Classroom of the Elite, I Have a Life Simulator

"Understood."

Izaki did not ask any further questions, so the car followed the navigation's instructions toward an ordinary family restaurant.

After about half an hour, Kitagawa Ryo and Izaki arrived at their destination, while the luggage was sent to their pre-booked hotel by the driver.

"It feels quite ordinary."

"Indeed, there is nothing particularly special about it."

Judging by the sign, there was only a simple flag hanging from the window frame that read "Japanese Cuisine." Kitagawa Ryo and Izaki observed for a moment, and seeing that it wasn't too crowded inside, they pushed the door open and walked in.

Scanning the interior, they didn't find the girl from the photo. Kitagawa Ryo figured it might be because they were early, so he found a table to sit at with Izaki. Before long, a waiter brought them ice water and menus.

"A very classic family restaurant. Even the dishes are the familiar ones."

Although Kitagawa Ryo had spent half a year in the United Kingdom, he had spent most of his childhood in Tokyo. He had visited such affordable family restaurants many times, and seeing the children's meal on the menu—complete with a little flag, hamburger steak, fries, and salad—he couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia.

After ordering two pork cutlet sets, Kitagawa Ryo turned his gaze toward the window, stirring his water with a straw.

Outside, people were coming and going. Even in the sweltering heat of noon, the bustling metropolis showed no decrease in the flow of pedestrians. Inside, however, it was much quieter, with the few other diners eating their lunches in silence.

Bathed in the soft yellow light, a sense of comfort and peace welled up in Kitagawa Ryo's eyes, and a gentle, satisfied smile played on his face.

I suppose coming back this time counts as a surprise for Kei, right?

About ten minutes later, as the two large pork cutlet sets were placed in front of Kitagawa Ryo, a girl with long black hair pushed open the restaurant door.

"Oh, that must be her."

Kitagawa Ryo stuffed a large piece of pork into his mouth. He had no intention of approaching her; Horikita Manabu had only asked him to take a look. Since she had appeared before him safe and sound, he considered his mission accomplished.

Izaki sipped his miso soup with refined elegance. Even in a common roadside family restaurant, he managed to make it feel like a high-class establishment. Kitagawa Ryo had always thought his butler must have been incredibly handsome in his youth, yet even at nearly sixty, he remained single.

"It seems she is indeed a regular."

The girl appeared to have a fixed seat and dining routine. Kitagawa Ryo and Izaki didn't even see her place an order, yet shortly after, the waiter brought a lunch over to her. Incidentally, while waiting for her meal, the girl kept a book in her hands, her head bowed as she read with great focus.

"It's Agatha Christie's novel, And Then There Were None."

It wasn't that Kitagawa Ryo had particularly sharp eyes; for any mystery novel enthusiast, both Agatha Christie herself and this masterpiece, which had sold over a hundred million copies worldwide, were very familiar. Thus, just by glancing at the cover from afar, he was certain of the book she was reading.

Seeming to sense Kitagawa Ryo's lingering gaze, Horikita Suzune glanced toward them, but she didn't pay it any mind and simply lowered her head to eat her lunch.

"Everything looks quite normal so far. And judging by both her appearance and her posture while eating, she is quite standard and excellent. Should I say, as expected of Horikita Manabu's sister?"

Izaki had finished his meal and, following Kitagawa Ryo's gaze, examined her with interest.

"If Horikita could hear your praise, she might just rush over and pay your bill."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't slow down, finishing his lunch right after, and wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin:

"After all, based on the information Manabu gave me, Horikita Suzune should be considered a clumsy imitationist."

"Is that so?"

"Just as you see, she eats and reads alone. In fact, it's not just that; she does everything by herself. She is unwilling to interact with others, unwilling to engage in teamwork, and she doesn't even think there is anything wrong with doing so."

