Horikita was beautiful. Even if she didn't socialize during the first day, her appearance alone garnered quite the attention. It was even more so when she got involved in the conversation with me during the 'information purchase' yesterday. That's why the anticipation of the whole class was understandable.
"I'm Horikita Suzune. Nice to meet you." As cold as ice and as cool as a zephyr, Horikita ended her introduction with two short sentences.
Our classmates were nothing short of confused. After making eye contact with him...
"Alright, let's proceed..." Hirata continued facilitating the introduction.
"You really sent that home, didn't you?" I commented.
"I did what you want. You'll pay for this later." Horikita replied with a terrifying glower.
And now I'm the one who's getting threatened... explicitly. I expected her to loathe events like these, but I didn't think she'd detest them that much. Well, her anger is reasonable. I'll just explain myself later.
It wasn't long until all thirty-nine of us finished our introductions. With Kushida and Hirata taking the lead, everything panned out seamlessly. After the hard-fought self-introduction of Sakura, it was finally time to move on. Now, the last person to introduce himself was none other than Sudou Ken.
"Sudou, it's your turn now," I called with a bit of volume.
"Hah? Why should I? I'm not a child anymore," grumbled Sudou.
Of course, the class wouldn't know how to react if he says things like this.
"Ah, well. There's really no harm in telling us anything about yourself, right? As your friend, I'm really interested in your hobbies. First of all, you're really tall. And even I can tell that your body is well-built. I'm sure everyone in the class is curious," I answered.
"What? Leave me alone..." Sudou was a bit surprised and shaken. However, the previous anger on his face was slowly disappearing. Good. It's your turn.
"That's right, Sudou-kun. I've always wondered if you played any sport. Do you mind telling us what you do for fun?" Kushida asked with her all-too-powerful angelic smile.
"Your hair looks slick too, by the way," Onodera added, pointing a finger on the side of her hair.
A bunch of girls on Kushida's friend group murmured as if they were interested in what Sudou had to say. Sudou was probably not used to positive attention. Without a doubt, he would feel good about this.
"Hnnng-! How is Sudou getting attention from all the girls?!" protested Ike.
"You lucky bastard!" Yamauchi tagged along, as usual.
Ike and Yamauchi's disgruntled noises were blessings in disguise. They would only serve to boost Sudou's ego more.
"W-Well... If all of you really insist, then fine..." Sudou finally cracked.
"You can do it!" Kushida continued to cheer along with her friends.
"My name is Sudou Ken. I've played basketball since elementary school and I'm planning to continue playing here. Nice to meet you." Sudou said with a slightly flustered expression on his face.
"Ohh... Basketball, huh?" Okitani murmured.
"We have a soccer star, and now a basketball star?" commented Mori.
"Is Class D actually a powerhouse?" Karuizawa did the same.
Sudou awkwardly scratched his head while sitting down.
Seems like it went well. It would've been bad if Sudou became an object of hate this early on. He will, without a doubt, distance himself from the entire class if that happens. However, this is just a temporary fix. The problem here is Sudou's nature itself. Unless he fixes it, troubles like his dispute with the upperclassmen yesterday will happen again. Things will become especially dangerous once his behavior affects the class.
"Well, we sure took our time, didn't we? Thank you for participating, everyone. I'm glad that we got to know each other, even if it's just a little bit. We'll be together for the next three years, so I hope we can all get along," declared Hirata.
"Yeah!"
"Agreed!" Most of my classmates celebrated.
That was too close. The atmosphere wouldn't have been this lively if Horikita and Sudou refused to introduce themselves.
Chabashira-sensei's announcements and reminders took five minutes while our introductions took forty-five minutes. We have ten minutes left before the next teacher arrives.
"Once again, I'd like Ayanokouji-kun to take center stage. If any of you have questions regarding the S-System, we will try to answer as much as we can." Hirata, who acted as an emcee, set the stage for me, the speaker.
I stood up and walked towards the podium. Being able to establish this kind of relationship with the current Class D is an enormous advantage. Given how rowdy and boisterous they seemed on the first day, no one would care about me standing here right now. They're all teenagers, after all. However, it seems like they also realize that their futures are on the line. That's a good start for shaping up my classmates into helpful and useful allies.
Resembling Chabashira-sensei's figure from earlier, I started laying out some of my thoughts.
"I'm sure all of you are aware of this already, but I want you to remember that our advantage will only last for a month. In the coming 1st of May, class points will be revealed to the other classes, officially starting the interclass race for points." That was probably a good starting point.
