A Story Starting from Classroom of the Elite

The first-year freshman stood at the very front, his posture casual.

He radiated confidence from head to toe, the kind of underlying assurance that he could resolve anything he encountered.

Horikita Manabu was quite curious, but now was not the time for investigation.

Next, he glanced at Sakura Airi, who was hiding behind Tanaka Yukishin.

The girl was draped in a boy's jacket that clearly didn't belong to her, her slender fingers gripping the cuffs so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

The stress response was obvious; it seemed the incident was true.

Finally, he looked at Tachibana Akane, who nodded slightly to indicate that the surveillance footage was ready.

"Please, sit."

Horikita Manabu's voice was low and devoid of emotion, but his gaze remained locked on Yukishin.

Horikita Manabu then signaled to Tachibana Akane.

Tachibana Akane stood up, walked to the wall, and turned on the projector.

Images appeared on the screen.

The surveillance footage froze at the exact moment Yukishin delivered a flying kick to the assailant.

"First question," Horikita Manabu said, folding his hands. "Why use such excessive force?"

Tanaka Yukishin swept his gaze across the screen and replied indifferently, "Because of anger."

Horikita Manabu's eyes flickered, but he maintained a calm tone.

"Tanaka-kun, you should be well aware that with your level of combat skill, you could have easily kept it within the bounds of self-defense."

Tanaka Yukishin was silent for a moment, then chuckled, "If I had truly lost control, that person would be dead by now."

This kid... he's quite calm.

Horikita Manabu nodded slightly and suddenly shifted to a gentler tone. "Good, remember that answer. If the police ask, say exactly that—that you maintained your reason even in your anger."

Tanaka Yukishin blinked, seemingly realizing that Horikita Manabu was helping him, not interrogating him.

Is he teaching me how to deal with the police?

Too bad I don't need it.

Sakura Airi sensed the subtle shift between the two and felt her tense shoulders relax slightly.

"Then, the second question: why didn't you seek help from the school, but instead took matters into your own hands?"

"It happened suddenly; there really wasn't time."

Horikita Manabu's gaze turned sharp.

"Tanaka-kun, I respect you. So please, do not say such nonsensical things. It insults both your intelligence and mine."

"But that is exactly how it happened."

...It seems the mere title of Student Council President and his earlier, rather useless warning were not enough to earn his trust.

"Tachibana Akane."

"Yes, President."

As Tachibana Akane operated the controls, the images on the screen changed to three route maps.

"From the moment I received the information, I investigated the surveillance based on the timeline."

"So, your movements are clear at a glance."

"However, regarding such egregious behavior, I suspect he may not be a first-time offender."

Thus, Tachibana Akane pulled up Yamamoto Ichiro's routes from the past few days and compared them with the routes taken by Tanaka Yukishin and Sakura Airi.

Over the past two days, Tanaka Yukishin's route overlapped significantly with Sakura Airi's.

And Sakura Airi's movements over the past few days completely overlapped with the assailant's.

What did this mean?

It meant it was highly likely that Sakura Airi had realized she was being stalked long ago.

And that she had sought help from Tanaka Yukishin two days ago.

If one followed this logic, it might not be a case of "heroic intervention," but rather "premeditated assault."

"Don't be agitated, Sakura-san."

"I am the Student Council President, and I stand on the side of the students. Therefore, I will not share this information with the police."

"Now, can you tell me why you didn't seek help from the school, but instead took action yourself?"

Sakura Airi's face turned pale, but Tanaka Yukishin remained composed.

"The fact that my route and Airi-chan's overlapped the day before yesterday is true. But that was nothing more than a coincidence."

Tanaka Yukishin didn't seem to care about these so-called route maps at all.

After all, a "coincidence" is enough to explain everything.

It's not as if the audio was recorded as well.

Without an accurate image of the person, even lip-reading is impossible.

But if he were to report this possibility to the police, it would still waste a bit of his time.

From this, he felt the sincerity of Horikita Manabu.

He looked toward Sakura Airi and saw her nod in acknowledgment.

So, he explained the reason.

"It's very simple, because I've already tried it. But it was useless."

As he spoke, Tanaka Yukishin recounted what Sakura Airi had gone through earlier.

"So that's how it is? I will verify this with Chabashira Sae later."

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

Horikita Manabu let out a soft breath, as if he had finally confirmed something.

He slowly closed the file folder and suddenly revealed an almost imperceptible smile.

"Tanaka-kun, I would like to make a deal with you."

Tanaka Yukishin raised an eyebrow.

"Let's hear it."

Horikita Manabu's fingers tapped lightly on the desk.

"My younger sister is also a freshman this year, and she has been placed in Class D. I hope that you can... guide her a little. Her personality gives me quite a headache."

Tanaka Yukishin narrowed his eyes: "And what is the return?"

Horikita Manabu looked him straight in the eye, his voice steady.

"In return, I will personally owe you a favor."

"Within the scope of my abilities, without violating my personal principles, and without breaking the law, I will do my utmost to help you once."

Tachibana Akane looked on, slightly surprised; this was the first time Horikita Manabu had proactively asked someone to intervene regarding his sister.

A favor from the Student Council president?

It was certainly useful.

The corners of Tanaka Yukishin's mouth curled up, seemingly intrigued by the proposal.

"Deal."

"I accept. Who is your sister?"

...The air froze for a moment.

Horikita Manabu asked with a hint of confusion.

"Did you not attend the entrance ceremony?"

"Yeah, it was too boring."

"Horikita Suzune."

"Got it."

After saying this, Tanaka Yukishin led Sakura Airi away.

The moment the door closed, Tachibana Akane couldn't help but voice her thoughts.

"President, do you really trust him?"

Horikita Manabu looked out the window and smiled faintly.

"At the very least... he is much more reliable than some hypocritical people."

The first time he learned of Tanaka Yukishin's existence was when Ichinose Honami came to the Student Council for an evaluation of information value.

At that time, his impression of Tanaka Yukishin was that of a capable freshman.

Having over ten million points in his account just two days after school started placed him among the most outstanding students in the school's history.

And the first time he saw Tanaka Yukishin in person was at the club recruitment event, when he saw him chatting with three others in the shopping district.

At that time, he had his suspicions, but he couldn't be certain.

Because although Tanaka Yukishin fit Ichinose Honami's description perfectly, there were 160 freshmen, and it could have been someone else.

The second time he learned about him was a few days ago at Strange Chess I3 Er Er Jiu.

In this school, there is a rule.

20,000 private points can exempt one from expulsion or allow a transfer to a desired class.

Because the difficulty is quite high.

Therefore, the school's system contains relevant trigger prompts.

Once Tanaka Yukishin met the requirements, his information was automatically sent by the system to the school leadership.

And a certain school leader forwarded it to him, asking him to pay special attention.

Today, they finally met in person.

He also hadn't expected it to be for this kind of reason.

However, this happened to give him an opportunity to observe and confirm what kind of person Tanaka Yukishin was.

He has ability, and his character is good as well.

Such a person is worth trusting.

As for whether his personality might be even worse than Suzune's.

Horikita Manabu didn't care at all.

To say something that goes against his position as an older brother.

It takes a villain to deal with a villain.

Letting someone with a difficult personality deal with a younger sister whose personality gives him a headache.

Perhaps it would have a miraculous effect.

Chapter 51-52 Teaching the Stubborn

"So, Yukishin, did you win over Sakura Airi by playing the hero saving the beauty again?"

Karuizawa Kei rested her chin on her boyfriend's shoulder, the hot breath from her speech blowing behind his ear.

"First, it wasn't 'winning over.' Second, what do you mean by 'again'?"