Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

After their awkward encounter, Honami and Houtarou left the railing, walked to the shopping district together, and parted ways.

Honami showed remarkable strength. By the time they reached the shopping district, her emotions had truly settled — not merely suppressed or buried in sadness.

This was something Kikyō could likely never achieve.

Later that night, after returning home and going to bed, Houtarou dreamed about Honami, his angel.

It was, however, just an ordinary dream.

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In the dream, it was still about Chihiro confessing to her.

In this version though, Honami wasn't as composed — her emotions hadn't recovered immediately. After rejecting Chihiro, she struggled with how to avoid hurting her friend. She felt troubled and uncertain.

Because—

"I told her we could be friends like before tomorrow. But... I don't know if we can." She said, shoulders slumping.

She understood the reality: once certain feelings are revealed, even simple actions take on new meaning.

Girls can hold hands normally, but what if you know one has feelings for you? Would that hand-holding still feel innocent?

"That depends on you both." Houtarou answered, "If you're not confident, we can do a test."

"A test?" Honami lifted her downcast face.

Without warning, he took her hand, "See, like this — if you can feel calm holding hands with someone of the opposite sex, then you and Chihiro can return to having normal feelings too."

So he just took her hand like that? Could her heart really stay calm?

No way — her heart was racing.

Because, when a boy holds your hand, whether you like him or not, any girl's heart would flutter.

"Oreki-kun, you're mean." Honami pulled her hand away.

"But your mood has improved a bit, hasn't it?" Houtarou said.

Only then did she realize it had been a joke — his way of helping her calm down.

But as she lifted her hand slightly, watching his calm profile, she knew her heart hadn't settled. Somehow, it hadn't felt like just a joke.

"Mmm—"

At that moment, all the scenery completely vanished.

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Houtarou opened his eyes to see his familiar bedroom ceiling.

Looking around, he felt a weight at his feet and discovered his cat had climbed onto the bed, lying on the blanket. Though he hadn't allowed it under the covers, it had made itself comfortable anyway.

That's when he realized he had been dreaming.

But had that dream been too daring?

After all, he had initiated physical contact with a girl — something he had never considered doing before.

Dreams are reflections of the heart's desires.

Was he secretly longing for interactions with girls? First Suzune, then Honami. Or perhaps he was simply vulnerable to cute girls?

Hmm, how had this happened?

Such thoughts had never crossed his mind in elementary or middle school. And in high school, his only interaction with girls had been—

Houtarou thought of Kikyō, with her golden short hair like a little angel.

Ah yes. This was surely her fault.

Throughout his childhood, only his sister had held his hand, then Kikyō — and now in his dreams, he wanted to hold hands with Ichinose.

"Houtarou." He stood up and faced himself in the mirror, "You're not that kind of person. Kushida, this is your fault."

Mm, fully charged.

And so, after calming himself down, when he drifted back to sleep, his dreams were free of girls.

Just like that, everything returned to normal.

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On June 1st, a new change occurred.

Houtarou used Teleportation to travel from home to the school dormitory, arriving at the classroom by 7:40.

"Good morning, Oreki—"

"Morning—" Houtarou went to his seat.

The students were in particularly good spirits today.

"As expected of our class." Came Kōhei's steady voice.

The reason was clear: the first of every month was when the school transferred Points to students based on each Class's Evaluation Scores.

For new students, the second month's transfer had been scheduled for 8 o'clock, but their teacher Tomonari had announced it would now happen promptly at 7.

It was 7:40 now, which meant the transfer must have already come through.

Though Houtarou had used Teleportation to reach the dormitory and picked up his phone, he hadn't checked his balance yet.

『133,000 Points have been credited to your account!』

『Sender - XF10001』

『Personal Account: ¤ 2,835,400 Pts』

This was the standard school transfer that every Class A student received.

What made everyone especially happy was the increase from last month's 123,000 Points — a boost of 10,000 Points.

Though Tomonari hadn't arrived for homeroom yet, everyone already knew what these results meant.

In the recent written exam, classes could earn up to 100 Class Points. Receiving the full 100-Point reward meant everyone had performed excellently.

That was Class A's excellence at work.

