Classroom of the Mediocre Supremacist

Even though the other party's morning words and attitude already revealed plenty, her reckless behavior now still left Hoshino En puzzled: were Horikita Suzune and that Horikita senior, who was just as self-disciplined as him, really siblings? The quality gap was way too big!

Rewinding a bit, back when Chabashira Sae was waiting for the "fish" to bite—

"Alright, thank you, Hoshinomiya-sensei."

Ichinose Honami bowed to Hoshinomiya Chie in the office in gratitude, then turned and left.

She'd been rejected by the Student Council, and even after asking the teacher, she got no other solution. Her mood was a bit downcast.

Walking back to the classroom, her gaze suddenly swept past the Counseling Room.

Hoshino-kun still hadn't come out?

Looking at the tightly shut door of the Counseling Room, and the faint light seeping through the gap beneath it, she thought.

I wonder what punishment their homeroom teacher will give him... Hopefully just a verbal scolding.

She slowly descended the stairs, brushing past a cool, aloof girl with long, straight black hair tied in a single side braid.

Her... I think she's the Horikita Suzune that Kushida-san mentioned?

The overly distinctive features let Ichinose Honami recognize her instantly.

To get closer to Ichinose Honami, Kushida Kikyo had once thrown out a few questions seeking her help, one of which involved this "antisocial" tough nut, which gave Ichinose Honami some impression of Horikita Suzune even without meeting her in person.

She turned to look at the girl's retreating back.

Is she going to see Class D's homeroom teacher?

But Chabashira-sensei is still scolding Hoshino-kun right now!?

On a whim, Ichinose Honami tiptoed after her.

She watched Horikita Suzune enter the Counseling Room, then carefully crept up to the door the other girl hadn't fully closed.

This isn't peeping, I'm just worried about Hoshino-kun.

He helped me before, so I have to repay him, right? That's right, exactly!

Under this self-hypnosis, she began to feel justified in casting her gaze into the Counseling Room.

Huh? Why are only Chabashira-sensei and Horikita-san in the Counseling Room?

But inside the Counseling Room, aside from two black-haired, long-haired figures—one big, one small—there was no one else.

Where did Hoshino-kun go?

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 60: You Stand on the Bridge Watching the Scenery, and the Scenery Watcher Watches You from Above

Just as Ichinose Honami once again activated her [The Eavesdropping] and evolved it into [Peeking Eyes], Hoshinomiya Chie also stepped out of the Teachers' Office.

"Mmm~ Got a faculty meeting next, this job is exhausting day after day."

She stretched, loosening her tired body.

Maybe I should go check on little Sae? Wonder how things are going with her, Hoshino-kun, and Ayanokoji-kun... I can walk with her afterward.

So she headed toward the stairs, where the Counseling Room was located.

And then—

Eh eh eh!!! Is that Ichinose-san?!

She stared in shock at Ichinose Honami, who was acting suspiciously outside the Counseling Room door.

Wait, was that still her great angel? How could the kind Ichinose-san do something like this?

Was that Hoshino En really that captivating? Enough to make her even abandon her own principles?

Fretting like this, she wanted to step forward, pull Ichinose Honami away, and give her a good scolding to snap her out of being lost in romance.

But as she got closer, she noticed the Counseling Room door was still open.

That meant any noise outside would be heard by those inside.

Hoshinomiya Chie: "..."

If she accidentally startled Ichinose-san and alerted little Sae and Hoshino-kun inside, making them see her panicked, flustered state... That would probably be a heavy blow for Ichinose-san, wouldn't it?

Being seen in an embarrassing light by someone you care about—anyone would collapse into an emo state, let alone her great angel.

Ichinose-san was the backbone of her Class B; she couldn't let something like this ruin her.

So, to protect Ichinose Honami, Hoshinomiya Chie decided not to disturb her, but instead to stand guard behind her, keeping watch.

As for the scolding, that could wait until later.

When the people inside were about to come out, she could pretend she'd just arrived with Ichinose-san and casually drag little Sae away.

Perfect!

Meanwhile, Sakayanagi Arisu, having received Hoshino En's message, brought her "good friend" Kamuro Masumi to this floor.

They came up from the other staircase, arriving first at the Teachers' Office.

But—

"No one."

Sakayanagi Ikusu looked at the now-empty Teachers' Office, her delicate brows slightly furrowing.

"Hey, it's not like Hoshino's being targeted by Class D's homeroom teacher. Why are you so worked up?"

Kamuro Masumi watched Sakayanagi Arisu, who had suddenly changed her plans to come up here, and felt utterly speechless.

This girl just acted on whims without any consideration for the effort Kamuro had to put in running around for her.

"Kamuro-san, would you kindly shut that big mouth of yours, please?"

Sakayanagi Arisu firmly believed that Hoshino En wouldn't ask those questions without reason. He must be genuinely trapped—or at least believe he might fall into such a situation.

If that were the case, she couldn't just stand by. She hadn't even defeated him fair and square once yet; how could she let someone else kick him out of school using such underhanded means?

But they weren't in the Teachers' Office now. Where else could they be?

"Maybe they've already finished talking and left!"

Kamuro Masumi guessed.

