When the two reached the academic area, Shikime Natsu and Shiina Hiyori parted ways at the corridor intersection.
"Well then, see you this afternoon, Shiki-san."
Shiina Hiyori held her book, her purple eyes carrying a hint of a smile as she spoke softly.
"Mn, see you this afternoon."
Shikime Natsu smiled and waved his hand, watching the girl with long silver hair walk into the Class C classroom before turning around and heading toward Class A.
The moment he stepped into the Class A classroom, the originally somewhat noisy space instantly fell silent for a second.
Immediately afterward, dozens of gazes converged on him in unison.
After all, the news that Shikime Natsu and Nagumo Miyabi had settled on a betting duel yesterday was like a heavy bombshell, having already set off a huge wave of disturbance throughout the entire school.
Although everyone had already discussed it with enthusiasm in the group chats last night—and the discussion time wasn't short, with many even staying up late to refresh relevant topics—when Shikime Natsu, the person involved, actually appeared in front of them, they still couldn't help but want to discern something from his face.
However, there was no doubt or worry in these gazes; instead, they were filled with anticipation.
It could even be called blind trust.
"Shiki-san!"
Before Shikime Natsu could even reach his seat, Totsuka Yahiko had already eagerly welcomed him, wearing that signature expression of worship on his face.
"Shiki-san, we've heard about what happened yesterday!"
Closely following behind him was Hashimoto Masayoshi, who always wore a cynical smile on his face.
"Leader, since you dared to accept that kind of challenge, you must be sure of victory, right?"
Although Hashimoto Masayoshi asked this verbally, not a shred of doubt could be heard in his tone. Instead, it carried a relaxed sense of "waiting to watch a good show."
"Is there anything you need our help with? For example, gathering intelligence on the second years or something?"
Looking at these two "left and right guardians" who had actively approached him, the smile on Shikime Natsu's face remained composed.
"Be at ease."
He waved his hand, his tone flat.
"Nothing is needed. I have already resolved it."
Hearing this simple yet powerful sentence, the hearts of the Class A crowd, who had originally pricked up their ears to eavesdrop, finally let the not-so-large stone in their hearts fall to the ground completely.
Since Shikime Natsu had said so, they naturally didn't need to worry.
This was the absolute prestige Shikime Natsu had established in Class A over this short period of more than a month.
From finding the school's hidden rules on the first day of school, to selling intelligence to gain points, helping Katsuragi Kouhei secure the Student Council position, and then helping everyone in Class A improve their grades—subsequently achieving an unprecedented full score during the quiz—Shikime Natsu had never missed the mark once every time he made a move.
In the subconscious of the Class A crowd, the name Shikime Natsu itself represented victory and being foolproof.
Since he decided to do this thing, it meant he definitely had one hundred percent certainty.
"I knew it!"
Totsuka Yahiko waved his fist excitedly.
"Shiki-san is invincible! What does a mere Nagumo count for!"
Hashimoto Masayoshi also shrugged and said with a smile, "It looks like Leader is going to be in the limelight again this time. After all, that is the Vice President of the Student Council."
Watching this atmosphere in the class, which was harmonious to the point of being somewhat fanatical, a trace of imperceptible dissatisfaction flashed through the purple eyes of Sakayanagi Arisu, who was sitting in the corner of the classroom.
She gently tapped the cane in her hand, the corners of her mouth curling up into a somewhat helpless sneer.
These guys... really trust Shikime Natsu quite a lot.
This was simply completely different from the effect she had imagined.
She had originally thought that Shikime Natsu's behavior of crossing grade levels to challenge a strong person would carry a bit of "arrogance" and "overestimating one's ability," causing the Class A crowd to generate some wavering and doubt more or less.
After all, Nagumo Miyabi was the ruler of the second year, and his strength could not be underestimated.
But... there was none at all.
From the moment Shikime Natsu walked into the classroom until now, she hadn't heard a single person raise even half a sentence of doubt.
Not only that, but she had also looked through last night's group chat records; apart from trust, there were simply no opposing voices.
It was as if as long as it was a decision made by Shikime Natsu, it was absolutely correct.
Too absurd.
"This guy really is deeply trusted..." Sakayanagi Arisu murmured in a low voice, her tone carrying a few points of complexity.
Although she had an agreement with Shikime Natsu not to do things that would harm Class A's overall interests.
But...
Changing a Leader for Class A didn't count as harming Class A's interests. This time, she had merely spread the news of the betting duel between Shikime Natsu and Nagumo Miyabi.
