class B kiyone

by vamer

ok

Starting in class B: Ayanokouji Kiyone
Chaoszweihander15

Published: 2022
Source: https/

Arc 1 prologue: Ayanokouji Kiyone's soliloquy

I know this is kind of sudden, but, please, it will only take a moment. I want your honest opinion.

Are people equal or not?

A proper society will constantly strive for equality. There are those who clamour for men and women to always be considered equal. As a result, employment rates were improved for us, and specialised subway cars were made for us. Sometimes, we would even argue over the order of names in a family register. The public opinion of people with disabilities has also changed. We're now told that we shouldn't use the term "disabled people" when referring to them.", so as not to discriminate. Nowadays, children are taught that all people are created equal.

But is that true? I have my doubts. If men and women have different abilities, then their roles should also differ. People with disabilities are still disabled, no matter what polite euphemisms you use. No matter how you try to avert your eyes, the meaning of the word does not change.

So, my answer would be, "no, we are not equal." To be human is to be unequal. Equality does not exist.

Long ago, in a bygone era, a great man said that heaven does not set one man above or below any other. However, he did not necessarily agree to the idea that everyone is equal. Did you know that there is more to that famous passage? The rest goes like this:

Everyone is equal when they are born, so I ask, why do we see differences in position and status?

And it continues:

Do you not encourage learning to create a difference?

So then, education creates an imbalance. The point's spelled out there, in the incredibly famous work Gakumon no Sume. Even though this is the year 2015, the modern era, nothing about these teachings has changed. The situation has only grown more complex and fraught.

In any case, we are human beings. We are living, thinking creatures.

I don't think it right to simply say that we are unequal and then are lives are based on pure instinct. In other words, though "equality" is a complete lie, we cannot accept inequality, either. Right now, I'm trying to come up with a new answer for humanity's eternal question.

Hey, you there. You, the one reading this shitty fanFiction right now. Have you ever given serious thought to the future?

Have you ever considered the purpose of going to high school or college? Though the future may seem hazy right now, do you think you'll find a job someday? That's what I used to think. Back when I finished my compulsory education and became a high school student, I hadn't really considered the future. I'd only felt the joy at being nearly free of obligation. I didn't consider the incredible influence that school would continue to have in my life, on my future. I didn't even understand the purpose behind studying language or numbers.

Authors notes
493 words
Yep. I'm back. I told you this wasn't the end.
Now, don't have any high expectations. This is still gonna contain a lot of text from the ln, but that's just because Kinugasa says it best. The main difference is the absence of the T-Rex, though.
I'm sorry for how I ended things with starting in class C. To be honest, I was disappointed not just with the ending, but the entire last few chapters. I tried to introduce too many big brain ideas too soon. Check it out, it's pretty shit.
Not much else to say really.
Hope you're all doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 1: a new life

April. The school entrance ceremony. I rode the bus to school, bobbing and shaking in my seat. While I looked idly out my window, watching the city's scenery change, the bus picked up more and more passengers.

Most of them were young people wearing high school uniforms.

There was also a frustrated salary worker, who looked like the type to have once mistakenly groped someone aboard a crowded bus. An unsteady elderly lady stood in front of me, wobbling so badly I thought she was in danger of falling. Considering I'd know how packed this bus would likely be, I supposed I was simply reaping what I'd sown by getting on.

I was fortunate to have found a seat, but it was still crowded. I forgot about the unfortunate elderly woman and patiently waited to arrive at my destination, my mind clear as a passing stream. The weather was especially fine today, not a single cloud in the sky. It was so refreshing that I nearly fell asleep then and there.

However, my gentle respite was promptly obliterated.

"Excuse me, but shouldn't you offer up your seat?"

My eyes, which were about to close, snapped back open. Huh? Could this person be angry with me? But I realised that it was someone else being scolded.

A young, well-built blond man of high school age had sat down in one of the priority seats. The elderly woman stood right next to him, and bother woman stood beside her. This second, younger lady appeared to be an office worker.

"Hey, you there. Can't you see that this elderly woman is having trouble?" The office lady said.

She seemed to want the young man to offer up his seat.

Her voice carried quite well throughout the quiet bus, attracting several people's attention.

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

I wondered whether the boy was angry, unobservant, or just painfully honest. In any case, he grinned broadly and crossed his legs. "Why should I offer up my seat? There's no reason for me to do so."

"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 no legal 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 like a normal high school student. His hair was dyed blond, which made him stand out.

"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?" She demanded.

"Superiors? Well, it's obvious that both you and the old woman here have 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?"

(Oh snap)

"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 mumbled.

She apparently didn't want any further commotion and tried to calm the office lady. But after being insulted by the high school student, the younger woman still seemed very upset.

"Apparently, this elderly woman is more perceptive than you, which is nice. Also, I haven't given up on Japanese society just yet. Please enjoy your remaining years."

After flashing a pointlessly vigorous smile, the boy slid his earphones in and began listening to rather cacophonous music. The office lady now clenched her teeth in frustration. Though she tried needling the boy by arguing further, his smug, self-important attitude remained fixed.

At any rate, I didn't agree with the boy.

That old lady was in pain, you could see it in her face. Nobody should have to suffer like that.

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

Well, it was all just a minor incident on the bus. I was about to stand up and offer my seat, but it had looked like the commotion had ended now.

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

"Um...I think that the lady is right."

The woman received unexpected support from someone standing alongside her. The helper, a girl wearing my high school's uniform, gave her brave and frank opinion to the boy.

"And the new challenger is a pretty girl, eh? It would seem that I'm rather lucky with the fairer sex," the boy said.

"This poor woman appears to have been suffering for quite some time now. Won't you offer up your seat? While you might consider such courtesy unnecessary, I think it would contribute greatly to society."

Crack! The boy snapped his fingers.

"A contribution to society, you say? Well, that is a rather interesting opinion. It's certainly true that offering you one's seat to the elderly could be viewed in a positive light. Unfortunately, I have no interest in contributing to society. I care only for my own satisfaction. Oh, and one more thing. You're asking me, the one in the priority seat, to give up his spot, but couldn't you simply ask one of the other people seated on this crowded bus? If you truly cared for the elderly, then something like priority seating would be a rather trivial concern, wouldn't you agree?"

The boy's haughty attitude remained unchanged. Both the office lady and the elderly woman simply wore bitter smiles in response. However, the girl didn't back down.

"Everyone, please listen to me for just a moment. Won't someone give up their seat for this woman? It doesn't matter who. Please."

How could someone pour so much courage, determination, and compassion into so few words? That was no simple feat. The girl might have seemed like a nuisance to those around her, but she appealed to the other passengers earnestly and without fear.

Though not in a priority seat, I was near the elderly woman. I imagined if I raised my hand and offered my spot, then the matter would be settled.

I raised my hand, and stood up.

"Here. You can have my seat," I said.

The girl who had been trying to get the old woman a seat looked at me and smiled.

"Thank you very much!" the old woman said, sitting down where I had previously been.

"Yes, thanks. You've done a good thing today. My name is Kikyou Kushida, of class 1-D. What's your name?" The younger girl, Kushida, asked.

"I'm Ayanokouji Kiyone. Class 1-B. Nice to meet you." I said, holding out my hand.

"Likewise, Ayanokouji-san!" She exclaimed, shaking my hand.

Soon, we arrived at our destination, and all the high school students began to disembark.

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

The Japanese government had created the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School with the express purpose of developing future leaders. This would be my school from now on.

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, before I stood up to give my seat to the elderly woman.

"You gave up you're seat. Why?" She asked.

She narrowed her eyes while we spoke.

"Why? Because it was the right thing to do. I mean, didn't you think so, too?"

"No. I didn't consider giving it up. Is there something wrong with that?"

"I suppose not. But because I gave up my seat, that old lady didn't have to keep standing up for the rest of her journey. I consider my actions to have contributed to the greater good."

"Hm. 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."

"Doesn't that seem a little selfish?"

"Perhaps. I'm simply acting according to my own beliefs. That's different to someone like you who helps others to their own detriment, like you. I don't want to spend any time around people like you."

"Oh. That's a shame, then," I said.

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.

Authors notes
1507 words
Yep pretty much straight from the ln, with the exception of kind Ayanokouji.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 1 chapter 2: classroom

I disliked the entrance ceremony and imagined that many first-year students probably felt the same. The principal and the students exchanged excessive words of gratitude, there was far too much time spent standing in lines, and, with so many irritating things to deal with, it all felt like a huge pain in the ass. But those weren't my only complaints. The entrance ceremonies for elementary, junior high, and high school all meant the same thing: the start of another major trial for the children. In order for the students to enjoy their time at school, they must make friends, and there are only a few key days after the entrance ceremony to properly do that. Failure to do so signals the beginning of a rather tragic three years.

As someone who wanted to be sociable, I decided I'd like to establish proper relationships. Unfamiliar with the notion, I'd spent the night before in preparation, running through different scenarios.

For instance, should I burst into the classroom and actively start talking to people? Should I secretly pass around a slip of paper with my email address, so as to better befriend someone? Someone like me needed to practice, because this environment was so different from what I'd experienced this far. I was completely isolated. I had ventured alone into a battlefield, and it was do or die.

Looking around the classroom, I walked toward the seat that bore my nameplate. It was at the back of the room, near the window. A good place to sit, generally. As I looked around, I saw that the room was already halfway filled with students. The others were either immersed in their class materials or already talking with other people. Perhaps they'd all been friends beforehand or had only recently gotten acquainted. I decided to talk to the quiet boy sitting next to me.

"Hi, I'm Ayanokouji Kiyone. Nice to meet you," I said, trying my best to smile.

I understood that it was imperative to get along with the person who sat next to you.

"Hi. I'm Kanzaki Ryuuji. Likewise." He said, shaking my hand.

Kanzaki seemed cunning, and shrewd. I could tell he was clever. By his grip strength, I could tell he was strong, too. I could tell he would make a good friend.

"What do you like to do, Kanzaki?" I asked.

"Well...I like to play sports, I guess. I'm not bad at academics or physical activities, so..." he trailed off. I could tell he wasn't very practised at socialising.

"Oh, I like sports too. Hey, looks like we have something in common ;)" I said.

(Yeah don't worry she's very oc)

"Oh right? What sports do you like to play?" He asked.

"Well, I play a little of everything, but I like swimming and running," I said.

"That's cool, I like running too." He was starting to open up, now.

Just then, a girl with strawberry-blond hair sat down next to Kanzaki.

"Hi. I'm Ichinose Honami. Nice to meet you. What's your name?" She asked.

"Um, I'm Kanzaki Ryuuji. This is Ayanokouji Kiyone. Nice to meet you too, Ichinose-san," He said, greeting me as well. I waved and smiled.

"Well, it looks like we're going to be seat mates for the next few years. I can't wait," she said, excitedly.

She certainly had a lot of positive energy. After a few minutes of talking, the first bell rang. At that precise moment, a woman entered the classroom. When I first saw her, my initial impression was that she drank. A lot. If I had to guess, I would have placed her age at thirty. She wore a pink T-shirt and had delicate features. Her hair was brown, and she wore it loose.

"Ahem. Good morning to you, students. I'm the instructor for class 1-B. My name is Hoshinomiya Chie. I usually teach science. However, at this school, we do not change classrooms for each grade. For the next three years, I will be acting as your homeroom teacher, so I hope to get to know all of you. It's a pleasure to meet you. The entrance ceremony will be in the gymnasium one hour from now, but first, I will distribute written materials with information about this school's special rules. I will also hand out the admissions guide."

The students in the front seats passed back the familiar documents I'd received after being accepted.

This school differed from the multitude of Japanese high schools in a few key ways. Here, all students were required to live in dormitories located on school premises. Also, except for special cases, such as studying abroad, students were forbidden to contact anyone outside the school. Even contact with your immediate family was forbidden without authorisation. Naturally, leaving school grounds without permission was also strictly forbidden.

However, the campus also came equipped with many excellent facilities. With its own karaoke spot, theatre, café, boutique, and more, you could easily compare this school to a small city. The campus spread over more than 600,000 square metres.

This school boasted another unique feature: the S system.

"I will now hand out your student ID cards. By using your card, you can access any of the facilities on campus, purchase goods from the store, and so on. It acts like a credit card. However, it is imperative that you pay attention to the points you spend. At this school, you can use your points to buy anything. Anything located on the school premises is available for purchase."

Our points, loaded onto our student ID cards, acted as a kind of currency. The lack of paper money would prevent many students' financial troubles. However, students needed to keep a watchful eye on their spending habits. At any rate, the school provided these points free of charge.

"Your student cards can be used simply by swiping them through the machine scanner. The method is simple, so you shouldn't get confused. Points are automatically deposited into your account on the first of every month. You should all have received 100,000 points already. Keep in mind that one point is worth one yen. No further explanation should be necessary."

The classroom erupted.

In other words, we had received a 100,000-yen monthly allowance from the school upon admission. I'd expect nothing less from a massive institution run by the Japanese government. 100,000 yen is a rather large sun of money for a high schooler.

"Shocked by the amount of points you've been given? This school evaluates its students' talents. Everyone here has passed the entrance examination, which itself speaks to your value and potential. The amount you've received reflects the evaluation of your worth. You can use your points without restraint. After graduation, however, all of your points return to the school. Because it's impossible to exchange your points for cash, there's no advantage to saving them. Once points have been deposited into your account, it's up to you how to spend them. Do as you like. In the event that you don't want to spend your points, you may transfer them to someone else. However, extorting money from your peers is not allowed. This school monitors bullying very carefully."

As bewilderment spread among the students, Hoshinomiya-sensei looked over the room.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, how many points are we going to receive next month?" I asked.

She smiled slightly, looking at me. Many of the students looked confused.

"Um, she said we are going to receive 100,000 every month, Ayanokouji-san. Weren't you listening?" Kanzaki said.

"Well. I already said how much you will receive this month. I'll leave it to you to figure it out." She said, vaguely.

"Well, it appears that there are no other questions. I hope that you enjoy your time here as students."

Many of my classmates looked confused at what I had said, and the large amount of points they may or may not receive every month.

But despite all of that, no one here seemed to have any complaints. In fact, you might even say that we'd been given such preferential treatment that it was like we'd been transported to paradise. Of course, the Advanced Nurturing High School's most impressive statistic was its near 100 percent employment rate for students advancing into higher education or entering the workforce.

This government-sponsored school's thorough guidance of its students hoped to ensure a better future. In fact, the school heavily advertised this. Many of its alumni went on to achieve fame. Typically, no matter how famous or impressive a school might be, the areas of specialisation are limited. For example, one school might focus in sports or music. Another night focus on something related to computers. However, at this school, any student could hope to succeed, regardless of their field.

Only this school had that kind of name-brand value. I'd assumed that the atmosphere would be cutthroat, but the majority of students looked like typical kids. There were a few, like Kanzaki, who appeared to be what I had imagined, but many of the kids in our class seemed to be extremely friendly.

No, that wasn't quite right. After all, we'd been capable enough to pass the entrance exam. If we could reach graduation day peacefully, without incident, then we would have achieved our goal...was such a thing really possible, though?

Authors notes
1561 words.
Yep pretty much all copied down, give or take a few lines. Ayanokouji also asked about next months point allotment. Not exactly a hot-take so to speak, but at least it's a little bit different from the ln.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 3: introductions, shopping.

"Hey, hey! Do you want to check out a store with me on our way back? Let's do some shopping!" One girl cried.

"Sure. With this much, we can buy anything. I'm so glad o got into this school!" Another said.

Once the teacher was gone, the newly rich students began to grow restless.

"Everyone, can you please listen to me for a moment?"

Ichinose was standing up, addressing the entire class.

"Starting today, we're all going to be classmates. Therefore, I think it'd be a good idea for us to introduce ourselves and become friends as soon as possible. We still have some time until the entrance ceremony. What do you say?"

She'd just done something incredible. The majority of students were lost in thought, unable to speak up.

"Agreed! After all, we still don't know a thing about each other, not even our names," someone shouted.

After the ice had broken, the previously hesitant students began to speak.

"My names Ichinose Honami. I want to be friends with all of you, and everyone else in the school. I can't wait for us to get along."

Ichinose had effortlessly introduced herself to the rest of the class. She seemed exceptionally brave. Her level of popularity must've increased two, no, maybe four times. A few of the boys looked at her with hearts in their eyes! If someone like Ichinose became the class's linchpin, I wondered if he'd keep everyone honest and motivated until graduation.

Someone like her would probably end up dating the hottest boy in the year. That was how these things typically went.

We went through a few introductions. A few stuck out to me.

"I'm Shibata Sou. I'm passionate about sports, especially soccer! I can't wait to join the soccer club. I'm glad that we're classmates!" An average sized boy with blond hair said.

"Well then, I'm next, aren't I?"

Kanzaki stood up next to me.

"My name is Kanzaki Ryuuji. None of my friends from junior high made it to this school, so I'm all alone here. I'm glad to have got to know you here today," He said. A few of the girls looked at him in a weird way.

Damn, bitches be thirsting, much?

I realised that it was my turn now.

Clack! The chair rattled as I stood.

"Hi. My name is Ayanokouji Kiyone. I'm good at both sports and academics. I'm going to do my best to get along with all of you. It's nice to meet you." I said, smiling.

Ew, some of the boys were looking at me like they had been looking at Ichinose. Creepy.

Even though people said this place was tough, the entrance ceremony was the same as any other school's. Some important people offered words of thanks, and the ceremony concluded without incident. Then, it was noon. After we received some general information about the campus, the crowd dispersed.

70-80 percent of the students headed straight towards the dormitories. The remaining students quickly formed into groups. Some made their way to cafés, while the louder ones went out for karaoke.

I hung out with Ichinose, Kanzaki, and a girl from our class called Amikura Mako. We were walking along the street, when I noticed the girl Kushida, who had stood up for the old lady on the bus. She waved at me, and I waved back.

"Ayanokouji-san, do you know her?" Amikura asked.

"No, not really. We met on the bus this morning," I said.

Kushida came over to us.

"Hello, Ayanokouji-san. It's good to meet you again!" She said.

"Hi, Kushida-san. Yeah, how have you been?" I asked.

"I've been good. Are you going to introduce me to your friends?" She asked, giggling a little.

Ichinose, Kanzaki and Amikura introduced themselves. The group that Kushida was with, presumably made up of girls from her class 1-D, and our group joined together.

We hung out for a little while, but I decided to split. I decided to swing by the convenience store on my way back to the dormitory.

"My, what an unpleasant coincidence."

Entering the convenience store, I ran into the girl who stopped me on the way into school.

"Oh, hello there, um...sorry, I didn't catch your name...My name is Ayanokouni Kiyone. What's yours?" I asked.

"Why are you just introducing yourself like that?" She asked.

"Well, this is our second time meeting, so it would be good for us to exchange names." I explained.

She looked away.

"Horikita. My name is Horikita Suzune." She said, quietly.

"Nice to meet you Horikita! Anyway, did you need to buy something?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yes, just a few things. I came to get some necessities."

There was no shortage of things you needed when starting life in a dorm, especially for girls. Horikita took various necessities off the shelves and promptly threw them into the basket she was carrying. I'd thought most girls would choose higher quality items, but she only took the cheapest options.

A good choice, really. When your 100,000-yen allowance wasn't actually confirmed, it was imperative to spend points wisely. I did the same.

We both continued to shop in silence. I tried to spark a conversation, but I could never find the right time.

"Woah! There's even an amazing selection of noodle cups here! This school is super convenient!"

Two rather noisy male students stood before the instant foods. They tossed a veritable mountain of noodle cups into their basket and made their way to the cash register. Besides noodles, they'd stocked up on snacks and juice. A waste of points, really. Except the noodle cups.

"Noodle cups. They have so many kinds."

These were definitely one reason I'd come to the convenience store.

"Do you really like this kind of stuff? I can't imagine that it's healthy," Horikita said.

"I like them just fine, I guess.

I picked up a noodle cup and examined the price tag. It said 156 yen, but I couldn't tell if that was expensive or cheap. Even though the school had referred to its credit system as points, the prices were all listed in yen.

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

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

"No, I was just wondering."

The store's prices seemed reasonable. One point appeared to really equal one yen. Given that the average freshman's allowance was around 5,000 yen, the amount of money we'd received seemed impossibly large. Horikita, noting my odd behaviour, gave me a quizzical look. I grabbed a noodle cup to avoid suspicion.

"Wow, this is enormous. It's a G Cup, huh?"

Apparently that stood for "Giga Cup." Just looking at it made me feel full. On an unrelated note, Horikita's breasts were neither small nor huge. But they weren't as big as mine .

"Ayanokouji-san. We're you thinking about something stupid just now?" She asked.

"Er. No?"

"I felt like you were acting strangely."

She could sense my inappropriate thoughts just by looking at me. She was a sharp one.

"I was just wondering whether or not I should buy this. What do you think?"

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

Like Horikita said, I had no reason to eat junk. However, since I had an irresistible urge, I took one package of regular-sized instant noodles with "FOO Yakisoba" written on it and tossed it into my cart. Her attention wandering, Horikita moved away from the food and began hunting for daily essentials. I planned to use witty jokes to score more points with her next.

"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."

"Why in the world would I want to shave with that?"

I grinned smugly and pretended to shave an imaginary beard, but she didn't laugh. Far from it. Instead, she looked at me like I was dirt.

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

I mumbled hesitantly, my spirit crushed. It looked like my jokes failed colossally with her.

"I have to say, I'm a little envious of your ability to babble inanely to someone you've only just met."

"Well, I feel like you've been saying stupid crap, too, and you only just me me."

Is that so? I've merely stated facts. Unlike you." She calmly tossed my words back at me, shutting me up. To be fair, I had said some random nonsense. The smooth, eloquent Horikita, on the other hand, was always well-spoken, no matter how you sliced it.

Horikita chose the cheapest face wash, as did I.

I'd said that I wanted to be her friend, but, apparently, she didn't feel the same. With that, our conversation abruptly stopped.

"Hey, what's up with this?"

While looking around the store, desperate for a new topic, I'd found something strange. Some toiletries and food had been tucked away in the corner of the convenience store. At first glance, they appeared to be the same as the other items, but there was one big difference.

"Free?"

Horikita apparently also thought it was strange, so she picked up one of the items. Daily necessities like toothbrushes and bandages had been stuffed into a clearance bin and labelled "Free." The nine 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. This school is so incredibly lenient," I said.

I had to wonder how far their leniency extended, though.

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

A sudden, loud voice drowned out the store's peaceful background music.

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

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

Apparently, trouble was brewing by the register. A dispute had broken out between two young men who were glaring at each other. One of them had dyed red hair, and a thoroughly ill-tempered look on his face. He had his hands full of noodle cups.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"H-huh? Who are you?"

I had meant to appear friendly, but obviously the big boy didn't know how to react to a girl just coming up to him.

"My name's Ayanokouji. I'm in class 1-B. I just asked because it sounded like there was trouble."

At my explanation, the red-haired guy seemed to calm down a little, and lowered his voice. "O-oh, hi. 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 pulled the noodle cups away. He started to leave, probably heading back to the dorms, where he'd likely forgotten his card. To be honest, the fact that the student ID was necessary for payment hadn't yet sunk in for me, either.

"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."

"That's true. You're right, it'd be absolutely annoying. Thank you, Ayanokouji-san."

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."

"Nice to meet you, Sudou-kun."

Sudou handed me his noodle cup, and I walked over to the hot water dispenser. After watching our short exchange, Horikita sighed, aghast.

"You're acting like a pushover right from the start. Do you intend to become his slave? Or perhaps, you like him in some other way..." she said.

"N-no, Horikita-san. I just wanted to help. No big deal."

"You don't seem to be afraid."

"Afraid? Why? Because he looks like a delinquent?" I asked.

"A normal person would try to keep someone like him at a distance."

"I guess, but he doesn't seem like a bad person to me. And you don't appear to be scared either, Horikita."

"It's mostly defenceless people who stay away from those types. If he acted violently, I could rebuff him. That's why I don't withdraw."

