Classroom of the Elite, Keima Katsuragi's Love Brain Battle

Volume 1: Chapter 15: A Request from Kushida Kikyo

"An ironclad rule?"

Elsie looked at Keima Katsuragi with a puzzled expression.

Keima Katsuragi suddenly closed his eyes, his face taking on an incredibly serious expression.

"If you just listen closely, you'll hear it—the inner voice of a literary girl."

Keima Katsuragi suddenly opened his eyes and held up a finger toward Elsie.

"Though literary girls are quiet, their thoughts are twice as active as anyone else's. They are the exact opposite of those who are noisy but empty-headed."

Elsie blinked, failing to realize that Keima Katsuragi was hinting at her.

"This internal duality is the charm of a literary girl. Introverted! Intellectual! From now on, it is the era of the literary girl!"

Keima Katsuragi said this with sudden excitement, startling several passersby who instinctively took a few steps back.

He also took out his cards and flipped through them until he found the one for Shiina Hiyori.

[Name: Shiina Hiyori]

[Current Affection: 10%]

Although they hadn't spent much time together, he had managed to leave a decent first impression.

She was currently the only person who had shown a clear, positive increase in affection after their first interaction.

Perhaps it was because she misunderstood Keima Katsuragi as someone who also loved to read.

Or perhaps it was because she believed Keima Katsuragi could be considered a kindred spirit of sorts.

Meanwhile, Elsie remained confused and asked:

"But how exactly are you supposed to hear the voice of the heart?"

"That's why you're just an amateur. You can hear the voice of the heart at any time."

Keima Katsuragi adjusted his glasses, tucked the card away, and held his handheld console out in front of Elsie.

"Look, this is the inner monologue of a literary girl."

On the screen was the inner monologue of a girl wearing glasses.

"But that's from a game..."

"..."

Keima Katsuragi fell silent, then turned around and began to walk away at an accelerated pace.

"Then it's impossible to conquer."

"God of Conquest! Don't run away!"

Elsie hurriedly chased after him.

Although he claimed it was impossible to conquer, Keima Katsuragi had already guessed the girl's inner thoughts just from the conversation between Elsie and Shiina Hiyori.

Shiina Hiyori loved reading, and she hoped that Elsie could also experience the joy of reading.

Therefore, Keima Katsuragi could feel that the words Shiina Hiyori spoke at the end were sincere.

There aren't many people who would acknowledge someone who plays games.

However...

It seemed that troublesome matters were about to arrive now.

"God of Conquest, wait for me! Why did you suddenly start running?"

"I am running away from trouble."

Keima Katsuragi said breathlessly, sweat already beading on his forehead.

"But..."

Elsie pursed her lips and glanced behind them.

"You didn't even run that far."

Keima Katsuragi had only run about a dozen meters, yet he already looked completely burnt out.

After all, Keima Katsuragi played games day and night and lacked exercise; his body could be described as frail.

Even if a small, mobility-impaired girl were to bump into him, Keima Katsuragi would likely be the one who ended up more injured.

"And what kind of trouble are you running away from?"

Elsie asked, looking confused.

"You'll know in a moment—"

"Oh! Katsuragi-san! Elsie-san! What a coincidence!"

Just then, an enthusiastic voice came from behind them, and Elsie turned her head to look.

Kushida Kikyo was walking quickly toward them, a smile as bright as spring sunshine on her face.

"I was just about to greet you, but you two started speeding up as you walked!"

Kushida Kikyo asked with a smile.

To her, the all-out sprint Keima Katsuragi had just performed was no different from a brisk walk.

"Big Brother is... is just exercising!"

For once, Elsie's brain actually provided a helpful response.

"I saw you two at the library just now, but it looked like you were chatting with students from another class, so I didn't want to interrupt!"

Kushida Kikyo's eyes seemed to shimmer, clear and bright like gemstones.

"That was Shiina from Class C, wasn't it?"

"Oh? Kushida-san, you've already gotten to know students from other classes so quickly?"

"Because I want to be friends with everyone in the grade! I made friends with a few students from Class C yesterday! They're all such nice people! But I only know Shiina-san's name from what they told me; I haven't had the chance to formally introduce myself yet!"

When the topic turned to making friends, Kushida Kikyo seemed to become even more cheerful.

In Elsie's eyes, Kushida Kikyo looked like nothing more than a bright and generous girl—

However, Keima Katsuragi did not think so.

After spending these past two days together, Keima Katsuragi was increasingly certain that Kushida Kikyo was anything but simple.

