Classroom of the Elite (LN)

Volume 11.5, Chapter 5: Matsushita’s Suspicions Part 1

“Matsushita-san! Here~”

“Morning~”

11 o’clock

I met with Shinohara-san and Sato-san, the usual group.

During the spring break, we idly met up every day, to chat happily about various innocent topics.

Although I didn’t hate this, I did feel a little bored. I’ve been acting as a good student for the past year already, and I was seeking excitement.

As a result, I decided to bring up a more interesting topic with them.

“Shinohara-san, have you made any progress with Ike-kun?”

I intended to get rid of this boredom by poking her a little.

“Wait, ehhh!? Nonono, with him!?”

Shinohara-san hurriedly denied it, but this couldn’t conceal that she was shaken.

Sato’s gaze had a surprised “you really want to start this topic?” expression, mixed with a bit of excitement, was also very interesting.

It was evident that Shinohara-san and Ike-kun had gotten closer in the past few months, as rumours like this had already spread.

Although they tried to hide it, the school was a tiny place.

If a couple went on a date, they would be easily seen by others.

“I just thought that it was about time you told us, right?”

“I, I told you that it was impossible… Look, it’s Ike we’re talking about-? He’s the model for a typical loser!”

The words Shinohara-san used when denying this were indeed true. Just by looking at his attributes, he belonged in the lower ranks.

He was short, struggled academically, and he lacked communication skills. From my point of view, he was a person with an endless number of flaws. However, love couldn’t be measured from those factors.

There was always a possibility that a person would be attracted to a useless man, it was like unexpectedly finding yourself in the middle of a traffic accident.

And considering the status of Shinohara-san in the class, they might even be suitable for each other, and they’re not quite as different as she said.

“This isn’t so good, you like him, but he knows nothing about this.”

Sato-san’s eyes brightened at the fact we were talking about love, smiling towards Shinohara-san.

“Like I said, It’s not like that.”

“There’s no need to deny it, I just wanted to hear your true thoughts on this, right?”

Facing Shinohara, who wasn’t willing to admit it, I then used Sato-san to egg her on.

“Yeah, I’m also super interested! Tell us, tell us!!”

At times like this, it was convenient to get Satou-san to do what I wanted just by giving her simple hints. She wasn’t the type of person to think deeply. Needless to say, this had a negative effect on her academic ability.

Although it was a very harsh evaluation, I didn’t necessarily hate her.

Both Shinohara-san and Sato-san were close friends, and they were indispensable girl friends.

If they ever felt troubled, I would help them out and listen to them.

Of course, if they had the same ability to match me, then it would be even better.

Shinohara-san, who was completely unaware of what I was thinking, started to talk about her relationship with Ike-kun.

“Recently, I’ve always been arguing with him about stupid things. So honestly, there really isn’t much progress.”

Shinohara-san shook her head, sighing.

However, she never said that there was absolutely no development.

“After all, you both have personalities that aren’t so straightforward——If the same thing were to happen again, there’s going to be a change.”

Although they were a good match, there was always conflict between them regarding weird things.

I feel that as long as they turned past that, the relationship between the both of them would immediately be better.

“Enough about me, what about you, Matsushita-san? Do you like anyone?”

“Me?”

Shinohara-san asked such a question, just as I expected.

It would be more accurate to say that I led her to ask me this.

“You told us before that if you were to date anyone, it would be a senior.”

Looking as though having just remembered something, Sato-san jumped in on Shinohara-san’s question. No matter who was the subject of the conversation, as long as it was about relationships, it would be welcome. Girls were like that.

“Yeah. However——If he meets a certain condition, it’s fine even if he isn’t a senior.

Controlling what both of them would be thinking, and slowly leading the conversation into the direction I wanted. However, it’s not as hard as it might look. This happens commonly in everyday life. It was just about whether we realized it or not.

“Ohh——, so you’ve changed your mind?”

Sato-san, obviously wouldn’t let go of this topic, as it was her first time hearing about it.

“My standards haven’t lowered or anything. Both his appearance and personality should be first-class. And… his family background as well. I also want his parents to have received a high level of education and accomplishment.”

No matter how great their child’s achievements are, as long as their parents failed to live up to it, then they didn’t meet my standards.

“Someone who has a good family background… could it be someone like Koenji-kun, or the sort?”

Shinohara-san asked, dubiously.

“Ehh~? Although his looks are certainly not bad, isn’t he a little…?”

After hearing Koenji-kun’s name, Sato-san became a little hesitant. Koenji-kun’s evaluation within the class is considerably low. The reason was very simple, mainly because of his strange existence which is a nuisance to the class. However, you could say that there’s a big difference between his status within the class and outside of it.

From the perspectives of outsiders, Koenji-kun’s evaluation would be flawless, no matter if we were talking about his appearance or his background. He also had a very gentlemanly side. So it’s not surprising that girls across the school years are interested in him. In terms of academic ability, even though he didn’t take it seriously, you could still see the depths of his true power. You could say that he was a very rare person who met all my previously listed conditions. I think that Koenji-kun is ranked first within our class, if we’re talking about just ability.

However, other things are also clear when it comes to him.

He was not the type of person who could be persuaded to take action by other people.

A weirdo beyond imagination.

Since the beginning, I knew that trying to talk to him was useless, and futile.

In this case, compared to Sudo-kun and Ike-kun, he was even… No…you could say that he was the biggest burden to the class.

“Koenji-kun, not a chance. Speaking about this, I don’t consider him a human anymore.”

After hearing my evaluation of him, the two burst into laughter.

“If he gets serious, he will definitely surpass Hirata-kun in popularity, but I know that he definitely won’t get serious.”

This was my evaluation.

Shinohara-san and Sato-san wholeheartedly agreed with me.

He was the rare specimen who taught me that even if someone had just one flaw, their evaluation could go from 100 to 0 points.

Starting from the relationship between Ike-kun and Shinohara-san, to my ideal man, I proceeded to the next stage.

“Speaking of which, Sato-san, what about you and Ayanokouji-kun?”

“Eh…? Why, why ask me about this?”

After being asked an unexpected question, Sato-san stiffened.

Shinohara-san, who looked as if she had just remembered something, turned her gaze at Sato-san. During the winter break, Sato-san told us something. At that time, she told us about her love for Ayanokouji-kun, and wondering whether she should confess to him. Back then, just like with Ike-kun and Shinohara-san right now, I planned to just enjoy watching them progress, while supporting from a distance.

“It’s… it’s not like…”

Wanting to deny it, Sato-san then hesitated.

And when I noticed, Satou-san had come to an abrupt stop when talking about Ayanokouji-kun.

Of course, with regards to what this meant, Shinohara-san and I did not approach this topic, knowing clearly what it meant.

He probably rejected her, or had a change of heart. In short, as long as Sato-san didn’t intend to speak, we had to be careful to not talk about this topic.

However, if I wanted to know more about Ayanokouji-kun, this wasn’t something I could avoid.

“Can… Can you two keep this a secret?”

She spoke.

Shinohara-san and I, sure that we were going to hear something extremely interesting, each patted one of her shoulders.

“Of course!”