Classroom of the Elite, Oh No, I've Become a Stand-in

Putting his phone back into his pocket, Mikage Touji didn't rush to act on the task he had just accepted. He rested his hands on the back of his chair and watched Horikita Suzune, who was standing blankly opposite him, with great interest.

He had already figured it out: just like her brother, she definitely wanted something from him, but her cold personality wouldn't allow her to lower her pride, so she was waiting for him to initiate the conversation.

Sora wa doka na! (That's for me to decide!)

I, Mikage Touji, love saying NO to girls who think so highly of themselves!

I'd like to see how long she can keep standing there.

On the secluded school path, a boy and a girl stared at each other. A gust of wind kicked up the fallen leaves between them, and both remained silent, as if playing a game to see who would be the first to break and lose.

After hesitating for a long time, Horikita Suzune finally spoke up to Mikage Touji.

"Um... I am Horikita Suzune from Class D of the first year."

Having won the game, Mikage Touji's voice became cheerful. "Hello, I'm Mikage Touji from Class A of the first year. Nice to meet you."

"Class A... So, is it really necessary to be promoted to Class A..."

After muttering to herself for a moment, Horikita Suzune looked at Mikage Touji and bit her lip. "Um... my brother, he didn't do anything here just now..."

"..." These two siblings are truly bizarre. One is a brother-complex, the other a sister-complex; the brother-complex hits her sister, and the sister-complex defends her brother even after being hit.

"He treated you like that, and you're still worried about his reputation?"

"This isn't my brother's fault, it's..." Horikita Suzune's eyes dimmed. "...my own problem."

"You two siblings are really interesting. Besides, don't you think you should get that checked out?" Mikage Touji pointed to the scrape on her palm.

"I'll take care of this myself in a moment. In any case, don't let what happened today get out. State your conditions." Horikita Suzune gritted her teeth. "Whatever it is... points are fine too."

After saying that, Horikita Suzune added like a deflating balloon, "If the amount is too large, it might take a few months."

Actually, your brother and I get along quite well, at least when it comes to money...

"Anything is fine?" Mikage Touji asked with a teasing tone.

"Are you... thinking of something inappropriate?" Horikita Suzune's gaze turned as cold and sharp as a sudden change in a Sichuan opera mask.

"Don't worry." Mikage Touji waved his hand with a smile. "I'm not interested in the cold type like you, and besides, your brother and I are, for the time being, friends."

Having said that, he stood up, tossed his cola can into the trash bin with a thud, and headed straight toward the school building.

"If you want me to keep my mouth shut, follow me."

"You—"

Horikita Suzune wanted to say something more, but was cut off by Mikage Touji's remark, "Or do you not trust your brother's judgment?" She had no choice but to helplessly follow in his footsteps.

Along the way, Horikita Suzune watched the back of this person who claimed to be her brother's friend with a complex expression. She certainly knew he was her brother's friend; otherwise, her brother wouldn't have bothered to answer his questions earlier.

Finally, Horikita Suzune couldn't help but ask her question.

"How did you and my brother meet? Was it because of... your status in Class A?"

"How could that be? If the student council president's standard for evaluating a person was based on their status, I'd have to reconsider whether I even wanted to be friends with him. As for how we met, I suppose it was an introduction from a senior."

"What were you and my brother talking about on your phone just now?"

"You actually noticed that?"

"The change in your expression was too obvious."

"Oh? Is that so? It seems I'm still too easy to read."

"Are all students in Class A at your level?"

"No, I'm just a very ordinary member—we're here."

Horikita Suzune looked up. The sign on the door clearly read: Infirmary.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, don't rush off just yet. I have a wounded person here I'd like you to take a look at."

Mikage Touji stepped forward to block Hoshinomiya Chie, who was already preparing to leave for the day.

"Honestly, you weirdo from Class A, couldn't you have come five minutes later? It's already past work hours." Hoshinomiya Chie paused in the middle of packing her equipment, her face full of reluctance.

