Chapter 2:
The Sudden Beginning of
Our Tumultuous Troubles
The timing couldn’t have been worse.
While searching for a place to take a good selfie, I stumbled into something. Even a certain famous, diminutive detective would have held his breath when witnessing such a tense situation.
The whole thing had started about ten seconds ago. Someone made a trivial comment, which upset the other party. That led to vicious insults, which turned into a fistfight. No, a “fight” wasn’t the right way of putting it. The other three male students lay on the floor, writhing in pain. A red-haired boy stood over them, looking down in victory. It was an entirely one-sided ordeal.
His right fist was covered in blood from the students he’d pummeled. This was the first brawl I’d ever witnessed. In elementary school I saw boys quarrel with each other in class, pulling clothes and pinching arms. This was different, though. I could feel the tension in the air.
Though I was terrified, I began capturing the scene with my camera. The shutter didn’t make a sound. After taking the pictures, I asked myself what I was doing. I couldn’t think clearly in my panicked state. I tried to quickly get away. However, my brain no longer seemed to function properly. My legs didn’t obey my command to move, like I was paralyzed.
“He he, so. Do you really think that this is the end of it, Sudou?”
Despite being barely able to move, one of the male students on the ground tried to taunt Sudou.
“Do you wanna make me laugh? You’re in the sorriest state possible. You want to go for another round, huh? Next time I won’t hold back.”
Sudou-kun grabbed the beaten boy’s collar, and brought him closer. They were eye-to-eye now, only a few centimeters apart. Sudou looked as though he was going to kill and then devour his opponent, which was so overwhelming that the defeated boy looked away.
“Are you scared? Did you really think you’d beat me if you had more people?”
Sudou-kun snorted, dropped the student, picked up his bag, and then turned and walked away as if the defeated three completely disinterested him. My heart rate skyrocketed. Well, that was natural. Sudou-kun was headed for my hiding spot. My potential escape routes from this building were limited.
I had the idea to turn back down the staircase I’d used to come up here. However, I still couldn’t move, and my window of opportunity was closing. I’d heard that that when someone was involved in a crisis, his or her body would lock up, exactly like what was happening now.
“What a waste of time. Tiring me out after practice. Give me a break,” Sudou-kun said.
The distance between us was closing. He was only a few short meters away.
“You’re the one who’s going to regret this later, Sudou.”
The boy’s words stopped Sudou-kun in his tracks.
“Nothing’s more pathetic than a sore loser. No matter how many times you come at me, you won’t win.”
He wasn’t bluffing. He clearly had the confidence to back up what he said. After all, Sudou-kun had emerged victorious and unscathed from a three-on-one fight.
Tomorrow was the first of July, but given how much I was sweating you’d think summer was already here. I remained completely still in my hiding place. Sweat poured down the nape of my neck. I decided to leave calmly, quietly, and without panicking. I’d hate it if someone were to spot me and involve me in this mess. If that happened, it would cast a dark cloud over my otherwise peaceful school life.
I left the scene quickly and carefully.
“Is someone there?”
Sudou-kun, sensing my movement, looked to where I’d been mere moments before. However, I’d successfully escaped by a hair’s breadth. If I’d lagged a mere two seconds, he probably would’ve seen me.
2.1
Mornings in Class D were always lively, because most of the students were far from studious. Today they were being even more raucous than usual. The reason was obvious. We were about to finally get points for the first time since we’d come to this school.
My school, the “Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School,” has adopted an unprecedented system known as the S-Point System. I’ll explain that in a bit.
I took out my school-provided cell phone, launched the pre-installed school app, and logged in using my student ID and password. I then selected the option “Balance Inquiry” from the menu. From here, you could do many things. You could check your current personal balance, or you could see how many collective points the class had. There was also a function that enabled you to send points to another student.
There were two types of points listed. One of them was marked with a “cl” at the end, which was short for “class.” These were also referred to as “class points”—not points that an individual student possessed, but rather, points that the class had accumulated together. Class D had had zero class points since June. No points at all. The other points were marked with a “pr” at the end, which stood for “private.” These were our individual points.
On the first day of every month, they multiplied the cl points, or class points, by 100, then deposited that amount into our private point accounts. We used these private points to purchase daily necessities, meals, even electrical appliances. At this school, points are currency. They are very important.
