Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

Meanwhile.

On the fourth floor of the luxury cruise ship stood a spacious theater.

As advertised by the cruise line, it was fully equipped and treated the students as important guests. Despite less than 10% occupancy, the ship's management still conducted theatrical performances according to schedule.

They were performing a stage play.

"This sky is free. Even in the dark underground, there is hope — These are my wings—"

On the broad stage, they were performing "Icarus' Wings", a story about freedom.

Suzune had Sae's number from when her teacher had asked her to lead Class D to Class B. Using GPS, she could track her location.

She found her teacher in the theater, where professional actors performed on stage. Below, fewer than 20 audience members were seated.

Suzune quickly spotted Sae.

She sat in the second to last row. Next to her, with one empty seat between them, sat an expressionless boy.

It was her classmate Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, whom Kikyō had assessed as lacking common sense.

Though Suzune disliked Kikyō, she still considered some of what she said. She wondered what business this usually unremarkable classmate had sitting next to Sae.

However.

"Chabashira-sensei."

It would be strange if Suzune could read the atmosphere.

"I have something I'd like to consult with you about."

"..." Sae, "What do you want to ask?"

"I want to know the details of how your Class D failed after reaching Class B." Suzune said, "I suspect the school fundamentally doesn't want Class D to advance upward. Class D advancing would represent the school's image, and I don't believe the school thinks students like Yamauchi who are still doing R-rankings can represent that image."

"..." Sae.

She had originally planned to give three parts of her attention to the play and six parts to Kiyotaka, who sat with an empty seat between them.

Now she was focusing almost all her attention on Suzune.

From this perspective, Class D truly had no hope.

Once, she thought this lone girl was her own unmatured self, but Suzune was even more unpolished than she had been.

Initially, she had been intimidated by Suzune being the Student Council President's sister — after all, Manabu was called the most excellent Student Council President in history.

How could the Student Council President's sister be that different from him?

When she first speculated about Suzune being Manabu's sister, Sae thought she might have found a treasure.

But now... this girl couldn't compare to her brother at all. She had no sense of reading situations — completely unable to read the atmosphere.

However, Sae herself was also in a state of giving up.

Kiyotaka was her trump card. She first discovered this hand when she received a call from his father outside the school.

That's when she learned this new boy was different. Perhaps he could be used.

But her spirit had been defeated by the man behind Suzune.

This year's Class D was indeed the worst Class D, yet paradoxically, it was also a Class D with hope. While it had many problem children, these students weren't lacking in all aspects. Rather, they had specific deficiencies that dragged down their other scores. In many areas, they met Class B — or possibly even Class A — standards.

Take Rokusuke Kōenji, for example. Arrogant, looking down on others, convinced of his own beauty and superiority, refusing to cooperate. These traits landed him in Class D.

Yet his academic ability, athletic prowess, adaptability, and even thinking and judgment skills rivaled those of Kōhei Katsuragi from Class A — perhaps even surpassing him in several areas.

So was Rokusuke a treasure? No.

After entering school, despite knowing the rules, he alone lost over 100 Points in class. It became clear he wouldn't lead Class D upward.

He didn't even seem troubled about being in Class D, likely planning to gather 20 million Points and leave from the start.

Besides Rokusuke, there were other promising students — Suzune, Kikyō, Yōsuke. These were all good seedlings.

Then there were those with clear deficiencies, like Haruki, Kanji, and others.

The man behind Suzune had proposed plans for Class D to advance, one of which was to eliminate those holding them back.

But after eliminating so many students, would Class D still truly be Class D?

And if, as the man behind Suzune suggested, someone could be bought into Class D with money — would it still remain Class D?

Could her long-cherished wish ever be fulfilled this way?

She had gotten things backward.

When Suzune gave up on leading Class D, both Sae and Kiyotaka knew their plan to reach Class A was likely finished.

If someone as earnest as Suzune wouldn't take on the task, who would?

And now here sat Kiyotaka, one seat away from her.

The day before boarding the ship, they'd had a visitor from outside the school.

Kiyotaka's father — Atsuomi Ayanokōji.

Upon learning Kiyotaka's true identity and his father's influence, Sae realized this was far beyond what a mere teacher could handle or use as leverage.

His father demanded Kiyotaka withdraw from school.

The chairman, who addressed him as Professor Ayanokōji, made his position clear.

He refused, and Atsuomi stormed off in anger.

The chairman had assured her that the school would protect its students fairly, preventing outside interference.

However, he admitted he'd have to manage the situation carefully. In his experience, once Professor Ayanokōji failed to achieve his goal, he would return — likely not alone, but with people planted within the school. The chairman had no power to prevent such infiltration.

In other words, even the chairman couldn't stand against Atsuomi Ayanokōji.

Any hope of mobilizing Kiyotaka to advance Class D to Class A had vanished.

So today, a dejected Sae had only called him over to relay what had happened — his father's visit and the chairman's message. While the school would protect him, they couldn't stop his father from placing people inside. He needed to be prepared.

He had to decide: withdraw early or stay at school. If he stayed, he'd need to watch for his father's agents.

"So you're saying that even if that man places people inside, the school's rules still apply. They could only act within those boundaries — perhaps interfering with special exams to force my withdrawal?"

One minute before Suzune arrived, Kiyotaka spoke.

He definitely didn't want to leave. If he left, that man would certainly find him. This school was the one place that man couldn't control — his small sanctuary of freedom.

So even if it was only three years, he wanted to keep it.

But since the other side wouldn't give up and planned to place people inside, it meant that man would operate against the rules. Therefore, it should be acceptable if he broke some rules too.

