The Arrogant Girl Behind Him

"I'm Yukiya Amami. Nice to meet you."

Yukiya smiled as he spoke.

"You two seem close. Did you know each other before this?"

It looked as if Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Suzune Horikita, Kikyo Kushida, and that irritating Rokusuke Koenji had already had their little incident on the bus.

The two in front of him already knew each other.

Horikita lifted her eyes and looked at Yukiya. Then her gaze slowly dropped back to the book in her hands.

Only then did she answer in a cool voice.

"If you can make a judgment like that from a single sentence, all I can say is that your judgment is painfully shallow. Anyone who can look at me and the socially inept person beside me and still use the word friends should probably visit the infirmary and have his eyes checked."

'That was harsh...'

Ayanokoji could not help turning to look at Horikita. 'She cannot mean me, right? I mean, it is true, but that was still too much.'

Yukiya's smile did not change. Her answer was exactly what he had expected.

Suzune Horikita.

The younger sister of third-year Student Council President Manabu Horikita.

She was a beautiful girl with excellent grades and impressive ability in both academics and athletics. However, because she had a severe brother complex, her view of the world was remarkably narrow.

Despite her talent, she lacked empathy in dealing with others and had almost no sense of teamwork.

She believed she was superior to every student her age, misunderstood Manabu Horikita's solitude as something to imitate, and liked to decide on her own that other people were obstacles before kicking them aside.

Yukiya spoke half-jokingly.

"That's pretty harsh. Keep that up and you'll never find a boyfriend."

"That doesn't matter to me."

Horikita finally looked up at him. Her voice was cold.

"I entered this school with a purpose. If you're trying to get friendly with everyone around you, go find someone else. Don't bother me."

With that, she lowered her eyes back to her book. Naturally, Yukiya had no intention of forcing a conversation that was already going nowhere.

He turned slightly toward Ayanokoji and offered him a friendly smile.

Ayanokoji's face remained unreadable, but inside, his thoughts raced as he tried to figure out how a normal high school student was supposed to act.

'Should I introduce myself first? Would that make me seem too familiar? Would it clash with the low-profile persona I am supposed to maintain? What if Horikita notices something is off? If the lie falls apart, will they label me as someone who likes to deceive people? Would that make Horikita and Amami even more suspicious? Would they discover my abilities and make the whole class suspect me?'

Question after question flashed through Ayanokoji's mind, only to be rejected just as quickly.

'Still, since Amami looked at me first, it should be more reasonable for him to speak first. That would not feel unnatural, and I could make my first friend.'

Ayanokoji looked at Yukiya with a faint trace of expectation.

Then he watched Yukiya turn away without sparing him another glance.

'Wait...'

Ayanokoji was a little stunned.

'Are high schoolers all like this now? Then why did he look at me and smile? Is there something wrong with my clothes?'

'Did the White Room teach me everything wrong?'

'Are normal high schoolers actually like Horikita, Amami, and Koenji? Is there something wrong with society itself?'

Ayanokoji reflected on everything he had learned about the outside world.

Yukiya, meanwhile, was not thinking about any of that.

He had no real interest in Ayanokoji.

The White Room's only successful case.

Born with extraordinary talent, Ayanokoji had been locked in the White Room by his father as an experimental subject and subjected to an extremely severe controlled education.

As its only success, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was undeniably impressive.

Years of that education had left him without any real hatred for the White Room. In fact, it had nearly erased his emotions toward the world, leaving behind only curiosity and the joy of learning and growth.

He had escaped the White Room with the help of a butler only because he felt he could no longer grow there.

Through that same butler's introduction, Ayanokoji had come to this school.

A person without emotions could not be controlled.

At the same time, Yukiya knew very well why he had been assigned to Class D.

He was similar to Ayanokoji in one respect: he lacked the ability to trust other people.

As for this school, Yukiya felt only faint disdain.

The world had always run on strength and self-interest.

Unlike Ayanokoji, Yukiya had desire.

He wanted to inherit the Amami family and take control of Japan itself.

"All new students, return to your seats."

At that moment, the click of high heels sounded from outside the classroom.

A beautiful woman stepped through the door, wearing black stockings, a hip-hugging business suit, and a crisp ponytail that gave her an efficient, mature air.

The noisy classroom fell silent at once.

The students quickly returned to their seats. For teenagers who had only just finished middle school, the authority of a teacher still carried considerable weight.

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