If you didn’t have any private points, you were forced to live day-to-day without spending money. You couldn’t use real currency anywhere on campus. Because Class D was sitting at zero points, we hadn’t received any private points for the month, and thus had to get by without cash.
When we first started here, we had 1000 class points.
If we had kept those points, we would have received 100,000-yen worth of points each month. Unfortunately, our class points fluctuated every day. Many things caused a reduction in points, like talking in class or getting a low score on a test. As a result, Class D had zero points when May came around. Things had continued in that vein until now, July 1.
In addition to determining our monthly allowance, the class points were used to measure our class’s merit. The classes were ordered by class points, in descending order from A through D. So in the event that Class D managed to get enough points to surpass Class C, our class would probably be promoted from D to C for the next month. Moreover, should we finally manage to get all the way up to Class A, then we’d have the chance to attend the college of our choice, or to get the job we wanted.
When I first heard about this system, I thought it’d be important to accumulate as many class points as possible. Private points would grant us only personal satisfaction. However, my perspective changed when I bought a point for the midterm test.
I’d been able to purchase a point for Sudou on that recent test. If I hadn’t, he’d have just barely failed. When I realized that the school would allow me to purchase exam points, I understood that our homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, hadn’t been kidding when she told us, “At this school, you can buy anything with your points.”
Ergo, holding onto private points meant that it was possible to favorably change your situation. Upon further consideration, you could likely purchase more than just test points.
“Good morning, everyone. You all seem more restless than usual today.”
Chabashira-sensei strode into the classroom as the homeroom bell rang.
“Sae-chan-sensei! Do we have zero points again this month?! When I checked this morning, I didn’t see a single point deposited into my account!”
“Oh, so that’s why you’re all so restless?”
“We worked ourselves half to death this past month! We passed the midterm, so why are we still at zero points?! No one’s been late or absent, and no one’s talked during class, either!”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Listen to what I have to say first. You’re correct, Ike. You have all worked harder than ever before. I recognize that. Naturally, the school understands full well how you all feel.”
After being admonished by the teacher, Ike shut his mouth and sat back down.
“Well then. Without further ado, here are this month’s point totals.”
She put a paper up on the board that listed the point values, starting with Class A at the top. Excluding Class D, all of the other classes had nearly 100 more points than last month. Class A now sat at 1004 points, slightly above where everyone had started when we were admitted.
“This isn’t good. Could they have figured out a way to increase their point total?!”
My neighbor, Horikita Suzune, appeared solely focused on the other classes. However, Ike and most of the other Class D students didn’t care much about the other classes’ points. The important question for them was whether we had received more class points. That was it.
Written next to Class D was our point total: 87 points.
“Huh? Wait, 87? Does that mean we actually went up? Yahoo!”
Ike excitedly jumped up and down the instant he saw our score.
“It’s too early to celebrate. All the other classes saw a similar increase in their points. We didn’t close the distance at all. This might just be a reward first-year students receive for getting through the midterm. Every class seems to have gotten at least 100 points.”
“So that’s what happened. I thought it odd that we’d been awarded points so quickly.”
Horikita, who hoped to reach Class A, didn’t appear pleased with the result. She wasn’t smiling.
“Are you disappointed because the gap between the classes has widened, Horikita?” I asked.
“No, that’s not it. We managed to get something this time, after all.”
“Get something? Get what?” asked Ike, now standing.
Horikita, after attracting everyone’s attention, fell back into silence. It was as if she didn’t wish to provide an answer. The class leader, Hirata Yousuke, answered for her.
“I believe that Horikita-san is referring to the deductions we incurred throughout April and May. In other words, we didn’t see a reduction in points for talking in class or being late.”
The sharp-witted Hirata hadn’t missed a beat. Splendid.
“Ah, is that so? I suppose that even if we got 100 points, a lot of deductions would’ve brought us down to zero.” Ike, after this simple explanation, raised his arms in victory. “Wait. But then, why didn’t we get any points?”
He lobbed his original question again at Chabashira-sensei. It was indeed strange that we hadn’t received 8700 private points in our accounts.
“Well, this time there was a little trouble. The first-year students’ point distribution has been delayed. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer,” she said.