Sae had approached him before about leading the class, offering full support when necessary — by any means necessary.

Although she was completely outmatched against that man, she at least held the position of homeroom teacher. She was a faculty member.

So perhaps Sae could now be utilized as a weapon to strengthen his side's chances of winning.

Though she may have given up before, her confidence could still be rekindled. Because he was going to make his move.

But now.

"..." Kiyotaka fell silent.

If the school had been restricting Class D from the start and Class D never had any chance of climbing up, then what good would Sae's support be?

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Meanwhile.

Houtarou had given in.

"Please, please unbutton your shirt — no, not those buttons. Just the first and second buttons of your dress shirt — Yes, exactly like that... please hold still. Oreki-kun, your face is turning red—"

He stood by the second deck's railing, following Airi's instructions for poses and movements.

He had only wanted to get a tool to help with Class D's auxiliary work, but now he was regretting his decision.

Airi was acting peculiar. Though initially shy about raising her camera, she had become quite passionate midway through. She seemed surprisingly knowledgeable about photography.

When he asked about it, she explained:

"Um, I actually did some modeling in middle school, but I was embarrassed about it. I wanted to learn photography, so I found a female photographer to teach me. I learned how to take selfies, and — well, it seems — I came to love capturing beautiful scenes. I want to use my camera to record beautiful moments."

Houtarou finally understood why she had asked his opinion on stalkers during their first encounter. She despised them because she had been a model herself, and her friend had been harassed—an experience she found terrifying.

Her modeling experience explained a lot. She must be quite attractive beneath her plain appearance, which was likely a deliberate attempt to avoid attention.

Airi seemed oblivious to this observation as she continued taking photos, absorbed in capturing beautiful scenes.

Did that mean she considered him picture-worthy?

He accepted the implicit compliment.

Being on the deck, however, meant they had an audience. The sun was setting, and several students had gathered to watch.

Though Kakeru's earlier commotion had scattered some people, others still lingered nearby.

"Sakura-san's quite talented, isn't she? I had no idea you could do this."

"We've taken quite a few photos too."

A group of gyaru approached.

They were Class D students, Airi's classmates. And they were all quite attractive. Or rather, Class D's female students have always been high quality.

The most notable among them was a girl with a golden ponytail wearing bubble socks. Her companion with wavy hair, Maya Satō, was equally pretty.

"I, I just thought Oreki-kun would make a good photo subject, so I wanted to take some pictures — there's no special meaning to it." Airi hurriedly stammered.

Her timid demeanor made her appear vulnerable, like a small animal being cornered.

"Hey, what's with that tone? Am I bullying you?" The gyaru leader with the golden ponytail seemed offended.

No, to any observer, it really did look like bullying.

Fortunately, after making that comment, Kei shifted her attention from Airi and approached Houtarou instead.

"Say, Oreki-kun, do you have plans tonight? We've barely seen you around these past three days on the ship." She said.

"Karuizawa's being so bold!" Her companions chimed in supportively.

Houtarou recognized the speaker as the girl who had witnessed his encounter with Kei on the Class D stairs that first day, when she had hugged him.

She had distinctive blue short hair. From the information Masayoshi had provided, he recalled her name was Satsuki Shinohara.

Though she wasn't particularly skilled at making friends, and while she was pretty in her own right, it was an ordinary sort of prettiness. Next to Kei's adorable features, she faded into the background.

Still, Houtarou reminded himself that he didn't truly understand the intricacies of female friendships.

"I already have plans with Sakura-san." He glanced at Airi, who had transformed from excited and conspicuous moments ago to small and helpless after the gyaru group's arrival.

She now looked like someone who had something precious taken away, her gaze fixed downward at her feet.

Though she couldn't actually see her toes.

{T/N: Because of the boing boings.}

"Sakura-san, huh—"

Almost immediately, Airi found herself back in the spotlight, receiving looks that suggested she was somehow violating an unspoken rule.

Clearly, the relationships among Class D's female students weren't particularly harmonious.

"She helped me with something before, so I'm returning the favor now." Houtarou explained.

"Oh, so it's official business then." Satsuki nodded.

"Well, can't be helped then."

So Kei left with her friends.

At the corner, however, she paused for a few seconds, glancing back at him.

Drawing from his experience with Kikyō, Houtarou understood what she might be thinking — probably wondering if he liked being with Airi.

Through his Precognitive Dream, he knew something his memory lacked: Kei had been bullied in middle school, and he had saved her.

Her high regard for him explained why she'd take interest in his love life. It made perfect sense.

"Thank you for helping me just now." Came a dejected voice beside him.

"Is Karuizawa-san really that scary?" Houtarou asked.

"How should I put it... Karuizawa-san is the gyaru leader in our class. She's quite harsh toward the boys — when someone accidentally dropped an eraser near her desk, she just moved her desk away completely."

Airi seemed to realize she might have been too presumptuous.

Taking photos of someone as prominent as Houtarou in such a public place had been too conspicuous.

Well, sorry about that, Airi, Houtarou thought to himself.

He confirmed that even if he wanted to gain control of Class D, having Airi assist would be too difficult. She was too timid — she might even struggle to speak up in class.

Yet Houtarou didn't find Kei particularly scary. Since coming to this school, she had surrounded herself with gyaru friends and adopted their style.

While someone's appearance was their own choice, he realized this might be Kei's way of protecting herself. After experiencing bullying in middle school and coming to a new place in high school—

What would someone do when unsure if they might be bullied again?

And also...

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