Chapter 79: The Study Group Population is Skyrocketing
Sakura Airi's weak yet firm sentence—"If you do this, you'll cause trouble for Keima-kun!"—was like a drop of cold water falling into boiling oil, instantly causing the fierce exchange to stagnate. Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu turned their gazes toward her simultaneously, carrying varying degrees of surprise and scrutiny.
Horikita was indeed surprised.
In her impression, Sakura Airi had always been the most silent, inconspicuous, and even timid girl in class. For her to actively intervene between Horikita and Sakayanagi during a conversation clearly filled with gunpowder—and to directly point out the impact their arguing might have on Katsuragi Keima—was unexpected.
This forced Horikita to re-evaluate this classmate she usually barely glanced at.
Sakayanagi's eyes, however, showed even deeper interest.
She watched Airi, who had shrunk back like a startled rabbit, with great amusement. She even tilted her head slightly to look at the nearby Katsuragi Keima, the curve of her lips carrying a playful edge.
'It seems this inconspicuous Class D girl cares about Katsuragi-kun much more deeply than she appears to.'
"Suzune, Sakura-san and Katsuragi-kun are already addressing each other by their first names. Compared to them, you're essentially just an outsider."
"Whether names are used or not makes no difference to me." Horikita picked up her cup and took a sip of hot water. "Furthermore, I just reached an agreement with Katsuragi-kun; he can address me by my first name from now on as well."
"Eh, didn't you disagree just a moment ago?" Keima whispered softly.
Horikita pretended not to hear him, maintaining her gaze on Sakayanagi. Meanwhile, Airi felt as if she had captured a specific detail in their relationship.
'Wait? Wait! Keima-kun is calling Horikita-san by her name too? Have they suddenly become that close? Wait! I thought they didn't get along very well before...
If you want to conquer a target, you must appear before them as much as possible.'
Airi suddenly recalled the contents of the walkthrough Keima had written:
Even a negative impression can be effective as long as it is deep enough.
Previously, Horikita had proactively sought Keima out for a meal, and they had argued—which led to the formation of the study group. Now she was here again for lunch!
'Horikita Suzune must have targeted Katsuragi Keima as her conquest object!'
Airi was convinced of this thought. At the same time, she couldn't help but compare herself to Horikita. Aside from her figure and looks, she didn't seem to beat Horikita in any category...
'But I will absolutely not give up!'
Airi's gaze suddenly became incredibly firm.
'I am different from who I was before! If it were the old me, I probably would have retreated! But now, I have grown! I have found the path forward through the walkthrough!'
As she thought this, Airi raised her head, her once-timid eyes becoming more serious. This change was caught by Sakayanagi. She didn't know what had happened to the girl, but it seemed to be caused by Katsuragi Keima's existence.
'Interesting. Is this how Katsuragi Keima "controls" the class?'
Beside them, Keima had likely guessed everything.
'Good grief... Airi has already cast Horikita as a romantic rival, hasn't she? Still, it's not a bad thing; at least Airi's favorability won't drop.'
Ten minutes later, this stifling lunch finally concluded. Keima checked the time; playing games now was impossible. His precious lunch break was gone!
'What a tragedy...'
First, Ryuen Kakeru came to cause trouble, then Kiryuin Fuuka said those cryptic things, and now this lunch that felt like a battlefield scene. Today was full of "unexpected events" straight out of a game. But at least it was almost over. As long as their favorability didn't drop, Keima considered it a success.
"It's getting late, we should get ready for class." Keima looked down at his small table, which was covered in enough food to rival a luxury banquet. "As for the dishes—"
"Don't trouble yourself, Katsuragi-kun. Since I was the one who intruded today, it's only natural that I handle the cleaning." Sakayanagi spoke politely, acting like a refined young lady. However, she quickly turned to Horikita with that condescending expression again: "It might be a bit troublesome for Horikita-san, though. After all, there's so much food left over. Is it because the cooking is so mediocre that no one wanted to eat it?"
"I'm not like certain young ladies who probably don't even know how to hold a spatula," Horikita retorted ruthlessly.
Their words were laced with venom. Airi stood by, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to mediate but didn't dare. Keima pushed the door open, desperate for fresh air.
The moment he opened it, his eyes met another person's.
Karuizawa Kei.
"Karuizawa?"
"Eh?" Karuizawa's eyes widened, appearing startled by the sudden opening of the door.
"What are you doing? You scared me!" She quickly adjusted her expression. "I—I just happened to be looking for Hirata-kun, and then you suddenly came out!"
Keima hadn't even asked why she was there, yet she offered a self-serving explanation.
'This is obviously a made-up reason...'
Looking at the girl, Keima guessed the real reason. Likely due to the events of the noon hour, Karuizawa was becoming increasingly conscious of him. This was the classic "accidental encounter" trope from games.