Originally, right after class ended, she had followed Sakayanagi Arisu's orders and headed to the Swimming Club, bringing the high-end camera she'd been given. Under the guise of "observing the club," she'd blended in, ready to snap some swimsuit photos of Hoshino En.

But when she got there, she found out Hoshino En hadn't shown up at the Swimming Club at all today!!

She relayed that info to Sakayanagi, then immediately received a new task: "Search for Hoshino En." But while she was busy hunting him down, she missed the school broadcast. Sakayanagi, who had heard it, didn't send her a message either, forcing her to wander half the campus just to find the guy who was already in the school building.

And when she was drenched in sweat from exhaustion, Sakayanagi suddenly called her over, saying she wanted to go check the upper floors of the teaching building together.

Seriously, even if you're ordering people around, there's a limit!!!

"Impossible. Hoshino-kun just sent me a message. He said he couldn't take calls, which means he wasn't free at the time—he was under some kind of constraint. It's clear that his conversation with Ayanokoji-kun and Class D's homeroom teacher isn't over yet."

"But he could still send and receive messages, which means he wasn't in the middle of talking to the teacher either. He was waiting somewhere the teacher couldn't see. That kind of place is either a non-private public area or a second layer of space nested inside a room—no other possibilities."

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

Sakayanagi, why are you starting to sound like Hoshino?

And—

"Sakayanagi, I mean, wouldn't it be faster to just text him and ask where he is right now?"

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

"Also, don't you have him as a friend? Why not just check his location directly?"

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

"See, love really makes people..."

"Kamuro-san, please be quiet. Thank you."

Kamuro Masumi shut up.

"You should add Hoshino-kun as a friend later too."

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

Damn my big mouth! I shouldn't have mocked her... Now my workload's going up again.

While Kamuro Masumi was cursing herself internally, Sakayanagi Arisu checked Hoshino En's location on her phone—it wasn't far.

The two followed the corridor and soon arrived in front of the Counseling Room, where they spotted the sneaky Ichinose Honami and her lookout teacher.

But since they were approaching from behind Hoshinomiya Chie, the so-called lookout teacher wasn't doing much good.

Kamuro Masumi & Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

Both deliberately softened their movements and lowered their voices to avoid being noticed by the two who were peeking.

Kamuro Masumi: [What now?]

Taking a page from Hoshino En's book, they started communicating via text messages.

Sakayanagi Arisu: [Don't move yet. Making a sound rashly might alert them.]

The Counseling Room door wasn't fully closed, and with the quiet surroundings, even the two standing a bit farther away could faintly hear some sounds from inside.

It sounded like two women talking, maybe about exam results, but there was definitely no male arguing.

That meant Hoshino En was still safe for now.

Sakayanagi Arisu: [We'll hold our position and wait until Hoshino-kun and the others come out.]

Kamuro Masumi: [...So we're just going to stand here like idiots and wait?]

Sakayanagi Arisu: [What else do you want to do? Oh, you could practice your photography and filming techniques right now. Next semester's sports festival, and later the wedding, the child's full-moon celebration, the housewarming party... all of those will need you to take pictures.]

[That high-end camera I spent a fortune on isn't just for decoration.]

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

What do you take me for?! A personal photographer?!

Sakayanagi Arisu: [Even if you start your own career someday, this skill will ensure you can come begging me for a cushy job if it fails... though I doubt I'll ever let you go anyway.]

You mind-reading "superhumans" are so damn annoying!!!!!

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 61 – Chapter 57: Self-Righteousness and Pretentiousness

Time rewound to when Horikita Suzune stepped into the Counseling Room—

"Why was I assigned to Class D?"

Horikita's first question didn't escape Hoshino En's prediction either. Sure enough, this kind of [normal person] was far more [entertaining] to watch than a strange one like Karuizawa.

"What? You think you've been treated unfairly? That the screening process is flawed?"

"Of course. I'm confident I solved almost all the entrance exam questions correctly, and I don't recall making any major mistakes in the interview... I don't believe I deserve to be placed in Class D!!"

"Almost solved the entire entrance exam, huh..."

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

Hoshino En heard the sound of pages turning. Was Chabashira flipping through Horikita's entrance exam paper?

Wait, so that exam wasn't just a front after all!!

He'd always thought the entrance exam and interview were mere camouflage, and that class placement was based on background checks the school conducted using recommendation letters. But now it seemed that wasn't the case—those exam scores had value too.

That meant his initial judgment might have been off. Still, when he'd asked Karuizawa, Ichinose, and Kushida at the café on April 1st, they'd all admitted to having recommendation letters.

No way—had he hit the jackpot that day? The four people sitting around Sakayanagi, including him, were all problem students with recommendation letters? But what about Wang Meiyu? Why hadn't she spoken up to refute that?

Oh, she'd probably been scared out of her wits by him that day. It was all because Sakayanagi had suddenly brought up that [obedience test], which had piqued his interest...

Still, since the class advisor could see the entrance exam scores, that gave Chabashira one more possible reason to target Kiyotaka.

Hoshino En turned to look at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and sent him a query right in front of him.

Hoshino En: [Kiyotaka, what were your scores on the five subjects of the entrance exam?]

Then, without even a moment's thought, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka typed out the following scores.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: [Japanese: 50, Math: 50, English: 50, Social Studies: 50, Science: 50.]