Chapter 1: Meeting

(For this story, I won't make them hard to tell apart, so they have different hair colors just like in the anime instead of all of them having pink hair, they can still imitate each other with their voices and by wigs. Also, Their mother, Rena is still alive in this story)

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Ayanokoji POV:

April.

I yawned as I made my way to my classroom. 'Class 1-D'. I slid the door opened and saw that some of the students we're already here.

Overlooking the classroom, I walked over to the seat with my nameplate on it.

A seat towards the back of the room and near the window. Generally a good spot to get.

The classroom was only about half full.

Students were either looking at their class materials by themselves or were talking to acquaintances and friends.

Now, what should I do? Should I get to know people during this free time? Sitting a few seats in front of me, a chubby boy seemed lonely all by himself (my selfish imagination).

He gave off an aura of that screamed, "Someone talk to me and be my friend!" (again, my selfish imagination)

However... if you suddenly walked up to someone and talked to them they would probably feel bothered.

Do you wait for the right time then? No, by then, he would probably be surrounded by enemies, and there's a high chance I'll become friendless.

As I expected, I should talk...

Wait, wait, don't be hasty.

If I carelessly jump in and talk to the unknown student, I might be beaten by someone else.

This is useless, a negative spiral...

In the end, I couldn't talk to anybody, and with the way things were going, I would soon be left all alone.

Is he still alone? Do I hear laughter? I must be hearing things.

I wonder what friends are. Where on earth do friends come from? Do people become friends after they eat with each other? Or do you become friends after going to the bathroom together?

The more I think about it, the more I don't understand it. Is it something deep? I should think about it more.

Trying to make new friends is really troublesome and tiring. In the first place, should I be trying to make friends like this? Furthermore, don't friendships form naturally over time? My mind is in complete disarray like a chaotic summer festival.

While my mind is still hazy and confused, the classroom quickly fills up as other students enter the classroom.

Oh well, I have no choice but to try.

After a long internal struggle, I started to get up from my seat. However...

As I got up, I noticed that the chubby boy wearing glasses was talking to another classmate.

With a bitter smile, I realized that there was no friendship to be made here.

I sighed. My first attempt at making friends failed. I didn't know what to do and just ended up overthinking the situation.

Seeing as I have else to do, I decided to just stare out at the window. The wind was blowing, the tree leaves were moving, and the birds were chirping. I didn't how long it passed but I had to have been a few minutes,

While I was staring out the window, I heard the seat next to me pull up. Curiously, I decided to check out who was my seat mate.

It was is an emotionless looking girl with medium-length brown hair that has strands of hair hanging over the right side of her face . Her notable accessory is a set of wireless headphones that have a triangle-shaped logo on the ear cups. She has dark blue eyes, an average height, a well-endowed figure and large breasts. I couldn't help but think she was pretty.

I wanted to strike up a conversation, and hopefully I won't fail this time.

"Hey. It seems we're going to be seat mates. I'm Ayanokoji Kiyotaka." I introduced myself to her. I wonder if that was good enough.

"Nakano Miku, but you can just address me as Miku since it'll be confusing." She said in a soft voice.

"Wait. What does you mean by confus-"

Before I could finish, the first bell rang. A few seconds later, a woman wearing a suit walked into the classroom.

On first impression, she seems like a teacher who finds strict classroom discipline important. She looks like she's in her mid 20's. Her long hair was tied back into a ponytail.

"Ahem, good morning new students. My name's Chabashira Sae and I am in charge of class D this year. I teach Japanese history. This school doesn't rearrange the classes every year, so over the next three years, I hope I get to know all of you. Best regards. Although the entrance ceremony will be one hour from now in the gym, I will now distribute the list of special rules of this school and the matriculation guide."

From the front, the handouts were passed around.

At this school, there are special rules that make it different from every other high school. All students are required to live on campus, and are forbidden from contacting anyone outside the school.

Even contacting immediate family is impossible without the permission of the school.

Leaving school grounds is also forbidden.

However, there are also many other facilities so that students don't suffer from being restricted. There are karaokes, theater rooms, cafes, and even boutiques-you can say it made up a small town. And in the middle of the big city, the huge campus took up more than 600,000 square meters.

There's one more special characteristic of this school, though. The introduction of the S system.

"I will now hand out student ID cards. With this card, you can buy anything from any of the shops and facilities around campus. It works like a credit card. However, be careful of how many points you use. There's nothing you can't buy at school. If there's something on school grounds, it's purchasable."

This point system associated with the student card essentially replaced money.

This way, every student would start off with the same amount of money and would be forced to check their consumption habits. In any case, all of the points are provided at no charge from the school.

"Student cards can be used by swiping them on the machines. Using the machines are really easy, so you won't have any trouble with them. The points will be automatically credited on the first day of the month. Everyone should already have 100,000 points on their card. Also, 1 point is worth 1 yen. Any more explanation is unnecessary."

For a moment, the classroom got loud.

In other words, for being admitted to this school, we got a 100,000 yen monthly allowance from the school. As expected from a school created by the Japanese government.

100,000 yen is a considerable amount of money given to students as a monthly allowance.

"Were you guys surprised by the amount of points given? This school measures the abilities of students. Everyone here, who passed the entrance exam, has shown some level of merit and worth. The amount of money is a reflection of your skills. Use without holding back. After graduation, however, all the points will be taken back. Since it's impossible to change these points into cash, there's no point in saving up the points. How the points are used are up to you. Use it on things you like or need. If you feel that no use for some of your points, you can always transfer them to someone else. However, bullying other people for points is prohibited. The school is very strict on matters concerning bullying."