If he lost, Shikime Natsu's reputation would be greatly damaged; if he won, Shikime Natsu's reputation would increase greatly.
What it would turn into depended entirely on Shikime Natsu himself.
Furthermore, Sakayanagi Arisu had been eyeing the position of Class A Leader for a long time, constantly thinking about how she could pull Shikime Natsu down.
Over this past month, she had tentatively contacted quite a few Class A members in private, attempting to rope some people into her own camp.
But the results greatly disappointed her.
Everyone held a nearly excessive trust and loyalty toward Shikime Natsu.
No matter what kind of promises she made or what kind of benefits she hinted at, those people would refuse without hesitation and state that Class A's Leader was only Shikime Natsu.
This made Sakayanagi Arisu, who was usually more than capable of manipulating human hearts, feel a trace of frustration.
In the face of this trust, which was like an iron bucket, she simply couldn't find any crack to intervene.
The only breakthrough point was to let Shikime Natsu, this Leader who had never missed, make a major mistake.
Only when cracks appeared on that invincible golden body would those blind believers begin to waver, and only then would she have the chance to reshuffle the cards and form her own faction.
To oppose Shikime Natsu, she must possess her own strength within Class A; otherwise, in this game of chess, she basically had no live pieces.
Shikime Natsu returned to his own seat.
As soon as he sat down, he felt a gaze cast from beside him.
Turning his head, he happened to meet Kamuro Masumi's cold, clear purple eyes.
The two looked at each other, but neither spoke.
Kamuro Masumi remained in her cold and indifferent manner, as if she didn't care about anything happening around her.
Shikime Natsu raised an eyebrow, leaned his body slightly toward Kamuro Masumi, and asked in a lowered voice, "Masumi, could it be that you aren't worried I'll lose to Nagumo?"
Hearing this, Kamuro Masumi slowly raised her eyes, looked at that handsome face close at hand, and asked back in a flat tone, "Will you lose?"
Shikime Natsu chuckled lightly and shook his head.
"I won't."
"Then that's fine."
Kamuro Masumi withdrew her gaze and looked back at the textbook in her hand.
"I think so too."
Shikime Natsu was stunned for a moment, and then the smile at the corners of his mouth grew thicker.
His cute little deskmate actually had such a high degree of trust in him in her heart?
"By the way."
"You didn't come to my dorm for tutoring last night. How did your personal review go in the dorm?"
Mentioning the matter of studying, Kamuro Masumi's fingers paused slightly.
She fell silent for a few seconds before speaking.
"Basically... I understood all the content."
If it were in the past, Kamuro Masumi would absolutely not dare to say such words.
The old her always felt a headache when facing those complex formulas and logic problems, even generating a kind of self-doubt.
But now, she truly had the confidence to say this.
She had tried doing a few sets of practice problems Shikime Natsu gave her in the dorm last night, even including some variant question types, and she was basically able to answer them correctly.
That feeling of clear thinking and writing as if possessed by a god was something she had never experienced before.
It had to be said, Shikime Natsu's teaching ability was simply somewhat terrifying.
Even... Kamuro Masumi faintly felt that her thinking ability seemed to have become much stronger, and her perspective on problems was more comprehensive than before.
When Shikime Natsu took out his phone to check messages, Kamuro Masumi, who was at the side, slightly raised her eyes to look at the young man beside her.
Those purple eyes seemed to hide some words, hesitating to speak.
Shikime Natsu noticed Kamuro Masumi's strange gaze almost instantly.
He turned his head, met her eyes again, and asked with some amusement:
"What is it? Staring at me like that, do you have something you want to say to me?"
Caught in the act, Kamuro Masumi was slightly embarrassed, then spoke slowly.
"You won't lose to Nagumo... so I absolutely won't lose to Sakayanagi either."
Shikime Natsu was slightly dazed, then laughed out loud.
"That is of course."
Hearing this, Kamuro Masumi pursed her lips, seeming to have something else she hadn't finished saying.
Shikime Natsu didn't rush her; he just looked at her quietly, waiting for what followed.
Being stared at straight on by those good-looking, considerably attractive pale golden eyes, a faint blush gradually emerged on Kamuro Masumi's small face.
She shifted her gaze away uncomfortably and muttered in a low voice:
"You... what else do you want to do?"
"It isn't that I want to do anything."
Shikime Natsu looked at her with a faint smile, leaned forward slightly, and said with a teasing tone:
"Masumi, looking at your expression, it seems you should still have something you want to say to me, right?"
Since Shikime Natsu had pointed it out so bluntly, Kamuro Masumi appeared even more coy.
