* Sorry guys for not uploading for two weeks. I had a very high body temperature, and it felt terrible. I hope you guys understand and will keep reading the story.

Rumors about me have already spread outside the classroom. Whenever I walk through the corridor now, I see people mostly looking at me with disgusted faces and keeping their distance from me. Sometimes I see some girls saying something like, "Oh, look. The 0-point boy, hehe." They made fun of me. The next day, when class was over, I was sitting on my chair reading manga on my phone. It was One Punch Man. This manga wasn't the best there was, but it was pretty decent. The main character, Saitama, defeats opponents with one punch. On the other hand, he lost the fighting spirit for his power. Murata's drawings were amazing too. I don't think I've seen such good drawings in any manga I've read so far. Well, I haven't read that much manga, but still...

"Is Suzuki-kun in class?" I heard a voice. It was Ichinose. She was looking for me. But why? Had I done something I shouldn't have? Let's wait and find out, I thought.

"Hm? He's over there." The student pointed in my direction. I saw the two of them talking for a while, and after they finished, Ichinose came up to me.

"Excuse me, Suzuki-kun, but can you come with me to the student council?" asked Ichinose. Why did she want me to follow her? And what does the student council want from me? I know she's in the student council, but are they looking for new members? If so, then I'm not interested.

"Are you sure it's all right?" I asked her. Ichinose, haven't you heard the latest rumors? What would your classmates think about you later? Asking to follow you so suddenly, I was very suspicious. Seeing that I was on guard, Ichinose smiled and said.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." She said. Will it really? Well, not that I really cared. I rose from my seat and followed Ichinose. As I walked through the corridor, I saw many people whispering to each other about us. Did they think we were dating? Or were they asking each other why an unpopular guy was walking together with a popular girl? I couldn't really tell.

While walking to the student council, we talked about different things. Things like upcoming midterms, study groups, May 1st declaration, and so on. She was really easy to talk to. You could already tell that there was a different vibe coming from her than my classmates. She was like an unbreakable iron wall, proclaiming that she would never back down. You were a great class leader this time, Ichinose, you were, I thought.

"We have arrived," said Ichinose when we stopped. She knocked on the door.

"President, I'm bringing Suzuki-kun," she said. Then I heard a voice from the other side of the door say, "Come in." As we both walked in, I saw a table and chairs from both sides. The room was quite large, almost as big as the whole class. I saw Student Council President and his secretary, Tachibana, waiting patiently. I wondered what was going to happen. Even though I could only guess, it was clear that something interesting was about to happen.

"Thank you, Ichinose. Could you leave us alone for a few minutes? I want to talk to this guy in person." Said Horikita Manabu. Why me again? Is it about rumors or what? I could only guess.

"Hmm? Okay, President." Said Ichinose. She was very thoughtful about something. Did she know what the conversation would be about? No, she couldn't. If she knew what it would be about, she wouldn't need to leave this room.

When Ichinose left and there were only 3 people left in the room, the mood became heavy.

"Tea? Coffee?" He asked me. Do I want tea or coffee? I know nothing about Japanese tea, so I decided on coffee. Horikita looked at Tachibana and asked her to make it. After a few minutes, I saw Tachibana bring two cups of coffee and a cup of tea. We grabbed our cups and started to drink slowly. I wanted to ask why they had invited me here, but then...

"Tell me everything you know about the S-system." Horikita Manabu said, sipping his coffee.

"Huh?" What's with this sudden request? Everything I know? So that's why he invited me. He must have heard the rumors and wanted to know more.

"Everything I know? Can I ask you what you're talking about?" I asked.

"Hey, look who you're talking to. It's the president of the student council." Said Tachibana angrily. Man, I tried to sound polite, but it didn't work. I think it was because of the Japanese politeness levels. Even though I can speak Japanese, it's still new to me. This language has many politeness levels, unlike English. And unlike English, using a different politeness level can cause problems in some cases. I guess I'll have to spend more time figuring them out.

Ignoring Tachibana, he continued.

"Rumors have spread that you've guessed school's tricks correctly, am I wrong?" Guessed School's tricks, huh? I don't know.

"Maybe, dunno," I said. It's best not to say anything unnecessary, so I said that. I already knew where this was going. He basically knew about me, but just wanted to make sure of what exactly do I know and don't know.

"Who's the one pulling the strings behind you?" He tried to catch me off guard. It didn't work.

"Why should I tell you that?" I asked. I had no obligation or reason to tell them that.

"If you want to enjoy your peaceful life here, then you have no choice." Enjoy a peaceful life, huh? Wait, is he threatening me? Wow, the student council president is actually threatening the students. When I thought that, I started laughing.

