Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

[She's not in our class. Given Shiina Hiyori's personality, she probably doesn't have much contact with older students... This person must be from one of the other three classes.]

[However, no matter which class they're from, they'll all be trampled under my feet sooner or later! Although we're in Class D now, I'll climb up step by step, and then when the other three classes let their guard down, I'll devour you all, leaving not even bones behind!]

Kusuo Saiki could hear Ryuen Sho's inner voice, which sounded like a declaration of war.

'Oh dear, oh dear, a troublesome fellow has arrived.'

The reason why Kusuo Saiki didn't want his class ranking to be too high was because he was worried that the higher the ranking, the easier it would be for him to become a target for others.

However, as a freshman who has only been enrolled for a month, this person named Long Yuanxiang seems to be a bit too belligerent.

'As long as it doesn't affect me, it doesn't matter.'

Kusuo Saiki didn't linger his gaze on Ryuen Sho for long before quickly refocusing his attention on the pudding in front of him. Whatever the other party wanted to do, as long as it was none of his business, Kusuo Saiki didn't care.

At this moment, however, Ryuen Sho's attention remained focused on Saiki Kusuo.

[She looks quite thin; is she the type whose academic ability outweighs her physical strength?]

Since they're from other classes, they'll eventually become my stepping stones.

However, we don't know anything about this person yet. Let's provoke them a little and see how they react. Maybe we can get some information from their reaction.

Ryuen Sho noticed the pudding in front of Saiki Kusuo and planned to deliberately knock it off in order to provoke him.

This is his usual tactic: first, he provokes his target to make them impulsive, then assesses their character and abilities, exposes their weaknesses, and finally uses various methods to subdue them completely.

Albert became Ryuu Yuen-sho's follower for this very reason. Even though he was once a delinquent, he was defeated by Ryuu Yuen-sho, who was smaller than him, and even developed a fear of him, eventually becoming his follower.

'If you dare drop my pudding on the ground, you'll bleed to death from every pore in three months!'

Kusuo Saiki's gaze turned icy cold in that instant; he was not joking.

If Ryuen Sho dares to make any move, then Saiki Kusuo will definitely make him pay a price.

However, Kusuo Saiki quickly realized that Ryuen Sho's idea was unlikely to be implemented and did not require his intervention.

"Ryuen, I'm chatting with my friends right now. If there's anything you need to say, please let me know later, okay?"

At that moment, Hiyori Shiina raised her head and smiled at Sho Ryuen.

Although Hiyori Shiina is not good at dealing with other people, she made her stance very clear in this situation, expressing her unwillingness for Ryuen Sho to cause trouble.

As classmates, Hiyori Shiina knew that Sho Ryuen used violence to solve almost everything.

Even though it was only early in the semester and everyone was still getting to know each other, Long Yuanxiang forcibly used violence to gain control of the class.

Many people in the class harbored resentment towards Long Yuanxiang, but none dared to speak out.

There aren't many people in the whole class who dare to talk to the class leader like that...

Albert muttered to himself, glancing at Ibuki Mio out of the corner of his eye, but quickly returning his gaze to Shiina Hiyori.

Kusuo Saiki can hear Albert's inner thoughts. Unlike others, Albert's inner thoughts are entirely in English, but Kusuo Saiki can understand them.

[Hiyori, her mind is probably the most outstanding in the entire Class D; no one can compare to her. She's incredibly smart.]

She doesn't enjoy fighting and can't be used as a very useful pawn, but there's no doubt that Shiina Hiyori is necessary for our class; her intellect may play a very important role in the future.

For now, it's best to maintain a reasonably good relationship with Hiyori. It would be counterproductive to damage our relationship just to test her.

In an instant, Long Yuanxiang made this judgment in his mind, and then a smile appeared on his face:

"I just happened to be passing by and saw you all here, so I thought I'd say hello. Let's get to know each other better later!"

Long Yuanxiang waved his hand and then left the coffee shop with his men.

"Who is that guy?"

"A freshman? He looks so arrogant. And the guy next to him is Black?"

"We absolutely must not provoke him!"

Kusuo Saiki could hear the people around him talking about Sho Ryuen.

Although Ryuu Yuanxiang looks like the kind of person who is extremely violent, he is surprisingly calm in this situation.

Let's make Class C our first target.

[There's still some time before the midterm exams, so let's use this month to observe Class C and gather information about them.]

We need to gradually devour them, then lead the entire class upwards, and finally trample Class A—and that guy in Class A—under our feet.

As he left, Long Yuanxiang smiled, just like a hunter who had spotted his prey.

All of his inner thoughts were clearly heard by Kusuo Saiki.

Chapter 30: Amazing, Qi Mu!

'Oh dear, another troublesome fellow has arrived.'

Kusuo Saiki glanced out of the corner of his eye in the direction Ryuen Sho had left.

'In a sense, Ryuen and Ayanokouji are somewhat similar; both treat those around them as pawns and tools... Are all high school students like this nowadays?'

'But without a doubt, this guy named Ryuen will probably cause a lot of trouble later.'

