Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

At 7:15.

Houtarou went straight back to his dorm and sat on his narrow 1.2-meter bed.

| Houtarou Oreki — Me |

| Are you there already? |

He messaged Honami.

She took over ten seconds to reply.

| Honami Ichinose — Class B Angel |

| Eh? Are you there already? I have something to attend to, accompanying a friend. |

| She's not feeling well. So our meeting time might be a bit later. |

"..."

I see. Very fitting of her image as someone with many friends, like an angel.

| Houtarou Oreki — Me |

| I haven't arrived either. |

| You can be late. |

He messaged back.

Houtarou walked to his door and turned the doorknob. In the boys' dormitory hallway, he saw a tall girl with purple hair expressionlessly reviewing vocabulary from a textbook.

The girl had long bangs held back with three clips — none other than Masumi, whom he had subjugated on the first day.

Having been transferred to Arisu's care, she was now just hanging around outside his dorm room.

When he opened the door, Masumi looked up from her vocabulary book and fixed him with keen eyes.

"..."

Masumi, you're being toxic.

This scene made him feel like a light novel protagonist about to sneak out to meet his mistress, only to find his wife had arranged someone to spy on him.

Despite being his classmate, she showed no hesitation in accepting such a thankless job. She even managed to study while keeping watch.

It felt quite strange.

Bang!

So Houtarou closed the door again.

Room 303 was his dorm room, but since he didn't actually live here, he had few personal belongings. Staying in such a place obviously wasn't ideal.

So.

〖 Do you want to use Teleportation? Target: Lake Railing. 〗

Houtarou activated the system and used his superpower.

Yes!

He prepared to wait for Honami by the lake railing.

In an instant, the scenery around him transformed.

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He materialized behind the big tree where he had stood during Honami's confession.

Meeting at the old spot, huh.

However.

Bang—

From ahead came the sound of metal rattling — someone was kicking the railing violently.

A figure stood with their back to him, viciously attacking the railing with none of the grace expected of a proper lady or angel.

From his angle, he could make out the person's smooth profile — a face he knew well. This was no stranger.

It was Kikyō Kushida, whom he'd spoken with during lunch break today.

Kikyō was typically angelic, cute, and easily motivated. But lately, his opinion of her had soured, especially after she'd labeled him as some kind of pervert.

He took issue with that assessment.

What startled him now was seeing a completely different side of her — one that emerged only when she thought she was alone.

Her usual grace, politeness, and composure had vanished. She kicked the railing without restraint, venting her frustrations. That mouth that typically spoke only kind words now spewed venom.

"That bitch Horikita! Just because you're cute and get good grades you strut around arrogantly, you think everyone will like you? Even though I'm the one who got the test papers, today no one thanked me! Everyone's thanking Horikita, thinking Horikita is so amazing — This kind of thing, that kind of thing—"

Bang— Bang— Bang—

Kikyō continued her assault on the railing.

Houtarou watched, trying to convince himself this wasn't some hallucination — but no, Kushida was really there, attacking the railing.

Her raw envy, hatred, and jealousy toward Suzune poured out unchecked.

So...

"..."

What was he witnessing? Had he somehow ended up in the wrong place?

〖 Do you want to use Transparency? 〗

Yes!

He quickly stacked another superpower.

From what he could hear and sense, this was clearly a troublesome situation. Kikyō was showing her true self — one she had carefully hidden during lunch...

Was now on display.

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Kikyō had indeed turned vicious. She continued kicking the railing while cursing.

"Why won't Horikita just die! Die, die, die! That bitch Horikita..."

She kicked the railing forcefully while spewing venomous words, her usually sweet and cute face now twisted into a fierce expression — as if revealing her dark side.

This demeanor was the complete opposite of her usual angelic persona.

If people were to witness this, Class D — no, everyone who knew her — would be devastated.

The adorable girl who everyone admired and crushed on like an angel had turned out to be this kind of person.

Yes, this was the real Kikyō.

She was someone Houtarou merely wanted to use, not understand deeply or interact with extensively. Such a person was far too troublesome.

He took out his phone to check the time. In his invisible state, neither he nor anything he held could be seen by others — quite convenient.

He needed to warn Honami not to come to the railing yet. Encountering this scene would be too much, and dealing with the aftermath would be troublesome.

He chose the most energy-efficient solution: pretend nothing happened.

Let Kikyō vent here until she left. Then he would leave too.

