There's no other way. I can only go to Kushida.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought it would be easier to have Kushida Kikyo handle this sort of thing.
He hadn't expected her to turn him down outright.
"Sorry, Ayanokoji. I've heard about Horikita and Katsuragi, too. They're both doing this to help the class improve... But Katsuragi asked me first, so..."
Kushida Kikyo looked embarrassed.
"I understand."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka replied simply, then returned to his seat and told Suzune Horikita how his invitation had gone.
"Both of us failed, then."
As he spoke, the corner of his eye drifted toward Keima Katsuragi, who was playing a game.
Had Keima Katsuragi anticipated this and contacted Kushida Kikyo in advance?
But why had he made that bet with Suzune Horikita?
Keima Katsuragi didn't seem to care about moving up to Class A.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka grew increasingly curious about him.
"Those people!"
Hearing this, Suzune Horikita bit her lip in frustration, then turned and glared at Keima Katsuragi.
Holding a study session was proving much more difficult than she'd imagined.
Before long, it was time to leave school.
Keima Katsuragi took Elsie and Airi Sakura to the library, where they found an empty table and sat down.
Keima Katsuragi had only asked Kushida Kikyo to join the study group in name. He didn't expect her to actually take part, but she had chosen to come along anyway.
"Today's lesson covered all this, but at least half of it was completely pointless drivel."
Keima Katsuragi opened a notebook and wrote down the core content of the day's lesson in just a few minutes.
"As expected of Katsuragi... You're amazing..."
Even Kushida Kikyo had to marvel at Keima Katsuragi's terrifying memory and learning ability.
Her grades were pretty good; she ranked in the top ten of the class.
Even so, there was no way she could fully absorb everything from today's lesson in such a short time. She would need to review it herself at least once.
Keima Katsuragi, on the other hand, was like a program. He distilled the core content of the teacher's lesson and reproduced it.
Without a single mistake.
"How does Katsuragi do it?"
Kushida Kikyo asked curiously.
"It's like playing a game. Games contain all sorts of information, much of it misleading or worthless. I just have to find the most important information."
Keima Katsuragi said it as if it were obvious.
"I see."
Kushida Kikyo couldn't understand what Keima Katsuragi meant, of course, but she nodded along enthusiastically.
Airi Sakura couldn't understand either.
Still, she got the feeling that Keima Katsuragi was amazing.
"The study session doesn't need to be very long. An hour will do. I'll tutor you separately. Kushida, you shouldn't have much trouble, so you can study on your own. As for Sakura, twenty minutes. The remaining forty minutes..."
Keima Katsuragi looked at Elsie with clear distaste.
"...are for you, Elsie."
"Oh? Katsuragi, are you planning to tutor us one-on-one first?"
Kushida Kikyo asked.
"Yeah. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Teaching everyone together won't solve that, so individual tutoring is the most efficient approach."
"I see. Then why are the times different for everyone?"
Elsie looked at Keima Katsuragi in confusion.
"Are you asking that seriously?"
Keima Katsuragi sighed.
"Of course I am!"
"Then you'll need another ten minutes."
"Huh? What do you mean, big brother?"
"Um, since I'm also part of the study group now, I might be able to help a little, even if my grades aren't as good as Katsuragi's!"
Kushida Kikyo flashed a warm smile at Airi Sakura and Elsie.
"I can help Katsuragi out a little, too!"
Airi Sakura didn't dare meet her eyes and merely lowered her head slightly.
"Really?"
Keima Katsuragi raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. As long as it isn't something too difficult, I should be able to—"
"Then Elsie is all yours!"
Keima Katsuragi said at once, afraid Kushida Kikyo might change her mind.
Kushida Kikyo froze, surprised that he'd agreed so quickly. Still, she nodded, changed seats, and sat beside Elsie, maintaining her friendly smile.
Maybe she'd been overthinking things last time?
Keima Katsuragi had only reacted that way because he hated people interrupting his games.
"Nice to meet you, Elsie! If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me!"
"I don't understand the first sentence here."
"Um, that's the title, Elsie."
Kushida Kikyo still had no idea what sort of person she was tutoring.
Meanwhile, Keima Katsuragi sat beside Airi Sakura and carefully explained the day's lesson to her.
But Airi Sakura couldn't concentrate at all.
Her gaze stayed fixed on Keima Katsuragi's profile.
S-so close.
She'd never been this close to anyone before...
Especially not a boy.
Come to think of it...
Katsuragi's features were quite handsome...
"...Sakura, did you understand this part?"
"..."
"Sakura?"
"Huh?"
Only then did Airi Sakura realize that she'd been distracted. Her face instantly turned red, and she hurriedly lowered her head in embarrassment, her body giving a slight tremble.
"S-sorry... I didn't quite understand that part..."
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz; only Keima Katsuragi could hear her.
Airi Sakura felt terribly guilty and worried that Keima Katsuragi might scold her.
But Keima Katsuragi spoke gently.
"Don't blame yourself. If you don't understand, I can just explain it again. The teacher rambled too much today."
"Y-yeah... Sorry for the trouble, Katsuragi."
Airi Sakura nodded and tried to focus on her book.
But she still couldn't control her peripheral vision.
Airi Sakura would glance at Keima Katsuragi without thinking, then hurriedly look elsewhere, only to glance back a few seconds later, caught in a loop.
I-I can't concentrate.
Meanwhile, in the Student Council Office.
Manabu Horikita stared solemnly at the screen in front of him.
The screen displayed the current points of each first-year class.
Class A: 990 points
Class B: 850 points
Class C: 720 points
Class D: 680 points
"President, you've been staring at the screen for a while."
Akane Tachibana, the Student Council Secretary, gently reminded Manabu Horikita from beside him.
"This year's first-years are quite unusual."
Manabu Horikita pushed up his glasses and spoke slowly.
"Sorry, President, but what's unusual about them?"
Akane Tachibana couldn't see anything strange in the numbers.
"The first-years' Class Points in the first week are about the same as in previous years. If anything, this year's Class D is doing a little worse. They've already lost three hundred points in less than a week."
"Looking at the whole week, that's true. But if you look only at how the numbers have changed over the past few days, you'll notice something odd."
Manabu Horikita tapped the screen, and another set of figures appeared.
They showed the classes' points from the day before.
Class A: 990 points
Class B: 860 points
Class C: 750 points
Class D: 700 points
"If we turn the daily changes in Class Points into a line graph, it should be easier to see."
Manabu Horikita converted the changes in Class Points into a line graph. Akane Tachibana's eyes widened slightly, surprise flashing through them.
"The trend in Class D's points... It's strange!"
During the first few days of school, Class D had lost a large number of points each day. But starting yesterday, the rate at which its points were deducted had dropped sharply.
The same was true for Classes C and B. The change just wasn't as obvious as Class D's, since they hadn't lost as many points to begin with.
"This tells us one thing."
Manabu Horikita stood and looked out the window, which faced the library.
"The first-year students have already figured out something about the S-System."
"They figured it out in less than a week? It must have been a student from Class A, then. After all, this year's Class A has one particularly remarkable student..."
Before you continue