Chapter 1.2 - Spark

As the clock hit sharp at two, our school period was declared over for the day. After the classes, majority of the students were headed toward the dormitories. I wasn't any different from the others.

Naturally, I was curious about what kind of room I was given. The remaining days of my high school life would be spent there. It was also a fact that the students were given a room per individual. Which meant that I would get the entire room for myself. Just thinking about that made my lips twitch.

As I was nearing the first-year dormitory area, I immediately noticed a convenience store. My stomach understandably grumbled, considering the fact that I haven't ate anything ever since I walked on this world. I'm sure there won't be be anything in the kitchen for me cook. So I decided to stop by the store.

But honestly, I was going to do that anyway.

I pushed the glass door and strode inside the store. A familiar scene of aisles full of miscellaneous items illuminated by neon lights greeted me. But as I began complimenting the blandness of the convenience store...

"My, what an unpleasant coincidence." a voice came from the corner of my eyes.

"Good to see you too, Horikita-san." I sighed.

As soon as we entered the convenience store, I ran into Horikita.

"Levent's here, too?" Ayanokouji peered his head from behind one of the aisles. "Did you need to buy something?"

Why else would I be inside a convenience store then?

"Yes, just a few things. I came to get some necessities." I replied. "What about you guys?"

I peered at the basket Horikita was holding. There were various necessities like shampoo off the shelves and promptly threw them into the basket she was carrying. As expected, she only took the cheapest options.

"I thought girls usually made a fuss over what kind of shampoo they bought." Ayanokouji inquired.

Not exactly something you should ask a girl.

"Well, that depends on the person, doesn't it? I'm the sort who doesn't know when you might need money," she replied.

She then shot him an icy glare that seemed to say, Could you please not inspect other people's purchases without their permission?

"At any rate, I was terribly surprised that you stayed for introductions," she said. "You didn't look like the type to hang out with a circle of classmates."

"I decided to participate precisely because I don't like trouble. Why didn't you introduce yourself to them, Horikita? You could have gotten to know several other students, and it would have been a chance to make friends." Ayanokouji replied with another question.

"There are several reasons why I objected, but I suppose it might be better if I simply explain, hmm? My introduction might have sown discord, depending on how things went. Thus, doing nothing avoided creating more problems. Am I wrong?"

As they continued arguing, I walked away from them and grabbed a basket for myself. I began inspecting the aisles for the necessities, until I noticed something.

"Well, this is oddly convenient."

Apparently the shop had an entire segment dedicated to cup noodles. As most of the customers were high school students, they took that into consideration. Not everyone can cook, and in the impending future, some won't be able to buy a decent meal. So, to save them from their crawling despair, there came a hero in form of a product. And that is...

"Cup Noodles."

That was definitely one of the reasons why I came to this convenience store. A particular variant of the cups, to be specific.

"So, do boys really like this kind of stuff? I can't imagine that it's healthy," Horikita suddenly spoke from behind me

"I enjoy them, I guess." That was a lie. I love them.

The label of the cup said 156 yen. The school's point system was easy to understand. Each point was equivalent to a yen. So to say, if I were to buy the cup noodles, it would cost me 156 private points.

"Hey, what do you think? Is this price high or low?" Ayanokouji asked.

"Hmm. I'm not sure. Why, is there something curious about it?"

"No, I was just wondering."

He probably asked that because he didn't know the market value of that product. Until yesterday, he was isolated from human society. There was no way for him to know what was cheap or what was expensive.

"Considering the net weight of this thing, I'd say it's surprisingly cheap." I replied.

"Cheap, huh?" Ayanokouji pondered.

"Not only are they giving us an absurd amount of points, they're also being lenient with the prices too."

"The school's amazing, no?"

While Horikita and Ayanokouji was quibbling amongst themselves, I was rummaging through the aisles for the 'product'.

"Found it!"

I immediately picked one up and began inspecting it.

"Wow, it's the enormous G Cup, huh?" Ayanokouji mused from behind.

"Ayanokouji-kun. Were you thinking about something stupid just now?" she turned towards him with a cold glare.

Her assumptions weren't completely false though.

"What? What do you mean?" he gestured towards the G cup I was holding.

"I felt like you were acting strangely." Horikita narrowed her eyes.

"Giga cup, huh?" I mused.

Wow, it really is enormous. As someone who had survived a whole month on noddle, just looking at it was enough to make me full.

On an unrelated note, Horikita's breasts were neither small nor huge. They exquisitely straddled the line between the two. The perfect size.

"I think I want some." I muttered to myself.

"Oh. Well, I suppose that's fine. Anyway, do you really think you should buy that? This school offers far healthier food options. Don't you think it's better to avoid eating junk?"

"As much as I prefer cooking something healthy, I didn't buy any kitchen utensils yet. So, I guess I'll have to survive on this for the day."

"I see. Suit yourself then." Horikita turned around.

As soon as she did, I ended up throwing four more G Cups in my basket.