Horikita's words were always a little difficult to understand. To begin with, what did she mean by "rebuff"? Did she carry pepper spray to keep off perverts or something?

"Let's finish our shopping. We'll be a bother to the other students if we dawdle," she said.

Authors notes
2147 words
Only a few changes from the ln.
Ayanokouji helped out Sudou.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 4: interrogation for dummies

Wrapping things up, we presented our student ID cards to the machine by the register. Since we didn't have to deal with small change, our transaction was speedy.

"You really can use it like money..." I said.

My receipt showed the price of each item and the remaining amount of points. The payment had gone through without any problems. I poured hot water into my noodle cup while waiting for Horikita. I'd thought it might be tricky, but opening the lid and pouring hot water up the the line was simple enough.

Anyway, this school was eerie.

What merit could every student possibly have that would warrant such a massive allowance? Considering that there were about 160 people enrolled in my grade, simple calculation suggested that there were 480 people total in this school. That alone would mean 48 million yen each month. Annually, that would equal 560 million yen. Even for a government-supported school, that seemed like overkill.

"How does this school benefit from giving us this much money?"

"I wonder. The campus had more than enough facilities for the number of students, and I wouldn't think it necessary to hand out so much. Students who should be studying might slack off."

Perhaps it was some kind of reward for working hard and passing a test or something. Indeed, student motivation might increase if offered an incentive. However, the school had just handed out 100,000 yen to everyone, seemingly with no strings attached.

"I won't tell you what to do, but I think it would be best to avoid wasting your money. It's difficult to fix frivolous spending habits. Once a person gets used to an easy life, they find they need more and more. When you lose it, the shock can be great," Horikita said.

"I'll keep that in mind."

I didn't really intend to waste money on miscellaneous junk, but she had a point. After paying and exiting the store, I found Sudou seated outside, waiting for me. When I saw him, he gently waved me over. I waved in return, feeling somewhat embarrassed, yet happy.

"Are you really going to eat here?" I asked him.

"Of course. It's just common sense."

Sudou perplexed me with his matter-of-fact reply. Horikita sighed in exasperation.

"I'm going back. I'll be stripped of my dignity if I spend more time here," she said.

"What do you mean, 'dignity'? We're just high school students. We're ordinary. Or, what, are you the high-born daughter of some noble family or something?"

Horikita didn't flinch at Sudou's harsh tone. Seemingly irritated, Sudou set his noodle cup on the ground and stood.

"Huh? Hey, listen to people when they're talking to you! Hey!" He said.

"What's the problem? He just suddenly got angry." Horikita said this to me, ignoring Sudou. This was apparently too much for Sudou, who started to shout.

"Hey, get over here! I'll smack that smug look off your face!" He yelled.

"Hey! Look, I'll admit that Horikita has a bad attitude, but you're taking this too far. You need to calm down." I interjected.

It was apparent that Sudou's patience had run out. "Huh? Y-yeah. I, um. I'm sorry." Sudou apologised.

He couldn't refuse me, because I had helped him out.

"Ayanokouji-san, I would advise you not to become his friend," Horikita said. With that, she turned her back on Sudou.

"Hey, wait! You shitty girl!"

"Calm down!" I held Sudou back as he actually tried to grab Horikita. She made her way in the direction of the dorms without stopping or glancing back.

"What the hell is her deal? Goddam it!" He shouted.

"There are many different types of people, you know."

"Shut it. I hate those stuffy, too-serious types."

He continued to glare at me.

"Hey...you're pretty strong, managing to hold me back. Do you work out?" He asked.

"I play some sports, and I do a little training. I suppose apart from that I'm just naturally strong." I replied.

Sudou, seemingly satisfied, grabbed his noodle cup once again, ripped off the cover, and began eating. Just a little while ago, he'd fought non front of the register, too. He probably had a short fuse.

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

As Sudou slurped his ramen, three boys called out to us. They seemed to have come out of the same store and were carrying the same brand of noodle cups.

"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. Were they stupid? Couldn't they see how jacked Sudou was? Sudou shot up, slamming his noodle cup against the ground. The broth and noodles splashed everywhere.

"'First-year punk,' huh? You trying to make fun of me, huh?!"

Sudou had an extremely short fuse. If I had to judge, he seemed like the type to immediately threaten anyone or anything that crossed him.

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

Plop! With those words, the second-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 didn't back down, unfazed by being outnumbered. It looked like fists were going to fly at any moment.

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

"Yeah, so what?" Sudou snapped.

The upperclassmen students exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

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

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Hey!"

"Sudou, that's enough." I interjected.

"Yeah 'Sudou,' listen to your little girlfriend." One of them said.

"Don't worry, I'm not his girlfriend. But, mhm. I suppose you're not too bad looking, you, the one in the middle. What's your name?" I asked.

Everyone was surprised by this sudden turn of events.

"Uh, um. My name is...Yamaguchi." He said, his face reddening.

"Yamaguchi-kun, eh? I don't have a boyfriend, you know. How would you like to go out with me?" I asked, sticking my chest out a little.

Yamaguchi's nose bled a little, but he wiped it away.

"I-I would be honoured." He said, stepping forwards.

"Good...then, come here." I said, stretching out my arms, indicating for him to hug me.

The moment before we made contact, I drove my knee into his balls, and held his arm behind his back, till it cracked. He squealed in pain.

"What did you mean, earlier? How did you know he was in class D?" I interrogated him.

"A-ah. The best students in the AH... year are put into class A, and the OW...defective students are put in class D." He was crying slightly. I let him go, and he sprawled onto the ground.

"See? That wasn't too hard, was it? Now, each of you are going to transfer me half of your private points right here right now, or I'm going to the school to tell them you blabbed!" I threatened.

They each looked to each other, and silently took out their phones. I showed them my student ID, so they knew where to deposit the points.

Instantly, 107,258 points were transferred into my account. I now had more than double than what I started with this morning.

Authors notes
1258 words
A little different towards the end, but not much different in the rest of the content.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 5: Enter, Kikyou Kushida

After the upperclassmen had run off with their tails between their legs, Sudou walked up to me.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" He asked, seriously.

"I do piano and calligraphy," I said.

"Don't bullshit with me. I know a trained fighter when I see one," he was getting a bit angry.

"Sudou, let me give you a piece of advice: no matter how big you are, you can't match up to me," I warned him.

"What, you wanna fight?" He undid his tie a little, getting into a fairly good fighting stance.

"Heh. You're a bit thick, aren't you?" I said.

"Tch...thanks for helping me and all, but you're almost as bad as Horikita," he said, throwing his fist forward in a quick jab aimed at my face.

"Too slow~" I chimed. I dodged and hit him in the stomach. He folded, and slumped against the wall, gasping for breath.

"H-how are you this strong?" He asked, through gritted teeth.

"None of your business," I replied, walking away.

I was careful to stay out of view of the two surveillance cameras when I did all these things. Being seen might have lead to problems later.

Around one pm, I made my way back to the dormitory, my home from that day onward. At the reception desk, I received a keycard for Room 401 and a handbook containing information about the dorm's rules, then boarded the elevator. I quickly flipped through the handbook, which only detailed the most basic things that we needed for our daily routines. The dates and times for garbage disposal were listed, as well as a notice about avoiding excessive noise. I also saw notes about not wasting water or electricity, and so on.

"So they don't place restrictions on electricity or gas usage?"

I'd assumed that the school would deduct the cost from our points. This school really went to great lengths to have a perfect system for its students. However, I was a little surprised that they'd implemented co-ed dormitories. After all, this was a high school, so the rules stated that unsuitable romantic relationships were frowned upon. In short, sex was strictly forbidden...what a downer .

While I privately doubted that such pampered students could develop into fine, upstanding adults, it would be wise to make the best of the situation for now. I thought about what I got those seniors to tell me, about how the superior students of the school were sorted into class A, and the 'defectives' were put into class D. Where did that leave class B and class C?

My room was about eight tatami mats wide. Also, though this was a dorm, it was the first time I'd lived alone. I refused to have any contact with the outside world until graduation. Considering my situation, I unintentionally cracked a smile.

This school boasted a high employment rate upon graduation, and its facilities and student services were unmatched throughout the country, making it the preeminent high school in Japan. I found such things trivial, however. I'd chosen this high school for one fundamental reason.

At this high school, people were not allowed to contact students without permission, even if they were friends or immediate family. I greatly appreciated that. I was free. In English, they would call it, "freedom."

(Tatakae)

Isn't freedom simply the best? When I wanted to eat something, I could eat it. I almost didn't want to graduate. Before being accepted, I'd honestly thought I would be fine either way, that the difference between passing and failing would have been trivial. But my true feelings finally welled up. I was glad to have been admitted here.

No one else's eyes or words would ever reach me. I could start ag-no. I could begin anew entirely. A new life. I resolved to enjoy my time here to the fullest, but without drawing attention to myself. Still in my uniform, I dived into my already-made bed. I felt far from tired, however. I was so incredibly excited about my new life that I was unable to calm down. My eyes remained wide open.

Just the ,I got a text from Ichinose, asking if I wanted to hang out. I thought for a moment.

I accepted, naturally.

On our second day of school-well, I suppose technically it was the first day of class-we spent most of our time running over course objectives.

I took in the relaxed atmosphere, and soon it was lunchtime. Students stood up and left with their new acquaintances, disappearing from my view.

"Want to grab lunch together, Ayanokouji-san?" Kanzaki asked me.

"Sure, why not?" I accepted his invitation. We went to the cafeteria. We were chatting about nothing in particular while eating our lunch, when...

"Oh. Hi, Ayanokouji-san!"

It was Kushida, from class 1-D. This was the first time I'd actually taken a good look at her. She had short, straight, dyed-brown hair that almost brushed the top of her shoulders.

She was holding something in her hand. I couldn't tell if it was a pouch with a lot of key holders or what.

"I'm Kushida, from the bus. Do you remember me?" She asked.

"Of course. How could I forget someone like you?" I laughed a little.

"Do you need something, Kushida-san?" I asked.

"To tell you the truth, there's something I wanted to ask you. It's just one little question. Ayanokouji-san, are you on good terms with Horikita-san?"

"I wouldn't really say we're on good terms. Just casual acquaintances, I guess. Did she do something?"

It looked like her business was with Horikita rather than me, which was a little disappointing.

"Oh, no. Well, I want to get along with everyone in my class. I managed to get everyone's contact info in my class. But...Horikita turned me down."

Ugh, Horikita was so oblivious. If such a positive, outgoing girl asked for your info, it would've been nice for you to throw me a bone and give me her contact info while you were at it. I could probably have gotten to know everyone in the school in almost no time at all.

"Weren't you two talking outside the school on the day of the entrance ceremony?"

Considering we'd all ridden the bus together, it was no wonder that she'd seen my meeting with Horikita.

"I was just wondering what kind of person Horikita-san is," Kushida continued. "Is she the type who'll talk a lot when she's with a friend?"

She seemed to want information on Horikita, but I couldn't give her any answers.

"I don't think she's very good at interacting with others. Why are you asking about Horikita-san anyway?"

"Well, during our class introductions, Horikita-san walked out of the classroom. It seems like she hasn't talked to anybody yet, so I'm a little worried about her."

Kushida had said she wanted to get along with everyone.

"I understand what you're saying, but I only just met her yesterday. I can't really help you."

"Hmm. I see. I thought that you two might have been old friends before starting school here. I'm sorry to have asked you such a strange question."

"Oh, don't worry, Kushida-san."

"Yeah. It's nice to see you again, Ayanokouji-san," she said.

Although I was a little bewildered by her outstretched hand, I wiped my palms on my skirt and shook hands with her.

"Yeah, nice to see you," I said.

Today was probably my lucky day. Even though there'd been low points, some things had gone well. Since humans were creatures of convenience, the positives quickly overrode the bad memories.

Arc 1 chapter 6: the club fair

Kanzaki and I returned to class after the business with Kushida. about 10 people had remained in the room. Some had pushed their desks together so they could all eat as a group, while other, more solitary students quietly ate their lunches alone. Everyone here had brought a lunch box from the cafeteria or convenience store.

I was talking with Kanzaki at our desks, when music played through the speakers.

"At 17:00 Japan Standard Time today, we will be holding a club fair in Gymnasium No. 1. Students interested in joining a club, please gather in Gymnasium No. 1."

A girl with a sweet voice gave the announcement. Club activities, huh? Come to think of it, I'd never joined a club before.

"Hey, Kanzaki?"

"Mhm?"

"Are you interested in joining a club?"

"Not really. Not my kind of thing, I'm afraid," he shot down my idea.

"O-oh..."

"Well, since you apparently want to go find out about the clubs, do you intend to join one?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm not sure, I guess. I'm still thinking about it. Probably not, though."

"You don't plan to join a club, but you want to go to a club fair? How odd."

"Do you want to come to the club fair with me?" I asked.

"Hmm. Sure. I suppose, even if I don't want to join a club, it'll be a fun thing to do," he accepted.

"Did I hear you two talking about the club fair?" Ichinose, who had just sat down, asked us.

"Yeah. Would you like to come, Ichinose-san?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. It'll be fun!" She said.

"There are more people here than I expected."

After class had ended for the day, Me, Kanzaki, Ichinose and a few other members of class B went to the gymnasium. Nearly all of the students assembled there were freshmen. There were about a hundred people waiting around. We stood near the back of the room and waited for the fair to begin. While waiting, we glanced over the pamphlet that students received upon entering the gymnasium. The pamphlet contained detailed information about club activities.

"I wonder if this school has famous clubs? For example, something like karate?"

"Every club seems to operate on a high level. It looks like many athletes and club members here are famous throughout the nation."

Even though this school didn't seem like a top-tier institution for activities like baseball and ballet, the clubs here certainly looked great.

"These facilities are significantly more substantial than ordinary schools. Look, the even have O2 chambers. The equipment here is so luxurious, it puts the professionals' stuff to shame. Oh, but it looks like they don't have a karate club after all."

"I see."

"What? We're you interested in karate or something?" I asked.

"Well, I got my black belt last year. It would have been nice to practice at an official club, so I don't get flimsy," he admitted.

"Wow, Kanzaki. That's really impressive," I gave him a pat on the back.

"Although, despite your expertise, it seems like it'll be hard for newcomers to get into athletic clubs," I said. "Even if a first-year student managed to break in, they still might just be a benchwarmer forever. I can't think that would be much fun."

Everything around here seemed far too orderly.

"Wouldn't that depend on one's efforts, though? Surely by training for one or two years, anyone could get in and play."

Training, huh? I didn't think I'd be able to put in that amount of effort, no matter how desperate I was.

"Thank you all for waiting, first-year students. We will now begin the club fair. A representative from each club will now explain their function. My name is Tachibana, the student council secretary, and the club fair's organiser. It's nice to meet you all."

After Tachibana delivered the opening remarks, representatives from each club quickly lined up on a stage. It was quite a diverse crowd. The club representatives included everything from burly athletes in judo uniforms to students dressed in beautiful kimonos.

"Hey, if you want to get a fresh start, why not try joining an athletic club? The judo club looks good, doesn't it? That upperclassman looks kind, and I'm sure he'd encourage you."

"What do you mean, 'kind'?! He looks like a gorilla! He'd kill me for sure!" I snapped.

"He'll probably talk passionately about how easy judo is."

"Cut it out!"

I liked the easy banter I had with Kanzaki. Except when he teased me.

"Even if I wanted to join, the athletic clubs loom all really intimidating. I get the impression they don't accept beginners."

"Beginners should be welcomed. The more members a club has, the more money they receive from the school. That's how they're able to get better training equipment."

"Sounds like they're using the beginners for money..."

(Been there)

"It would be ideal to gather many new members as a budgetary increase, and then simply to bench them the rest of the time, like phantom members. If you were skilled at manipulation, that is."

"What an unpleasant world...you have a pretty strange way of thinking," I muttered, knowing full well I was trained to manipulate people.

A girl dressed in archery gear stepped onto the stage.

"Hello, my name is Hashigaki, the captain of the archery club. Many students may be under the impression that archery is an old-fashioned, simple activity, but it is actually a fun and rewarding sport. We welcome beginners with open arms. If you're interested, please consider joining."

"Hey, look, they seem to be welcoming newcomers. Why don't you try joining? In order to 'increase their budget', that is," I said, doing an impression of Kanzaki.

"Shut up," he laughed, pushing me away. I laughed back.

Every time one club finished and the next sprang up, the first-year students talked among themselves about what they thought. I noticed the gymnasium's atmosphere was rather lively. Each club's representatives, including their supervising instructions, continued to explain their organisations to the unruly first-year students without a hint of displeasure. Perhaps they were just that desperate for new members, even if their ranks only increased by one.

As the upperclassmen finished their introductions, they walked off the stage and headed toward an area where some plain tables had been set up. Probably a reception area designed to accept new members. Eventually, everyone walked off until only one person remained. Everyone focused their attention upon him.

He appeared to be about 170 centimetres in height, so he wasn't very tall. He was slender, with sleek black hair. He wore sharp glasses and had a piercing, calculating gaze. Standing in front of the microphone, he calmly looked around at the first-year students. What was his club, and what in the world was he going to say? My interest had been piqued.

Unfortunately, my expectations were dashed immediately. He didn't say a single word. Maybe he was drawing a blank? Or perhaps he was so nervous that he couldn't speak?

"Do your best!"

"Did you forget to bring your notecards?"

"Hahahahaha!"

The first-year students hurled comments at him. However, the upperclassman stood on the stage calmly, without trembling. The laughter and comments didn't seem to faze him. When the laughter had reached a crescendo, it suddenly died. He wore an apathetic expression.

"What's with this guy?" Remarked an astonished student. The gymnasium buzzed with people talking, yet the boy on the stage still did not move. He simply stood there, quiet and motionless, staring fixedly at the crowd.

The relaxed atmosphere gradually changed, and things took an unexpected turn. It was as if some chemical reaction had taken place. An unbelievably tense, quiet mood gripped the entire gymnasium. Even though no orders had been given, the silence was so terrible that it seemed to have gagged everyone. Not a single student looked able to open his or her mouth. The silence continued for about thirty seconds or so...

Then, the student started his speech, slowly scanning the crowd.

"I'm the student council president. My name is Horikita Manabu."

Authors notes
1360 words
Yeah a little bit different from the ln but not much.
If you don't understand Ayanokouji/Kanzaki friendship, they're just bros.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 1 chapter 7: Horikita Manabu/muscle fetish

"I'm the student council president. My name is Horikita Manabu," he said.

Horikita? Could he perhaps be related to Suzune? Perhaps the just happened to have the same surname.

"The student council is looking to recruit potential candidates among the first-year students to replace the graduating first years. Although no special qualifications are required for candidacy, we humbly ask that those considering application not be involved in any other club activities. We generally do not accept students involved elsewhere."

He spoke in a soft tone, but the tension around us was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. He managed to silence over a hundred new students in that spacious gymnasium. Of course, it wasn't his position as student council president that granted him this deference. That was simply Horikita Manabu's power. His presence dominated everyone around him.

"Furthermore, we in the student council do not wish to appoint anyone who possesses a naive outlook. Not only would such a person not be elected, he or she would sully the sanctity of the school. It is the student council's right and duty to enforce and amend the rules, but the school expects more than that. We gladly welcome those of you who understand this."

He didn't pause even once during his eloquent speech. Immediately after finishing, he hopped off the stage and left the gymnasium. None of the first-year students could utter a single word as we watched him go. We didn't know what would've happened if we'd tried to talk. Everyone in the room shared the same thought, apparently.

"Thank you all for coming. The club fair has ended. We will now open the reception area to anyone interested in signing up. Also, registration will be open until the end of April, so if any student wishes to join at a later date, we ask that you please bring the application form directly to the club you wish to join."

Thanks to the laid-back organiser, the tension in the air dissipated. Afterward, the third-year students who'd introduced their respective clubs started taking applications.

"Wow. That guy was certainly something, huh?" Asked Kanzaki.

"Yeah. He was intimidating," I muttered.

"Yo, Ayanokouji-san. You came, huh?"

As I was lost in thought, someone called out to me. It was Sudou. Two people who I didn't know were with him.

"Oh, hey Sudou-kun. Who are your friends?" I asked.

"Oh, this is Ike Kanji, and this is Yamauchi Haruki." They both smiled.

"Right. This is Kanzaki Ryuuji, he's in my class," I introduced Kanzaki.

"Good to meet you," Kanzaki said.

"So, you joined a club, too?"

"Oh, no, I just came to check things out. Wait, 'too'? Did you join a club, Sudou-kun?"

"Yeah, I've been playing basketball ever since elementary school. I thought I'd join the team here."

I knew he was athletic, judging by our short fight. Basketball was clearly his game.

"What about you two?"

"We just came because we felt it might be fun, you know?" He looked as though he was about to say something else, but I didn't inquire further. The look on his face suggested degeneracy.

"I have to say, that student council president was something else. He was so imposing. I got the feeling he ruled the place, you know?" He said.

(Yeah, he's the student council president, duh. The student council is more powerful than the illuminati)

"I know, right? He made everyone shut up without saying a single word. That kind of stuff is impossible," I replied.

Our groups separated after that. I walked back to the dorms with Kanzaki.

It'd been one week since entrance ceremony. That meant, for some reason, it was time for swim class. Swimming classes were co-ed. In other words, I would be showing off a lot of skin.

After lunch had ended, it was finally time for swim class. I went into the changing rooms with Ichinose and the other girls, while Kanzaki went off with the boys. I was so glad that there weren't any perverted boys in our class, unlike class D, where Ike and Yamauchi resided.

I promptly removed my uniform and started to change, showing my body. My body was more developed than the other girls due to some years of muscle training. Even in comparison to some of the boys, I could be considered muscular.

While the others wrapped themselves in bath towels, I wore only my underwear. While I was getting my swimsuit out of my bag, someone called over to me.

"A-Ayanokouji-san, you're pretty bold. Aren't you nervous around other people?"

I turned to see Shiranami Chihiro looking at me, red in the face. I knew already that she was a shy girl, and it was out of character for her to be asking me something like this.

"You can't get flustered every time you need to change. If you act all shifty, it'll have the opposite effect, usually. You become the centre of attention."

In these sorts of places, sneaky people got mocked.

A moment later, after I had finished changing, I left the locker room. Ichinose quickly followed suit.

Upon seeing the fifty-metre pool, Ichinose cried out, "woah, this school is something else! It's even better than the city pool, don't you think?" The water was clear and beautiful, and because it was indoors, we didn't have to worry about the weather. The perfect environment.

A few of the boys were already here. I waved to Kanzaki, who waved back.

"Hi guys!" Ichinose said.

She was clad in her school-issued swimwear, the same as I was. It nicely showed off her voluptuous figure. She must have been an E or F cup, at least. I didn't know for sure, but they were bigger than mine, at least. She was a lot bigger than I'd thought. Her butt and thighs were also more voluptuous than I pictured, which was strangely captivating. I quickly averted my gaze.

"Hey, Ayanokouji-san," said Kanzaki.

Kanzaki was in his school issued swimsuit. How to put it? Yeah. He looked good. Not bad at all. But if I stared, he would probably notice.

"..."

For some reason, he was checking me out all over. I looked at him quizzically, the word "pervert" about to come out of my mouth.

"Ayanokouji-san, how much did you say you exercise?"

"Huh? Yeah, um. Only a little bit, not much. In middle school, I was the kid who never had any after-school plans."

"Well, you say only a little, but...judging from the development of your forearms and your back muscles, you seem far above average."

"I guess my parents must have blessed me with good genes?"

"I don't think that's the only reason."

"Jeez, what's with you? Do you have a muscle fetish or something? Is that it?" I asked, flexing my biceps at him.

He laughed. "Haha, Ayanokouji-san...you're too funny."

He appeared somewhat satisfied. I guess that Kanzaki had a rather discerning eye and enjoyed using it.

Authors notes
1179 words.
Again, pretty much straight from the ln.
Ayanokouji/Kanzaki friendship actually reminds me of me and by bestie, now that I think about it.
Nothing much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 1 chapter 8:

"Are you a good swimmer, Kanzaki-kun?"