Chabashira-sensei looked around the room.

"It seems like no one has questions. Well then, please lead a good student life."

A lot of the classmates can't hide their surprise at the size of the allowance.

"It isn't as strict of a school as I thought it would be."

I muttered that out, but it seems like my neighbor heard me. She looked at me with a puzzling look but decided not to say anything.

Although they force us to live in dorms, forbid us from going off campus, and prohibit us from contacting anyone on the outside, they give us a lot of points for free usable anywhere on campus.

It could be said that the students are put in paradise with preferential treatment.

And the biggest merit to Koudo Ikusei High School is their 100% employment rate.

Under the thorough guidance of the government, the school works towards a better future with all of its resources. In fact, many of this widely publicized school's alumni are famous people. Usually, no matter how famous and good a school is, its area of specialization is narrow. A school might specialize in sports, or specialize in music. Or maybe it specializes in computer related topics. But this school fulfills any wish in any genre that someone may wish to study. This is a school that has that kind of system and value.

That's why I thought the class atmosphere would be more competitive and bloodthirsty, but the majority of my classmates seemed like ordinary students you could find anywhere else.

No, maybe that's why everyone's so normal. We were already recognized as students who passed the entrance exam. Can we graduate peacefully and without incident...? I wonder if it's even possible.

I think it would be better to stay ignorant of the details about this school.

Because they are able to fulfill any wish, I think there would be some risks associated with the school.

"Ne ne~, don't you want to go see those shops? Let's go shopping!"

"Un. With this much money, we can buy anything. It's great that I got into this school~"

After the teacher left the room, the students who received the large amount of money were restless.

"Ne, What did you mean by that before?" I decided to ask the question that I wanted to ask her before I was previously interrupted by the first bell.

"My sisters are in this class, so it's less confusing if you'd just use our first names instead." She replied as she looked at me.

So, she has siblings, huh? But from the way she was saying 'sisters' means that she has more than 1 sister. Does she have 2 or 3 sisters.

"I see. So, what do you think of the this school?" I asked her.

"I don't know, other than this school is pretty lenient for being a prestigious school." She replied nonchalantly.

Before I knew it, I started having a friendly conversation with her. So, this is what feels like to have a good conversation with someone, huh? Wait, does that make us friends?

"Everyone, can you guys listen to me for a bit?"

A student who had the air of a young man raised his hand and spoke.

His hair is not dyed and looked like an honors student. He didn't look like delinquent either.

"Starting from today, we will be in the same class for the next three years. So, it would be great if all of us could introduce ourselves and become friends. We still have time until the entrance ceremony, so what do you think?"

Oh... he said something amazing. A majority of the students couldn't find words to say.

"I agree! After all, we don't know each other names, let alone anything about each other."

After the first person agreed, the previously hesitant students subsequently voiced their support.

"My name is Hirata Yousuke. Because I was often called by my first name, Yousuke, in middle school, feel free to use my first name. Although I like all sports, I like soccer in particular, and also plan to play soccer at this school. Please take care of me."

The young man who proposed that the class introduce themselves smoothly and impeccably did his self introduction.

You really have a lot of guts. And you even talked about soccer. After talking about soccer with that refreshing expression, his popularity multiplied by 2 times, no, 4 times. Look, look, all the girls near Hirata have hearts in their eyes.

Like this, Hirata became the central figure of the class, and would probably draw everyone's attention until we graduated.

And then he would probably go out with the cutest girl in the class That's probably how things will end up.

"Well, if that was satisfactory... then, can we start self introductions from the beginning?"

Being smooth to the very end, Hirata asked for confirmation.

Although the first girl was perplexed and nervous, she soon made up her mind and stood up.

In other words, she was flustered by Hirata's words.

"M-my name Inogashira K-ko-"

As she tried to introduce herself, her words stopped in her mouth.

Whether her mind went blank or she couldn't collect her thoughts fully, she was unable to speak clearly. When words no longer came out, her face became pale in embarrassment. It's rare seeing someone get so nervous.

"Do your best~"

"It's ok if you don't rush~"

Those kind words came from a classmate. But those words backfired, and the words stuck in her throat disappeared. The silence continued for 5 seconds, then 10 seconds. The pressure was palpable.

Small giggles came from some of the girls in the classroom. She was paralyzed in fear. One of the girls spoke up.

"Doing it slowly is fine, don't rush through it."

Although her words were similar to "Do your best~" and "It's ok if you don't rush," the meaning her words held was completely different.

To the nervous girl, the boys' words seemed a bit forceful.

On the other hand, the girl's words told her to go at her own pace, and felt more reassuring.

After regaining a bit of her composure, she breathed in and out to calm herself down.

Then after a little while...

"My name is, Inogashira... Kokoro. Um, my hobby is sewing and I'm good at knitting. P-please take care of me."

From the first word, she said all she wanted to say without stopping.

With a relieved, delighted, and slightly embarrassed expression, Inokashira sit down.

Thanks to the help, Inogashira's introduction finished without any trouble. Other self-introductions followed.

"I'm Yamauchi Haruki. In elementary school, I played table tennis at the national level, then was the baseball club's ace in middle school-I had uniform number 4. But since I got an injury during Inter High recently, so I am currently in rehab. Nice to meet ya."

I don't think the number 4 has any meaning to it...

And Inter High is a sports tournament for high schools... You can't compete as a middle schooler.

Or was he trying to tell a joke? I got the impression that he was a frivolous and loose-mouthed type of person.

"Then I'm next, right?"

The cheerful girl who stood up next was the one who told Inogashira to introduce herself at her own pace.

