Classmate Shiina looked like an excellent student, yet she'd been assigned to Class C.
She'd actually used the phrase "assigned to."
So that meant students in Classes C and D were probably the ones Classes A and B hadn't wanted, filtered out according to some kind of comprehensive evaluation system.
Did that mean some students who seemed impressive had flaws of their own?
Was that why Classmate Shiina had been assigned to Class C?
As for why Shirogane had been assigned to Class C, he understood that well enough.
His academics were decent, and he had some strengths, like cooking and doing housework, but he also had plenty of flaws.
He couldn't swim.
He couldn't sew.
He was reasonably fit, but had terrible athletic skills. Basketball, tennis, volleyball—he was hopeless at all of them.
He couldn't sing in tune. In fact, he'd even been asked to stay silent and mime the words during a singing competition.
He couldn't play the guitar, either, and he couldn't dance.
He was afraid of bugs and hated gross things.
"..." Yeah.
Thinking about it, those were all flaws. Thank goodness he hadn't been assigned to Class D.
As he was thinking this,
"Classmate Shirogane."
Shirogane noticed someone suddenly tugging at his sleeve. Judging by the voice, it was Classmate Shiina.
But Classmate Shiina was looking toward something up ahead.
Shirogane looked in the same direction and understood why she'd stopped him.
He'd just asked her whether she'd seen a silver-haired girl who had difficulty walking and needed a cane.
And now, there she was.
But Classmate Sakayanagi wasn't alone.
Chapter 13: Those Are Students from Class A!
Following Shiina Hiyori's gaze, Shirogane immediately spotted the frail-looking Classmate Sakayanagi Arisu in the crowd.
She had a congenital heart condition and had no choice but to rely on a cane to walk.
But...
It sounded like something that would make people feel sorry for her, yet when he saw her, it didn't feel that way at all.
Classmate Sakayanagi held her cane in her left hand. She was petite and slender, with clear, snow-white skin and striking silver hair. But she didn't give off a frail impression. Instead, she seemed confident and proud.
That was right.
The air Classmate Sakayanagi exuded now was one of confidence and pride.
She walked at the front, with five or six students around her. They surrounded her like stars around the moon, all centered on her.
When she moved, they moved. When she stopped, they stopped too.
She seemed almost like the leader of those students.
A few of them were carrying shopping bags, seemingly accompanying the girl while she shopped.
It was an astonishing sight.
"..." Shirogane.
Shirogane had been worried that Classmate Sakayanagi's frail health would make it difficult for her to live independently, especially so soon after starting school.
He'd even thought she might struggle with shopping as a new student.
But it seemed he'd been worrying for nothing.
Classmate Sakayanagi had plenty of people helping her.
But they didn't seem to be helping because they'd seen how much she was struggling and felt sorry for her. It was more like they were taking their cues from her.
In other words, had Classmate Sakayanagi already gotten some of her classmates wrapped around her finger?
Shirogane recalled what Sakayanagi Arisu had said that morning, when the two of them had gone from the infirmary to the gymnasium.
[Although I'm a new student too, I don't think this school is the same as ordinary schools out in the world.]
[A school supported and promoted by the government, with a 100% employment and university admission rate, no tuition fees, and even living expenses provided. Those conditions sound like a windfall.]
[But nothing is truly free. This school must have some kind of unusual system.]
Classmate Sakayanagi was being treated this way because she'd evidently earned the approval of her classmates.
Her classmates followed her lead. In other words, it was survival of the fittest.
"It suddenly feels like moving up a class might be harder for our year," Shirogane said.
"Huh?" Classmate Shiina looked puzzled.
Of course, she had no idea that despite how cute and adorable Sakayanagi looked, Shirogane had already classified her as an SSS-level threat.
Classmate Sakayanagi had revealed her name, and she was in First-Year Class A.
That meant that if he wanted to claim the rewards the school had promised, he'd have to reach Class A and defeat Classmate Sakayanagi.