"Hey! What are you doing?" It was Tachibana again.

"It's just so ludicrous to think that the student council president would resort to such measures. I thought you were a strong-willed person who would make the atmosphere around him succumb to him, but to actually think that he would threaten a student, ah I can't stop laughing." I said. The two were serious as the day. Maybe I had gone too far. The student council president rose from his seat and came over to me. He looked me in the eyes, his look was scary. He would make anyone submit to him unconditionally. If it had been any other student, he or she would have already spilled the beans.

Ignoring my laughter, he continued to ask questions.

"We're best friends, so this third year told me everything. You all fell into a school's trap, wasn't it something like that? I was thinking about which third year you were talking about, so I did a little research. Apparently, no one has ever heard of a person named Suzuki Tai." Shit, I failed. What should I do? Should I keep lying or should I tell the truth? But I don't know what could happen if I tell the truth. Either they'll kick me out of school, or they'll change all the exams, and I won't have an advantage over the others anymore. I have to come up with something to get out of this situation, I thought.

"They could be lying. Do you have any evidence that they didn't? Or maybe you didn't ask at all and just wanted to see my reaction?" I asked this. Although the latter sounded more plausible, I couldn't rule out the first possibility either.

"Lying? Although I have no proof, it's unlikely. Do you know that everyone, no matter who has to keep quiet about this school? This isn't about suspensions or points, it's about school life itself. Even if you don't want to say who, we'll find out sooner or later, and even if that information was leaked to you, your luck will end here and now." Horikita Manabu said. He saw through me as if through the glass.

"End here and now? What do you mean by that?" I asked. What was he talking about?

"You'll find out soon enough." It was really scary not knowing what to expect in the future. I tried to change the subject, but that's when he walked even closer to me. Was he trying to intimidate me? He was doing the exact same thing he did to Ayanokouji. But I wasn't scared, not by this. This type of pressure wasn't enough to scare me.

"I already know everything that happened. I know who leaked the information and how they did it. If you tell us now, I can promise you that you could continue studying here without any worries." He said. You already know everything? That's hard to believe. If you really knew everything already, you wouldn't need me here.

"It was just a coincidence," I said. The atmosphere became much more intense. It was like in a movie where everyone was waiting for the climax of an intense fight between two champions.

"A coincidence, you say? So, getting a 0 on the test was also a coincidence?" He asked.

"Well, these things can happen, right?"

"Just look at you, dodging my questions so cleverly and not even giving in to this pressure. You really are something, but... It's your last chance to redeem yourself and spit it all out. I'm going to keep you here until you spill everything." His look was very serious. The kind that intimidates people, that makes them unable to move.

"Thirty thousand points and I'll tell you," I said. Do you really think I'm going to spill the beans just because of an intimidating look? Don't even try to make a joke.

"Hey!" Shouted Tachibana angrily. Was she angry at my demand? If so, nothing can be changed.

"You know you're not in a position to make demands here." He said.

"But neither are you. If you were, you wouldn't really need me. This makes me think that I'm the only piece of the puzzle you have." I said. He looked at me, then at Tachibana. His look was like, Tachibana, you know what to do.

"But President!" She shot back.

"Tachibana" This time he was more serious. She reluctantly picked up a phone from the table, I couldn't tell if it was hers or Horikita's but that didn't matter. She handed the phone to Horikita, then he turned it to me. It displayed the points that have been transferred. Then I got a notification on my phone.

"Thirty thousand points have been transferred. Now do your part." He said. Why was he so careless with these points? Was it because it was a small amount or because he thinks he has the upper hand here? Either way, it's a win-win situation for me.

I told him everything Chabashira had said during May 1.

"I didn't ask you to explain everything the school told you, I asked you to explain what you know."

"But that's all I know." I shot back. I knew exactly what he wanted to find out from me, but I couldn't tell him that. I had to play dumb, or I wouldn't be able to escape this hell.

"Really? Then I'll ask you the other way around. How did you get this information from the school?" Uh oh, this is not good. If this continues, even my school life might be threatened.

"Look, I admit. I don't know any third years at this school and that was a complete lie. All I did was spend a few points. Then I asked my friend to spend some points too and then I did some simple math. That's how I figured out the secret behind the class points. After that, almost anyone could guess where this was going. The treatment of Class D, the fact that others were calling us defects. I thought it was impossible to be that way because we didn't do anything to deserve it, so I started coming up with theories. The theory I told my classmates that day was the one that made the most sense, and every piece of evidence was related to it. After that, it was just a matter of coming up with a story." I told him this big lie. It looks like he believed it. I was pretty good at making up lies in difficult situations. I learned this skill in the original world. But...

