This Happened in the Very First Class? (Continued)

After all, treating three people to a lavish meal at once wasn't cheap. Suzune Horikita had to spend quite a few points.

Although the regular student meals at school weren't expensive, students could also spend points to buy more upscale dishes.

Suzune Horikita had no choice but to do this if she wanted to win Keima Katsuragi over.

Her original plan had been to treat Keima Katsuragi to a meal first, make him feel indebted to her, and then naturally ask him to help.

But now she had to spend three times as many points to treat the others too.

And...

She still had to buy Keima Katsuragi a game afterward!

Just thinking about it made Suzune Horikita feel short of breath.

"Tell me, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Keima Katsuragi asked.

Beside them, Elsie had already started eating on her own, while Airi Sakura kept her head down in embarrassment, her eyes fixed on her food.

It was her first time eating in the cafeteria with her classmates.

Suzune Horikita leaned forward, her earnest gaze fixed on Keima Katsuragi's face.

"I'll get straight to the point. Before lunch, I discussed a plan with Hirata and the others."

"You mean preparing for the midterm exams?"

Even though Keima Katsuragi played games during every break, he had seen Yosuke Hirata come over to talk to Suzune Horikita a few times and had overheard their conversations.

Yosuke Hirata had occasionally glanced at Keima Katsuragi, seemingly wanting to draw him into the discussion too. But after seeing him completely absorbed in his game, he had given up on the idea for the time being.

"That's right."

Suzune Horikita nodded.

"Hirata is planning to hold a study group and tutor the students with the lowest grades in the class."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Hirata thinks we should tutor the few students who got the lowest scores on the last quiz. But I think that if we're going to hold a study group, we can't stop there."

"What?"

"Passing the exams only keeps us from being expelled. We have to go further. Now that I've been placed in Class D, I'm determined to make it to Class A!"

Suzune Horikita furrowed her brow, looking as if she had made up her mind.

"Oh."

Keima Katsuragi gave a slight nod, showing little interest.

His reaction seemed to annoy Suzune Horikita, but she didn't say so. She simply continued.

"So I want to improve everyone's grades. You came in first on the last quiz, and I recognize your academic ability. I hope you'll help me tutor more of the class."

"That sounds like something that'll eat up a lot of my gaming time."

"Keima, with your abilities, are you really willing to settle for Class D?"

Suzune Horikita was proud, but she had reason to think highly of herself.

There were very few people she considered capable, and Keima Katsuragi was one of them.

But she couldn't accept that someone with his abilities could act so carefree, as if nothing had anything to do with him.

"It doesn't matter which class I'm in. The real world is what it is. All I need is to be allowed to play games."

Keima Katsuragi gave a simple reply.

"Then why did you enroll at this school?"

"Because Big Brother is going to become the most popular person with all the girls—"

Elsie's mouth was full of food, and she had only just started speaking when Keima Katsuragi clapped a hand over her mouth to stop her from saying anything else strange.

"I had to go to high school anyway, and this school seemed unusual. Besides, I can play games to my heart's content here."

Keima Katsuragi answered at once.

Suzune Horikita studied the boy in front of her. She couldn't figure him out at all.

Was playing games really that important?

"Since you've already accepted my—"

"Still, I can help you."

Keima Katsuragi turned his head and glared at Elsie, signaling her not to say anything else bizarre, then turned back to Suzune Horikita.

His answer took Suzune Horikita by surprise.

He had just acted as if the rest of Class D had nothing to do with him. And now he'd suddenly changed his mind?

"What made you change your mind?"

"Change my mind?"

Keima Katsuragi scratched his head.

"I didn't."

"Huh?"

"I was already planning to find a way to improve the class's grades."

"Huh??"

"I've already made a deal with Sae Chabashira. I promised that no one in the class would be expelled and that we'd improve our ranking."

"Huh?????"

Suzune Horikita froze, staring at Keima Katsuragi in confusion.

What did he mean...

