Hoshino En: "..."
This kid was being unreasonable, wasn't she? She was, right?!
"Feels like everything I just explained went in one ear and out the other..." (muttered)
"What did you say?!"
"Then let's look at it another way, Sakayanagi."
"You said the White Room had only one Masterpiece like him. But what if he was actually a genius to begin with—after all, he accomplished what ordinary people couldn't—and the person who came up with the concept of the Artificial Genius was just an arrogant show-off, trying to take credit for it? So they attributed the entire result to themselves, believing that without their training there would be no Ayanokoji Kiyotaka as he was today."
"You mean..."
Sakayanagi Arisu was clearly intrigued. It seemed she'd thought of the same possibility.
"Otherwise, why had no other Artificial Genius who could rival Ayanokoji Kiyotaka appeared since? Wouldn't that explain it?"
"And it also supports your argument from another angle: Artificial Geniuses can't defeat true geniuses."
Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."
She accepted this reasoning.
"You're right. But although I can accept it rationally, I can't accept it emotionally. I still have to defeat him. I must defeat him!"
"Not to prove anything. I simply want to beat him. Otherwise, I won't be able to rest easy—" [garbled text]
"And you, too!"
She looked at Hoshino En, seated across from her, and leaned forward slightly in her excitement. Her dispirited expression seemed to have brightened again.
"I'm going to defeat you. That hasn't changed since the very beginning!!"
Kamuro Masumi, watching from the sidelines: "..."
She already had your personality figured out. How were you ever supposed to beat her now?
I had a feeling Sakayanagi would end up getting played by Hoshino.
"Then I'll be looking forward to it."
Seeing her [willingly] lean her little head toward him, Hoshino En couldn't help reaching out to pat it. Even through her beret, it felt wonderful.
But the moment he finished, he realized something was wrong: he seemed to have gotten distracted by her looks again.
He'd deliberately sat across from Sakayanagi Arisu this time, so why had this happened?
Still, judging by what he knew of Sakayanagi Arisu, she might tolerate his cheekiness after his encouragement, but she definitely wouldn't let anyone keep bullying her like this. She'd surely slap his hand away any second now—perhaps even with her cane.
But until that moment came, he might as well enjoy the unusual sensation. He could think of it as collecting his reward in advance for getting whacked over the head with her cane.
Sakayanagi Arisu, fulfill your potential as a [test subject] and help me get desensitized. Heh heh heh...
And yet, after patting her for quite a while, he still didn't see her hand or cane come swinging at him.
He withdrew his hand and looked at Sakayanagi Arisu's face, only to find himself greeted by another Arisu-chan with bright-red cheeks.
Hoshino En: "..."
Wait, again? What was going on?
Had I read her wrong?
"Hoshino-kun, there are some things you can't just do to a girl whenever you feel like it." [garbled text]
Just then, a familiar voice came from the side.
Hoshino En turned and saw Ichinose Honami standing with her hands on her hips, looking at him sternly.
"You really need to be more mindful of boundaries!!"
Hoshino En: "..."
Hadn't I heard the same thing yesterday?
Also, where had you come from, Ichinose?!
He looked past Ichinose Honami and spotted Shiranami Chihiro in the distance, making faces at him. She looked furious.
"Hoshino-kun, I'm talking to you. What are you looking at?"
Ichinose's voice brought Hoshino En's attention back to her.
But as he looked at the girl standing so close in front of him, at the upper part of her body, which stood out as she held her hands on her hips, he... awkwardly lowered his head and turned his gaze away.
This was bad. It had to be because of what had happened that morning. Now he couldn't even look Ichinose in the eye.
Hoshino En: ...!!!
How terrifying. Adolescence really was terrifying. That sort of thing... It was just a pile of fat, no different from excess flesh. Why was it shaking my resolve?!!
Compared to her, Hoshino En suddenly realized Sakayanagi Arisu was much easier to deal with. At least he could stay perfectly calm around her.
"Oh my~ I haven't even said anything yet. Why are you jumping in again, Classmate Ichinose?"
Thanks to Ichinose Honami's interruption, Sakayanagi Arisu immediately reverted to a third of her usual nasty self. [garbled text]
She gave the intruder who'd barged into their [world for two] a sidelong glance, her tone brimming with merciless teasing and mockery.
Kamuro Masumi: Don't treat me like I'm invisible just because I'm not saying anything!!
"This... It's because Hoshino-kun has such a poor sense of boundaries with girls, but he doesn't realize it himself, so I wanted to help him learn..."
"That's not the reason, is it? You're just angry because he's being affectionate with someone who isn't you, aren't you, Classmate Ichinose?"
"Look, weren't you even angrier when you saw that he wouldn't even look at you?"
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at Hoshino En. He had his head lowered, and the strange blush on his face was slowly fading.
"This..."
Ichinose Honami wanted to say something in her own defense, but she couldn't deny that Sakayanagi Arisu was right. When she saw Hoshino En turn his gaze away from her, she really had felt a burst of anger for no apparent reason.
