Kushida's popularity kept rising.
Having accidentally stepped on one of Kushida's landmines, Hachiman did not think it was a good thing.
And her guard was a little too high.
Even though class had already started, she still wanted to check whether he truly did not care about the possibility that she and Horikita had attended the same middle school.
And she had even used such a cute attack.
She was far too skilled at using her own weapons!
And so.
The school day ended with almost all the students spacing out, and some had even realized that the teachers did not care about classroom discipline, openly sleeping during lessons.
"That's all for today's lesson."
After the bell rang, Chabashira-sensei, who taught the second afternoon class, announced the end of class.
She taught history.
Today's topic had been clan dominance.
Like the other subject teachers, Chabashira neither dragged out class nor called on students.
However, as she picked up her lesson materials and headed toward the front door, she instead came down from the podium.
Then she walked along the aisle by the windows.
It seemed she was preparing to leave through the back door.
That made some students feel uneasy.
An ordinary subject teacher could not put much pressure on them.
But Chabashira was their homeroom teacher.
So, would she criticize them for slacking off?
That was what homeroom teachers had done back in middle school.
But.
Click, click, click—
Chabashira walked steadily down the aisle in rhythmic high heels.
Then.
She stopped at the last row.
But she said nothing. Her heels continued to thud as she walked directly between Hachiman's and Horikita's desks, then reached the back door.
She left through it.
It seemed nothing had happened.
The students let out sighs of relief.
This school really was amazing. Not only was tuition free, its rules were incredibly lax, and there was not even homework after school!
It was like heaven.
Hachiman did not pay attention to what the other students were thinking. He knew Chabashira-sensei had deliberately walked over, probably intending to check whether he had completed the task involving Horikita.
But.
Come on, Chabashira-sensei, less than a day had passed. How was he supposed to gather so much information on Suzune Horikita?
After all, he and Suzune Horikita had not even spoken before.
Up ahead.
Hachiman noticed Kushida chatting with some girls. It was only the second day of school, yet she had already gotten close to many people.
Everyone greeted her.
She was exceptionally well-liked.
Though there were degrees of closeness.
For instance, she seemed to have already become best friends with a classmate.
The girl's name was Meiyu Wang. She was petite, and when Hachiman had been acting as a camera, he had gathered a little information about her.
She was from China, and apparently had never scored below 100 in English.
Terrifying.
And now, the two of them seemed to be planning to go shopping at Zelkova Shopping Center together.
Yes, that was right.
Yesterday, the students had still felt as though they were dreaming, so they had probably bought only the bare minimum of daily necessities.
But now that they had discovered even the teachers would not restrain them, they surely wanted to browse, shop, and spend, spend, spend.
That made him, a good big brother willing to save money for his little sister's allowance, practically one of a kind.
If Komachi found out, she would definitely say Hachiman had scored incredibly high.
As he thought that.
"This school is truly tolerant toward its students."
"Whether it is ignoring students' little antics during class or giving them such a huge living allowance, I also found some relief supplies when I was shopping at the supermarket."
"They seem to be specifically for students who have run out of points."
A cool female voice came from beside Hachiman.
?
Hachiman seemed to freeze for several seconds.
Was Suzune Horikita taking the initiative to speak to him?
"Is there a problem?" The girl beside him continued looking at him.
"You probably don't understand." Suzune Horikita spoke again, then sighed. "There seem to be quite a lot of idiots in this class."
Oh.
So you were really something, huh.
"Horikita, is your Academic Ability high?" Hachiman asked.
"You mean my grades? I've always ranked near the top," Suzune Horikita said. "Or are you trying to mock me for spending all day studying, asking whether excellent grades are actually excellent? I don't think there is anything about my hard work worth ridiculing."
Oh, no.
That had not been his intention.
"Then what about your physical fitness and athletic ability?" Hachiman continued.
"Probably among the better girls," Suzune Horikita said. "I'm quite physically fit."
At the same time, her appearance was also outstanding.
If it were merely a beauty contest, then based on looks alone, the cold and distant Suzune Horikita might take first place.
But because she did not really interact with others and gave off such an aloof air, someone like Kushida could gather far more votes.
So that was how it was.
Suzune Horikita's basic qualities all seemed good, yet she had been assigned to Class D.
Did that mean she also had the potential to become a bomb?
So he needed to approach her carefully?
After all, Kushida had been close to exploding all day.
So he had to treat Suzune Horikita carefully too?
However.
Hachiman did not think so.
Because.
If he were the interviewer, he would deduct a whole pile of points from Horikita, despite her excellent profile.
"Do you hate Kushida?" Hachiman then asked.
"...," Suzune Horikita said. "What do you mean, hate or not hate?"
"Didn't she come talk to you this morning?"
"...," Suzune Horikita said.
Suzune Horikita sighed. "I'm genuinely not interested in class group chats. I came here to study, so I don't want distractions."
"Kushida is inviting others into the class group chat, right? That's her job. I understand that, so I won't dislike her for it," Suzune Horikita said.
Oh.
So that was it.
Hachiman also noticed that Kushida the little angel seemed to leave the classroom contentedly with her new best friend, Meiyu Wang.
It seemed she had learned that Suzune Horikita did not dislike her.
So she was in a good mood.
But Hachiman felt that more of her good mood came from him.
During lunch break, Kushida's flustered reaction had exposed the fact that she and Suzune Horikita came from the same middle school.
She was worried that news would leak out.
So she had monitored him all afternoon.
She wanted to see whether he had caught onto that important piece of information, which was highly risky for her.
And now, Hachiman had even helped Kushida test whether Horikita disliked her, showing that he had not thought much else of it.
So Kushida felt relieved.
But.
Would you really believe it just because someone put on such an ordinary act, Kushida?
You would be very easy to deceive.
Hachiman found his classmates somewhat naive.
And as for Suzune Horikita...
Hachiman was thinking too.
Since Suzune Horikita would talk to people, perhaps he could obtain information about her through conversation.
But when he came back to his senses, he found the seat beside him already empty.
Suzune Horikita had packed her bag and left.
Right.
She was still a lone wolf, unfamiliar with social conventions, so naturally there was no need for her to stay and continue talking to him.
There was no need to inform anyone when leaving, either.
Which meant.
Chabashira-sensei had overestimated him. How could he possibly gather Horikita's file so quickly?
Then.
That night.
It was the second night of living at Advanced Nurturing High School. At nine o'clock in the evening.
Before you continue