E2

The corridors were mostly empty.

A couple of students who, like Takashi, were also late, rushed through the halls towards their respective classrooms.

The school, according to the student handbook, consisted of 4 different classes: A, B, C, and D. Looking through the admission notice that was placed in the main corridor, Takashi searched for his name among the hundred others.

Ichinose Honami - 1B

"So this person also enrolled in the school, huh?"

From what he could remember, Ichinose Honami was an excellent student back in middle school. Some circumstances occurred and she was never seen again for the rest of the school year.

"At least there's one familiar face in this school. This could be fun."

A slight smile formed on Takashi's face as his body moved on its own towards the class he was assigned to.

///

"Here it is. 1-D."

Takashi's entrance garnered some attention from boys and girls alike. This was something he did not mind, and instead returned some of these glances with his signature eye smile and a small head nod in greeting.

"He's so hot ahhhh."

"How's that face real? It's like he jumped out of a manga."

"Damn dude, look at his forearms."

Trying to ignore the thirsty comments of teenage girls, the last thing that caught Takashi's ear made him mentally forehead slap himself.

Looking down at his body and taking notice of the weight his bag carried, he realized he was not wearing the signature red blazer.

"I seriously shouldn't fall asleep at bus stops ever again."

He jokingly reprimanded himself as he started his walk towards a seat at the back row of the classroom.

There were some familiar faces present in the class.

The kind-looking beige-haired girl from the bus could be seen chatting with many girls around her desk, a nameplate situated in the corner of it read "Kushida Kikiyo."

She, like Takashi had predicted previously, was already a popular figure within the class.

Even those who weren't currently a part of her conversation could be seen looking at her from afar. Of course, some of these looks came from teenage boys eyeing her body up and down with lust.

Another familiar face was someone he hadn't paid too much attention to previously. The tall blond teen from the bus was sat in the very center of the classroom.

He could be seen with his feet up on the desk as he exuded privilege from his very stance, leisurely humming a tune while tending to his nails.

Finally reaching his desk, Takashi frowned mentally as he realized that the people around him, in contrast to the others in the front of the classroom, were extremely quiet. 

///

This was the moment, the most important decision he would make in his school life.

Which of his seatmates would he strike a conversation with?

.

.

.

.

.

"Why do both of these girls look so unapproachable!?"

To his right sat a teen who looked nothing short of lost. Her eyes lacked any sense of focus as she stared straight down at her desk.

She could be seen fidgeting with her long pink hair, her hands trembling while doing so.

It was crystal clear this was not an act to attract attention from others but rather a projection of how she was truly feeling in this moment.

This girl was incredibly shy.

On the other side of Takashi sat a stern-looking girl. She was just as beautiful as the pink-haired girl, and she also seemed to be lost in her own world.

The similarities between the two ended there.

The black-haired beauty sitting to his left had an air of arrogance even while doing the mundane task of reading a book. Her eyes scanned the pages with clear conviction, nothing in the noisy classroom able to break her focus.

At first glance, one might think Takashi lucky for having two gorgeous girls as his seatmates. However, having seemingly two antisocial teens surrounding him made starting his social life in high school a difficult task.

As Takashi pondered which of the girls he would try to approach, the book-reading beauty engaged in a conversation with her other seatmate.

"Tough luck for me I guess."

Turning to the only target left, Takashi greeted her with a kind smile on his face as he introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Hamura Takashi."

"AH!"

"AH!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry."

The quickfire exchange between the two teens made the male chuckle outwardly, giving the shy girl a small smile.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hamura Takashi."

He offered his hand for a handshake.

The pink-haired teen looked down at the handsome student's hand before nervously wiping her trembling hands on her skirt and returning the greeting.

"I-I-I'm Sakura A-Airi. N-Nice to meet youuu ahhh."

The girl collapsed into herself, letting go of Takashi's hand as she hugged her big bust closer to her body.

"Stop looking, Takashi."

"It's okay if you aren't comfortable talking to me. I just wanted to be friends with someone, and you seemed really approachable."

Sakura looked back up at Takashi, surprised by the unexpected compliment as a pink tint took over her face.

"M-Me approachable? And you want to be friends? With me?"

This comment confirmed Takashi's earlier suspicions.

Sakura Airi was not only shy, she also suffered from low self-esteem.

"Of course, Sakura-san! I hope we can get along well!"

He replied with constrained enthusiasm and a charming smile, attempting to soothe the fidgeting girl's nerves.

"Y-yes, let's be f-friends."

She nodded a couple of times cutely before hers and everyone's attention was drawn to the front of the class.

"Everyone, return to your seats."

Just as the first bell rang, a woman wearing a suit entered the classroom and spoke towards the students with authority in her voice.

Sensing the gravitas of the voice, students hurriedly sat back down.

The woman, who looked no older than thirty, wore her suit splendidly well. It hugged her curves just right, giving her a mature and alluring appearance. She wore her hair in a high ponytail, with long bangs covering some of her exposed neck.

Many of the male students, Takashi included, couldn't help but be attracted to the charm this woman possessed.

"Ahem, good morning 1st years. I am Chabashira Sae, and I am the teacher in charge of Class D this year."

Introducing herself as "Chabashira Sae," the teacher maintained a steady and emotionless voice while continuing her announcement.

"As you may have realized from the student handbooks you were given prior to today, classes are not rearranged during your stay in this school. This means I will also be your homeroom teacher for all three years, so I hope to get to know you all."