Kitagawa Ryo thought of Horikita Manabu, who had spoken of his sister with a headache, and said with a wry smile:

"Sometimes I wonder, if Kei could have this kind of mental fortitude and adaptability, she wouldn't have been bullied back in elementary school."

"Does the young master think this lifestyle is advisable?"

"Not at all."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head:

"It's just that everyone has traits worth affirming. I simply feel that, in this specific regard, Horikita is doing okay."

"Even if you say she is sprinting down the wrong path, at least she is running quite fast."

After saying this, Kitagawa Ryo lost the desire to keep watching:

"Have you found the specific address and contact information for the Karuizawa family?"

"Yes, they have moved to Toshima Ward. The specific address and contact details are here."

Izaki showed the page on his phone to Kitagawa Ryo:

"Shall we head over now?"

"Hmm..."

When he hadn't found the address earlier, Kitagawa Ryo had been impatient, but now that he was actually going, he fell into a state of hesitation:

"Um, would it be better to buy a gift?"

"...I recall that Miss Karuizawa has already received quite a few gifts from you, young master. Just the custom-made dresses alone number four."

"That's just so Kei has appropriate clothes to wear for every season."

Kitagawa Ryo felt a bit embarrassed by Izaki's remark and explained with his hands behind his back:

"Besides, Kei said she only wears them for me to see."

"I believe that overly frequent gift-giving is not a good thing for the growth of either you or Miss Karuizawa, young master."

Izaki cautioned him very carefully.

"And what surprises me is that Miss Karuizawa actually accepted every single one of them."

"That's because I insisted she take them."

Kitagawa Ryo instinctively retorted.

"..."

Izaki seemed to have no intention of continuing the conversation; he appeared to have already grasped Kitagawa Ryo's true feelings.

"Grandpa."

They had been walking along the roadside for quite a while before he felt Kitagawa Ryo tugging at his hem, even addressing him directly as Grandpa, just as he always had.

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his head and apologized to him:

"I'm sorry."

"Grandpa, you should understand. If there's something I want, even if it were a star in the sky, you might just go and pluck it down for me. It's been like that since way back; you've always been the one by my side as I grew up."

"Although it might be a bit presumptuous, I truly hope that I, too, can become someone others can rely on, just like you."

Kitagawa Ryo smiled at him, taking small steps as he walked along the square tiles on the side of the road:

"That's why I think living alone is impressive, but it's impossible to live that way for long."

"It's like a turtle that has been flipped onto its back; without the help of a companion, even if it could eventually flip itself back over, it would take a very long time."

"If you think that by doing this, I'm just preventing Kei from becoming an independent girl, then so be it."

"Because I can't ignore the sight of her unable to flip herself back over. I want to help her; I have to help her."

Upon hearing this, Izaki merely nodded in silence:

"This is the young master's own choice. I will not interfere."

"Yeah, my own choice."

The very second Kitagawa Ryo finished speaking, a familiar figure wearing a white sleeveless dress appeared in his field of vision.

"Kei?"

Chapter 8: You're Dead Meat

"Kei?"

In the corner of his eye, Kitagawa Ryo caught sight of a figure so familiar it almost felt like a hallucination.

He was intimately familiar with that white sleeveless dress, as he had personally watched the tailor he commissioned finish it by hand, and it was one of the gifts he had given Karuizawa Kei last summer.

To this day, the scene of Karuizawa Kei spinning in front of him while holding the hem of that white dress often appeared in Kitagawa Ryo's dreams.

Karuizawa Kei didn't seem to hear Kitagawa Ryo's call; she appeared to be on a phone call, her footsteps never faltering as she ran toward a bus pulling into a stop not far away.

Kitagawa Ryo chased after her figure almost instinctively, but he was still a step too slow. The bus doors closed just seconds before he arrived, and it pulled away, leaving behind only a trail of exhaust.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was feeling frustrated, he realized that Izaki had already hailed a taxi. He hurriedly pulled open the back door and climbed in.

"Driver, please follow that bus ahead."

