Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

11:58 PM.

〖 Do you want to use Teleportation? 〗

Yes!

Houtarou returned to the dorm right on time. His phone immediately lit up with message notifications — two of them.

| Airi Sakura |

| I… I wanted to send you a message at midnight, but worried about waking you up if you were asleep, so, happy early birthday, Oreki-kun. |

What a good kid.

| Honami Ichinose |

| Since we rarely see Oreki-kun at school on weekends, happy early birthday. |

It seemed this popular Class B flower had also discovered the hidden birthday information field on student IDs.

Curious, Houtarou opened Honami's friend information. Her birthday was July 29th.

Ah. As expected — her birthday had already passed.

She must have received birthday wishes from classmates recently and discovered the birthday information on the student IDs. Now that she knew about it, she was keeping track, paying attention to others' birthdays to avoid missing anyone.

Truly worthy of being Angel Honami.

Still, something bothered Houtarou.

While he and Airi shared a reciprocal relationship — they had helped each other — Maya hadn't sent any message, even at midnight.

So she really had given up after all.

His feelings were mixed. Though it meant he wouldn't have to face her, the fact that she had truly given up left him unsettled.

While pondering this…

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

August 9th, midnight.

The phone rang. It was Kikyō.

[Oreki-kun~~ Sorry for calling at this hour, anyway, happy birthday~]

Her voice was sweet and cute today.

"So is there a birthday present?" Houtarou wasn't surprised by her call.

After all, she had told him to wait, and he had specifically done so.

He usually went to sleep at 10 PM, so this counted as keeping the appointment.

But, about presents...

[How annoying.] She said, her tone suddenly ice-cold, [How could there be? This is just normal concern given to a "friend". Or did you want to develop some special relationship with me? Don't think that just because I confessed to you means I like you, and don't get swayed so easily. No matter what happens, we can never be together.]

Ah. So forcing her to confess had troubled her — that explained her emotional state.

As for her claim about them being impossible together, Houtarou didn't put much stock in it. After all, in the future she would become the very person trying to steal Suzune's husband.

"Then aren't you worried about my opinion of you dropping?" Houtarou said.

[Because you know what kind of person I am, right?] Kikyō said, [You understand me too well, so your opinion won't drop. If I were to put on an act in front of you, it would seem fake. You'd probably find that boring.]

Ah. That was true.

He had already seen her at her worst — kicking the railings while cursing Suzune. No amount of making up for it would change that.

She understood the situation perfectly.

Then Kikyō continued, [Well, I've already called to congratulate you. And at this point, Horikita probably hasn't noticed at all. Hehe~]

Saying this, she hung up abruptly.

After pondering for a moment with his arms crossed, Houtarou called Suzune. The call took about ten seconds to connect.

"Horikita, what day do you think today is?" Houtarou asked.

[How would I know.] Her tone was distinctly irritated.

She was probably grumpy from being woken up.

[If there's nothing important, I'm hanging up.] Suzune continued, [I keep a regular schedule, and midnight is already bedtime. We're past that now. Unless it's about making money, don't call at this hour.]

Oh…

"Then you get some rest." Houtarou said.

Now he could confirm: Suzune truly didn't understand people's hearts at all. He somewhat understood why her future self ten years from now would be the winner.

Because he had just realized that, given the chance in the future, he definitely wanted to marry her — and then make her unable to sleep properly every day.

Meanwhile, back home, his original phone also vibrated with a special message.

It was from his sister.

| Tomoe Oreki |

| Houtarou, happy birthday. Is dormitory life alone boring? Your sister got a position, I might be able to do an internship at Advanced Nurturing High School. |

Oh no. Please don't.

So Houtarou ended up unusually awake that night.

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

August 11th, early morning.

After getting through a tense weekend, Houtarou returned to school for Monday classes.

He needed to be careful, though. He had used his superpower at school, which allowed him to stay at home, effectively turning his dormitory life into a commute.

His sister definitely knew this school had closed management. Was that why she asked if dormitory life was boring?

When school went on summer break, his university sister might come home. What would happen when she saw him there?

Would this mean that while he normally commuted, during summer break he'd have to stay at school instead?

Houtarou pondered this predicament.

Lost in thought, he opened the dormitory door. Though he didn't actually live in the dorm, he used it as his teleportation point, appearing from here each time.

However, as he opened the door, he unexpectedly found a girl crouching by the elevator near the stairs. She held a vocabulary book in her left hand while reading, her face stern.

Boys nearby watched her curiously, but she maintained her composure while reading the vocabulary book, appearing quite serious.

The vocabulary book she held was surprising — it contained junior high school level words rather than high school material.

This confirmed what everyone knew: Kakeru's class students truly started from elementary-level basics.

Though she seemed to ignore the stares around her, she periodically glanced toward Houtarou's room number.

The moment she saw him open the door, Mio turned and left immediately.

Houtarou: "..."

While the school allowed boys and girls to visit each other's dormitory floors, they rarely did so.

Was Mio specifically watching his room? If so, why?

He had a theory. Class D students had been manipulated by Kakeru, and Mio's interactions with him had been complicated — he'd exposed her to Honami during the Island Exam, tricked her into displaying justice during the VIP Exam (which led to fights with other girls), and used her for information about Kakeru during the Sports Festival.

Perhaps she'd finally realized his deception and came to confront him?

Yet when she saw him, she said nothing and simply left.

This behavior continued. On August 12th and 13th, Mio watched him arrive at school and waited outside his classroom when classes ended.

Each time she saw him, she would leave, creating an increasingly tense atmosphere.

"It seems you've got a shadow, Oreki-kun." Arisu said.

As the leader of her own faction in Class A, she had quickly learned about Houtarou's persistent follower.

"It's not like you to avoid confrontation." She said, "Perhaps you've done something weighing on your conscience?"

Houtarou: "..."

Indeed.

On the afternoon of the 14th after school, when he noticed Mio still tailing him, he made his way to the library.

He maintained a measured pace.

Beep!

Just as he passed through the entrance gate, he spun around suddenly. Mio, who had followed him inside, jumped in surprise.

"I think we should talk." Houtarou said.

⍟⍟⍟

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