Chapter 19: Chapter 19: The Peaceful Rice Paddy Heralds in a New Age

“Cheers!”

Clinking their drinks, the group of seven class D students celebrated successfully making it through the first exam at Advanced Nurturing High. 

Sat around a small table with an assortment of drinks and snacks on it, the seven students occasionally sang a song and partied since they were at the Karaoke Bar. 

“Haa… that’s good! These past two months have been stressful!”

Belched Nene while reminiscing about all the studying she did only to receive the test paper the day before.

“I know right? But you got full marks, so it was worth it!”

Hollered Satou Maya, sitting beside Chiaki who was scrolling through the available songs. 

“That was dangerous though. I wish we had the papers earlier! I didn’t even understand half of what I was reading in the English midterm.”

Complained Shinohara while Yukio sputtered within his head. 

“I passed but I still feel annoyed having to bail out Sudou.”

“Don’t get me started on that. 4500 points to save that wastrel. Hirata-Kun~ why did you agree to it?”

Hirata, who was latched onto by Kei, looked slightly abashed at her narrowed gaze, but Yukio could tell he would not have changed how things went even if he went back. 

“Hey, Kei-Chan, leave the poor kid alone. He might have saved us from losing more class points, you know!”

The young adult swooped in to save Hirata since the boy would have shouldered the blame on his own shoulders otherwise. 

“I guess so…”

“Hey, Yukio-Kun! You aced four of your exams which is just crazy to think about.”

Added Maya Satou, with a healthy glint in her eyes. 

‘Ah? Did I impress her? If I recall, she liked boys who impressed her. It reminds me of primary school where being fast meant you were the most popular. I guess being a nerd has its perks, hehe.’

“Haha, no, having the papers just made things too easy honestly.”

“Yeah right, you weren’t even looking through some of them the day before you dolt.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Chiaki.”

Playfully feigning ignorance, the evening continued amid the sounds of singing and laughter within the small room.

“Hey, I’ll go get some more drinks. I’ll be right back.”

Hirata perked up at Yukio’s announcement and decided to join Yukio. 

“I’ll come with you, Yukio.”

The pair made their way out of the room, closing the door behind them and leaving the five girls to enjoy themselves, as they enjoyed a peaceful walk to the vending machine. 

‘Ah… nothing beats a comfortable silence. Today has been quite hectic, hasn’t it?’

“Yosuke, nice going in homeroom today. I can tell the expulsion rattled you, didn’t it?”

“Yes, it did.”

Hirata looked into the distance aimlessly, wondering how things might have been right now if he’d lost one of his classmates, no matter how troublesome they were. 

“But I can’t take credit for it since Horikita-San contributed the most. To think you could buy marks in an exam. It was a genius idea.”

“It was, indeed.”

‘This reminds me of a certain meme…’

“And you too, Yukio! I don’t know why you didn’t want to mention it in class, but you helped out a lot too.”

Hirata looked at his confusing friend, hoping for a reply. He could tell Yukio didn’t want to expose himself as the source of information about class points, which is why he jumped on the train of thought Yukio presented to him in class, but he felt a little uncomfortable at almost stealing Yukio’s credit. 

Noticing the boy’s anxiety, the young adult decided to reassure him in a roundabout way. 

“Yosuke, the mantle of a leader requires one to take on a heap of responsibilities and duties that come with it.”

‘Waffling is an underrated skill isn’t it?’

“I know I’ve egged you into it, but I’ve noticed you have the natural charisma that is so suited to being one. And you appeal to most of the class.”

Hirata looked slightly embarrassed so Yukio decided to shame him a little more.

“You know, Yosuke. Being friends with Chiaki and Nene makes me privy to a lot of the girl’s secrets at this school. And they just happened to make a ranking of all the boys here… you know where I’m going with this?”

“Ah… rankings? Ranking what? Studies?”

“No, my innocent friend. They were ranking the coolest and most good-looking boys in the year. And you came in second place, hehe.”

Hirata looked at Yukio in disbelief, speechless, and unable to form a reply to his friend’s obvious provocation, while the young adult of the pair guffawed. 

“Haa… you idiot. Did they rank you?”

Sighing deeply, Hirata asked out of curiosity. 

“Obviously. Though it’s clear they can’t appreciate the essence of an ikemen since I ranked below you. I came in fifth.”

He replied with mock arrogance, shaking his head side to side.

“Fifth, huh?”

“Yep, the rest were class A kids. Oh and Ayanokouji too.“

“Ayanokouji? He’s another one I haven’t been able to talk to too much. I’ve seen him hang around Horikita-San and Sudou’s friends but he’s quite reclusive.”

Hirata pondered, realising the boy earned his rightful place on the rankings, no matter how weird the idea of it was. 

“Reclusive, yes. But not by choice like Horikita. If you talk to him a bit you’ll find out he’s a pretty cool guy. Just… very socially awkward.”

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‘Hm… that’s similar to me. But unlike me who grew up in an all-boys school, he grew up in a white room for the better part of his life, trying to achieve perfection. Yeah, no. I can’t even say we’re similar.’

“Anyways, back onto the topic of being a leader. You’ll notice the others won’t follow your lead if you don’t have the ability to back it up.”

“I… guess?”

Hirata replied, stumped at where his friend was going with this.

“You dimwit. What you did today will make the others trust you more since you’re willing to help Sudou and you displayed the capability to do so. Even Sudou and his friends, despite their annoyance at you, will listen to your suggestions in the future.”

A look of realisation crossed his face before it was lost and replaced by a curious one. 

“That’s right. But then why didn’t you tell them instead? You could have gotten their recognition.”

Yukio looked into the distance as he replied.

“You’ve probably guessed Yosuke but this school is a lot more than it lets on. And inquiring about it from the seniors doesn’t yield any results either. I’ve even tried to bribe them…”

Hirata looked at Yukio pointedly at the mention of bribes but the young adult just brushed him off. 

“Lay off of it. If you can buy marks in an exam, buying the favour of the older students isn’t so unbelievable. The fact that they aren’t saying anything means there’s something to be said. So the school is definitely hiding a lot from us.”

“You’re right… It feels weird that bribing others is normal here.”

“Yep, you’ve got to get rid of your old mentality at this institution.”

The comfortable silence settled back over them as they reached vending machine and began dispensing several drinks. 

“Earlier today Matsushita-san asked me about Sudou earning class points. I ended up telling her that you told me since she’d told me you told her the gist of it anyway. Was that fine Yukio?”

Yukio thought over what Hirata said but didn’t see too many problems with it.

‘The more she inquires, and the more she finds out, the more likely she is to open up. It’s a positive sign that I’ve made her curious enough to learn about the circumstances today.’ 

“It’s fine. Going forward I’ll tell you if there’s anything I say that you should keep to yourself. Keep my involvement to yourself for now.”

Hirata nodded, and the pair walked back to the room, drinks in hand. 

As Yukio entered and looked around, he noticed Chiaki waving at him. He looked at her for a moment and then smiled a wide smile, deciding to join her for a duo song. 

‘I have a feeling… we’ll become closer soon.’

— — —

‘Before I noticed it, two months have already passed since I’ve transmigrated into this world.’

Yukio reflected on his time at the Advanced Nurturing High after a long day celebrating. Lying on his bed, his thoughts naturally gravitated toward the unusual circumstances he found himself in. 

‘I’ve always wondered why my name is…’

“Yukio Kobayashi.”

Rolling the name around his mouth, he found it felt normal to say, however, it was as though he’d never said it before. The muscle memory was not there. 

‘That does make sense to be fair. One doesn’t usually say their own name but I’ve had this feeling for several different aspects of my life.’

Recalling his ability to cook, he recognised it, too, felt the same as his name. It was as though he knew how to chop vegetables, but when it came to actually chopping them, the fluidity was not there. 

‘I remember mother teaching me to cook a few months before her death. And a year later I transmigrated. Haa… I’ll need to think over it a little more but I think I’m making a little headway over what’s happened. And the thought of it…’

Yukio was slightly rattled at the conjecture he’d come to but put it aside as he had too little information on anything to do with his transmigration. 

‘I’ll just have to wait until the mysterious god makes contact with me. Since my transmigration involved the supernatural, I have a feeling the entity will be of the supernatural, and I’d rather not mess around with that too much.’

Putting aside grim thoughts, Yukio thought over the idea that the first light novel would be completed at this point, and the second novel with the school council trial and exploring Sakura Airi as a character will occur soon. 

‘I probably messed around with the plot too much this time around. But sitting here for two months and doing nothing is boring too. I’ll just lay low until the cruise begins. Or maybe I can exploit a few of my recordings too. Hm… let’s think over it tomorrow.’

Thinking done, Yukio went to sleep, marking the end of the first volume of the Classroom of the Elite. 

— — — — — —

Favourite if you enjoyed! 

Yukio is becoming a bit too edgy for my liking. I’m going to make him more passive in volume 2. 

Regrettably I’m going to post the next chapter on Sunday 5pm UK time. I want a chance to read through Volume 2 and form some plans before I write. Couldn’t do it for Volume 1 and it’s meant I’ve had to edit a bit. 

I passed my resit!!! I’m so glad.

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