A Story Starting from Classroom of the Elite

She didn't dress up, not because she didn't know how, but because she didn't want to attract anyone's attention.

If it weren't for the fact that while their behaviors were the same, the reasons behind them were mostly different, She would almost have exclaimed that there was truly another version of herself in this world.

At this moment, she was already more than half convinced; after all, even fabricating some things would take time to conceive.

And Tanaka Yukishin's description was far too specific, from the symptoms of social anxiety to her online persona, even her clothing preferences matched in an unsettling way.

However, Sakura Airi still needed to confirm one last thing.

Her fingers quietly reached toward the student ID terminal in her uniform pocket.

She tried hard to keep her voice from trembling.

"Then, what is the name of Tanaka-kun's childhood friend online?"

"It's Guitar Hero."

Sakura Airi quickly pulled out her terminal, her fingers sliding rapidly across the screen.

Seeing Sakura Airi pull out her student ID terminal to start searching, Tanaka Yukishin felt like he was about to break into a cold sweat.

It couldn't be, was her vigilance really this high?

Bocchi-chan was someone I made up, she's a character from Bocchi the Rock!

He wailed in his heart, but on the surface, he feigned composure.

Curiosity will kill you.

We're both cats, why must we kill each other?

Countless thoughts rose in his mind.

But he had no reason to stop her, so he could only keep his heart in his throat, waiting for the verdict to arrive.

When the search results popped up, Sakura Airi's breath hitched—it was indeed a girl with pink hair, holding a guitar, wearing the familiar pink tracksuit, playing with extreme focus in the video.

She looked up, truly meeting Tanaka Yukishin's eyes for the first time.

The sunlight danced on his eyelashes, reflecting a faint halo.

For some reason, she suddenly felt that this boy might truly be worth trusting.

Thank you, Little Bocchi.

Tanaka Yukishin had never imagined that the childhood friend he had fabricated, Goto Hitori, would actually exist in this world.

Admittedly, he had already determined that characters he had seen or heard of in his past life existed in this world, based on the location of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School and people like Kushida Kikyo and Koenji Rokusuke.

But he wasn't surprised by this.

After all, he had already transmigrated and even had a cheat, so what did this count for?

But the problem was, he had consumed far too much anime and film information in the past.

He couldn't just assume that everything existed in this world.

After sighing, Tanaka Yukishin looked at the girl in front of him.

He had put effort into finding an excuse and had almost been exposed; it was time to reap the fruits of victory.

He cleared his throat, making his voice gentler.

"Now tell me, what kind of trouble have you encountered, Airi-chan?"

"It happened like this."

Sakura Airi pursed her lips, looked up at him, and then quickly looked away.

Her fingers gently twisted the hem of her uniform skirt, her voice very soft.

After listening to Tanaka Yukishin's account of Goto Hitori and verifying it, Sakura Airi now regarded him as someone worth trusting.

Thus, she told him everything that had happened over the past few days, point by point.

"Five days ago, I first noticed something was wrong."

She spoke softly, her brows slightly furrowed.

"But I didn't see anyone when I turned around several times." She paused afterward, looking somewhat annoyed, "I thought it was just my imagination."

Tanaka Yukishin noticed her fingertips were trembling, as if she were recalling that sense of unease.

He lowered his voice slightly, guiding her to continue: "And then?"

Sakura Airi took a deep breath, her voice becoming slightly firmer.

"Two days later, that feeling of being watched became stronger and stronger."

"I'm certain it wasn't my imagination, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find who was staring at me."

Recalling what happened a few days ago, her fingers curled, her nails nearly digging into her palms.

Tanaka Yukishin instinctively wanted to reach out to comfort her, but he held back in the end, simply waiting quietly for her to finish.

"Later, I changed my route," she continued, her voice still very soft. "I stopped taking the same path and started wandering around randomly... but that feeling still didn't go away."

Perhaps because she had someone she could trust by her side, her voice gradually became calmer and more stable.

Tanaka Yukishin's brain whirred.

His superior intelligence automatically refined these words into a timeline of events.

Noticed something wrong → thought it was an illusion → noticed it again → tried to find the source → couldn't find it → changed routes and wandered randomly → the feeling of being watched persisted.

"Hmm,"

He said softly, "I think I understand."

Sakura Airi looked up at him, seemingly waiting for what he would say next.

