Classroom of the Mediocre Supremacist

"And besides, have you considered what time it is? With the [Behavioral Norms Exam] still in effect, dragging them into an open discussion like that in class—this already touches on public order and morals."

"Let me remind you of something else: yesterday, a clerk at the electronics store was escorted by the school to the police station for [public indecency]. That should tell you the school doesn't have a low bar for this kind of thing. Guess how many points you just cost the class?"

With that, Hoshino En turned his gaze away, no longer looking at them.

The topic's spearhead had shifted from [the female body] to [class point deductions], so the only one who'd have a headache now was the person who started it. Hoshino En was safe.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the girls and the boys who hadn't joined the [locker-room talk] opened fire on the [locker-room talk] group. Even the other guys inside that group started verbally attacking Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji, who had brought up the subject.

Ike Kanji realized something was wrong and wanted to apologize, but Yamauchi Haruki couldn't take it anymore.

He didn't think it was his fault, so he launched an indiscriminate attack on the other boys in the [locker-room talk] group and shoved all the blame onto Ike Kanji.

"Is this my fault? You were all having fun talking before, so why is it all on me now?"

"And besides, Ike was the one who brought up the topic first. I just went along with it. I'm not wrong!"

Ike Kanji: "..."

Seeing the situation turn bad, he quickly started trying to clear his name. Caught between everyone else's accusations and the [locker-room talk] group's blame-shifting, the scene descended into chaos.

In the end, Hirata stepped in to ease the conflict. The others who'd been dragged into it had their complaints, but out of respect for him, they let the matter drop.

As for the [locker-room talk] group, they couldn't care less about Hirata's good looks, but under Kushida's sweet assault, they eventually caved.

Still, deep down, everyone had pent-up dissatisfaction with Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji.

Hoshino En: [Kiyotaka, see that? This is what happens when you get too close to them. You'd better keep your distance.]

As soon as the farce ended, Hoshino En immediately sent a warning to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was sitting on the other side of the classroom.

No way was he letting his good son get twisted up by these guys!

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: "..."

Time passed quickly, and soon it was time for afternoon PE class.

Because of the earlier conflict, the [locker-room talk] group had fallen apart. Ike Kanji had distanced himself from Yamauchi Haruki after being stabbed in the back, and the atmosphere among the boys was stifling.

But what did that have to do with Hoshino En? He was still alone, still enjoying the freedom of solitude...

"Hoshino-kun, can I have a word alone?"

Hirata Yosuke walked up naturally beside Hoshino En.

Hoshino En: "..."

Oh, Yosuke-kun, if you're bothering my peace over some trivial nonsense, I'll take my size 42 shoe and kick your ass good!

And that group of girls over there, stop staring at me like that. I'm not into guys.

And you, Wang Meiyu, take back that weird look!!!

They headed toward the swimming pool together.

On the other side, Horikita Suzune watched Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sitting motionless in his seat, seemingly lost in thought, and asked, "Next period is PE. Aren't you going?"

A few days ago, whenever something came up, this guy would start talking to her, trying to get close.

Now that he'd suddenly gone quiet, it was actually a little strange for her.

But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't respond.

"What's wrong with you?"

She looked in the direction he was staring at and spotted Hoshino En walking off with Hirata Yosuke.

"That guy... I remember you two get along pretty well, don't you?"

"...Yeah."

"Hey, Horikita-san, what do you think a [friend] really is?"

Only after Hoshino En disappeared from his sight did Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turn to look at his deskmate, who was currently in his [conquest phase].

"You're asking me that? I don't need friends, so I wouldn't know. Go ask Kushida-san if you want—she's pretty popular with you boys, isn't she?"

"If you're just worrying over some boring question like that, I'm not sticking around."

With that, Horikita Suzune left too, leaving only the lonely square root of three... no, wait, just a lonely Ayanokoji.

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 34 - 032: Swimming Class, the Teacher's Hint

"Hoshino-kun, I hope you won't say things that cause misunderstandings anymore."

Walking along the path to the swimming pool, Hoshino En heard Hirata Yosuke say this to him.

"There are no bullies in our class!"

He seemed to have been provoked by Hoshino En's earlier labeling of Yamauchi.

"But Yamauchi and the others were openly discussing the girls' bodies. Wasn't that wrong?"

Hoshino En wasn't a [champion of justice]. He just plain disliked Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji, with no other agenda.

"This... I'll privately convince them not to act like this afterward. But your unilateral decision was still too harsh—they were just running their mouths, they haven't actually done anything that would harm others, so..."

"Stop!"

Hoshino En raised a hand to cut off Hirata's words.

"You think labeling them as 'bullies' was too much, so you came specifically to rein me in, right?"

"No, I'm not trying to rein you in, I just—"

"But the meaning in your words is exactly that."

He looked at Hirata Yosuke as if observing a rare animal.

"You don't actually think only physical violence counts as bullying, do you?"

Without realizing it, they had already reached the Swimming Pool, standing before the door to the boys' changing room.

"They talk about other people's bodies right in front of them—do you have any idea how much mental pressure that puts on those girls?"

"Hasebe is one thing; she hasn't deliberately integrated into the girls' circle, but she's still a relatively strong person. But Sakura Airi is different—she's an introverted, timid girl. Even when our eyes accidentally meet, she flinches and looks away. Do you have any idea how much being talked about like that to her face affects her?!!"

"This..."