Although Kanzaki gave a slightly puzzled look in response to Ichinose's question, he quietly answered. "I wouldn't say I'm particularly good or bad at it."

"I was really bad at swimming when I was in junior high. But I gave it my all and practiced really hard, and now I think I've gotten better." Ichinose said.

"Well, good job," Kanzaki congratulated Ichinose's apparent progress.

"All right, everyone line up!"

A macho-looking middle-aged man, the kind of guy who apparently devoted himself to sports, gathered everyone together and started the class. He looked like a PE teacher, but also seemed like the kind of guy who was attractive to men and women alike.

"Good, you're all here. I had a class yesterday where only 16 students turned up."

I wonder which class that was?

"After you warm up, I want to see what you can really do. Swim for me," the coach said.

Everyone started their warm-up exercises. The teacher asked us to swim for about fifty metres. Students who could not swim were allowed to touch the bottom of the pool with their feet. I hadn't been in a pool since last summer. The water must have been temperature-controlled, because I didn't feel chilled when I entered and adjusted right away. After getting in, I started to swim lightly.

After fifty metres, I waited for everyone else to finish

"Well, it looks like everyone can swim, for the most part. In that case, I'll have you start competing against each other. We'll separate groups by gender. Fifty-metre freestyle. I'll give out a special bonus to the first-place winner: 5000 points. The student who comes in last place, however, will have to take supplementary lessons. Get ready."

The skilled swimmers cheered with joy, while the less confident students groaned.

"For each gender, we'll split you into groups of five, and you'll compete. The top five finishing times will move onto the final round."

I'd never imagined that the school would award points as a prize. Perhaps this was a way to light a fire under the students. Rather well thought out, I had to say. The girls started first, while the boys sat on the sidelines.

I was in the first group, along with Amikura, Ichinose, Shiranami and Sayo Ando.

The whistle blew, and we dived into the water. I was in the second lane. I took the lead at the beginning of the race and kept my distance from the others, maintaining my position at the front of the pack. I swam confidently, effortlessly covering the fifty metres.

"Wow! Awesome, Ayanokouji!" Kanzaki shouted to me.

My time was approximately 26 seconds. I hadn't really been trying, though. In second place was Sayo, and in third place was Ichinose. I slowly got out of the pool and went to the side. My eyes, like one or two of the boys, glanced at the girls jiggling butts. I stared at Ichinose, too. Was it because we were getting along? Well, she was really pretty. There was something there, I thought. Yeah.

(Still Hornykouji )

It was time for the final round of the girls. It was me, Sayo,
Ichinose, Yume Kobashi, and Kozue Minamikata.

This time, I would have to get serious. Yume had beat my time in the first round. I would have to swim a little faster, now. When the whistle blew, I dived into the water, and swam faster than I had last time. Again, I reached the end of the pool first. My time was 22 seconds; a very good time for a high school girl.

After a few more races, it was time for the boys. First was the "athletic" group, that contained Shibata and Kanzaki. To be honest, I hadn't gotten to know many of the boys yet, just those two.

Shibata came first, and Kanzaki came second. A little disappointing, but I could tell that Kanzaki wasn't trying his hardest.

"Hey, Kanzaki. Come here for a sec," I called over to him.

"Yeah? What is it?" He asked.

"What the hell are you playing at?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why aren't you trying to beat him?"

He looked down at the floor.

"What's the point? In trying to win, I mean?"

"Kanzaki, I'm going to say this once, and never again: you must always win." I said.

He looked a little freaked out by how competitive I was, but he nodded.

It was time for the final round of the boys. It wasn't much of a competition, though. Shibata and Kanzaki had the highest times by about 3 seconds. It would be a race between those two.

When the whistle blew, Shibata dived in and instantly swam as hard as he could. Kanzaki had a slower start, but he accelerated until he was faster than Shibata. He overtook him at the last second or so.

I smiled. This was good, he was making progress. When I first met him, he was smart, but he lacked any assertiveness. Someone like that would fade into the background of the class. His abilities were clearly class A level, but he let it all down because of his attitude. If only he was more assertive, instead of just being my friend.

After leaving class, I went straight toward the dormitory. Kushida appeared to be waiting for someone while leaning up against the wall. Noticing me, she smiled like always.

"I'm so glad! I was waiting for you, Ayanokouji-san. There's something I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have a minute?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure..."

She couldn't be confessing her feelings for me, could she? Nah, there was about a 1 percent chance of something like that.

"I'll just ask you outright. Ayanokouji-san, have you seen Horikita-san smile even once?"

"Huh? No, not that I can remember."

Apparently, Kushida had come to talk about Horikita again. Thinking back, I didn't recall ever seeing Horikita smile once. Kushida took my hand in hers, closing the distance between us. Did she smell of flowers? I breathed in an extremely pleasant scent.

"You know, I...I want to become friends with Horikita-san," she said.

"I think she guesses your feelings. At first, a lot of people tried reaching out to her, but now you're the only one."

"You seem to know Horikita-san pretty well, Ayanokouji-san."

"To be honest, I haven't really seen her since the first day. I wouldn't say we know each other very well. We're acquaintances at best."

Girls were girls, after all, and we'd been really eager to form groups since the first day of school. We were also more aware of cliques and social circles than guys.

Kushida held favour within all these groups, but more than that, she was tremendously popular with everyone. She was persistently warm and gentle toward Horikita, as part of her continued efforts to become her friend. That wasn't something an ordinary student could do. That was probably why everyone adored her.

Plus, she was pretty fucking sexy.

Sexiness makes everything better.

"Look, it's not my business to tell you your business, but I'm guessing Horikita-san doesn't want to be your friend," I said.

I knew Horikita wasn't the type to mince words. If approached, she would probably respond harshly. To be honest, I didn't want to see Kushida hurt.

"Won't you...help me?" She asked.

"Uh..."

I didn't answer right away. Normally, I would agree. But I didn't want to see Horikita hurt Kushida by saying something merciless. I thought I'd turn her down to avoid any later heartbreak.

"I understand how you feel, Kushida-san, but..."

"So that means...you can't?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Kushida-san. You shouldn't be forcing your feelings on people." I turned her down.

"Really? Oh, I'm sorry, Ayanokouji-san. Thank you for your time," she bowed and left.

She was cute. I didn't want to have to turn her down. But I shouldn't do anything reckless. I hope I didn't fuck things up between us.

Arc 1 chapter 9: Uno de Mayo

The kids in class 1-B were fairly well behaved. We acted like actual high school students should. I'd heard that there were some kids in class C or D who would sleep in class, or turn up halfway through the lesson. But, perhaps out of some feeling of laissez faire, all of the teachers they had tolerated that kind of behaviour.

Speaking of behaviour, the worst behaved person in our class was our teacher, Hoshinomiya-sensei. She always turned up to lessons either drunk or hungover. I couldn't imagine that would be allowed at such a prestigious institution.

For third period, we had science class with Hoshinomiya-sensei. When the bell rang, Hoshinomiya-sensei walked into the noisy classroom. The students quietened when she entered. There was something off about her. She seemed sober.

"Quiet down a little, please. Today's lesson will be a bit serious."

"What do you mean, Chie-sensei?"

Some students liked to refer to Hoshinomiya-sensei by her first name.

"It's the end of the month, so we're going to have a short test. Please pass these to the back."

She handed out the papers to the students in the front row. Eventually, the single-sheet test reached my desk. It contained questions in the five main subjects. With only a few questions per subject, it really was short.

"This test is just for future reference. It won't be reflected in your report cards. There is no risk involved, so don't worry. Of course, cheating is prohibited."

Her phrasing struck me as odd. Normally, only general grades were reflected in your report card. But the way Hoshinomiya-sensei said they wouldn't be reflected in our report cards made me think the the grade could be reflected in some other way. Well...did it have something to do with the class ranks? With the more capable students in class A? Could we prove we were more capable?

As soon as the pop quiz began, I scanned the questions. There were four questions per subject, for a total of twenty. Each question was worth five points, for a total of one hundred points. Most of the questions were extraordinarily easy, to the point where it was almost a letdown. In fact, the questions seemed to be about two levels less difficult than the ones in the entrance examination. It appeared far too easy.

However, just as I thought that, I reached the end of the test. The final three questions were an order of magnitude higher in terms of difficulty. The final math problem couldn't be solved without complex formulae.

"No way. These questions are seriously way too hard..."

These questions couldn't be geared toward a first-year high school student. The final three questions were clearly on a level of difficulty than the others, so it was possible they'd been put on the test by mistake. Even though the results wouldn't be reflected in our grades, what in the hell were they evaluating with this?

Well, I guess I'll just solve these problems the same way I solved the entrance exam.

Hoshinomiya-sensei monitored us. As she slowly patrolled the classroom, she kept a watchful eye to dissuade us from cheating. I quickly glanced at Kanzaki, who would never even think of cheating. His pen danced across the paper as he filled in all of the answers. While he wasn't going to get a perfect score, he would certainly score high.

I continued staring intently at my test until the bell rang.

On May 1, I woke up to knocking on my door. I got up, opened said door, and looked into the face of Kanzaki.

"What do you want? It's, like, 6AM," I yawned.

"Hey, Ayanokouji. We only got 65,000 points this morning, not 100,000 like the school said we would," he said, slightly panicked.

"Well, of course. What did you expect? We're in class B, after all."

"W-what do you mean by that?" He asked.

"On the first day, I...persuaded an upperclassman to tell me more information about the school. He said that the best students in the year were in class A, while the worst were in class D," I explained.

He looked a little dumbstruck, but managed to compose himself.

"What do we do?" He asked.

"Well...first..." I invited him inside, and explained my plan to him.

the morning bell rang for our very first day of class. Soon afterward, Hoshinomiya-sensei strode into the room, holding a rolled-up poster. Her expression today was quite stern.

"Hey, sensei. What's wrong?"

Ichinose, kind as ever, checked to see if she was alright.

"All right, your morning homeroom is about to begin. Before we get started, does anyone have any questions? If so, now is the time to speak." Hoshinomiya-sensei ignored Ichinose, which was a rare occurrence. She appeared totally convinced that the students had questions they wanted answered. Immediately, several students raised their hands.

"Um, I checked my point balance this morning, but I only got 65,000 points today. I thought we were supposed to get 100,000 points on the first day of every month, aren't we?"

"Hamaguchi-kun, I already explained this before, didn't I? Points are deposited on the first day of the month. I've confirmed that all points were wired this month without any issues."

"Um, but...I didn't get as much as you said I would, though."

A few of the students exchanged glances.

"Are you really that dumb?" Kanzaki said, standing up.

"Dumb? What?"

As Hamaguchi stupidly repeated his words, Kanzaki looked at him sharply.

"Allow me to explain."

"K-Kanzaki-kun?"

Ichinose, taken aback by his unusually strict tone, slumped in her seat.

"All our points were deposited this month. That much can be said for certain. There is absolutely no chance that we were forgotten. Understood?"

There were a few confused looks around the class.

"It's simple. Because were in class B, we didn't receive as much as we did on the start of term."

"Huh? What are you talking about? They said that we'd get 100,000 points every month-"

"I don't remember hearing that, though. Do you?" He addressed Hoshinomiya.

"While this new attitude is...different, Kanzaki is exactly right. None of you seemed to have noticed the hint I gave you. It's okay, though, we're still friends."

In response to this sudden turn of events, the classroom exploded in an uproar.

"Sensei, may I please ask you a question? I'm afraid I still don't understand." Ichinose raised her hand. She appeared to ask on behalf of her classmates rather than out of selfish concern. It still seemed she held the most sway in the class. The plan had failed, at least for now.

"Can you please tell us why we didn't receive 100,000 points? We won't completely understand, otherwise."

That was certainly true.

"A total of 24 absences and late arrivals. 96 incidences of talking or using a cell phone in class. That is quite a few infractions over one month. In this school, your classes results are reflected in the points that you receive. As a result, you wasted 35,000 points of the 100,000 you should have received. That's what happened. I should have explained this all to you on the day of the entrance ceremony. This school measures its students' true abilities. This time, you were evaluated as not being the best. That's all."

Hoshinomiya-sensei spoke in an unusual tone, devoid of any emotion. I could tell ever word she spoke now was scripted. The doubts I'd had since coming to this school were finally confirmed, though, in the worst way possible. Even though we'd started with the huge advantage of 100,000 points, class B had wasted over a third of it in just a single month.

Arc 1 chapter 10: a rude awakening

"Hoshinomiya-sensei. I do not recall hearing you explain this to us before-"

"Aw, Ichinose-san. You should have been able to figure it out for yourself."

"There was never any talk about reducing our points. Had that been explained to us beforehand, I'm sure we would have avoided being late or talking during class."

"That is a rather bizarre argument, Ichinose-san. It is certainly true I don't recall explaining the rules of point distribution. However, didn't you all learn in elementary school not to be late or talk during class? Was that not taught throughout your elementary and junior high schools?"

"Well, that's-"

"I'm sure that in nine years of compulsory education, you learned that being late and talking in class are bad things. And now you say you can't understand this because I haven't explained it to you? I'm afraid your reasoning is flimsy. If you had simply acted properly, then your points would not have dropped all the way to zero. This comes down to you taking personal responsibility."

There was no way for anyone to refute her perfectly sound argument. Everyone knew that bad behaviour didn't pay.

"Having just entered your first year of high school, did you honestly think you'd receive 100,000 yen every month with no strings attached? At a school established by the Japanese government for the express purpose of training gifted people? It's a little bit silly, don't you think?"

Although Ichinose appeared to be upset that her friends had been swindled, she looked the teacher straight in the eye. "Well then, could you at least explain in detail how points are added or deducted? We can keep that in mind for future reference."

That was interesting. Ichinose was already thinking about adding to our class points. I had planned to install Kanzaki as the leader of the class, as Ichinose was too friendly. But, perhaps I was wrong.

"I cannot tell you. We cannot disclose the methods behind our student evaluation. It's the same as any other organisation. When you enter a company, it is the company's choice whether or not to tell you how it evaluated its employees. However, I'm not cruel, and I'm not trying to be cold. In fact, since I'm so nice, I'm going to give you a bit of guidance. Let's say you stop being late to class and have no more absences...even though zero points will be deducted from you this month, that doesn't mean your points will increase, either. That means next month you will still receive 65,000 points."

"Tch..." Kanzaki's expression darkened. Her explanation was so counterproductive that it had the opposite effect; some students seemed incapable of understanding what she meant. The students who thought they could improve their situation by remedying bad behaviour had their hopes dashed. That was probably Hoshinomiya-sensei's, or rather, this school's intention.

The bell rang, signalling the end of homeroom.

"It looks like we spent too much time yammering. I hope that you understood the gist of it. Well, it's about time that we switch to our main topic."

From the tube she carried, she removed a white rolled-up poster and spread it out. She stuck the poster to the blackboard with some magnets. The still-confused students stared blankly at the poster.

"Are these...the results of each class?" Kanzaki tentatively took a guess. He was right. Class A through class D we're listed. To the side was a row of numbers that went up to a maximum of four digits.

Class 1-A: 0940
Class 1-B: 0650
Class 1-C: 0490
Class 1-D: 0000

In this case, 1000 points would mean 100,000 yen, wouldn't it? Every class had apparently lost points.

"Isn't something about this odd?"

"Yeah. The numbers look too even."

Kanzaki and I had both noticed something strange.

"You've all been doing whatever you pleased this past month. The school has no intention of preventing you from doing what you want. Your actions, such as being late or talking during class, only affect the points you receive. The same goes for how you use your points. How you choose to spend is entirely up to you. We have not put any restrictions on point usage."

"But...why is there such a differences in our point values?" Ichinose also seemed to have noticed that the numbers were too tidy.

"Do you finally understand now? Why you were placed in class B?"

"The reason why we were placed in class B? Weren't we simply accepted into this school?"

"Huh? But classes are normally divided like this, right?"

Students exchanged glances.

Oh yeah, time for the big reveal.

"In this school, students are sorted by their level of excellence. The superior students are sorted into class A, the least capable in class D. It's the same system you'd find in the major cram schools. In other words, class B is praiseworthy, but each of you has some flaw preventing you from being in class A. If you're unsatisfied with this, work to make your class the best one."

"Huh?"

"Your class's points aren't just linked to the amount of money that you receive each month. They're also indicative of your class rank."

In other words...if we should get to 950 points, then class B would be promoted to class A. This really did sound like a company performance review.

"Now then, I have one bit of good news to share with you all."

She stuck another sheet of paper on the board. It listed the names of everyone in the class. A number stood next to everyone's name.

"Judging from these, I can say we've quite a few smarty-pants' in this class." As her heels clacked against the floor, she glanced at us. "These are the results of the short test you took a while ago. Your sensei was so happy at your excellent performance."

With the exception of a few low scores, almost everyone had scored above a 50. Even if you ignored my score, their was Kanzaki, scoring 91. That was very good.

"I'm so glad. If this was an actual test, then none of you would have had to drop out."

"D-drop out? What do you mean?"

"Oh, did I forget to explain it to you? If you fail on a midterm or final exam in this school, then you have to drop out. If we applied that score to this test, anyone who scored below 36 would be out. You guys really are clever, aren't you?"

There was a red line drawn on the paper, just underneath the lowest score. If anyone had scored below that line, then they would have failed.

"Hey, don't mess with us, Chie-sensei! Don't joke about kicking us out!"

"Frankly, I'm also at a loss," the teacher said. "These are the school rules. Be very careful you don't slack off~"

"The teachers right. We can't get complacent." Ichinose stood up. She had scored 5th overall.

"Sit down. Oh, one more thing. This school, which operates under government supervision, boasts a high rate of advancement into elite education and workforce placement. This is a well-known fact. It's very likely that most of you have chosen a college or future workplace."

Well, naturally. This school boasted the highest rates of advancement in the whole country. There were rumours that it was possible to get into a highly competitive school or company just by graduating. Rumours even suggested that graduation from this school was like receiving a recommendation to Tokyo University, the most prestigious of Japan's institutes of higher learning.

"However, nothing comes easy in this world. Only the best at this school are allowed to think that they can easily get into the college or workplace of their choice."

Hoshinomiya-sensei's words carried throughout the room.

"In other words, you're saying that if we want to get into the company or college of our choice, we must surpass class A?" Ichinose asked.

"Ding ding. Correct. To make your dreams of a bright future come true, your only option is to overtake class A. This school guarantees nothing for any other students."

Authors notes
1363 words
Yep pretty much copy pasted.
Hope you enjoyed.

Arc 1 chapter 11: an angel? Or a demon?

"It looks like your bubbles have been burst. If you had simply understood the harsh reality of the situation from the start, then this long homeroom period might have meant something. Your midterm exams are in three weeks. Please think things over, and be careful not to drop out. I have confidence that you can find a way to avoid getting red marks on your report cards. If at all possible, challenge yourself to act in a way befitting a skilled individual."

Hoshinomiya-sensei exited the room.

None of the students could hide their confusion, and conversations were breaking out everywhere. I could see Ichinose was about to stand up and speak, so I kicked Kanzaki in the shin, gesturing for him to stand up and say something.

"I understand you're all confused right now, but everyone needs to calm down," Kanzaki said, attempting to rein everyone in. Ichinose sat back down, looking at him.

"If you think it's good to talk amongst your own separate groups, you're wrong. It's better for us to band together so we can turn things around."

A few murmurs of agreement sounded around the classroom. I looked towards Ichinose. Her face had many complex emotions written upon it. She was happy that the class had a central figure it could rely on, but she was unhappy that it wasn't her. She had only recently become a member of the student council. I'd heard she was rejected twice before she was accepted. If someone was in the student council, then they really needed to be the one to lead their class, at least in the eyes of the other student council members.

"At this stage, it'll be pointless trying to figure out how points are calculated. Besides, I don't think we can resolve this simply by investigating." Kanzaki said.

If we could figure out how many points were deducted by being late or talking in class, it's be easier to come up with countermeasures. But, as Kanzaki had said, it was certainly difficult to conclude anything based on the current information. Kanzaki was doing well, especially in such a trying situation.

"Before our next class begins, I have one more thing to say. We aren't in class A. This is a serious problem, and one that will affect our futures. It's impossible for us to secure the 100% employment guarantee without being in class A, right?"

"You're absolutely right!" Shouted one of the female students, her voice full of despair.

Kanzaki have a kind nod in response, sympathising with her.

"Of course. Therefore, we must earn points next month. To do that, we all need to cooperate with each other. So please, take care not to be late to class or to talk during the lecture. Also, the use of cell phones during class is prohibited, of course."

"Huh? And why do you get to tell us what to do? Ichinose-san is our leader."

Damn. If only we didn't have a naysayer. Ichinose stood up.

"No, no, don't worry, it's fine. Kanzaki-kun is smarter than me, and probably better suited to lead in this situation. But, As long as we continue talking during class or being late, our points won't increase for sure. Although we have more than class C and D, we still need to behave."

Quite a few people nodded and murmured in agreement.

"Yeah, I agree with Ichinose-san. It's only natural to avoid doing those things."

"Thank you. Now, Kanzaki-kun, Ayanokouji-san, do you have a moment? I want to speak with you about how we can increase our points. I'd like you to join me. Can you?"

That was slightly unexpected.

"Why do you want me?" I asked.

"I want to hear everyone's voices. You, in particular, since you scored perfectly on the test."

Oh, yeah. I forgot I'd got 100 on the test. Funny how the small things sometimes slip my mind. So she wanted to ask us in particular? I supposed it couldn't hurt to talk. Although...

"Ah...I'll pass. I'm sorry. Kanzaki here is all free though." I said, slapping Kanzaki on the back.

"No, I'm sorry for bothering you. If you change your mind, please let me know."

Class had ended for the day. Ichinose stood at the podium, using the blackboard to prepare for our big discussion. Because of Ichinose's powerful charisma, everyone in the class was in attendance. I decided to leave before the discussion got into full swing, though.

May 1 came and went, and before we knew it, the school week was over. Everyone was listening in class. No one was late. We hadn't found a way to increase our points yet, but it was ok, we weren't in any great rush, anyway.

After class, Ichinose went to the teachers podium.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei mentioned that the midterm is coming up soon. Remember that if you fail, you'll be expelled. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to form a study group."

Apparently, the hero of class B had started another project.

"If you neglect your studies, you'll get a failing grade and be expelled on the spot. I want to avoid that. However, studying won't just prevent expulsion; it may also help earn points. If we receive high enough marks, our class's assessment should improve as a result. I asked some of the students who scored high on the test to help prepare a study plan. I know no one failed, but a few of you came close to failing. So, I would like people who are anxious to come join our group. Everyone is welcome, of course. Starting today at 17:00, we will plan to study in this classroom for two hours a day until the test. If you'd like to join us, please come whenever you like. Of course, I don't mind if you need to leave partway. That's all I have to say."

Immediately after she finished speaking, several of the students who were close to failing got up and went over.

I had been at the library. I was reading a strange book that was full of pictures, without any words. Strange.

I left, because it was now starting to get dark. After I left, I heard ahead of me, to the left. I wondered what she was doing out this late. I should probably go home, but Kushida doesn't seem like the type to be randomly wandering around after dark. I followed her, until she went inside the school building. What was she doing there?

I decided to keep up the chase. If she were busy, I'd see her again later. Bearing that in mind, I pressed on. I room out a pair of indoor shoes from the cubicles in the hallway, but didn't see Kushida. Had I lost her? I thought I had, until I heard the faint clack of shoes.

I followed her up the stairs to the second floor. The sound of footsteps continued up to the third floor. The next level after that was the roof, wasn't it? Students were free to use the roof during lunchtime, but it should've been locked after class. While I thought it was strange, I went up the stairs, trying to hide my presence as best I could in case she was meeting someone. Then, I stopped partway.

Someone was up there.

I took my phone out, and started recording. I gently leaned against the handrail and peeked against through a crack in the rooftop door. Through the opening, I glimpsed Kushida. No one else was with her. Was she waiting for someone?

