Chapter 016: Kamuro: Do You Believe in the Supernatural? Sakayanagi: You're Not a Heroine, Stop Daydreaming
First-year Class A, Kamuro Masumi, female.
In middle school, she was a member of the track and field club and possessed great athletic talent; even among the girls in the current Class A, she rarely found a match.
However, she also had a weak point: she was not good at studying. But the principal recommended her for admission to Advanced Nurturing High School, and she successfully enrolled in this school that was promoted so highly.
Upon becoming a student at this high school—the ideal in the hearts of all students—she discovered that her classmates were all top-tier scholars.
Her own academic ability was only at a C grade. This often made her wonder if she had truly ended up in Class A by accident.
It made her feel out of place.
Of course, after seeing that Sakayanagi Arisu was barred from all physical education activities and could still be assigned to Class A, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief again.
After all, her own academic ability was at least a C, while Sakayanagi's physical ability was definitely an E-.
However, on the first day when the homeroom teacher explained the use of the student ID points to everyone, Sakayanagi Arisu immediately initiated a fundraising campaign to collect 1 million points to buy the truth about the school.
Because of this, Sakayanagi Arisu formed the Sakayanagi Faction.
While Kamuro's heart originally supported Katsuragi's steady faction, she had no choice but to become Sakayanagi's "little puppy."
This traced back to her bad habit: kleptomania. Since childhood, whenever her stress levels increased, she would vent through the act of stealing—an act that violated both morality and the law.
Of course, she would always return the items afterward.
So she did it only to satisfy her compulsion; she didn't actually want to be a thief.
Upon coming to this school, despite the wonderful start in Class A, she became anxious again when she saw how powerful someone like Sakayanagi—with her E- physical ability—was.
Recently, she had been worried about falling behind and was considering whether she should study. As her stress rose, she couldn't help herself; she went to the convenience store in the shopping district and stole a bottle of beer.
As a result, she was caught on the spot by Sakayanagi, who said, "Kamuro-san, you wouldn't want the school to know you're a thief, would you?"
She was then forced to become Sakayanagi's puppy.
At the same time, she became one of Sakayanagi's right-hand subordinates.
But all of this was her most private information, and no one in the class knew the real reason she had aligned herself with Sakayanagi.
And yet, now...
'Isn't this Sakayanagi Arisu's little puppy, Kamuro... oh no, it's Kamuro Masumi!
I remember in the original story she has a kleptomania habit, and now she's looking all happy... she couldn't have just stolen something from someone, right!'
Whoa!
Chaught!
Kamuro: "..."
"What's wrong?"
Hikigaya noticed 's face suddenly tensing up. "Did stepping on you just now hurt that much?"
"..." Kamuro.
It was only then that Kamuro snapped out of it, and her gaze landed right on Hikigaya's face.
Then.
She discovered that while his mouth clearly wasn't moving, her ears were hearing a voice instead.
'But there are quite a lot of cameras here in the cafeteria, and with so many eyes around, it's unlikely she'd commit theft here. So I should be safe; she hasn't stolen anything from me.
Still, if a Class A student steals something and can be caught, maybe I could plant an informant in Class A. Should I arrange for some Class B students to tail her for the next few days and see?'
Kamuro: "? "
's eyes filled with bewilderment.
What the hell.
So you actually want to catch her, catch her in the act? And arrange for Class B students to stalk her? Why is your Class B even better at doing these kinds of things than Class A?
And what do you plan to do if you catch her? Are you going to be even more overboard than Sakayanagi? Sakayanagi made her become her puppy for these three years at school and forbade her from betraying her.
But if her weakness was caught by this boy... Kamuro grew slightly nervous.
After all, she knew her looks were decent. Boys this age are full of curiosity about the opposite sex, and looking at this boy's appearance, he was probably just a girlfriendless virgin.
She didn't dare think any further.
Kamuro immediately decided: she had to quit. She absolutely had to quit this bad behavior of kleptomania.
