The first friend

A beautiful, poised girl with a radiant smile on her face was looking in his direction.

She had waist-length pink hair and blue eyes like sapphires. Beneath her bangs, her features were exquisite, and paired with her brilliant smile, they gave her an almost irresistible air of friendliness.

Most importantly, there were the impressive curves that pushed out her burgundy uniform, her slender waist that looked small enough to encircle with one hand, and her long, straight legs.

Ichinose Honami, nicknamed the Archangel!

The future leader of Class B.

On paper, her grades ranked first in the entire year. She was willing to treat everyone with gentleness and tolerance, possessed a strong sense of justice, and had an acceptance so overwhelming that it could stifle everyone's individuality.

Ding!

Eligible target detected: Ichinose Honami!

"Affection Rating module activated!"

"At Affection Rating 60, you become good friends and can unlock the achievement [Important Friend]."

"At Affection Rating 80, you become special friends and can unlock the achievement [Mutual appreciation]."

"At Affection Rating 90, she considers you her most trusted friend (falls in love with you) and will never betray you. You can earn friendship points! You can unlock the achievement [Beyond lovers]."

"At Affection Rating 100, you can receive a mysterious reward! You can unlock the achievement [Perfect harmony]."

"Current Affection Rating: 10."

Academic ability: A

Physical ability: B

Approachability: S

Intelligence: A-

Judgment: A

After receiving the notification, Natsukawa Tatsuya checked her information. The system had given him the most authoritative assessment.

When he had checked other people before, there had never been this much information. As expected, the system favored eligible targets who had appeared in the original story.

Natsukawa Tatsuya gave Ichinose Honami a brilliant smile.

Realizing he had caught her watching him, Ichinose smiled and gave a slight nod in response.

According to the school rules on the admission notice, after enrolling in Advanced Nurturing High School, students could neither leave the school nor contact the outside world for three years.

According to the information booklet, the school's facilities could fully meet the students' daily needs.

He was outside the school gates as well, so Ichinose Honami had already established that this boy in the school's standard uniform was also a new student enrolling this year.

She had simply been a little curious about the commotion he and his four seemingly delinquent companions had caused earlier, so she had watched them for a while. Her previous school had never had students like that. She had not expected him to notice.

Ichinose Honami gathered her courage. She had a past she could not bear to look back on. Hadn't she come to this school, where contact with the outside world was forbidden, to start over and make new friends?

So Ichinose Honami waited on the steps and smiled brightly at Natsukawa Tatsuya as he approached.

"Hello! Are you a new student at Advanced Nurturing High School too?"

"That's right. I'm enrolling this year too."

"Sorry for staring at you earlier! I'm Ichinose Honami. It's nice to meet you!"

She really was Honami the Archangel, with her S-rank approachability. Her sweet smile made Natsukawa Tatsuya's heart flutter a little...

Even if she really did something wrong, other people probably wouldn't have the heart to blame her.

Besides, Natsukawa Tatsuya didn't think she had anything to apologize for, but that was how things always were in Japan, and he was used to it...

Natsukawa Tatsuya replied with a smile.

"It's fine. I'm Natsukawa Tatsuya. It's nice to meet you too, Ichinose. Let's go together."

Ding! Affection Rating: 20. Achievement unlocked: [Casual friends]. Reward: 20 friendship points.

Ichinose Honami accepted Natsukawa Tatsuya's invitation, and the two chatted as they walked toward the school gates.

"Natsukawa, sorry to bring this up, but can I ask you something out of curiosity?"

"It's fine. Go ahead."

"Hey, were those four boys with you earlier delinquents?"

"They were my classmates in middle school. I suppose they are."

Ichinose Honami seemed a little excited, talking to Natsukawa Tatsuya as though they had been friends for a long time.

"Oh! Really? I've only heard my classmates talk about them before. I've never actually met any."

Natsukawa Tatsuya gave an awkward smile and said:

"They're really just a bunch of hotheaded, sincere idiots I'm friends with. They aren't bad people."

Ichinose hurried to explain.

"No, no, Natsukawa, that's not what I meant. Sorry, I was just a little curious! At first, I thought another new student had gotten into trouble, but after watching, it seemed that wasn't the case."

Ichinose continued with a smile.

"Hey, Natsukawa, your hair is cherry-blossom pink. Are you a delinquent too?"

"I guess I thought Natsukawa would be the stern type, but you're surprisingly gentle when you speak."

Honami really was the Archangel with maxed-out approachability, able to chat pleasantly with anyone and come up with topics. Natsukawa replied:

"You're a very gentle person too, Ichinose."

Ichinose Honami smiled with a faint blush.

"Thank you for the compliment, Natsukawa. Anyway, I think you're pretty amazing too, being able to become good friends with the delinquents in your middle school. I've decided to get to know new classmates and make friends at my new school too!"

"Haven't we become friends now? Right, Ichinose?"

"Yes! It's a pleasure to meet you! Natsukawa, you're the first friend I've made at my new school!"

"You're the first friend I've made at this school too, Ichinose Honami. I'll treasure that!"

Ding! Affection Rating +10.

At the school gates, the two handed their admission paperwork to the person in charge and surrendered the electronic devices in their backpacks. This was mainly to prevent students from contacting the outside world.

Beyond the gates lay a broad street, with a noticeboard marked by an arrow at its far end. Tall buildings stood all around up ahead. It was easy to imagine that the school grounds were a vast commercial district fully capable of being self-sufficient.

The ground was paved with large, exquisite slabs of marble, and neatly trimmed ornamental trees grew around them. Those alone made it clear how expensive the place was...

"It's so beautiful, Natsukawa. I'm sure we'll have a wonderful three years at this school."

"Yeah. I guess this is what you'd expect from a state-backed school. Just looking at the surrounding buildings, you can imagine how perfect the facilities inside must be. Still, with the government behind it, that's only natural."

"Natsukawa, I hope we're assigned to the same class."

The same class?

Natsukawa pondered. Back then, he had learned that only female characters who had appeared in Classroom of the Elite were eligible targets he could pursue to earn friendship points.

That was why he had deliberately controlled his performance in both the written exam and the interview.

Although his gift for memorization meant that Natsukawa's academic ability would be top-tier if he took things seriously, he had deliberately kept his written exam score very low and put on a self-centered act during the interview.

Having read the original, Natsukawa knew about all four classes. Class D, where the protagonist was, definitely had the most female characters who appeared in the story. Although there was a chance he would have to face someone who only passed for human, he had the system, so he wasn't worried at all...

It all depended on how thoroughly the school had investigated him. His physical ability and interpersonal relationships would probably affect his class placement too.

"I don't know, but I hope I'm in the same class as you too, Ichinose."

Soon, the two reached the signboard, which displayed a table listing the class assignments.