Chapter 11: The Ninja School System

October has arrived and to begin with, Kappei woke up and checked his credits from his phone. "Huh? I only received 3500 credits? Didn't Sensei Tatsu say that every month, 5000 credits are deposited into our school banking system?"

At breakfast, "For some reason, I exactly got 5000 credits deposited." Jeong revealed to the group as he ate a scrambled egg sandwich with fried onions and ketchup

"Crikey...I got 4000 instead. Ha! I beat you for that Kap!" Davis exclaimed.

"Ah shut up!" Kappei replied shaking his head as Davis laughed playfully.

"Too bad. I got 3000." said Archie.

"Same." said Cruz as he ate a strip of bacon.

Later in class...

Everyone's talking about the credit deposit as Kappei and the other 4 boys entered the classroom. Heading to his seat, he met up with Emma who's already seated. "How many credits did you get Emma?"

"4000." She replied as she showed him the bank history area in the school app. It's there that when scanning the school ID, it reveals the current amount of credits for the student.

As everyone continued talking about it, the door opened and the homeroom teacher has arrived. "Settle down class and we shall begin."

"Wait first Sensei. Why did some of us get different deposits? I got 3200 credits only?" Kolton asked.

"Yeah! I only got 2900 credits!" said Colette.

"On the other hand, only Jeong got the full deposit." Vega added.

Sensei Tatsu said nothing for a moment. And then, "I didn't say you lot will exactly get 5000 credits deposited did I?"

All were silent from this. "Well, I'll explain. As Vega mentioned, only Jeong got the full deposit and may you tell us how it's possible?" He asked him.

"Um...how should I explain it..." Apparently he doesn't know the answer so, "It's simple. When it comes to homework and quizzes, Jeong made no errors in them all and for homework, he submitted them in time." Sensei Tatsu revealed.

"Wait a minute...are you saying that our studies will affect our credits?!" Maeve asked.

"Exactly. This is how the Ninja School System works." Sensei Tatsu revealed the full story as all gasped and murmured with one another.

"When you students enroll in Advanced WNA High, you start off with 5000 credits and through the one month, your studies will determine the deposit amount. If you finish your homework and hand it in on the exact timing like during the lesson, your deposits will not be affected. Furthermore, when grading your homework and it has little or no wrong answers, same thing." Sensei Tatsu explained. "Now, should you submit your homework late over a variety of reasons like you left them in your dorm room, you're too damn lazy to do it or your dog or cat ripped it apart but in truth, pets aren't allowed, then your deposit will be affected through a reduction."

"Quizzes are included right?" Mikelus asked.

"Exactly. You passed the quizzes, your deposit is unaffected but fail the quizzes, yeah you all know the answer already." Sensei Tatsu then opened the drawer below his desk and took out a sheet of paper rolled up. He then used the whiteboard magnets and stuck them onto the paper now unrolled.

"Are those...the quizzes we took during the month of September..." Lucia asked.

"Yes. And it covers all the subjects you are all studying." Sensei Tatsu replied.

6 subjects on the paper with the names of the 30 students included. "We're ranked based on our academics!" Avitus noticed as the students checked their quiz results.

"I ain't worried. I'm on the top." Jeong thought.

"Huh...you're ranked fifth Emma." Kappei told her.

"And you're ranked twentieth." Emma told him.

"Yeah...I guess I'm still a sucker in studying..." Kappei sighed.

"Now like I said before, your exams are on November which is next month. If you fail in any of your subjects, your winter break on December will be affected in a way that there will be remedial classes for the failures and depending on how many subjects failed, it might take up 2 weeks of your break as the maximum."

Everyone cringed from it. "On the bright side, if you pass and depending on the results, you will be awarded more credits." Sensei Tatsu briefed on.

"So you're saying there are more ways to earn credits during our time here?" Declan asked.

"Exactly. And the higher your scores, the more you earn. I think the maximum would be 5000." Sensei Tatsu concluded the homeroom session as lessons began. "One last thing, I trust that all of you still have some credits left?"

Good news is, everyone still has some credit left with the lowest being 2000 for a few students. "Excellent. The school is also testing you all on how you manage your savings. Every year, around 20 to 30 percent of the students enrolled on the first year blew off too many credits to the point that they ended up with little credits. Even if they receive the deposit which depends on their academic progress and results, it's still insufficient. Unless they're the smart ones, then no issue but really, try to be thrifty as much as possible." Sensei Tatsu explained and advised his class.

"Now that explains why the word, 'advance' is in the school name. Truly an elite school that tests us in this kinds of field..." Emma thought as lessons began.

Lunch hour...

"We're gonna need to form study groups to prepare for the exams this November." Kappei told his peers while chewing on a pork chop.

"At the same time, we gotta be responsible for our own self-studying." Jeong added as he ate some vegetables.

"He's got a point mates. So how do you want the study groups to be formed?" Davis asked.

"Simple. Jeong, can you form a study group with those at the bottom ranks? Kappei asked.

"Sure! I'll talk with them and we can arrange." Jeong replied as he sipped his grape soda.

