Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

"Kusuo Saiki doesn't seem to have anything special about him; he's just too ordinary."

Chabashira Sae frowned, then immediately shut down the terminal in her hand.

......

On the other side, after class, Kusuo Saiki went to the school cafeteria as quickly as possible.

The decor here is simple yet elegant. Although there aren't many students at the school, the cafeteria is very spacious. A wide variety of dishes are neatly arranged in rows of windows, like a rainbow made up of delicacies. There are even international dishes.

Any student who comes to the cafeteria can't help but exclaim in amazement, while the first one to arrive, Kusuo Saiki, has a slight smile on his face.

His purpose in coming to this school was simple: he could only enjoy desserts and delicacies that he could never normally afford.

Although Kusuo Saiki possesses the ability to teleport, he can only move to locations he has already been to. If he wants to taste desserts from all over the world, it would definitely be quite troublesome. This school can save him that trouble.

If he could, Kusuo Saiki could naturally use his teleportation ability to travel directly from the classroom to the cafeteria. However, he knew in advance that the school had installed a large number of cameras, so he couldn't use his superpowers in a flashy way, at least not openly.

However, it's also possible to unleash a little of one's physical strength, which is why Kusuo Saiki was able to arrive at the cafeteria before everyone else.

As a superpowered individual, Kusuo Saiki's physical strength far surpasses that of ordinary people.

Kusuo Saiki quickly went to the dessert area, immediately selected several different styles of coffee pudding, and then scanned them with his terminal, successfully purchasing them all with points.

'It's really convenient that you can earn points at school.'

'My usual allowance isn't enough to buy this much coffee pudding at once.'

Kusuo Saiki watched as his points on the terminal screen decreased by several thousand points, and thought to himself.

Just as Saiki Kusuo was about to enjoy his dessert, a slender figure suddenly appeared beside him.

"Qi Mu, what a coincidence!"

Chapter 3: Kushida Kikyo, I heard everything you were thinking.

Although he hadn't seen the other person's face directly, Saiki Kusuo already knew her identity long before that light female voice reached his ears.

Kushida Kikyo—Kikyo Saiki vaguely remembered this name. He had some impression of Kushida Kikyo when he first arrived at the classroom and introduced himself to his classmates.

Beneath her short brown hair was a face as cute as a doll, and her voice was as light as a feather; she was the type who could easily blend in with those around her.

However, Kusuo Saiki had already used his telepathy to know what kind of person Kikyo Kushida was.

I want to make friends with everyone so I can maintain my good reputation and have everyone's attention on me—and that way, I can use this network to gather more information!

[I didn't get a chance to speak to Kusuo Saiki before; he seemed like the very aloof type.]

[I'm hoping to use this opportunity to get closer to him.]

Kusuo Saiki was able to hear Kikyo Kushida's inner thoughts. Her true feelings were completely different from what she showed. There were probably very few people who could see through her true nature.

It was no coincidence that they met in the cafeteria; Kikyo Kushida had deliberately followed them.

'Oh dear, oh dear, I've been targeted by some troublesome guy.'

'Kushida and I are the worst match. She loves socializing and is the kind of person who easily gets attention from others, which I don't like at all.'

'However, as things stand, not communicating with her will only create more trouble, so let's try to find a way to deal with her.'

Having made this judgment, Kusuo Saiki nodded slightly to Kikyo Kushida and activated his ability.

The Favorability Monitor is a derivative ability of telepathy. Its function is to detect and quantify other people's favorability towards you or towards others. Compared to ordinary telepathy, this ability is more controllable.

'Too high a favorability rating will attract more attention, while too low a rating might make me a target for bullying. It's best to keep the favorability rating around 50.'

As Saiki Kusuo pondered this, he spoke slowly.

"What a coincidence, Kushida-kun."

Although Kusuo Saiki can directly transmit what he wants to say to other people's minds through telepathy, he naturally won't use it on ordinary people who don't know he has superpowers. However, he is usually quite taciturn and rarely speaks unless necessary.

【Favourability: 42】

'A slightly low to moderate level of favorability? But this score is within an acceptable range.'

Kusuo Saiki turned his head slightly, shifting his gaze away from Kikyo Kushida.

He possesses the ability to see through objects; the longer he stares at his target, the deeper his vision becomes. In just a few minutes, Kikyo Kushida in his eyes began to resemble an anatomical diagram from a biology textbook.

"I never knew Saiki liked sweets so much! I like them too!"

Kikyo Kushida said with a smile as she sat down next to Kusuo Saiki, appearing to have a very close relationship with him.

[Kusuo Saiki seems like the kind of person who's very difficult to get along with. Let's use desserts as a topic of conversation to get closer to him.]

'I have to admit, that's really impressive. Even though the favorability rating is less than fifty, they manage to pretend they have a very good relationship.'

Kusuo Saiki's face remained expressionless as he adjusted the display area of ​​the affection indicator to check Kikyo Kushida's affection levels towards others.

Without exception, Kikyo Kushida's favorability rating towards those around her only fluctuates around forty.

There are quite a few oddballs in this class.

