Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

Kikyō made her move.

After watching Suzune's figure disappear from view, she turned around and prepared to deploy her strategy.

"Oreki-kun—" She gazed at his face with pleading eyes, clearly trying to make eye contact.

This was her special technique. She was well aware of her cuteness and knew exactly how to weaponize it.

Unfortunately for Kikyō, I had overheard her true feelings on the day of Kakeru's fighting incident when I went to find Suzune. She had described me as nothing but a lustful person.

While Houtarou wasn't one to hold grudges, he did keep mental notes. He took half a step back.

Yet just as he steadied himself, someone suddenly cradled his left hand.

Hey, is this allowed, Kikyō?

Houtarou found his hand caught in her delicate fingers, their gentle squeeze immediately transferring her warmth.

Another hand-holding scene? And this...

"Oreki-kun—" Her voice had shifted to a different pitch as she gazed at him with expectant eyes.

"..."

Though several days had passed since their last meeting, she certainly hadn't lost her touch.

Having his hand held by a girl made Houtarou uncomfortable.

Unlike Arisu, Suzune, and Honami, Kikyō wasn't considered a top-tier beauty. Yet her cuteness, especially when she smiled like a little angel, gave her considerable charm.

Moreover, something seemed different about her.

Houtarou noticed her uniform bow tie was missing, and the first button of her blouse was undone.

The view that greeted him was rather striking.

Was this her way of following up on treating him like a lustful man in front of Suzune?

He quickly averted his gaze.

"What do you want to ask?" Houtarou said, "I'll tell you."

Little Kikyō put on her sweetest expression.

"Was it your suggestion for Horikita to score exactly 51 points in every subject?" She inquired.

Oh, so that was her question.

"I told her to do it." He said, "D Class knew the school rules from day one, just like my A Class. Yet they still lost 1000 Class Points in one month. This shows many people lack proper execution and self-discipline."

"Even with the test papers available from the start of the month, some students likely thought they could postpone studying until the last few days. This probably led to last-minute cramming."

"And since everyone had access to the test papers, even average students could score high marks. This would naturally raise the class's passing score. Having Horikita lower her scores slightly could help balance things out."

"Oh."

Kikyō nodded gently.

"But why didn't you tell me to do the same?" She looked downcast, "I wanted to help everyone too. If I had also controlled my scores to be 51 points, the average might have dropped another point or two. Then Sudō wouldn't have needed to spend money buying points and almost get expelled."

I see. She wanted to help her friend.

"That's rather unfortunate." Houtarou said, "I wasn't thinking about who might get expelled in your class. You've been in contact with the third years, so you know how many students are left in Class D?"

"32 people." Kikyō answered quickly.

He nodded.

"In this school, failing exams and getting expelled is commonplace. If someone gets the test papers — making it essentially an open-book exam — and still fails, their expulsion is quite reasonable. Having Horikita control her scores was just about creating an image. It appeared to help others, but really it was to establish her as a top student who deliberately scored lower for struggling students."

"So it was to boost Horikita's popularity and improve her image?" Kikyō guessed.

"More or less." Houtarou nodded, "She's working toward gathering 20 million points, but that goal is distant, and she's still in Class D. After two months, I haven't seen any class group chats on her phone. I suspected she might be being ostracized."

"Actually, I invited her, but she refused. She said since it wasn't mandatory for school, she wouldn't join."

The Little Angel quickly said, indicating that she wasn't leading Suzune's ostracism and had even tried to include her.

Houtarou remained silent.

Because previously in the library, Kikyō had treated Suzune like a trash can. Even now, she blocked Suzune's way at her door every day — hardly a sign of goodwill.

He strongly suspected that her daily blocking of Suzune's door was no longer about building a good relationship, but rather deliberately making life difficult for the lone girl.

It was revenge for being consistently ignored.

First, give Suzune a bad mood every morning. For Kikyō, it became the start of each day's good mood.

The relationships between girls were really complicated — he still didn't understand them. His only reference point was the relationship between Arisu and Masumi.

Though even that hardly seemed like a true friendship.

"However—" Kikyō let go of his hand, "Oreki and Horikita being close enough to check each other's phones is really enviable. Even though we're the ones who are friends."

She pouted again.

This was the condition she had hoped Houtarou would agree to when she was arranged to help fleece Classes B and C. After being rejected by Suzune, she had approached him as an indirect route.

As a result, even though they were friends, he always focused his attention on Suzune.

Did she feel neglected?

"I can let you check my phone now too." Houtarou said.

Then, demonstrating his sincerity, he took out his phone.

"Is that so..." Kikyō put on a cute expression, "I can exchange phones with Oreki-kun too. But girls have some private things on their phones that would be embarrassing to show others, so maybe next time."

Does this imply Suzune isn't a girl?

When Houtarou noticed Kikyō had fallen silent, she suddenly lowered her head.

"If it had been me earlier—" She pressed her left hand to her chest, hiding her expression.

"Earlier?"

"No, it's nothing." She quickly raised her head, her angelic face returning, "Lunch break is almost over, I'll head back first~ Goodbye, Oreki-kun."

She buttoned up her blouse, took out her bow tie from her pocket, tied it on, and quickly ran away.

Watching her retreating figure, Houtarou stood there for a while.

He had a strange feeling that Kikyō had wanted to say something — something that might have revealed her true feelings.

But she hadn't said them, which meant she was rejecting him.

In other words, he hadn't reached her heart. And perhaps it was better that way. After all, she was troublesome.

Her deep obsession with Suzune could override all other emotions. Getting involved with her heart would only lead to complications.

Still, he didn't dislike her. Kikyō provided valuable insights.

Though her attention put pressure on him, she had undeniably been helping him understand girls better — teaching him their strategies and tactics.

So, probably the next time Honami shows a cute expression, he'll have enough experience points gained from the little angel to resist the big angel.

This lunch break outing proved quite productive.

While Houtarou had arranged for Suzune to score exactly 51 points on all tests, her decision to spend Points helping Sudō and then demand compensation in Class Points was entirely her own initiative.

In other words, Suzune — once merely a timid girl who struggled to read people and social situations — was showing real growth.

She had evolved. Her brother would likely be proud.

Still, there was room for improvement. Though they achieved their goal — preventing expulsions and gaining 70 Class Points — Suzune's request for 50 Points only resulted in 20.

This showed she still lacked the influence and respect she deserved within the class.

Yet Yōsuke's willingness to compromise with the 20 Class Points was promising. It demonstrated that, as class leader, he could be both reasonable and flexible.

Where there's room for compromise, there's room for dialogue.

This school operated on two principles: strength and Points.

Given how often we've exploited Class C lately, Kakeru likely won't focus on collecting Points this month.

This means Class D could become our secondary Points reserve.

Houtarou reflected.

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