In fact, Keima was right. Karuizawa had intended to manufacture a chance encounter so she could walk to class with him. On the way, she could learn more about him and see if he was a suitable "parasite" host. She had timed it perfectly to arrive at the boys' dorm floor.
She hadn't expected Keima to burst out suddenly. But this worked too. She lifted her chin slightly and said, "It's almost time for class, why don't we just head there together—"
"Is there another visitor?" Sakayanagi's crisp voice rang out from the room. She leaned on her cane and walked to Keima's side.
"You're... the one from this morning?"
Karuizawa's words cut off abruptly. Her gaze skipped over Keima's shoulder and landed on Sakayanagi. Why was this Class A lady in Keima's room? Could it be...?
Her eyebrows shot up as her imagination ran wild. However, more shock was to come. Sakayanagi, seemingly ignoring Karuizawa's stiffness, gave Keima a gentle smile.
"It seems Katsuragi-kun is quite popular. We've just finished, and here is another guest." She turned her gaze to Karuizawa and nodded. "You are also from Class D, I presume? Nice to meet you."
Sakayanagi didn't know Karuizawa's name. In her eyes, the girl wasn't someone significant. Before Karuizawa could digest the shock, more footsteps approached.
Horikita Suzune walked out carrying empty dishes. Seeing Karuizawa frozen at the door, she paused briefly, her face expressionless, and greeted her flatly: "Karuizawa-san." Then she walked straight past.
To Karuizawa, seeing the solitary Horikita coming out of Keima's room with dishes was like seeing the sun rise from the west.
'Horikita Suzune?! Why is she... when did they get so close? Eating together? No, wait, this is too weird!! Not just Horikita, but that person from Class A too? Why?!'
Karuizawa felt like her brain was short-circuiting. She had only just taken an interest in Keima this morning, but now she found the core figure of Class A and the cold honor student of Class D gathered in his tiny dorm room? What kind of bizarre combination was this?
While Karuizawa was bewildered, Airi also lowered her head and carefully shuffled out the door, clutching her bento box. Seeing Karuizawa, she jumped, her face turning red again. She whispered a tiny "Ka-Karuizawa-san..." before squeezing through the gap between Keima and Karuizawa and running toward the elevator.
"???" Karuizawa was completely stunned.
Sakayanagi Arisu, Horikita Suzune, Sakura Airi... three girls with completely different styles who usually never interacted were coming out of Katsuragi Keima's room one after another? And judging by what Sakayanagi and Horikita were holding, they had clearly just finished a meal! What on earth was going on?
Keima saw the shock and rapidly shifting expressions on Karuizawa's face. He pushed his glasses up and decided to break the awkward silence.
"Karuizawa, you were looking for Hirata? He didn't return to the dorms this noon, I think." He played along with her fake excuse.
"Ah... oh, r-really?" Karuizawa snapped back to reality, forcing a composed expression and using her usual slightly haughty tone. "Whatever, I was heading back to the classroom anyway..."
At that moment, footsteps approached from behind. It was a somewhat casual-looking boy—Hashimoto Masayoshi from Class A. Like Kamuro Masumi, he was currently one of Sakayanagi's subordinates.
"Sakayanagi."
"I'll leave the matters here to you." Sakayanagi looked at Hashimoto, who nodded and entered the room to start cleaning. Sakayanagi wouldn't clean herself; Hashimoto was the perfect "laborer."
"Is that really okay...?" Keima asked.
"No matter. He said he wanted to be my subordinate recently; this is a good chance to see if he's sincere~" Sakayanagi narrowed her eyes meaningfully at Hashimoto.
"Don't worry, Sakayanagi," Hashimoto said while working, though his gaze frequently flickered toward Keima. It was a gaze of assessment and curiosity.
"It's getting late, we should get moving. Getting to class early allows one to enjoy a brief moment of quiet. Let's go together, Katsuragi-kun." Sakayanagi leaned on her cane and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Keima. She then looked at Karuizawa and said in a natural, hostess-like tone: "Since that's the case, does Karuizawa-san want to walk with us? Katsuragi-kun and I are heading to the school building now."
"I have things to do, I'll go ahead." Karuizawa felt uncomfortable with Sakayanagi's dominance. But stronger than that was her curiosity about Keima. Why were so many girls surrounding him? She hadn't understood why his personality made him a focal point before; now that doubt was even stronger.
After saying her piece, Karuizawa hurried away.
"Is that so? What a pity." Sakayanagi smiled as she watched her leave.
Soon, afternoon classes began. As usual, Keima took out his handheld and started playing. However, throughout the lesson, he could feel gazes falling on him from time to time. Without looking, he knew they belonged to Airi and Horikita.
Finally, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. It was time for the study group at the library. The moment the bell chimed, the participants were already standing by his side.
Airi, Hasebe, Kushida, Horikita, Karuizawa...
Even without counting Elsie, the number of people in this study group was becoming increasingly exaggerated.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting