CHAPTER 6

On the outside, it looked just like any other school.

That is, if one disregarded the statue of the founder, painted over so that he looked like a clown, in front of the main school entrance.

Otherwise, Sawai Academy had a typical Japanese school look to it. An unassuming gray three-story building with a rooftop patio, surrounded by gardens and athletic fields.

Walking through the front gate, Kari, Hana and Erina couldn't help but chuckle at the altered statue. They had left Sota in the care of Akiho, who took him to play at an arcade near downtown Valleyrun. The trip from Valleyrun to Tennosuke took only a few minutes. Even if we ended up in Valleyrun, I would be fine with taking the train to class, thought Hana.

Climbing up the steps to the building's front doors, the prospective student and her companions encountered the first of the school's unconventional attendees: a brown-haired girl with a neon green streak in her bangs. She was dressed for a school day on top with a navy blue jacket, white blouse and green neckerchief, but on the bottom she was barefoot with frilly pink pajama shorts. She laid on her back on the top step, fidgeting with a remote controller while staring up at the toy airplane buzzing high above the school building.

She glanced at the three visitors who were about to step over her. "Good morning!" she chirped. "Are you applying to attend school here?"

"Just me," Hana replied. "We were hoping to get a little tour of the campus."

"You can walk right in! Someone from the Welcome Committee should be there to greet you and show you around," the girl said while keeping her eyes trained on the airplane.

Kari was the first to walk through the door. A water balloon flew by, narrowly missing her face on the left, and exploded on the closed door next to where the other two were about to pass through.

Hana, narrowly missing the liquid shrapnel, hustled through the door to observe the chaos unfolding before them. A water balloon fight. Students breakdancing in one corridor. A lengthy puddle of soapy water in another corridor, broken up by a student race of rubber tubes. One student wore his school jacket but was otherwise bare-chested, sitting slumped over in his open locker and taking a nap.

Amidst all the raucous activity, one girl was sitting quietly on a bench next to the administrative office, unbothered, reading a manga book. Her long blonde hair was tied in pigtails. She was in full school uniform, but her stockings were different colors.

"Hello, is someone able to give us a tour of the school?" Erina asked.

"Just one minute, let me finish this page." The girl didn't look up from her book.

An awkward moment of silence followed.

A frisbee zoomed past, over the girl's head.

She then clapped the book shut, plunked it on the bench, and stood up.

"Greetings!" the girl exclaimed, bowing to the confused trio. "I am Tasha, part of the Welcome Committee. A pleasure to have you all here at Sawai Academy!"

Kari and Hana looked at each other. So she won't even acknowledge that she blew us off for a couple minutes, they both thought.

Erina pressed on. "We would like to tour the school, is that possible?"

"Yes! Let me go grab the keys." Tasha grabbed her manga and disappeared into the administrative office. Hana noticed that the lights were out in the office.

Ten seconds passed. Tasha emerged from the office, key ring in hand. "Excellent! Let's start this way, a lot less going on in this hallway."


The touring party walked away from the commotion down a corridor lined with the usual lockers and classroom doors. They sidestepped a small puddle of yellow-tinted fluid. I don't even want to know what that is, thought Kari.

Tasha continued. "Now... Sawai Academy has gained a notable reputation for being the school for kids who hate school. Of course, while they hate it, they still want to be a part of school life. So we pride ourselves on having no attendance policies, no dress code and no grades, either. Uniforms are available in the school store if you still feel like you want to fit in that way.

"Whether you learn something or not, that's fine, you learn at your own pace. We offer both middle school and high school courses at this campus. The friendly teachers will give their minimal effort with their lessons, they're happy to help if you ask them, otherwise, they don't really care if you're paying attention or even at your desk."

"Sounds like the teachers are all NPC's," Erina whispered to Hana as the touring party reached the entrance to the gymnasium.

Inside the gym, the activity had a semblance of being more organized. The words "SAWAI TORPEDOES" and a painting of the school mascot — what appeared to be a torpedo with a woman's face and legs — graced the top of the far wall. A basketball game was in progress on one side, and a volleyball match on the other. A mixture of boys and girls were in both games. In one corner were uneven bars and a balance beam, both occupied by student gymnasts. For the most part, the students had their athletic uniforms on; some boys were shirtless and one girl played volleyball in a skimpy bikini.

Tasha spoke up as they approached the Club Announcements bulletin board. "We do have a wide variety of clubs, ranging from sports to academics to arts to other activities. If you don't see anything you like, you can make your own club! We accept all submissions, and if you don't have enough members, just wait and you'll get some."

"So there's student NPC's, too?" Hana asked Erina, who nodded.

"Oh man, look at some of these!" Kari was amused at the flyers that covered the board. The Anime Appreciation Club. The Throw Stuff Off The Roof Club. The Pee Your Pants Club. The Underwater Basket Weaving Club. The I Want To Date Benée Club. The Miniature Golf Club. The Izumi Soto Is The Greatest Guy Ever Club. The Statue Makeover Of The Month Club.

Kari's eyes widened at that last flyer. "Statue makeover... do they mean that statue out front? The school allows that?"