╗🄾🅄🅃🅂🄸🄳🄴🅁 ╚

I was done with my shopping, and was walking toward the counter to check out. Immediately I noticed a peculiar bin on the middle of the store.

"Free, huh?" I spoke loudly, hinting them about a fact. They both turned their attention towards me.

"Free?"

Daily necessities like toothbrushes and bandages had been stuffed into a clearance bin and labeled "Free." The bin was also marked with the proviso "three items per month." These were obviously different from the store's other goods.

"They must be emergency relief supplies for students who use up their points." Ayanokouji commented.

That would be our entire class the next month unless I interject.

"Doesn't this intrigue you, Horikita-san?" I remarked.

"I do think this is strange."

"On top of getting an absurd amount of points per month, cheap price of products, and now this... We're living quite the lucid dream, don't you think?" I mused.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. I was just rambling. Don't mind it."

Horikita looked at me, and gave me a look of uncertainty. She was about to say something. But before she could open her mouth, Ayanokouji grabbed a razor from one of the aisles.

"If you're looking for something a cut above the rest, how about this razor with five blades? I bet it'd do the job." he declared.

"....."

"Why in the world would I want to shave with that?" Horikita asked with an irritated tone. Ayanokouji prompted to move the razor in front of his chin as if shaving a beard.

As much as I wanted to laugh at his 'joke', I could finally understand why his jokes fell on his feet. It was hard to distinguish whether it was a joke or a threat. His monotone voice with a combination of his deadeyed expression, it felt like he was ordering us buy razors for him so the he could use them to shave his bal-

"Look at me," she said. "I don't have anything to shave. Not on my chin, not under my armpits, and not down there."

She just casually admitted to be a late bloomer.

Utterly abolished, Ayanokouji put the razor back as he mumbled hesitantly. Horikita completely crushed his spirits.

To cheer him up, I decided to attack Horikita; knowing how terrifyingly suicidal it was.

"Horikita-san... I just imagined you with a beard. And that image practically makes me want to get a mind wipe."

"...."

The silence was loud.

Bad move.. Obviously a bad move.

"I'm leaving." Horikita announced as she grabbed her basket and left towards the reception.

"Can I apologize?"

"Don't talk to me ever again."  Horikita looked at me like I was the enemy of her existence. If looks could kill, the expression she made would be a prime example of it.

"Yeah. Sorry." I murmured as I grabbed my items.

So I guess Horikita hates me now. Okay, Great! Just brilliant! I just had to go ahead and open my mouth, huh?

"That was... something." Ayanokouji commented.

"Ayanokouji. Can you.. please make sure she doesn't assassinate me in my sleep?"

"I'll try. But you kind of bought that on yourself you know?"

"...."

Well, people do say, love and hate are the two sides of the same coin. One flip and you can be on the other side before you know it. Who knows if that hate would someday turn into deep respect?

Let's not get delusional, Levent.

╗🄾🅄🅃🅂🄸🄳🄴🅁 ╚

"Hey, shut it! Just wait a sec! I'm looking for it right now!"

A sudden, loud voice broke serenity of the convenience store. It was without a doubt, Sudou Ken.

"Come on, hurry up. You have a line of people waiting on you!" an impatient customer yelled.

"Oh, yeah? Well, if they have any complaints, they can take it up with me!"

Seeing the commotion from afar, we decided to go check what was going on.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"I'm Levent, He's Ayanokouji. We're from the same class."

"It sounded like there was trouble." Ayanokouji joined.

"Yeah, I forgot my student ID card. Forgot that it pretty much acts as our money from now on, too."

I looked at his empty hands. He'd put the noodle cups away. He started to leave, probably heading back to the dorms, where he'd likely forgotten his card.

"I can pay for you. I mean, it'd be annoying if you had to head all the way back to the dorms. I don't mind." I offered.

"That's true. You're right, it'd be absolutely annoying. Thanks."

The store wasn't particularly far from the dorms, but by the time he got back there would be a long line of students buying lunch.

"My name's Sudou." he said. "Thanks for helping me out. I owe you."

"It was nothing." I raised my hands for a handshake.

He shook hands with both of us. We got out of the convenience store and sat on a nearby bench.

"Are you really going to eat here?" Ayanokouji asked.

"Of course. It's just common sense." Sudou perplexed us with his matter-of-fact reply.

"I see."

Apparently, it was common sense to eat cup noodles out in the open. He was eating as he wished, pretending like we didn't even exist. I was getting tired of it, it was quite a long day.

However, as soon as I even thought about leaving...

"Hey, you guys first years? This is our spot."

Three upperclassmen approached us with smirks on their faces.

I knew where this was headed. So, I pretended to type something in my phone when in reality I opened the camera and started recording. After that, I put the phone in a corner of my pocket where they won't be able to see.

"Who are you? I was already here. You're in the way. Get lost," Sudou barked.

"You hear this guy? 'Get lost,' he says. What a cocky little first-year punk."

The three laughed in Sudou's face. They shot up, slamming his noodle cup against the ground. The broth and noodles splashed everywhere.