A rendezvous at such a secluded place...could she possibly be waiting for her boyfriend? If that were the case, I could end up cornered on all sides. While I agonised over how to get away, Kushida slowly set her bag down on the ground.

And then...

"Ahhh, so annoying!"

Her voice was so low that it didn't sound at all like Kushida.

"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It'd be better if she just died..."

She grumbled to herself, as if chanting the words to some kind of spell or curse.

"Ugh, I know I hate Horikita, but she isn't even comparable to that bitch. I don't get it, how can she be pretty, and smart, and athletic, and sociable, all at once? I can't get my head around it. Ah, she's the worst! She's just the worst, the worst, the worst! Ayanokouji, your so annoying! You're so damn annoying!"

I felt like I'd glimpsed another side of this gentle girl, one of the most popular girls in the grade. She probably didn't want anyone else to see this darker side. A voice in my head whispered it was best to leave her alone.

However, an odd question arose. Why had she sought me out to help her with Horikita if she hated me so much? None of it made sense. I couldn't explain her reasoning.

No. She may have shown signs of this from the very beginning. I hadn't really thought about it before, but considering the state she was in right now, I had a hunch. Perhaps, Kushida and I were...

At any rate, I needed to get away from there. Kushida probably didn't want anyone else to hear her diatribe. Still hiding, I quickly tried to leave.

Thump!

I'd kicked the door much louder than I'd anticipated. It's been unexpectedly loud, really. Kushida tensed and stopped breathing. I'd instantly become her enemy. Turning, Kushida set her sights on me. I'd been seen.

After a brief silence, Kushida coldly asked, "what...are you...doing here?"

"I got a little lost. Sorry. My bad, my bad. I'll be going now."

Kushida looked straight at me, clearly seeing through my obvious lie. I'd never seen such an intense gaze before, except in that place.

"Did you hear?" She asked.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't?" I replied.

"I see..."

Kushida briskly walked down the stairs. She placed her left forearm against the base of my throat, and pushed me against the wall. Her tone of voice, her actions, everything about her was completely unlike the Kushida I knew. This knew Kushida wore a terrifying expression, one that I could compare to my own.

"If you tell anyone what you just heard, I won't forgive you."

Her words were ice, and I didn't think they were an idle threat.

"And if I did tell?"

"Your social life at this school would be over. I would spread every horrible rumour I could about you. Don't worry, I could do it easily."

Her words had heft and power, leaving me unable to reply.

"I understand."

I put my hand in my jacket pocket, and stopped the recording. I didn't want any trace of what was about to happen to get out.

I jabbed Kushida in the stomach, and she let go of my throat. I grabbed her throat, and pushed her against the wall. Now, we were in the exact opposite position of what we'd been in a few seconds before.

"Heh. You know, Kushida...you're not the only girl with a dark side..." I said.

Authors notes
1869 words
Cool chap, I think. Nice cliffhanger at the end. Other than that pretty much copied from the ln.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 1 chapter 12: clipped wings

warning! warning! hornykouji detected ahead!

"You know, Kushida...you're not the only girl with a dark side." I smirked slightly, doing my best impression of the face Kushida was making.

"Gnh. You're strong, you bitch," Kushida said. She kicked me in the leg, and deflated slightly when I didn't flinch.

"Can you answer me a question, Kushida? Which is the real you?" I asked.

She spat in my eye.

"None of your fucking business," she growled.

"Now, now, Kikyou-chan, that wasn't very nice, was it?" I mocked her.

"You know, you could have threatened me in some other way. You could have said that I'd raped you or something like that," I said.

"Heh, no one would believe that."

"You're right. Spread em." I said.

"W-what? What do you mean?" She was confused, and started to shake a little in fright. I punched her in the stomach.

"I got a recording of you when you were talking earlier. If you don't want me to release that to the rest of the students, you'll do as I say." I threatened.

Kushida was in a dilemma. Would she give herself to me to keep her secret safe, or would she defy me and risk becoming an outcast. She was taking too long to decide, so I decided for her.

"You were expecting Kushida, but it was ME, RYUUEN!"

Jk, story continues below. Sorry I couldn't resist.

I licked my index finger and my middle finger, and caressed her panties. She moaned a little as I did this, her breath condensing in the air.

"N-no..." she whimpered.

I jabbed my finger past the soft fabric at a rather painful angle into her. She yelped, and her eyes went slightly out of focus.

"Heh, that's not how this works. You don't get to complain." I said.

"P-pleash, shtop," she pleaded. Her speech had become slurred now, and she was sweating a little. And, by the moisture I was feeling on my fingers...

"Wow, you're starting to enjoy this, aren't you? You're a sick freak, aren't you?" I taunted.

She couldn't even formulate a response now. She was feeling too much pleasure and/or pain to comprehend what I was saying. A few seconds later, liquid started to flow down my hand, and heavy drips fell to the floor.

"Aww, you're such a naughty girl. Not many people could have enjoyed themselves that much in a situation like this."

She fell to the floor, in her own bodily fluids. I licked my fingers, which were coated in the same fluids.

"Mmm. You taste delicious, Kikyou-chan~" I licked all the glossy liquid off of my fingers.

"Oh, it seems I didn't leave any for you," I said.

I grabbed her hair, and forced her head to the ground.

"Drink up, little puppy." I said.

She was crying now, her tears mixing in with her juices on the floor. But, she started to lick the puddle that she had left.

"Good girl, Kikyou-chan. Looks like someone's thirsty." She had almost cleared up the entire puddle now.

"Well, it seems you still need more," I said.

I removed my own panties, and pulled up my skirt.

"I'll give you some more."

She came over to me, and started to lick me. It felt good, her tongue finding it's way around rather well. I felt fluid starting to coat my insides.

"Mhm," I let out an involuntary moan. I decided to reward her.

A gurgling sound came out as Kushida started to drink my own fluids. She collapsed on the floor now, barely able to stay upright.

"Ara ara, that was fun, wasn't it?" I caressed her cheek.

In return, Kushida muttered something. I couldn't tell what she said, but she wasn't exactly in a good way right now, so that much could be expected.

"Good night, Kikyou-chan," I said, kissing her on the lips, forcing my tongue into her mouth. I decided to let her keep my panties as a memento. I also took her soaking ones in return. I held them close, sniffing them. They smelt amazing.

I decided to help her get back to the dormitories. It was the least I could do, considering what I'd done. I took her card from her pocket, and opened her door.

I undressed her, and put her in the bathtub, turning the tap on. Considering what we'd just done, she had started to give off a very strong scent. Once the bath was full, I scrubbed and washed every inch of her body. It took a great amount of self-control on my part not to do anything else to her. She had started to come back to reality now, but she didn't speak.

After she was out of the bath, and I had dried her off properly, I dressed her in her pyjamas, and laid her on the bed. Then, I made to leave.

"W-wait..." she managed to whisper.

I turned around.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but thought better of it. I went up to her, and whispered in her ear.

"Stay quiet," I said.

Authors notes
842 words
Whew, steamy chapter
In this chapter, we greatly admired yuri.
Some stuff happened.
This is my first time writing lemons, so forgive me if it's a little basic.
Yep. I am now a smut author.
Congratulations, you read a rape fic. I bet your parents are proud of you.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you didn't enjoy yourselves too much

Arc 1 chapter 13: insurance

Apparently, Kushida hadn't turned up to school today. I wonder why that was?

The class study group was doing well. Of course, no one actually liked studying, but they liked the results it would bring. Everyone did their part to avoid expulsion so they could continue to spend time with their friends. Even the students who had good marks attended. Everyone repeated everything written on the blackboard, wracking their brains to understand the problems.

How did this school define an exemplary student? At the very least, people didn't pass or fail based solely on academics. Considering the fact that Sudou in class D had been accepted into this school, that much was obvious. If the school enrolled students talented in other areas, though, it was odd that they'd have a system in place to expel students for just one failing grade. At least, that was how I saw it.

Unless the system itself was a lie, there wasn't much I could conclude. Could they be creating such problems for less intelligent students solely so they could overcome them? It likely wasn't that simple. Both the small test we'd taken and the classes posed problems.

Once the afternoon class had ended, a satisfied-looking Ichinose gave a small nod and glanced at her notes. Apparently, she'd compiled everything together. She was helping to tutor the entire class, and she wanted the best possible results for all of her friends. That was her nature. Our class's evaluation would improve, as would the individual students' abilities. Even getting perfect scores wouldn't be too hard for a few in this class.

When the lunch bell rang, everyone made a mad dash for the cafeteria. Our break was 45 minutes long. After lunch, everyone had agreed to meet in the library for a 20 minute study session. At first, we'd planned to study in the classroom. However, for better concentration, we decided to avoid noise and use the library.

"Kanzaki, what are you doing for lunch?" I asked

"Nothing. Why, wanna eat lunch together?"

"Yes. I need your help with something."

Kanzaki and I headed to the cafeteria together. We navigated our way through the crowd and finally reached the meal ticket machine. I bought tickets for two portions but didn't line up at the counter. Instead, I went to the side of the vending machine and looked at the students perusing the menu.

"What is it?" Kanzaki looked puzzled when I began studying the machine.

"This might answer what was bothering me."

I continued observing students as they bought lunch sets from the ticket machine. After I'd observed about 20 students, my target appeared. He purchased his meal ticket and walked to the counter with heavy, plodding footsteps.

"Okay, let's go," I said.

"Hmm? Okay."

We quickly exchanged our tickets for meals and sat down in front of the heavy-footed student.

"Um, excuse me. Are you an upperclassman?" I asked.

"Hmm? Who are you?" The student regarded us calmly, a look of complete disinterest on his face.

"Are you a second-year student? Third-year?"

"Third-year. Let me guess, you're a first-year?"

"I'm Ayanokouji, From class B. You're in class D, aren't you?"

"What's that got to do with you?"

Kanzaki looked at me with surprise.

"How did you know?" He asked.

"Because he's limited to eating the free meals. It's not very tasty, is it?" I asked. He was eating the free vegetable meal set.

"What do you want? You're really irritating." He room his tray and made to stand, but I stopped him.

"I want to ask you something. If you listen, I'll show you my gratitude."

"Gratitude?"

The cafeteria's hustle and bustle drowned out my voice. The students were all engrossed in chatting pleasantly with their friends.

"Do you still have the problems from the midterm test from the first semester of your first year? Or, if not, do you happen to know someone from your class who does?"

"Do you even understand what you're asking?" He said.

"It's not particularly strange, is it? I didn't think it was against the rules to study old test problems."

"Why are you asking me?"

"That's simple. I believed I'd have the highest chance of success if I worked with someone who doesn't have any points. Honestly, that free vegetable meal doesn't look good. Of course, things would be quite different if you actually liked eating the vegetable set. What do you think?"

"How much are you going to pay?"

"Ten thousand points. That's as high as I'll go."

"I don't have the old test problems, but...I know someone who does. If you want him to help you, though, you're going to need to offer at least 30,000 points. If you've got that, you're fine."

"I'm afraid that 30,000 is a no-go for me. I don't have that much to spare."

"How much do you have?"

"20,000."

"Then 20,000...no, 15,000 should do. Nothing under that."

"15,000, huh?"

"If you'd go so far as to ask for old test problems from a stranger, then you must be pretty desperate, huh? Well, the school will mercilessly expel any student who gets a failing grade. None of my classmates are even here any more."

"I see. I understand. I'll pay the 15,000 points."

"Then we have a deal. Of course, I'll have to ask you to transfer the points in advance."

"Fine, but if you do anything to stab us in the back, I won't forgive you. Even if you're an upperclassman, I'll do anything and everything I can to make sure you're expelled."

"You're a freak. Fine, I get it. Besides, when you transfer points, there's always a record of it. If rumour spreads that some first-year students ripped me off, it'd look bad."

"All right then. Since I'm paying you 15,000 points, can you toss in a little bonus? I want to see the answers to the surprise test that we took after being admitted."

"All right, I'll toss that in, too. I think that your concerns are pointless, though." It seemed he understood what I was after.

"Thank you very much."

After we made our deal, he quickly left. He probably didn't want to be noticed.

"Hey, Ayanokouji? What you did just now. Was that really okay?" Kanzaki asked.

"It's no problem. School rules allow point transfers, so there was no violation."

"You might be right, but isn't getting the old test problems cheating?"

"Cheating? I don't think so. If the school didn't allow it, they would have outlined it in the school rules to begin with. Also, I felt more confident after seeing that third-year student. That is to say, it's not unusual for students to barter points like this."

"Huh?"

"My request didn't particularly surprise him, and he accepted quickly. This probably isn't the first time he's negotiated like this. It only did he have the answer sheet for the first-year midterm exam, but he also had the answer sheet for the mock test we took after being admitted. If he saved those, it's clear why."

Kanzaki's eyes widened in shock.

"Ayanokouji, what you did was unexpectedly daring."

"It's just a bit of insurance to make the class's grades the best in the year, if possible."

"But, if the old test answers are useless, then it will have been for nothing. I mean, the past test questions are old, aren't they? They might be completely unrelated to what's featured on this year's test."

"The problems may not be exactly the same, but there will definitely be similarities. I noticed a hint on that last mock exam we took."

"A hint?"

"You noticed the really difficult problems alongside the simple ones, right?"

"Yeah, I did. The final questions, right? I could only figure out the first one."

"I did some investigating, and I found that those questions were on the second- and third-year students' tests. In other words, a first-year student generally wouldn't understand how to solve them. Wouldn't it be pointless for the school to purposefully throw us problems we can't solve? Those questions aren't there simply to measure our academic ability. Now, suppose that the problems on the mock test we took were exactly the same as the problems on the old mock test. What would happen?"

"If I'd seen the old test, I would have been able to answer every question," he said.

The same thing would likely apply to the midterm exam as well. Shortly thereafter, that third-year student sent me a message with an image file attached.

First, I checked the mock test. The key was whether or not the last three problems were the same. Kanzaki must have been curious as well, because he drew closer and tried to peek at my phone.

"Well? Well?" He asked.

"They're the same. Every single word is identical. The test from that year and this year are exactly the same, in every way."

"That's amazing! So, if we show this to everyone in class, that would mean an easy victory! We should show this to everyone immediately."

"Now, we'll hold off. We won't show it to everyone yet."

"Wh-why? You went to all of the trouble of using up so many of your points for this!"

"If they learn that the old test questions would be effective, their motivation to study would go up in smoke. We need to be wary of overconfidence. After all, even though the mock tests were identical, it's possible that the questions featured on the midterm this year might not be the same as last year's."

These old test papers were insurance.

"Okay, then how will you use them?"

"I'm going to hand them out the day before the test. We tell everyone that the problems from the old test are generally the same as the ones on the new. Then what do you think will happen?"

"That night, everyone will be hunched over their desks, frantically trying to memorise all of the problems!"

"Exactly."

Students with a poor grasp of the basics probably wouldn't be able to memorise everything in a single day. However, a few in class B might be able to, and get perfect scores. The crucial thing was to avoid failing, though. If we got greedy, we might end up digging our own graves.

With this plan, we could get a few perfect scores in class B.

"When did you come up with the idea to get the old tests?" He asked.

"I had a hunch back when they first told us about the midterm exam."

"Huh?! Way back then?"

"There was something very peculiar about the way Hoshinomiya-sensei told us about the test. As our homeroom teacher, she's aware that everyone passed. Despite that, she seemed absolutely certain when she told us that there was a way for us to behave like exemplary students. In other words, she indicated that there was a surefire way for us to get exceedingly good scores."

"And that's...the old test papers?"

"This might be related to why students like Sudou from class D was admitted to this school despite being academically poor. Even if they couldn't get good grades by studying ahead, perhaps there were other means of addressing the problem, a backup plan they could use to avoid expulsion. This meant that is was possible for anyone to get a near-perfect score if they could get the old test papers. That's what I took from the situation, anyway."

"Ayanokouji, you are really an incredibly observant person, aren't you?"

"I'm just cunning. I was just looking out for what's best for the class."

"Hmm." Kanzaki grinned like some gears were turning in his mind.

"I have one more favour to ask. Could you please tell everyone that you got the old papers, Kanzaki? I want you to say that you got it from a third-year student you're close to."

"That's fine, but...why, Ayanokouji?"

"This will be the next step to unify the class under a strong leader. I've talked with a few students, you know. Amikura agrees that the friendly attitude of the class at present will only wind us up at the bottom. And Shibata really wants to get into a good soccer team with a recommendation from the school, which he can't get unless we scheme our way to class A. Besides, our classmates respect you, Kanzaki. I think it would be better if you told them."

"I understand. If you say so, Ayanokouji."

"Thanks. Don't say anything else, though. We need to avoid drawing attention."

"Okay, we can keep this secret between us."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"And also, why did you bring me along? You could have got me to do my part without dragging me along."

"I bought you with me so you can see how I think. I like you, Kanzaki. You have the potential to be great, but you need to be more cunning than any other."

He looked down, contemplating what I said.

"Anyway, let's go." I said. We still had to go to the library to study, after all.

Authors notes
2194 words
Mainly copied from the ln
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 1 chapter 14: midterms

It was Thursday. Tomorrow, the midterm would be upon us. Class had ended for the day. After Hoshinomiya-sensei ended the homeroom period and left the classroom, I signalled to Kanzaki. He immediately leapt into action. He took out printed copies of the old test I'd made at the convenience store and brought them to the podium.

"Everyone, before you return to the dorm, would you mind listening to me for a moment?"

Everyone stopped and listed to Kanzaki. This was a role I couldn't play. Only Kanzaki or Ichinose could do this, and I had chosen the former.

"I know that you've all been studying a lot in preparation for the test tomorrow. I have something to help you. I'm going to hand out some papers."

Kanzaki distributed the question and answer sheets to the students in the first row.

"Test...questions? Did you make these, Kanzaki-kun?" Ichinose was visibly surprised by this sudden turn of events.

"Actually, these are the old test problems. I got them from a third-year student last night."

"Old test problems? Huh? Wait, will these questions be on the test tomorrow?"

"Yes. To tell you the truth, I heard that the midterm test from the year before last had almost exactly the same problems as this one. So, I'd we study what's on this test, we'll get spectacular results."

"Woah! Seriously! Thank you, Kanzaki-kun!" Amikura said. None of the other students could suppress their elation, either.

"Everyone, do your best when you study today."

"Yeah. Thanks, you really helped us out today, Kanzaki-kun."

Everyone returned to the dorms with high spirits.

"Kanzaki-kun. Excellent work." Ichinose gave Kanzaki some praise.

"Ah, it was nothing," Kanzaki said.

"I'd never even considered trying to use the old tests. I'm also greatful that you verified that the questions were still useful."

"I just did it for the class. It was nothing special," Kanzaki said.

"Also, I think that you were correct to announce that you had it today after class. If you'd carelessly let word get out about this test, it's possible that everyone would have lost their motivation to study."

"That was only because I received the test papers so late. If many of the same test problems are featured on the test tomorrow, then everyone will probably manage to get pretty high test scores."

"Yes. It also means that the last month we spent studying wasn't for nothing."

The past two weeks had probably been tremendously tough for Ichinose, as she'd organised everything for the class study group. Hopefully, everyone had gotten more into the habit of studying now. Well, we'd done as much as we could. The next step for everyone simply came down to everyone.

"I just pray that no one draws a complete blank during the actual exam."

Well, I couldn't really do anything about that part. No matter how much they were taught and what they demonstrated during the study group, everything can down to their performance on the actual test. At least the previous questions were one crucial bit of help. I had no doubt we'd be the highest scoring class in the grade.

"Well, should we head back?"

Ichinose quietly looked over to Kanzaki as she put her textbook into her bag. "Kanzaki-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"Really, thank you for everything you've done. If you weren't here, a few people might have been in danger of failing."

"Don't worry about it. I just want to get into the higher-ranked classes together with everyone else. That's why I did it, and why I agreed to help with the study group. I'll help you again any time." Smiling, Kanzaki grabbed his bag and stood.

"Wait. There's just one thing I want to confirm," Ichinose said.

"Confirm?"

"If you say that you'll continue working with me for the sake of our class, then I need to be sure of something."

Ichinose looked straight at Kanzaki.

"You hate me, don't you?"

"Hey, hey..." I'd wondered what she wanted to ask, but that was ridiculously unexpected, especially of someone like Ichinose.

"Why do you think that?" Kanzaki asked.

"You're not answering my question because it's true. Right?"

"Ichinose-san. I don't hate you. I can say that much truthfully." He shouldered his bag and lowered his hands. Kanzaki faced Ichinose. "But that doesn't mean your worries are unfounded."

He answered clearly. He didn't hate her, we just didn't approve of her leadership within class B. He was direct.

"Do you want to tell me what that means?"

"No. That's unnecessary. Don't worry, I will always act in the way that most benefits class B. I can continue working with you without hesitation."

Ichinose looked down.

"Very well."

Despite what she'd just been told, Ichinose spoke calmly.

"There are no absences today. It appears everyone is present."

Hoshinomiya-sensei strode through the classroom with a bold smile on her face.

"That's the first hurdle cleared. Are there any questions?"

"We've studied diligently these past few weeks. I don't think that anyone will fail."

"Oh my. You sound quite confident, Ichinose-san."

Everyone wore a confident look. The teacher promptly took up the test papers and passed them out. Our first period test was for social studies. Out of everything we'd studied, it was probably the easiest subject.

"If anyone stumbles here, the other tests will be an uphill battle, quite frankly. You'll take this midterm and the final exam in July. If no one fails either test, you'll be rewarded with a vacation during your summer break."

"A vacation?"

"That's right. A dream vacation on an island surrounded by the brilliant blue sea."

Of course, the beach in summer meant I could see girls like Ichinose in their swimsuits...

"Everyone. Let's do our best!"

Before long, everyone had their test papers. On the teacher's signal, everyone began. I held off on staring for a moment and looked around at the others. With everything they'd learned, a few people could get full marks. First off, how many of these test's questions were the same as the ones from the old exam? I needed to check that first.

All right

I discreetly clenched my fist in triumph. Despite my fears, the questions here were the same as the old ones. I hadn't looked them over in any detail, but I saw no great difference. If I'd memorised what was on the old test, it was clear that I could get a perfect score.

Glancing around the classroom for assurance, I didn't notice any students looking flustered or confused. I assumed that many of them had engaged in some last-minute studying. Slowly, I went through and answered all of the problems.

The second and third period exams were for Japanese and chemistry, respectively. While I worked, I discovered something else that intrigued me. Looking over the problems again, I realised that what Ichinose had drilled into the study group was consistent with what was on the test. She'd been able to accurately predict what problems would appear just from the lessons. The popular girl two spaces to my right was even more impressive than I'd imagined. Perhaps I shouldn't cut her out of my future plans.

Then came fourth period. Mathematics. All of the abnormally difficult questions that had been featured on the mock test also appeared here, but the content was the same as the old exams. Even if no one could understand the problems, they could still apply the answers if they'd memorised them.

After a quick break, our English test began, which was the last test of the day.

Hoshinomiya-sensei strode into the classroom, looking around at the students in surprise. Everyone was clearly anxious, holding their breath in anticipation of the test results.

"Sensei. We were told that the results would be announced today, but when?"

"There's no need for you to get so worked up, Ichinose-san. You should have passed quite easily."

"So, when will the results be released?"

"Well, if you'd like, now is as good a time as any."

She stuck a large, white sheet of paper with everyone's names and test scores onto the blackboard.

"Honestly, I'm impressed. I didn't think that you'd score so well. Many students tied with perfect scores in all subjects. About 20 of you, actually."

Some of the students shouted in joy and delight when they saw the 100s lined up on the results sheet.

"It's all thanks to Kanzaki-kun."

"Yeah, thanks Kanzaki-kun."

"You're the best, Kanzaki-kun."

It was as I'd planned. More students were flocking under Kanzaki now, leaving the peace-loving Ichinose behind.

"Cheers." Kanzaki said joyfully and toasted with a can of juice. That evening, we had convened in my room. I had also invited Shibata and Amikura. We wanted them to join us in moving the class in a new direction.