"You were just going to find a place to drink after work anyway, so you might as well look at her wound."

Mikage Touji stepped aside, revealing Horikita Suzune behind him.

"Oh my," Hoshinomiya Chie's attitude changed instantly, a smile appearing on her face. "Isn't this Horikita-san from Sae-chan's class? How did you get hurt? Come on in, quickly."

Horikita Suzune frowned, her tone immediately becoming unfriendly. "I already said I would take care of it myself."

"..."

As expected, her personality is worlds apart from Horikita Manabu. One is devoted to the student council system and willing to pay points to test Mikage Touji's abilities just to prevent Nagumo Miyabi from acting recklessly, while the other desperately resists the approach of others, preferring to treat her own wounds rather than come to the infirmary. No wonder Horikita Manabu has such a headache over this sister of his.

However, for the sake of that one million, I won't hold it against her for now.

Mikage Touji raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that your family had a habit of not keeping their word."

"I—"

Horikita Suzune was once again choked by Mikage Touji. Her usually effective cold aura seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.

Mikage Touji certainly felt the chill radiating from the girl, but mere cold air could never dampen the enthusiasm of his one million.

Hoshinomiya Chie, carrying a medical kit, stepped in at the right moment to smooth things over. She said with a beaming smile, "Alright, alright, you two can argue later. Let's get those wounds looked at first."

With that, she led Horikita Suzune to the infirmary bed.

As she took off her shoes and placed her slender, long legs onto the bed, the black stockings were peeled away from her thighs down to her ankles, revealing the contrast between the long, red abrasions and her fair skin. As the stockings were removed further down to her ankles, her small feet finally broke free from their constraints, swaying slightly in the air as her five delicate, pink toes stretched out to their heart's content.

Although he wasn't interested in such cold-hearted girls, Mikage Touji, who aspired to be a connoisseur of beautiful legs, still leaned against the doorframe and appreciated the view without giving anything away.

"Given the shape of these wounds, did Horikita-san trip over something and fall?" Hoshinomiya Chie observed the injuries and asked casually.

"This..."

Horikita Suzune, still feeling down, clearly hadn't regained her composure; the words swirled in her mouth for a long time without ever coming out.

"Oh, she was so mesmerized by a man she likes that she tripped over a rock on the side of the road and took a solid tumble right in front of me."

"You—"

A look of shamed anger flickered in her clear, limpid eyes. She had lost count of how many times he had left her speechless like this.

Mikage Touji smiled back at her.

Is there a problem?

"Horikita-san?" Hoshinomiya Chie covered her mouth in surprise. "I thought you were like Sae and had no interest in romantic topics."

Horikita Suzune clenched her fists, trying to kill the man with her gaze, but the moment she remembered how pathetic she looked today, her lips twitched, and she helplessly unclenched her fists, bowing her head in tacit agreement.

I'll remember this. You just wait!

Tch, if you've got the guts, go ahead. Let's see if I don't report you to your brother.

"..."

Horikita Suzune stared daggers at the shameless man before her, a sense of frustration and helplessness she had never felt before welling up in her heart.

"Luckily, it's not too serious. It won't leave any scars."

After a simple dressing of the wounds, Hoshinomiya Chie put her tools back into the kit and cautioned, "Try not to get the wounds wet when you wash up tonight. They'll be fine in a few days."

"I know that."

Once the wounds were treated, Mikage Touji once again feasted his eyes on the sight of a girl wearing black stockings.

Her pink toes, fair ankles, and shapely calves were covered bit by bit by the black stockings until they returned to the thighs marked by the elastic bands...

Hoshinomiya Chie seemed to be in a hurry to get on with her nightlife. The moment the two stepped out of the infirmary, she quickly locked the door, gave them a playful wink, and walked away with short, quick steps while carrying her bag.

With a homeroom teacher like that, it's no wonder Ichinose is so exhausted. Looking at it this way, that sadistic, fake-serious teacher of mine is actually not half bad.

