A Story Starting from Classroom of the Elite

After realizing the person who called out to her was a classmate, she let out a sigh of relief.

Her heart, which had been racing suddenly, slowly returned to its normal rhythm.

"Oh, it's Tanaka-san. Is there something you need?"

"I just noticed you seemed a bit off earlier. If you don't mind, would you tell me what's wrong?"

Sakura Airi lowered her head slightly, hiding the complex emotions in her eyes so he wouldn't see them.

"Why would Tanaka-san want to help me?"

Regarding the kindness of Tanaka Yukishin, Sakura Airi felt both pleased and slightly resistant.

Although they were classmates, they hadn't interacted much in the past.

From the start of the school year until now, they hadn't even exchanged twenty sentences.

There is no such thing as love without a reason in this world.

Why would Tanaka Yukishin want to help her?

There was no friendship to speak of, nor any prior connection.

As for benefits, she didn't have any points to offer.

The only thing worth mentioning was her appearance and figure.

Is he interested in me?

But would anyone actually like someone who looks like me right now?

She was afraid of talking to people, especially of making eye contact while speaking.

That was why she rarely interacted with others and consequently had no friends.

To hide herself, she wore glasses, kept her hair tied back, and didn't bother with fashion.

She always kept her eyes cast down and her back hunched in her daily life.

She was like a socially anxious cat curled up in a corner.

Thinking back to the physical reactions and mental fluctuations Sakura Airi had shown when he called out to her, Tanaka Yukishin felt that saying it was just out of curiosity would be a bit too scummy.

So, what reason should he give?

Tanaka Yukishin sighed internally at how Sakura Airi's words were as precise as a scalpel, killing the conversation with a single sentence.

At the same time, his brain raced, trying to find a suitable excuse.

After waiting for a while without hearing an answer, Sakura Airi looked up.

She felt the atmosphere starting to become strange.

Tanaka Yukishin observed Sakura Airi carefully, and suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.

Chapter 43-44 Sakura Airi? No, it's Little Bocchi!

The afternoon sun lazily spilled onto the campus path, leaves swaying gently in the breeze, while sunlight filtered through the gaps in the foliage, casting dappled light and shadows on the ground.

"Sorry, the reason is a bit peculiar, and I don't really know how to put it into words."

Tanaka Yukishin rubbed the tip of his nose with his right hand, his ring finger and pinky unconsciously brushing against his lips.

His gilded eyes appeared exceptionally sincere under the interplay of light and shadow.

Yet, they also carried a hint of imperceptible panic.

Sakura Airi raised an eyebrow, her right hand instinctively gripping the strap of her school bag.

She let out a short syllable, her voice sounding even colder than she had intended.

"?"

"It's probably because you give me a strong sense of déjà vu, Sakura-san. It makes me feel like you're very familiar and dear to me. So, when I saw you in trouble, I couldn't just turn a blind eye and remain indifferent."

Tanaka Yukishin's voice was soft, as if he were afraid of startling something.

The corner of Sakura Airi's mouth twitched slightly.

Here it comes, the classic pickup line.

She had heard classmates complain about this routine countless times during gossip sessions in the girls' locker room.

"You look so familiar," or "Haven't we met somewhere before?"

Next would come the cliché lines about wanting to be friends and therefore wanting to help.

Thinking of this, her heart rate accelerated, but not out of shyness—it was out of an offended anger.

Her fingers twisted together in front of her, her knuckles turning white from the pressure.

"Tanaka-san."

"If there is nothing else, I am going to the library."

Sakura Airi deliberately emphasized the honorific, as if trying to build a high wall between them with that single address.

After saying this, she bit her lower lip with a strange expression; after all, this was the first time in her life she had encountered a so-called "scumbag."

She could even imagine the direction the upcoming conversation would take, just like the plot of those clichéd romance manga.

Tanaka Yukishin seemed to sense her intense resistance and sighed softly.

His shoulders slumped slightly, but he straightened them again quickly.

"I knew it, Sakura-san wouldn't believe me."

"However, I have proof."

"If Sakura-san compares it, perhaps you will believe me."

I'd like to see what you have to say for yourself.

Sakura Airi thought to herself and nodded.

The tip of her right foot unconsciously drew small circles on the concrete, the friction between her sole and the ground making a faint rustling sound.

"I have a childhood friend."

Tanaka Yukishin's voice suddenly turned warm, and his gaze softened, as if he were looking through the air in front of him at a distant memory.

