Hello, Big Brain

The system picked up another faint trace of negative emotion.

Emotion Points from Kikyo Kushida +5.

Kazami Saku quietly pocketed the points and sighed again. Sure enough, she already thought he was a weirdo.

Kikyo Kushida agonized over it for quite a while, but ultimately decided not to avoid Kazami Saku outright. She could not let her grand ambitions end at the hands of the person before her.

The bus drew closer and closer to the stop for Advanced Nurturing High School, cherry blossom petals dancing through the air outside and constantly sweeping past the windows.

He had clearly just made such an outrageous request, asking Kikyo Kushida to say "Big Brain" quietly. An ordinary person would most likely have taken him for a mentally unstable weirdo and given him a wide berth, finding even talking to him a bother. Yet Kikyo Kushida had not distanced herself from him. Instead, she shifted her feet and stood beside Kazami Saku, looking ready to keep chatting.

Kazami Saku could not help feeling surprised.

This girl really is kindhearted. Even after I acted like that, she's still willing to talk to me.

He had originally been thinking of finding another chance to make Kikyo Kushida say "Big Brain" a few more times, farming several more rounds of Emotion Points and copying some more useful abilities along the way. But seeing the gentle smile on her face, and how she still maintained her friendly manner toward others, Kazami Saku actually felt a little guilty.

Sigh, with her treating me like this, I really can't bring myself to keep going.

He temporarily suppressed the thought of farming abilities and abandoned the idea of continuing to milk Kikyo Kushida.

Just then, the bus slowly decelerated, its brakes screeching.

They had arrived at Advanced Nurturing High School.

The doors opened with a hiss, and the new students filed off the bus. Pink and white cherry blossoms lay on the asphalt, soft underfoot.

Amid the flowing crowd, Kazami Saku immediately spotted two figures standing in front of the school gates.

A girl with long, straight, jet-black hair and coldly beautiful features was frowning, staring icily at a boy in front of her.

This girl's looks are no worse than Kushida's, Kazami marveled.

The boy before her had such an unremarkable presence that he seemed as though he would disappear if tossed into a crowd, though he was good-looking too.

This school is full of handsome guys and pretty girls. For a moment, Kazami wondered whether he had enrolled in a school that trained celebrities.

The two stood facing each other, the atmosphere tense.

"Why did you keep staring at me on the bus?" The black-haired girl's brows were tightly knitted, her tone full of wariness. Her sharp gaze stayed fixed on the boy, unwilling to let even the slightest change in his expression slip past.

The boy's expression remained unchanged, not a trace of emotion showing on his face, and his voice was flat. "Our eyes just happened to meet. There wasn't any particular meaning behind it."

"Happened to? There can't possibly be that many coincidences." Suzune Horikita was not buying it at all. She folded her arms across her chest, distrust written all over her.

Standing a short distance away and watching, Kazami Saku could not help silently marveling.

Whoa, there really are plenty of weirdos.

One's all guarded, cornering someone to interrogate him about where he was looking, and the other's as placid as water, as though nothing has anything to do with him. They've only just enrolled, and they're already staging a showdown. This school really is full of hidden talent. Looks like whatever I do later won't stand out too much.

Rather than keep watching their farcical confrontation, Kazami Saku followed the crowd into the imposing school building and checked the class assignments on the noticeboard.

Class D.

After looking around the school, he followed the corridor to the Class D classroom and pushed open the door. More than half the students had already arrived, and a clamor of voices greeted him.

Kazami Saku scanned the classroom, then headed straight to his seat and sat down. Coincidentally, the student seated behind him was precisely the black-haired girl who had been confronting someone else at the gates. Yes, the boy she had been confronting was her seatmate.

Suzune Horikita glanced at Kazami Saku. The instant she recognized his face, she pressed one hand to her forehead and let out a long breath, helplessness written across her features.

"What a cursed connection."

Kazami Saku: ...

Seriously? We've only just met, and it's already a cursed connection?

His gaze swept over the other corners of the classroom. Aside from those two, the blond boy on the bus who had argued against doing good deeds without compensation, and Kikyo Kushida, who had spoken to him earlier, were actually all in Class D as well. Not a single person he was bound to run into had escaped. Everyone was here. No wonder she called it a cursed connection.

Noisy conversations continued throughout the classroom as many of the new students exchanged names, getting acquainted with the classmates they would spend the next three years with.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji looked at the cold-faced girl beside him and asked, "I haven't asked your name yet."

Suzune Horikita's expression was chilly, her tone devoid of courtesy. "I have no intention of telling you."

"Is that so?" Unfazed, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji went on, "My name is Kiyotaka Ayanokoji."

"I didn't ask your name," Suzune Horikita said mercilessly, casting him a sidelong glance.

In the end, though, she still briefly gave her name. "Suzune Horikita."

Having introduced himself, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji naturally turned toward the seated Kazami Saku. His gaze remained calm as he continued asking, "What's your name?"

Kazami Saku braced himself inwardly. With a solemn expression and an utterly serious tone, he enunciated every word. "Hello, Ayanokoji. Please call me Big Brain."

Emotion Points from Suzune Horikita +5

Kazami Saku silently clicked his tongue. Interesting. It actually came from someone who wasn't being addressed. Even Suzune Horikita had an emotional reaction to that bizarre introduction, yet Ayanokoji felt nothing at all.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's gaze shifted slightly. He fell silent for half a second, then readily obliged. "Have we already become close friends who can call each other by our nicknames? Hello, Big Brain."

Suzune Horikita: ...

Her gaze darted back and forth between Kazami Saku and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

One was solemnly demanding that people call him Big Brain, while the other did so without a flicker of expression, seeing absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Suzune Horikita's head began to ache faintly. What kind of people are these?

Kazami was speechless too. This guy is even more ridiculous than I am.

Before he could think about anything else, the system's voice rang out. Randomly copying the target's ability... Ability acquired: Mathematics lv4.

Kazami acknowledged his earlier prejudice. That's right, Ayanokoji is my close friend from now on. No matter what anyone says, he's my close friend. What kind of genius is this? He's already reached this level in mathematics at such a young age.

Kazami clasped Ayanokoji's hand. "That's right, my close friend. Please keep calling me by my nickname from now on."

Ayanokoji nodded. Looks like making friends isn't that hard. I already have a close friend.

Hearing that familiar name, Kikyo Kushida, seated up front, gave a sharp shudder of her shoulders, a complicated expression appearing on her face.

Here it comes again. That iconic Big Brain scene has already played out again in class.

Kazami Saku calmly endured the stares coming from every direction, inwardly unperturbed. He even felt a slight urge to sigh.

If I have to die of embarrassment, so be it. For the sake of abilities, it's all worth it.