Hello, Sakamoto!

The girl stood up and slowly moved toward the back row of the class.

As she moved, the attention of the classmates followed her to the trio in the corner.

"It's been a while, Sakamoto-kun."

Sakayanagi, wearing a beret, stared directly at Sakamoto seated in his chair. Their eyes were almost level. In a voice completely inaudible to others, she let out a soft tone.

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

Hashimoto's mouth hung slightly open, showing extreme surprise.

"Of course."

The girl had no intention of continuing the conversation. She simply gave a brief greeting and returned to her original seat.

The curious classmates quickly surrounded Sakayanagi again.

"Sakamoto-kun, tell us how you two met!"

Hashimoto pressed down on Sakamoto's shoulder, asking with an eager look.

"We've only met a few times." Sakamoto smiled and naturally removed the hands resting on his shoulders.

He and Sakayanagi had indeed only met a few times before. Because his father had a good relationship with Sakayanagi Morinari, they had been brought along to play together.

Back then, young Sakayanagi was immersed in her world of chess, struggling to think about her next move.

But Sakamoto had casually pointed out a way to resolve the crisis of the next move.

He received her stunned expression, and then she completely ignored this child with "mediocre chess skills."

Hashimoto regretted not getting more information. There were only a few scattered murmurs in the class.

Just when they thought the topic would end here, a timid voice came.

"Y-you... hello, Sakamoto-kun."

The speaker was a slightly out-of-breath female student who had just arrived next to Sakamoto—Yamamura Miki.

An introverted and gentle girl. She had woken up a bit late today and jogged all the way to the classroom. She hadn't expected the teacher to not have arrived yet.

Thinking this, Yamamura Miki stepped through the front door, and her gaze was immediately drawn to the boy in the corner.

As luck would have it, her seat was right next to his. So little Champion Miki-chan mustered her courage to greet Sakamoto.

Hearing this very faint voice, Sakamoto turned his head with a slight pause.

"Ah... was my sudden greeting disturbing you, Sakamoto-kun? I'm really sorry."

Not receiving an immediate reply, Miki immediately began flailing her hands in panic. Surely this abrupt behavior had disturbed Sakamoto-kun. She was such an inconsiderate person. At this rate, Sakamoto-kun would probably dislike her too.

Miki-chan, whose inner drama was running wild, saw the fragile sprout of courage she had barely mustered wither away, and her whole demeanor sank.

At that moment, a male voice suddenly rang out.

"Not at all, Yamamura-san."

The gentle voice immediately pulled her out of her low mood.

"Yamamura-san looks like a very delicate girl. It's already quite impressive that you mustered the courage to greet me."

But soon, Miki noticed a key point in his words.

Eh—eh, I didn't say my name. How did Sakamoto-kun know? (Miki-chan's inner monologue)

Looking at this boy with a unique aura, her eyes accidentally drifted from his jawline to his neck. A noticeable blush appeared on the girl's face. Whether it was from the earlier jog or some other reason was unclear.

"Because I noticed the student ID on Yamamura-san's book. When Yamamura-san spoke to me, I already knew your name."

As if aware of the girl's inner thoughts, Sakamoto immediately provided an explanation.

However, that was a lie. As the top player to clear Classroom of the Elite, Sakamoto had long memorized the main characters and frequently appearing ones.

After a brief mutual introduction, Yamamura Miki sat back down, but her face was conspicuously red. (It felt like steam was already rising from the top of her head.)

Aaaaaah, I almost misunderstood! Good thing I didn't say it out loud to Sakamoto-kun.

With Yamamura Miki breaking the ice first, the other female students in the class also shattered the barrier between the sexes.

One by one, they greeted Sakamoto.

"Eh—I thought Sakamoto-kun would be a cold guy, but he's unexpectedly gentle."

"Speaking of which, you definitely did that on purpose just now, saying things like 'Nee, Sakamoto-kun, nice to meet you, please take care of me.'"

"What are you talking about! You did the same thing."

Oh, by the way, Sakamoto-kun felt a slight puzzlement at why so many people were talking to him today. He had deliberately chosen the least conspicuous seat, yet the moment he entered the classroom, he was noticed by others. He had no problem with basic etiquette, but he just didn't understand.

Sakamoto showed a hint of confusion on his face.

Hashimoto, an outsider to the situation, saw it all clearly.

Damn it, why is this guy not only ridiculously handsome but also so elegant? It's like he's leaving no room for us ordinary people to breathe.

I'm going to draw a circle and curse that handsome bastard so he never gets a girlfriend!!!

(That's the collective sentiment of the bitterly resentful male students in Class A.)

The noise in the classroom was finally silenced by a pair of pure black leather shoes. The habit of quietness cultivated since elementary school made the students snap to attention immediately.

In an instant, the classroom fell dead silent. The transition from a bustling market to a classroom took only a few seconds. The teacher standing outside the door paused briefly, inwardly acknowledging, "As expected of Class A. The students' conduct as students is practically second nature."

Sakamoto, seated in the observer's seat at the very back, also felt a flicker of familiarity. This long-missed feeling—this was indeed the flavor of high school!!

The bell for the start of the semester rang. As the teacher stepped inside and quickly made his way to the podium, he prepared to begin explaining the school rules to the students—

The homeroom teacher for first-year Class A, Tomoya Mashima, was a teacher who took great responsibility for his students and had a strong sense of justice.

"New students, I am Tomoya Mashima. I will be your homeroom teacher for the next three years."

"Next, I will explain some rules regarding the Advanced Nurturing High School. Although some of you may already understand them through the enrollment materials distributed by the school, there should still be many students who are not very clear. So please listen carefully." (Ultra-simplified version. Those who understand can skip. Those unfamiliar can get acquainted.)

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

"First, congratulations on being admitted to the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. Due to the school's system, you will all live here for the next three years. Furthermore, unless necessary, you are not permitted to contact the outside world."

"Each class starts with one thousand class points. Each class point is converted into one hundred private points. Right now, each of you has one hundred thousand private points. Each point is equivalent to one yen, and you can use the S System to purchase anything you want within the school's facilities. (This is a lie. If I tried to buy this school, Sakayanagi would be the first to refuse.)"

"Regarding private points, on the first of every month, the school will automatically transfer them to your student ID cards. That concludes this. If you have any questions, you can come to the office after class."

With that, Tomoya Mashima left the Class A classroom.