He'd already planned to do this?

And what did he mean that he'd made a deal with Teacher Chabashira?

"Y-You and Teacher Chabashira... what exactly did you agree on?"

Suzune Horikita hurriedly pressed him for an answer.

"From now on, I can play games freely in class without it being treated as misconduct and costing the class points."

Keima Katsuragi explained casually.

"In return, besides handing over a certain number of points each month, I have to make sure no one in the class gets expelled during the official exams, and that our class ranking goes up by one place each school year."

Keima Katsuragi didn't reveal what he was really thinking.

This deal was nothing more than a temporary measure to let him play games without a care.

Later, he would naturally find a way to nullify it.

The real world, Class D, Class A—none of it mattered to Keima Katsuragi.

Still, one thing Sae Chabashira had said had always bothered him.

"Official exams."

It sounded as though there were special exams too.

But that wasn't important for now, and Keima Katsuragi didn't dwell on it.

"What?!"

Suzune Horikita stared at him, dumbfounded.

Keima Katsuragi and Teacher Chabashira had made a deal like that?

So he'd already planned to do something about it...

Did that mean all the points she'd spent today were for nothing?

She'd treated three people to lunch for no reason, and she still had to buy Keima Katsuragi a game?!

"I—"

"I turned you down earlier, but you insisted on buying me a game and treating me to a meal. You're not going to go back on your word, are you?"

"Now that I've made a promise, I won't go back on it."

Suzune Horikita sighed helplessly. Since the start of the school year, nothing had gone smoothly...

At least she had plenty of points right now.

"Looks like you have a second good quality, Horikita: you keep your word."

As Keima Katsuragi spoke, he popped a piece of fried shrimp into his mouth.

"That's not a very pleasant thing to hear. But why is it the second?"

"I told you your first one when we met."

Keima Katsuragi looked up at Suzune Horikita.

Suzune Horikita's face filled with even more question marks.

He'd told her when they first met?

She tried to recall their first conversation. She seemed to have asked him why he'd looked at her on the bus.

His reply had been—

"Sorry, it's just that you're so beautiful, I couldn't help looking twice."

The moment she remembered those words, Suzune Horikita's breathing grew unsteady.

!!!

"Could you try acting normal for once?!"

Suzune Horikita said, a little flustered.

Beside her, Airi Sakura cautiously raised her head and glanced toward Suzune Horikita.

Had Horikita's cheeks turned a little red?

This was the first time she'd seen Horikita react like that...

What had they said to each other when they first met?

Airi Sakura was terribly curious, but she was afraid Suzune Horikita would notice her staring, so she lowered her head again.

"Was there something wrong with what I said?"

"Now's not the time to talk about that!"

Suzune Horikita was at a loss, but she quickly realized she'd lost her composure. She hastily cleared her throat twice, then forced the conversation back on track.

"So, Katsuragi, what are you planning to do next?"

"Nothing special. I'll just tutor the others. If we want to improve everyone's grades, that's the only way, right? The study group you mentioned."

"Mm. I'm going to gather them for tutoring, starting with the students who scored lowest on the last quiz and working my way up. That'll be the most efficient approach. I also want to ask you for a favor: invite those students to the study group, like Yamauchi and Sudo."

Suzune Horikita looked utterly serious. Beside her, Airi Sakura had lowered her head even further, nearly burying it in her bowl.

Airi Sakura wasn't particularly strong academically, and she hadn't done well on the last quiz.

She hadn't scored as poorly as the very worst students, but she was still near the bottom.

Hearing Suzune Horikita's words, Airi Sakura felt increasingly embarrassed and a little guilty.

But Suzune Horikita didn't notice the change in Airi Sakura's expression at all. She was focused entirely on Keima Katsuragi's response.

"Wait, I have a question. Why isn't Elsie included?"

Keima Katsuragi asked, puzzled.

Elsie was the one who'd come in dead last.

And she'd beaten everyone else by a wide margin.