Chabashira Sae scanned the room, making sure that everyone in the classroom was paying attention to her words.

"As a reminder, the school's entrance ceremony will be held in an hour's time. Therefore, I will be speeding through information that is already provided to you via the student handbook.

First of all, you will be given your own cellular device provided by the school. This and any other devices provided on campus are the only possessions you are allowed to have. If you are found to have brought anything from the outside, you are susceptible to punishments. Understand?"

Most of the students nodded in response, unaware of what these 'punishments' could be but unwilling to find out.

"Secondly, as you may be aware, there are all kinds of facilities on this campus. Things like clothing stores, electronic stores, and convenience stores. You will be automatically given points on the first of every month. These points can be used to buy anything on campus. You can use your cellular devices as you would a debit card when making purchases around the campus.

Before I continue my explanation, you may come and collect your devices. And I warn you, do not lose these devices, as it will cost you points in order to get a new one."

She pulled out a box from behind the lectern, placing it on top before motioning the student to come forward.

After being handed the device with a sticker labelled "Hamura Takashi," Takashi made his way back to his seat, once again smiling at his classmates as he did so.

This gave several of the female students blushing faces as they started to fall into their own realm of fantasies.

Their delusions, however, were cut short as Chabashira-sensei continued her speech.

"All accommodation fees, including electricity and water bills, and tuition fees are all paid for by the school. In other words, it's free. As many of you are already aware, attending this high school means you will be living on the campus.

You are not allowed to make any contact with those outside of the campus unless you are given exclusive permission to. Leaving the school grounds without permission is also strictly forbidden."

Every student in the school was already aware of these facts. However, hearing it aloud caused some of these teens to frown, reminded that the next 3 years of their lives will be lived inside this campus.

"You may now check your cellular devices. You should have been rewarded with 100,000 points as a reward for being a student of this school. These points are converted at a 1:1 ratio with yen. These points can be used at the various stores in the school grounds"

Just as quickly as these words left the teacher's mouth, students all over the classroom exclaimed in surprise and excitement as they looked down at their devices.

Takashi did the same, unlocking his device with his thumb before taking notice of the amount of points he was given.

S-Points: 100,000

Nodding to himself, Takashi's brain started to formulate several theories with the information he was currently aware of.

"This is a lot of money to be given to so many high schoolers. Surely the school and government would not benefit if everyone used 100,000 every month for 3 years. Is this a test to see how responsible we can be when in charge of our own finances?"

Coming to a quick conclusion, Takashi decided to try to spend as little as he could in case this was some sort of test proposed by the school.

In theory, even if it was not a test, it would be beneficial not to spend too much on leisurely things.

"I shouldn't warp my sense of money during my 3-year stay here."

As the students excitedly talked amongst themselves, Chabashira-sensei's voice cut through all the noise, showcasing her skills as an authority figure.

"Are you surprised at the amount of points you were given? This school values students based on their abilities. You have all managed to enrol; therefore, you deserve to be given this amount for such a feat. You may use these points as you please; if you so desire, you may even share points among your schoolmates."

The students were then informed of some less important matters.

The school clubs will be hosting a recruitment event soon. Dorms are separated by year groups, with the male students being on lower floors and females on upper ones. It was mentioned that although not prohibited, male and female students visiting each other's dorms late at night will be frowned upon and may be punishable by homeroom teachers if noticeable changes in classroom behaviour are noticed.

After these announcements, Chabashira-sensei swiftly left the classroom, leaving the students to their own accord prior to the entrance ceremony.

For a second, the class was eerily silent; this was before almost every student started to engage in lively discussions amongst themselves.

"100,000 yen a month!"

"This is insane!"

"Let's go shopping later!"

Everyone seemed to be very excited about the prospect of being given so much money on a monthly basis.

This, however, irked Takashi to no end.

Takashi believed that nothing in the world is simply given to you. If you were given something, you were expected to give something in return.

It may be paying the money back to a friend at a later date. It may be acting nicer to someone who gave you a pencil when you lost yours during class. It may be earning good grades when your parents buy you the newest video game console.

Nothing of any value was truly free, even if it was said to be.

There are always expectations.

Following his own belief, and the various statements said by the ̷h̷o̷t̷ stern-looking teacher, Takashi could arrive at 3 scenarios:

1. The school was simply paradise, and his belief did not matter. Everything was given for free, and all you needed to do was live life.

2. The school gave you all these benefits, but they held you to high expectations, making sure all students got high grades and performed well in various activities.

3. These benefits were subject to change and were not permanent.

If scenario number 3 were to become true, what conditions would need to be met in order to change such high benefits?

Currently, scenarios 2 and 3 were the most likely to be true as 100,000 yen is an absurd amount to be given to students every month.

It is either there are very high expectations of students or students who do not perform well do not get as much.

However, this still raises the problem of how much money it still is. Just in Class D alone, it is 2.5 million yen every single month. Times this by 36, and it becomes too much money to simply raise one class of high schoolers.

Due to this, the possibility of expulsion being more common than in a usual high school is highly likely. By how much, it is still unknown.

There is also a possibility of students being rated on an individual basis; therefore, some may be rewarded 100,000 while others less. This would, in turn, balance some of these expenses through the school.

However, why do classes not change every year if students are evaluated as individuals?

The theory of students being rated individually is deemed unlikely.

"Well, I guess I can sleep on these thoughts."

Takashi rubbed the back of his neck, turning to the pink-haired seatmate on his right.

"Sakura-san, could I get your contact information?"

"E-E-Eh!?"