"I'll be looking forward to your help from now on! Let's exchange contact information!"

"Ah."

For Kusuo Saiki, having telepathy, communicating via a terminal is meaningless. However, in this situation, directly refusing someone's request would be impolite and would likely significantly lower his favorability.

"Kushida-kun!"

Just then, another person walked over.

She was a girl with long, peach-colored hair that reached her waist.

Her slightly chubby face was adorned with exquisitely delicate features, especially her pair of jewel-like eyes, which looked incredibly cute. Her slender legs were encased in black stockings, and her fair thighs were clearly visible beneath her skirt.

Honami Ichinose, a member of Class B, was identified by Kusuo Saiki through telepathy.

"Ichinose-san!"

Kikyo Kushida also greeted Honami Ichinose with a smile. She had approached Honami during the opening ceremony and they had become 'friends'.

"This is Qi Mu, my classmate."

"Hello, Qi Mu! Nice to meet you!"

Honami Ichinose greeted Kusuo Saiki very warmly.

"May I sit here?"

Although Ichinose Honami asked this question, she had already pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Saiki Kusuo.

'If I refuse directly in this situation, it would probably be very awkward, but this is my precious dessert time, so I need to find a way to get out of here later.'

Kusuo Saiki thought to himself.

"Ichinose-san, how are your relationships with your classmates?"

"It's pretty good..."

Kikyo Kushida deliberately put on a very troubled expression.

"Well... there's another person who doesn't seem very willing to talk to me."

"Who?"

"It's Horikita-san, have you heard of Ichinose?"

Kikyo Kushida then started complaining about the matter to Honami Ichinose. Although it sounded like she was just saying it casually, Kusuo Saiki was able to clearly understand Kikyo Kushida's true thoughts.

[Horikita Suzune and I went to the same middle school. She probably knows everything I've done in the past—I absolutely cannot let someone who knows the truth about me stay in school for long! If there's a way, I must get her expelled.]

"Huh? It seems the people at this school are even stranger than I imagined."

Meanwhile, Kusuo Saiki pretended not to hear anything and quickly devoured the dessert in front of him, thinking that as long as he finished the dessert soon, he could leave the table legitimately.

Chapter 4: Inner Confessions, Are You Kiyotaka Ayanokoji?

'Horikita, is that Horikita Suzune? That name seems familiar; she's from our Class D. But it doesn't matter. I don't want to have too much contact with the people here. As for what Kushida is really like, it seems another person knows now, but that's none of my business.'

Thinking this to himself, Kusuo Saiki had already finished off the dessert in front of him and was preparing to leave.

"I have to admit, these desserts are absolutely amazing! Although they're all coffee puddings, the flavors and textures are completely different, and the textures are so unique. Should I eat a few more to speed up digestion...?"

Just as Saiki Kusuo was about to leave, Kushida Kikyo, who was standing to the side, turned her gaze to him:

"Qi Mu, could you do me a favor?"

"You want to use me to help you communicate with Horikita Suzune, right? I can sense your thoughts through telepathy. But you've come to the wrong person. I'm not good at handling interpersonal relationships, especially since I don't know Horikita Suzune well, we haven't even exchanged a single word. You know I would definitely fail if it were me. So your real purpose is just to use this opportunity to get closer to me. I'm sorry, I have no such intentions."

Just as Kusuo Saiki was about to refuse, Kikyo Kushida continued, saying:

"If it really works out, I'll treat you to dessert!"

"make a deal."

......

After leaving the cafeteria, Kusuo Saiki quickly headed to the supermarket on campus.

Although they had never met before, Kusuo Saiki remembered her voice. The school had fewer students than other ordinary high schools, and he quickly found out Horikita Suzune's location using his telepathic abilities.

"Oh dear, oh dear, for the sake of the coffee pudding, I'll just pretend."

"Today is the first day of school. All the new students should come and buy some daily necessities they'll need."

'Although I can go home anytime, if I don't buy anything, others might get suspicious. I'll use buying something as an excuse to contact Horikita.'

As Kusuo Saiki pondered this, he entered the school's supermarket. At the same time, the thoughts of the other students around him also flooded into his mind.

There are no points available again this month... so we can only distribute daily necessities for free...

There are only free vegetables every day... it's not enough to fill me up at all...

I really envy those guys in Class A. With our Class D level, we can't possibly compare to those monsters...

'Are most of them students from Class D in the upper grades? There's no such thing as a free lunch. They must have run out of points and can only barely survive on free supplies. What a peculiar school.'

Kusuo Saiki's gaze swept quickly over these people.

"To be on the safe side, I can't just waste my points. Things like game consoles, clothes, and laptops are completely unnecessary. I can go home anytime, so these things are pointless. Even though it's a school, there are so many items here that have nothing to do with studying. Frankly, selling game consoles on campus is a bit outrageous. If I were to buy those things, 100,000 points wouldn't be nearly enough."

"The school wants to forcibly equate points with students' abilities, using material rewards to promote student growth. However, I'm not really interested in these things. I can play video games at home at night, and the same goes for things like laptops. These 100,000 points don't seem to offer me much beyond buying desserts..."