Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 1: Chapter 4.1 - Subtle Movements

As expected, we spent the rest of the morning running through the course objectives in our respective subjects.

Starting tomorrow, homeroom will only last for five minutes. I can't talk to the whole class like I did this past two days...

As I was thinking about these things, lunch finally came.

"Ayanokouji-kun! Do you wanna eat lunch with us?" At first, I thought it would be Kushida and her friends. But, I heard a completely different set of voices.

When I turned my head, there were three girls who walked up to me. They were Satou Maya, Matsushita Chiaki, and Mori Nene.

It was common sense to confirm whether their invitation was really towards me, but that would put me on the receiving end of the conversation. Since my vision and hearing were healthy enough, I'll just assume that the invitation was for me.

"Sure, but can I invite someone?" I asked.

"Oh, of course," replied Satou.

I walked towards Sudou's chair.

"Hey, Sudou. Wanna come with me? I'll have lunch with Satou and her friends," I whispered.

Satou and the others were a bit surprised when they saw me invite Sudou.

During the first day, most of Class D avoided him due to his scary face. Fortunately, the self-introductions lessened their prejudice against him a bit.

"Hah? Why me?" The person in question, Sudou, was shocked too.

"Well, I'm not used to being around girls, especially when I'm the only guy. C'mon man, you're the only one I can ask," I pleaded.

"W-Well... If you really insist." Sudou shyly sneaked a glance towards Satou and the others.

As expected, Sudou was also interested in girls.

I was one step ahead of Ike (and his friends) in inviting Sudou because they spent some time chatting. As the five of us walked out of the door, they could only gasp in jealousy upon seeing Sudou and me with three cute girls.

"Oh, so it's Sudou-kun," Matsushita said.

"My bad if I'm intruding. It's just that Ayanokouji here can't help but be nervous when he's alone with girls." grinned Sudou.

"Wow. You didn't have to expose me that hard," I replied.

"Ahaha! Nervous? Ayanokouji looks anything but nervous. What are you saying?" asked Satou.

"I know, right? Ayanokouji-kun always has this calm aura around him," added Mori.

"Sudou, they're talking about me. Flex your muscles to grab their attention or something," I joked.

"Huh? Should I?" Sudou asked obliviously. He didn't get my joke.

The three chuckled in response.

"You two are funny. Are you friends from junior high?" Mori asked.

"Not really. How about you three?" And the conversation continued on.

It wasn't long until we reached the cafeteria and ate. I had to carefully navigate the conversation due to how volatile Sudou is, but I'm glad everything went fine. All three of them were pretty easy to talk with. We even got their contact info.

"Later, Ayanokouji-kun, Sudou-kun."

"Yep, it was fun."

The three waved at us. Sudou and I lightly bumped our fists without looking at each other.

Right after I sat down on my chair, music played through the speakers all around the campus. Then, a sweet voice was heard announcing something.

"At five PM Japan Standard Time today, we will be holding a student club fair in Gymnasium No. 1. Students interested in joining a club, please gather in Gymnasium No. 1. I repeat, at--"

Student club fair, huh? Should I join something?

"Hey, Horikita. Do you plan on joining a club?" I asked my seatmate who just finished eating her sandwich.

"I'm not interested in joining a club," she answered sternly.

"Well, to be honest, I'm the same. But, I still want to check it out. Are you free later?" I asked.

"Are you asking me to go with you?" Horikita's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, but it's fine if you have plans." Of course, I won't force her.

"No, I actually don't have any plans. However, I'm more concerned about you. You were invited by Satou-san and her friends earlier, right? There's a high chance for you to get invited again later. It doesn't even have to be them. Practically everyone in our class is interested in you like how they're interested in Hirata-kun or Kushida-san. It's not the same, but it's still similar," explained Horikita.

"I won't deny that possibility... But I can just decline their offer, right?" I replied.

"You'll... decline them?" Horikita was genuinely surprised. It's like the idea itself was ridiculous. I'm not a Yes-Man, you know?

"Yeah," I nodded.

"I see... Fine. We'll head to your dorm right after. I'll make you pay for what you've done to me earlier," she said.

I didn't do anything to you, though.

"Don't say anything that can be misunderstood. And what do you want, anyway?" I asked.

"Isn't that obvious? I want more information." Horikita said with quite some force behind her words.

"Hey, let me remind you, Horikita. I don't hold any credible information and all of the things I've said thus far were nothing but speculations and sloppy deductions," I shrugged.

"I know that much. I'm probably the only one who's skeptical about the things you spouted earlier. I'm still not a hundred percent convinced about being flawed. The main information that I'm looking for is your plan for Class D's future," Horikita said with a frown.

Well, at least she's somewhat convinced.

"Fine." 

It's a done deal then. I'll show her something good while we're at it.