Tasha chuckled. "What is it... a clown right now? Yes, some art students formed a club and they paint the statue of our founder, Bo Sawai, in a different style each month. The school neither condones nor forbids it. It's a weird 'gray area' like that! This way, please, to the cafeteria."

Tasha led the three through a side door, into another hallway, around a corner and into an open space that resembled a mall food court. Crowds of students were eating, drinking and chatting as aromas of popcorn and barbeque wafted through the air. "The vending machines have all kinds of snacks and drinks, and you can use your cash or card to buy meal tickets for the serving line. The entrees change on a daily basis."

Hana grabbed a can of coffee from one of the machines as the four of them retreated into the hallway and back to the administrative office.

"Now, are there any questions?" Tasha asked as a soccer ball whizzed by, inches from her face.

Hana raised her hand. "You mentioned that this is a middle school and high school. I'm ten years old, will I still be able to attend, if I say I'm like a gifted student who skipped a couple of grades?"

"That's perfectly fine!" Tasha replied. "We make no background checks of that sort, and the entrance exam is so super easy, a kindergartener could pass it."

"Any chance we can meet the principal?" Erina asked.

"Unfortunately, the principal is not here at the moment. He is usually present for the school assemblies and ceremonies, but frankly he doesn't have much else to do here."

That doesn't sound like an NPC to me, thought Hana. I wonder if he's a real human as well. If a real human is in charge, I'd feel better about going here.

"So does this sound like the right school for you?" Tasha asked Hana.

"I... I think so." Hana turned to Kari. "Can we live in this town, then? Please?"

"I would rather be in a big city," Kari replied, "but if you really want to go here, we can try and find something near the Valleyrun train station. I can't make any guarantees, though."

"I'm sure something will pop up in the next few days," Erina assured the both of them. "Souls come and go in this world all the time, leaving houses and apartments vacant. Let's go and get back to Akiho and Sota." She turned to Tasha and bowed. "Thank you for everything, I'm certain we'll be back!"

"We look forward to seeing you again!" Tasha replied, and immediately went back to the bench and her manga.


"I wonder if these other high schools are that lenient in accepting students younger than usual," Kari wondered out loud as they boarded the Orange Line back to Valleyrun. "I mean, the lady at the Welcome Center said the cutoff age is thirteen, right?"

"If I remember correctly, yes," Erina replied. "Most schools here will take you in at any age if you do well enough on their entrance exams. Were you wanting to attend school as well?"

"I'm... kinda thinking about it. I know they said you don't have to go to school, and I never was that good in most subjects, anyway... but from what I've seen from the TV shows, there is a lot of fun stuff going on at the high schools that I didn't want to miss out on."

"Well, that's mainly why I want to go to Sawai," added Hana. "All the festivals, none of the stressful learning." She laughed as the train cars jerked into motion.

"That may be fine for you, but I want a school with a lot more order and a better learning environment."

Erina smiled. "I've got a few places in mind near where I live. Once you settle on a home, I'll make a list for you."

"I don't know how to ask this, but..." Hana hesitated a little. "Do... bodies age in this world?"

"Yes... and no. If you do nothing about it, your body stays the way it is for as long as you're here. But if you know the right place to go, you can actively change your looks, change your height, and look more like an adult if you so desire."

"Wait, like a... what are they called... plastic surgeon?"

Erina laughed. "Nothing like that. It's more of a video game-type customizer. It sounds like some complicated process, but it's quite simple. I'll show all of you at some point in the future. Once you've mastered it, you can look like anyone at any age. I've seen kids that wanted to stay little kids for years, and other kids that wanted to turn into adults the instant they left the Welcome Center. In fact, have you heard of Benée?"

Kari pondered this question for a few seconds, then her face lit up. "Oh yeah, I saw something on that club bulletin board. I Want To Date Benée club or something."

Erina continued. "You may have seen her already on billboards or train station ads. I remember reading in an interview... Benée came here several years ago as a kindergartener. She was a child model in her previous life, and unfortunately someone put a brutal end to that young life. Once she settled into this world, she decided she wanted to be a full-grown supermodel. So she went someplace to go from six to twenty in a matter of minutes. "

"Wow!" Hana exclaimed. "Is that what Akiho did? I noticed she looked a lot older than seven."

"It wasn't that drastic with Akiho. She wanted to turn herself into a high-schooler maybe a month after I adopted her, but I told her, sweetie, I know you want to grow up real fast, but I want to be a mother to every stage of you. You can adjust yourself a little at a time, and do it faster than usual, but I don't want a teenager just yet."

The Orange Line pulled into Valleyrun Station. As the group set foot on the platform, Hana spotted a poster with "Benée: The Fragrance" printed on it. She marveled at the glamorous image of a platinum blonde with slightly tanned skin and a flowing gold dress. "That's Benée, huh..."

"Stunning, isn't she? And she'll always look like that until she decides to get another makeover."

Hana silently weighed her options of giving herself an upgrade as the three of them rejoined Akiho and Sota at the arcade entrance.