“Huh? Seriously? If this is the school’s fault, then shouldn’t we get some kind of bonus as compensation?”
The students grumbled in discontent. Once they found out that they would be getting their points, their attitudes had changed dramatically. There was a significant difference between 87 points and no points.
“Don’t blame me. This was the school’s decision, there’s nothing I can do about it. Once the trouble has been resolved, you’ll receive your points. If there are still points left, that is.”
There was deeper meaning behind Chabashira-sensei’s words.
2.2
Once lunchtime came around, everyone went to eat. Lately, I’ve come to believe that dining with friends is actually the most difficult aspect of student life. Take Kushida Kikyou, for example. She’s extremely popular and has many friends, both girls and boys. She gets in-person invitations, along with constant invites over the phone and through email. Even though she’s unable to respond to everyone and sometimes has to turn people down, when she eats with friends she appears to have a real life.
On the other hand, you’ve got people like Ike and Yamauchi, who aren’t very popular with girls. They eat with their group of guy friends, including Sudou and Hondou, almost every day.
Meanwhile, I don’t really belong anywhere.
I’d say I’m friends with Kushida. I’m friends with Ike and Yamauchi, too. Though I eat with them on occasion, I wouldn’t say it’s a frequent occurrence. Generally speaking, it’s the kind of relationship where the other party asks, “Want to have lunch?” or “Are you free after class?”
I didn’t really mind near the start of the school year. Before I’d made any friends, it was only natural that I would be alone. However, now I was experiencing a strange phenomenon: I had friends, yet I was still on my own. It was an uncomfortable experience.
If I happened to be absent on a day when we formed groups for a school trip, I’d possibly end up left out. Did they all consider me a low-tier friend? Or was our friendship all in my head? Those were my thoughts.
Nervous and anxious, I unintentionally looked at Ike and the others. I’m over here, guys. It’s okay for you to invite me. My glances were filled with selfishness and anticipation. I was flooded by feelings of self-loathing. Reminding myself that I should know when to give up, I averted my gaze. Pathetic scenes like this played out daily.
“You’re still not used to it. You’re as pathetic as ever, Ayanokouji-kun.”
My neighbor shot me a somewhat cold look.
“You seem completely used to solitude,” I replied.
“I’m quite fine, thank you.”
I meant to sound sarcastic, but Horikita took it as sincere. The majority of our classmates had already formed their own groups, but a few students were still all alone. That offered some relief. Horikita wasn’t the only loner; Kouenji spent most of his time alone, too. On first starting here, he’d enjoyed the company of girls from other classes and grade levels. However, once he ran low on points, he began to spend most of his time in the classroom.
He was the sole heir to the Kouenji conglomerate group, one of the largest corporations in Japan. He didn’t love solitude, but rather, loved himself and cared little for others. I respected that he didn’t seem bothered at all by being alone. He was currently completely lost in examining his face in a hand mirror, his daily routine.
Aside from him, there was a quiet girl with glasses. At one time Ike had made a ruckus about how large her breasts were, but because she was considered plain, everyone quickly lost interest. She was always alone, and I’d never seen her talk to anyone. Just the other day, she’d been eating by herself, hunched over her bento box. She was one of the few students who made her own lunches.
Just then, my neighbor took a bento box from her bag and opened it. Lately, Horikita had been making her own lunches rather than going to the cafeteria, too.
“Doesn’t it cost quite a bit and take a lot of effort to make your own lunch?” I asked.
Although they weren’t exactly high quality, the free meals offered in the school cafeteria were a form of relief for students who’d used up all of their points. There was no merit in a homemade lunch, which consumed time and your own points to make.
“I’m not sure about that. The school supermarket provides free ingredients, you know.”
“Wait, so you made this with free stuff?”
Horikita simply opened her bento in response. It didn’t have much in the way of meat or fried foods, but it looked tasty.
“Don’t tell me. Not only are you a bright scholar, you’re an accomplished cook as well? That doesn’t seem to fit your personality.”
“Anyone can cook by looking up a recipe in a book or on the Internet. Our dorms come equipped with all of the necessary tools, as well.”
Horikita didn’t waste any more words trying to impress upon me how much of a genius she was. She simply took out her chopsticks. I guess it all seemed so obvious to her.
“But why did you decide to go through the trouble of making your own lunch?” I asked.