"So, your test result was a lie, too?" He exclaimed.

"Yes," I told him. In order to get out of this situation, I had to sacrifice my secret. My strategy of mixing lies with truths worked perfectly.

"Tachibana, we still had one vacant spot in—"

"Don't. I know what you're going to say. I'm not interested in the student council position." I said. I really wasn't interested. I didn't come here to be a student council member or anything. I came to this school because of that guy.

"I see." He said. He left me sitting there and sat down in his chair.

"I've heard everything I needed to know. You may leave now." He said. The atmosphere returned to normal. I rose from my seat and was about to leave the room. But then...

"Suzuki. Put your feet straight."

"Right, forgot about that."

And with that, I left the room.

Horikita Manabu. So that's who you are, a truly intimidating person. This encounter with him made me realize one thing, no matter what, I can't make an enemy out of him.

Part 2

Sometime after Suzuki left, I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," I said.

"Good afternoon, President. How is your day today?" Sakayanagi entered the room.

"Great, thank you. Let me get straight to the point. What do you think about him?" Yesterday, I had asked Sakayanagi to come here at 9 and wait near the door, where it was possible to hear our conversation.

"Hmm... it's hard to say at this point. What is your opinion, President?"

"My opinion is not relevant at this time," I said. Sakayanagi put on a smile as she took off her hat.

"Do you know why I asked you to come here today?" I asked.

"You weren't able to get that guy into the student council and couldn't spy on him yourself, so you want to use me instead, am I correct?" She has a very sharp mind. That's the Class A leader for you.

"I see you already know everything," I said.

"No, that wasn't hard to guess. But President, you don't think I'll do it for free, do you? But I don't need private points or test scores, so you'll have to come up with something original."

"Of course not. Apart from test and private points, I can't promise you anything else. The things I can do here are limited. Is there anything you might need for your class or for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, President, but everything is fine for now. Okay, I will do as you ask. Besides, what kind of information do you want me to look for? You want me to find the mastermind behind his actions? You're going to have to owe me one, President. Your social standing will be useful in the future. Also, I want to see with my own eyes what this guy is capable of. Does that sound good?" She asked me. That sly fox.

"No, leave the mastermind to me. Find out as much information about him as you can. Knowing what you're capable of, I can trust you. We have a deal." I said as she put on a smile once again.

"It will be nice to work with you, President. I hope for good results."

"Likewise," I shot back to her.

"Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Sure. Take care." She turned away and left the room.

"President, is it really all right?" asked Tachibana.

"What is?"

"The deal with her."

"She is the only one we could ask. Not only is she one of the most capable first year, but she's also the best for the job. Her skills are far above the other students, and she's very good at spying on people." I said this to Tachibana.

"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the deal itself. Is it really okay? Can we really trust her? She knows she's the only straw we have, so she could use it to her advantage, right?" Does Tachibana think that Sakayanagi might ask for things that I will hardly be able to do? I looked through the window into the hot spring weather.

"Don't worry, it won't happen. She knows what I can and cannot do. Besides, her options are very limited because she's in Class A."

"Because she's in Class A?"

"Remember when she said she didn't need test scores or points? That's because she's in Class A. If she were in Class D or any other class, she could ask for almost anything. One test point for each student, 20,000 private points for the class, etc. The possibilities are endless. Also, this issue affects the entire school, so we need to take care of it quickly or we'll burn. Do you see where I'm going with this? "

"Yes. I apologize for asking such a silly question, President." I saw many students going home from their lectures while the light breeze was blowing.

"50% and 0%, huh? We sure have some really interesting students this year."

"P-President?" Asked Tachibana. I said that out loud, so she heard it.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking out loud." With that, we left the room and headed to the classroom.

Author's Note

Hey guys, it's me again! I haven't uploaded any chapters in the last two weeks because I got sick. I had a very high body temperature, and it was horrible. Seriously, I thought it was a coronavirus at first, but luckily it wasn't.

In this chapter, we found out that Suzuki is actually pretty smart. He managed to avoid Horikita Manabu and didn't give him any information about himself. I wanted to add more to this chapter because I want to move on to the midterms, which will be pretty interesting, but I guess I'll add them later, so keep an eye out for that in the future.

The next chapter will be a sub-chapter from a specific character's perspective. It will be about the rumors problem and how everyone deals with them. Even though it will be a sub-chapter, I'll try to make it as interesting as possible.

I do not own Classroom of the elite original story.

All credits go to the original author, Syougo Kinugasa.

Please support the official release.

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