"Her name is Goto Hitori. She is a cute girl. She has pink hair and a great figure."

At this point, Tanaka Yukishin took a timely glance at Sakura Airi.

His gaze swept quickly over her figure and then moved away just as fast, a nostalgic smile hanging on the corners of his mouth.

Sakura Airi narrowed her eyes.

Is this for real?

Her heart rate accelerated slightly, both from the discomfort of being appraised by a boy and from the natural emotion flowing through Tanaka Yukishin's words.

His expression was too sincere, his brows slightly relaxed, and his lips curved with nostalgia; it didn't look like a lie made up on the spot.

Let's keep listening.

Sakura told herself in her heart, relaxing her tightly clenched fists.

Tanaka Yukishin unconsciously fiddled with the keychain in his pocket, making a faint metallic clinking sound.

"She was shy and timid since she was a child. I remember when she was four or five, she would often say things like 'I want to go back into my mother's stomach.'"

"Later on, it even evolved into extreme social anxiety."

"Is Sakura-san also socially anxious?"

He looked up at Sakura Airi, his eyes showing a honey-like hue under the sunlight.

"No, I just don't like interacting with others. It doesn't count as social anxiety."

Sakura Airi felt an inexplicable palpitation.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

Her voice was softer than before, but she still maintained a sense of distance.

"I see. It seems there is a difference."

Tanaka Yukishin nodded, his silver hair swaying gently with the movement.

He looked at the birds in the sky and continued.

"Back to Hitori-chan. Her social anxiety was so bad that one second she would be talking to someone, and the next she might collapse on the ground twitching. Then she would crawl away like a Tsuchinoko."

"Sakura-san, surely you aren't that bad."

He made an exaggerated wriggling motion, then laughed embarrassedly.

Sakura Airi almost laughed out loud, but quickly pursed her lips to hide it.

Of course, your childhood friend really is in the terminal stage of social anxiety.

She silently retorted in her heart, but for some reason, her tense shoulders had relaxed quite a bit.

She found herself listening to the boy's narration with a focus she had never experienced before.

"But she still really wanted to change herself and wanted to be popular."

Tanaka Yukishin's voice lowered, carrying a hint of heartache.

Suddenly he shook his head, though his lips held a doting smile.

"The most direct way for a girl to change herself is through makeup and clothing coordination."

"It's a pity her fashion sense is terrible. She always wears her signature pink tracksuit and yellow-and-blue hair clips. She would wear a skirt over her sweatpants when going to school. Every time she put an outfit together, she would be met with intense roasting from everyone. Even the various cute private clothes that her mother carefully purchased, which clearly suited her perfectly, were always left to gather dust. Because nothing could overcome her stubborn preference for that weird combination."

Tanaka Yukishin paused here, his eyes flickering.

Then his speaking speed gradually increased, as if he were eager to share everything he knew.

"And because she always hunched over, she didn't look photogenic when taking pictures."

"So it was even more..."

"In middle school, she saw a band interview on TV. One of the lines was 'even those with social anxiety can shine in a band,' so she became obsessed with the guitar."

"She became active online afterward. She's gained a bit of fame now."

"But don't let her real-life social anxiety fool you; she makes up outrageous stories online to pretend she's a normie. Because she doesn't pay attention to the details, I think quite a few people have already figured out the truth."

Sakura Airi's eyes widened slightly, her lips parting softly.

She really couldn't hold it in anymore.

What was this?

Was this a continuous, face-to-face performance of her dark history?

Wasn't the twisted sense of humor of Tanaka-kun and those viewers just a little too...

How should she put it? Calling it malicious might be a stretch.

But it still made her want to condemn them.

Tanaka Yukishin's voice softened, and then he shrugged helplessly.

"She isn't good at studying, but it's not that she doesn't put effort into it. It's just that even after studying hard, she still scores zero."

"Since she started learning the guitar, she spends most of her free time at home practicing or editing videos. Because she rarely exercises, her stamina is poor, too."

After finishing, he looked at Sakura Airi and asked the previous question once more.

"Airi-chan, how similar do you think you are to Iri-chan?"

At this moment, Sakura Airi felt a sense of unreality, forcing her to lean against the trunk of the cherry blossom tree beside her.

...Could they really be this similar?

But the rough texture of the bark reminded her that this was no dream.

If only there weren't some discrepancies in certain areas.

For instance, she wasn't socially anxious; she was just afraid of conversing with others, especially the eye contact that came with speaking.

Her online persona was a model, not a guitarist.