"Well then, Horikita-san," Mikage Touji said, having completed his task, as he turned his head. "You should be able to walk back to the dorms on your own, right?"

"Of course."

"In that case, let's part ways here."

Having achieved his goal, Mikage Touji had no intention of taking things further. This girl was like a hedgehog; unless you were someone who could make her expose her soft underbelly, anyone who got close would end up with a palm full of blood.

"Wait... Mikage-kun." Horikita Suzune called out to Mikage Touji as he started to walk away.

"Hmm? Is there something else?"

Standing in place for a moment of silence, Horikita Suzune finally said in a low voice, "Help me say thank you to my brother."

"So you knew."

"The way you act like you're completely uninterested in me doesn't seem fake, so it could only be that my brother asked you to do this."

"Oh, I see," Mikage Touji said, crossing his arms and nodding as if he had just realized it. "What a brilliant deduction. It seems my acting skills still need some work. But couldn't you just send him a message yourself?"

Another long silence filled the hallway.

Mikage Touji's mouth twitched as he struggled to keep a straight face. "Don't tell me you two don't even have each other added as friends."

Horikita Suzune shook her head. "He never replies to my messages."

This girl is truly something else. She's so fierce toward strangers, yet she's like a little lamb waiting to be slaughtered when it comes to her own brother.

I wonder if she'll be like this after she gets married? A helpless wife hiding in a closet or something similar when facing her beloved husband—the kind of plot you see in adult manga.

"You seem to be thinking about something impolite." Horikita Suzune's voice sharpened.

"No, no, how could that be?" Mikage Touji coughed twice and gave a dry laugh.

"Since that's the case, you should tell him yourself. You were the one who guessed it, after all."

Mikage Touji took out his phone, opened his chat window with Horikita Manabu, and tossed it to Horikita Suzune.

Most of his interactions with Class A were offline, so there wasn't much sensitive information to reveal. Everything else of importance was protected by a passcode, and since he was watching right beside her, handing it over to Horikita Suzune wouldn't do any harm. Besides, he didn't think she was the type to snoop through someone else's chat history.

"This..."

Horikita Suzune fell into hesitation once again. She instinctively resisted anything external, but in her heart, she wanted to have a proper conversation with Horikita Manabu.

"Do you want it or not?" Mikage Touji reiterated, reaching out as if to take the phone back. "If you don't want it, I'm taking it back."

"I want it!"

Chapter 37: Strategic Retreat

Advanced Nurturing High School, Patere Cafe.

Mikage Touji rested his cheek on his hand, stirring his coffee listlessly. "I'm telling you, this wasn't necessary. If I recall correctly, your class is already out of points. Is it really okay for you to be treating me here?"

"I don't have a habit of spending recklessly, and I don't like owing people—"

Horikita Suzune, sitting beside him, cut her sentence short abruptly. She whipped her head around, her fox-like eyes glaring daggers at Mikage Touji.

"My brother gave you points too?!"

"What else? Do you think I was bored enough to come over here just to bandage your wounds?"

"Exactly how much did he give you?"

"200,000."

Mikage Touji remained completely immune to Horikita Suzune's murderous gaze and waved his hand to order a strawberry cake.

"Give them back to him immediately! As for the points, I'll find a way to make them up to you."

"Haven't you already seen it? I suggested returning them to him, but he simply wouldn't accept them."

"Regardless, find a way to return them. I'll pay you back later."

"You're being a bit unreasonable, aren't you? While I could transfer them back, knowing Horikita-senpai's personality, wouldn't he just transfer them right back? Also, are you done talking to him yet?"

"..."

Mikage Touji stopped stirring his coffee, turned his head to glance at his phone, and his expression gradually became fascinating.

"You didn't say a single word, did you?"

"..."

Mikage Touji covered his forehead in silence.

Just how awkward are these two siblings? How on earth did Horikita-senpai raise her to be like this?

"Is it really that hard to just say, 'Onii-chan~, watashi Suzune~, arigato~'?"