"Hey! what the hell are you doing?!" Sudou roared.

"'First-year punk,' huh? You tryin' to make fun of me, huh?!" One of them was more aggressive then the others. Perfect.

"You're awfully mouthy, considering we're third-year students. We already put our bags here, see?"

Plop! With those words, the third-year upperclassmen students put down their bags and guffawed loudly.

"See, our stuff's here. Now, beat it," one of them said.

"You got a lot of guts, asshole." Sudou glared at them.

"Oh, wow, scary. What class are you in? Wait, never mind. I think I know. You're in Class D, aren't you?"

The seniors were provoking Sudou. I'm sure they had ulterior motives and they would've gone through it if it wasn't for me and Ayanokouji being there as witnesses.

I walked towards Sudou.

"Yeah, so wh-?" I put my hand on Sudou's back and stopped him.

"Yes. We're in class D. And your point is?" I coldly replied.

"You hear that? He's in Class D! I knew it! It was a dead giveaway!"

"Bwahaha! He's totally screwed!"

Well, they definitely weren't the smartest third year students, that's for sure. The school strictly prohibited the students from revealing information about the S system and the class depravity before the intended period. But they went ahead and gave us a hint.

They also slapped Sudou's cup down, vandalizing personal property and trashing public space. You can also characterize their actions as bullying. And the best of all, they didn't notice that they were being recorded, not by me, but by the school's camera.

"What a bunch of idiots."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"You heard me." I replied.

"You punk! Who do you think you–?"

"No actually. Calling you guys idiots would be an insult to the actual idiots. The word that best suits you three would be..." I clicked my fingers at them as a taunt. "Ah, yes. 'Retarded'."

The lack of emotion in my voice seemingly made them even angrier.

"Oi, wanna get punched in the face? You're seriously pissin' me–?" I cut him off again.

"Seriously, how did you retards get into this school? Your lack of braincells is too painful to fathom. Can you go die 10 miles away from me, please?"

"Oh. You think you're hot stuff huh? Wait till you-" I cut him off again.

"Judging by your stupidity, the three of you are from class C."

"You!" a student clenched his fists.

Their stupefied expression was the confirmation I needed.

"I've hit the spot it seems. You may have a superior complex, but are you really that much superior to us. We may be on class D, but remember. This is just the beginning of our first year, while you lot are stuck in class C on your third."

"Wait... How did you-?"

"At the end of the year, you will be labeled as the same as the defects. Failures who failed to reach class A. Am I right, senpai?"

I kept cutting them off. People hates it when they are being ignored. They hate it most while expressing themselves. Imagine trying to make a valid and we'll thought out point only to be labeled as irrelevant and ignored by the others.

A surprisingly effective psychological jab. Not only does it create a short term inferiority complex, it also help you sabotage/jamble whatever argument the other party had.

"You asshole!" one of the students raised their hands. But he was stopped by others.

But that threat of violence was never enough to get a reaction out of me.

"Are you going to hit me? Because I said the truth?"

"You better stop or you'll regret this!" the one who held the aggressive one replied.

"I see. Not only are you people brainless, you don't have balls either. Especially that manchild over there." I pointed at the aggressive one.

"You little shit!" The guy broke off and threw a heymaker punch at me. A jolt of pain rushed through my jaw. Pretty sure I would've cut myself if I didn't brace for the punch. I pretended to fall on the ground spilling my bag full of items in the process.

"What the fuck do ya think you're doing!" Sudou got in front of me and started screaming while assuming a fighting stance.

Seeing the entire thing unfold, the other two soon became paranoid.

"Oi! Kazuki, this is bad! Let's get outta here!" they grabbed my attacker by hand and took off while he was streaming in rage.

"You'll regret this, class D defects!" The guy who punched me screamed. "Keep on yapping and you'll be in hell very soon."

"Oi! How dare you run away after all of that! Hey!" Sudou growled.

"Stop."

"Huh?"

"Leave them be." I pushed myself off the ground and dusted myself.

"But they literally punched you." Sudou replied.

"It's okay. They're not worth it."

Besides, I got exactly what I wanted.

"You okay?" Sudou helped me getting up.

"Don't worry. His punch was like a gentle love tap." I joked.

"Pfft bwahaha... Seriously, dude?"

Previously Sudou was fuming, his face was on an episode of anger, hatred and frustration. But I somehow managed to cool him down this time.

"That aside, I should fix everything before anyone notices."

"Ah, right. I'll help you." Sudou replied.

"Thank you."

"Nah, you stood up for me. This is the least I could do for you."

I picked up my utensils in the bag while Sudou cleaned the remaining of his cup noodles and threw it in the trash.

Ayanokouji on the other hand, closely observed us the entire time.

What a day... I got into a fight and dirtied my uniform on the very first day, huh? For some reason this really hits home.

But this is not the end of it.

"I going to use the washroom for a second. You guys go ahead."

Because what I did after that was the main reason why I came to the convenience store in the first place.

Current balance: 97,949¶¶