Hello, Sakamoto!

The girl stood up and slowly made her way toward the last row of the classroom,

As she moved, the students' attention followed her to the trio in the corner,

"Long time no see, Sakamoto."

Sakayanagi, wearing a beret, looked straight at Sakamoto as he sat in his seat. Their eyes were almost level. In a voice too soft for anyone else to hear, he murmured,

"Huh!? You two... know each other?"

Hashimoto's mouth fell slightly open, his shock plain to see.

"Of course."

Sakayanagi had no intention of continuing the conversation. He simply offered a brief greeting and returned to his seat,

The curious students nearby quickly crowded around Sakamoto again,

"Sakamoto, come on, tell us how you two met!"

Hashimoto grabbed Sakamoto by the shoulder and asked eagerly,

"We've only met a few times." Sakamoto smiled and smoothly removed the hands resting on his shoulder,

He and Sakayanagi really had only met a few times before. Their fathers were on good terms, so the two of them had been brought along to play together,

Back then, young Sakayanagi had been immersed in his world of Western chess, agonizing over what move to make next.

But Sakamoto had immediately pointed out a move that would avert the impending crisis,

Sakayanagi had looked at him in shock, then stopped paying attention to the little boy whose [chess skills were average].

Hashimoto was disappointed that he hadn't gotten any more information. A few scattered murmurs passed around the class,

He thought the conversation had ended there,

Then a timid voice spoke up,

"Um... hello, Sakamoto."

The speaker was Yamamura Miki, a girl who had just arrived beside Sakamoto, slightly out of breath.

She was a shy, delicate girl. She had gotten up a little late that morning and jogged all the way to the classroom, only to find that the teacher hadn't arrived yet.

Thinking this, Yamamura Miki had entered through the front door—and her eyes had been drawn to the boy in the corner.

As luck would have it, her seat was right beside his. So the little warrior, Miki-chan, had gathered up her courage and greeted Sakamoto.

Hearing the faint voice, Sakamoto turned his head, momentarily caught off guard,

"Ah... did I interrupt you by speaking out of nowhere, Sakamoto? I'm terribly sorry."

When she didn't get an immediate reply, Miki began flailing about in a panic. She had to have bothered Sakamoto with such an abrupt approach. She was so inconsiderate. Now Sakamoto would dislike her too.

Miki-chan had worked so hard to muster up her courage, but the little seed of bravery was already withering away. Her whole demeanor sank along with it,

Just then, a male voice suddenly spoke up:

"Not at all, Yamamura."

His gentle voice immediately pulled her out of her dejection,

"You seem like a very delicate girl, Yamamura. It's already impressive that you were able to work up the courage to say hello to me."

But Miki soon noticed the key point in what he'd said,

Huh—huh? I didn't tell him my name. How did Sakamoto know it? (Miki-chan's inner monologue)

As she looked at the boy with his distinctive air, her gaze happened to drift from his chin down to his neck. A noticeable blush spread across her face; she wasn't sure whether it was from the rush of blood after jogging over or something else.

"I noticed the student ID on your book. When you spoke to me, I saw your name."

As if he knew what was going on in her head, Sakamoto promptly explained,

However, that was a lie. As the first top player to clear the game Classroom of the Elite, Sakamoto had long since memorized the main characters and those who appeared frequently.

After they introduced themselves, Yamamura Miki returned to her seat, her face still conspicuously red. (It felt like steam was about to start rising from her head.)

Aaaah! I almost got the wrong idea! Good thing I didn't say anything to Sakamoto!

With Yamamura Miki being the first to break the ice, the other girls in the class also got past the barrier between the sexes,

One by one, they greeted Sakamoto,

"Wow—I thought Sakamoto was the aloof type, but he's surprisingly gentle."

"Hey, you were definitely doing that on purpose just now, weren't you? Saying things like, 'Um, Sakamoto, nice to meet you. I hope we get along!'"

"You're one to talk! You did the same thing!"

Oh, by the way, Sakamoto was a little puzzled by how many people had approached him today. He'd chosen the least conspicuous seat, yet everyone had noticed him the moment he entered the classroom. He had no trouble with the usual pleasantries, but he didn't quite understand,

A trace of confusion crossed Sakamoto's face,

Hashimoto, an uninvolved observer standing nearby, saw it all too clearly,

Damn it, not only is this guy so handsome, he's got such an elegant air about him too. He might as well be leaving us ordinary people no room to breathe.

I'm going to draw a circle and curse all the handsome guys so they can't get girlfriends!!!

(Those were the shared feelings of the resentful boys in Class A.)

The classroom's chatter was finally silenced by a pair of pure-black leather shoes. The students' habit of staying quiet, drilled into them since elementary school, kicked in at once,

In an instant, the classroom fell silent. It took only a few seconds for the room to go from a bustling market to a classroom. Even the teacher standing outside paused, quietly acknowledging that Class A really lived up to its reputation: the students took to acting like students as naturally as breathing.

Sakamoto, watching from his seat at the back, felt a touch of familiarity too. That long-missed feeling... this really was the taste of high school!

The opening bell rang. The teacher strode to the podium and prepared to explain the school rules—

The homeroom teacher of Class 1-A was Tomoya Mashima, a highly responsible teacher with a strong sense of justice,

"Welcome, new students. I'm Tomoya Mashima, and I'll be your homeroom teacher for the next three years."

"Next, I'll go over some of the rules at Advanced Nurturing High School. Some of you may already know them from the enrollment materials the school sent out, but many of you probably don't, so please listen carefully." (This is an ultra-condensed version. Feel free to skip it if you already know the rules. If you're unfamiliar with them, this should help.)

Tomoya Mashima pulled a stack of enrollment materials from his briefcase and had the students in the front row pass them back,

"First, congratulations on getting into Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. Because of the school's system, you'll all live here for the next three years. And unless absolutely necessary, you aren't allowed to contact the outside world."

"Each class has one thousand Class Points, and each Class Point converts to one hundred personal points. That means each of you currently has one hundred thousand personal points. Through the S System, each point is worth one yen, and you can use them to buy anything you want at the school's facilities. (That's a lie. If I tried to buy this school, Sakayanagi would be the first to object.)"

"As for personal points, the school will automatically deposit them onto your student ID on the first of every month. All right, that's everything. If you have any questions, come see me in the staff room after class."

With that, Tomoya Mashima left the Class A classroom.