Gifted Academy: The Perfect Student

___

"Do you need something from me."

"M-mizuhara... I like ya... please go out with me."

Well, I had my answer.

"Sorry, I\'m not interested."

I turned to walk away. However, before I could do so, she grabbed my hand from behind.

"Wait! Ya can\'t turn me down like that... don\'t\'ya think I\'m cute? I made my hair specially today just for ya. Please, just give me a chance!"

She had a pretty unique accent, to say the least.

"I don\'t even know who you are."

"I\'m Kamimura Niko, from class 1-A! I\'ve liked ya for a long time now~"

I guess she hasn\'t noticed the fact that I knew what she was doing.

"Alright, Kamimura, I\'ve told you my answer, haven\'t I?"

"But... there\'s nothing bad about me, right? What type of girl do ya like? I\'ll do anything. I\'ll change myself to fit ya tastes!"

"You\'re a bit pushy."

She covered her mouth in shock as if I had said something profound.

"I-I\'m sorry... will ya go on one date with me... at least? I promise I\'ll make ya happy! Just one chance, give me one chance! Ya won\'t regret it!"

"You think so?"

"I promise!"

This was a troublesome situation.

"Alright then, I\'ll make you a deal."

"Really?! I\'ll do anything. Just say it!"

I looked down at her.

"If you make me fall for you, I\'ll go with whatever plan you have. If you can\'t do that, you\'ll tell me who set you up to this."

***

Judging by her body language, it was pretty clear that this wasn\'t an honest confession. The question was, who would try to set me up like this? It didn\'t seem like the type of thing Tachibana would do. I guess it could\'ve been my sister, although I didn\'t see why she\'d be testing me already.

In the end, I didn\'t exactly mind going on the date. It was just that all of the ulterior motives were going to be a hassle for me. Looking at her expression, it seemed that I had hit the nail on the head. She looked as if she had just seen a ghost.

Her eyes darkened.

"So ya already knew then..."

"Yeah."

"Still, I\'ll make ya fall for me. I\'m cute. I\'m talented. I\'m popular. There\'s no way a bland boy like you could resist my charms."

"Let\'s see what you can do."

"Don\'t speak down to me like that! You\'re going to fall head over heels for me. There\'s never been a boy who\'s been able to turn me down before!"

Well, she sounded like a certain someone.

• ───────────────── •

I set up a meeting with Harumi.

Once again, I met with her inside of my dorm room.

"So... what did you need from me, Mizuhara-kun?"

"What do you know about Kamimura Niko."

"Kamimura? Well, I know she\'s very popular with the boys. Just a few days ago, she got asked out by one. I\'m not very close to them, so I don\'t know the details. She\'s also quite smart, ranking near the top of most exams. She\'s also good at singing... aside from that, I\'m not too familiar."

"Do you know if she\'s close with any upperclassmen?"

"I\'m not sure. What exactly do you need to know?"

"Just anything you\'ve got."

"I\'m sorry, but I don\'t really know much about her."

"Alright, I need you to figure out as much as you can about her in the next few days. Report back to me with any new information."

"That\'s fine, but why do you need this?"

"Don\'t worry about it."

She sighed.

"Also... about the 60,000 point..."

"It\'s just there so that you don\'t try to do anything funny. As long as you listen to my instructions, you can stay debt-free."

"A-alright then..."

"You can go now."

Slowly Harumi got up and left the room. Closing the door behind her, I was finally able to get some time to relax. Now that I had finished my previous book, I started reading a new one I recently found. It was called SSS-Rank Villain System: The Hero is Overpowered. I decided to just get a plain light novel since I had read through quite a few western novels during the last little while.

It was by Fujiharu\'s favourite author, H.Z. Apparently, he had recovered from his illness and was writing again. I enjoyed a few of his works in the past, so I didn\'t really mind it. Flipping through the first few pages, I found that it was really quite engaging. I could see why so many teenagers were entranced by his novels.

With an exhilarating fight scene in the beginning, followed by quirky yet realistic characters, he was definitely one of the best writers I have seen. I generally wasn\'t too interested in light novels, but this one was different.

Ah, honestly, the main character of the book was someone to who I could almost relate to. In a way, he also seemed detached from his reality. Digging into the story, page after page, I found that quite a bit of time had passed. I guess it was about time for me to get some dinner. I had just run out of food in our little mini fridge, so I\'d have to take another trip out to the commercial area.

Putting the book down, I made my way outside.

I had a decent number of points, so I wasn\'t as conscious of conserving them as I used to be. Although, I still bought relatively cheap goods. Grabbing various ingredients from the grocery store, I filled a bag with things for dinner for the next few days. Eventually, I paid and began making my way back to my dorm.

I didn\'t really want to think about this whole situation during the first-year. I was certain that she was being manipulated by someone. I just wasn\'t sure of who it was yet. I guess Harumi might provide me with some nice intel in the coming days.

Setting the groceries on the ground, I began restocking the mini-fridge. After that, I made myself a very simple dinner.