Shikime Natsu speculated secretly in his heart.
This guy... could she be wanting to confess?
But thinking about it carefully, this time period seemed a bit unreasonable.
No, it should be said that the time point for triggering that kind of plot hadn't been reached at all.
According to the tropes of general school romance light novels, such a major emotional scene would surely happen after sweating it out at the sports festival, at the school festival's fireworks display, on a snowy Christmas night, or at some atmospheric dusk after school, right?
Where was there a sudden confession early in the morning just arriving at the classroom, surrounded by people, with no atmosphere to speak of?
This was irrational, and there was no romance.
Seeming to notice the expression on Shikime Natsu's face that had gone slightly astray, Kamuro Masumi's face became even rosier.
Those purple eyes were watery, as if covered by a layer of mist, looking unexpectedly somewhat... making one want to bully her?
Finally, she mustered up her courage, looked at Shikime Natsu again, and spoke.
"Natsu... you want to defeat Sakayanagi Arisu in this midterm exam, and you have to rely on me, right?"
Shikime Natsu nodded, a trace of playfulness flashing through his eyes.
Somewhere in the unseen, he seemed to guess what his cute deskmate intended to say.
This routine... why did it feel a bit familiar?
This guy, could she be intending to use his own moves against him?
Sure enough, in the next second, Kamuro Masumi confirmed his conjecture.
"You also don't want to lose to Sakayanagi in this midterm exam, right?"
Kamuro Masumi tried hard to make her tone sound somewhat imposing, but those slightly trembling eyelashes still exposed her nervousness.
"If... if I don't perform well and really lose to Sakayanagi Arisu, then you'll be in trouble, you know?"
Wow! Good guy!
Kamuro Masumi was really threatening him!
Although this threat sounded like it had no force at all, and was even a bit cute, for the Kamuro Masumi of the past, she would absolutely not do this thing.
Shikime Natsu couldn't help but sigh with emotion in his heart; she was indeed his deskmate.
Staying together with him all day, influenced by what she saw and heard, she had actually learned some of his small tricks and rhetoric.
However, very good, he liked it.
"Oh?"
Shikime Natsu cooperatively revealed an "I'm very scared" expression and asked with a smile:
"Then what does Masumi want to do? Even though I've worked so hard to help you study these days, Masumi, are you still choosing to defect to Sakayanagi?"
"I wouldn't do that kind of stupid thing."
Kamuro Masumi rolled her eyes at him, then took a deep breath and said seriously:
"What I mean is... wait until the day the exam results come out. If you win, and I also win against Sakayanagi..."
"You have to promise me one thing."
The dagger is revealed.
Shikime Natsu raised an eyebrow.
"What thing?"
"I can't say it now."
Kamuro Masumi shook her head, a trace of slyness flashing through her eyes.
"I will only tell you on that day."
"So mysterious?"
Shikime Natsu rubbed his chin, deliberately making a thinking gesture.
"If it's some excessive request, like making me go streaking or something, I won't agree, you know."
"Who would make that kind of request!"
Kamuro Masumi couldn't help but retort, and her face instantly turned a few shades redder.
"Of course not... if you feel it violates your ideas or principles when the time comes, you can refuse."
Hearing this, Shikime Natsu nodded, the smile on his face becoming a few degrees gentler.
"Okay, then I promise."
Agreeing so readily wasn't just because of his trust in Kamuro Masumi, but even more so because he could roughly guess the other party's little thoughts.
It was probably just some small request for a date, right?
After all, recalling carefully, although he and Kamuro Masumi had been almost inseparable at school these days, and tutored alone in the dorm every night.
But...
The "private time" belonging to the two, or a date in the true sense, seemed to be only the movie watching during the opening week.
And this week.
Friday afternoon booked with Shiina Hiyori for the library, Saturday with Morishita Ai and Yamamura Miki to play games, Sunday with Sakura Airi and Horikita Suzune to buy clothes.
His schedule could be said to be packed full, all with other girls' names.
For the deskmate who always stayed by his side, this was indeed a bit of neglect.
This little girl was probably jealous, right? She wanted to use this method to fight for a little alone time for herself.
"Then it's settled."
Seeing Shikime Natsu agree so straightforwardly, the corners of Kamuro Masumi's mouth also rose slightly involuntarily, revealing an extremely faint, extremely faint smile.
Although it was fleeting, that momentary brightness made Shikime Natsu slightly lost in thought watching it.
After the morning classes ended, the afternoon quickly arrived at the PE class time.
Today's PE class was somewhat special; it was a joint course taken by Class A and Class D together.
____
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