Saiki Kusuo's Classroom of the Elite

[Ahhhhhhh! Help!!!!!!! This upright ape is terrifying!! Is he lusting after my beauty?!]

Saiki's ears could clearly hear the wild boar's screams.

'Yare yare, I should just ignore it.'

Saiki thought to himself and prepared to continue walking.

But just then, Yukimura Teruhiko, who was walking ahead of Saiki, stopped and said,

"We need to find a way to get Koenji back. If a group member doesn't return to school on time, we might lose points. We have to bring him back."

"That's true."

Hashimoto Masayoshi, standing nearby, nodded in agreement.

"In that case, I'll go call Koenji."

Saiki replied.

For him, this was a rare opportunity to slack off.

"Really? Thank you..."

Yukimura Teruhiko pursed his lips. He knew very well that convincing Koenji Rokusuke wasn't an easy task.

"No problem."

Saiki nodded, then immediately changed direction and headed toward where Koenji Rokusuke had gone.

He walked into the forest and, after making sure no one was around, used his teleportation ability to return home and grab some snacks.

After all, Saiki thought it was nearly impossible for the others to make it back before lunch, so he decided to eat something first. Koenji Rokusuke couldn't have gone far in these mountains anyway.

A few minutes later, Saiki used his powers again. First, he used his clairvoyance to locate Koenji Rokusuke, then returned to the mountain path.

[Ahhhhhhh!]

As soon as he returned, Saiki heard the familiar screams of the wild boar.

'Yare yare, still chasing it? Impressive. This is the first time I've seen someone chasing a wild boar. But I can't let Koenji go too far.'

Saiki thought to himself, then used his psychokinesis to freeze the wild boar in place.

[What's going on?! I can't move!]

"Ah, finally caught up, huh?"

Behind the wild boar, Koenji Rokusuke slowly walked out, a bright smile on his face as he approached the boar.

"Koenji-kun."

At that moment, Saiki appeared behind Koenji Rokusuke and called out to him.

"Oh, it's glasses-boy. This isn't the usual route, is it?"

"If you don't come back with us, there might be consequences for the group. Why did you come down this path?"

"Because I caught a glimpse of a wild boar. I was interested, so I chased after it!"

Koenji Rokusuke said with a smile, pointing at the frozen wild boar in the distance.

"Looks like it was finally subdued by my kingly aura!"

'Actually, I used my psychokinesis to freeze it. It has nothing to do with you. In the eyes of others—or rather, the boar—you're just a terrifying upright ape.'

Saiki thought to himself but didn't say it out loud. Instead, he continued,

"So, when are you planning to go back?"

"Now that I've caught the boar, I don't mind going back with you."

Hearing Koenji Rokusuke's words, Saiki's eyebrow twitched slightly.

He had only come to persuade Koenji Rokusuke, not expecting the other to actually agree to go back with him.

'Yare yare, I just wanted to use this chance to slack off. I didn't expect Koenji to agree so easily? Doesn't he usually love going against others? Why is he agreeing now?!'

Saiki realized that if Koenji Rokusuke agreed to go back with him now, they'd have to spend a long time alone together.

Absolutely not!

Saiki didn't want to spend that much time with Koenji Rokusuke!

Thinking this, Saiki deactivated his powers, freeing the wild boar.

"Huh? It ran away!"

Koenji Rokusuke turned around in surprise.

'That's right, the boar ran away. Keep chasing it! Go after it!'

Saiki inwardly cheered, hoping Koenji Rokusuke would continue the chase.

But Koenji Rokusuke stood still, then turned to look at Saiki.

"Let's go."

"Aren't you going to chase the boar?"

Saiki was puzzled, completely caught off guard by Koenji Rokusuke's unexpected behavior.

"I was interested at first, so I chased the boar. Even though it ran away, I did catch up to it and observed it for a bit. Now I'm not interested anymore."

Koenji Rokusuke said with a smile.

'You...'

Saiki's eyebrow twitched slightly. So his earlier actions were completely pointless?

"If there's something else that catches my interest, like seeing some other animals I haven't seen before, I might go take a look."

As Koenji Rokusuke spoke, images of various animals flashed through his mind.

Rhinos, zebras, lions...

'There's no way those animals would be in this mountain area, right?!'

Saiki inwardly shouted.

'Is there any way to distract Koenji...? What about a gorilla?'

"Glasses-boy, it seems like you're not too keen on going back with someone as beautiful as me."

"No, I'm just worried you won't go back. After all, you're someone who does whatever you want."

At this point, Saiki could only say this.

"Hahaha, that's true. But now that you mention it, I am a bit interested in the surroundings. I'll take a little stroll before heading back."

Koenji Rokusuke said with a smile.

"But don't worry, I'll make it back in time. It won't take me more than 30 minutes."

As Koenji Rokusuke spoke, he suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Saiki's hand.

"What are you doing?"

Saiki immediately pulled away and took a step back.