And the girl that helped out the old woman on the bus that morning.

"My name is Kushida Kikyou, and since none of my friends from middle school came to this school, I want to get to know everyone and become friends!"

Most students finished their greetings after a few words, but Kushida continued to talk.

"First of all, I want to become friends with everyone here. After all of you are done with your introductions, please exchange contact information with me!"

Her words weren't just words. I could tell immediately that she was the type of girl to open up her heart immediately.

Her words to Inogashira weren't just encouragement that seemed appropriate for the situation, but were her true feelings.

Also, she seemed the type of person who would get along with everyone.

"Then, during vacations or after school, I want to make memories with many people, so please invite me to many events. I've been talking for a while, so I'll end my self-introduction here."

She'd definitely get along with all the boys and girls in the class.

... Of course, it's not like I'm critiquing other people's self-introductions.

I'm feeling a bit restless for some reason.

What I should say in my introduction... should I try to tell a joke too?

Or should I bring out laughs by creating high tension during my speech?

No, but I wonder. High tension would probably just ruin the mood. To begin with, I'm not that kind of character.

While I was lost in my own worries, the self-introductions continued.

"Then, the next one is───"

As Hirata looked at the next student, the next student shot him a sharp glare.

With bright red hair, the boy looked like a delinquent and spoke in a manner that matched his appearance.

"You guys idiots? I don't wanna introduce myself, just leave me alone."

Red hair glared at Hirata. Tension hung in the air.

"I can't force you to introduce yourself. But, I don't think that it's a bad thing to get along with your classmates. If you thought I was being unpleasant, I apologize."

After watching Hirata bow his head towards red hair, some of the girls glared at red hair.

"Isn't it fine to do a simple self introduction?"

"Yea, yea!"

As expected from the ikemen soccer boy. He seems to have quickly attracted the attention of the girls.

However, starting with red hair, the about half of the other boys stirred with jealousy towards Hirata.

"No. I don't want to pretend that we're good friends."

Red hair got up from his seat. At the same time, several other students left the room. They probably had no intention to get to know their classmates. I also saw the girl I met at the gates starting to get up from her seat and leaving.

Miku-well, I guess I should start calling her that since she gave me permission. She also got up from her seat and left. Does she not like these kinds of things. But, she did introduce herself to me though.

Hirata looked a bit lonely as he saw the group walk out the classroom.

"They're not bad people. I'm also at fault since I asked them to stay out of my own selfishness."

"Hirata-kun did nothing bad. Let's just leave those people alone."

Even though some people left after not wanting to do self-introductions, the remaining students continued to go around and introduce themselves.

"I'm Naknao Ichika, My hobbies are shopping for clothes and hanging out with people, but you can just call me by my first name so that we could avoid confusion with my sisters." A girl introduced herself with a smile. It was a girl with very short hair that has a single long strand on the right side. She has white-pink hair colour. Her notable accessory is a single earring.

So that's Miku sister, huh? Well, I do have to say that they do look pretty similar. Their face, eye color, and the same well-endowed body and large breast.

She instantly captured the hearts of most of the boys in here. Her introduction also led to many of the females classmates already liking her due to her hobbies.

"You have sisters? How many do you have?" A girl asked.

"I have four sisters. We're actually quintuplets, and I'm the eldest!" She stated which shocked everyone, including me.

I didn't expect them to be quintuplets.

"Whoa! Quintuplets! That's so cool! I've never seen one before!" A girl admitted. Everyone else agreed as well. They probably haven't seen a quintuplet as well, only in books or in movies.

"We all don't look the same anymore since we decided to change up our appearance to make people have less of a hard time telling us apart." She said.

Everyone seemed to understood that. Being hard to tell apart must be stressful for them. So who are the other three?

"My name is Nakano Nino, I'm the second eldest sister, and just like my elder sister, I like shopping but I also like cooking." Another quintuplet introduced herself.

This time, it was a cute and cold-looking girl with waist-length or hip-length straight hair. She has reddish-pink hair, ranging from light pink to telemagenta. Her notable accessories are twin butterfly-shaped ribbons on both sides of her head. she has dark blue eyes, an average height, a well-endowed figure and large breasts.

The girls found her interesting, while most of the boys were ogling her.

"Hi, Everyone! My name is Nakano Yotsuba, but you can just call me Yotsuba! I'm the second youngest sister of the five of us. And just like, Kushida-san, I want to be friends and get along with everyone in this school!" The next quintuplet introduced herself with great enthusiasm and with a bright smile.

She is a fair-skinned teenage girl with short, straight hair that stops just around her neck. she has a light-orange hair color. Her most notable accessory is a bunny ear-shaped ribbon, which can change forms depending on her emotions. She has dark blue eyes, an average height, a well-endowed figure, and large breasts.

The same happened to the boys when her sisters introduced herself.

So, she has the kind of goal as Kushida. Although both of their introduction was mostly the same, Yotsuba actually seems genuine about it, while Kushida....well, I can't put words to describe it.

Then finally the last quintuplet introduced herself.

"I'm Nakano Itsuki, and I'm the youngest. My favorite hobbies are eating and hanging out with friends. It's nice to meet you all." She said in a respectful tone as she bowed.

She is a serious looking girl with medium-length hair and an expressive ahoge. She has reddish-orange hair colour. Her notable accessories are a pair of star-shaped hairpins near both of her eyes. Just like her sisters, she has dark blue eyes, an average height, and a well-endowed figure.

She was, in some ways, sort of different from her sisters. She seems more strict than her sisters but the girls and boys didn't mind it.

