Spend It in Prison

The hall for the entrance ceremony was vast and spacious. Kazami Saku followed Class D to their seats, then looked around in boredom.

He had to admit, back in Class D's classroom, he had already marveled at how attractive the girls in his class were. But looking around now, the girls from the other classes were every bit their equals. Girls of all appearances were scattered throughout the hall: some cool and aloof, some lively and energetic, others composed and quiet. Every one of them was strikingly pretty.

Kazami Saku couldn't help grumbling to himself.

Was this really a college-prep high school, or an idol audition? With so many handsome guys and beautiful girls gathered here, he was getting dazed enough to wonder whether he had come to the wrong place.

Still, not everyone could be good-looking. There were also plenty of people in the crowd who seemed to be there just to fill out the numbers.

His gaze swept over the front rows, where a gleaming bald head stood out particularly sharply. Not far away stood a burly Black guy with broad shoulders and a physique like a wrestler, a full size larger than the average student.

Kazami Saku couldn't help wondering whether these people were really first-year students his age. Whether it was the bald guy's mature air or the burly guy's overwhelmingly large build, neither looked his age at all.

He dutifully listened through the long, tedious entrance address onstage. The proceedings slowly drew to a close, and the entrance ceremony officially ended.

The crowd streamed out through the hall's exits like a tide. The new students formed groups of two or three, planning to buy daily necessities at the campus shopping district. With a hundred thousand points coming in every month, almost everyone wanted to experience this campus shopping system where they could buy anything.

"Ayanokoji, want to go buy some things together?" Kazami Saku turned his head and took the initiative to invite the boy beside him.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji raised his eyes slightly, his expression as flat as ever, and gave a small nod. "Sure."

The two walked side by side toward the campus shopping district. Shops lined both sides of the street, with convenience stores, clothing stores, and more arranged one after another. People bustled to and fro.

While they were choosing goods from the shelves, a familiar figure appeared in their field of view: Suzune Horikita.

She stood alone before a shelf, comparing products with a frown. Clearly, she had also come to buy daily necessities.

Kazami Saku's eyes lit up. He raised a hand in greeting and walked right over to strike up a conversation. "Hey, what a coincidence. Fancy running into you here."

Hearing his voice, Suzune Horikita slowly turned around. She saw Kazami Saku and also caught sight of Kiyotaka Ayanokoji standing beside him. Her eyes instantly filled with wariness, and her brow knitted tightly.

"...I strongly suspect that you two are following me."

Kazami Saku immediately waved both hands, looking utterly innocent. "Nothing of the sort! From the bus today to the classroom, and now the shopping district, we keep running into each other. Isn't that enough to prove we're destined to meet?"

Suzune Horikita's tone was icy. "Then it really is an ill-fated connection."

"That's so mean." Kazami Saku clutched his chest, acting deeply wounded. "Even someone as cheerful and broad-minded as me feels hurt and sad when you call our connection ill-fated."

Then his tone shifted, his eyes sparkling as he offered his terms. "But if you're willing to call me Big Brain, I'll be magnanimous and forgive you for what you just said."

Suzune Horikita: ...

Several seconds of silence followed.

A vein faintly throbbed at the girl's temple. As though forcibly suppressing her surging emotions, she squeezed out two words.

"You're nuts."

With that, she turned her head away, completely ignoring Kazami Saku and refusing to engage with him any further.

Seeing this, Kazami Saku didn't pester her. He shrugged, turned toward the shelves, and began choosing everyday essentials such as towels and toiletry sets. The system panel was still quietly running. That exchange had earned him another few scattered Emotion Points from Suzune Horikita. Little by little, they added up.

Just then, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji casually picked up a razor in intact packaging from a nearby shelf and walked over to Suzune Horikita.

Under Kazami Saku's stunned gaze, he struck up a conversation without a change in expression, his tone flat:

"Don't you need this? For down..."

Kazami Saku: !!!

His brain crashed on the spot.

A master! So there had been a hidden master beside him all along.

What had he done to deserve being placed in the same class as someone like this?

In a single second, the air in that area froze solid.

Suzune Horikita went rigid where she stood, staring at Ayanokoji in disbelief. What on earth was this person saying?

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison?"

"Uh, sorry." Although Ayanokoji apologized very earnestly, his expression didn't change in the slightest. He didn't look sincere at all.

Then Ayanokoji got hit and let out an "Ugh!" Suzune Horikita had definitely trained that move. Even when she hit someone, she used a proper technique.

A faint flush spread across Suzune Horikita's cheeks. It definitely wasn't a young girl's bashfulness. Though Kazami didn't know much about girls, he could be certain of that.

The girl's gaze was sharp as a knife. "Don't say such ridiculous things! Next time, I won't go so easy on you!"

Looking at Ayanokoji's pained expression, Kazami swallowed. This didn't look like going easy on him, either.

After delivering her warning, Suzune Horikita clenched her fists and glared fiercely at him. Without lingering any longer, she turned and strode away from the shelves, even her footsteps carrying anger.

As she passed Kazami, she glared at him too. Kazami was entirely innocent. He hadn't been the one who said it.

Only Kazami Saku and Ayanokoji, who had taken a hit, remained.

Ayanokoji lowered his eyes to look at the spot on his abdomen where he had been hit, then raised his head to Kazami Saku. Pure confusion covered his face as he asked in a very serious tone:

"Was there something wrong with what I just said?"

Kazami Saku stared blankly at him. After two seconds of silence, he stepped forward, reached out, and gave Ayanokoji a heavy pat on the shoulder.

"I'm really curious how you managed to grow up safe and sound."

His eyes were full of admiration, and he felt a deep respect for the classmate before him.

"And you actually managed to say something that suicidal without so much as a change in expression or a racing heartbeat."

Kazami Saku cupped his fist in his other hand toward Ayanokoji in a gesture of utmost admiration. "Impressive. You have my recognition. I hereby declare you the strongest of the new students."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji watched his exaggerated reaction, still thoroughly puzzled.

"I really didn't do anything, though."

The boy was very confused. Didn't the book say that cracking the occasional joke could help bring people closer?

Kazami Saku was speechless for a moment. He had still underestimated the people of this world.

He hadn't done anything? That was outright harassment, wasn't it? He had provoked Suzune Horikita into hitting him, and he called that not doing anything?

Kazami Saku let out a long breath. Class D really didn't have a single normal person.