“The cafeteria is noisy. It’s much more relaxing to eat here, wouldn’t you say?”
Toward the start of the year, many of the students had gone to the cafeteria to buy bread or lunches, but facing a shortage of points an overwhelming number of students got the free meal set. Looking around, I could see that only a few students remained in the classroom.
Was this Horikita’s preferred environment? One where Ike and the others weren’t around?
“Do I already miss riding the big cafeteria-bound wave of students?”
“You’re always staring out at the ocean, but you don’t have a surfboard. You lack even the determination to ride the wave, don’t you? And you talk about missing it? You’re awfully full of yourself.”
I wished I had a comeback for that, but I couldn’t argue. I just wanted her to cut me a break.
2.3
Unlike lunch, my time after class felt surprisingly pleasant, since I didn’t have to worry about interacting with anyone. Even if I went straight back to the dorms, I didn’t stand out at all since several other students did that, too. There was some value in being able to vanish like a ninja into a crowd. If I hung toward the back of some group of friends, I could pretend I was one of them.
“How pitiful.”
I was pretty pleased with myself for being able to so skillfully pretend that I had friends, but there really wasn’t anyone at this school who cared about my pretense in the first place.
“Sudou. I have to talk to you about something. Come to the faculty room,” Chabashira-sensei called out to Sudou, who was trying to beat a hasty retreat from the classroom.
“Huh? What do you want with me? I’ve got basketball practice now.” Sudou languidly opened up his bag to show off the sports uniform inside.
“I’ve already spoken with the advisor. You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to, but you will face the consequences later.”
Chabashira-sensei’s threatening words set Sudou a little on edge.
“What? Will this be over quickly?”
“That all depends on you. The longer you stand there, the more time you waste.”
It seemed as though he had no choice but to go with her. Sudou clicked his tongue, and followed Chabashira-sensei out of the classroom.
“I thought that he might have changed, but I guess Sudou’s the same as ever. Wouldn’t it have been better if he just got kicked out?”
I didn’t know who was talking, but I could hear some people in our class mumbling to themselves. I’d thought the midterm had united our class as a group, but it must have been my imagination. It was a shame.
“Do you think so, too? That it would have been better if Sudou-kun were expelled?” While she spoke, Horikita started putting her textbooks in her bag. There probably weren’t that may students who took their textbooks with them to class every single day. Sometimes I thought she was too serious.
“I don’t really think so. What about you, Horikita? You were the only person who gave Sudou a helping hand.”
“Hmm. Well, we still don’t know whether our points would go up as a class, really,” she replied, disinterested.
When Sudou had faced expulsion during the midterm, Horikita had helped him by purposefully lowering her own score and spending her own points to buy him a passing grade. I’d never imagined her capable of doing something like that.
We got up from our seats at the same time, and walked out of the classroom together. We occasionally went back to the dorms together, though I couldn’t remember when that ritual had started. Since we didn’t have lunch together or just casually hang out, I found it odd. Then again, we had the same path back to the dormitory. That was probably why we walked together.
“I’m a little worried about what Chabashira-sensei said this morning,” Horikita said.
“About our points being delayed?”
“Yes. She said that there was trouble, but did she mean that it was a problem for the school, or a problem for us, the students? If it’s the latter, then…”
“You’re overthinking things. We haven’t caused any real problems lately. She even said so herself. I doubt Class D would be the only ones not to get any points. It’s simply the school having an issue.”
Even if there was a cause for concern, even if only the first-year students had had their payments delayed, Class D probably wasn’t the issue. Probably.
“I hope that’s the case. Trouble directly affects our points.”
Horikita spent every single day thinking about how to increase our points. She wasn’t concerned with private points, of course, but class points. She wanted to get up to Class A. I wouldn’t say that it was impossible, but right now it was a very long shot.
However, we still had hope. If Horikita did discover a reliable method for increasing our points, that would be a huge boon for Class D. Furthermore, our classmates would come to place more trust in Horikita, and she’d make friends. It was a win-win situation.
“That reminds me. You should join in the chat now and again. You’re the only one who hasn’t caught up in a long time.”
I took out my phone and launched the group chat app. We’d invited Horikita to join after the midterm exam. Kushida had doubted whether Horikita would actually participate, since she hated talking with others. Despite the attempts at friendship, Horikita hadn’t participated at all.