As soon as he sat down and buckled his seatbelt, Kitagawa Ryo pointed toward the bus, which was already about fifty meters ahead.

"Got it, hold on tight."

Although the driver didn't know what was going on, seeing Kitagawa Ryo's urgency, he readily agreed and began to move, though the speed didn't quite match his bold words—after all, it was the city center, and there were speed limits.

Fortunately, the bus ahead also had to stop at stations, and Kitagawa Ryo figured the taxi would catch up within a stop or two.

"Did you two guests leave something important on the bus?"

The driver asked with interest while steering to avoid pedestrians. Although he took dozens of fares a day, it was quite rare to have someone jump in and ask him to chase a bus.

"...Yeah."

Kitagawa Ryo found it hard to explain and nodded vaguely.

"Yes, he left something very important of his there."

But Kitagawa Ryo hadn't expected Izaki, sitting beside him, to suddenly start winking at him:

"That's my young master's treasure, you see. If anyone else were to bump or scratch it, tsk."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was nudged in the arm by a now-composed Kitagawa Ryo.

The driver laughed good-naturedly at this, and taking advantage of the bus pulling into a station, he closed the distance and quickly pulled over to the side of the road.

Kitagawa Ryo let Izaki pay the fare and stepped out of the car first. They seemed to be at the entrance of a large shopping mall, where people were shoulder to shoulder. He stood on his tiptoes, trying hard to find Karuizawa Kei's figure in the crowd.

"Excuse me, let me through."

"Sorry, pardon me."

Kitagawa Ryo soon spotted Karuizawa Kei heading into the mall, accompanied by three other girls. He pushed through the crowd while keeping his eyes locked on her, but by the time he finally reached the mall entrance, he had lost track of her exact location once again.

Izaki, having paid the fare, pushed through the crowd to join Kitagawa Ryo. He squinted at the floor directory hanging by the entrance for a moment. The first floor was mainly daily necessities; the second floor was mostly luxury shops, watches, and accessories; the third floor was primarily small restaurants; and the fourth floor was a cinema.

Looking further down, the second basement level was a parking garage, while the first basement level was filled with a large number of snack stalls, as well as various milk tea and coffee shops.

It was around two in the afternoon.

After confirming the information, Izaki quickly approached the handrail of the escalator and cast his gaze toward the basement floor, where a large crowd of middle and high school students had indeed gathered.

"Young Master, let's go down to the basement and look."

Quickly grasping Izaki's intent, Kitagawa Ryo nodded promptly and followed the stairs down to the basement level.

Emi Eura was fiddling with her somewhat long fingernails. During the school term, both teachers and the Disciplinary Committee strictly prohibited the act of intentionally growing out one's nails, but since it was summer vacation, after intentionally letting them grow for a month, sharp nails about four to five centimeters long had emerged.

"Did you get a manicure, Emi?"

Sayu and Yuko, who were with her, perceptively asked about the obvious fact.

"Yeah, I got it done yesterday. What do you think?"

Emi Eura proudly displayed her hands before the two of them; her ten fingernails were painted in different colors, adorned with various carvings and patterns, looking quite exquisite.

"It's so pretty."

"It really suits you, Emi."

Sayu and Yuko nodded and complimented her hurriedly. Ever since Karuizawa Kei had fallen into turmoil, Emi Eura had naturally become the core of the girls' group. However, compared to Karuizawa Kei's somewhat weak personality, which made her easily pushed around by classmates, Emi Eura was much more assertive; even outside of school, the two dared not slight her in the slightest.

"Are we waiting for someone today? Emi's boyfriend?"

Seeing that Emi Eura seemed to be in a good mood today, Sayu took the initiative to make a joke.

"As if."

Emi Eura shot her a sidelong glance:

"Actually, I heard you broke up with your boyfriend from the next class."

"I got bored after dating for a while. Anyway, I was the one who dumped him, so it doesn't really matter."

Sayu shook her head and said nonchalantly: