"Nice to meet you. I'm Amakawa Ryouma from Class 1-D."
"I'm Honami Ichinose from Class 1-B. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
The two introduced themselves on the steps.
Despite being approached so suddenly by a complete stranger, Honami showed no displeasure whatsoever.
On the contrary, her face was filled with a warm smile that gave her an almost instinctive sense of approachability.
After the entrance examinations had ended, someone from the school had visited the Amakawa family and held a conversation with Ryouma.
Ultimately, he was assigned to Class D.
Having read the original novel, Ryouma naturally understood that the students of Class D were all considered 【Defective Products】.
But he didn't particularly care.
How he chose to live his life was entirely his own business.
Why should he need anyone else's evaluation?
With the Amakawa family's power being sufficient to influence national policies to a certain extent, Ryouma had even less reason to care about the judgment of a mere school.
Hearing Honami's introduction, Ryouma showed a hint of regret.
"To think the very first friend I made would be from another class. What a shame."
"Why would that be a shame? Whether we're in the same class or not doesn't change the fact that we're friends. Don't you think so too, Amakawa-kun?"
Even when faced with such an overly familiar remark, Honami continued responding with a smile.
"Of course! I'm really happy to become friends with someone like you too, Ichinose-san!"
The two walked side by side with their schoolbags in hand, chatting and laughing as they admired the campus scenery.
From a distance, they almost looked like a couple.
Ryouma's somewhat overly familiar and self-centered remarks didn't make Honami uncomfortable in the slightest.
If it had been anyone else meeting him for the first time, they would probably have thought something along the lines of—
'We literally just met! Who the hell said we're friends?!'
Or perhaps—
'What a shame, my ass! Who the hell do you think you are?! I'm the one who should be disappointed!'
However, the kindhearted and tolerant little angel Honami would never think that way.
At the same time, his words would leave her with the impression that they were each other's first friend at this school.
However, people who acted overly familiar with strangers were often labeled as frivolous.
And that wasn't the impression he wanted to leave behind.
Ryouma was constantly manipulating the impressions others formed of him.
Whether he could shake off the label of being frivolous would depend on their next conversation.
"Speaking of which, Ichinose-san, were you looking at something interesting near the school gates earlier?"
The abrupt change of topic caught Honami off guard for a moment.
However, she quickly understood what Ryouma was referring to.
"Oh, you mean back then?"
Honami gave him an apologetic smile.
"I was just a little curious. I never expected that actual maids still existed in this day and age. If I made you uncomfortable, I'm really sorry."
Ryouma seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Not at all. It's just that, because of my family circumstances, I've been studying at home ever since I was little. This is actually my first time attending school. I was worried there might be something strange about me. As for the maid, well, that's another one of those family circumstances. You really don't need to worry about it, Ichinose-san."
"High society?"
Honami tilted her head in surprise, looking rather adorable.
At the same time, she believed she had figured out why Ryouma had approached her.
She had simply happened to be the person he chose to talk to.
After all, she probably looked like someone who was easy to approach.
"Something like that."
Ryouma nodded with a smile before turning to look at Honami.
"By the way, Ichinose-san, why did you decide to enroll at this school?"
"Well, a lot of things happened back in middle school. But now's the perfect time for a fresh start!"
Honami clenched her small fists as though cheering herself on.
She looked just like a cheerful, energetic girl brimming with enthusiasm.
Before Ryouma could say anything, she turned toward him again with a bright smile.
"What about you, Amakawa-kun? Why did you decide to come to this school?"
'Excellent...'
Ryouma silently evaluated Honami.
It was obvious that she didn't want to discuss the matter any further.
Yet she had managed to change the subject without making the other person feel uncomfortable.
That required exceptionally good social skills.
Of course, her natural tolerance and beautiful appearance might have played a part as well.
However, having read the original novel, Ryouma knew Honami's past extremely well.
She had grown up in a single-parent household, raised by her mother.
She also had a younger sister who was two years younger than her.
Despite her circumstances, Honami had never considered herself unfortunate.
Instead, she simply studied harder, hoping to earn scholarships and ease her family's financial burden.
However...
One day, her younger sister had asked for a birthday present for the very first time.
It was a hair clip that had been popular the previous year.
Wanting to fulfill her younger daughter's birthday wish, their mother worked overtime until she eventually collapsed from exhaustion.
For the sake of granting her ten-year-old sister's first birthday wish, Honami chose to steal a hair clip.
Although her mother handled the situation properly afterward, taking the young Honami back to apologize on their knees with their heads bowed to the ground, they were eventually forgiven, and Honami wasn't taken away by the police.
However, the kindhearted Honami came to understand the weight of committing a crime.
Ever since then, she had considered herself a criminal.
She had never truly believed herself to be a good person.
Ryouma understood this perfectly.
Even if he tried to dig deeper into her past, Honami, who was almost completely defenseless against others, would likely hesitate for a while before eventually answering truthfully.
He could easily use that information to grasp Honami's weakness and gain control over her heart.
However, that would only be an inferior strategy.