The entire classroom was silent. There were no exclamations, no commotion.
The elites of Class A, having learned the rules of the s system, had discipline etched into their bones.
After the preparatory bell, any behavior that disrupted classroom order could bring unnecessary risks.
Just then, the homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomoya, walked into the classroom, his steps echoing the lingering sound of the bell.
He was well-built, his teacher's uniform immaculate, and his hawk-like gaze habitually swept over this territory, which held the highest expectations—ready to confront any potential slackness or disturbance that might arise on a new day.
However, the scene before him made him pause slightly.
The classroom was utterly silent! Forty students, including Sakamoto-kun, who had just taken his seat right on time, were all sitting upright like statues, their gazes fixed intently on the direction of the podium.
A fleeting, almost imperceptible trace of surprise crossed Mashima's eyes.
Just one day... the adaptability of this group of elites was indeed remarkable.
His sharp gaze subconsciously swept over Sakamoto-kun by the window, then over Sakayanagi Arisu by the wall. The weight of certain names on his "special attention" list seemed to have increased by a few points.
He suppressed the stir in his heart, cleared his throat, and regained his teacher's authority:
"Class is now starting."
His voice was deep and powerful.
The first period was English. Mashima's explanations were clear and rigorous, and his blackboard writing was strong and vigorous.
The students below listened with exceptional focus, their pens rustling as they took notes, and the question-and-answer session was active and orderly.
Sakamoto-kun sat by the window, his gaze intently fixed on the blackboard, occasionally lowering his head to quickly jot down notes in his notebook, his posture upright, his expression calm and unruffled.
The bell for the end of class rang.
Mashima had just announced the end of class, closed his lesson plan, and turned to leave.
"Whoosh—"
Almost simultaneously, Sakamoto-kun's seat by the window was instantly surrounded, making it impossible to pass! In stark contrast to the quietness during class, a passion that had been suppressed for an entire period erupted instantly.
"Sakamoto-kun! That was amazing!"
Hashimoto Masayoshi was the first to push his way to the desk, his face beaming with a bright smile, his eyes full of excitement.
"That trick yesterday, the 'paper airplane' and the hint to 'buy information with points,' was simply brilliant! If it weren't for you, how would we have thought to ask the upperclassmen about 'class points'? I was in charge of observing, but it was all thanks to your idea!"
Other classmates also chimed in, their gazes toward Sakamoto-kun filled with admiration and curiosity.
Just then, a figure agilely pushed through the crowd and stood before Sakamoto-kun's desk.
Her purple shoulder-length hair was tied into two playful pigtails, her light purple eyes sparkled with an unusual light, and a hint of an unconventional smile played on her lips. She was Morishita Ai.
"Hey, Sakamoto-kun!"
She spoke directly, her voice clear and carrying an undeniable straightforwardness,
"What's your full name? Sakamoto-kun?"
Sakamoto-kun looked up, his gaze behind his black-rimmed glasses calmly meeting hers. He nodded slightly, his posture elegant, his voice clear and calm, preparing to answer:
"I am Sakamoto-kun..."
However, just as he spoke, someone in the back of the classroom accidentally knocked over a stack of books, creating a loud "whoosh"! The books scattered across the floor, attracting the attention of most people and conveniently drowning out the latter half of Sakamoto-kun's sentence.
Morishita Ai's smile instantly froze, then turned into a dark scowl. She frowned deeply, her light purple eyes staring intently at Sakamoto-kun, as if trying to see through him.
She didn't hear clearly! The crucial name wasn't heard clearly!
This unexpected incident made her extremely annoyed, but Sakamoto-kun's still calm and unruffled expression, as if nothing had happened, only made the unusual curiosity and interest in her eyes burn even more intensely.
Not everyone joined the encirclement.
Sakayanagi Arisu remained quietly seated by the wall, her gaze calmly sweeping over Sakamoto-kun's completely surrounded seat, the playful curve of her lips unchanged, lost in thought.
Katsuragi Kohei sat in the front row, his sturdy frame motionless, his brows slightly furrowed, his sharp eyes sweeping over Sakamoto-kun, then over the fervent crowd. He disliked this atmosphere of personal adoration.
Kamuro Masumi leaned back in her chair, her purple eyes gazing out the window, seemingly indifferent to the clamor in front of her.
To the right of the classroom, an ordinary-looking boy with little presence—Totsuka Yahiko—pursed his lips and muttered under his breath:
"Putting on airs... riding on someone else's coattails."
