Classroom of the Mediocre Supremacist

The curly-haired guy Kito Hayato was about the same as Kamuro Masumi—probably a stubborn sort. Tall and well-built, with clear signs of training. Both hands gloved—was he a clean freak? Or hiding something? Calluses on his palms, maybe... Tch, too little info to be sure.

"Looks like you two can get along."

None of their little movements escaped Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.

"But today isn't a friendship-building mixer, you know."

"Hashimoto, Kito, take the rest of the sweets back with you. Hoshino already paid anyway."

"That's all for today. Oh, and don't forget to leave some for Kamuro."

Following Sakayanagi Arisu's instructions, the two picked up the already-boxed desserts and left. But Hoshino En noticed Hashimoto Masayoshi winking at him before he went.

That was so obvious—was he afraid Sakayanagi Arisu wouldn't see?

If anything, it confirmed that his initial profile was mostly on point: Hashimoto Masayoshi was indeed a smooth operator who put profit first.

Making such a blatant move, banking on people's habitual thinking—whatever he was hiding behind it was probably no small matter.

No, maybe he was overthinking it. The guy might just be showing goodwill.

"What do you think of them?"

When the wind chime rang again and the shop door closed, Sakayanagi Arisu looked at Hoshino En and asked.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to, Si. Also, Si is hungry now. Can Si go eat dinner yet?"

"Eh—?? Fine, fine. I can't do anything with you."

Leaning on her cane, Sakayanagi Arisu stepped out. Hoshino En followed close beside her, with Kamuro Masumi trailing behind, carrying the sweets.

She hadn't gotten a clear answer, but this kind of unspoken understanding—where words weren't needed—felt good to Sakayanagi Arisu. Actually, it felt great.

If only Kamuro could reach this level too.

She didn't have to be exactly like Hoshino, but at least she could think a little faster.

Dinner passed without incident. Hoshino En and Sakayanagi Arisu found a stylish Western restaurant, ate, and then parted ways.

Of course, Sakayanagi Arisu picked up the tab.

"Kamuro, if you have questions, feel free to ask. I never said you couldn't speak."

Watching Hoshino En walk away, Sakayanagi Arisu spoke to Kamuro Masumi, who had appeared behind her at some point.

"Why do you value that Class D guy so much?"

Kamuro Masumi was genuinely puzzled.

Today, only the two of them had planned to go buy the new student roster from the Student Council. But halfway there, Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly changed course toward the Chess Club and never came back.

Worried that Sakayanagi might spill her secrets, Kamuro followed the GPS on her student ID terminal—once you added someone as a friend, you could see their location. To her surprise, she found Sakayanagi Arisu on a date with a guy she didn't recognize.

Judging by his profile, she flipped through the newly acquired roster and quickly identified him: Hoshino En from Class 1-D.

Wasn't he from the worst class?!

Knowing the truth about this school, she had no good impression of him. After all, what decent person ends up in Class D?

"Just as Hoshino judged, Kamuro, you really are straightforward."

Looking at Kamuro Masumi, who was still fixated on class rankings and hadn't realized the problem yet, Sakayanagi Arisu showed a regretful expression and shook her head helplessly.

"...What do you mean?"

"You started following us from the Chinese Chess Club, right? Hoshino noticed back then. But he guessed you were my person, so he didn't say anything and pretended not to know—until I brought Ichinose and the others into the conversation."

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

"Since the school is setting up class competition, they definitely won't make it impossible for lower classes to rise. Lower classes might generally be weaker than Class A, but they're bound to have individuals just as capable, people who can lead their class in the competition."

"By the same token, to give lower classes a way in, Class A can't be full of flawless elites. There have to be students with weak points—like you, Kamuro."

Kamuro Masumi: ...!!

"You, you..."

"But don't worry. You're my person. I'll protect you."

She tilted her face, her long, slender eyes carrying a teasing smile. Her right hand held the cane, while her free left hand covered her mouth, hiding the smirk of someone toying with her prey.

Kamuro Masumi: ...!!!!!

This sadistic little girl... she's clearly treating me like an idiot!!

"Even without my subjective judgment, you're still an academic dunce in Class A, Kamuro."

And she reads people's minds too—that's too much!!

"That's just cold reading... Ah, you've probably never heard of it, Kamuro, so I won't bother explaining."

"You—!"

Their squabbling didn't reach Hoshino En, who had already left. With a full stomach, he was now exploring the school's layout.

New students didn't have classes on the first day—a "perk" the school gave them to get familiar with the campus. But because the school deliberately hid the truth, just figuring things out had taken Hoshino En the entire day. So he had to shift this task to the night.

The classroom buildings for the three grades were probably similar. He'd already checked out the Special Building that afternoon. Now only the residential area remained.

Recalling the evening, Hoshino En's figure darted back and forth between the various shops in the Shopping Mall.

Besides the food and clothing stores tied to daily necessities, there were plenty of entertainment venues too—karaoke, game centers, movie theaters, bookstores, and the like.

At a corner on the street, there was even a gym, and right next to it, a public bathhouse—a clever bundling effect.

But electronics stores were scarce; in fact, there seemed to be only one—after wandering for a while, Hoshino En finally found it tucked away in a corner of the mall.

The store wasn't big, but it had a decent selection: computers, tablets, all the popular gaming consoles on the market, cameras... it seemed to carry every kind of digital product.

Even small, installable cameras and portable voice recorders were for sale.

It's just that—

Hoshino En stared at the clerk behind the counter, who was glued to his computer screen, and felt a twinge in his stomach.

