Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 1: Chapter 2.2 - Connections

Nothing strange happened in the entrance ceremony. I took my time, subtly observing the students from other classes. It should be easy enough to take the spotlight, but according to Chabashira-sensei, everyone outside my own class can be considered an enemy. Of course, there's no need for open hostility. At the end of the day, we're still fellow high school students on the same campus. However, I should always remind my classmates to be extra vigilant when needed.

After all, in this school, you can't say things like "you're being too serious about this" or anything along those lines. Their futures are literally on the line.

Well, I say that, but thanks to me purchasing some information, only Class D is aware of how grave the situation is for those who aren't in Class A.

After the entrance ceremony, I have one major criticism towards my classmates, especially the likes of Ike and Yamauchi. They were too restless. Should there have been a student who exhibited the same vigilance that I had, they might have noticed my classmates' stiff behavior.

Students dispersed as soon as they got out of the gymnasium. Some went to the mall, called Keyaki Mall, while some went to the dorms. I thought about heading to the dorms to check out my room but...

"Ayanokouji-kun!" Kushida called out to me.

She wasn't alone though. She ran up to me with her friends in tow. Wait a minute... did they increase?

"Kushida, do you need something?" I asked.

"Well, my friends were wondering if they could exchange contact info with you as well..." Kushida asked with a smile.

"K-Kikyou-chan, we told you not to say it like that!" exclaimed a girl with shoulder-length brown hair.

"Ah-haha... I didn't know how else I could phrase it. My bad." Kushida laughed guiltily while scratching her head.

"That's perfect. I was wondering how to get the contact information of my other classmates, so I guess this is a good start," I said, holding out my smartphone.

"Um, my name is Inogashira Kokoro... Nice to meet you, Ayanokouji-kun." So the brown-haired girl is named Inogashira Kokoro.

"I'm Onodera Kayano! Nice to meet you!" An enthusiastic short-haired girl introduced herself right after.

"Um, my name is Wang Mei-Yu, but you can call me Mii-chan. Nice to meet you, Ayanokouji-kun..." The twin-tailed girl with blue hair is named Wang-- I mean Mii-chan.

After them, three more followed. They were Azuma Sana, Nishimura Ryuuko, and Ichihashi Ruri.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm looking forward to being in the same class." I bowed slightly.

For some reason, they kept staring at me.

"You're right, Kikyou-chan! Now that I get a closer look at him, Ayanokouji-kun really seems like he's super easy to talk to," said Onodera.

"Huh? What do you mean?" As a hatchling when it comes to social interaction, I have no idea what those words really meant.

"You don't get it, Ayanokouji-kun? Everyone thought you were nothing but a mysterious and quiet person, and then, you showed us a great display of intellect. You even saved the whole class with it. Combine those two and you get a rather-hard-to-approach-super-smart classmate," answered Kushida.

"I'm not sure I understand, but I see... Well, it's not like I don't want to talk with people. I'm just not good at it, I guess. And somehow, the look on my face adopted that same feature," I replied.

"Well, your way of speaking may sound monotonous right now, but with enough practice, you'll eventually get out of there!" Onodera gave me a thumbs up.

"Hopefully... I don't want to be mistaken as a robot with no emotions," I responded.