This Guy... Is Unbeatable

"How about a free lunch?"

Horikita Suzune looked at You En, whose face was scrunched up like he was constipated. She almost laughed, but since they were in class, she kept up her dignified air as she asked.

You En had his face pressed against the desk. He forced two words through his teeth.

"Not... bad."

"You don't look like you're doing fine. You look more like a poisoned puppy."

Horikita Suzune teased him.

But to You En, the jab felt more like flirting than an attack.

"Well, honestly, it really isn't that bad. The stuff from the store just doesn't have much flavor, but it's nutritious... The cafeteria food, though... Ahem."

You En seemed to recall something unpleasant and cleared his throat.

"The upside is that it's nutritious. The downside is that it tastes absolutely terrible."

"How terrible?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had appeared from who knew where.

You En looked at him and said with ill intent, "Why don't you try it for yourself?"

"Forget it."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained expressionless, but shook his head like a rattle. From what little he knew of You En, the guy was pretty tolerant about a lot of things. How to put it? He just had a good attitude.

If even he called something awful and said he couldn't stand it, then it probably wasn't something humans could stomach.

Recalling lunch, You En's brows furrowed and his face twisted in pain.

"Sticky, slippery, gelatinous food. You couldn't chew it, so you had to swallow it, but it got stuck in your throat. It was like a mush made by pounding together bitter melon, loofah, and eggplant. Anyway, it was a pretty unique experience. I really recommend you try it."

Horikita Suzune looked disgusted and flatly refused. "No need! Unlike you, I haven't spent all my points, so I don't have to eat that stuff. Besides, I should be frugal. A little free food from the store is enough for me."

"The free food in the cafeteria is actually pretty nutritious. Give it a try. It's free, after all. You might as well eat it."

You En enthusiastically sang its praises.

Horikita Suzune glared at him. "You're not just trying to drag me down with you because you're the only one eating that stuff and can't stand being the only one, are you?"

"No, no. Do I look like that kind of person?"

Horikita Suzune stared at him without saying a word.

You En clicked his tongue inwardly. Looks like he couldn't fool Horikita Suzune. He'd really wanted to see her cover her mouth, on the verge of throwing up but unable to.

When Ayanokoji Kiyotaka saw You En's attention shift to him, he hurried back to his seat.

"Class is about to start. I'll go review."

You En gave him the finger. "You're a lousy friend."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked a little helpless.

"...Is that what friends are supposed to be?"

"Friends mess with each other. If you've never been messed with, can you even call yourselves friends? And it's not like I'd hurt you. I just want to share... a little joy."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka hesitated, more conflicted than he'd ever been before. "All... right."

"Then it's settled. I'll take you to try it tonight. Don't worry, it's on me, and there'll be plenty! If there isn't enough, I'll tear the school apart!"

You En waved his hand with grand, swaggering confidence.

Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka exchanged a glance and silently reached the same conclusion.

This guy had an incredibly thick skin.

The bell rang.

Their subject teacher arrived.

Horikita Suzune focused all her attention on the lesson and listened carefully.

The school's curriculum was no joke. It was extremely well designed. Just looking through the textbooks the school had given them and paying attention in a few lessons was enough to tell.

The school had compiled its own textbooks, filled with the latest, practical knowledge. They weren't outdated materials; they were completely different from the standard ones used outside.

The teachers were also highly skilled. They didn't just read from the textbook; they incorporated their own understanding into the lessons.

Horikita Suzune even suspected that the teacher for this class had written the textbook himself.

The teachers never mentioned their names, though. Aside from their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, they still didn't know the names of any of the others. They could only refer to them by their subjects, as "the [subject] teacher."

And yet, it was only the first day of school, and they hadn't even had two classes before their classmates started doing their own thing: chatting on their Student Terminals, shopping, or huddling together to whisper.

Horikita Suzune glanced around out of the corner of her eye and took in the whole class. The teacher's explanation was clear and thorough. If they listened carefully, they might not understand everything, but they could easily grasp seventy percent of the material.

Only about ten students seemed to be paying attention. What surprised Horikita Suzune a little was that You En and the boy named Ayanokoji Kiyotaka were listening, too.

"Why are you looking around instead of paying attention, Suzune?"

You En's deliberately stern voice reached her.

Horikita Suzune pressed her lips together and poked him with her pen cap.

You En held back and continued in a strained voice, "And you're distracting your classmate, too. Do you want to go stand outside?"

Horikita Suzune was about to poke him again.

But then, for the first time, the teacher called on someone.

"You girl in the last row, could you answer this question?"

Horikita Suzune stood up, but froze in place. It wasn't that she couldn't answer; she hadn't heard the question at all.

She was about to tell the teacher she hadn't heard when she saw a sheet of paper slide out from behind You En. It had the teacher's question written on it.