According to information shared by upperclassmen, it was hard to climb the ranks in previous years. And now there was Sakayanagi Arisu, making it even harder.
It was like the other class had won the lottery and pulled an SSR.
If all of Class A's students were like Classmate Sakayanagi, then it was easy to imagine that Class C had no chance of climbing the ranks.
The difference in level was too great.
Still, he could take some comfort in the fact that if all the students in Class A were like Classmate Sakayanagi, five or six students wouldn't already be gathered around her.
That meant those students had acknowledged her.
They recognized that Sakayanagi was smarter than they were.
So not every student in Class A was that scary.
But...
"Do you think our class could end up with everyone acknowledging one person?" Shirogane asked.
"Acknowledging them? You mean, as members of the class, following a leader's orders?" Hiyori said. She quickly gave her answer. "I don't think so. Even if a student stands out as exceptionally capable, I think the others would listen to them, but not follow them."
In other words, it was a problem with the quality of Class C's students.
Maybe they were clueless, stubborn, and wouldn't listen to reason.
Perhaps Classmate Ryuen was indispensable for now. The class needed his violent methods to bring everyone together. Otherwise, it wouldn't just be impossible to reach Class A—even getting past Class B, the next class up from Class C, might be out of reach.
Shirogane thought to himself.
"I was worried that Classmate Sakayanagi might need help because of her poor health, but now it seems I was worrying for nothing," Shirogane said. "Let's go take care of what we need to do."
So they were going their separate ways here.
"Where are you going next, Classmate Shirogane?" Classmate Shiina asked.
"I'm going to the Electronics Store first to buy a USB drive," Shirogane told her about his plan.
A USB drive. Nothing strange about that. He needed to save the video of Classmate Ryuen beating someone up.
It would give him leverage over Ryuen.
Hiyori nodded.
"I'll send the video to your phone," Classmate Shiina said.
At the same time, Hiyori decided to delete the recording from her own phone.
Given the current situation, they could use the video to get leverage over Classmate Ryuen.
But Ryuen was a student in their class. If a video of him fighting got out, he wouldn't be the only one to lose points and face punishment. The whole class could suffer too.
It was a double-edged sword.
So if her phone were to get lost by accident and the video inside were leaked, it would be a serious problem.
And so, Shirogane and Classmate Shiina parted ways at the intersection.
Shirogane headed for the Electronics Store up ahead, while Classmate Shiina went back to the supermarket. She'd only picked out half her groceries, and she needed to check whether an employee had taken away her shopping cart.
"Classmate Sakayanagi?" One of the students walking with her noticed that Classmate Sakayanagi seemed to be looking elsewhere.
"It's nothing." Sakayanagi Arisu kept smiling.
"Although we only started school today, if my guess is correct, gathering information about the other classes will be especially important."
"The students who just passed by were from Class C, weren't they?" Sakayanagi said.
"Oh!"
So that was it!
"Understood."
One of the students immediately responded.
She'd noticed two students coming out from around the corner. They could gather information from those two who'd just passed by.
But the two students had gone in different directions.
Should she follow the boy or the girl?
She'd follow the girl.
The student quickly set off.
That left one fewer person in the group, but the atmosphere of stars surrounding the moon remained unchanged.
As if nothing had happened, Classmate Sakayanagi continued walking, cane in hand.
Even as a new student, she still had things she needed to buy.
P.S. Today's update. You know what I'm going to say, right?
P.S. Please support the stats! Please add this to your reading list! Please add this to your reading list!
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Chapter 14: A Strange Girl!
After parting ways with Classmate Shiina, Shirogane headed straight to the Electronics Store.
It was clear how much support the school gave its students. The school had opened three Electronics Stores just in this Shopping District.
He assumed the school ran them because, based on an estimate of 160 first-year students, there would be only 480 students across all three grades. Add in the faculty and the Shopping District staff, and the entire school probably had a little over two thousand people.
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