At the center of the storm, Sakamoto-kun's expression remained unchanged in the face of Hashimoto Masayoshi's excitement, Morishita Ai's persistence, and the chatter of other classmates' questions.
He calmly adjusted his cuff, his movements smooth and elegant, then slightly raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.
"Fellow classmates,"
His voice was clear and steady, carrying a peculiar penetrative power that instantly quelled the surrounding noise,
"Yesterday, it was merely my response to the situation. The glory of Class A lies in your own wisdom and initiative, not in relying on any one person's guidance."
He bowed slightly, his posture respectful yet composed:
"All I can do is provide a stepping stone. The road ahead is long, and it requires all of you to walk hand in hand."
The students gathered around the desk, including Morishita Ai with her dark scowl, all involuntarily quieted down, impressed by his composure and breadth of vision.
Sakamoto-kun, this elegant and mysterious classmate, once again, in his unique way, left an unforgettable impression on the second day of school.
first year o enrollment: Chapter 010: Sakamoto-kun Targeted
The midday sun streamed through the large floor-to-ceiling windows into the spacious No. 1 cafeteria of Koudo Ikusei High School.
The air was filled with the aroma of various foods, and the students' laughter and the clinking of cutlery intertwined to form a vibrant background sound.
In the central area of this hustle and bustle, at the best spot near the panoramic window, sat two eye-catching second year students.
Nagumo Miyabi leaned back in his chair in a relaxed posture, his neat golden short hair shining with an almost platinum luster in the sunlight, a few stray strands casually falling across his full forehead.
His face was handsome, his nose bridge high, and his eyes now held a hint of casual sharpness, like a lazy cheetah.
He was idly poking at the exquisite spaghetti on his plate with a fork, clearly not focused on the food.
Sitting opposite him was Asahina Natsume, her smooth brown long hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall, a striking sunflower-shaped hairpin made of golden petals and green leaves nestled in her hair, adding a touch of playfulness and vitality to her gentle demeanor.
With a hint of a helpless smile, she glanced at Nagumo Miyabi's almost untouched lunch.
"Nagumo, are you eating lunch?"
She drew out her words, tapping her fingertip lightly on the table, her sunflower hairpin swaying slightly with her movement,
"With you so distracted, the food on your plate is almost cold. Wasting food isn't the example a Vice President should set, Miyabi."
Nagumo Miyabi then withdrew his gaze from the cafeteria entrance, a playful, cynical curve appearing on his lips:
"Natsume, food is just for energy replenishment, the mission is the main course."
He picked up a napkin and elegantly wiped his mouth, a subtle hint of impatience in his movements,
"Besides, you know very well that there aren't many things that I find 'interesting' right now."
"Oh?"
Asahina Natsume raised an eyebrow, her brown long hair sliding over her shoulder,
"Other than making Horikita-senpai your target and thinking day in and day out about how to 'invite' him down from his throne?"
"That is the inevitable destination."
Nagumo Miyabi admitted frankly, his eyes sparkling with a sharp light,
"But that doesn't mean we can't find new fun on the way to the destination. Especially..."
He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice a bit, with a hint of excitement at discovering new prey,
"When an interesting obstacle, or... an interesting fellow traveler, might appear on this path."
He no longer looked at Asahina Natsume's understanding expression, his gaze once again sharply directed towards the bustling crowd at the entrance. His presence here was, of course, not just for lunch.
As the "uncrowned king" who effectively controlled the entire second year, his intelligence network had long since permeated every corner of the school.
Yesterday, the small "commotion" that occurred on the first day of first year o enrollment had already been distilled into a clear report delivered to him: a new student from Class 1-A dared to directly intrude into the upperclassmen area right after the entrance ceremony, attempting to probe the core mechanism of "class points";
After being stonewalled by the upperclassmen, someone even proposed using precious personal points to buy information—this boldness and way of thinking were far beyond what an ordinary new student could possess.
Nagumo Miyabi almost immediately saw the key to it all.
Behind this, there must be someone with a clear mind, who understood how to use rules and possessed influence, driving it.
He immediately issued an instruction: allow the second year student who held the information to sell the core information about the class points operation mechanism to Class 1-A at an "absurdly low" price.
This price was so low it was almost a gift. Rather than a transaction, it was more like a bait thrown out by Nagumo Miyabi, or rather, a silent invitation to the "instigator."
"What mischief are you plotting now?"
Asahina Natsume was too familiar with that look in his eyes—it was the excitement of a chess player discovering a new piece.
