for an outing in casual clothes, Karuizawa Kei suddenly remembered the discussions everyone had been having for the past half-month. She hurriedly rummaged to the very back of her closet and pulled out a pale blue dress that Kitagawa Ryo had given her before he left.

This dress, a birthday gift from Kitagawa Ryo to Karuizawa Kei, had only been worn once, on her birthday. Aside from her parents, the only person who had seen her in it was Kitagawa Ryo. Karuizawa Kei touched the collar of the dress and sighed. Perhaps influenced by some story she had read where the heroine wore a dress only for the hero to see, she had originally intended to stop wearing it after Ryo left. She had washed it, folded it neatly, and tucked it away, thinking that if he ever returned one day and she could still fit into it, she would wear it to the airport to welcome him.

She imagined herself at the airport, clutching the hem of the dress, which was adorned with delicate patterns and lace, waving at Kitagawa Ryo, and then telling him with a smug look:

"This is the second time I've worn this dress."

"The first time was for you, and the second time is also because of you."

It was just a pity that the story had progressed too quickly. Although Karuizawa Kei didn't know much about brands or fabrics, she could clearly feel that the texture and comfort of this dress were infinitely better than her own clothes. In other words, this was one of the few pieces that could match the image of "Karuizawa Kei" that she had sketched out and constructed.

After changing into the dress, Karuizawa Kei admired her appearance in the mirror. She bit her lip, lifted the hem slightly, and bowed, mimicking a formal greeting. In that moment, she felt as if she had become a true princess, waiting for a prince to offer her his white-gloved left hand at the ball.

She intentionally woke up twenty minutes early the next morning. Karuizawa Kei pulled out her mother's stash of cosmetics and carefully examined them. With some trepidation, she pulled out a lipstick. Karuizawa Kei still couldn't distinguish between the shades; in her eyes, they were all just a bright red—a red meant to attract everyone's attention, no different from the red patch on the crown of a crane.

Karuizawa Kei squinted at the mirror as she applied makeup for the first time in her life. Perhaps because she was too nervous, she hadn't slept well the night before. When she washed her face that morning and looked in the mirror, she noticed her complexion was a bit pale, but she didn't care and applied the lipstick to her lips. The thin layer of red on her fair face looked like red plum blossoms in the snow, yet it revealed an aura that didn't belong to her age. As if to cover up this immaturity, Karuizawa Kei pursed her lips and lightly dusted her cheeks with foundation.

She couldn't neglect her eyebrows and eyeshadow, either. Karuizawa Kei blinked her azure eyes; her eyelashes were long, fluttering like the wings of a butterfly. She carefully drew her eyebrows, a skill she had been trying to learn in secret over the past half-month, so the final result was quite successful.

Finally, she brushed her honey-colored hair. Karuizawa Kei worked with the patience of someone arranging every single strand until the bangs on her forehead achieved the perfect volume. Once everything was ready, Karuizawa Kei reached out to the mirror and gave herself a pep talk.

Karuizawa Kei's lies were actually easy to see through. Emi Eura had noticed the girl's unnatural behavior during many of their breaks. Unlike the Karuizawa Kei that Karuizawa Kei herself had sketched out, in Emi Eura's eyes, she looked like someone suffering from a panic disorder, desperately trying to build walls around herself with all sorts of things, as if a catastrophe were about to happen at any second. Over the past while, she had even observed the so-called "core" of the girls in the class with a sense of amusement.

But the one person she could never quite get a read on was Kitagawa Ryo. As a student from the same elementary school as Karuizawa Kei, she had naturally heard about the history between Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei. She had even run into him a few times at school. This boy, who stood out from all the other little boys, had left a deep impression on her back then. That was the only reason she hadn't completely shattered Karuizawa Kei's facade yet.

After all, whenever Karuizawa Kei spoke of him, she always had an air of nonchalance, yet she clearly possessed a certain confidence.

Emi Eura didn't want to end up like the boy who had been surrounded by students on the playground, rolling on the ground and begging for mercy.

"Hello, Kei, you're here early."

When she snapped back to reality, the girls nearby were already cheering and greeting her. Emi Eura temporarily set her thoughts aside and silently followed along.

"Not at all, didn't you arrive even earlier than me, Sayu?"

Karuizawa Kei wore her usual natural smile. Just like at school, she instantly became the focus of all the girls' attention. Especially today, the dreamlike pale blue dress even overshadowed her bright lipstick, striking everyone's vision with a powerful presence.

"Wow... Kei, this dress is just too beautiful."

"It really is. Standing here in the sun, it's like you're naturally glowing."

"The workmanship on this hem is so delicate; it looks like it was hand-stitched."

Seven or eight girls instantly crowded around Karuizawa Kei, showering her with compliments as if they were free.

One girl pouted with a mix of envy and jealousy:

"No wonder you said the uniform wasn't bad back at school. It turns out it was just because you couldn't tell when everyone was wearing the same thing. Once you put on casual clothes like this, it's impossible to look away."

Another girl chimed in:

"You look just like a princess. It's too pretty."

Karuizawa Kei finally let out a sigh of relief, and she quickly thanked everyone for their compliments:

"Actually, everyone looks great. Isn't your dress pretty too, Sayu?"

Successfully redirecting everyone's attention to Sayu's skirt, which was a bit excessively short, Karuizawa Kei quickly smoothed out her hair, which had been ruffled by the wind.

"Wow, I didn't even notice until you said something, but Sayu's skirt is so short."

Emi Eura, looking at the pitch-black skirt that sat two centimeters above the knee, leaned in with a grin:

"Are you wearing safety shorts underneath?"

Over the past half-month, she had primarily cultivated a competitive, assertive, and slightly tomboyish persona, so making such a gesture didn't cause any offense. Sayu pushed her shoulder in a playful, annoyed way:

"Of course I am."

Then, as if announcing something, or perhaps just saying it offhandedly, she added:

"It's mostly because Tomoda-kun likes me wearing this one."

The topic of romance always manages to get a rise out of a group of girls, and someone quickly asked:

"Sayu, are you and Tomoda really together?"

"Hehe, I was the one who confessed first. I just called him out and it was a success."

Sayu made a V-sign and whispered:

"Actually, after we started dating, I realized that even if some boys look cold and indifferent, the moment you hold their hand while wearing a shorter skirt, their faces turn bright red immediately. That's why dressing up is so important."

"But dressing like that sounds like it would be freezing and miserable for your legs. Even though it's spring, the temperature can still drop suddenly sometimes."

A girl nearby said with some concern.

"It's fine. If I really get cold, I'll just consider it the 'price of beauty'."

After Sayu finished speaking, she turned her gaze toward Karuizawa Kei:

"Kei, you look really cute today. If Kitagawa were here, he definitely wouldn't be able to take his eyes off you for even a second."

Seeing the topic return to this, Karuizawa Kei could only reply:

"Well, this dress was a birthday gift from Ryo in the first place, so it's only natural that it looks good."

"Whoa, my eyes are being blinded by the romance between Kei and Kitagawa again."

The girls nearby joked while covering their eyes, and the group continued walking toward the shopping mall.

Just then, a gust of cold wind blew across the road. Even in late April, spring can occasionally bring a biting chill. Sayu let out a sudden sneeze, and everyone laughed, saying that this was the "price of beauty."

Karuizawa Kei walked in the center of the crowd, suddenly remembering what Kitagawa Ryo had said when he gave her this dress for her birthday on March 8th:

"I had the tailor make this one a bit thicker and longer, specifically to cover your knees."

"It gets cold in the spring, too. Don't catch a cold when you're on your own."