With that, the quintuplets introduction was finally over.

"I'm Ike Kanji. The things I like are girls, and the things I hate are ikemen. I'm looking for a girlfriend at any time, so nice to meet you! Of course, you better be cute or beautiful!"

It's hard to tell if he said that as a joke or if it his true thoughts, but he earned the ire of the females.

"Wow, cool~. Ike-kun, you're so smooth", said one of the girls with a completely emotionless voice.

Of course, it was obvious that it was 1000% a lie.

"Really, really? Wow, I thought I wasn't bad, but... hehe."

Apparently Ike thought it was true and became a bit embarrassed.

Suddenly all the girls laughed.

"Wow, everyone, he's cute. He's recruiting girlfriends!"

No you're being teased.

Ike waved his hand cheerfully while being teased. It doesn't seem like he's a bad person though.

Then, the boy who fought on the bus, Koenji, was up next.

After checking his bangs with a hand-mirror, he used a comb to arrange his hair.

"Um, can you introduce yourself"

"Fu~. Ok."

While smiling like a young noble, he showed glimpses of his impudent behavior.

I thought he would stand up, but Koenji kept his feet on the desk, and started his self-introduction while sitting like that.

"My name is Koenji Rokusuke. Being the only heir of the Koenji conglomerate, I am a man who will be responsible for Japanese society in the near future. Pleased to meet you, ladies."

It was an introduction for the women, as opposed to the whole class.

Some girls looked at Koenji with glittering eyes after hearing he was rich, while the others looked at him like he was crazy. ... That's natural.

"From now on, I will relentlessly punish anything that makes me feel uncomfortable. Be careful in that respect."

"Eh... Koenji-kun. What do you mean by 'anything that makes me uncomfortable'?"

Feeling uneasy at his words, Hirata asked him again.

"Exactly as I said. But if I were to give an example───I hate unattractive things. If I saw something ugly, I would do as I said."

He combed his hair upwards.

"Oh, thank you. I will make sure to be careful."

Red hair, Horikita, Koenji. Then Yamauchi and Ike. Apparently all the odd students were gathered in this class. During this short time, I was able to see a glimpse of the various students in my class.

I also have a an odd quirk───no, there's nothing special about me.

I wanted to become a free bird, but I flew from the cage all alone.

Without putting much thought into it, I wanted to experience the freedom.

If you look outside, you can see the gracefulness of the birds... which you can't see at this time.

I'm that kind of man, anyway.

"Um... the next person───please introduce yourself."

"Eh?"

My turn had come while I was still lost in my delusions. A lot of the students were waiting for me to give my introduction. Oi oi, don't look at me with that much anticipation (my imagination).

Oh well, I'll go all out for for this self-introduction.

Alright! Get up and start.

"Well ... Um, my name is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. The, er... there's nothing particular about me, I will do my best to get along with everyone, uh, nice to meet you."

After finishing my greeting, I quickly sat back down.

Fu... Did everyone see it? My self introduction.

... failed!

I buried my face in my hands.

I was too busy lost in my delusions, so I couldn't come up with the proper words in advance.

It was such a boring, lame introduction that no one will remember later.

"Nice to met you Ayanokouji-kun. I also want to get alone with everyone, so let's do our best."

Hirata said with a refreshing smile.

Everyone clapped. I feel like everyone clapped after seeing through my mistake.

At the same time, I felt strangely hurt from their pity.

I was still happy, though.

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Even though this school is hard, the entrance ceremony is the same here as it is at any other school.

After a speech of thanks from some principal or other director, the ceremony ended.

And then it was noon. After we got an explanation of all the buildings and facilities on campus, the group split up.

70, 80% of the students started heading for the dorms. The rest of the students formed small groups and walked towards the cafes and the karaoke rooms. The whole crowd soon disappeared.

On my way to the dorms, I decided to go to the convenience store, which was on the way. Of course I was alone. I knew no one else.

"... What an unpleasant coincidence."

Once I entered the convenience store, I immediately ran into Horikita again.

"Don't be so hostile. Rather, did you also have stuff to buy?"

"Yea, just a bit. I came to buy some necessities."

Horikita talked while examining shampoo that she took from the shelf.

Dormitory life starts from today, you need much more than just "a bit"... Girls also need various products.

She quickly put the shampoo and other daily necessities into her basket. I thought she would go for good quality items, but she only went for the cheapest one available.

"I thought girls paid more attention to what kind of shampoo they used."

"That depends on the type person, no? The type of person who who doesn't know where they should be spending their money."

"By the way, may I know your name?" I asked.

She stayed silent for a bit before sighing. Looks like she gave up.

"Horikita Suzune." She replied.

"I see. I'm Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, it's nice to meet you." I said to her but she ignored it.

I gave up and decided that conversing with her at this point would get me nowhere. I started walking around until I managed to stumble on Miku trying to reach something she can't reach. It was a pretty adorable sight to see.

The item she was trying to reach was a matcha packet. She seemed to be having trouble so I decided to help her out.

I walked up and grabbed the the matcha before handing it her and getting her attention.

"Here." I nonchalantly said but I don't know what else to say.

"Ah, thank you." She thanked me before taking the matcha pack.

"No problem." I replied. Wait come to think of it, why did she leave when we were doing introductions.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" I said to her.

"Sure."

"Why didn't you stay for the introduction?" I asked her.

"I'm not a fan of introducing myself in front of a lot of people unlike my sisters." She said as she grabbed another item and placed it in her basket.

"I see."