"I'll help too!" Maeve volunteered.

"Point taken. She's in the top 5 in the academics." said Archie as he ate a grilled cheese sandwich.

"What about you Kappei? You may be our class representative but your academics still tanked to the bottom." Vega brought up.

"Yeah. Even Davis is stable in his academics being in the 15th place." Cruz added.

"Ha! In your face Kap!" Davis laughed in amusement.

"Whatever, I'm still proficient in the ninja training and I do better than you." Kappei replied.

"But you're still a loser in studying." Davis stated as he and Kappei argued again with the rest laughing at this.

"And on the other hand, we agreed to study together tonight at his room." Emma thought as she drank her iced lemon tea.

Later that night...

In Kappei's dorm room, he and Emma are studying together with Emma doing the teaching and Kappei learning from her. Also, the PC is on with the Ninjatube website open and playing some pop songs. Right now, it's playing the song, "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone.

"Listening to music and catchy pop songs can calm the mindset and improve one's focus." Emma thought as she watched Kappei work on the English homework while she worked on her biology homework.

In the middle of their session, a video call took effect. "Oh? Who's calling you?"

"My grampa." Kappei paused the song first and answered the call as the old man appeared onscreen. "Good timing Kappei. I got something-Ah? Is that you Emma?"

"Yes it's me!" She replied waving to him. "Ha! Ha! To think both of you are here together...ah what are you both doing?" Gen'unsai asked.

"We're just studying together and Emma helps me a lot on my homework." Kappei answered.

"Mmmm...I appreciate you for looking out for my grandson Emma. I know he can be lazy bum sometimes."

"Seriously grampa?!" Kappei ended up having his face lie on the table in embarrassment as Emma laughed and likewise, Gumchi who's on the bed swinging around with his shinai playfully.

"He's improving on his studies and his training. He even joined the kendo club and made a friend and rival with one of our classmates." Emma told him.

"So it seems both of you are in the same class. Now I understand..." Gen'unsai smiled at this. "Anyway, I have something to tell you Kappei."

"What is it grampa?"

"I'm moving to Eagle City to establish a kendo dojo."

"Wow! That's great!" Kappei exclaimed with Gumchi cheering and Emma smiling about it.

"The WNA has made the necessary arrangements for me to move to the city. They even reserved a nice house for me to dwell in, all thanks to your uncle. Furthermore, the dojo that I want to establish has just started with the construction and it's located near the house." Gen'unsai explained. "In addition, if you kids have vacation breaks, you can travel to Eagle City and stay around for a while. At least there's a roof above your heads and I can see you more often."

"Wow...we appreciate your hospitality." Emma thanked him.

"What about the old dojo in Iga?" Kappei asked.

"I've granted it to my successor and gave him the permission to revert it to the ninjutsu dojo. At least trust is built between us and he's committed to be responsible to improve on the way of the shinobi not just for himself but for others." Gen'unsai answered. "After all, it's about time that I widen my horizon."

"Hap-pee! Hap-pee!" Gumchi jumped in to see him as he smiled at the trio. "Keep it up young ones. I hope to see you during Christmas break."

"We'll do grampa. We'll do." Kappei replied as the video call ended.

"Does he often call you to see how you're doing?" Emma asked.

"Yeah. Once or twice a week and it depends on whether he's busy or not." Kappei replied.

"I see...same thing happens to me. Ms Warren would check on me sometimes." Emma replied. "Oh and also, she received the packages and has delivered them to the orphanage."

"Nice. The kids will love the gifts and see that you still remember them even when you're busy with high school." said Kappei as they resumed their study session while Gumchi went to the mini fridge, opened it and took out a bag of cookies and a carton of milk. He went to the table, placed the bag and poured out the milk on 2 glasses.

"For us? Thank you Gumchi. You're really sweet." Emma thanked.

"And he's literally sweet thanks to his gum body." Kappei added as they laughed for tonight's study session was great.

The Ninja School System is inspired by the S-System featured in the anime, Classroom of the Elite. Yes, I've planned the high school to also be an elite school for the education side while retaining it's ninja theme since most of the time, the students will do more ninja training while balancing their studies. Of course there are exams and that's why Class 1-A's gotta get serious about it.

Character of the Chapter

Name: Sensei Tatsu

Profile

Class 1-A's homeroom teacher is strict, committed and devoted to teaching the class at it's very best. Nevertheless, he values the bonds between himself and the class and is humble enough to care for their safety and to ensure their high school life is smooth-sailing.

Sensei Tatsu came from a ninja clan where they're proficient in wielding dual katanas and practitioners of the 'Twin Sword Style'. He does have his katanas attached to his armour all the time and has known some of the teachers for some time since they went to the same high school as a batch in the past.

Awakened Power: Armour Enhancement

Sensei Tatsu's awakened power enables him to enhance the body armour of anymore wearing it. He can use it many times on multiple targets(Once per body armour)and through the enhancement, the armour's durability is boosted with maximum defense so great that ranged projectiles such as shurikens, kunais, arrows and even bullets can't pierce or dent the boosted armour for an hour.