After thinking for a moment,

Horikita Suzune gave her answer.

"Good."

The teacher nodded.

As soon as Horikita Suzune sat down, the teacher called on someone else.

"You boy in the front, do you have a way to solve it?"

You En had no choice but to stand up obediently. Horikita Suzune couldn't help laughing. That's what you get for fooling around...

You En studied the blackboard carefully. A moment later, he spoke. "Draw an auxiliary line between A and C..."

"Good. It looks like this student prepared for class. This is what I'm going to cover next: drawing auxiliary lines. You should have studied them in middle school, too..."

You En turned and gave Horikita Suzune a taunting wink.

You wanted to laugh at me? Look at how pleased you are with yourself!

At least I graduated from a top university in my previous life, even if I'd forgotten ninety-nine percent of what I learned. I'd still have an advantage relearning it, right? Don't underestimate a college grad!

Horikita Suzune raised an eyebrow. To be honest, she hadn't felt such a strong emotional reaction in a long time. Not even when the little cliques in her elementary or middle school classes had picked on her.

It was a strange feeling.

But she didn't do anything else. If she kept it up, she'd be the one getting the short end of the stick. She'd have to find the right opportunity.

After class,

You En sensed trouble and tried to slip away, only for someone to grab him by the back of his collar.

He turned around and saw Horikita Suzune taking a compass out of her bag. He realized she probably wasn't joking.

There was no way around it now.

You En took a deep breath, as if he were announcing something of life-and-death importance.

"I need to pee! Let go, or I'm going to die right here! Aaahhh!"

"Huh?"

Horikita Suzune's cool, slightly malicious expression froze. For a moment, she looked like an ordinary girl again, and her grip on his collar loosened.

You En slipped free with ease and darted off.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, sitting by the window on the right, had watched the whole thing. He stared at them with his dead-fish eyes.

His assessment of You En was simple.

This guy was unbeatable.

"I don't feel like going back yet."

You En came out of the restroom and decided to take a walk outside. He didn't want a pretty girl poking him with a compass.

A pretty girl's compass was just as hard as anyone else's. It could draw blood, too, so he refused.

"You guys are annoying."

A somewhat familiar male voice came from next door.

You En stopped and peered over. He didn't like getting involved in other people's business, since excitement didn't always mean fun, but this situation seemed interesting.

Ken Sudō was backed into a corner by several people, looking impatient.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing. We just want to be friends."

"How about we exchange contact information?"

Ken Sudō's eyes narrowed. "Who wants to be friends with you?"

He knocked someone over as he spoke, then walked out of the encirclement.

"Hey, that was pretty rude."

One of them helped their companion up, and they followed after Ken Sudō again.

Ken Sudō was irritated, too, but he didn't want to hurt anyone. The problem was that he wasn't good with words and couldn't argue back.

"Hey, Sudo, right? The teacher wants to see you."

You En walked over and waved at him warmly, like a class representative.

"Huh?"

Ken Sudō was so caught off guard that his eyes widened. All he managed was,

"Oh!"

The people from Class C caught up. "Who are you?"

"I'm a Disciplinary Committee Member from the Student Council. I'm here to oversee the new students' conduct and discipline. He's in trouble, so I came to take him with me.

Ishizaki Daichi, do you guys need to come along, too?"

You En spoke calmly, his air of authority convincing enough to make people obey.

Even Ken Sudō nearly believed him. If he hadn't seen this guy messing around in class so many times, he might have really thought he was a Disciplinary Committee Member.

"Sorry, sorry. This was our fault." Ishizaki Daichi lowered his head and led the others away, looking dejected.

Ken Sudō rubbed the back of his head. "Hey... Um, did I really do something wrong?"

"My name is You En."

"Okay, You En. Did I really do something wrong? Just so we're clear, I didn't lay a hand on anyone. They were just... picking on me the whole time."

"I know."

You En patted him on the shoulder. "You did well. But don't get so worked up and angry about it. Why not just treat it like a game?"

At that, Ken Sudō grew a little annoyed, but still thanked him. "Thanks. I'm going to look for the Basketball Club."

You En waved him off. That was just how the guy was, and he didn't mind.

Honestly, growing up in a home with two lousy parents, Ken Sudō had turned out pretty well.

But now that he thought about it, had Class C really started making moves this early?

Ryuen Kakeru probably wouldn't have established his authority over the class that quickly. But Ishizaki was his biggest fan, so it made sense that he'd been brought under his wing early.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with him.

You En had just happened to be there and found the situation interesting, so he'd stepped in.

None of them could have imagined that what lay ahead wouldn't be some harmless schoolyard game.

You En suspected that the school would give them real-world practical training, not another all-expenses-paid trip with absolute safety guaranteed.

It might be considerably harsher than in the original story.

But he didn't care.

He was only worried it wouldn't be interesting enough.