The next day, Makoto Nishikado left his dorm and took the elevator.
By coincidence, as soon as he reached the first floor, he ran into Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
All the first-year boys lived in the same building, so it wasn't surprising they'd crossed paths.
"...Uh."
The moment he saw him, Nishikado's face was full of undisguised distaste.
At Advanced Nurturing, a place blessed with talented people, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was the last person he wanted to run into.
This guy only gave him one or two emotion points at a time.
The system required him to earn 1,000 emotion points before he could check Ayanokoji's stats.
But Nishikado had reason to suspect that even after three years, he still wouldn't be able to see Ayanokoji's stats.
This guy was his natural enemy!
"Good morning."
Ayanokoji greeted him first, staring straight at Nishikado.
He seemed to be waiting for Nishikado to respond.
"Good morning?"
Nishikado answered hesitantly.
After getting a response, Ayanokoji nodded, then turned his head and said nothing more.
The greatest masterpiece of the day was still learning to become human in his own way.
Nishikado watched him, beginning to doubt his own eyes.
This guy acted so unnaturally. Was he really not a machine?
When ordinary people had no expression, they wore a blank look. This guy's face was genuinely expressionless.
Compared to the White Room's greatest masterpiece, Nishikado felt he was more like a Terminator from the future.
If someone slashed him, would he turn into a liquid-metal man on the spot?
At the same time, Nishikado fell into deep self-doubt.
This guy was so strange, yet in the original story he was popular with everyone, men and women alike.
Were there even any humans at Advanced Nurturing?
When the elevator reached the first floor, Nishikado hurried out ahead of Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji watched him leave, a rare hint of confusion in his eyes.
It wasn't as if he'd been practicing calligraphy while carrying a piano in the elevator. He hadn't done anything strange from start to finish.
They'd only spent that brief time together in the elevator. Why had this guy tried to avoid him?
Could it be that this guy had noticed something unusual about him?
In such a short time?
Ayanokoji became intrigued and decided to remember Nishikado's face.
[Stirred Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's emotions and gained 6 emotion points.]
"So generous?"
When he saw the system notification, Nishikado, already far away, was stunned.
The greatest masterpiece was actually willing to give him so many emotion points. He was truly flattered.
In return, Nishikado decided that from now on, he'd give Ayanokoji a wide berth whenever he showed up.
Until the Machine War was won, humans and machines couldn't be friends.
After buying and eating two buns on the way, Nishikado arrived at the classroom before class.
Seeing his familiar classmates, he finally regained his usual smile.
Compared to facing that terrifying machine, Ayanokoji, Class B's little angels were so much more lovable.
"Good morning, Nishikado."
"Good morning. Have you had breakfast?"
As soon as they saw him, the little angels of Class B greeted him one after another.
Even though Nishikado had spoken rudely to the great angel Honami Ichinose the day before, they had no intention of ostracizing him.
Honami Ichinose herself hadn't arrived yet. After greeting him, the little group gathered around Amikura Asako didn't forget to plead with him.
"Nishikado, we all know you're impressive. Please don't bully Honami-chan."
"Exactly! Honami-chan hasn't done anything wrong."
"Honami-chan told us she doesn't think you meant any harm. She'll do her best to work with you and make Class B better together."
A group of pretty girls chattered around Nishikado.
Yuki Himeno hurriedly moved away when she saw them.
But her seat was right next to Nishikado and Amikura Asako, so moving a little didn't get her very far.
"Everyone, that's not how you should put it. I said those things because I wanted what was best for Ichinose."
Nishikado was enjoying himself a little, but he still cruelly rejected the girls' pleas.
Honami Ichinose was an important source of experience points for him.
Even if all the little angels of Class B pleaded with him, he couldn't agree.
Besides, Nishikado didn't think what he was doing was all that bad.
If things followed the original story, Honami Ichinose would keep failing, again and again, until she went from a great angel to being pushed into Darkening.
All he was doing was putting a little pressure on Honami Ichinose, helping her change in a "gentler" way.
He really was so kind!
"Really?"
Even Amikura Asako, who had a very good temper and didn't easily doubt people, found it hard to believe when she heard that.
"Of course it's true. Ichinose is so popular, and everyone around her praises her. That's dangerous."
"She needs someone like me to say a few bad things about her and keep her alert and motivated. That's how she'll improve."
As Nishikado went on, he even started to believe himself.
Was it possible that he really was helping Honami Ichinose?
"Is that really true?"
Amikura Asako still wasn't entirely convinced.
Nishikado's explanation sounded somewhat reasonable, but it still felt very strange.
"Of course. Classmates, when your parents scold you, do you think they're always doing it out of malice?
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