Hachiman, who had been listening to the chatter on the side, picked up a term he'd never heard before.
"The Elite Ten? What's that?"
Maybe it was instinct to ask out loud, but suddenly Hachiman became the center of attention. Many first-year students looked at him in disbelief.
"Dude, seriously? You don't even know the Elite Ten?"
"How did you survive three years here… No, how are you even still here?"
"Unbelievable…"
Realizing he said something stupid, Hachiman just wanted to get out of there right away. Forget being the center of attention—just standing here felt like being bitten all over by ants.
"…Uh, I'm not actually a student of this school yet."
In a hurry, Hachiman could only give that explanation. But to most people, even if you weren't a Totsuki student, if you planned to join or wanted a place in the cooking world, you should at least know what the Elite Ten was.
Clearly, many already saw Hikigaya as some unimportant extra, while others looked at him with mocking smiles.
Anyway, he should just leave for now. Stirring up everyone like this before figuring things out was clearly not smart.
He was a transfer student joining in the middle of the semester. Even if this school had a six-year system, Hachiman missed out on three years of foundational study, so naturally no one would see him as a strong opponent—except maybe someone like Yukinoshita.
According to what that old guy said earlier, he'd have to attend regular classes this afternoon. Hachiman didn't know if that guy was just messing with him, but right now, he had no other choice.
After a simple lunch, Hachiman headed early to the assigned classroom. This school was ridiculously big, more like a city than a campus, so going early was a must.
At Totsuki Academy, as long as you had real skill, you could join anytime. So mid-semester transfers weren't unheard of.
But if you couldn't quickly adapt to the high elimination rate here, you'd soon be weeded out and turned into someone else's stepping stone.
Hachiman thought he'd arrived early, but when he opened the door, he saw students already busy practicing their cooking skills.
'Wait, isn't this supposed to be lunch break…?'
No one noticed Hachiman entering the classroom, maybe because he didn't have much presence to begin with. Everyone was focused on their own work. Since that was the case… he couldn't just sit idle. Before the teacher arrived, Hachiman decided to try making the Eggs Benedict that Erina had prepared earlier.
A dish that seemed simple actually had many details. Hachiman replayed every step in his mind, and once he was sure there were no mistakes, he gently cracked an egg.
Crack.
The yolk and white separated smoothly. Each step moved along in order. With his sharp observation and strong learning ability, Hachiman could almost perfectly reproduce the Eggs Benedict Erina had just made.
"Three minutes and twenty-four seconds…"
It was still a dish, but the time used was completely different—more than three times longer than Erina's. Not only that, the level of detail and the look of it were far worse than what she made.
Hachiman shook his head as he looked at the dish in front of him, wondering if he could even survive in this school.
Even if he somehow passed the entrance exam by luck, competing in cooking against these geniuses was nothing but a death wish—at least that's how it seemed to Hachiman.
While he was thinking this, a student slowly walked up to the stage. After taking a quick glance at the time, he smiled and said to everyone:
"Sorry, everyone. According to the Elite Ten's plan, starting today we'll split into different classrooms for lessons."
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Hachiman wouldn't have believed that someone so familiar could appear in front of him again.
"Hayama Hayato."
Since he didn't notice him when he first came into the classroom, Hachiman guessed he must have entered while he was cooking.
Still, he never thought he'd meet his old middle school classmate here again. Though calling him a classmate was a stretch—Hachiman had basically no connection with him. After all, this guy was a full-on normie. And normies should just go explode.
Maybe Hayama heard Hachiman call his name out loud, or maybe he saw the surprise on his face, but Hayama stepped down from the stage with a smile and said:
"Hikigaya, what are you doing here?"
'Idiot, why don't you ask yourself that?'
"For some… special reason…" If Hachiman had known Hayama was in this school, he would've rather died than come here.
Hayama still wore that same smile, just spreading his hands as he said:
"So you're the new transfer student, huh? What a coincidence, meeting you here. But let's catch up after class, the teacher's about to start."
'There's no need to catch up at all…' Hachiman just nodded without showing any expression.
Hayama kept smiling like always, as if nothing could change that fake grin. It honestly made Hachiman sick.
"According to the Elite Ten's plan, today's class will be done in groups. Tadokoro, based on the ranking, you'll be paired with him."
Hearing her name, a girl with blue twin braids shyly stepped out from the crowd, looking very worried.
"Yes…"
'Sorry for teaming up with me… But… that old man really didn't lie to me.'
Hayama Hayato: "Today's lesson is still cooking practice. Tadokoro, do your best."
Hearing that only made Tadokoro even more nervous. She put her trembling hands on her thighs and stammered a word:
"Yes…"
After those quick words of encouragement, Hayama gave Hachiman a smile before turning away to group the other students.
"That guy… no matter where he goes, he's always the leader of everything. Tch, damn normie."
Hearing Hikigaya's words, Tadokoro Megumi asked with a bit of curiosity:
"Hikigaya, you know Hayama too?"
"Of course. He was my classmate in middle school. By the way, how do you know my name...?"