"As I have mentioned yesterday, the class's solidarity is important. However, before we help each other, we need to help ourselves first. I'm sure all of you are aware of your own capabilities. If we were to believe what Chabashira-sensei said about the class' sorting, then we will be the worst class in our year," I said, noticing the pained and dissatisfied expression of my classmates. "However, she also called us defects. In other words, we are flawed. If we look at it from the opposite perspective, our weaknesses are apparent, but we also have our own strengths."
Despite my dull and toneless way of talking, everyone was listening intently.
However, giving pep talks like this is still making me quite uncomfortable. If I didn't prepare a manuscript in my head, I wouldn't be able to speak this clearly.
It's not like I have a choice, though. If I talk in a logical and rational way, everyone would just think of me as a robot with little to no emotions. The relationships of Class D students must be cultivated first. Only by that time can I stop giving uncharacteristic speeches that would suit people like Hirata or Kushida more.
"Like the way I used it yesterday, it seems like points have a multitude of purposes. This is all just speculation, but I think that with the right amount of points, we can overturn something as bad as an expulsion," I said.
"What-?!"
"No way..."
"Isn't that awesome though?"
"That would surely be expensive." The class started murmuring.
"Once again, this is all just speculation. We can confirm everything once we get to ask Chabashira-sensei next time. Going back to what I said about strengths, I think most, if not all of you are not satisfied with being placed in Class D. Is that right?" I asked.
With my vision on the entire room, I saw a lot of people nodding. However, I chose to ask Yukimura.
"Yukimura-kun, why do you think the school was wrong about placing you in Class D?" I questioned Yukimura's assessment of himself.
He stood smoothly and answered me right after fixing his glasses.
"First of all, I don't think I did badly on the entrance exam... No, I didn't just 'not do badly'. I am confident enough to say that I did excellently. Additionally, I am a hundred percent sure that my interview went well." Yukimura presented his argument like a valedictorian.
"Certainly. I wouldn't dare doubt you on that. However, do you remember what Chabashira-sensei said yesterday? 'This school evaluates its students' talents'. She didn't say anything that emphasizes our entrance exam results and academic abilities in particular," I rebutted.
"What? So you're saying that I really deserve to be in Class D?" Yukimura's expression turned unsavory.
My classmates started to become worried. Hirata and Kushida, who were on standby, got ready to take action.
"I wouldn't say that. At the end of the day, our places in Class D are just the subjective opinions of this school's higher-ups. Thank you for sharing your side, Yukimura-kun," I replied.
"I-I see..." Yukimura was at a loss for words. He probably didn't know what to feel about what I just told him.
"As you've all heard, each of us should have our own strengths. Take Yukimura-kun for example. His excellence in academics will surely be useful for our class," I continued. "On the other hand, let me ask Sudou from the back."
"What? Me?" Sudou raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Do you think you're as capable as Yukimura-kun when it comes to studying?" I asked.
"Hah? I don't care about studying. There's no way I'm as smart as him." Sudou was quite displeased with my question.
"But as you said earlier, you've been playing basketball since elementary. Your athleticism is clearly reflected in your appearance. So, when the time comes where the class needs someone with overwhelming athletic abilities, Sudou Ken will be Class D's top pick. Isn't that right? After all, this school has the unknown element called 'special exams'." I explained.
"I-I see... If that's the case, then..." Sudou replied nervously.
This induced some gasps of awe from my classmates.
"Those are some great insights, Ayanokouji-kun!" exclaimed one girl.
"He's so smart..." said another girl.
"You're so far into the future, Ayanokouji!" yelled Ike.
Apart from Horikita, who glared at me with skepticism, Kouenji, who continued combing his hair, and Sakura, who was too shy to make any noise, all of my classmates briefly cheered.
"Well then, since the time is almost up, I'll end this off by asking a few favors from all of you. First, please refrain from acting conceited or arrogant just because we have a slight advantage. Second, I hope we could continue following the basic school rules as to not decrease our points. And lastly, I want everyone to take studying seriously from now on. If any of you isn't confident in their ability to study, please ask help from capable people like Kushida, Hirata, Horikita, and Yukimura-kun," I said.
I didn't know how capable Kushida and Hirata were in studying. If I'm wrong, they'll probably correct me later and I'll have to apologize.
I finished off with a slight bow. And just like that, the second bell rang.
Really, I want to hand off these speech duties to someone else as soon as possible. That's what I honestly thought.
Author's Notes:
I just wanted to clear up a few things about Horikita. You've noticed that she's not acting like the abrasive Horikita from the early volumes of the original light novel. However, she's exactly just that. If you make her converse with the three idiots, she'd immediately piss them off by talking down on them. However, she immediately witnessed Kiyotaka's capabilities early on. Hence, her current attitude towards him.