Blackmail System in Classroom of the Elite

"You..."

As they entered the room Horikita snapped out of her daze. She threw the calm Ryuji a bewildered and questioning look.

"Do you know something?"

The question slipped past Horikita's lips before she realised her mistake.

"Oh?" Ryuji turned towards her with an intrigued look pulling his tie and throwing it on the floor, "That's a pretty odd question. 'Do you know something?' and not 'Did something happen between you two?' or maybe 'Why be rude to her for no reason?'"

Horikita pressed her lips tightly together.

"Tell me Suzune, is there something I should know?"

"No." Horikita refused blandly, ignoring his accusations.

She pulled her workbooks out and sat down in front of the table. Ryuji mimicked her and opened an online study website. As he opened his notebook his lips parted calmly, "I just find her incredibly fake. She claims she wants to be friends but isn't everyone's friend no one's friend? It makes me think she's doing all this for attention."

Horikita paused, stopping herself from the questions she was preparing, "And what if you're wrong? What if she's really one of those naive individuals who thinks they can be friendly with everyone? Aren't you being incredibly disrespectful to her just based on assumptions?"

"I don't care, Suzune." Ryuji sneered, "Anyone I find suspicious is guilty till proven innocent."

"That's such a flawed outlook." Horikita frowned.

"The one who's been disdaining everyone around her and thinking of herself as superior is lecturing me?" Ryuji mocked and Horikita fell silent.

Usually, she would've retorted with snide remarks but she was a bit troubled.

"I..." Horikita felt like telling him about the rumor she heard in middle school.

No. I can't. What if it really is just a rumor? I don't know the details of that incident I can't just blame her for it.

Ryuji didn't press her, "Let's move forward from Kushida. How I treat her is none of your business, Suzune... Unless you're willing to clear her name."

"I don't know anything, don't harbour any kind of delusion." Horikita shook her head.

"Sure," Ryuji remarked sarcastically, "Let's get back to the conversation Kushida interrupted."

"About the Private Points?" Horikita put Kushida's matter to the back of her mind. While she disagreed with his view in general, Kushida in particular was suspicious.

She couldn't fault him, for maybe he really has some kind of information or evidence. It could even be that he's from the same middle school as them but she couldn't confirm this without acknowledging that she knew Kushida from before high school.

"Yes, like I said this school isn't as benevolent as it seems." Ryuji spoke seriously and Horikita listened without interrupting, "100,000 Private Points per student. 40 Million Yen a month in expenditure. An elite school that doesn't monitor its students, ignores tardiness and allows idle behaviour in class. Does this match the image of this school you had before joining?"

Horikita shook her head.

"I thought the same. The teachers really don't care what the students are doing in class. Most of our classmates are either chatting or busy on their phones. I don't get where the 'Advanced Nurturing' is."

"I've been gathering a few clues this past week and I've come to a conclusion that you'll definitely hate, Suzune."

"Hmm? A conclusion I'll hate?" She murmured before nodding, "Just say it."

"The school has divided us students based on merit."

Horikita froze but Ryuji didn't care, he continued without hesitation.

"We of Class D are labelled as trash."

"T-This..." Horikita was shocked before regaining her composure, "But why? I'm sure I've scored at least 90-95 in every subject in the entrance exam. If merit is the base for dividing students how have I of all people been thrust into Class D, the worst class?"

"Calm down." Ryuji tapped the table with his fingertip, "If marks were what mattered someone like me shouldn't even be sitting in front of you."

"...That's true, your grades are horrible."

"...?"

So she put her anger aside just to make fun of me?

Ryuji was speechless.

"Since grades aren't what solely divides us, let's look at it this way—" Ryuji tore a piece of paper from his notebook and wrote down a few criteria before handing the paper to Horikita.

[Evaluation of Horikita Suzune by Yamamoto (handsome) Ryuji-

(Graded from E to A+)

•Academic Ability: A

•Intelligence: A-

•Decision Making: B-

•Physical Ability: B+

•Cooperativeness: E

•Past Issues: F

]

Horikita looked at the paper and instead of getting angry calmly reviewed it, automatically ignoring the 'handsome' part.

"Though I have a faint idea could you expand on what you mean by cooperativeness and past issues?"

"Cooperativeness means how well you work with the class and your social image. I gave you an E on that for obvious reasons. But!" Ryuji paused pointing his finger at 'Past Issues', "This I think is the most important criterion and despite the decent stats of other criteria instantly throws someone into Class D. For example your relationship with your brother was so skewed that it was borderline trauma and I'm not just using you as evidence."

"Hirata and Kushida, let's take these two for example." Ryuji continued, "Aren't they the epitome of excellence? I've observed them the past few days, even joining Hirata's group for further speculation and they've shown nothing but kindness and excellent EQ. Their grades can't be bad either. Even if not Class A shouldn't they be in Class B? I think they score an F like you on 'Past Issues'..."

"Perhaps trauma or maybe false outward personalities?"

Ryuji's carefully selected words left Horikita no chance to question him. She felt her mind reel as she took in the information. But what bothered her the most, and what made her completely agree with his suspicion was one detail.

Giving Kushida an F for Past Issues.

After all, Kushida had shown nothing but excellence and impeccable social relationships. If someone like her was out in Class D then it could only mean the rumor she heard was true.

Unless... Ryuji's speculation of division based on merits was wrong.

That's... unlikely.

Because If she were to believe Ryuji's words, all her doubts and the mysteries of this school would dissolve immediately.

"We'll talk about this more later, let's study for now."

Ryuji abruptly ended the conversation and Horikita nodded showing no change in emotion outwardly.

This guy is way too suspicious.

He seems to not care about anything but his words contradict him. If he knows our points would most likely plummet to next to nothing why has wasted so many points on a laptop instead of using a library?

Not to mention, he told Ayanokoji he wanted to join Hirata's group to make friends, even discussing the topic on the first day of school.

Yet he says the reason he joined them was to observe the group closer. Then is he making things up right now or did he have these suspicions from the first day itself?

Though I claim I would be the only one to teach him, if he went to Kushida and Hirata they wouldn't mind tutoring him. Yet he's been openly hostile to Kushida who could easily ruin his image in class and sticking to me for some reason despite how much trouble and attitude I've given him.

Why?

If he just wants a carefree life why bother Kushida so much?

Why?

Suddenly, a weird notion found its way to her.

Is he trying to chase me romantically...?

A normal conjecture popped up in Horikita's mind but she felt uneasy, as if her answer was wrong.

It felt like his goal was something deeper.

Horikita couldn't put her finger on it but she couldn't shake the eerie feelings in her heart towards this mysterious guy.

Her conclusions seemed ridiculous yet reasonable at the same time.

Am I overthinking things?

She slowly glanced at Ryuji, observing his diligent face as he solved the question she gave him.

Maybe... Maybe the reason he's in Class D isn't just because of his grades.

Her eyes involuntarily found their way to the circled 'Past Issues.'

________________

AN- Wow, you guys want those extra chapters huh? We're not far from 500, at 340 or something right now. Depending on your enthusiasm you might get another chapter today! Thank you for the support, it's making writing much more pleasant :)

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