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ArabicClassroom of the Elite: Surviving with the Intel System — Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Horikita Suzune Knows Nothing About the Rules Yet
“Horikita-san, how did you score on the entrance exam?” Akira shifted the conversation without warning, cutting straight to the core of his current investigation.
Suzune raised her chin. A quiet, absolute confidence radiated from her posture. “Conservatively? Top five in the entire grade.”
“Oh?” Akira arched an eyebrow.
Suzune wasn’t the type to boast or lie about something so easily verifiable. If her academic performance was truly that elite, it cemented his working theory: the Advanced Nurturing High School did not assign classes based purely on test scores. And if the placement criteria were hidden, the school’s Point distribution system was likely a tangled web of hidden metrics.
“What do you make of this placement system, then?” he asked, keeping his tone light and conversational.
Suzune paused. Her slender finger tapped rhythmically against the surface of her desk. “…It is most likely a random assignment.”
Her gaze drifted across the room. From her perspective, the logic was sound. Akira’s intellect was obvious, and his grades were likely on par with hers. Add in exemplary students like Yosuke, and Class D appeared to be a powerhouse.
“Horikita-san,” Akira pressed, leaning back in his chair. “Over the past two days, aside from myself and Ayanokoji-kun over there, have you actually held a conversation with anyone else? A student from Class B, Class C… or perhaps Class A?”
He cast a deliberate glance toward the adjacent seat, locking eyes with Kiyotaka. Surprisingly, the notoriously reserved boy offered a stiff, slightly awkward nod in their direction.
Akira returned the gesture with a polite dip of his head, though he found it mildly amusing. Kiyotaka didn’t strike him as the type to get easily flustered.
“Other than that one question yesterday, I’ve barely spoken a word to Horikita-san…” Kiyotaka muttered, his voice flat and detached.
Suzune didn’t miss a beat. “…I have zero interest in making friends.”
Akira almost laughed. He had half a mind to finish the classic anime quote for her—’If there are any aliens, time travelers, or espers among you, come find me.’But this icy girl shared absolutely nothing in common with the manic energy of Haruhi Suzumiya.’Wait.’ Even the most introverted high schooler usually managed to exchange pleasantries with at least one or two peers. To be this utterly isolated was extreme.
“Does that mean I am the only person you’ve spoken to since the entrance ceremony?” Akira asked, a genuine note of surprise slipping into his voice.
Kiyotaka’s dull gaze shifted between the two of them. “Horikita-san seems to enjoy talking with Shimizu-kun,” he noted expressionlessly.
Suzune’s brow furrowed instantly. “Enjoy?” she snapped, her voice dropping a few degrees. “Do not misunderstand. This is merely necessary communication, born entirely from the misfortune of being assigned to the same class and seated next to each other.”
Watching her bristle, Akira finally pinpointed the fatal flaw in Suzune’s armor. Her obsessive social withdrawal wasn’t just a quirk; it was a massive blind spot that crippled her judgment.
‘I see…’She possessed top-tier intelligence, but her self-imposed exile completely severed her from the school’s rumor mill and basic information networks. Her belief that class placement was random was a superficial deduction built entirely on a lack of data.’Only speaking to me for two days straight… No wonder.’
Akira thought back to his own subtle interrogations, how he had carefully extracted the truth of the placement rules from their homeroom teacher. Intelligence alone couldn’t manifest facts out of thin air. Suzune was an isolated island—rich in natural resources, but slowly starving to death because she refused to build a bridge to the mainland.
Akira shook his head. “You are wrong,” he stated calmly. “It isn’t random.”
“What do you—” Suzune began to bite back, but the words died in her throat as she met his gaze.
There was no mockery in his eyes. Just the quiet, heavy certainty of a man stating a proven fact. She realized, with a sudden chill, that Akira had absolutely no reason to lie to her.
A tense silence settled over their desks. Akira watched her process the implication. He could appreciate her sharp beauty and her fierce, unyielding pride, but in this cutthroat academy, information was currency. He wasn’t running a charity.
“If you truly can’t piece it together,” Akira murmured, leaning in just enough so his voice wouldn’t carry past her desk, “you can always spend your Private Points to buy the answer from me. I’ll even offer a twenty percent discount. I guarantee the return on investment will be well worth the price.”
“No need.” Suzune rejected the proposal instantly, her posture rigid. “I can figure it out on my own.”
The proud girl sitting beside him had absolute, unshakable faith in her own intellect.
Akira held back a sigh. Uncovering the hidden mechanics of the S-System required extensive socializing, gathering breadcrumbs from upperclassmen and rival classes. With her abrasive, standoffish personality? He pictured her marching up to a senior student and demanding answers with that icy glare. They would laugh her out of the room. If she refused to play the social game, she would never find the truth.
Morning classes commenced shortly after. Akira flipped open his pristine textbook, tracing the crisp edges of the pages. While his academic foundation from his previous life was solid, the Japanese education curriculum presented a unique set of hurdles.
Mathematics and English were effortless; universal formulas and standard grammar rules didn’t change across worlds. But the moment the Japanese literature instructor launched into a lecture on classical grammar, Akira felt a headache brewing.
“In this specific passage of ‘The Pillow Book,’ Sei Shōnagon employs a rather distinct rhetorical technique…” the teacher droned from the podium, his voice slowly fading into a monotonous blur of white noise.
Akira stared blankly at the dense, archaic annotations crowding the margins of his textbook. The complex kanji seemed to detach from the paper, swimming and dancing mockingly before his eyes.
He rubbed his temples, trying to ward off the incoming migraine. It was a subtle gesture, but it didn’t escape the sharp peripheral vision of the girl sitting next to him.
‘Is she laughing at me?’ he wondered, catching the faint, almost imperceptible shift in Suzune’s expression.
When the lunch bell finally rang, breaking the academic torture, the classroom instantly erupted into a lively buzz.
“Does anyone want to head to the cafeteria together?” a bright, cheerful voice called out.
A handsome, athletic boy stood in the center aisle, flashing a warm smile as he extended the open invitation. Akira recognized him immediately as Yosuke. According to the chatter Kanji had eagerly supplied yesterday, Yosuke was already cementing himself as the social nucleus of Class D.
“Sure! Let’s go, Hirata-kun!” several boys chimed in, practically jumping out of their seats to join his orbit.
‘Speaking of social dynamics…’Akira mused, sifting through his mental files.’There’s also that flashy gyaru clique led by Karuizawa Kei. They’re hard to miss.’
His gaze drifted across the room, naturally drawn toward the vibrant, chattering group of girls dominating the opposite corner of the classroom.