Hirata Yosuke was at a loss for words. He simply hadn't thought Yamauchi and the others' actions constituted "bullying," so he'd come specifically to talk to Hoshino En, hoping he'd withdraw such a harsh accusation.

These things—he wasn't a girl, and he'd never witnessed bullying against girls before, so he didn't know.

"Hirata, I know you want everyone in the class to get along harmoniously. But when people live together, conflicts and clashes are inevitable. If you want the overall atmosphere to be harmonious, you have to treat every conflict fairly."

"Those who do wrong should be punished; those who are hurt should be compensated. You can't let innocent people pay for the words and actions of those who made mistakes—that's not fair."

"That's all I have to say. Think it over yourself."

With that, Hoshino En pushed open the changing room door and went in alone to change, leaving Hirata Yosuke still lost in thought.

After changing into swim trunks, Hoshino En arrived at the Swimming Pool.

Although most people had clamped their mouths shut after the earlier incident and no longer openly ran their mouths about the girls, according to the theorem of "the greater the mass, the stronger the gravitational pull," their gazes were still inevitably drawn to the girls' ample chests.

"Damn, Kushida's little angel is really..."

"Matsushita's isn't bad either..."

"Karuizawa's is pretty impressive too..."

And then, unable to resist temptation, they started their "whispering."

Hoshino En: "..."

Seriously, even if you're whispering, a bunch of you huddled together like that is still obvious.

All that earlier reining in went to waste—incorrigible. No wonder these people got dumped into Class D.

There were also some people who, upon seeing Hasebe and Sakura Airi fully armed and not changing into swimsuits, were now wailing like they'd lost their own mothers.

"Why didn't Hasebe and Sakura change into swimsuits?? What a waste!!!"

Oh, it's Yamauchi Haruki. That explains it.

Wow, the girls' gazes over there are murderous again.

To avoid being lumped in with the same kind and suppressed, Hoshino En grabbed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had appeared from who knows where, and slipped into a corner of the crowd.

"What did Hirata say to you earlier?"

Watching Hoshino En pull him out of the crowd, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly asked.

"Nothing much. It's about Yamauchi and them—he thought I was being too harsh."

"But now I feel like what I said wasn't wrong at all."

Watching Yamauchi, who was once again stirring up the boys to "shoot the shit," Hoshino En gained even more confidence in his own judgment.

That guy has zero intention of reflecting.

"Kiyotaka, see that? Never hang out with people like that in the future."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: "..."

He felt a strange sense of being treated like a child.

I just lack common sense, not the ability to tell good from bad.

"But I'm afraid you might take people like them as common sense."

Looking at the smiling Hoshino En in front of him, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly felt a chill.

Could he actually read minds?

The students didn't have to wait long before the gym teacher arrived.

He first asked how many in the class couldn't swim, and surprisingly, nearly half of them couldn't.

Although Hoshino En was one of them, that didn't stop him from looking down on the others.

"Anyway, it's not like the school has any situations where swimming is absolutely necessary, right? Not learning shouldn't be a big deal."

Someone said that, but was immediately shot down by the teacher.

"Don't give me that defeatist talk! Don't worry, before this summer, I guarantee I'll have all of you learning how to swim!"

"That's right, how about we make a bet? I'll give the top boy and top girl five thousand Private Points each."

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh!

Cheers erupted from the crowd, seemingly satisfied with a school where winning first place meant spending points.

However, even though the teacher's reward was tempting and everyone was excited, swimming wasn't something you could learn and master in a short time.

In the end, the rewards went to those who were already skilled—the boys' first place was taken by Koenji Rokusuke, and the girls' first place went to Onodera, who had previously joined the swim club and had excellent physical fitness—leaving everyone else who had just been excited with nothing to show for it.

But Hoshino En didn't care about the results. What he cared about was the implication in the gym teacher's words just now.

First, teachers could freely distribute Private Points as rewards, meaning that as long as he could persuade a teacher, earning Private Points in future exams wouldn't be a problem.

Second, his words carried the implication of "you must learn to swim," meaning the school's exams wouldn't be limited to written tests but would include comprehensive assessments of all-around ability.

Before this summer... meaning there would be a special exam this summer, and one that absolutely required [swimming].

The gym teacher hadn't tried to hide it, so that special exam probably wasn't a secret that needed to be concealed, but rather something every new student experienced, just like the current [Behavioral Norms Exam].

Maybe he could get hints from [dear senpais].

With that thought, Hoshino En's gaze naturally fell on Kushida Kikyo, who was playing and laughing with her classmates.

Leave this to Kushida. That way, he wouldn't have to gather information himself, wouldn't get tangled up in troublesome matters, and could also let Kushida build some credibility with the upperclassmen, making it easier for her to interact with them—two birds with one stone.

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 35: Chapter 033 A Useful Tool, Got!

After that, time seemed to fly by as if someone had pressed the [fast-forward] button.

To learn swimming, achieve the goal of [swimming from Advanced Nurturing to Tokyo], and prepare for the summer special exam, Hoshino En joined the swim club.

Although when he first arrived at the swim club, the senpais thought he was there to challenge them and stared at him like he was an enemy, none of that fazed the straightforward Hoshino En. He quickly earned their trust and trained hard during the club activities every afternoon after school.

By the way, who the hell spread his bad reputation? Those senpais actually admitted to being suppressed by a new student from Class D—didn't any of them care about face?