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

There is no other way; I have no choice but to go find Kushida.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka believed that for this kind of matter, it would be much more convenient to have Kushida Kikyo step in.

However, he had not expected that Kushida Kikyo would reject him outright:

"I'm sorry, Ayanokoji-kun. I've also heard about what happened with Horikita and Keima-kun; they are doing this for the sake of the class's advancement... But Keima-kun invited me first, so..."

A look of embarrassment appeared on Kushida Kikyo's face.

"Understood."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka responded simply, then returned to his seat to inform Suzune Horikita of the result of his invitation.

"Both failed, then."

As he spoke, his peripheral vision couldn't help but glance toward Keima Katsuragi, who was currently playing a game.

Had Keima Katsuragi calculated this step, which was why he contacted Kushida Kikyo in advance?

But why would he make such a bet with Suzune Horikita?

Keima Katsuragi did not seem like someone who yearned to be promoted to Class A.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt increasingly curious about Keima Katsuragi.

"These guys!"

Hearing this, Suzune Horikita bit her lip in frustration, then turned her head to glare at Keima Katsuragi.

Organizing a study group was proving to be much harder than she had imagined.

Soon, it was time for school to end.

Keima Katsuragi brought Elsie and Airi Sakura to the library and found an empty table to sit at.

Although Keima Katsuragi had only asked Kushida Kikyo to join the study group in name and did not require her to actually participate, she still chose to tag along on her own initiative.

"The teacher covered these things today, but at least half of it was useless nonsense."

Keima Katsuragi opened a notebook and proceeded to write down all the core content from today's lecture in just a few minutes.

"As expected of Keima-kun... how amazing..."

Even Kushida Kikyo couldn't help but marvel at Keima Katsuragi's terrifying memory and learning ability.

Her own grades were quite good, ranking within the top ten in the class.

But even so, it would be impossible for her to fully digest today's lesson content in such a short time; she would need to review it at least once more.

Volume 1: Chapter 39: Airi Sakura, Losing Focus

Yet Keima Katsuragi was like a program, extracting the core content of what the teacher had said and replicating it.

Without a single error.

"How on earth does Keima-kun do it?"

Kushida Kikyo asked with curiosity.

"It's just like playing a game. Games contain all sorts of information, much of which is misleading or worthless, and I just need to find the most critical information among it all," Keima Katsuragi said as if it were a matter of course.

"So that's how it is."

Kushida Kikyo naturally couldn't understand what Keima Katsuragi was talking about, but she nodded in cooperation nonetheless.

Airi Sakura couldn't understand it either.

But she simply felt that Keima Katsuragi was very impressive.

"The study session doesn't need to be long; one hour is enough. I will provide separate guidance for you all. Kushida, you shouldn't have any major issues, so you can just study on your own. As for Sakura-san, twenty minutes, and the remaining forty minutes..."

Keima Katsuragi looked at Elsie with a hint of disdain.

"...will be for you, Elsie."

"Eh? Does Keima-kun intend to provide one-on-one tutoring first?"

Kushida Kikyo asked.

"Yes. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses; uniform teaching cannot resolve this situation, so separate, specialized guidance is the most efficient method."

"I see. Then why is the time allotted to each person different?"

Elsie looked at Keima Katsuragi with a confused expression.

"Are you asking that seriously?"

Keima Katsuragi sighed.

"Of course I'm serious!"

"Then it looks like you need to add another ten minutes."

"Huh? What does that mean, Big Brother!"

"Um, since I'm a member of the study group now, even though my grades aren't as good as Keima Katsuragi's, I might be able to help out a little!"

Kushida Kikyo wore an enthusiastic smile as she looked toward Airi Sakura and Elsie.

"I can help share the burden for you too, Keima Katsuragi!"

Airi Sakura didn't dare to meet his eyes, merely lowering her head slightly.

"Really?"

