"Sorry, I've been talking a lot! But these are just some recommendations! Whether you like them or not is up to you!"
Shiina Hiyori quickly waved her hands at Saiki Kusuo.
[Oh no, I've just met him, and I've already talked so much! Is that too rude? I finally found someone with the same interests, and I even initiated the conversation. I can't let him dislike me!]
'...'
Meanwhile, Saiki Kusuo stood there helplessly in front of Shiina Hiyori.
'Although you've sincerely recommended some good books, you've already spoiled them for me just by mentioning their titles...'
"It's fine."
Saiki Kusuo could only reply this way, looking down at the stack of books Shiina Hiyori had handed him. Although he wanted to refuse, he had instinctively accepted them.
'I don't want to interact too much with others, but it would be rude to reject her outright. Unlike Kushida, Shiina doesn't seem to have many friends, so it shouldn't cause too much trouble.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself.
'Next time I come to the library, I'll have to avoid her. A spoiled mystery novel is as bland as chocolate cookies without chocolate.'
"By the way, Saiki-kun... This might be overthinking it, but I feel like I should tell you something. The 100,000 points the school distributes every month might have some conditions attached!"
Although they had just met, Shiina Hiyori considered Saiki Kusuo a valuable friend and kindly reminded him.
"I don't think the government would give such a large sum of money to high school students without any restrictions. I've noticed there are way too many surveillance cameras in the school. Maybe the points are tied to our performance at school!"
'This girl has quite the observational skills.'
Saiki Kusuo couldn't help but admire her. None of his classmates had noticed this, but Shiina Hiyori had. Perhaps her love for mystery novels had given her sharp observational abilities.
"I see."
Although Saiki Kusuo had known the school's rules long before anyone else in his grade, he pretended to have just realized this.
"Hmm..."
After speaking, Shiina Hiyori pursed her lips, seemingly struggling with something. Her face turned slightly red, and after a few seconds, she spoke again.
"Um... Would it be okay to exchange contact information...? Maybe... we could talk about... novels sometime!"
Asking to exchange contact information was something Shiina Hiyori had never done before. Since childhood, she had never been good at socializing. She preferred to read alone, and since no one around her shared her interests, she had few friends. Now, just two days into the new school year, she found it even harder to make friends in this new environment.
So, when she met Saiki Kusuo, who shared her interests, she couldn't wait to interact more with him.
Upon hearing Shiina Hiyori's request, Saiki Kusuo initially wanted to refuse.
After all, he didn't want to interact too much with her. He had only reluctantly exchanged contact information with Kushida Kikyo because of her intimidating personality and wide social network. Offending her and being disliked by others would be troublesome. Additionally, Kushida was his classmate, so exchanging contact information was somewhat necessary.
However, Shiina Hiyori wasn't in his class, and Saiki Kusuo didn't plan to deepen their interaction.
[I finally said it! I've never asked someone for their contact information before... This is so hard... I'm really not good at talking to others... But this is my chance to make my first friend at school...]
"Sure."
Saiki Kusuo nodded and ultimately agreed to her request.
'If we communicate through messages, I won't have to worry about spoilers. Maybe I can ask her for book recommendations through text.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself.
...
After a brief conversation, Shiina Hiyori left the library with a visibly happy smile.
Meanwhile, Saiki Kusuo carried a stack of heavy novels back to his dorm. The books were quite heavy, but to him, they were weightless.
[Saiki Kusuo... He doesn't seem particularly special. Why did the school arrange for him to be admitted at the last minute?]
At that moment, Saiki Kusuo's telepathy picked up a familiar voice. It was Chabashira Sae, the homeroom teacher of Class D, leaning against a wall and smoking, seemingly waiting for Saiki Kusuo.
Ever since Saiki Kusuo was specially admitted to Class D, Chabashira Sae had been very interested in him and had been secretly investigating him.
[His entrance exam scores were average among all students. His other test results were ordinary, but his physical fitness test results were strange—some scores were very high, while others were very low.]
'It's much harder to control physical abilities than psychic powers. Thankfully, there were other people present during the entrance exam, or I wouldn't have been able to keep my scores average. Too high or too low would have been bad.'
[There's also Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. I remember he scored exactly 50 on every subject. He must have calculated his scores. I heard from Chairman Sakayanagi that Ayanokoji is connected to some political experiment. No wonder he was specially admitted to Class D. But Saiki Kusuo was also specially admitted by the chairman. The chairman doesn't seem to know much about him either. Why?]
'You'll have to ask him about that.'
Saiki Kusuo muttered to himself internally.
He had been admitted to this school entirely because of his older brother, Saiki Kusuke.
Kusuke was a super-genius with an IQ of 218. He had created many groundbreaking inventions, some of which could even change the world. As a result, he was highly valued by the government and held a very high status. This was likely the reason the school agreed to admit Saiki Kusuo.