Earlier today, when he was interacting with Suzune Horikita, Keima Katsuragi had actually been observing Kushida Kikyo without drawing attention to himself.

On the surface, Kushida Kikyo appeared to be chatting with the students beside her, but in reality, her gaze had been fixed on him and Suzune Horikita the entire time.

No one else had noticed—

Except for Keima Katsuragi.

And just now, when he was taking Elsie to the library, Kushida Kikyo had been following behind them.

A coincidence?

No, it was not a coincidence.

Kushida Kikyo was deliberately creating an opportunity for a chance encounter.

What was her goal?

It was highly likely related to Suzune Horikita.

Within two days, Kushida Kikyo had managed to build good relationships with almost everyone in the class—everyone except Suzune Horikita.

Suzune Horikita's solitary nature was indeed difficult to deal with, but why was Kushida Kikyo so fixated on her?

Theoretically, if she truly wanted to be friends with everyone as she claimed, there was no need to be so persistent about the girl at this very moment.

Unless the two of them knew each other beforehand, or were connected to some specific event.

However—

Keima Katsuragi wasn't interested. Regardless of what was going on between them, it had nothing to do with him.

Even though both of them were mission targets, he didn't want to waste his gaming time on this right now!

"I've managed to get on good terms with almost everyone in our class over the last two days! Well, except for one person."

Kushida Kikyo sighed deliberately and shook her head.

"Who is it?"

Elsie, following the flow of the conversation, asked.

"It's Horikita-san. She's a bit of a loner, but I believe our class is a collective, so building a better relationship is absolutely necessary. Come to think of it, it seems like you're the only one who is relatively close to Horikita-san, Keima-kun. Could I ask you for a favor?"

Kushida Kikyo looked at Keima Katsuragi with extreme sincerity while tightly gripping his hand.

She believed that Keima Katsuragi would definitely help her.

"Sorry, but I refuse."

"Thank you so much, Keima-kun... Huh?!"

Volume 1: Chapter 16: I Want to Play Games, I'm Busy

Kushida Kikyo froze.

Had she just...

Been rejected?

Strange, had she really been rejected by Keima Katsuragi?

Kushida Kikyo looked at the boy in front of her in confusion, but Keima Katsuragi had already lowered his head, pulled his hand away, and taken out his handheld console to start playing.

This was the first time Kushida Kikyo had encountered a boy who wouldn't look her in the eye during a conversation.

Kushida Kikyo was very confident in her appearance, figure, and manners, and she knew exactly how to use her advantages to quickly close the distance with others.

Many boys would blush and act shy when talking to her at close range, and no matter what she said, they would basically nod and agree.

It was precisely by utilizing this that Kushida Kikyo's social circle had been able to expand so rapidly in just two days.

However, Keima Katsuragi, who stood before her, was completely different from those people.

His gaze was not on her at all; he was simply staring at his game console.

That feeling of being ignored made Kushida Kikyo feel incredibly puzzled inside.

Clearly, when she had first interacted with Keima Katsuragi, he hadn't been like this.

"Katsuragi-kun, is this a bad time?"

Kushida Kikyo pursed her lips in embarrassment and asked softly.

"Yeah, it's a bad time. I have more important things to do."

Keima Katsuragi said this while continuing to play his game.

Kushida Kikyo looked at Keima Katsuragi in utter confusion.

He was playing a game, so he clearly looked very relaxed, didn't he?

"May I ask... what kind of things?"

"Playing games."

"W-what?"

For a moment, Kushida Kikyo thought she had misheard him.

"To me, playing games is the most important thing."

"But... I want to be friends with everyone, and since we will be living together as a group from now on, getting along is very important... yet Horikita-san doesn't seem very easy to get along with... Katsuragi-kun, you are the first friend I made at this school, and I saw that you and Horikita-san seem somewhat close, so I thought I would ask you for help..."

Kushida Kikyo lowered her head, a look of both worry and grievance appearing on her face.

If it were any other boy, nine times out of ten, he would likely find it hard to refuse.

But from beginning to end, Keima Katsuragi did not even glance at her once.

"That is a matter between the two of you, and my relationship with Horikita isn't actually close; she just comes over to mock me whenever she has nothing better to do. Since you want to be friends with everyone, why not try interacting with others first? You haven't built relationships with every student in the grade yet, have you? Isn't it better to save the tough nuts to crack for last? I can consider other things, but please forgive me for not being able to help with this."