Chapter 4: It's Only Because You're Beautiful
Horikita Suzune furrowed her brows, her gaze locked onto Katsuragi Keima.
Her first instinct was that Keima's gaze toward her was an unspoken hint for her to give up her seat. However, Horikita Suzune was not the type to do such a thing. She even held a firm conviction against the idea of giving up seats.
"If you were waiting for me to give up my seat back then, you're going to be disappointed. I—"
"I'm sorry. It's just that you were so beautiful, classmate, that I subconsciously took a longer look."
Without a moment's hesitation, Katsuragi Keima gave his answer.
"Huh?"
This response was completely outside Horikita's expectations; for a moment, she didn't even know how to respond. Her lips twitched slightly as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, her brow only furrowed deeper.
"If there's nothing else, then never mind."
After leaving those words, Horikita's hand lightly brushed through her long hair, and she turned to leave. Her every word and action exuded an air of coldness and arrogance.
"Kami-nii-sama, that person doesn't seem very easy to get along with... Her affection meter dropped earlier; could she hate us now?" Elsie asked anxiously in a small voice.
"In games, hate and love can be interchanged. Events involving arguments or being hated—as long as you can overcome them—will surely turn into a positive influence. However—"
Katsuragi Keima watched Horikita's departing figure and couldn't help but shake his head.
"Damn it, the real world doesn't have a dialogue log or a save system! What a pain... Forget it, let's go report in first."
Katsuragi Keima and Elsie soon entered the campus. After passing through security and handing over their extra personal belongings, the two followed the staff's instructions to the gymnasium to attend the entrance ceremony.
Keima also felt that there was something slightly off about this school. The rules and regulations inside seemed overly strict.
The rule completely prohibiting the carrying of any electronic devices was not common in high schools today, and the security screening encountered after entering the school was exceptionally rigorous, no less than entering an important government agency. Keima was almost certain that this Advanced Nurturing High School was definitely not an ordinary high school.
However, he was only worried about one thing—
"This school wouldn't be so strict that it doesn't let students play games privately, would it?! If that's the case, I'd rather die!" Keima began to pray in his heart.
"Next, we invite the Student Council representative, Horikita Manabu, to deliver a speech."
As the broadcast announcement sounded, Keima's gaze shifted to the center of the podium.
"Horikita Manabu? The same surname as that Horikita Suzune from earlier."
Keima listened carefully to the speech to see if there was any important information. He heard Horikita Manabu mention that this school possessed an incredibly terrifying advancement and employment rate, with countless graduates becoming influential figures in various fields—something other ordinary high schools couldn't hope to reach.
What caught Keima's attention the most was the "meritocracy" that Horikita Manabu claimed the school practiced.
This... isn't quite right, is it? Shouldn't a school focus on grades? Speaking of grades, although Katsuragi Keima usually played games in class, his academic performance could actually be described as excellent.
Once the entrance ceremony ended, Keima led Elsie to their assigned classroom.
Class 1-D.
Katsuragi Keima walked into the classroom, his eyes sweeping over the crowd to quickly count the heads. The other students seemed to have already arrived; some had even begun chatting familiarly.
Keima didn't particularly like this atmosphere. His mind was constantly preoccupied with whether he would be able to play electronic games at this school.
"My seat is... here."
He saw the seat with his name on it and pulled out the chair to sit down.
"Elsie was assigned to a seat on the other side."
Katsuragi Keima instinctively looked to his right to see who his neighbor was. What met his eyes was a girl with peach-pink hair wearing glasses. Her head was lowered, and her hanging hair almost completely covered her face.
Seeming to notice Keima's gaze, the girl turned her head slightly. However, the moment their eyes met, she jerked her gaze back as if she had received an electric shock.
'Looks like the type that doesn't want to socialize. Very good.'
Seeing her somewhat strange behavior, Keima felt a bit happy in his heart. This meant he could avoid some meaningless interactions! He could concentrate on playing his games without being disturbed.
While Keima was secretly rejoicing, a familiar voice rang out from behind him.
"What an unfortunate coincidence."
Keima turned his head to look. Sitting to his left was none other than the previous Horikita Suzune, a look of indifference on her face.
'A rather troublesome fellow is sitting next to me,' Keima complained inwardly. But on second thought, Horikita seemed to be the type who didn't like interacting with people either.
Fantastic! With non-communicative types on both his left and right, he could focus even more on his own business!
Playing games!
Although his primary mission was to increase affection levels and retrieve the power fragments, the act of playing games was something that could never be compromised. Come rain or shine, it was worth giving his life for.
At the thought of this, a smile involuntarily surfaced on Keima's face.
As Horikita Suzune watched Keima break into a mysterious smile—combined with the nonsensical things he had said to her earlier—her lip twitched slightly.
What is up with this guy?
She quickly turned her head away, as if wishing to ignore Keima's very existence.
"Katsuragi-kun! What a coincidence!"
Just then, Kushida Kikyo called out Keima's name and walked over to him with a smile.
"Oh! We really are classmates in the same class! That's wonderful!"
"Yeah."
"Katsuragi-kun counts as my very first friend at this school!"
The smile on Kushida Kikyo's face was as bright as spring sunshine; just looking at it felt like it could heal one's heart. Her gaze quickly shifted to the person beside Keima—Horikita Suzune.
It seemed unintentional, but Keima caught Kushida's subtle movements. Even before she had walked over, Kushida Kikyo's gaze had repeatedly fallen upon Horikita Suzune.
"Everyone, let's take turns introducing ourselves!"
At the same time, a handsome, sunny-looking boy clapped his hands and spoke loudly with a smile.