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

She didn't seem to have much of a presence in the class.

In a sense, was she someone similar to him?

"Let's do it together tonight! If there's anything you don't understand, you can just ask Big Brother directly!"

Haruka Hasebe thought for a moment, not answering immediately.

She wasn't actually that interested in things like study groups, and she wasn't particularly close with the other classmates either.

However, she didn't exactly reject the idea.

"I'll see how it goes tonight."

Haruka Hasebe gave an ambiguous response.

"Mm! You're welcome to join, Hasebe-san!"

Haruka Hasebe cast her gaze toward the distance.

Where she looked, Keima Katsuragi was standing to the side, wearing nothing but swim trunks, focusing intently on his game.

Airi Sakura was crouching in an even more secluded corner, curled up almost into a ball, trying her best to avoid making eye contact with anyone.

"Big Brother!"

Elsie trotted over to Keima Katsuragi's side and told him about Haruka Hasebe.

"Why are you just adding characters on your own initiative!"

"Eh! Wasn't Big Brother planning to hold a study group anyway? It shouldn't matter if we add a new classmate!"

Elsie pouted slightly, looking like a goldfish, then whispered, "Besides, Hasebe-san seems to be one of the mission targets too."

"That's right."

Keima Katsuragi nodded.

On the very first day of school, Keima Katsuragi had memorized which mission targets were in his class.

Suzune Horikita, Airi Sakura, Kikyo Kushida...

And Haruka Hasebe.

Keima Katsuragi's initial priority targets were the three of them: Suzune Horikita and the others.

Airi Sakura's personality was relatively simple, so the conquest speed should be the fastest.

Suzune Horikita was the tsundere type, a bit more extreme than the characters in his games, but the difficulty was only moderate; once her heart was slightly opened, the rest would only require a little bit of 'watering.'

Kikyo Kushida was the most difficult of the three; cases like hers weren't very common even in games. Keima Katsuragi believed the timing wasn't ripe yet and that he needed to observe from the shadows and wait for an opportunity.

Advancing the progress of three people simultaneously was a relatively safe number for Keima Katsuragi.

After all, if the number was too high, it might bring unnecessary trouble or even lead to a situation where affection levels dropped across the board.

His encounter with Hiyori Shiina was purely accidental—though, of course, it wasn't without Elsie's 'unpredictable meddling.'

But since Hiyori Shiina wasn't a classmate, they spent little time together, so there wouldn't be any problems for now.

Yet, now he was suddenly letting Haruka Hasebe intervene in the current scenario...

"Sigh."

Keima Katsuragi let out a sigh. In such a public place, he had no way to explain the reasons to Elsie in detail.

He could only take it one step at a time.

"Heh."

Just then, a scoff that only Keima Katsuragi could hear rang out from the side.

Suzune Horikita walked up to Keima Katsuragi, a hint of a smug smile seemingly on her face:

"It seems that Katsuragi-kun lacks exercise in his daily life."

Keima Katsuragi's build was on the thin side, and because he was obsessed with gaming—often staying up all night to play—he rarely exercised and lacked any real muscle definition.

"Why would I have time for such things? I use all my free time for gaming."

Keima Katsuragi's tone was very calm, as if he were stating something perfectly natural.

"That is truly in character for you."

Suzune Horikita was already becoming accustomed to Keima Katsuragi's answers.

"Katsuragi-kun!"

Kikyo Kushida, who was nearby, hurried over to Suzune Horikita's side and stood in front of Keima Katsuragi.

Suzune Horikita's eyebrows twitched slightly, and she took a small step to the side.

She felt that Kikyo Kushida had come over on purpose.

"Oh, Kushida-san, is there something you need?"

"Nothing special, I was just worried about you, Katsuragi-kun! Be careful, your game console might get wet and break! The lockers are right over there!"

As she spoke, Kikyo Kushida leaned forward slightly, making her curves even more prominent.

Suzune Horikita's figure was not bad by any means.

It was just that in front of Kikyo Kushida, it didn't quite measure up.

"I've already put on a waterproof case, so it's fine."

Keima Katsuragi replied, though his gaze never once left the game screen.

The female characters in the game world were far more attractive, after all.

"Eh? Katsuragi-kun, you... are you planning to play games while swimming later?"