"Then let me treat you to a meal as an apology," Hikigaya-kun said. Having just received the "support points" from the Class B students, he had to act for the sake of Class B to some extent. Since they gave him the money this month, he had to handle this month's special exam as well.
Having tricked the information out of Chabashira-sensei today, he knew that Class A had obtained the truth about the school by paying points on the very first day.
As expected.
In the original story, Class A's evaluation score could still remain at 940 points by the end of the month.
This certainly wasn't just because the Class A students mostly fell into the category of model students; more importantly, they had likely perceived the truth of the school in advance and knew the contents of the first month's special exam, thus being prepared.
It turned out they had known the essence of the school and the assessment content since day one.
Looking at it this way, Class A was still very formidable. So as the class representative of Class B, he naturally had to make a move as well.
Therefore, he would first make contact with a Class A student.
However.
"No, it's fine, no need!
Also, you don't need to apologize," Kamuro Masumi said as if she were fleeing. She left the queue and ran away immediately.
It was as if she weren't even going to eat dinner anymore.
Hikigaya: "..."
'What a strange girl.'
This made Hikigaya-kun—who had just been "supported" by his Class B classmates and felt the taste of being taken care of by others—discover that before his wonderful life had even begun... girls were still absolutely, extremely difficult to understand.
No, it should be said that women—no, girls—are truly a type of creature that is hard to read.
And having this kind of creature support him and help him raise his sister seemed to have become even more difficult.
.
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On the other side, the fleeing Kamuro Masumi quickly arrived at the student dormitory building and went straight to Sakayanagi Arisu's room.
She had gone to the cafeteria to get food specifically to bring back for Sakayanagi.
But.
"Why?" In the room, Sakayanagi Arisu, who was quietly playing chess, curled her lip, appearing somewhat dissatisfied.
Although the class had paid a large fee to buy information from the homeroom teacher, and everyone's quality of life would naturally be cut, as the leader of the Sakayanagi Faction, she had points in her hand provided by her supporters.
So she did not lack points; she could not only book a long-term private room on the third floor of the cafeteria but also taste delicious food without worrying about the cost.
And yet.
She had arranged for Kamuro-san to prepare dinner for her, but what had she brought back?
She had brought back a single piece of bread—a very ordinary bread at that.
She hadn't even prepared milk.
"I think—" Kamuro said, looking as if she were spooked.
"You think..."
Sakayanagi: "...".
Sakayanagi reminded her, "Please clear your thoughts. Even I cannot understand what you are saying."
"Uh... then let me consult you," Kamuro said. She knew Sakayanagi's head worked well. "What is the deal with suddenly hearing someone else's inner voice? And the other party knows everything about me!"
"Oh?"
Sakayanagi Arisu's hand holding a chess piece stopped instantly.
"Are you saying that a supernatural phenomenon has awakened within you? You can hear others' inner voices? Let me think, is it the inner voice of the opposite sex?"
"Yes!" Kamuro nodded.
"He knows a lot of information; he even knows I'm your puppy... he knows that kind of thing, and he also knows about my kleptomania—"
"Oh." Sakayanagi nodded very calmly.
"Then there is no need for you to serve me tonight. You may go back and rest now."
"Why?" Kamuro didn't understand why Sakayanagi was dismissing her now.
"The reason is simple. Supernatural, non-realistic occurrences like this only happen in animations or manga. And if someone truly encounters such a thing, she must be the heroine," Sakayanagi Arisu explained solemnly.
"But!"
She elongated her voice.
"I haven't even encountered such a thing; how could you?
So, since you are not a heroine, stop daydreaming," Sakayanagi added.
Kamuro: "???"
Wait, what?
An expression of bewilderment appeared on Kamuro's face, which then immediately turned into one of disdain.
Because.
This person Sakayanagi, in denying the things she had encountered, was actually saying that she wasn't suited to be a heroine—while she, Sakayanagi Arisu, was the real deal?
This girl's skin is way too thick!