Miku seems to differ the most from her sisters. She's is somewhat like an introvert while her sisters are extrovert. Miku isn't a complete introvert, as she is not shy but tend to not associate with people that much.

Her sisters however, seems friendly, and a very fun people to hang out with. I'm pretty sure they'd have no problem with speaking to other people.

In the corner of the convenience store, I saw individual portions of food and supplies.

At first glance, they looked the same as everything else, but with one major difference.

"Free... ?"

Daily necessities such as toothbrushes and bandages were put in a bin labeled "free of charge". The bin also had the words, "3 items per month" written on it, and it was obvious that these were different from the other goods.

"I wonder what's that for?" Miku muttered.

"It might be for the people who spent all their points." I said my thought.

To be honest, this was way too suspicious. High schooler's getting 100,000 points without a catch definitely seems suspicious.

"But didn't the teacher say we would receive 100,000 points every month?" She inquired.

"No. She didn't actually specify the amount of point we would be getting next month. She just said our points would be allotted, but never said it was 100,000 points." I explained it to her.

"Your right. So we won't be receiving it 100,000 points next month." Miku said.

I nodded. It seems she's quick to understand and didn't brush this off as some coincidence.

"Well at any case, it's probably for the best if you didn't use up your points. Who knows what will happen next month, but it's up to you to believe my word." I said to her.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on spending much anyway. However, I can't say the same for my sisters." She said.

"I see, we'll you should at least give them a warning, and don't tell them you heard it from me." I told her.

She looked confused when I said not to tell them my name but just nodded at me and decided not to delve much on it.

"Hey, just wait a bit! I'm looking for it now!"

Interrupting the peaceful background music was a loud voice from the middle of the store.

"Hurry up! Everyone's waiting!"

"Oh, really!? Tell them to complain directly to me!"

It sounded like there was trouble.. Two boys were glaring at each other as they started to quarrel. The one with a disgruntled face was the all too familiar red hair guy. He was clutching cup noodles in one of his hands.

"What's happening here?"

"Oh? Who're you?"

I meant to talk amicably, but red hair mistook me for another enemy and shot me a glare.

"I'm Ayanokouji from the same class. I spoke up because I thought there was trouble here."

After explaining, red hair lowered his voice after understanding the situation.

"Oh... I remember you. I forgot my student card. Forgot that that thing is practically money from now on."

After seeing his empty hands, he started to head for the dorms. He probably forgot it there.

To be honest, it didn't fully sink in yet that the cards were needed for every payment.

"If it's fine with you, I can pay for it now. It'd be troublesome to go back to get it-I don't mind if you use my points."

"... That's true. It's annoying. Good thing you're here, thanks."

The distance to the dorm isn't a big deal. But by the time he would've gotten back, the line would probably get long since it'd be lunch time.

"... I'm Sudou. I owe you one."

"Nice to meet you, Sudou."

I took the cup noodles from Sudou then walked over to the hot water dispenser.

We finished up our shopping. After presenting the student ID card to the machine, the transaction was quickly completed. It was even faster because there was no small change involved.

"It's really usable as money... "

The receipt showed the prices of each good and the leftover amount of points. The payment went off without a hitch. While waiting for Miku, I put hot water into the cup noodles.

I thought it'd be more difficult to open the lid and pour in the hot water, but it was surprisingly easy.

At any rate, this is a really weird school.

What kind of merit does each individual student have that warrants that big of an allowance?

Since my grade has about 160 people in it, by simple calculation, the high school should have about 480 people total. Even in a month that's already 48 million yen. In a year, 560 million.

Even if it's backed by the country, it still seems like overkill.

"I wonder what benefit it would bring to the school. 100,000 yen is a lot to give someone."

"Well... There seem to be way too many facilities for the number of students, and it doesn't seem necessary to give the students that much money. The students may neglect their studies because they have so much money."

I'm not sure if this is our reward for passing the test.

By talking about money, the students might be motivated to work harder.

But, without any conditions attached, 100,000 yen was handed out to everyone.

After finishing the transaction, Sudou was waiting in front of the convenience store.

Seeing me come out, Sudou waved his hand at me. When I also waved to return his feeling, I felt a bit embarrassed yet happy at the same time.

"... Are you actually trying to eat here?"

"Of course I am. It's common sense, where else would I eat?"

When Sudou answered like that, I was surprised but Miku didn't even say anything about it.

"Well, I'll be going. Thanks again, Ayanokoji-kun." With a slight wave, she left to he direction of the dorms.

Sudou grabbed the cup noodles, tore off the cover and started eating.

A little while ago, he also fought at the register-it seems like he has a low boiling point for his anger.

"Hey, are you a first year? That's our spot."

As I watched Sudou slurp up his noodles, a group of three boys walked out of the convenience store carrying similar bowls.

"Who are you guys? We're using this spot right now. You're blocking the way. Fuck off."

"Didn't you hear him? Scram. Some cheeky first year brat."

The three laughed at Sudou. Sudou stood up and threw his cup noodles on the ground. Soup and noodles splattered onto the ground.

"The first year's trying to fight, ha- what!?"

... That's not it. Sudou has a low tolerance for anger. He's the type of person to try to intimidate the other party.

"These second years are saying some bullshit things. We're already sitting here."

The second year senpais put down their stuff right there too. And then they began to laugh.

"Yup, we're here too. So scram, this is our spot."

"You guys have some nerve, you shits."

Sudou didn't falter from the difference in numbers. Looks like a fistfight will start anytime soon now. I, of course, didn't count myself in those numbers.

"Wow-- so scary. What class are you guys in. Oh wait, never mind. Let me guess... you're in class D right?"