Keima Katsuragi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Yeah, as long as it's not a really difficult problem, I should be able to—"

"Then I'll leave Elsie to you!"

Keima Katsuragi said immediately, afraid that Kushida Kikyo might change her mind later.

Kushida Kikyo was stunned for a moment, not expecting him to agree so readily, but she still nodded, changed seats, and sat down beside Elsie while maintaining a friendly smile.

Perhaps she had been overthinking things last time?

Keima Katsuragi's reaction last time was probably just because he hated people disturbing his gaming.

"Nice to meet you, Elsie! Feel free to ask me anything you don't understand!"

"I didn't even understand the first sentence on this page."

"Uh, that's the title, Elsie."

Kushida Kikyo did not yet know what kind of existence she was tutoring.

On the other side, Keima Katsuragi also sat down next to Airi Sakura, carefully explaining the day's lesson content to her.

However, Airi Sakura was completely unable to focus.

Her gaze was firmly fixed on the side of Keima Katsuragi's face.

So, so close.

She had never been this close to anyone before...

And it was a boy, too.

Come to think of it...

Keima Katsuragi's features were actually quite refined...

"...Airi Sakura, did you understand this part?"

"..."

"Airi Sakura?"

"Ah?"

Airi Sakura only then realized she had been distracted for a moment. Her face turned red instantly, and she hurriedly lowered her head in embarrassment, her body trembling slightly.

"I, I'm sorry... I didn't quite understand just now..."

Her voice had become as light as a mosquito's, audible only to Keima Katsuragi.

Airi Sakura felt incredibly self-reproachful, worried that Keima Katsuragi might blame her.

However, Keima Katsuragi spoke in a relatively gentle tone, "Don't blame yourself. If you don't understand, I'll just explain it again. The teacher talked too much nonsense today anyway."

"Yes, yes... Sorry to trouble you, Keima Katsuragi."

Airi Sakura nodded, trying hard to focus her attention on the book.

But her peripheral vision still couldn't help but wander.

Airi Sakura would subconsciously look at Keima Katsuragi, then look away in embarrassment, only to look back a few seconds later, as if trapped in a loop.

It's, it's so hard to focus.

Meanwhile, in the school student council office.

Manabu Horikita was looking at the screen in front of him with a serious expression.

On the screen, the current points for each first-year class were displayed.

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 long time."

Standing beside Manabu Horikita, the Student Council Secretary Akane Tachibana reminded him softly.

"The first-years this year are quite special."

Manabu Horikita adjusted his glasses and spoke slowly.

"My apologies, President, but is there something specific I should be looking for?"

Akane Tachibana had not detected anything unusual in these figures.

"In previous years, the Class Points for the first-year students were about the same as this year's. In fact, one could say this year's Class D is doing even worse than before, having lost three hundred points in less than a week."

"Looking at the situation over the entire week, that is indeed the case. However, if you look only at the data fluctuations from the past few days, you will notice something strange."

Manabu Horikita tapped the screen lightly, and another set of data appeared.

It was the points for each class from one day ago.

Class A: 990 points

Class B: 860 points

Class C: 750 points

Class D: 700 points

"If you convert the daily changes in Class Points into a line graph, it should be easier for you to see clearly."

Manabu Horikita converted the Class Point changes into a line graph, and Akane Tachibana's eyes widened slightly, a flash of surprise crossing her gaze.

"The trend in Class D's points... it's strange!"

In the first few days after school started, Class D was losing a large number of points every day, but starting yesterday, the rate at which Class D lost points decreased significantly.

It wasn't just Class D; the same was true for Class C and Class B, though because their initial point deductions weren't as high, the shift wasn't as obvious as it was for Class D.

"This proves one thing."

Manabu Horikita stood up and looked out the window, where he could just see the direction of the library.

"The first-year students have already realized the truth about the S-System."

"They realized it in less than the first week of school? It must have been the students in Class A who discovered it; after all, there is a special student in Class A this year..."