'Does this guy not think before he acts? What's he trying to do? I almost instinctively used my powers to blast him away...'

"I see."

Koenji Rokusuke lowered his head, looking thoughtfully at his hands.

[Just as I suspected.]

"What are you talking about?"

"The true identity of the person who kept Dragon-boy in check. It's exactly as I expected."

"Dragon... what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that mischievous boy, Ryuen."

"Why would Ryuen have anything to do with me?"

Saiki looked at him expressionlessly, but his gaze grew more serious.

"You're quite good at playing dumb, and it doesn't seem like you have any ulterior motives for doing so."

"I don't understand how you came to that conclusion."

"I can tell from the heat coming from your arm as you touch me."

"Sorry, that's a huge misunderstanding."

Saiki immediately said.

'Heat coming from my arm...? That makes no sense.'

"Is that so? From the way the delinquents in our group look at you, your behavior, and the reactions around you, I think it's an undeniable fact."

Koenji Rokusuke said with a smile.

"Not only that, but I can sense that the former student council president seems to have some special interest in you?"

"You're overthinking it."

"During the uninhabited island exam, I noticed you, glasses-boy. Your physical abilities and speed far surpass the others. And if it were anyone else, they wouldn't have been able to find me so easily. As an ordinary person, you're quite exceptional."

Koenji Rokusuke said slowly.

'Yare yare, I didn't expect Koenji to know this much about me.'

Saiki looked at Koenji Rokusuke and couldn't help but purse his lips.

Now, another person knew part of his secret.

"Hahaha, but don't worry. I have no intention of revealing what you're hiding. Even if you're somewhat exceptional, from my perspective, you're just another boring individual among the masses. In any case, whether this is true or not, as long as I don't say it out loud, it's fine, right?"

"Hmm..."

Saiki nodded. Using his telepathy, he knew that once Koenji Rokusuke confirmed something, he wouldn't change his mind. It was better to go along with it.

At least Koenji Rokusuke had promised not to reveal anything, so he probably wouldn't go back on his word.

"In that case, I'll be going now."

"Wait, glasses-boy. I have one more question for you."

"What?"

"The student council president came to our first-year dorm and lost at cards. Was that your doing?"

"No, it was probably just bad luck."

Saiki immediately replied.

While some might think Saiki was "holding back and hiding his strength," some things done with his powers couldn't be explained by conventional means. Admitting to it would only cause more trouble.

"Just bad luck? Haha, interesting. I'll have to revise my opinion of you slightly. You've piqued my interest a little—but just a little."

Koenji Rokusuke laughed, then turned and walked deeper into the forest.

"I'll go ahead. See you at the finish line."

...

Evening, dinner time.

The members of Saiki's group practically rushed to the cafeteria. Due to their slow progress in the morning, they hadn't been able to make it back for lunch, just as Saiki had predicted.

Fortunately, Saiki had prepared in advance, so it didn't affect him much.

After dinner, Saiki prepared to return to his room—

But just then, Saiki caught an unusual sound. He hid his presence and headed to a room in the school building that was usually deserted.

"...You should have told me about this earlier."

Horikita Manabu's voice came from inside, sounding urgent—

The person he was speaking to was Tachibana Akane.

Tachibana Akane's voice was trembling, as if she was under immense pressure.

"I'm sorry... Horikita-kun... I... I didn't want to trouble you... so I never said anything..."

Tachibana Akane's eyes were red, and her body was shaking. It was clear she had been crying.

"We're classmates. Naturally, we'll graduate together as Class A."

"Because our classmates keep holding us back... we've lost a lot of class points we didn't need to lose, even personal points... You've always sacrificed yourself to protect everyone... And now we're only about 300 points ahead of Class B..."

'So Horikita is the only one holding Class A together?'

Saiki, still invisible, thought to himself.

It was impressive that Horikita Manabu had managed to keep his class in the top spot.

[The order in our group is on the verge of collapse. Almost all the members have become Nagumo's loyalists... From the moment we formed groups, we've been trapped in Nagumo's scheme...]

[If this continues... our group's performance will be disastrous... Even though I'm not the leader... the leader can use the collateral mechanism to expel me too...]

[I didn't want to trouble Horikita-kun... If sacrificing me could maintain the gap with Class B... but... Horikita-kun found out anyway.]

"If I hadn't sought you out, you wouldn't have told me about this, would you?"

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, his expression unchanged.

"I'm sorry... I didn't want to hold Horikita-kun back..."

"This isn't holding me back."

Horikita Manabu shook his head.

"From now on, follow my instructions..."

Horikita Manabu quickly shared his plans with Tachibana Akane to help her out of this predicament.

[Just as Saiki said, Nagumo never intended to compete fairly. His target is Tachibana...]

"But... Horikita-kun... how did you find out about this...? You don't usually interact much with the girls' group, right? How did you notice?"

Tachibana Akane asked, puzzled.

"It was Saiki. That first-year boy told me."

Horikita Manabu replied.