"All things considered though, that midterm was dangerous. If we hadn't put the study group together, we would've been fine, but it really helped to bump up our scores. But the best thing was the old test papers you gave us, Kanzaki-kun. Our class got the highest grades in the school, even better than class A!" Shibata said.

"Even though we managed to make it through the midterm, we shouldn't lose our heads. Our next challenge is the final exam. We should expect those questions to be even more difficult than the ones today. In addition, we need to find a way to increase our points even further." Kanzaki said.

"Hey, Kanzaki-kun. Do you think it'll be really difficult to get more points?"

"Did you see class B's average score? We were the highest of the other classes by far. If you don't think that we'll get points for that, then you'd be sorely mistake." It was true. I expected their to be at least a small increase in points.

"Can I say something? We're all friends here, after all. Ayanokouji and I are working together to get into class A. If you're okay with it, I want you three to help us," Kanzaki said.

"Get into...class A? A-are you serious?" Shibata asked.

"Yes. I absolutely am. Increasing our points is an inevitable part of getting to the top as well."

"B-but, isn't the idea of reaching class A kind of ridiculous? They're all smart, right? It'd be impossible for us to win against those guys by studying." Amikura said.

When you considered their average test scores, everyone in that class was probably on Ichinose's level, and she was one of our smartest students.

"Studying isn't the sole factor in deciding who goes into what class, though. Right? We're still far from our goal, but if we play our cards right, I know we can do it. So that's why I'd like to ask the two of you to help us."

"Gladly." Said Amikura. I suspected she had a slight crush on Kanzaki, so that was why she was accepting his proposal.

Shibata looked to Kanzaki, then to me.

"Well, if you need me, then I suppose I can lend a hand." Shibata accepted.

"In this school, ability is paramount. I'm positive that our competition will grow even more severe moving forward. If you say you'll work with us, know that you can't do so half-heartedly. Otherwise you'll be a burden."

"Well, if it comes down to physical ability, leave it to me."

Ability was paramount, huh? I felt my chest tighten. We'd been isolated from the world and now thrust into this situation. Perhaps we were cursed.

Kanzaki seriously planned on getting to class A. His will was unshakeable. However, our path to class A would not be an easy one. Considering our current performance, it wasn't unthinkable that we could rise up. What should we do once we reached class A, though? Defend our position? Attack the other classes? I imagined that things would turn out as they would. For the time being, I'd do my best. For the time being, though...I would continue to be the puppet master of class 1-B.

Authors notes
2022 words
Yep pretty much copied from the ln again.
Arc 1 completed. .
I'll actually do vol 2 this time.
Speaking of last time, starting in class C: not completely defective got 20K reads today. That's awesome.
I think this passed 3k reads a few hours ago, too.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Side story: Ayanokouji's love life

You know...I kind of felt bad for Ichinose.

I'd made the class idolise Kanzaki instead of her. I know she didn't mind, but it was kind of the natural thing for a student council representative to lead their class.

She still played a vital role in the class, though. She and Kanzaki held the same amount of favour in the students' eyes. Kanzaki was the leader who helped them during exams, and Ichinose was the leader who helped them the rest of the time. I did feel bad for her.

She was also pretty thicc.

I mean, god...her thighs were just amazing. I wanted them to sandwich me. Specifically my face. And whenever she bent over, I could see the slight curves of her asscheeks. They were juicy and plump.

Her breasts were also some of the biggest in the grade. But they weren't just large, they were also...more attractive than regular big boobs? I couldn't really describe it.

The combination of big booba and thicc ass was nicely rounded off by a small waist. Like me, she had a perfect hourglass silhouette. Unlike me, it wasn't because she'd exercised thoroughly since she was a small child.

Yeah, I really liked Ichinose. Sure, I had Kikyou to play with, but there wasn't any real attraction. One of the reasons I had left that place was to find love, wasn't it? Maybe I would find it in Ichinose?

There were plenty of other candidates besides Ichinose and Kikyou, though. Kanzaki was a good choice, and I don't dislike the thought of us two together. But, at the moment at least, we were just friends.

(Rip Kanzaki)

There was Horikita, in class D, too. She was a beauty, to be sure. She was also athletic, and highly intelligent: the perfect girl. Unfortunately, her attitude was a big downside?

Gah, so many people!

Authors notes
313 words
Just wanted to make a lil chapter about Hornykouji's thoughts on some of the other characters.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 2 chapter 1: delayed income

Mornings in class 1-B were always lively, because most of the students were so talkative and friendly.

I took out my school-provide cell phone, launched the pre-installed school app, and logged in using my student ID and password. I then selected the option "Balance Inquiry" from the menu. From here, you could do many things. You could check your current personal balance, or you could see how many collective points the class had. There was also a function that enabled you to send points to another student.

There were 2 types of points listed. One of them was marked with a "cl" at the end, which was short for "class". These were also referred to as "class points"-not points that an individual student possessed, but rather, points that the class had accumulated together. Class D had zero points since June. No points at all. The other points were marked with a "pr" at the end, which stood for "private." These were our individual points.

On the first day of every month, they multiplied the cl points, or class points, by 100, then deposited that amount into our private point accounts. We used these private points to purchase daily necessities, meals, even electrical appliances. At this school, points are currency. They're very important.

If you didn't have any private points, you were forced to live day-to-day without spending money. You couldn't use real currency anywhere on campus.

When we first started here, we had 1000 class points.

If we had kept those points, we would have received 100,000-yen worth of points each month. Unfortunately, our class points fluctuated every day. Many things caused a reduction in points, like talking in class or getting a low score on a test. As a result, class B had 650 points when May came around. Things had continued in that vein until now, July 1.

In addition to determining our monthly allowance, the class points were used to measure our class's merit. The classes were ordered by class points, in descending order from A through D. So, in the event that class B managed to get enough points to surpass class A, our class would probably be promoted from B to A for the next month. Moreover, should we finally manage to get to class A, then we'd have the chance to attend the college of our choice, or to get the job we wanted.

When I first heard about this system, I thought it'd be important to accumulate as many class points as possible. Private points would grant us only personal satisfaction. However, Hoshinomiya-sensei, our homeroom teacher, had said that anything on campus could be purchased with private points. I wondered how far that extended. Could I buy my way into class A? Could I overturn an expulsion? Could I purchase a larger dormitory? If truly anything could be purchased, then the possibilities were almost endless.

Ergo, holding onto private points meant that it was possible to favourably change your situation.

"Good morning everyone. You all seem real restless today."

Hoshinomiya-sensei strode into the classroom as the homeroom bell rang.

"Chie-sensei! Did we lose all our class points? When I checked this morning, I didn't see a single point deposited into my account!"

"Oh, so that's why you're all restless?"

"We worked real hard this past month! We passed the midterm, so why don't we have any points?! No one's been late or absent, and no one's talking during class, either!"

"Don't jump to conclusions. Listen to what I have to say first. You're correct, Himeno-san. You have all worked harder than ever before. I recognise that. Naturally, the school understand full well how you all feel."

After being admonished by the teacher, Himeno shut her mouth and sat back down.

"Well then. Without further ado, her are this month's point totals!"

She put a paper up on the board that listed the point values, starting with class A on the top.

Class 1-A: 1004
Class 1-B: 0745
Class 1-C: 0540
Class 1-D: 0087

Class B had increased their points the most, with 95 points more than last month. Class A now sat at 1004 points, slightly above where everyone had started when we were admitted.

"This is good. We're advancing faster than all the other classes."

My neighbour, Kanzaki Ryuuji, appeared solely focused on the other classes. However, most of the other class B students didn't care much about the other classes' points. The more important question for them was whether we had received more class points. That was it.

"Huh? Wait, 745? Does that mean we actually went up? Yahoo!"

A few students were excited when they saw our score.

"It's too early to celebrate. All the other classes saw a similar increase in their points. We didn't close the distance at all. This might just be a reward first-year students receive for getting through the midterm. Every class seems to have gotten nearly 100 points,"

"So that's what happened. I thought it odd that we'd been awarded so many points so quickly."

Kanzaki, who hoped to reach class A, appeared pleased with the results, but didn't celebrate.

"Are you disappointed because the gap between the classes only changed slightly, Kanzaki?" I asked.

"No, that's not it. Sensei, why didn't we get any points?"

He lobbed Ichinose's original question again back at Hoshinomiya-sensei. It was indeed strange that we hadn't received 74,500 points in our accounts.

"Well, this time there was a little trouble. The first-year students' point distribution was delayed. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit longer," she said.

"Huh? Seriously? If this is the school's fault, then shouldn't we get some kind of bonus compensation?"

A few students grumbled in discontent. Once they found out that they wouldn't be getting their points, their attitudes changed dramatically.

"Don't blame me. This was the school's decision, there's nothing I can do about it. Once the trouble has been resolved, you'll receive your points. If there are still points left, that is."

There was a deeper meaning behind Hoshinomiya-sensei's words.

Authors notes
1029 words
Yep pretty much copied from the ln.
Start of a new arc .
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 2 chapter 2: Attack of the bitch!

Ichinose, with the help of one of her friends in class C, had discovered something important.

It turned out the reason we had not gotten any points yet was because of a dispute between class C and class D. Apparently, 3 class C students were claiming that Sudou Ken called them out to the special annex building, and beat them up. Sudou denied this, and said they called him out, and tried to attack him. He said he'd acted in self-defence.

Sudou was an idiot. It was extremely odd that he hadn't been expelled during the midterms. If I was betting money, I would have bet on him leaving.

Of course, Ichinose had something to say about the situation. She was already there, filling us in on the situation. Did she really have to say any more?

"Ok, guys. I know that it doesn't have anything to do with us, but this is a serious issue. We should help resolve this. Not only can we save a potentially innocent party from punishment, but it also means that we get our points sooner. Who's with me?"

A few nods and murmurs of agreement. But then, a voice called out.

"I don't know, seems pointless. What does Kanzaki-kun think?"

Finally, this was what I had been waiting for: Ichinose's authority had been directly challenged in favour of Kanzaki by a student other than Kanzaki or myself. I discreetly did a quick thumbs up under my desk. This was our agreed signal to go with whatever Ichinose was saying.

Kanzaki stood at his desk.

"Well, I do really want points now. And, I suppose it is good to help others in need." He said.

Now, the whole class was unified and on the same page. We would help resolve the issue. Now, it was up to us to decide who we thought was the guilty party.

In my own opinion, it was likely that Sudou had acted in self-defence, or at least was provoked. He had a short fuse, and even an idiot of Sudou's own calibre could manipulate him into using violence, whether by throwing the first punch or just simply insulting him till he threw the first punch, it probably wasn't that hard.

After a nice dinner in the dorm cafeteria, I headed back to my room. There, I took out my phone and checked my remaining balance. My account was displayed on screen. I saw that I had 267,529 private points. It hadn't changed since this morning. Considering that we'd started the year with 100,000 points, this was a pretty high amount. I had increased my point value by blackmailing a few seniors a while back.

"It would be pretty great if we got those 745 points," I muttered.

Converted, the points came to roughly 74,500 yen. Although it wasn't 100,000 points, it was still big bucks.

As I was playing around on my phone, I heard a loud knocking on my door. Opening it, I saw...

"Save me, Ayanokouji-san!" Sudou stood there, his face beet red.

"Why're you here?" I asked.

"I'm in serious trouble! You have to help me!"

"Huh? Why? If you need advice or you're worried or something, why not ask your friends Ike and...the other guy." I couldn't remember the other guys name. Guess he was just too forgettable.

"I can't ask them. They're stupid."

Takes an idiot to know an idiot. Sudou slipped to the floor with a thud.

"Buy some carpet, will ya? My butt hurts," he muttered.

I didn't see the point of interior design. Even though my room was the place where Kanzaki and I met up, we hadn't actually gotten together once since the party. Even if I went out and bought a carpet, I'd have been the only one sitting on it. Imagining it was just surreal.

As I went to make some tea, the doorbell rang. Kushida Kikyou, the girl I had raped a few weeks ago, poked her head through the entrance when I opened the door. She flinched a little when she saw me, but immediately regained her cheerful exterior. I had to say, she was a very good actor. She saw Sudou, who was still sitting on my floor.

"Oh, Sudou-kun's already here," she said.

"Hehe, hey Kikyou-chan~" I said.

"Hi, Ayanokouji-san, h-how are you." A few cracks appeared in her façade when I used her first name, but she kept her composure.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

As Kushida came in, I placed my hand around her firm ass for a moment, giving it a quick squeeze. She discreetly pushed my arm away, and took off her shoes. Luckily, my other guest hadn't seen our little transaction.

"Since Kushida-san came, too, can we move on to the topic at hand?" Sudou asked.

"All right, I guess there's no getting around it. So, what do you need to talk about?"

It wasn't like I could bluntly turn the two of them away. Sudou began to talk slowly, wearing a meek expression.

"Well, I don't know if you heard, but my homeroom teacher called me out in the middle of class today. I may be suspended. For a long time, actually."

It was to be expected. I acted surprised, as even our homeroom teacher hadn't told us about it yet. I decided to act oblivious.

"Did you insult Chabashira-sensei, by any chance?" I asked.

"That's not it."

"Then what? Did you grab her by the collar and threaten to kill her or something?"

"That's not it, either."

Another denial.

"It's probably worse than you're thinking..."

"Oh, I got it. He viciously beat Chabashira-sensei and then spit on her."

I looked at Kushida as I said this. She blushed a little, remembering what had happened on the rooftop.

"That's horrible. I mean, your wild ideas are too awful, Ayanokouji-san!"

"Ha ha, I'm only joking! Sudou-kun would never go that far."

"Well, it's not too far from the truth. I beat up some kids from class C yesterday. Then, I got suspended. The suspension is probably my punishment."

Kushida was also shocked by Sudou's words. She shot me a look. I didn't know that he'd already been suspended. I would have thought the school had an "innocent until proven guilty" policy, and allowed him to fight his case.

"Why did you come to me for help? Why not someone like Hirata-kun. Why did I need to be in this conversation. Why not just you two?"

Sudou looked down.

"You owe me for what you did back in the alley on the first day. Remember?"

Yeah I remember beating Sudou up. Damn.

"What did you do, Ayanokouji-san?" Kushida asked.

She was probably asking so that she could get some dirt on me.

"Nothing, really. Sudou just helped me get rid of a few senior dumbasses." I played it off.

Sudou explained the rest to us. The students in class C started the whole thing, and when their attempt to threaten Sudou had failed, they'd resorted to force. In other words, an act of violence. However, Sudou was an experienced fighter, so he'd managed to completely overwhelm them without breaking a sweat. Of course, they'd been injured. Since there was no evidence of what had happened, they'd lied the next day and told school officials that Sudou had beaten them up for no reason.

"If class C started this, then Sudou-kun isn't at fault."

"Right? I seriously don't get this. I can't believe that teacher either!"

"We should tell Chabashira-sensei tomorrow. We should tell her it wasn't Sudou-kun's fault," Kushida said.

Things probably wouldn't be so simple. Sudou must have already told the school what he'd just told us. But because he lacked clear evidence to support his claim, the school might still decide to punish him.

"Sudou-kun, what did the school say when they heard what happened?"

"They said they would give me until next Tuesday to come up with proof. If I can't do that, they'll say I'm at fault and I'll be suspended until summer. On top of that, class D will lose points too."

Apparently the school had decided to wait for evidence. However, Sudou appeared more worried about his basketball dreams than his suspension, or his class's loss of points. I guess he couldn't bear the thought of his youth being squandered.

"Sudou-kun, I promise I will help you. But I'm real tired right now, so can you leave?"

"R-really? Thanks Ayanokouji-san. You won't regret this!"

"I'll help too, Sudou-kun!" Kushida said.

"Thanks, Kushida-san! Anyway, we should really get going. By guys."

Sudou left the room.

"Well. Aren't you heading back, Kikyou-chan?" I asked.

"I have a few things I want to ask you about, Ayanokouji-san."

I suppose this was inevitable, considering what I'd done to her.

"Why did you do that stuff to me?" She asked. She was facing away from me now, so I couldn't see her face, but her voice was low. That meant that her creepy face was probably on display.

"Simple. You're pretty sexy. So I fucked you." I admitted.

She seemed somewhat taken aback by the answer, and faltered for a moment, but didn't move from her position.

"That's not a good reason," She said.

"Well, even if it's not a good reason, it's the only reason," I shot back.

"You weren't very gentle, you know."

"I don't really care, you know."

This tipped her over the edge. She stood up, and turned towards me. Her face was pretty scary.

"I hate you, Ayanokouji Kiyone," she said through gritted teeth.

"Aww. I don't give a flying fuck about whether you hate me or not," I said.

She'd passed boiling point now. She'd obviously come to my room expecting this confrontation to happen, considering what happened next.

She pulled a kitchen knife out of her blazer and charged me. I could tell she wasn't very good at this; her movements were sluggish and unrefined. She was very slow.

I dodged, and the knife went through the wall behind her. She tried to pull it out, but it was stuck. She aimed a punch at my face, which I block. I delivered a knee into her own stomach, sending her staggering backwards onto the bed.

The bed .

"Ara ara, Kikyou-chan~..." I said.

Authors notes
1737 words
A little different from the ln, but not much.
Stabby psycho bitch from my other fic is back.
Ayanokouji is gonna help Sudou, but she won't be able to do much, as Horikita won't tell her about Sakura being the eyewitness.
Fun chapter next chapter, I hope .
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 2 chapter 3: rejected

WARNING! WARNING! HORNYKOUJI DETECTED AHEAD!

Kushida had fallen onto the bed.

Before she could get up, I followed suit. I was on top of her now, my arms either side of her head.

"Ara ara, Kikyou-chan," I said.

Kushida hit me in the jaw, so I pinned both of her arms down.

"Gnnh...let me GO!" She kicked me in the crotch. That felt nice.

I kissed Kushida's neck, while she desperately struggled to get away. While I kissed her, I let go of one of her arms. This time, she didn't try to hit me. I used my free arm to unbutton her shirt, and take off her tie. She had on an orange bra, which would soon be coming off.

I put my fingers underneath said bra, and played with the small nipples underneath. Kushida let out a moan. A rather important thing to note now was that Kushida wasn't resisting anymore, and I could free my other arm. I did so now.

With my newfound mobility, I used my finger to gently creep down to Kushida's soft panties. I rubbed them gently, and Kushida moaned a little more vigorously than she did when I was just playing with her nipples. I slipped a finger underneath, and caressed her clitoris.

Kushida arched her back off of the bed now, and let out a gasp. I took my mouth away from her neck, and placed my lips upon Kushida's own. Unlike last time we kissed, she actually returned this one. She was starting to enjoy herself.

We couldn't have that, now, could we?

I licked my fingers, and rammed it up Kushida's ass.

"Nyaah, that hurtsh," she screamed.

"Let me tell you something Kushida: I don't love you. The only thing you're useful to me for is sex, do you understand?"

Tears formed in her eyes. I drove my fingers deeper, which gave me a response.

"Y-yesh, I understand," she whimpered.

"Good," I said, removing my fingers. I grabbed Kushida by the hand, and dragged her to the bathroom. She could barely walk after what I'd done.

I took off her clothes, and then took off my own. Without her clothes, I could witness the full beauty of her body. It was exquisite, every inch of her body a masterpiece. I licked her nipples, and she held my head.

I turned on the shower, and felt the rushing water cascade down my back and onto the floor. Kushida lifted up my head, and started to play with my own breasts. She wasn't very good at this part of sex, it seemed. She just kept fumbling around. I picked her up by the legs, and put her against the wall. She squealed.

"W-wow, you're really strong, Kiyone," she gasped.

"Don't worry, you're pretty light," I said.

I started to eat her out. She moaned harder than she had before, even on the rooftop. I looked up to see that she was smiling slightly. After about a minute of this, a wave of liquid flooded my mouth. I drank as much as I could, but much of it just went down the shower drain.

I put Kushida down, and had to support her, as she could barely stand.

For the next few minutes, we just cleaned ourselves. I washed Kushida's back, and she washed mine.

We put ourselves in towels and had some tea.

"So, Ayanokouji, what are you going to do about Sudou's problem?" She asked.

"There's not much I can do. Things would be different if we had a witness, but I haven't seen anyone come forward so far, so chances are there isn't one," I told her the truth.

If there was no witness, realistically there was no case. To be honest, I really didn't want to help Sudou, but I did sort of owe him for beating him up that time.

"Hmm, that's a shame," she said, slightly downcast.

"Kushida, why do you do it? The fake act, I mean," I asked.

"Eh?" She was slightly taken aback by my question.

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but I do it because I want to," she explained.

I still didn't get it. But I could tell that was all I would get out of this line of questioning today.

"So, Kiyone, about...us..." she reached out and lightly held my hand. I retracted said hand.

"There is no us, Kushida. If you want satisfaction, call me. I'll do the same if I'm ever pent up. Other than that, we have no reason to speak to each other outside of school-related topics," I said, bluntly.

"Oh...I see."

She took off her towel, and got dressed.

"Goodbye, Ayanokouji-san. Thanks for the...good time," she said, walking out the door.

Authors notes
798 words
Steamy chapter
Yeah Ayanokouji isn't in love with Kushida or anything. This is probably going to be the last time they have sex.
I can't fucking believe I write this shit.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 2 chapter 4: it's official

The bad news just kept coming. During homeroom the following morning, as Hoshinomiya-sensei was about to leave, she gave us a brief and off-hand announcement.

"I have an announcement for you all. There was a bit of trouble the other day, an incident between a class D student, Sudou Ken, and some students from class C. In short, there was a fight."

We already knew. Ichinose had told us before, because of her vast information network. We still acted surprised, so as not to tip the school off that someone had blabbed.

"The complaint came from class C. They claim that the fight was one-sided. However, when we spoke to the accused, Sudou said that their claims were false. He insists that the students in class C called him over and started the fight."

"Are you certain it was Sudou? It don't think he would start a fight for no reason," said Ichinose

"But there's no evidence he didn't. In other words, we don't yet know the truth. Therefore, we have put our decision on hold for now. Our response, and the punishment, will come when we find out who was at fault. To find out who is at fault, I have been asked to check if anyone in class B checked witnessed this incident. Did anyone see the fight?"

Silence.

"I see. That is all. We'll make our final judgement next Tuesday, taking into account any eyewitnesses and evidence. With that, let's end homeroom for the day."

Hoshinomiya-sensei left the room.

"Everyone, can you please listen to what I have to say?" Ichinose took control of the situation.

"What our teacher said seems to be true. Sudou-kun may have been in a fight. However, Sudou-kun was dragged into it."

"Ichinose-san, what do you mean? Do you believe Sudou?"
Kanzaki asked. He knew a good time to ask good questions.

"I'd like to ask you all again. If anyone knows someone who saw what happened, whether it's someone in class, a friend, or an upperclassman, please tell me. You can contact me at any time. I would sincerely appreciate it."

Even though she'd basically said the same thing as Hoshinomiya-sensei, the class had a very different response. She had an innate ability to connect with people. Her presence flowed so bright that I could almost feel it.

Instantly, silence enveloped the classroom. No one in class B had witnessed the fight.

To be brutally honest, no one except Ichinose, a few other genuinely kind students, and the nosy students cared about the class D/C fight. The majority would just wait for it to blow over.

To be honest, I said I would help Sudou, but I would realistically just not do anything. Unless an eyewitness presented themselves, I wouldn't do anything. And even then, if an eyewitness appeared, I wouldn't be of much use.

It would actually be best if no one from class B got involved in the situation.

Which is exactly why Ichinose had gone up to the students of class D and offered to help. Such a pain.

She had gone over to the class D students after lunch and formed an "alliance" of sorts. That definitely wasn't good.

There were four dorm buildings on campus. Three were for students, who stayed in the various dorms to which they were assigned from first through their year. In other words, our dorm building this year was the same one where last year's third-year students had lived. The fourth building housed the instructors and school employees.

Some entered my field of vision. Our eyes naturally met.

"Hey, Ayanokouji-san! Good morning. You're early."