"By the way." Houtarou glanced around — Arisu from next door and Masumi from the back desk weren't here yet.

A tall bald student approached his desk. This was Kōhei.

His baldness wasn't by choice but rather the result of past alopecia. Yet he showed no insecurity about his condition — he was steady and confident by nature.

He was also sharp-minded. In class competitions, others used him as a unit of measurement for class representatives.

For example, Kakeru rated as 2 'Kōhei', while Honami measured about 1.2 'Kōhei'. As for Arisu... she was worth quite a few 'Kōhei'.

And Kōhei himself?

Houtarou studied him.

"Speaking of which, it seems Ryūen from Class C gave you trouble recently." Kōhei said.

"Oh, that." Houtarou said, "I saw him bullying Class D students, so I reported it to the Student Council. Though he used Points to exempt himself from the Class Points deduction penalty."

"..."

While organizing Student Council documents, Kōhei discovered Akane's report about the fight between Kakeru and Rokusuke.

He also found that Kakeru had received a demerit. Through classmates, he learned that he was known to be dangerous and prone to violence.

"The fact that he's willing to spend large amounts of Points to protect Class Points suggests we need to watch him carefully." Kōhei said.

This concern aligned with Kōhei's steady personality. He wanted Class A to maintain their lead and graduate without complications.

While the class needed to excel in special exams, they also had to monitor the lower-ranked classes. Class D's drop to 0 Evaluation Score in their first month was expected. Class B seemed unremarkable to Kōhei, but Class C — and particularly Kakeru — warranted vigilance.

The new month had brought changes to the class's internal dynamics.

Kōhei faction: 20 people.

Arisu faction: 20 people.

Though the numbers appeared balanced, Kōhei felt unsettled. Class A's Evaluation Scores were steadily rising, but he worried about potential division within the class. He didn't seek blind followers — he wanted unity.

He hoped Houtarou, who belonged to both his and Arisu's factions, could bridge this gap.

Tap tap—

The sound of a cane against the floor announced a new arrival.

Arisu Sakayanagi entered with her small dog, followed by Masumi carrying the "little princess's" bag.

"Good morning, Oreki-kun~" Arisu greeted with her usual charm.

"Good morning—" Houtarou replied, taking out his textbook for first period.

His recent dreams about physical contact with Honami weren't entirely Kikyō's fault — Arisu shared the blame.

That daily greeting and smile were simply too disarming.

She took her seat and addressed Kōhei.

"Regarding this month's exam." Arisu said, "I likely won't be able to interfere. Everyone will probably follow Katsuragi-kun's instructions."

Despite it being only the first of the month, her words suggested inside knowledge. What did she mean by not interfering? Was she planning to skip the exam?

Kōhei returned to his seat, frowning.

Their savior, Tomonari, had arrived, looking as meticulous as ever.

"First, congratulations to everyone on completing last month's special exam. You should have already received the points transferred from the school and learned the results. Next..."

He wrote the Class Points for the four classes on the blackboard.

「Class A: 1330 Points」

「Class B: 670 Points」

「Class C: 490 Points」

「Class D: 10 Points」

From these scores, it was clear that Classes A, B, and C had fully grasped the meaning of the open-book exam. Every student had scored 100 Points, earning them the maximum reward.

Only Class D was the exception.

"Class D got 10 points?" Kōhei sat near the front.

Before the exam, the four classes' Evaluation Scores were:

「Class A: 1230 Points」

「Class B: 570 Points」

「Class C: 390 Points」

「Class D: 0 Points」

This made him furrow his brow.

The fact that Classes A, B, and C all received the maximum 100-Point reward demonstrated that Classes B and C had also given their all in tackling the school's exam.

In other words, he could sense their determination to climb the rankings.

Kakeru especially stood out — despite Class C students having poor fundamentals, he had somehow managed to get all students to memorize the exam papers perfectly and score 100 points.

This display of leadership ability, combined with Class C students' obedience, would put pressure on Class A.

However, some people were also paying attention to Class D's results.

「Class D: 10 Points」

This meant that Class D remained at rock bottom. More surprisingly, someone had managed to fail an open-book exam.

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