“I’m not interested in the slightest. Also, I keep my notifications turned off.”
“Is that right?”
Well, apparently she hadn’t intended to participate in the first place. She probably didn’t delete the app because it would send a notification to Kushida and the rest of the group if she did. Horikita was free to decide for herself whether she would participate, so I didn’t press the matter any further. I wasn’t really qualified to judge, anyway.
“You’ve been quite talkative lately, Ayanokouji-kun.”
“Really? I thought I’ve always been like this.”
“It’s a slight difference, but you’ve changed.”
Although I hadn’t intended to change, I probably had undergone a slight transformation since starting here. Especially with how I got along with Horikita… Well, I wouldn’t say that we got along, but I didn’t really feel uncomfortable around her. If she were another girl, I probably wouldn’t have been able to converse normally. I’d have gotten nervous and fidgety.
That was why I only talked with people to whom I was close. More than anything else, though, I was grateful for a relationship where being silent didn’t worsen the mood.
“Did something make you change?”
“I wonder. Well, if I had to think of a reason, I guess I got used to attending school, and then I made some friends. Also, Kushida was probably a big influence.”
When I was only around the guys, sometimes we barely talked, or didn’t talk at all. When Kushida was around, people were always talking, and the collective mood brightened.
“You seem to be getting along quite well with Kushida-san. Aren’t you bothered, especially knowing about her other side?”
“I admit I found it shocking when she said that she hated you, Horikita. But I think it’s only natural that everyone has people they like and people they hate. There’s no point being concerned about it. I mean, you still pretend to get along well with Kushida-san even though she said she hates you, right?”
“Hmm. Well, you may have a point there. It’s true that I hate you, too, Ayanokouji-kun, yet I talk to you normally. I don’t really mind, then.”
“Hey…”
What the heck? It really hurt when she said it straight out like that.
“That’s what I’m getting at. If someone says that they hate another person, it’s fine. But if someone says that they hate you, don’t you feel a little bad?” she asked.
“Were you testing me?”
Horikita started combing her hair in a way that looked rather deliberate. “I don’t have any intention of getting in her way, but Kushida-san and I are like oil and water. I think it’s better not to associate with her.”
In other words, she probably wouldn’t join a group chat with Kushida in it.
“Why does she even hate you in the first place?” I asked.
They hadn’t had much contact since school began. So when had she started hating Horikita? I mean, Kushida said that it was her goal to get along with everyone in class.
“Who knows? She probably doesn’t know that much about me.”
That might have been the case. But even so, I sensed that there was something between Kushida and Horikita.
“If you’re that curious, why don’t you ask her yourself? Directly?” Horikita asked.
That was impossible. Kushida Kikyou was normally a sweet, angelic girl, but I had glimpsed a different side to her. It was difficult to even imagine when you saw her gentle smile or heard her pleasant tone, but I recalled the vicious comments she’d spat out. Horikita probably didn’t know about that.
“No need. I’m fine with the Kushida we have now,” I said.
“What you just said was really disgusting, you know that?”
“Yeah.”
Even though I’d spoken the words, I did feel disgusted with myself.
2.4
After a nice dinnerin the dorm cafeteria, I headed back to my room. There, I took out my phone and checked my remaining balance. My account total was displayed on the screen. I saw that I had 8,320 private points. It hadn’t changed since this morning. Considering that we’d started the school year with 100,000 points, this was an incredibly low amount. I had nearly bankrupted myself just to buy the point Sudou needed to pass.
“It would be pretty great if we got those 87 points,” I muttered.
Converted, the points came to roughly 8700 yen. Although that wasn’t a giant improvement, it was still big bucks.
As I was playing around on my phone, my door suddenly swung open.
“Save me, Ayanokouji!” Sudou stood there, his face beet red.
“Why’re you here? Actually, forget that – how did you even get in?”
I’d locked my door when I got back to my room. I hadn’t forgotten, because I made it a habit. Had Sudou smashed through the wall or something? Just to be sure, I checked my door to see that it wasn’t broken. It looked completely fine.
“This the room where our group meets, isn’t it? Ike and the rest of us made duplicate keys. Didn’t you know that? Everyone else in the group has a key, too.”
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login