She had beautiful long, wavy hair and big eyes. The second button of her blazer strained over her large chest. Her upright posture matched her dignified personality. I found myself more attracted to her cool temperament than how cute she was. Ichinose Honami had found me again.

"I woke up a little earlier today. What were you talking about with the manager?" I asked.

"A few people in class wanted to make requests about their dorms. Don't you remember a little while back, when I asked you your thoughts on the matter. Well I told the dorm manager. Stuff like water usage, noise, and so on."

Oh yeah, I think I remember something like that.

The two of us began walking to school together.

"Aren't you usually a little late? This reminds me that I've never seen you around this time."

Ichinose's question sounded harmless, as if she were following some kind of template. After hearing those words, I felt a little relieved and accomplished. She hadn't realised that I was helping her opposing class leader, Kanzaki.

"I don't have to leave so early. I usually hang around my room for about 20 minutes."

"So I guess you make it just in the nick of time, then?"

As Ichinose and I got closer to the school, the number of students around us multiplied.

"Ah, that reminds me. Did you hear about summer break, Ayanokouji-san?"

"Summer break? No. I mean, isn't it just summer break?"

"I've heard rumour that we might be taking a vacation to a tropical island."

That sparked a memory. I'd forgotten about it, but Hoshinomiya-sensei had mentioned a vacation.

"I can't believe it, though. Could we really go on a vacation?"

It probably wasn't a normal school field trip. I mean, just look around. It was no exaggeration to say that this school was fancy. Going to a tropical island in the summer and visiting a hot spring in the winter...

It was all incredibly suspicious. I really didn't think our school was going to be so good to be true. They had to be keeping something from us. I wondered what Ichinose thought. But I saw from her bitter smile that she also had doubts.

"It's suspicious, after all. I think it's going to be a turning point."

"In other words, you think our class points could fluctuate wildly over summer break?"

"Yeah, yeah. I think there might be a hidden task, one that has a bigger impact on us than the midterms or final exams. Otherwise, the difference between class A and us wouldn't close much. We could diminish the gap little by little."

That was certainly true. A big, earthshaking event might very well occur soon...

Authors notes
1068 words
A little bit different from the ln, but not much.
I didn't realise it until a little while ago, but starting in class C got 20k reads at some point .
Thank you for all the support
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 2 chapter 5: a chat with Ichinose

"So far, the midterm is all that's given us a chance to raise our class points, so losing at least a few points was unavoidable for us. I mean, even class A has lost points."

However, as a result of the midterm, we'd managed to gain back points.

"You don't seem to be panicking."

"I'm concerned, but I think we can do it. I intend to focus all of my emotional energy into making those preparations."

I thought the first part of what she'd said was definitely correct. However, our cohesion as a class made such things possible. Classes C and D were quite far behind us.

"I wonder how much this event will change things?"

It would probably be worth more than 10 or 20 points. However, it was difficult to imagine that it would change things by 500 or even 1,000 points.

"At any rate, it doesn't seem like this will get worse." I didn't want to complain, but I felt that something annoying was on the horizon.

"But if we did vacation on a tropical island, that would be awesome!"

"I wonder about that..." I said.

"Huh? That idea doesn't make you happy? Do you hate travelling?" Ichinose asked.

"I don't hate it. I don't think I do, anyway..."

While we chatted, I tried to imagine what it would be like. I'd never traveled with a friend before. I had gone to New York with my parents a long, long time ago. Not a single millisecond of it had been fun. Just remembering that bitter time wore me out.

"What's the matter?"

"Just recalled something a bit traumatic."

My dry laughter echoed through the hot hallway. No, this wasn't good. If I let my negative aura spread, Ichinose would get troubled. However, it seemed like my anxieties were unfounded. Ichinose continued talking, seemingly untroubled by my words.

"Hey, I still have some things on my mind. May I ask you some questions?"

Ichinose had a radiant presence, though it was different from Kushida's. I could say that she acted without an ulterior motive. Even when talking to a person like me, she put her best foot forward.

"We've been separated into four classes from the start, right? Do you really think they separated us by ability?"

"I understand that it wasn't entirely tied to our exam results. There are people in class D that, based on grades, should have gotten into the top ranks."

Horikita had scored quite high on the midterm, I'd heard.

"So, do you think it's something like overall ability?"

I gave a noncommittal answer. I'd thought about it many times, but couldn't find a thorough explanation.

"I've been thinking about it since we started here. Someone might be good at studying, but bad at physical activity. Another might be good at physical activities, but bad at studying. But if students are ranked by overall ability, doesn't that mean that the lower classes are at an overwhelming disadvantage?"

"Isn't that how societal competition works, though? I don't think there's anything particularly strange about that," I said.

Ichinose crossed her arms and hummed to herself, as if she wasn't convinced.

"If we were competing as individuals, sure. But this is a competition between classes, right? If you simply put all of the superior students into class A, then doesn't that mean the rest of us have virtually no chance of succeeding?"

That pretty much explained the current state of our class points. However, Ichinose seemed to think differently.

"There's definitely a big difference between class A through D right now. However, I think they're trying to hide something, but going about it in a weird way. Don't you agree?"

"Okay, I have to ask. What's your reasoning?"

"Ha, no reason, really. It's just something that popped into my head. If it weren't true, then it'd be fair to say the whole situation is cruel. I think that good students and good athletes were placed into class D for a reason, as a countermeasure."

Wasn't that different from the usual system, though? I'd the classes were solely divided according to academic ability, there'd be no way to win against the others. In a system like this, it was important to be an expert in many different fields.

Ichinose stopped, almost as if she'd just remembered something. I tried reading her face, noting that she wore a serious expression.

"Hey...there's something I want to ask you, Ayanokouji-san. Is that okay?"

It was like the bright, cheery Ichinose of a moment ago disappeared. My body stiffened slightly.

"If it's something I can answer, I will."

Besides, what question couldn't I answer with my massively impressive big brain, filled with the knowledge of a hundred million books?

"Has a boy ever confessed his feeling to you?"

That...wasn't in any of the hundred million books I'd read.

"Really? Do I look like a girl who's ever had a guy confessed his feelings to her?"

Was she going to call me disgusting, or a virgin, or a shitty moron? Would I cry? I'd done stuff with girls before, did that count?

"Oh no, I'm sorry. It's nothing."

It didn't look like it was nothing. However, it did look like she didn't plan to make fun of me. Rather, she was actually worried about something.

"Did someone confess to you?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Kind of."

It seemed like many students were striving every day to couple up like Hirata and Karuizawa in class D.

"Well, if you're okay with it, can you spare a little time after class? I have some questions about confessions."

"Sure that's okay."

"Thank you."

I wondered what all this confession stuff had to do with me? Had she made up a lie like "Ayanokouji is my girlfriend" to mislead people? I considered it for a moment, but then thought how good of a plan it was.

Since a boy was confessing, his mind would be too overloaded at the thought of me and Ichinose going out that he wouldn't really question it. Pretty genius. Much big brain .

"I'll be waiting at the school entrance after class."

"O-okay. I understand."

Even though I knew absolutely nothing was going to happen, I was pretty excited. I watched Ichinose walk away, her shapely thighs rubbing against each other. If I lowered my head a little, I was able to see her panties.

Hmm. Green? Odd colour.

Authors notes
1072 words
Yep pretty much copied from the ln again.
You know, classroom of the elite would actually make a top tier dating sim. Just think about it, tho.
I haven't eaten in 13 hours
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 1 chapter 6: out with the old...

Students overflowed through the school doors as they made their way home. I was a little worried about finding Ichinose, but my anxieties quickly disappeared. She stood out even in this sea of students. Although her cuteness could have been one reason why, she also had the type of presence that dominated wherever she was.

To be honest, I didn't really know how to describe it. I could only describe it as intoxicating, gentle power. A power that was amplified by how many first-year students recognised her. It was similar to Kushida, but even more so. Ichinose was popular with boys and girls alike. They greeted her one after another. Because of that, I wasted about five minutes just trying to find the right time to call her myself.

"Ah. Ayanokouji-san. Over her, over here!"

Ichinose eventually noticed me and called me over. Pretending like I'd only just arrived, I casually raised my hand.

"So, what should I do next?" I asked.

"I plan to finish this as soon as possible. Follow me."

I put on my shoes and followed Ichinose to the other side of the building. We arrived at a spot right behind the gymnasium. This did seem like the kind of place where someone would confess their feelings.

"Now then..."

Ichinose took a deep breath, and faced me. No way...did Ichinose plan to confess to me?!"

"I think..."

No way, there was no way this could-

"I think someone will confess their feelings to me here,"
She said.

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that.

With that, Ichinose took out a letter and showed it to me. It was a cute love letter adorned with a heart sticker. Although she wanted me to read it, it felt rude to look. The handwriting was pretty, much like the letter's exterior. The handwriting was cute, definitely not like a boy's.

If it wasn't a boy's handwriting, then why had Ichinose brought me here? Wouldn't it be better to bring a boy along to prove she wasn't in to girls?

I noticed something else that concerned me. The meeting time and location were written in the letter. It was set for Friday evening at 16:00, behind the gymnasium. That was about 10 minutes from now.

"Wouldn't it be better if I weren't here?" I asked.

"Love is kind of alien to me. I don't know how to respond without hurting her feelings. I also don't know if we can stay good friends afterwards. I want you to help me."

"No. I'm sorry Ichinose-san. This is something you have to do on your own. I don't care about whatever bullshit you'd feed the poor girl about us two, but she doesn't deserve that. You need to be honest with her. I'll be waiting by the front of the dorms when you've finished." I said, walking away.

"W-wait...Ayanokouji-san..." she tried to say, but I didn't look back.

I walked past Shiranami Chihiro on the way past. So, it was her who wanted to confess to Ichinose? Well, I wished her the best of luck, then.

This whole situation had given me a new view of Ichinose. Maybe I was wrong to have installed Kanzaki as the leader.

I called Kanzaki.

Kanzaki pov

"Hey, Ayanokouji. What did you want to meet up about?"

It was really weird. She said she had wanted to meet up at 18:00 in my room. Could she...no, she couldn't be.

"Hey, Kanzaki. I'm gonna come straight out and say it: I don't believe that you're as good a choice as Ichinose for class leader," she said.

What?

"W-what do you mean, Ayanokouji? Wasn't it your idea to make me class leader in the first place?" I asked.

This was odd. I wasn't entirely bothered about being the class leader in the beginning, but I was committed to that role now, thanks to Ayanokouji.

"Yes. And I'm sorry about that. For sure, you're better at academics and athletics than Ichinose, but I believe that Ichinose is better suited to the position of class leader. I also believe that, with enough training, she could surpass you in academics and athletics, anyway." She said.

"B-but..."

"No buts, Kanzaki. I'm sorry, but you have fulfilled your use." She said, making to leave.

No. I couldn't let it end like this. I grabbed her hand.

"What...are you...doing?" She said, without turning her head.

"No. I won't let this happen. We've already come so far, why not just keep me as class leader?"

Next thing I knew, I was on the floor.

Ayanokouji pov

I talked to Ichinose outside the dorms, after she had gone through her business with Chihiro. She said that they had worked it out, and that they would still be friends.

After that, I waited until the meeting I had scheduled with Kanzaki.

He didn't like the news, and grabbed my hand as I was about to leave.

"What...are you...doing?" I asked.

How fucking dare he grab me like that.

"No. I won't let this happen. We've already come so far, why not keep me as class leader?"

I jabbed his wrist, and he released his grip on my hands. I did a front flip, making sure my heel collided with his jaw.

I heard him fall behind me.

"Do not forget your place, Kanzaki. You may not be the tool I use to control the class anymore, but that doesn't mean I release you from my service. From now on, you'll pretend to serve Ichinose, who will be indirectly serving me. I hope I will have no more insubordination from you, Kanzaki-kun?" I asked.

"N-no, Ayanokouji," he apologised.

I stomped on his hand.

"Use honorifics."

"Y-yes, Ayanokouji-sama," he said.

Hm. I didn't like that.

"Be sure just to use san, okay?"

"Yes, Ayanokouji-san."

I left without saying another word.

Arc 1 chapter 7: ...and in with the new

(A/N can't be bothered to do the trial so timeskip)

This was astonishing. They had actually got themselves a witness, with photograph proof that she was there. Her name was Sakura Airi.

Due to there still being a lack of clear evidence, however, class D had been given 3 more days to find evidence.

Maybe now I could help them.

I went up to Kushida.

"Kushida-san, do you have the contact info of the three boys in class C?"

It was past 15:40. With classes over for the day, I went to the special building. This had become increasingly hot and humid as the summer wore on. If things proceeded as planned, then the person I was expecting should arrive soon. Shortly thereafter, three guys showed up, all grumbling about how unbearably hit it was. They appeared happy, though, wearing optimistic expressions.

That was because the three of them had received emails from none other that Kushida Kikyou. Had the message contained an invitation to go on a date? Or perhaps, even more insane, a romantic confession? They were probably dreaming of such things. When they saw me, their fantasies were crushed.

"What's going on? Why are you here?

Apparently they remembered me from the student council room. Ishizaki, the group's leader, stepped forward as if to intimidate me. He was rather forceful when no one was around to see.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to us? Why would we want to do that? Had the heat scrambled your brain or something?"

Ishizaki, who clearly was affected by the heat, grabbed his shirt and flapped it.

"No matter what you do, you can't hide the truth. Sudou called us over here and beat us up. That's our answer. Now he needs to quietly accept his punishment."

"I have no intention of arguing. That would be a waste of time. I fully understand that neither class C nor class D will retract what they claimed yesterday."

"So why do this? Are you going to abduct us so we miss the trial? Or are you going to have a bunch of people surround us and threaten us with violence? It'll be just like that time with Sudou."

Oh. That was a rather interesting idea, but it would only work as a stopgap measure. Such threats wouldn't work on these people. Quite the contrary; they looked like they'd welcome it. If they were the victims of another attack, they'd probably find a way to make their situation even more favourable.

"Just give up. See ya later."

Understanding that Kushida would not be coming, the three turned and tried to leave, but one other person stood in their way.

"I think you guys might want to reconsider that idea, actually."

Ichinose, who'd been waiting for all of the players in this drama to appear, quietly stepped forward.

"I-Ichinose?! What are you doing here?!"

The class C boys were shocked. Given the unexpected appearance of a goddess, their shock was reasonable.

"What do you mean? What if I said that I'm here because I'm involved with this case?"

"Ichinose, you're a celebrity."

"Ha ha. Well, I guess I'm well known among the member of class C."

Since the class C students hadn't expected her to be involved, it looked like tension was rising between them. They were clearly starting to lose their composure.

"This incident has nothing to do with class B, right? So both of you butt out..."

But unlike when they'd spoken to me, their threats sounded weak. They sounded desperate to get away.

"You're certainly right that class B has nothing to do with this. But how do you feel about involving so many people in your lies?"

"We didn't lie. We're the victims. We are. Sudou called us out here and beat us up. That's the truth."

"So evildoers remain obstinate until the very end. It's about time for you to pay the piper!" Ichinose declared, making a wide, sweeping gesture with her right arm as she did so. "You lied. We can all see through you. You got violent in the end. If you don't want that fact to become public knowledge, withdraw your claim right away."

Even though I hadn't explained every detail, I felt that things would be fine in Ichinose's capable hands.

"Huh? Withdraw? Don't make me laugh. What, we're you half asleep when you came up with that argument? You can't just claim something and make it true. Sudou started the fight. Right?"

Ishizaki looked to his two accomplices, who immediately answered, "that's right! That's right!"

"Did you know that this school is one of the leading government-sanctioned institutions in Japan?"

"Of course we do. That's why we tried to enrol here."

"I'm that case, you should try using your heads a bit more. Your aims were obvious right from the start, wouldn't you say?" Ichinose grinned and talked with greater animation, as if relishing this. She walked slowly towards the three as she spoke, like she was a famous detective revealing the true culprit in an investigation.

"Didn't you think that the school's response to this incident was rather strange?"

"Huh?"

"When you raised the issue with the school, why wasn't Sudou punished immediately? Why give an opportunity to escape by granting a grace period of several days? What do you think was the reason?"

"Because he lied to the school and cried for mercy. If they hadn't given him the time as a formality, we, the victims, would have one."

"Is that really true? I wonder if you had a different aim, a different purpose?

The windows in the hallway were all closed. The sun, still high in the sky, glared down upon us, increasing the heat and humidity.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about. Ah, damn it. It's so hot!"

One's ability to think, that is to say, to concentrate, decreases as heat increases. One cannot exhibit sufficient logical, creative thinking outside of a comfortable environment. The more content you cram into your head, the more your brain will overload.

"Whatever, I'm out of here. I'm going to boil alive if I stay."

"Is that really okay, though? If you leave this place, you might regret it for the rest of your life."

"What do you want, Ichinose?"

They didn't seem to understand what she was getting at.

"Don't you understand? The school knows that you're lying, class C. They've known from the beginning."

This statement probably came as a surprise to them. None of them had imagined such an outcome. Ishizaki and the others looked at each other for a few seconds, then snorted with laughter.

"Don't make me laugh. We lied? And the school knows it?"

"Hahahaha. You guys are so funny," Ichinose said. "You've been dancing to my tune all this time."

"That's a nice try, Ichinose. But we're calling your bluff!"

"I have actual evidence," Ichinose continued, unfazed by Ishizaki's threats.

"Oh? Well, let's see it. Show me what evidence you-"

They thought there was no way we had any evidence, of course. Even after what Ichinose had said, they weren't shaking. However, when she began to speak, their defeat was decided.

"Did you know that there are security cameras installed everywhere around the school? It's a measure they've taken in order to monitor what we do every day."

"Yeah. So what?"

They seemed to have already known about the security cameras. Ishizaki and the others appeared unconcerned.

"Well, then. Did you not see that?"

Ichinose looked to a spot near the ceiling a little further down the hall. Ishizaki and the others tracked her gaze.

"Huh?"

They voiced complete disbelief. A security camera hung in the hallway and occasionally swung from left to right, capturing everything.

1297 words
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 2 chapter 8: they all give up in the end

"That's too bad, isn't it? If you want to set a trap for someone, you'd need to do it in a place without any cameras."

"Buh, wh-what camera?! You're lying! But, there weren't any cameras in the other hallways, were there?! It's weird that there's only one installed here! Right?!"

Ishizaki looked back at his two accomplices, seeking their opinion. They nodded, confirming that yes, Ishizaki was right. They wiped sweat off their faces as they answered.

"You can't trick us like that. You guys installed that camera yourselves!"

"You're right, by and large, cameras aren't installed in most of this building's hallways. However, there are exceptions, and several places in which security cameras have been installed, like in front of the faculty room and the science lab. Obviously, there are many valuables stored in the faculty room, you know? Additionally, the science lab has many chemical products. Since the science lab is on this level, it's only natural that a camera would be installed here."

For the first time, Ishizaki and the others seemed to be at a loss for words. Ichinose did not fail to notice how they faltered.

"Have you looked back there, behind you? There's one there too, right?"

Ishizaki and the others looked down the hall as instructed, and saw a camera. Of course, that camera was monitoring the hall's opposite end.

"So if we'd installed a camera, like you said, would we have prepared one on that side, too? Besides, how exactly would we have prepared surveillance cameras when we can't even leave campus in the first place."

We were cutting off their escape routes one by one.

"Th-that's impossible...that...I mean, we...checked back then...we should have..."

"This is the third floor, but did you really check? Maybe you only looked at the second or the fourth? Perhaps the cameras were truly set up here as a trap?"

The three were holding their heads and sweating far more than normal.

"Also, you realise that you just destroyed yourselves, right? Normal people wouldn't think to check whether there were security cameras, right? That's basically admitting your guilt." Ichinose delivered the final blow.

"So, so...that time...no way..."

"The security cameras couldn't record the sounds of your voices, but definitely captured the decisive moment where you threw the first punch."

The cuffs of their uniforms were completely drench in sweat. Ichinose passed the baton to me. My, my, they probably would've been better off just talking to me, huh?

"The school's waiting, right? Go ahead and tell us the truth. After giving you a grace period, the student council president himself asked if you had lied. If you think back, don't you realise that the student council saw through everything?"

The three of them were probably frantically wracking their brains to recall what happened at the meeting. Of course, the student council had not seen through their lies at all. However, the student council had their doubts about who was telling the truth. If the class C students interpreted that question to be focused squarely at them, it lent itself a certain credence.

"That's...I didn't hear about anything like that! It's all over!"

Komiya buckled. Leaning against the wall, he slid down to his knees. Kondou held his head in his hands. They all seemed to recognise what was happening. Or so I thought, but Ishizaki wasn't buying it.

"W-wait a minute. I'm still not convinced. Okay, let's say the security cameras did capture some footage. You should've been able to prove Sudou's innocence without having to really do anything, right? You didn't need to call us out here to tell us this. You could have just presented it at the trial. But you guys called us here, right?"

"Innocence? That depends on what you're innocent of. We know that both parties took damage during the incident. No matter the circumstances, Sudou hit the three of you. That's undeniable. Of course, if the security footage can prove that Sudou wasn't the one who called the three of you over here, he'd probably receive the lightest possible punishment. However, he might not be able to participate on the basketball team any longer.

Sweat poured down Ishizaki's forehead like a waterfall. We were hot as well, but comparatively much better off than these three. Their temperatures kept rising as we cornered them.

"What the hell? Well then, I'd it's like you people say, the security footage shouldn't be any trouble at all, right? We'll be fine as long as we can get Sudou suspended for even one day."

"If that happens, you might be expelled. Are you fine with that?"

Clearly, they hadn't thought that part through, and didn't notice the dilemma they faced.

"If someone checked the security camera footage, it would expose your lies. If that were to happen, chances are good you'd be expelled. Anyone could see that."

"Wha-"

"W-wait, why expelled? You didn't say that we lied!" Kondou was trying to save himself, his voice weak and strained.

"The school is testing us. They're testing to see if we can solve problems, and what kind of conclusions we draw. Don't you think that's consistent with everything else in this case?"

"Why would...I-I definitely don't want to get expelled!"

"H-hey, Ishizaki. It's not too late to tell them we lied! If we do, the school might forgive us!"

"Damn it. This is ridiculous. Admit that we lied? Well, fine. As long as Sudou's punished, I'll prepare myself for the worst punishment possible, an honourable sacrifice! It'll all be over for Sudou!"

In other words, Ishizaki wouldn't withdraw. Instead, he'd press forward.

"It's rather early to draw a conclusion. We'll give you one last chance. There's only one way to save both class C and class D."

"Like hell we'd do that!"

If the incident existed, it would be impossible to save everyone. In that case, it would be better if the incident didn't exist at all.

"There's only one way to resolve this issue. Tell the school that you wish to withdraw your complaint. If you do that, the school will not bring forward the security camera footage. If there's no complaint, no one can be punished. Additionally, if the security footage is never brought up, class D benefits, too. As we already know, if the security footage were brought to the table, Sudou would still face some degree of punishment. In other words, class C and class D can come to a compromise together. The school can't investigate if they can't watch the video and see that you lied, right?"

"Ahh, ahh...just...let me call..."

A shattered-looking Ishizaki took out his cell phone. However, Ichinose sternly told him no. She wouldn't give him time to think. We had to finish this now.

"Well, you're not being very cooperative. Therefore, we have no choice but to prepare. We'll have the school confirm the security footage right away, and you'll be expelled."

I nodded in agreement. Kondou and Komiya grabbed Ishizaki's arms.

"Come on. Let's just accept Ichinose's idea, Ishizaki!"

"W-wait. If I don't check with him, it'll be bad," he murmured.

"We've already lost! I don't wanna get expelled! Please, Ishizaki!"

"Damn! Fine...we'll withdraw. It'll be fine if we withdraw!"

Ishizaki fell to his knees.

"Well, let's head to the student council room right away. We'll go together."

We went to the student council room, the three class C students sandwiched between us. If we took our eyes off them for even one second, they might contact someone for advice. When we finally reached the student council room, we pushed the three inside. Ichinose had played her part to the letter...

...she would be entertaining to manipulate in the future.