Tanaka Yukishin didn't rush to analyze the situation, instead asking a seemingly unrelated question: "Airi-chan, have you tried asking anyone else for help? Like a teacher or school security?"

Sakura Airi's shoulders shrank slightly, as if she had been asked about something she didn't want to bring up.

Her voice became even quieter: "I did. I told Chabashira-sensei."

Tanaka Yukishin noticed the strangeness in her tone, but he didn't interrupt, waiting quietly for her to continue.

"She suggested two possibilities," Sakura Airi said, head bowed, her voice growing smaller. "The first was that I might be feeling anxious because I'm not used to being away from my family... and she suggested I see a school counselor."

Her fingers unconsciously gripped her skirt, her fingertips turning slightly white.

Tanaka Yukishin didn't respond immediately, just watching her and waiting for her to continue.

"The second possibility is that someone really is following me."

Her voice paused, as if the next part was even harder to say. "She said... I could find friends to walk with."

When she said the word "friends," her voice was almost inaudible.

Tanaka Yukishin now understood why her expression was so awkward—school had been in session for two weeks, yet she didn't have a single friend.

Perhaps it was empathy between fellow loners.

His brow furrowed involuntarily.

Chabashira Sae's way of handling this made him feel uncomfortable.

As a teacher, when a student encounters such a problem, is suggesting they "find friends" really enough to brush it off?

This isn't an ordinary campus; it's a school with closed-off management, and teachers should be held more responsible for the safety of their students.

This way of handling it was going too far.

However, he didn't comment directly on the teacher's behavior, as that might lead the girl in front of him to make unnecessary assumptions.

He looked at Sakura Airi, his tone steady: "So what about now? Do you still feel like someone is following you?"

Sakura Airi nodded gently, the unease in her eyes clearly visible.

"First of all,"

He continued, his tone thoughtful, "we need to figure out how they are tracking you before we can find a way to deal with it."

He looked at her and asked seriously: "What items have you been carrying with you these past few days?"

"Besides your student ID terminal, is there anything else?"

Sakura Airi nodded.

"It's my digital camera."

"Are you talking about a tracking device or something similar?"

From Tanaka Yukishin's question, Sakura Airi realized what he meant.

"Exactly."

"Then, first, let's add each other as friends, and you..."

Tanaka Yukishin had intended to temporarily swap student ID terminals.

He wanted to control the variables and confirm whether the stalker was targeting the student ID terminal or the digital camera.

But thinking of the contacts and information in his own terminal, he changed his mind.

"You might not know this, but after adding someone as a friend, you can see their real-time location on campus through the map function in the contact list."

"Wait, hand the digital camera over to me."

"And then we'll see."

As he spoke, Tanaka Yukishin changed his mind again; alerting the enemy might cause the stalker to hide even deeper.

He felt some pity for the girl, but he had no intention of acting as her babysitter and staying by her side forever.

Therefore, solving it once and for all is the most effective method.

"No."

"Tomorrow, leave your digital camera in the dormitory. Let's see if that feeling disappears."

His tone was natural, placing no pressure on her; it sounded more like they were discussing an ordinary matter: "If we can confirm that the other party is tracking you via location, we'll know how to deal with it."

Sakura Airi looked at him, the tension in her eyes easing slightly.

She let out a soft "Mm," as if she had made up her mind.

Immediately, Tanaka Yukishin told her the rest of the plan.

"Once tomorrow is over, we'll be able to distinguish the stalker's tracking method—whether it's the digital camera or the student ID terminal."

"After that, based on your previous experiences with handing things off, we can identify the specific suspect."

"Then, my suggestion is to lure him out."

"I will follow behind you in secret."

"If you feel that my strength alone isn't enough to protect you, then I can call Hirata and other classmates. Or we could notify the security staff as well."

Hearing this, Sakura Airi widened her eyes slightly, a flicker of hesitation passing through the pupils behind her lenses.

She subconsciously raised a hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, a movement that made Tanaka notice her fingertips were no longer trembling.

"I'll leave it to you, Tanaka-kun..." Her voice was very soft, but much firmer than before, "I will leave the camera in the dormitory tomorrow."

After saying this, she looked up and met Tanaka's eyes directly.

Although she looked away after only a few short seconds, this was already a huge step forward for her.

Tanaka Yukishin raised an eyebrow, his golden pupils flashing with a hint of interest in the bright sunlight.

He hadn't expected this "timid cat" to make a decision so quickly.

"Then it's settled."