But I Refuse

Everyone knew that Class A had the highest number of retained points in the first month in the original story, a whopping 980 Class Points.

But was that really the case?

The current Class A wasn't the same as the original one. With U Amakusa as a variable, how much would this butterfly effect change things?

It definitely wouldn't be 980 points, because...

"Want one?"

The smell of the spicy snack was impossible to miss, and the culprit, U Amakusa, was even offering one of his evil snacks to Kamuro!

Amakusa admitted he couldn't help himself. He wasn't some top student who could listen attentively in class all day long.

It was the fourth day, and Amakusa was finally showing his true colors. He was eating spicy snacks in class!

As expected, the teacher at the podium noticed but didn't say anything, which made some of the students frown.

Kamuro didn't react to the snack Amakusa offered her. She hadn't said a single word to him since that day.

Amakusa didn't care, and continued eating his evil snack.

When class ended, a tall, bald student stepped forward from among the others. It was Kohei Katsuragi.

"Amakusa, please pay attention in class. At the very least, don't disturb the other students. Also..." Katsuragi pinched his nose as he spoke.

"Your snack really does smell strong!"

"...All right."

He'd been warned. Maybe he should just sleep in class from now on. No, I need to pull myself together. It's only one month.

From her seat at the front of the classroom, Sakayanagi looked back at the scene. She'd expected Katsuragi to step in.

What concerned her more was why the teacher was indifferent to Amakusa's behavior. It was clearly affecting some of the students' ability to study.

Anyone who paid even a little attention to Amakusa would notice that he was practically making no effort to hide that he was eating snacks.

During the following classes, Amakusa resumed his campaign of staring into space, though he did occasionally pay attention.

Ring, ring—

It was finally time to go home. Amakusa stood up and stretched casually.

Just as he was about to call out to Kamuro, he realized she was already gone. The same thing had happened yesterday; she seemed to have teleported away.

Come to think of it, Kamuro seemed to have deleted his contact information.

"What should I do today?"

He felt a weight on his shoulder, and the voice by his ear was all too familiar. It belonged to his two close friends.

"I can't come with you today. I have a club activity." Satoshi Satonaka picked up his schoolbag and waved as he started to leave.

"Huh? When did you join a club?"

"Satonaka joined the Soccer Club, Shimizu."

Amakusa pushed Naoki Shimizu's hand off his shoulder and calmly began gathering his things.

"What? Why didn't I know?"

Satonaka looked at Amakusa, too. He remembered that he hadn't told Amakusa yet, since he'd only just joined.

"Just a little bird told me. Didn't you get a love letter, Satonaka? I saw a girl put one in your shoe locker when I was passing by, and I also heard you'd joined the Soccer Club."

"...Heh. I can't help it. Being handsome is a problem, too." Satoshi Satonaka ran his fingers through his hair, looking pleased with himself.

"Hey, Amakusa, can I punch him in the face?"

"I don't mind."

"All right, here I come!"

But how could Satoshi Satonaka give Naoki Shimizu the chance? He disappeared in a flash, politely closing the door behind him.

"Shimizu, I can't hang out with you today, either. I have a club activity too."

"Huh? Wait—"

"I joined the Go-Home Club. Well, I'll be going."

With his schoolbag in hand, Amakusa's retreating figure seemed to overlap with Satonaka's from earlier. He waved goodbye.

"Um... the Go-Home Club? Is that even a thing?" Naoki Shimizu scratched his head, confused.

"Sigh. Maybe I should join a club, too."

With neither of his two close friends around, Naoki Shimizu could only leave by himself.

Everyone knew that the Go-Home Club meant going home.

So Amakusa's goal was to return to his dorm.

But... he ran into an unwelcome guest on the way. No, to be precise, she seemed to have come prepared.

"Um... are you Amakusa?"

Looking closely, he saw an energetic girl with a superpower. She had a pretty face, short yellow hair, and an infectious smile.

Of course, her energy was an act. Amakusa knew that all too well.

Her ability was Super Deduction.

The moment he put on his glasses, information about the energetic girl appeared before him.

Kikyo Kushida, 82D? Interesting.

"Who are you...?"

"I'm Kikyo Kushida from Class 1-D, Amakusa."

"What can I do for you, Kushida?"

"Well, I know what's going on with you, Amakusa. About Kamuro... I might be able to help you~"

With that cheerful expression, anyone would think she was an optimistic, positive girl.

As for how Kushida had learned about him, Amakusa could make a pretty good guess. It was probably Satoshi Satonaka.

Hirata was in the Soccer Club. Kushida wanted to be popular and make friends with everyone, so there was no way she'd pass up someone as popular as Hirata.

She'd met Satoshi Satonaka through Hirata at the Soccer Club. After all, it was only natural to start making friends with a handsome guy. That was the easiest way.

You really do talk too much, Satonaka.

"Huh? Even you know, Kushida? Kamuro really has been avoiding me lately. And why do you want to help me?"

Since Kushida liked putting on an act, Amakusa played along, pretending to look troubled and confused.

"I love making friends. I want to be friends with everyone at school because I want to make lots of wonderful memories here. So I want to be friends with you, Amakusa. Isn't helping a friend only natural?"

So she'd already reached out to Class A? She was fast.

That meant she'd already become fairly popular among the forty students in Class D.

It was only the fourth day. She'd probably won over Class B, too. It was hard to say about Class C, since they were all delinquents.

However, no matter how hard Kushida tried to befriend the students in Class B, she couldn't shake Ichinose's position there.

"Are you saying you can help me arrange a meeting with Kamuro?"

"Not exactly... The most I can do is tell you a little about what Kamuro does after school, Amakusa. Otherwise, she might end up hating me."

Kushida looked thoroughly troubled, as if helping Amakusa was already putting her in a difficult position.

She wanted to help Amakusa, but that would make things difficult with Kamuro. She also wanted to keep both sides happy, so she was only helping a little. That way, if anyone found out, she could easily get herself out of it.

That was Kushida's weakness. She wanted to be popular with everyone, but she didn't have the heart to accept them all.

Yet Kushida had managed to rebuild herself after each of her inner collapses. Her true nature had been exposed in middle school, then again in her second year, but she had never once let it eat away at her.

She lacked a heart that could accept everyone, but she had a resilient spirit.

She was the complete opposite of Ichinose. Without Ayanokoji's reassurance, Ichinose might have fallen apart after her past theft was exposed.

"Is that so? Thank you, Kushida." Amakusa smiled brightly.

"Then let's exchange phone numbers first, Amakusa. Friends should at least be able to contact each other."

Well... she had a point.

"But I refuse."