"Selling important information at such a low price, that's not like you. Cultivating an opponent?"
"Just making the game a little more interesting."
Nagumo Miyabi chuckled, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table, his gaze like a precise searchlight scanning the crowd of new students,
"A guy who can lead an entire class to make such a bold move on the first day of first year o enrollment... If he's just mediocre, then that bit of information can be considered a 'welcome gift' to the new students. But if..."
He paused, his tone carrying a hint of anticipation,
"If it's an interesting 'seedling,' watering it in advance to see how tall a tree it can grow, isn't that very interesting? After all, besides Horikita-senpai, this school hasn't had an opponent who has truly piqued my interest enough for a serious 'contest' in a long time."
His second year students had also provided a crucial clue: yesterday morning, shortly after the entrance ceremony, a black-haired boy with black-rimmed glasses and a calm demeanor was indeed seen wandering and observing in the upperclassmen's teaching area. His behavior showed a focus and purposefulness that was out of place for an ordinary new student.
Although the person left before the preparatory bell, that deliberately low-key yet not entirely concealable presence left an impression on the eyewitness.
Nagumo Miyabi used his authority as student council vice president to easily retrieve this new student's information—Sakamoto-kun, Class 1-A. His academic record was unremarkable, with all indicators fluctuating around the average level of Class A, without any particularly outstanding records, like a drop of water perfectly blending into the ocean.
However, Nagumo Miyabi scoffed at this "perfect average."
Records could be embellished, but the insight and boldness to drive an entire class's actions and dare to challenge unknown rules were certainly not measurable by the cold letters and numbers on a file.
"So, you're sure that new student named 'Sakamoto-kun' is the person you're looking for?"
Asahina Natsume followed his gaze, only seeing groups of ordinary First Year students in their brand-new burgundy uniforms, with excited and curious expressions.
"A hunch."
Nagumo Miyabi's gaze was like a hawk's, patiently and sharply filtering through the crowd,
"Files can lie, but actions don't. Someone who can come up with a breakthrough idea like 'buying information with points' will never be content with mediocrity. He must be here..."
Just then, an extremely subtle commotion at the cafeteria entrance caught Nagumo Miyabi's attention.
It wasn't noise, but more like an invisible aura spreading out, causing the flowing crowd to naturally part, creating a gap. A tall and slender figure appeared at the end of the gap—black-rimmed glasses, a distinctive tear mole under his left eye, and an impeccably ironed burgundy school uniform. It was Sakamoto-kun.
He paid no mind to the curious and scrutinizing gazes falling upon him, his steps steady and fluid, walking purposefully towards a relatively less crowded serving window.
However, what attracted Nagumo Miyabi's gaze was not just Sakamoto-kun's appearance, but his almost artistic posture while waiting in line.
Sakamoto-kun did not stand loosely like others, nor was he looking down at his phone.
His feet were slightly apart, his center of gravity firmly in the middle, his back as straight as a pine, like a precisely calibrated ruler inserted into the noisy queue. His gaze calmly rested on the menu board ahead, his hands naturally hanging down, but his fingertips were slightly curled inward, carrying a strange alertness and composure, as if ready to deal with any sudden situation.
In Nagumo Miyabi's eyes, this posture was certainly not that of an ordinary student. It was more like a silent declaration of absolute control over his surroundings, ingrained in his very being.
He didn't even deliberately draw attention, but that calm aura had already made several new students, who were initially a bit pushy, unconsciously restrain their movements and maintain a slight distance.
"Is it him?"
Asahina Natsume also noticed Sakamoto-kun, and Nagumo Miyabi's suddenly focused gaze.
She carefully observed the black-haired young man. Aside from his overly composed demeanor and his excessively handsome face, there seemed to be nothing particularly out of the ordinary.
Nagumo Miyabi did not answer immediately.
His gaze was fixed on Sakamoto-kun, watching him elegantly take his meal and turn to find a seat. That stillness and composure that created a world of his own in the noisy cafeteria, that aura that exuded from his every movement, as if he were naturally meant to be watched... "Do you see it, Natsume?"
Nagumo Miyabi's voice held a hint of barely concealed astonishment, his eyes sparkling with the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent,
"That's not 'blending in,' that's 'controlling.' He stands in the crowd, yet it's like he's standing center stage, almost like... a natural spotlight magnet!"
He picked up the water glass beside him, his gaze closely following Sakamoto-kun's figure, as if admiring a newly acquired, infinitely promising collectible.