"Next up, it's my turn."
The self-introductions continued as a girl with short blonde hair stood up.
She wore a white headband, and her burgundy uniform was stretched tightly across her upper body, highlighting a figure far more developed than one would expect for her age. Her white pleated skirt swayed as she rose from her seat.
With a radiant smile, she spoke in a gentle voice.
"My name is Kikyo Kushida. Unfortunately, not a single one of my friends from middle school enrolled here with me, so I'm all alone."
At those words, Amakawa Ryouma keenly noticed Kushida secretly glancing at Horikita.
Kushida continued.
"That's why my goal is to become friends with everyone as quickly as possible! Once we're done introducing ourselves, I'd really love it if everyone could exchange contact information with me!"
By the time Kushida finished speaking, several girls had already gathered around her.
Ryouma quietly observed the scene.
Kushida's acting skills were practically worthy of an Academy Award.
If he hadn't read the original novel, it would have been almost impossible to imagine that such an angelic beauty possessed such a two-faced personality.
She maintained her sense of satisfaction by earning other people's trust. And if anyone threatened to expose her past, she wouldn't hesitate to have them expelled.
As for the secret glance Kushida had directed at Suzune Horikita earlier...
Ryouma suspected that this little angel, who was currently laughing and chatting with her classmates, was already plotting how to get Horikita expelled.
"My turn! I'm Haruki Yamauchi! Back in middle school, I was the ace pitcher of the baseball team! I even wore the number four jersey! Unfortunately, I got injured during the high school tournament, so I'm currently recovering. Nice to meet you all!"
Ryouma was practically speechless.
'What the hell is this guy talking about?'
He probably meant to say he was the cleanup hitter, batting fourth in the lineup.
And naturally, high school tournaments were only for high school students.
Ryouma still remembered this guy from the original novel.
Yamauchi was one of the three idiots with the worst academic abilities in the class.
He was easily manipulated by Arisu Sakayanagi, the leader of Class A, into betraying Class D, ultimately resulting in his expulsion.
Even now, the impression Yamauchi had left on everyone had already placed him near the very bottom of the class hierarchy.
Half-baked lies only made a person appear thoughtless and frivolous.
That was precisely why self-introductions were so important.
They could determine which social circles someone would belong to and their position within the class hierarchy.
Finally, after a long wait, it was Ryouma's turn to speak.
He stood up, the corners of his lips curling into a confident smile.
"My name is Amakawa Ryouma. I'm pretty good at photography, so if anyone ever needs pictures taken, feel free to come to me. I look forward to getting along with everyone!"
"Does that mean we can leave all the class photography to you from now on, Amakawa-kun?"
"Yeah! I'm actually interested in photography too. Could you teach me a few things sometime, Amakawa-kun?"
With Chiaki Matsushita leading the conversation in a half-joking manner, several girls quickly gathered around Ryouma as well.
This was the advantage of socializing.
With Chiaki taking the initiative, Ryouma had effortlessly integrated himself into the group.
Of course, the biggest reason was that Ryouma was genuinely handsome.
However, just then, an ill-timed sneer rang out.
"Amakawa Ryouma, wipe that fake smile off your face. That hideous soul of yours is anything but beautiful."
Rokusuke Koenji, who had already introduced himself earlier, casually rested both legs on top of his desk.
Unlike the other students, Koenji knew Ryouma's true nature extremely well.
He was a profit-driven bastard who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
More importantly, their families were both powerful Japanese conglomerates.
Although they maintained an outward appearance of harmony, they had always been stabbing each other in the back behind closed doors.
And when they were children, Koenji had suffered quite a bit of bullying at Ryouma's hands.
The entire classroom suddenly fell silent.
Everyone was momentarily stunned by the unexpected confrontation.
Although Koenji appeared somewhat narcissistic and was clearly an eccentric individual, he didn't seem like the type to casually tell lies.
'Could it be that Amakawa Ryouma, the boy wearing such a refreshing smile, was actually a two-faced hypocrite, just as Koenji claimed?'
Seeing distrust beginning to spread through the classroom, Hirata broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over.
"Koenji-kun, is there perhaps some misunderstanding between you and Amakawa-kun? If there's a problem, you're welcome to discuss it with me. We're all going to be classmates from now on, so couldn't we try to get along?"
However, Koenji completely ignored Hirata's words.