'Now, things are a bit dangerous both inside and outside the classroom.'

Inside the classroom, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji overheard the information about Sae Chabashira and began to have some suspicions about Kusuo Shiki.

Outside of class, their Class C became Long Yuanxiang's target.

At this moment, Kusuo Saiki really wanted to sigh. This couldn't even be considered a school.

"I'm so sorry, Saiki-kun!"

Hiyori Shiina quickly explained to Kusuo Saiki,

"This is our classmate, named Long Yuanxiang... It's best if Qi Mu doesn't get into a conflict with him."

[Ryūgen beat up almost every boy in the class within the first month of school, thus gaining control of the class... Although I don't approve of his methods, Ryūgen did successfully manage the class; he's quite remarkable... If our Class D is to climb back up, Ryūgen's influence will undoubtedly be essential.]

Is this a scene from a high school drama?

For a moment, Kusuo Saiki was at a loss for words. This was clearly a school, but Ryuen Sho and the others had turned it into a fighting arena.

In short, we should try to avoid conflict with Longyuan and his group. If it really escalates into a fight...

Even with the limiter, Kusuo Saiki still struggles to perfectly control his power; it wouldn't be impossible for him to send Ryuen Sho flying out of the atmosphere with a single punch.

[Holy crap, isn't that Saiki?!]

Just then, Kusuo Saiki heard a familiar voice from the side. It was the trio of idiots: Kanji Ike, Ken Sudo, and Haruki Yamauchi. They must have just bought some snacks and drinks for their evening party and happened to be passing by, since the coffee shop was located close to the student supermarket.

Compared to guys like Kiyotaka Ayanokoji and Sho Ryuen, this trio of idiots are incredibly simple-minded, lacking any real guile—but to me, it makes no difference, since I can hear their inner thoughts anyway.

Kusuo Saiki thought to himself, "The trio of idiots should be more in line with the image of ordinary high school students."

Wait, who's that person next to Qi Mu?

[A beautiful girl I've never seen before! She's not in our class!]

[Qi Mu is usually not very noticeable in class, but he's already hooked up with girls from other classes! I'm so envious! I definitely have to ask him how he did it tonight!]

'I take back what I just thought; those three are complete idiots.'

......

After chatting with Hiyori Shiina about mystery novels for a while, the two left the coffee shop.

Hiyori Shiina went back to her dorm first, while Kusuo Saiki went to the supermarket and bought some snacks as the others had suggested.

Although Kusuo Saiki absolutely disagreed with the idea of ​​having a celebration party in his room that night, he could only let things take their course now that things had come to this.

After buying almost everything, Kusuo Saiki returned to his dormitory to rest. However, he didn't get to rest for long before the other classmates gradually arrived at his room.

"Excuse me, Qi Mu!"

Kikyo Kushida smiled and said to Kusuo Saiki, while glancing around Kusuo Saiki's room a few times.

"we are coming!"

Behind Kikyo Kushida were the three idiots.

Upon entering Saiki Kusuo's room, the three of them couldn't help but show a hint of surprise on their faces.

Is Saiki's room this clean?

'After all, I don't sleep here every night.'

I never expected Saiki's room to be so neat and tidy. I thought it would be as messy and disorganized as mine.

Please don't confuse me with you, and I'm a little afraid to imagine what your room actually looks like.

[Saiki's room must be a mess. It must be because he knew we were coming—no, it must be because he knew Kushida was coming, so he tidied it up in advance! While getting closer to Kushida, he didn't forget to flirt with girls from other classes. Saiki, you're amazing! You've earned my approval!]

"Sorry, I don't need your affirmation, and don't you seem to have a deep misunderstanding about me?"

Just as Saiki Kusuo had imagined, the brains of this trio of idiots were indeed not very sharp.

Kusuo Saiki had indeed considered deliberately making the room messy to deter them from holding a celebration in his room, but considering that he might face more misunderstandings or even contempt afterward, he ultimately chose to leave it as it was.

"excuse me."

Soon after, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji arrived, with Suzune Horikita beside him.

"Horikita? What brings you here?"

Ken Sudo was somewhat surprised, not expecting that Suzune Horikita would also attend the celebration.

They hadn't initially chosen to invite Horikita Suzune because they knew that, given her personality, she would definitely refuse.

[I don't want to attend this boring party. Celebrating just second-to-last place? You guys are just dragging the class down. If we hadn't gotten the exam questions beforehand, we'd still be in Class D, maybe even have all our class points deducted!]

Horikita Suzune's impatience was practically written all over her face.

She wouldn't have come to such a boring event if it weren't for Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's insistence.

'Although it sounds a bit unpleasant, I completely agree with what you said.'

Saiki Kusuo thought to himself that, unlike Horikita Suzune, he almost never showed his emotions on his face.

[Leaving aside Ayanokouji, Chabashira-sensei specifically mentioned Saiki's name. He seems perfectly ordinary in every way... Could it be that he really can control his ranking?]

Horikita Suzune's sharp gaze fell on Saiki Kusuo, but quickly returned to Sudo Ken. Just as she was about to say something, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka interrupted her first.