Given how persistently she clung to Suzune, if someone like her discovered her shocking side had been exposed, she would become even more terrifyingly clingy.

For someone who valued conserving energy like him, she was exactly the type to avoid.

While considering this—

『Ding!』

『1,000,000 Points have been credited to your account!』

『Sender - Unknown』

『Note: Monthly allowance.』

Though the phone was invisible, it could still make sound.

He hadn't expected his supporting senior to transfer money at this moment.

"..." Houtarou.

"..." Kikyō.

When the sound rang out, he felt despair. And Kikyō had heard it too.

Her reaction was swift—

Bang!

She stopped kicking the railing and spun around.

"Houtarou Oreki, you're here, aren't you? You're the only person I know who'd be kept by such disgusting points."

Her words dripped with venom, likely due to her foul mood.

Houtarou watched her carefully.

"Moreover—" Kikyō pulled out her phone.

He didn't need to see her screen to know she was checking GPS — friends could always see each other's locations.

She was tracking him down.

Would deleting her as a friend help? No — that would only confirm his presence.

"..."

〖 Do you want to deactivate Transparency? 〗

Yes!

Houtarou emerged from behind the tree.

He'd barely taken two steps when Kikyō spotted him and strode over, her movements sharp and purposeful. Though she only came up to his shoulders, she approached with her head lowered before raising her eyes to meet his.

Her gaze was ice-cold.

She closed the distance quickly, snapping her head up to reveal pupils devoid of any warmth.

Houtarou had been this close to Kikyō many times before, but she'd always shown her angelic, cute side then — holding his hand, acting adorable. Earlier that day, she'd even gone so far as to remove her ribbon and unbutton the top of her uniform shirt.

He had nearly witnessed quite a sight — one that had left quite an impression.

But now, Kikyō revealed a completely different face: cold, dark, with piercing eyes.

"Houtarou Oreki, you saw everything just now, didn't you?" Her voice cut like steel.

Though the same voice, it carried none of its usual warmth.

"..."

This was the worst possible situation.

Judging by how obsessively she clung to Suzune, Kikyō was clearly trouble. And he still had no idea why this little demon had targeted that solitary girl.

Houtarou was certain that this hidden side of Kikyō ranked first among things she never wanted anyone to discover.

Today she was kicking the railing while cursing Suzune.

Would she be doing the same while cursing him next time?

"What if I said I just got here and didn't hear anything?" He said.

"I don't believe you." Kikyō replied immediately.

Oh. Is this how you treat your friends?

Houtarou recalled how during lunch break, this charming girl had complained about him not treating her as a friend or paying attention to her.

And yet here she was, doing exactly the same thing.

"So what will you do?" He said, "Even if I promise to keep your secret and mean you no harm, you still wouldn't believe me."

The darkened Kikyō fell silent, thinking.

She hadn't expected this emotional side of her to be exposed — especially not to the troublesome Houtarou.

Having known him since the first month of school, she was well aware of his talent for making money. Even if she wanted to force him to leave school, she couldn't. He had Points — maybe not 20 million yet, but he was certainly getting there.

As a mere Class D student, she stood no chance against him.

She couldn't let this side of her become public knowledge. More importantly, she couldn't afford to have him leave school.

So she pondered how to ensure his silence while keeping herself safe from his attention.

Watching her bow her head in thought, Houtarou realized Kikyō was behaving just as she always did.

He'd only started interacting with her because of Suzune.

Though Suzune found Kikyō's almost pathological attempts at friendship annoying, she had recognized the girl's usefulness in social situations and recommended her to him.

Since then, Houtarou had been using Kikyō like an underpaid worker — and she had always accepted it.

She had always been at a disadvantage.

But now she was deep in thought, revealing her limited capacity for strategic thinking.

How would she handle this situation? What approach would she take to keep her dark side hidden?

He watched with mild curiosity.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Kikyō suddenly lifted her head and reached for his hand.

Houtarou quickly pulled away.

"Eh?"

Kikyō tried again, but he raised his hand higher. She grasped at empty air.

"Stop dodging!" The Dark Girl's frustration bubbled to the surface.

"My instincts say you're planning something." He said, "This is pure self-preservation."

But even as he spoke, Kikyō managed to catch his right hand.

She had held his hand many times before. Perhaps because of their familiarity, he hadn't immediately pulled away.

Now what would she do with this captured hand?

As he wondered, he noticed Kikyō doing something unexpected.

That was...

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