"So what!?"

After Sudou said that, all the upperclassmen looked at each other, and laughed at the same time.

"Did you hear? He's in the D class! It was really obvious!"

"Oh? What do you mean by that, huh?"

As Sudou was getting heated, the boys took a step back.

"Because you guys are so pitiful I'll let you stay there for today. Let's go."

"You guys running away!?"

"The dog's barking! Anyway, you guys will face hell soon enough anyway."

Face hell?

They clearly looked calm and composed. I wonder what they meant by "face hell". Is it something we don't know yet?

I thought that this school was for those fancy obocchans or ojousamas, but there are quite a few people like Sudou or that group of three earlier.

"Dammit, if it were girls or nice second-years it would've been fine, but we got that stupid bunch."

Sudou shoved his hands in his pockets and headed back without even cleaning up the noodles.

I looked at the outside of the convenience store. Two surveillance cameras had been placed there.

"There'll probably be problems later, huh."

Reluctantly, I reached down and starting cleaning up the mess.

As soon as the second-years knew Sudou was class D, their opinions changed instantly.

I have an assumption on what they meant by that. It's only a guess, but I think it has something to do with the class ranking. Class D is for students who are 'defective' or have defective quality and Class A is probably for outstanding, and non-defective-quality students.

It's only an assumption, so I might be wrong, but I can't help but feel anxious about it.

With that, I then headed towards the dorms. Around 1pm, I reached the dorms that would be my home for the next three years.

After the first floor receptionist gave me a card key for the room 401 and an information manual, I got on the elevator. While flipping through the manual, I saw the time and day for the garbage disposal and a warning to not make too much noise. It also said not to waste water and electricity as much as possible.

"They don't actually have limits on gas and electricity usage, huh... "

I thought that they would subtract from our points automatically.

This school really went through great lengths for the sake of the students.

I was surprised that they implemented coed dorms though. For a school that prohibits relationships between students, the coed dorms felt out of character. In other words, sex was a no-no.

Well, obviously.

It's hard to believe that such a pampered and easy life can train students to be admirable adults, but given the current situation, the students should probably use all they were given.

The room is about 8 tatami mats big. This is my house starting from today. It's also my first time living alone. Until graduation, I would have to live without contacting anyone outside of school.

Unintentionally, I let out a smile.

The school had a high employment rate, and boasted the best facilities and opportunities out of all high schools in Japan.

For me, though, these weren't as important to me. I had one big reason for choosing this school. In middle school, I was forbidden from associating with friends, relatives, and other students.

That's why I chose this school.

I'm free. Freedom. In English that's "freedom". In French it's "liberté".

Isn't freedom the best? I can eat, sleep, and play when I want to. Without having anyone order me around, I can graduate with peace now.

Frankly speaking, before I passed the exam, the result didn't matter to me.

There was only a slight difference between passing and not passing.

However, when the results came out, I was really happy that I got in.

No one can judge me or order me around now.

I can redo... no, start anew. A new start, a new life.

Anyway, I plan to have a fun student life from now on.

Not caring about my uniform, I jumped onto the bed. Feeling far from tired, I tried to calm myself down, looking forward to my future school life.

_____

_____

3rd Person POV

All of the quintuplets were now in Ichika's room. Miku had met up with them at the receptionist office and they all decided to go meet up at Ichika's room to talk about stuff.

Itsuki and Ichika were sitting on the chair, Yotsuba was sitting on the floor, and Nino and Miku were sitting on her bed.

They mostly talked about about clothes, fashion, friends, and foods. But then, Miku decided to ask them how much point they had already spent.

"Hey, how much point do you have left, anyway?" Miku asked her sisters.

"Huh? Oh, well, I have 56,047 points left." Nino said. She had already wasted over 40,000 points.

"I have 61,532 points left." Itsuki told her. She had mostly spent it on food.

"I have 64,774 points left." Ichika said. Although both her and Nino like fashion, her spending habits are a little more tame.

"I've got 62,052 points left!" Yotsuba said. Yotsuba didn't actually know what to spend the money on, so she just bought her favorite foods, which were mandarins. She also stupidly decided to pay for some of her friends stuff.

"I have 91,200 points." Miku said calmly.

Her sisters were confused. They wondered why Miku didn't spend that much when they would be receiving more next month.

"Why don't you spend more, Miku?" Ichika asked her.

"Yeah, the teacher said we would get more points next month, there's no point in saving it." Nino dryly said.

"There's a chance we won't be receiving more points." Miku stated that brought more confusion to her sisters.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Itsuki asked.

Miku then proceeded to tell her sisters what she heard from Ayanokoji and obviously leaving out his name, of course, just like he wanted. After she was done talking, her sisters didn't know what to say and were speechless.

"A-Aren't you just overthinking things?" Yotsuba said.

"Y-Yeah. What if it's just a coincidence?" Nino retorted.

"Look, believe it if you want, but this isn't like the life we had back then. We aren't going to get the same amount of money next time. And besides, father isn't here to give us money either." Miku said.

"Girls, I think Miku's right about saving points. Let's all try not to spend too much, and then we'll find out the truth next month." Ichika calmly said.

Being the oldest means that she has the most responsibility to look after her sisters. After what Miku said, she didn't want them to spend more money, herself included.

"I'm fine with it!" Yotsuba greed instantly.

"Although it might be hard, I'll agree to it." Itsuki said.

They then all turned to Nino.

"What are you looking at me for?" Nino asked annoyed as her eyes twitched.

"Because you always spend so much money." Ichika teased.

"Argh! Alright fine. I'll try not spend too much!" Nino agreed as she huffed.