Authors notes
1301 words
Yep almost all copied from the ln
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 2 chapter 9: Ichinose's submission

!Warning! Hornykouji detected ahead! Warning!

"Whew! I feel so much better! Thanks so much! Thanks for giving me such a huge role! I was so happy!" Ichinose cried.

"Well, it was more like you just did as you pleased, Ichinose-san."

"Hahaha, yeah. I guess so. But the case is closed, eh?"

Yeah, it really was.

We returned to the hot and humid special building and set up a stepladder.

"I couldn't believe you wanted to install security cameras.

Yes, that's right. The school hadn't actually installed those security cameras. I had bought them, and together with Ichinose, installed them during our lunch break. Ishizaki and the other students were terrified of leaked footage from the cameras, but those cameras were fakes.

I was surprised at first that the school sold such equipment. Then again, while you couldn't think of using them for crime prevention, they could be useful in measurement and recording. In other words, study tools. Perhaps calling them network rather than security cameras would make it easier to comprehend.

The heat had compromised the class C students' abilities to think. They'd been in crisis mode, without a chance to relax. In addition, they'd felt psychologically threatened during that standoff. There was no way that they would have figured out we were bluffing. Even if they'd doubted it, they had no time to investigate.

"When they day comes, we'll probably become formidable rivals for class C, Ayanokouji-san."

"If such a day ever comes, I guess."

I removed the camera and handed it down to Ichinose, who steadied the stepladder.

"So what are you going to do now? Wait in front of the student council room?"

"Probably..."

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me. There was one thing I wanted to ask you, Ayanokouji-san."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Were you the one responsible for Kanzaki's current standing in the class?"

That was unexpected. I suppose this would be the time to tell her.

"Yes."

"Why?" She asked, a look of confusion on her face.

"Because I thought that he was the best choice for class leader." I responded.

"I see. I've noticed as of late that he's been leaving class business to me. Why is that?"

"Because I've demoted him from his position. He is now serving my new pawn." I said.

"And who is this pawn?"

"You, Ichinose-san."

"...w-what do you mean, Ayanokouji-san?" She backed up a little.

"Yes, Ichinose-san. You're my pawn. For the past week or so, I've been manipulating your every move during this case. Sudou's trial also served as your own testing period for me. And you passed. I have no doubt you'll become a feared individual amongst all grade levels."

Ichinose kept walking backwards, until she hit the wall.

"T-that's...you're just joking, right? Ayano...kouji-san?"

I walked up to her, and grabbed both of her wrists in my left hand, and held them above her head.

"Gnnh...what are you doing, Ayanokouji-san?" She squealed.

Her voice was too high pitched. I kissed her to shut her up. She looked surprised for a moment, but slowly turned her eyes and started to return the kiss.

I grabbed her breast, which made her give out a small gasp of surprise.

"Ayanokouji-san...we can't..." she started to protest.

"Don't worry, Honami-chan~. There are no cameras here."

I slowly undid her shirt buttons, revealing the two mountains underneath. She was wearing blue today.

I stuck my tongue into her cleavage. Ichinose let out a small moan at this. I lowered her bra a little, revealing two slightly erect nipples. I traced both of them with my fingers. Her moans grew gradually louder.

I stopped playing with her breasts, and Ichinose looked a little disappointed. Instead, I put my hand underneath her skirt, and touched her through her panties.

Her moans grew louder than before. Her face was red, and she was sweating a lot.

I put my fingers underneath the soft fabric, and put them inside of her. She buckled, and held onto me for support.

"Ahn...no, not there..." she tried to say. I just drove my fingers deeper, and she soon stopped all protest.

Suddenly, I stopped moving.

"Honami-chan. If I keep on moving, you have to promise to serve me." I said.

"W-what kind of...request is that?" She asked.

I started to leave.

"W-wait! I'll do it. I'll serve you." She called.

I turned back.

"Do you swear it?"

"I swear it."

I put my hand back in it's rightful place, and masturbated Ichinose until she came. Hot liquid spilled down my hand and onto the carpet. I envied the janitor who got to clean that up. Sex with Ichinose was much better than sex with Kushida.

Ichinose collapsed on the floor, exhausted.

"Did you enjoy that, Honami-chan~?" I asked.

"Y-y-yesh..." she said, quietly.

"Good. Let's get you back home."

She could walk, but had to lean on me slightly to stand.

When we got back home, she ran herself a bath. I decided to leave her to it.

I'd got enough satisfaction today.

Authors notes
843 words.
Steamy chapter
This time with Ichinose!
(Ichinose is my best girl...except for Ichika )
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Quick note

Updates to the story are gonna be a little bit infrequent this week.

That doesn't mean I'm not updating, I'm just going to be updating less. Should be back to normal next week tho

Just thought you ought to know

Arc 2 chapter 10: a (very short) crucial choice

It's rewind time

I waited outside the student council room until the meeting had concluded. The students from class C and Sakagami-sensei left first, with Sudou following a little while later. He wore a bright, cheerful expression.

"Looks like it went well," I said.

"Man, I don't understand what happened, but you must have done something for me. Right?"

I nodded.

"I knew it. I knew you'd come through for my sake. Heh Heh Heh." He looked incredibly happy. "Well, I gotta head to my club. We should have a party tonight."

"Aww, no."

Sudou left, sulking at my rejection.

The next people to exit were the student council president and secretary Tachibana.

"Excellent work." I thought we'd just exchange a light greeting, but the president stopped in his tracks to address me. "I have approved class C's request to withdraw their complaint."

"Is that so?" I said. "Well, I guess miracles do happen."

Horikita's brother remained still and looked me in the eyes. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Suddenly, his foot came flying, and would have hit the side of my head if I hadn't dodged it. He aimed a sharp jab where my face now was, and I blocked it with my own hand.

He smiled, and Tachibana looked stunned.

"Do you practice martial arts, Ayanokouji-san?" He asked.

"I've dabbled a little. Not much, though." I answered.

He let out a small, dry laugh.

"Well. Your defence is beyond what a first-year high school girl should be capable of. I'm impressed. Tachibana."

The girl beside him straightened at her name.

"Do you still have one seat open for secretary?"

"Yes. A first-year class A student applied the other day, but was rejected after the first interview."

"Ayanokouji. If you wanted it, I would appoint you the position."

I was surprised, but secretary Tachibana appeared even more shocked than me. "S-student council president...do you really mean that?"

"Do you disapprove?"

"N-no. If you say so, I have not objections. But..."

Before me now lay a crucial decision that would determine my future, and not one I would make lightly.

Authors notes
359 words
Very short chapter.
I want you, the readers, to decide whether Ayanokouji joins the Student council or not. It's gonna be a little while to the next chap, so don't rush the decision.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 2 chapter 11: a larger choice

"Don't you already have a first-year representative for the student council in Ichinose Honami?" I asked.

"Yes, we do. However, I do not believe she is right for the position." Manabu said.

"Then...why did you accept her application?" I asked.

Manabu and Tachibana shared a quick glance. I remember Ichinose saying that she'd been denied the first few times she applied, and got accepted later. Perhaps it wasn't Manabu who had accepted her to the student council.

"That's not for you to know right now." He said.

"..."

I thought, hard.

"Fine. I will accept your offer to become a member of the student council." I said.

A slight smile of relief showed itself on Manabu's face.

"Well then, Ayanokouji Kiyone...welcome to the student council of ANHS." Manabu said, holding out his hand.

I shook it.

"I will expect you at the student council room on Monday at 07:30. Don't be late." He said as he walked off.

That was pretty damn early.

A short time later, Horikita and Chabashira-sensei appeared. Chabashira-sensei just gave me a slight glance, leaving without saying anything in particular.

"Yo." I raised my hand as I greeted Horikita, but was met with an intense glare the likes of which I'd never seen from her before. She quickly returned to her neutral expression, though.

"What were the results?" I asked.

"You already know, right?" She replied.

"I'm glad to hear that. Looks like Ichinose's strategy worked well."

"Hey, Ayanokouji-san. Is Ichinose-san just your puppet?"

"My puppet? What are you talking about?"

"Ayanokouji-san, I don't believe that Ichinose-san would be able to convince those students to drop charges. I therefore believe that she used underhanded methods to force them to drop the case, or at least make them panic enough to drop it. But, from what I know, Ichinose-san is not an underhanded person, and would likely not think of using underhanded methods. I believe you are the one who orchestrated this."

"You're overthinking this."

"Who are you?"

"What do you mean, who am I? I'm just a normal high school girl."

The always-sharp Horikita probably guessed my thoughts, to some extent. She started to speak, but then...

A male student walked towards us. This was not a conversation that we wanted overheard, so both Horikita and I fell silent. We waited for him to pass, but the guy stopped in front of us.

It wasn't on accident. He had magenta hair, styled so it was worn long. He was a few centimetres taller than me. I glanced at his profile and noted that he wore a wide grin. His smile looked ominous.

"Setting up a camera? You did something funny, huh?" The boy didn't even turn to face us entirely as he spoke.

"And you are?" I asked the mystery student.

"Next time, I'll be your opponent. I look forward to it."

The boy walked on without answering my question. We never got a clear look at him. We were only able to watch in silence as he walked away.

"Well. I'll be heading back now." I had the feeling it would be better for us not to be seen together, and turned my back on Horikita.

"Wait. We're not done talking, Ayanokouji-san."

" I'm done talking." I kept going without looking back.

I'd hoped that would satisfy her, but Horikita wouldn't have it.

"If you really hated drawing attention, you wouldn't make all this effort to get involved. Yet you act all evasive and non-communal when you help me. Why?"

I assume that this change in Horikita's behaviour was Chabashira-sensei's doing. She was probably pulling her strings here. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew about my past.

"I just wanted to help."

If I kept talking, I might say something unnecessary. I walked faster.

I'd received a declaration of war from some guy apparently known as Ryuuen. This could be just the start of a cunning, audacious, and brutal attack. He would probably stand in my way as a vigilant enemy in the future.

Then there was Ichinose and the rest of class B. They were people who only took small, indirect steps. I would have to train Ichinose to become better than Ryuuen, and better than all the other class leaders.

I would shape her into the perfect weapon, one that would be useful to me even after I graduate.

Unknown pov

She really reminded me of the old man. I remember when I first met him.

It was a quiet day, and I had been called to the directors office, along with a boy from another class.

I knocked on the door.

"Heh, so you got called here, too?" The boy smirked. He spoke in an odd accent, because he was half English, half Japanese by birth.

"Shut up. I don't want to talk to you."

The door opened, revealing a man wearing a tweed jacket.

"Ah, hello, Sakayanagi-sensei. How are you?" The boy asked.

"Ah, I'm good thank you. I hope you're keeping up with your studies, both of you?" Sakayanagi-sensei greeted us.

"Yes, you don't have to worry about us, sensei." I said.

"Good, good...well, I suppose your teachers had a good reason for sending you both here. I'll be on my way." Sakayanagi-sensei said, leaving.

I opened the door. We weren't the only people who'd been invited, and 2 other students were facing us. Each of the students in the room were from different classes.

"Ah, hello, newcomers." The director said.

"Good morning sir. My name is Samuel Akito, of class 1-A. I apologise sir, but I have never learnt your name."

"It's fine. We've never met, so it's natural. I am Ayanokouji Hotaru, the director and founder of ANHS, and the minister of education for Japan. And...you are?" Ayanokouji-sensei asked, facing me.

"Good morning. I am Sae Chabashira, of class 1-B." I introduced myself, bowing.

Authors notes
978 words
Hi guys, it's been a little while.
I was reading the light novels again, and I noticed that theirs loads of references to Sae's school days, along with Mashima and Hoshinomiya. I thought it would be cool to expand on that a little, and give a little bit of insight into the founding of the school.

The epilogue pov wasn't really related to the rest of this fic. To be honest, I really don't like how this fic is turning out, and I can see it going the same way as starting in class C did.

So I'm going to give you another choice.

Starting in class B: Ayanokouji Kiyone will be put on an indefinite hiatus, and I will begin work on an actually good fic, that will expand Ayanopapa's past (I called him Hotaru just because I thought it sounded cool). The title of this prequel will be called "classroom of the elite: Zero" and will take place during Sae Chabashira's schooldays, when Ayanokouji was the director, and Sakayanagi was a teacher.
(Ayanokouji being the director is not cannon btw, but it actually makes a lot of sense, if you think about it.)
If I ever finish cote: zero, or it sinks and is an utter failure, I'll return to starting in class B.

Alternatively, I will continue writing this fic, and cote: zero will be put aside for now. If I ever think this fic is doomed to complete and utter failure, I will sink it, and write cote: zero. I will finish the current trashy arc I'm on, and quit it before it becomes complete garbage to read.

What do you think?

Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

A (slightly less) disappointing announcement

Classroom of the elite: Zero chapter 1 has been uploaded.

If you want me to keep writing this, I will keep writing this. If you want me to start writing the new fic, I will do that.

Classroom of the elite: Zero is my unofficial prequel to classroom of the elite. It takes place before the white room existed, during Sae Chabashira's school days.

I urge you to check it out.

I will enjoy writing whichever fic is chosen, so don't feel too bad about choosing.

Arc 3 prologue

Greek mythology deals abundantly with human frailty. Many of its tales involve hatred and jealousy. Have you ever heard of "The wings of Icarus"? Allow me to summarise.

Long ago, in ancient Greece, there lived a great inventor named Daedalus. Daedalus was ordered by King Minos to build a great labyrinth in which to imprison the monstrous Minotaur. However, King Minos soon abandoned Daedalus, confining the inventor to a tower alongside his son, Icarus.

In order to escape their prison, Daedalus gathered together the feathers of many birds in order to fashion a large pair of wings. He connected the larger feathers with thread, and the smaller with wax. Once the wings were completed and the time had come to fly to freedom, Daedalus gave Icarus a warning.

He said, "if you fly too high, the sun will melt the wax holding the wings together. Be careful."

With that warning in mind, Icarus leapt from the tower alongside his father. Together, they gained freedom. But freedom can be a dangerous thing, and can make a person lose sight of themselves. With such boundless freedom before him, Icarus started to get carried away. Perhaps it was inevitable after breaking free from such painful restraints.

Icarus, blissful, forgot his father's warning and flew higher and higher. The sun burned the false angel wings that his father had constructed, and in the blink of an eye, the wax melted. Eventually, the false wings were completely burned away. Icarus fell into the sea and died. Was Icarus a brave young man who jumped into the sky to gain his freedom? Or was he an arrogant fool who overestimated his abilities and believed that he could reach the sun? Perhaps no one save for his father, Daedalus, will ever know the answer to that.

For some reason, I thought of Icarus' wings when standing before a certain young girl. Considering what these past few months had brought, I could say that I made the comparison simply because she resembled Icarus. I had noticed the...activities...she had undertaken with other girls on campus, and had realised that she possessed both the bravery and arrogance of Icarus.

I had been pushed into a corner. I had no choice but to do it.

Lacking the means to deal with it, I had no choice but to incur this girl's divine wrath. I had no choice but to conduct myself firmly, turning this girl's quiet rage toward me. The fir cannot be returned once cast. The gamble had already begun.

Authors notes
422 words
Hey guys, I'm back.
Short chapter.
It's been a little while since I updated this fic, since I'm working on classroom of the elite: Zero.
Speaking of that, did you like it? I think it's going to turn out great.
So if you're not aware, I'm going to be alternating between the two. I'll do arc 3 for this, then I'll do the next arc for Zero.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 3 chapter 1: A redheaded annoyance

The endless summer sea. The infinite blue skies. The perfectly clear air. Here, in the midst of the Pacific Ocean, we didn't feel the intense midsummer heat, and the gentle sea breeze kissed our bodies. Yes, this really was an oceanic paradise.

"Wow! This is amazing!" Exclaimed Ichinose, while she tucked her strawberry pink hair behind her ear.

"This view is incredible! I'm honestly super moved right now!"

A group of girls led by Karuizawa Kei of class D came out from the ship's cabin. Karuizawa pointed out to the expansive ocean, wearing a radiant smile.

"Seriously, the scenery here is just amazing!"

Kushida Kikyou, an old plaything of mine, was also present among the group of class D girls. It looked like the extraordinary view had stolen her breath away.

After overcoming numerous hardships, midterms, and the final exam, we had welcomed summer vacation with open arms. The Advanced Nurturing High School had arranged for an extravagant two-week trip—a cruise on a luxury liner.

This was certainly no ordinary trip. At our government-sponsored school, there was absolutely no need for us to pay for tuition or other miscellaneous expenses—which, of course, included this trip. We received the best of special treatment. The cruise liner and its facilities were of the highest possible quality. This ship was fully equipped with everything from prestigious restaurants to a theatre, and even an upscale spa. On my own, this would probably have cost me about 100,000 yen, even in the off season.

Our trip, which promised the pinnacle of luxury, had finally started today. According to the schedule, we would spend our first week staying at a fancy summer lodge on a deserted island. After that, we would enjoy the cruise ship for another week.

At 05:00 today, the first-year students had boarded buses and departed for Tokyo Bay. The passenger ships departed from the port once the students arrived. After eating breakfast in the lounge, students were permitted to move freely throughout the entire vessel. Best of all, we were able to use any of the ship's facilities free of charge. For any who'd suffered daily due to a lack of points, this ship was heaven-sent.

Suddenly, Kushida turned towards me. I could tell that something was on her mind. With the vast ocean and the endless blue sky behind her, Kushida looked even more radiant than usual. Even though I didn't want it to, my heart started to pound. Could it be...? Did she want me back?

She looked as though she was about to say something, and then shut her mouth, and continued to look out at the blue ocean.

Outcome not so good /

"Attention, students. Please assemble on the deck. You will be able to see the island soon. This is a good time to take in some rather significant scenery."

This rather strange announcement issued from the ship's PA. Kushida and the others didn't seem to mind, looking forward to what was to come. The island appeared on the horizon a few minutes after several students had gathered.

Significant meant important, and at this school, every word that was said by the faculty meant something. As soon as the island came into view, I looked as hard as I could to find anything out of the ordinary.

Other students noticed, and began assembling on the deck, too.

"Huh? Ayanokouji-san, are you looking for something on the island?" Ichinose asked.

Ahh, Ichinose. We weren't an official couple, or an unofficial couple really, but we had had sex once before. After that, she had kept her distance from me a little.

"I'm trying to take in the 'significant scenery'. You should do the same," I said.

"Hm, I suppose you're right. If the school says to do something, it's probably in your best interest to do it." She also started looking at the island.

I could see a cave entrance in the mountainside, and a tower atop the mountain. I could see a small yellow patch, which must have been some kind of crop field, and a small hut by the waters edge.

I was distracted by some sort of commotion on the deck below me. Something about first names. I would have not taken interest in the conversation, until I heard this:

"First names, huh? Hey, speaking of, I wonder what Ayanokouji's first name is? Huh?" Sudou asked his friends.

"Ayanokouji? I think it's something like Kimiko? Yeah, Kimoko."

"Kimiko, huh? That's a cute name. Just like I'd expect. It feels perfect for her."

Eek, creepy.

"Oh, sorry, I was wrong. It's Kiyone."

"Hey, don't make mistakes like that! Kiyone, huh? It feels like Kimiko, but it's 100 times better."

In the end, even if my first name was Kaori or Kichi or whatever, he probably would have felt it was perfect.

"I'm going to call her by her first name during our summer vacation, too. Kiyone. Kiyone..."

Perv.

Well, it seemed the boys wanted to bridge the gap between themselves and the girls. It should be noted that no one called me by my first name, and I didn't call them by theirs, except in...certain situations.

"Oh, hey. Let me practice with you, Kanji. Practice saying Kiyone's name, I mean."

"Practice? What do you mean, practice? That's not a normal thing to do."

It was pointless to practice saying someone's name unless you were saying it to the person in question. Sudou glared at Ike intently. He wasn't planning to make Ike his imaginary Kiyone, was he? It was probably because he was imagining him as someone of the opposite sex, but the look in his eyes really creeped me out. In my mind, I started breathing heavily.

"Hey, Ayanokouji, do you have a minute? There's something I wanted to talk to you about..." Sudou murmured.

"I'm not Ayanokouji." Ike said.

"You freakin' moron! It's practice! I don't want to do it, either, but I got to practice, you know? It's like I have to practice basketball if I want to get good. In either case, I need to take my shot."

I really didn't want to listen to this, but I also did at the same time. It was both cringe and funny, too.

"Ayanokouji. Isn't it weird that we talk to each other like we're strangers? We've known each other for a while now. Other people are calling each other by their first names. Isn't it time we did, too?"

"..."

I wanted to punch Sudou in the face, but that would ruin the fun.

"Say something! Why aren't you practicing?!"

"What do you want me to say?!"

"Let ME take the reigns here, Kanji."

The black haired boy...I still can't remember his name, jumped in to substitute for Ike instead. Sudou seemed kind of weird when he started talking.

"Ayanokouji...is it okay for me to call you by your first name now?"

"Huh? Well, you're not exactly a hottie, are you, Sudou-kun? And you don't seem to have any money, so, like, you're not my type at all, are you? Or it's, like, sorry, sorry, but not thanks, you know?!"

Despite looking nothing like one, Forgotten-kun was trying to play the part of a gyaru high school girl. Sudou put him in a choke hold until he writhed in agony on the deck. Those guys always seemed so energetic. I felt exhausted just looking at them. Still, they did look pretty funny.

I suppose I would have to shoot Sudou down. How sad.

Authors notes
1260 words
A longer chapter this time.
Pretty much copied from the ln.
I just scored a few free chapters of chainsaw man. I can't wait to start reading it! .
Sudou thirsting for the Hornykouji.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 3 chapter 2: the boundary between heaven and hell.

A little while later, the crowd started getting riled up and making noise. The students' enthusiasm increased by leaps and bounds as we sailed closer and the island became clearer.

I'd thought that the ship would have gone directly to the island, but for some reason we passed the pier and started circling around. I could see a river, and a beach, now. The island, on loan from the government, had a surface area of about 0.5 square kilometres. The highest point of the island reached 230 metres. In comparison to Japan's total area, the island was tiny, but when seen by one hundred-odd people on a cruise ship, it looked unbelievably massive.

Eventually, the boat made a complete pass around the island. The ship continued to circle without changing speed, barely making a splash as it moved almost unnaturally fast through the water.

"Such a mysterious sight! It's so moving! Don't you think so, Ayanokouji-san?" Ichinose gushed.

"Yeah, I guess."

As I looked at Ichinose, whose eyes sparkled as she looked at the deserted island, my heart started to pound. Ichinose really was cute. I wanted to see her huge bre- I mean I wanted to see more of her during this holiday.

An announcement came over the PA speakers.

"We will disembark in thirty minutes. Please assemble on the deck. All students should have changed into their jerseys. Make sure to check your designated bag and your luggage, and do not forget your cell phone. Please keep all other personal items in your room. There is a possibility that you will not be now to visit the bathroom for some time, so please do so now."

Apparently, the private beach was near. Ichinose and the others went to change in high spirits. I started heading toward my group's room, too. There, I put on the jersey that I used for gym class, returned to the ship's deck, and waited until we reached the island. As the island drew closer and closer, the first-years' enthusiasm reached it's peak.

"We will disembark now, beginning with the students from class A. Cell phones are prohibited on the island. Please hand your phone to your homeroom teacher as you leave"

Following the loudspeakers' command, the students went down the stairs in an orderly fashion.

"Come on. Hurry up! Even though we're wearing thin clothes, we're all sweating!"

There was no place to hide from the sun on the ship's deck. No surprise that people were complaining.

Disembarking took longer than I thought it would, probably because the teachers guarded the students on both sides as they got off the ship and checked their luggage.

Hey. Does it seem like they're being strangely cautious right now? On their guard? I mean, they didn't even confiscate our cell phones during the final. They're really cracking down on the personal items."

"It certainly seems that way. I mean, if we're just playing in the ocean, I can't imagine they'd need to go this far."

