Chapter 1

Ayanokōji's POV

My peaceful ride to my first ever school was promptly interrupted by the voice of a woman speaking up amidst the otherwise silent bus.

"Excuse me, but shouldn't you offer up your seat?" the voice asked.

I slowly opened my eyes and lazily turned by gaze toward the source of the voice. It was a frustrated office lady, and she seemed to be addressing a young, well-built blond man who was wearing our red school uniform. There was also an unsteady elderly lady who was standing just in front of me - she was wobbling so much that I thought she was going to fall. It seems like the salary woman was trying to get a seat for the elderly lady.

"Hey, you there. Can't you see that this elderly woman is having trouble?" she scolded.

"That's a really crazy question, lady," the boy said.

He had a relatively imposing aura and gave off an air of arrogance. A grin crept its way onto his face as he crossed his legs and looked up towards the salary worker.

"Why should I offer up my seat? There's no reason for me to do so." he continued in a condescending manner.

"You're sitting in a priority seat. It's natural to offer up those seats to the elderly."

"I don't understand. Priority seats are just that: priority seats. I have nolegal obligation to move. Since I'm currently occupying this seat, I should be the one who determines whether or not I move. Am I supposed to give up my seat just because I'm young? Ha! That reasoning is nonsense."

He didn't speak with like a normal high-schooler. He had now captured the attention of nearly everyone on the bus.

"I'm a healthy young person who certainly wouldn't find standing inconvenient. However, I'd obviously expend more energy by standing than I would by sitting. I have no intention of doing such a pointless thing. Or are you suggesting I should act a bit livelier, I wonder?"

"Wh-what kind of attitude is that to take with your superiors?" the woman shot back, however it seemed to have no effect on the man,

"Superiors? Well, it's obvious that both you and the old woman there been alive longer than I have. There can be no doubt about that. However, the word 'superior' implies that you're referring to someone of a higher position.In addition, we have another problem. Even though our ages are different,wouldn't you agree that you have an impertinent attitude and are being extremely rude?" the boy replied with a smirk.

"Wha— You're a high schooler, aren't you?! You should be quiet and listen to what adults tell you!"

"It's f-fine, whatever..." the elderly woman interjected in a muffled voice.

"Apparently, this elderly woman is more perceptive than you, which is nice. Also, I haven't given up on Japanese society yet. Please enjoy your remaining years." the boy said with a vigorous smile and, with that, slid his earphones in and began listening to his music.

The office lady clenched her teeth in frustration. She attempted to needle the boy by arguing further but his smug, self-important attitude remained fixed.

In any case, I couldn't exactly fault the boy since I didn't disagree. His tone was condescending but nothing he said was wrong - if you ignore the question of moral imperative, it was true that he wasn't legally obligated to give up his seat.

"I'm sorry..." Desperately fighting back her tears, the office lady apologized to the elderly woman.

Well, it was just a minor incident on the bus. I was glad I wasn't caught up in the situation. Honestly, I also couldn't care less about giving up my seat for an elderly person.

Clearly, the egotistical boy had won. At least everyone secretly thought so.

A girl wearing our school uniform was about to speak up, but before she could someone else did first. He was a boy with messy brown hair and piercing, emerald green eyes. He was also wearing the same uniform as me.

"You can have my seat. I will gladly stand." he said as he stood up from his seat.

He gestured towards his now vacant seat. The office lady looked at him appreciatively as the elderly woman made her way over and sat in his seat.

The pretty girl who was going to speak up approached the boy with a smile on her face. I listened to their conversation as I turned my gaze away. My eyes met with the girl sitting next to me for a second. She had long black hair and gradient red eyes. While no words were said, we both understood that we shared the same opinion on the matter - neither of us thought it necessary to give up our seats.

"Thank you for giving up your seat! It was a kind thing to do and saved a lot of trouble!" A bright voice said.

It was the pretty girl who was going to speak up earlier. She had started a conversation with the boy who gave up his seat. The way she could just initiate conversation with strangers in that cheery tone of hers was certainly impressive, at least to me.

"It was simply the right thing to do. I have no problem standing up." the boy responded.

"But no one else volunteered which makes you altruistic by comparison, right?"

"I guess so."

"Hey you're wearing the same uniform as me, that means we're going to the same school! I'm Kushida Kikyō in class 1-D."

She had effortlessly introduced herself and took the intiative in the conversation. When it comes to social skills this girl, Kushida, was at the pinnacle I thought.

"My name is Kururugi Suzaku, class 1-E. Nice to meet you." the emerald-eyed boy replied.

The boy was in the same class as me, 1-E. He also seemed like he would end up being decently popular - he was quite good-looking and acted with benevolance. Additionally, he was polite and seemed able to hold a conversation well.

I closed my eyes, disinterested in whatever small talk they were going to make. Before long, we arrived at our destination and all the high school students began to disembark.

As I got off the bus, I saw a agate formed from natural rock waiting just ahead. All the young boys and girls dressed in school uniforms were passing through this gate.

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. The Japanese government had created this school with the express purpose of developing future leaders. For the next three years, this would be my home.

Okay, stop for a moment. Take a deep breath. All right, here we go!

"Wait!"

The instant I tried to take my first courageous step, someone called out to me. It was the girl who'd sat next to me on the bus.

"You were looking at me. Why?" she asked

She narrowed her eyes while we spoke.

"Sorry. I guess I was just interested, is all. I mean, you didn't think about giving up your seat to the old woman, did you?"

"That's right. I didn't consider giving it up. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Oh no, not at all. I didn't intend to give up my seat, either. In fact, I firmly abide by the philosophy of letting sleeping dogs lie. I dislike trouble."

"You dislike trouble? Then I don't think you and I are anything alike. I didn't give up my seat because I thought it would be pointless. That's all."

"But doesn't that seem worse than just not liking trouble?"

"Perhaps. I'm simply acting according to my own beliefs. That's different from someone who just dislikes trouble, like you. I don't want to spend any time around people like you."

"I feel the same way," I muttered.

I had only wanted to share my opinion but I wasn't too keen on going back and forth with her like this. We both sighed and proceeded to walk in the same direction