It's just that the clerk here had some issues. Why was he browsing a blog in broad daylight during work hours?

And not just any blog—he was scrolling through the page of a fashionably dressed, sixteen- or seventeen-year-old beautiful girl idol!!

Did the school even vet the staff when approving these stores?

"Hehe, Shizuku-chan, my Shizuku-chan, hehehe..."

Ugh, a hardcore fan. Was he a stalker?

Though, a stalker probably wouldn't matter here, since this place was like a deserted island with restricted movement—unless his idol was a student at Advanced Nurturing, he couldn't harass her even if he wanted to.

But if she'd debuted as a print idol, this "Shizuku-chan" probably wouldn't end up at a school cut off from the outside world for three years. She could do just fine out there.

"We'll be together soon, my Shizuku-chan... hehehe!"

Hoshino En: "..."

What did he mean by that?

Standing in the clerk's blind spot, Hoshino En pretended to examine the merchandise while carefully studying his computer screen.

It showed a selfie of a pink-haired girl with twin tails, taken in a hallway. Golden sunset light streamed in from the side, casting shadows across her face in a very picturesque way.

Not bad photography. Looked like this idol wasn't just coasting on youth—she had some skill behind the camera too.

Wait, no. That place looked familiar!

Hoshino En squinted, scrutinizing it closely.

Even though the sunset emphasized Shizuku-chan as the main subject, the background wasn't completely obscured.

She might have deliberately chosen the backdrop, but Hoshino En had been there just that afternoon and still remembered it.

Wasn't that the Special Building?

So this Shizuku-chan really was a student at Kodo Ikusei.

Hoshino En: "..."

This felt like it had potential!

He put down the merchandise he'd been using as cover, grabbed the small camera and voice recorder he'd already picked out, and walked over to the counter, feigning surprise as he asked the clerk.

"Hey? Isn't that Shizuku-chan?"

For a hardcore fan, as long as you praised their idol, they'd never turn hostile.

"Oh? You're a fan of Shizuku-chan too?"

"Of course, I'm her fan! I used to have friends to talk about her with, but I just found out today that this school is fully boarding and I can't leave, so I was worried... But to think you, store clerk-san, are also a Shizuku-chan fan!!"

With this speech, matching the fervor of a hardcore fan, Hoshino En quickly earned the clerk's trust.

Once the conversation started, the clerk shed his earlier coldness. Not only did he ramble on like brainwashing about Shizuku-chan's virtues, but he also kindly swapped Hoshino En's items for the latest, better models, and even gave him a 20% discount.

But during their chat, Hoshino En noticed that the display camera on the counter, aimed at the entrance, had a red light blinking on its screen.

It was running.

Given the direction it was pointing, this clerk was trying to film up girls' skirts??

Hoshino En: "..."

If he handed over this kind of perverted footage to the Student Council, he'd probably get a nice reward, right?

While the clerk went to the back to swap out the camera and voice recorder, Hoshino En used his body to block the corner where the camera was, casually sweeping his hand across the counter to pull out the memory card from the device.

Evidence secured, and the action was in the camera's blind spot. If anyone questioned the odd movement, he could explain it as "leaning in to look at Shizuku-chan's screen." Very nice.

Tomorrow, he'd turn it in to the Student Council as a lost item.

But just in case someone paranoid analyzed his behavior through the surveillance footage, he'd better make a "picking something up" motion somewhere outside.

Just then, the clerk returned with the new equipment: a small, installable camera with a built-in microphone, and a more portable voice recorder.

"These just came in. They're 80,000 points originally, but since we're both Shizuku-chan fans, I'll give you 20% off—just 64,000 points."

"Thank you so much! See, all Shizuku-chan fans are good people!"

Beep—

Points scanned, items taken, Hoshino En walked out of the electronics store feeling pretty pleased with himself.

Whether using underhanded methods or defending against them, these things are essential.

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 15: Self-Discipline Is the Dignity of the Mediocre

After leaving the electronics store, Hoshino En found a random spot nearby, hid from the glow of the streetlights, and made a motion of [picking something up].

To guard against overly high-resolution surveillance cameras, he deliberately faked placing the memory card on the ground, then actually picked it up.

After that, he headed toward the dormitory building.

He wanted to check out the library too, but it was already late, and he still had to go back and organize his dorm room, so he decided to save it for another day.

Arriving at the dormitory building, he picked up his key card from the front desk manager on the first floor.

Following the room number engraved on the key card, Hoshino En made his way to his assigned dorm.

404—a room number that didn't bode well.

Beep—

Pushing the door open, Hoshino En stepped past the entryway and entered the room.

He sat down on the bed and surveyed the dormitory environment.

The room was the standard one-bedroom, one-bathroom layout found in any typical single apartment, with the kitchen half-recessed into the wall, conveniently located near the entrance.

"It feels about the same as a small hotel. You'd never guess this is student dormitory quality."

A single room, with a blanket and mattress provided. The kitchen had all the cookware and utensils, but the toiletries in the bathroom and the bath supplies in the shower needed to be bought separately.

Ah, and also the underwear and socks he'd need to wear daily.

Hoshino En: "..."

He should have asked Kiyotaka earlier... no wait, Ayanokoji... forget it, that guy's common sense was so toxic it was appalling. Asking him would probably have been a waste of breath anyway.

After buying the necessary supplies from the convenience store he'd visited at noon, and after a quick wash-up, Hoshino En lay down on the bed and fell into a sleep as deep as a baby's.