Speaking of unnatural, there was a helicopter parked on the stern of the boat. While it was true that some things were bothering me, I was probably overthinking it. If students did bring their cell phones to the beach, someone's phone might get wet and break. And they probably didn't want personal items because they were worried about people polluting the beach with garbage. And if someone suddenly got ill, the helicopter was there for dispatch, right?

Soon, it would be our turn to be examined and get off the ramp. I had yet to realise that this place was going to be the boundary between heaven and hell.

Authors notes
611 words
I am not dead
I've been on a trip down south, so I wasn't able to update /.
On the train ride back up north, the bus scene happened irl.
I didn't get up, because I dislike trouble .
The person standing also had a dog, so I could pet it .
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 3 chapter 3: Special Examination.

As we got off the boat, chatting amiably with one another, our homeroom teacher greeted us.

"I will now start roll call for class B. When you hear your name, be sure to respond loud enough for me to hear."

Our homeroom teacher started taking attendance, clipboard in hand, while simultaneously instructing us to form a line. Hoshinomiya-sensei wore the same kind of jersey as her students, except she had taken off the jacket. The t-shirt she wore revealed her slim waist, and accentuated her developed bust.

This atmosphere was more akin to training camp than summer vacation. Still, not many of the students seemed tense at all.

"Oh, come on!"

"I want my free time already!"

"The sea is right in front of me!"

Most of the students wanted to run off onto the sandy beach. Soon enough, a tall teacher stepped onto a prepared white platform. It was Mashima-sensei, class A's homeroom teacher. He normally taught English, and was well-known for having a stubborn disposition. At first glance, he could easily be mistaken for one of those bodybuilder types. He was built like a professional wrestler, but was actually quite intelligent. He'd even taught special courses in the past.

"First, I would like to say that I'm happy you've arrived safely. However, it's unfortunate that one of you was unable to participate due to illness."

"Oh wow, someone couldn't come on the trip because he was sick? Poor guy," I heard someone say quietly, so the teachers wouldn't hear. He certainly had a point.

If this were some kind of dinky field trip, that'd be one thing, but such a luxurious vacation was another story altogether. I wondered if that kid would regret not coming after hearing friends talk about it. Even in poor health, I think he should've pushed himself and participated. Oddly enough, the teachers themselves looked rather grim. Well, while this was a vacation for us students, maybe the teachers supervising us had to think of it as a job.

No. Somehow, it seemed more than that. While Mashima-sensei surveyed the students in silence, I could see that adults in uniform had started setting up some kind of special tent nearby. I also saw a computer and other equipment on a long table. This increasingly business-like setup didn't match the natural splendour around us at all, and many of the students looked perplexed.

Mashima-sensei uttered a few cruel words, as if waiting for the atmosphere to change.

"Well then. We shall commence the current academic year's first special examination."

"Huh?"

"Special test?"

"What do you mean?

Almost everyone asked some variation on that question. We'd all thought this was just a class trip, only to be hit by this surprise attack. Our summer vacation was a product of the school's goodwill, but that had been an illusion. We plummeted from relief into stark tension.

"The test commences now and lasts for one week, concluding on August 7th at the year's end. This test will determine if you can live on a deserted island together as a group. In addition, I should warn you that this special test is both practical and realistic, designed on real-world corporate training."

"Living on a deserted island? Does that mean we're not staying on the boat, but the island?"

Some students form class B and C voiced their obvious concerns.

"You are correct. During the test, you will not be allowed to board the ship without a suitably justifiable reason. It will be necessary for you to fend for yourselves on this island while you are here, from creating a place to sleep to preparing food to eat. Once the test starts, each class will receive two tents, and two flashlights. You will be provided with one box of matches. There is no limit to the amount of sunscreen you can have. Each student will be provided with one toothbrush. As a special case, girls will be allowed to have as many feminine sanitary products as they'd like, without any restrictions. Please ask your respective homeroom teachers for those. That is all."

With that, the teachers began distributing the items.

Developing skills of self-sufficiency on a deserted island—hunting wild animals, washing in the river, building bedding from tree branches—it certainly was like something you'd see in a movie or read about in a book. No one could've imagined that the school would put us through a test like this.

"You may think that this is unbelievable, but that's because you've lived a short, superficial life. There is an actual, prominent company that holds training sessions on uninhabited islands."

"Huh?"

"B-but this...this isn't special at all. Is it?"

"Isn't it too much to ask for us to start living on a deserted island with no warning?"

"No way! This is unreal!"

Many of the students were unconvinced and wore dissatisfied looks.

"I assume you're all thinking something like, 'what does this test mean?' Or perhaps some of you doubt the expression stance of such training programs. However, students who remain at such a base level of thought are unlikely to become anyone promising in the future. What is your basis for determining this to be 'unbelievable' or 'ridiculous'? You're just students. In my opinion, you're all equally worthless. What kind of insignificant person determines that they can criticise a leading company? That's bizarre. Were you a president in charge of one such notable business, then you might have some right to deny our claims. However, there shouldn't be any grounds for someone of your station to be able to do that."

As we listened, we did certainly determine that parts sounded unreasonable or unrealistic. But, just like Mashima-sensei said, we had no basis to oppose their claims. Those who found this beyond the realm of their understanding could call it "bizarre" or "unbelievable," but for someone who did understand the point, well, it would be a shred to think other

Authors notes
1003 words.
Almost verbatim from the ln.
It's come to my attention recently that there's some kind of virus going around. I wonder how that happened.
Anyways, as I explained in last chapter's A/N, I went down south recently, and I keep getting the smell of smoke/ash filling my sense of smell every minute or so.
I know that COVID symptoms are things like an absence of taste/smell, so I wonder if the smell that I'm smelling is linked to me having covid.
If you've had it and you've experienced the smoke smelling symptom, please tell me, I want to know if I have the VID.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 3 chapter 4: twist

"But, teacher, isn't this supposed to be our summer vacation?"

"We were brought here under the pretext of going on a relaxing trip. Don't you think that bringing us here and then springing this corporate training on us could be considered unfair?"

Some of the students began to protest along these lines.

"I see. I suppose that you're not wrong about that. I can understand why you would be discontented."

Mashima-sensei's response showed that he recognised the soundness of such an argument. There were students who were dissatisfied with the current situation, and those who were dissatisfied with the process as a whole.

"However, please do not worry. It would make sense for you to have complaints if you were being forced into a harsh situation. However, even though we're calling it a special test, there's no need to think about it in such unhappy terms. In the coming week, you can go swimming, or hold a barbecue. It wouldn't be a bad time for you to occasionally have a campfire and chat with friends, either. The theme of this special exam is 'freedom', after all."

"Huh?"

"Huh? The theme is freedom?"

"We can have a barbecue?"

"Hmm? And this is still called a test?"

"I'm so confused..."

Even though this was a test, we were free to play. The contradiction confused the students, and our doubts only increased.

"As a major part of this special test, we've decided to distribute 300 points to each class. By using your points well, you might be able to enjoy this week's special test just as you would a normal trip. We've also prepared a manual just for that purpose."

Mashima-sensei received a booklet that looked to be a few dozen pages thick from another teacher.

"This manual lists all of the ways you can obtain points. It also explains where to get drinking water and food, as well as essential necessities. If you want to have a barbecue, it explains how to prepare the equipment and ingredients. We also have numerous tools for you to be able to enjoy playing in the ocean to the fullest."

Gradually, the students' grim expressions grew calmer.

"So, we can do whatever we want with the 300 points?"

"That's right. It's possible to arrange for anything using your points. Of course, it's necessary for you to use them in a systematic way, but with a solid plan, you can spend your weak without any difficulties."

If we could really get through the week by using the points we had, then this would be more like a vacation that a test. It might end up feeling like a real summer vacation.

"B-but, teacher. You said this was a test, right? So shouldn't there be some kind of difficulty to it?"

"No, there's nothing difficult. It won't even have any adverse effects on your second semester. I guarantee it."

"So it's really okay for us to just have fun for one week?"

"That's right. You're all free to do what you want. Of course, there are some bare minimum rules that you need to abide by as a group, but there shouldn't be anything difficult about that."

If that were true, then did that mean there was really no risk? In that case, we should ask if he could explain the purpose of this test. Was it linked to some exchange between grade levels? I couldn't understand the school's true intentions, but Mashima-sensei's next statement clarified everything.

"When this special test period is over, each class' remaining points will be added to their total class points. Your point totals will reflect this change once summer vacation is over."

As he spoke, a gust of wind blew across the beach and kicked up a cloud of dust.

Authors notes
632 words
Shorter chap, cos I gotta go somewhere now /
Sorry I didn't upload yesterday, I was very busy
Your probably going to hear a lot less of me as the exam season is very fast approaching now.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

A warning.

As the exam season is upon me, I have found that I need to spend more time getting sleep and studying.

My bus route to school has also changed, meaning I have to be out of the house by 07:00, which doesn't leave me with a lot of time during the day.

This doesn't mean I will completely stop uploading, but I won't be uploading regularly.

After I have finished arc 3, I am putting this fic on an indefinite hiatus, to continue work on cote: zero.

I will still continue this fic in the future, but I won't be writing whole arcs at a time.

I hope that this will not be too inconvenient for you.

Arc 3 chapter 5: start the party

Skipping the rest of the explanation because time is of the essence.

Class B had arrived at a small well in a clearing a little ways through the forest on the other side of the island where we had departed from the boat.

"I think this is the perfect place to set up camp. What do you think, guys?" Ichinose asked.

There were a few nods in agreement. It was quite a good spot, in honesty. At least we didn't have to worry about drinking water.

"Now, just to claim the spot. We need a leader, though, don't we? Who should it be?" Asked Shibata.

"I-I think it should be Ichinose-san," Shiranami suggested. A few nods floated around.

"I think that's a bad idea. Ichinose-san is a much too obvious choice. It should be someone inconspicuous," said Kanzaki.

The leader didn't matter too much, anyway. It would almost be a better strategy to make someone who stood out as the leader, because the other classes wouldn't expect us
to make an obvious choice. Reverse psychology

"How about you make me the leader?" I asked.

...

"Perfect. Ayanokouji-san is responsible, and I don't think anyone would suspect her."

I was sent away with the keycard to go back to the beach, and gave it to Hoshinomiya-sensei when I arrived.

"Hello, Ayanokouji-san! Who did the class pick as the leader, then?" She asked.

"Me, Ayanokouji Kiyone," I said, clearly.

She put the card in a machine, and a few seconds later, it came back out with the words "Ayanokouji Kiyone" on the front.

As I was walking back to the camp, I noticed something strange.

There was a girl bent over, doing something near the base of a tree. I decided to take a closer look.

She was...digging a hole? Yeah, that's what it looked like. She put a plastic bag in the hole she had dug, and covered it back up.

She then turned around, and sat against the tree. Now I could see her face.

She had a definite mark near her eye, obviously an act of violence. It took me a moment, but I definitely recognised her. She was in class C, but I couldn't quite put a name to the face. She had short, light blue hair, and she was quite slim.

I noticed the slight curvature of her muscles, indicating that she was pretty fit.

A little ways ahead of me, I heard some people talking. A little while later, they came into view.

One I knew, and one I didn't know. There was a girl with very large breasts, pink hair and wore a pair of fake glasses. And the other was...umm...I really need to remember his name...Sudou's friend.

When they noticed the girl, they talked for a little while, and eventually she walked off with the two of them, probably back to class D's campsite.

Haha, were they stupid? It was obviously a set up. Perhaps class D are just a bunch of defectives after all. I'm glad my class would never do something like that.

...

...

...

Ironic...

"Ok guys, I think it's best if we send this little guy on his little way. He's obviously a spy," Kanzaki said.

"No! He might get beat up more if he goes back to class C!" Ichinose argued.

It was only the second day, and already I was starting to doubt the intelligence of some of my classmates.

"Proposal: we give him some food, and send him off on his own." Shibata said.

"Counterproposal: we let him stay here, but we ask him to leave for a little while when it's time to occupy the spot again." Said Amikura.

There was much bickering like this going on, so I decided to put a stop to it.

"Why don't we take him back to class C ourselves? Then, we can see if he'd be safe there or not," I suggested.

...

"Good plan, Ayanokouji-san," was the general consensus.

So that was how Ichinose, Kaneda and I set of for class C's base camp.

As we neared the edge of the forest, we saw the beach, and a large group of class C students on that beach. Ichinose and I could never have imagined the situation we beheld.

"No way...all that stuff...is it even possible?"

Even beholding the very real spectacle, Ichinose kept repeating the word "impossible." I felt the same.

They had installed temporary toilets and shower rooms. But they also had a tarp to protect against sunlight, a
barbecue, chairs, and a parasol. They had snacks and drinks. Everything required for a good, relaxing time was here. We smelled the smoke of cooking meat, and heard laughter. Jet skis whizzed past the shoreline. Students were enjoying themselves in the ocean, screaming with joy. Based on a rough calculation, they'd likely spent 150 points or more.

"Woah...that all looks real expensive," Ichinose murmured.

"Let's check things out. Let me do the talking once we get there." I said.

We came out from the bushes and walked to the beach. One of the male students noticed us, and called out to another male student nearby. We couldn't see his face to well, since he was leaning over in his chair. One of the boys rushed over to us.

"Um, Ryuuen-san had requested your presence," he said. I recognised him. He was Ishizaki Daichi, from the Sudou trial. So, he was still a loyal dog, it seems.

We accompanied him. As we approached the ocean, the delicious smell of cooked meat wafted by our noses.

"This is outrageous."

Our class didn't seem to know how to have a vacation. We approached the man in command of this hedonistic paradise.

"I thought someone was sniffing around. It's you, huh? What business do you have with me?"

"You seem to be doing well for yourself. This looks like quite the extravagant party."

Ryuuen, tanned and clad in his swimwear, laid back in his chair. He flashed his white teeth at us.

"Just as you see. We're enjoying our summer vacation."

He spread his arms wide, proudly showing off the extravaganza.

"Anyway, we've come to return this boy to you," I said, gesturing to Kaneda.

"Eh, fine. Just make sure you don't disagree with me again." Ryuuen said. Kaneda nodded.

I decided to continue the conversation.

"This is a test. Don't you feel a little bit...lax in your methods?" I asked.

Ryuuen didn't seem happy being told about his apparent ineptitude. Actually, he looked disappointed. "I'm shocked. Does that mean you're offering help even to an enemy like me?"

Ryuuen grabbed the bottle of water placed next to the radio.

"How many points did you use? To be able to enjoy this level of entertainment, I mean."

"Hmm. Well, I didn't make a precise calculation," Ryuuen responded guilelessly. "Tch. Already getting warm. Hey, Ishizaki. Bring me some cold water, right away."

Ryuuen poured out his remaining water on the sand, almost in provocation. Ishizaki, who'd been playing volleyball nearby, panicked and rushed to get Ryuuen another water. A mountain of cardboard boxes were piled up inside the tent, likely filled with food and water.

"As you can see, we're enjoying our summer vacation. We're not your enemies. Do you understand?"

Ichinose, struggling with his attitude, spoke up.

"We're trying to warn you. Don't just throw away the test."

"Shut up. Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a conversation? And don't talk to me about the test. You want to try surviving on this deserted island in this shitty heat? Don't joke. I pity class D, the lowest of all, who have to put up with starvation, heat and futility just to save a measly 100 or 200 class points. It makes me laugh."

Ishizaki ran over, dripping with sweat as he brought the water. He handed a cold bottle of water to Ryuuen. However, Ryuuen threw it back at Ishizaki.

"I said to bring me cold water. This water's warm."

"I...b-but..."

"Hmm?"

Ryuuen's pupils were just like those of a snake. Ishizaki's body stiffened. He picked up the bottle and ran back toward the tent.

"It's as Ichinose-san said. This test is about perseverance, ingenuity and cooperation. Do you think you can still win like this?"

They couldn't possibly hold on for a week after having spent points so lavishly. Eventually, their lives would become hell. The tarps, parasols, chairs and other things would become obstacles.

"Cooperation? Don't make me laugh. People betray each other with ease. People lie. Relationships built on trust just aren't viable. You can only trust yourself. If you've finished your reconnaissance, leave. But if you wish, we'd welcome you here. You're free to enjoy yourself, whether it's to eat meat or play on jet skis. Or perhaps you would prefer to have a different kind of fun with me? I can prepare a tent for our...personal use."

Ew.

"Well...I'll decline the personal tent, but I'm tired of living off of berries, I suppose." I said.

"A-Ayanokouji-san?" Ichinose stuttered.

"Sorry, Ichinose-san. You'll have to go back without me."

I took off my jersey, revealing the white 2 piece swimsuit I was wearing underneath. Ryuuen looked at me with curiosity.

"Heh. I knew you were a smart girl," he chuckled.

"Would you expect any less?"

"I suppose not."

"Enough chitchat. Let's get this party started!" I said, diving into the ocean.

Authors notes
1583 words
I'm back, baby.
I think this chapter moved a little too fast in the beginning, but hey.
I can't wait to get back to writing again soon.
Not much else to say really
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed

Arc 3 chapter 6: the end of the party

3rd person POV

"Ayanokouji-san has gone to stay with class C for the rest of the week," said Ichinose to class B.

Her words were met with a minor uproar.

"What?! She betrayed us?!"

"How selfish!"

Ichinose looked down. She didn't want the class to hate Ayanokouji, but she also didn't want for Ayanokouji to betray the class.

"How do we know she's a traitor?"

Everyone turned to the voice of Kanzaki Ryuuji.

"Uh, because she left us for class C, go figure..."

"Perhaps it's a part of her strategy," he responded.

A few murmurs floated around.

"You see, Ayanokouji-san left the keycard next to the renewal pedestal. I don't think she'd do something like that by accident. Perhaps she meant for us to use it in her absence?" He suggested.

"B-but...that's against the rules, isn't it?"

Kanzaki smirked.

"Technically, but...how would the school find out?"

Ayanokouji POV

I really hope those law-abiding honour students picked up on the hint I left them.

I had planned to stay with class C or D from the start, since I figured they'd be a bit more liberal with their points. And I was right.

This was paradise.

I was sipping my drink, and relaxing under the summer sun. What could possibly be better?

Well, I could think of one thing, at least.

My back hurt something terrible. Sleeping in a tent right above a rock did that to you.

I just had to sort this out.

"Ehem...Ryuuen-kun~" I called.

"What did you want?" The magenta haired boy answered me.

"Would you be a dear and...give me a massage?" I asked.

"Kukuku, you really think that I would just do your bidding?"

"Ah, well, it's just that I'm feeling incredibly sore, especially on my back. And...on my thighs." I said, brushing my hand across my right leg as I did so.

"Hmm. I suppose you're really desperate, then. Very well, I shall humour you."

I laid on my front, and let him massage my back.

"Mmmh...that feels good. Where did you learn that?" I asked.

"Nowhere, really. Just doing what feels right," he answered.

I decided to get down to business.

"So, Ryuuen-kun. What are you planning for this exam?" I asked.

"Kuku, I should've known. You're as cunning as ever, Kiyone," he said.

"Oh, are we on a first name basis now? Well then, Kakeru...what are you planning for this exam?" I asked again.

"Like I told you: I'm not planning anything. We're just here to enjoy our summer vacation," he said through a perfect poker face.

I can tell I won't get to him this way.

I turned onto my back, but I had forgotten to tell Kakeru to stop massaging, and now he had his fists planted upon my breasts.

I gave him a deadpan look, and he gave me a blank stare.

"I don't remember telling you to stop."

We were out of eyesight of everyone else, and if someone did see, they would probably just think I was getting a normal massage still.

Kakeru's hands fondled my breasts. I had heard that this was a good sensation for women to feel.

...

It was ok, I guess.

His hands were squishing and squeezing softly, playing with my breasts as if he was making bread.

Just then, he tweaked my nipple.

I let out a small moan. This is what they must have meant when they said that it would feel nice.

"Kukuku...Kiyone, are you starting to enjoy this, perhaps?"
Kakeru asked.

"I suppose it doesn't feel too bad," I replied.

"Well then..."

He took his left hand, and started to make his way down south.

As soon as he reached his destination, I slapped him in the face.

"Tut tut, Ryuuen. I don't remember telling you to go that far."

Ryuuen smiled bitterly, and put his hand to his cheek. A slight red mark had started to appear.

"Kuku...damn, Kiyone got hands," he said, walking off to get an ice pack.

If we were in private, I would have let him carry on.

I mean, who wouldn't? I looked at his muscular body walking away.

(Heads up whenever I write Ryuuen he's always anime Ryuuen. LN Ryuuen is a pussy.)

Ryuuen POV

I've received a slap or two from girls before, but that slap packed as much power as a punch from someone like Kazuomi Houzen, and that's saying something.

I can see how that she's fairly muscular for a girl of high school age, but still. That was really painful.

Well, I suppose this is about to get interesting.

"Hey, Ryuuen-san. What's that mark on your cheek?" Ishizaki asked me.

"It's from where your mom slapped me because my dick was too big," I replied.

Before I gave him a chance to respond, I gave him orders.

"We're putting the plan into action tomorrow, before roll call, okay?"

"Yes, Ryuuen-san. By the way, I noticed in the manual an item that we could use to incapacitate our guest," he said.

"Show me."

He showed me the manual. Yes, that was perfect. A little creepy, but perfect.

"That's great. Order it for me, would you?"

"Yes, Ryuuen-san."

This will be entertaining.

Ayanokouji POV

I was getting ready to have some dinner and to go to bed. I called to Ryuuen.

"Ryuuen~! Could you please be a dear and get me a drink?"

I loved watching him do my bidding.

He came back to me with my drink, and I was just about to take a sip when I noticed the funny smell coming from it.

I looked at Ryuuen, who had gone off to do something or other.

There was definitely something wrong with this drink.

Did he...spike me?

I didn't know what was in this drink. I could die if I drank it.

...

Oh well. I'm thirsty. Down the hatch.

Ryuuen POV

Wow, she's pretty stupid. I would never have thought that they would sell sleeping medicine in the manual. I put a fairly heavy dose in Ayanokouji's drink.

I could already see her starting to nod off.

The next morning

Ayanokouji POV.

I woke up in the same deck chair that I had been in the night before.

From the position of the sun, I'd say it was around 11:00.
It wasn't like me to be waking up this late.

I hadn't eaten dinner last night, so I was really quite hungry.

"Ryuuen-kun~! Could you make me some breakfast?" I called.

...

"Ryuuen-kun?" I looked around.

The whole of class C's camp was deserted.

So that was his plan, hm? How amusing.

Authors notes
1116 words.
I'm still alive
Cool chap I think, not too bad.
Not much else to say, really.
Hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed.

I'm sorry

I just can't keep writing this fic anymore. It's just too bad.

So, here's a taster for what you should expect of me in the coming weeks.

Unknown POV

I had been ordered by the school to accompany the student while he was being interviewed by the detective.

When I walked into the hospital, however, I saw the face of a man who I never thought I'd see again.

He was white, and had long, unkempt hair. He was lean, and yet I knew he had a toned muscular figure underneath the clothes he was wearing. I noticed he had a police badge at his belt.

No. I refused to believe that Akito had stopped working for Ayanokouji-sensei.

And if he was still working for Ayanokouji-sensei, then that meant...

I followed him, until we came to the hallway where Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's recovery room was located.

Ayanokouji came out of the room in a nurse's uniform. Luckily, since his face was covered, Akito and his helper didn't recognise him, but I wager that he wouldn't have long before they went after him.

I hurriedly took out a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote down the address of a certain person of interest to Ayanokouji. I then followed him to the car park.

When I got there however, Akito was already there.

I gave Kiyotaka the paper, and fought off Akito to give him time to escape, and then I ran off myself.

I was brave, but I wasn't brave enough to fight Akito to the death.

I just hope that that woman recognises Ayanokouji for who he is.

Yeah, I'm writing "Starting in Class C: not completely defective" again.

I'm sorry for abandoning this fic, but it's just soo bad, I can't write it any more.

"Arc 5 chapter 2: the beginning of it" has already been published, and I think it's fairly OK. Better than the last chapter of this fic (boobie play)

I hope you'll check it out. .

I hope I don't forget about "cote: zero" forever.