But it wasn't jealousy or anything like that. She was just angry because she felt he'd disrespected her.
That explanation clearly wouldn't convince Sakayanagi Arisu, and she'd only twist it into something else. Ichinose Honami didn't want to make things more complicated.
So she should retreat for now...
But just as she found herself on the back foot and was about to withdraw, another powerful fighter charged in.
"That's not it!!"
It was Shiranami Chihiro, who'd been watching them the whole time.
"This big bad guy was embarrassed because he saw Honami-chan's breasts! How could a flat-chested girl like you possibly understand?!"
Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."
Ichinose Honami: ...!!
Kamuro Masumi: Ah!! She actually said it! Someone really said it!!
Sakayanagi Arisu had been stunned earlier and hadn't noticed, but as a bystander to their argument, Kamuro had noticed long ago that Hoshino En glanced at Ichinose Honami's chest and immediately looked away.
He was obviously embarrassed!! How could Sakayanagi not understand?
But while they were confronting each other, Kamuro hadn't dared to point it out. Undermining her own side like that would definitely get Sakayanagi to settle the score later.
But now... Ichinose Honami's sidekick was really brave. She'd actually attacked Sakayanagi Arisu's physical insecurity right to her face.
Hopefully, she'd be okay afterward. Of course, it'd be even better if she and Sakayanagi ended up both worse for wear.
Thinking this, Kamuro Masumi quietly watched the show.
"You're... Shiranami Chihiro from Class 1-B, aren't you?"
Thanks to the girl's brave outburst, Sakayanagi Arisu successfully shifted her gaze away from Ichinose Honami.
Shiranami Chihiro said nothing, merely glaring at Sakayanagi Arisu with puffed-out cheeks.
"Ha..."
In the end, though, the argument never broke out, because Ichinose Honami stepped in.
"Classmate Sakayanagi, Hoshino-kun, I'm sorry. Chihiro-chan was rude just now."
"Honami-chan, but..."
"Chihiro-chan, let's go back."
She led Shiranami Chihiro out of the cafeteria without looking back, her retreat firm and decisive. [garbled text]
As Sakayanagi Arisu watched them [flee], silence fell over her side.
"Why do I feel like I'm some irredeemably evil woman?"
Kamuro Masumi: Aren't you?
Sakayanagi Arisu glumly toyed with her cane.
But she'd only lashed out at the intruder on instinct because she'd interfered with her [showdown] with Hoshino En.
The score was two to one today, and she'd lost. But if Ichinose Honami hadn't interrupted, she could have won another round—at the very least, she could have tied.
How annoying~
And now someone had pointed out her physical insecurity, which was even more annoying.
"Sakayanagi, do you want to even the score?"
Just then, Hoshino En asked from across the table.
"If you want to even the score, make a bet with me."
Sakayanagi Arisu perked up.
"A bet? What are we betting on?"
"Let's bet on the Class Points of all four first-year classes when they're revealed next month, on May 1. Whoever guesses closest to the actual results wins. To be specific, we'll take the difference between each predicted score and the actual score, then average the results across all four classes. The smaller the number, the better."
"Oh? That sounds rather interesting. What's the stake?"
"If you win, I'll grant you one request, as long as it doesn't endanger my physical or mental health. That'll count as a complete victory for you. If I win, you'll let me touch your legs for at least ten minutes. You can still try to beat me after that."
"...That's ***."
"But you won't turn me down."
"Fair enough."
"By the way, we'll make our guesses on April 30. Until then, enjoy your school life."
After all, Hoshino En had promised Chairman Sakayanagi that he'd spend time with his daughter. There shouldn't be a problem with doing this.
After sealing the bet, he got up and left.
There was still time before lunch ended, and he had to stop by the Student Council.
Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."
Sitting in her seat, Sakayanagi Arisu grew excited.
"After such a provocation from you, how am I supposed to enjoy a carefree, peaceful life?"
"Heh heh... Heh heh heh..."
Kamuro Masumi: She's finally gone crazy.
First Semester of First Year:
Chapter 20: Class 3-A, Tachibana Akane with the bun
Shiranami Chihiro was led back to Class 1-B by Ichinose Honami.
This good-natured class, full of Little Angels, had more or less already been won over by Ichinose Honami's charm. But when it seemed she wanted to speak with Shiranami Chihiro alone, nobody was tactless enough to crowd around and bother them.
"Honami-chan, why did you run away?"
Back in the classroom, Shiranami Chihiro looked at Ichinose Honami, who sat calmly at her desk, and asked, confused.
She didn't like that sleazy jerk Hoshino En, who'd made a move on Honami-chan. But since Honami-chan liked him, she'd stand by her and support her.
Even though it was agonizing for her, with her own love already in tatters, as long as Honami-chan could be happy, she didn't care what happened to herself.
So even if she had to face Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A, she wouldn't back down.
But why? She'd already been ready to go head-to-head with her. Why had Honami-chan stopped her at a time like that?
Before you continue