A look of utter disbelief appeared on Kikyo Kushida's face.

"That's right. Is there a problem with that?"

"I... this... surely that's still a bit problematic, isn't it..."

Kikyo Kushida had never encountered this type of boy before, and for a moment, she didn't know how to respond.

"The study session should be held as usual tonight. Will you be coming, Kushida-san?"

"Um, that..."

This was the first time Kikyo Kushida's eyes had ever darted away in avoidance.

Volume 1: Chapter 50: Even Kikyo Kushida Has Things She Fears

The one hour spent at yesterday's study session was the most painful hour of Kikyo Kushida's life.

Even though they were speaking human language, Kikyo Kushida felt as though she and Elsie were having a hard time communicating.

She couldn't help but recall some of the dialogue between herself and Elsie yesterday.

"Elsie, this problem requires this specific concept... do you understand it?"

"I understand it completely!"

"Then what is the answer?"

"Option C!"

"...Elsie, this is a fill-in-the-blank question..."

"Then it's pi! It must be pi!"

"We are currently tutoring English..."

Thinking of this, the smile on Kikyo Kushida's face seemed to stiffen.

If she were dealing with an ordinary struggling student, she would have been able to provide enough patience.

But Elsie was an existence beyond the norm.

Under normal circumstances, Kikyo Kushida would have undoubtedly agreed without hesitation to further cultivate her image as a warm-hearted person.

But right now, Kikyo Kushida's heart wavered.

"Um, I have some other plans tonight! I have an appointment with Honami Ichinose! I'm really sorry!"

A smile that looked incredibly sincere appeared on Kikyo Kushida's face once again.

"Ichinose? Is that the Ichinose from Class B?"

Keima Katsuragi inquired.

He remembered that among his cards, there was also someone with that surname.

Honami Ichinose.

"Yes, do you know her, Katsuragi-kun?"

"No, I don't know her. I've just heard her name before."

Keima Katsuragi denied it flatly.

"I see! But that's normal! After all, Ichinose-san is a very popular person among us first-years."

"Isn't that the same as you, Kushida-san?"

Keima Katsuragi suddenly looked up and stared at Kikyo Kushida.

"I, n-no, I definitely can't compare to Ichinose-san!"

Kikyo Kushida shook her head hurriedly.

"How could that be? I have always believed that you, Kushida-san, should be the most popular person in our first year—you're pretty and have a great personality."

Keima Katsuragi said.

His voice was pitched exactly at a level that Airi Sakura, who was not far away, could not hear.

Keima Katsuragi's sudden remark caught Kikyo Kushida off guard.

She had never expected such praise to come from someone like Keima Katsuragi, who was obsessed with games all day long, and her cheeks flushed slightly before she even realized it.

Meanwhile, Suzune Horikita, standing to the side, wore an expression of utter confusion.

"Kikyo Kushida!"

On the other side, several other girls in the class greeted Kikyo Kushida. They seemed to be the most active group of girls in the class, two of whom were Kei Karuizawa and Maya Sato, both of whom were the type of girls who leaned toward the gyaru style.

"Sorry, Keima! I'm going to head over to Kei's group first!"

Kikyo Kushida wore an apologetic expression.

Watching her walk away, Suzune Horikita furrowed her brows, then turned her head to look at Keima Katsuragi:

"How could you suddenly say something like that out of the blue? Though I have to admire you; even someone like Kikyo Kushida didn't seem to know how to handle you for a moment there."

"If I didn't do that, there would be no way to speak with you alone."

"Huh?"

"Did you know Kushida before?"

"Me? It is true that she and I seem to have come from the same middle school, but we didn't have any interaction. As for other things, I don't remember. Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing."

Keima Katsuragi shook his head.

Kikyo Kushida and Suzune Horikita came from the same school.

Perhaps this was the reason why Kikyo Kushida was so concerned about Suzune Horikita.

Off to the side, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was also observing Keima Katsuragi.

There are no traces of physical training on Keima's body. Was I overthinking it earlier?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself.

If Keima Katsuragi were related to the White Room—or an institution similar to the White Room—maintaining his physical functions would be an essential requirement.

However, Keima Katsuragi did not seem to have trained at all.

That meant Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's previous speculations about his identity were wrong.