After that was done, they just talked about random things, and once they were all done talking, they left to their own dorms.

_____

_____

The second day of school.

Homeroom of Class 1-D.

On the second day of school, even though it was technically the first day of classes, the majority of the day was spent going over policies and rules. Many of the students had their expectations completely blown away by how nice and friendly the teachers were. Having already made a big commotion the other day, Sudou was left alone as he slept like a log during class. The teachers noticed him sleeping, but no one made an indication as to stop him.

After all, deciding to listen to the lesson or not is our choice, so the teacher wasn't concerned. Only a couple of people were listening, the rest were talking in the middle of class and doing what they want. Is this how teachers interact with students that are no longer part of compulsory education?

In this relaxed atmosphere, it soon became lunchtime. Getting up from their seats, the students started to go out to eat lunch with their acquaintances.

I couldn't help but look in envy towards the others. Sadly, I wasn't able to make any close friends with my classmates. Thankfully, my seat mate sometimes spoke to me.

Not even a minute after the ball rang, half the class became empty.

The people who are left either want to go but are alone just like me, are sleeping and not paying attention, or like being alone like Horikita.

"I was thinking of going to eat, does anyone want to come with me?"

Hirata said as he stood up.

With that kind of thinking, he looks like a real riajuu.

I'd been waiting for my savior to come all along-it's a perfect chance for me.

Hirata, I'm coming now. Steeling my nerves, I slowly raised my hand...

"I'm going too~!" "Me too me too!"

When I saw Hirata surrounded by girls, I put my hand back down.

Why did those girls take my spot? That was my chance to be friends with him! Just because he's an ikemen doesn't mean that you guys can thoughtlessly go to the cafeteria with him!

I sighed it defeat. My neighbor then called out to me.

"What are you so depressed about, Ayanokoji-kun?" She asked me.

"Utterly failing at doing something so simple as trying to make friends." I replied.

Hearing my answer, she chuckled. But I wasn't sure if she was laughing at me or not for failing to make friends.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'd say we're friends." She said softly.

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Is there anyone else?"

Feeling a bit lonely from the lack of other boys, Hirata looked around the room.

When he spotted me, our eyes met.

It's here! Hirata noticed me! A man who wants you to invite him is here!

After meeting eyes, his gaze locked onto me. As expected from the riajuu, he understood my troubles!

"Umm, Ayanoko───"

Hirata tried to call out my name, but at that moment,

"Hirata-kun, hurry up!"

The girls took a hold of Hirata's arms without noticing me at all.

Ahh... Hirata's gaze was stolen by the girls. Afterwards, he and the girls exited the classroom. The only thing that remained was my outstretched arm.

Feeling embarrassed, I pretended I stretched my arm to scratch my head.

I then heard Miku chuckling even more. I looked at and her, and the way she smiles was pretty cute. She then noticed I was staring at her for too long.

"What?"

"Ah, nothing!" I got from my seat and decided to go to the cafeteria all by myself.

"Your Ayanokoji-san, right?"

On my way towards the cafeteria, I was suddenly stopped by a beautiful girl. She's Yotsuba, one of Miku's siters.

"Yeah, did you need something?" I asked her.

"I'm Yotsuba, do you remember me?" She asked me.

"Yeah."

"Great! Then do you mind if we exchanged contact info? I want to get along with everyone!" She exclaimed cutely.

"Sure."

I then handed my phone to her. She then typed the number of my number into her. Once she was done, she handed it back to me.

"Here."

"Thanks."

"We'll! I'll see you around! I hope we can get along!" Saying that, she left in a hurry.

I was about to move my feet towards the cafeteria, but suddenly, an announcement came on from the PA.

"Today, at 5pm in gymnasium number 1, there will be a club fair. For those of you with an interest in clubs, please come to gymnasium number 1. I repeat, today──"

A girl with a cute voice made an announcement over the PA.

Clubs, huh? I'm not really interested in any clubs, but I could meet some new people.

With that, I then walked to the cafeteria and got my lunch.

______

______

After school, I went to the gymnasium. Before I went there, I invited Miku, but she wanted to buy something instead at the convenience store.

I then invited Horikita, but she rejected my invitation coldly.

So, here I am, walking to the gymnasium all alone. Once I reached there, I realized it was bigger than I thought.

Almost everyone there were first years; around 100 people were waiting nearby.

Waiting around the back, I was waiting for the club fair to start.

As I entered the gym, pamphlets with details about club activities were passed out.

"Thank you for waiting, first year students. A representative from each club will explain their activities and how to join. I am Tachibana, the secretary of the student council and the chairman responsible for this club fair. Nice to meet you."

After the greeting from Tachibana, the club representatives lined up on the stage of the gym.

There were various representatives, ranging from those wearing judo uniforms to beautiful kimonos.

"My name is Hashigaki, and I'm the captain of the archery club. I think there are a lot of students who find it old-fashioned and simple, but it is a really fun and fulfilling sport. We give all new students a warm welcome, so if you're interested, please join."

A girl wearing archery clothes started her introduction on the stage.

I also spotted Horikita among the crowd. Weird, she said she wasn't interested but decided to come anyways.

Hirata and his fan girls were also here, and only two of the quintuplets were here, Yotsuba and Itsuki.

As the club representatives introduced their clubs one by one, I saw Horikita out of the corners of my eyes, way in the back, suddenly tensed up. She was looking towards the stage, her face pale.

I also looked towards the stage, but I didn't see anything in particular.

The baseball club representative was giving his introduction while wearing a uniform.

Did she fall in love at first sight with him? Doesn't seem like it.

Surprise? Disgust? Or maybe joy? To be honest, her expression is complex, making it hard to read her face.

I'll stop talking and wait for an explanation.

The baseball club didn't seem particularly more interesting than the others.

No matter how well they welcome beginners, or how appealing their meeting location and times are, it's just another normal introduction. It wasn't just the baseball club, all the clubs seemed ordinary. If I learned anything interesting from these explanations, it was that minor clubs like tea ceremony and calligraphy clubs existed, and that the minimum number of people needed for a new club is 3.

Every time a new club starts their explanation, the first-years chat amongst their friends about the previous club.

The gym had a lively atmosphere to it. The club representatives, and not to mention the supervising teacher, continued their explanations with displeased looks. They must be frantic to get as many new members as possible.

As the senpais finished their explanations, they got off the stage and walked over to some tables. They're probably setting up a reception area so they can talk to people one-on-one and sign them up.

Eventually, all the people on stage walked off until one person was left. Everyone's gaze was centered on the stage. I realized that Horikita had been staring at that one person the whole time.

The person was about 170cm in height, which wasn't that tall.

A slender body, sleek black hair.

Sharp glasses, and a calculating gaze.

The student standing in front of the microphone looked over the first-years with a calm look.

What kind of club is he from, and what explanation will he give? My interest has been piqued.

However, my interest vanished the next second. He was completely silent.

Maybe his mind went blank. Maybe he felt nervous and his voice didn't come out.

"Do your best~"

"Did you forget to bring your notecards~?"

"Ahahaha!"

The first years threw those words at the person. However, the senpai on stage didn't waver at all. Neither the laughter nor the encouragement seemed to reach him.

Even when the laughter started dying down, his apathetic face didn't change.

The students started wondering "What is this senpai doing?" and the gym got noisy.

Even then, the boy didn't stir. He just stood there quietly, looking at the first-years. (T/N gender is revealed here)

Horikita also stared at the boy with an intense gaze.

The relaxed atmosphere gradually shifted in an unexpected direction. It was an electrifying change in mood.

Eventually, the whole gym was enveloped in a tense and quiet atmosphere.

There were no instructions given out, no one dared to talk-it was a dreadful silence.

No one could open their mouths to talk. This silence has been going on for 30 seconds already...

The student on stage started talking.

"My name is Horikita Manabu, and I am the student council president."

Horikita? I looked at Horikita next to me. I wonder if they're related...

"The student council is also looking for first-years to replace the graduating third-years. There are no strict requirements to apply for the position, but those who are interested should not be affiliated with any other clubs. Generally, we do not accept any candidate involved in other clubs."

His tone was soft, but the mood was still tense. He alone silenced the whole gym.

Of course, it wasn't his position as the student council president that gave him that power. Horikita Manabu also carried a powerful aura. His presence dominated the whole gym.

"Also, we, the student council, are not looking for anyone that has a naive way of thinking. Not only will that kind of person fail to get elected, they will inevitably become a stain to this school. The student council is only responsible for regulating the students, but the school expects much more. Those of you that understand can become potential candidates."

After that unwavering speech, he walked off the stage and exited the building.

Because no one dared to speak, none of the students spoke up when he left the gym. The students didn't know what would happen if they tried to talk. Everyone felt that way.

"Everyone, thank you for coming. With that, the club fair is over. We will now open the reception area for anyone interested in joining. The reception area will only be open until the end of April, so anyone interested after then can bring applications directly to the club."

With the help of the chairman, the tense atmosphere slowly disappeared.

Afterwards, the club representatives opened the reception area.

"Oh, Ayanokouji-kun. You also came?"

A thoughtful voice called out. It's Sudou. My classmates Ike and Yamauchi were with him.

"What is this, three people? Seems like you guys are getting along."

Feeling jealous, I called out to Sudou.

"Are you also thinking of joining a club?"

"No, I was just looking. Does that mean you were thinking of joining a club then?"

"Yea. I've been playing basketball since elementary school. I think I'll continue here too."

I always thought he did some kind of exercise with that kind of body-guess it was basketball.

"How about you two?"

"We just came because it seemed fun and exciting. I also hoped some kind of fateful encounter would happen."

"The hell, what do you mean by a fateful encounter?"

I prompted Ike again after hearing that questionable goal, and he answered proudly after crossing his arms.

"My first objective is to make a girlfriend. So, I was hoping that a fateful encounter would happen here."

(Illustration: https://imgur.com/Ntfmtqc)

So it was that kind of thing. Having a girlfriends seems to be an essential part of Ike's ideal school life.

"Also, that student council president has a strong aura. As if he ruled the place."

"Right? He was able to silence everyone."

"Yea, yea. Also, I made a male group chat yesterday."

Ike took out his phone.

"Do you want to join too? It's pretty convenient."

"Eh, is that fine?"

"Of course. We're all a part of class D after all."

I didn't expect that. I'm glad to have been invited to a group chat.

A perfect chance to make friends finally came!

I started to take out my phone to exchange numbers, and then shared my contact info with the others.

_____

_____

Alright! I'm back! So what did you think of this first chapter!

Was it good? Nah, I know it's pretty bad!

But you know what isn't possibly bad?

My YouTube channel - https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC5dcTFgSjOuVTY3h0a7o2WQ

That's right shameless self promotion! I'm just trying to get to a hundred subs and make my way up there. Make sure you like, subscribe, share, and comment.

Next chapter, I don't know when it'll come out, I'll try to make it better than this garbage first chapter.

Anyways, that's all. Bye!

Word count - 9649