Chapter Text
“Excuse me… Could you give up your seat?” a young girl’s voice broke the steady hum of the bus ride. Kiyotaka glanced towards the priority seat section a few rows before him, where the voice came from.
A female high schooler with short dirty-blonde hair, who wore the same red uniform as his—whom he figured as the owner of the voice—stood beside an old lady, facing another red-uniformed high schooler sitting on the priority seat.
The one who’s sitting is a well-built guy with long platinum blonde hair, his crossed legs matching his smug expression. Beside the guy is a couple of elderly people, side-eyeing him with a dirty look. Fair enough.
“That’s a priority seat,” the girl pointed out politely, “I think you should let the elderly lady sit there.”
The guy scoffed, “My, my, pretty girl…” he said so in condescension, “While it may be a priority seat, there is no law requiring me to relinquish it,” like he’s some sort of entitled prince.
Kiyotaka heard a shuffle beside him, then a whisper which almost threatened him to shudder for its suddenness if nothing else, “Man, just hearing him speak makes me want to puke.”
Kiyotaka whipped his head around to see a sleazy half-grin plastered on the face of a black-haired teenager. The guy is leaning slightly closer to Kiyotaka, must be to also sneak a peek at the scene. His eyes traveled down, noting that this guy also wears the same uniform as his, just with the blazer unbuttoned and a noticeable lack of tie. Hold on, squint, is this guy wearing a white tracksuit instead of a shirt under his blazer?
“Don’t you agree?” the black-haired guy asked, prompting Kiyotaka’s eyes to look back up. “Your face definitely said ‘I wanna punch that guy sooo bad’ .”
“…This is my resting face,” Kiyotaka stated, plainly.
The guy stared at him for a few seconds, matching Kiyotaka’s expression, searching for something. Then shrugged, “Eh, sure,” and he switched his attention back to the currently happening scene, which Kiyotaka followed.
“You want me to give up my seat just because I’m young?” Oh, the act is still going. The blonde guy—whom Kiyotaka will now dub as ‘the prince’ —chuckled, “Nonsense, pure and simple,” was the nonsense that he spouts.
“Even if I am young, standing consumes more stamina than sitting. Why should I do something so detrimental with no benefit to myself?”
With a smile, the girl answered, “I think you’d be contributing to society—"
Here we go.
“—And this lady seems to be having trouble staying upright.”
“Nice girl,” the black-haired guy murmured, more of an observational tone than a flatter.
‘Trope’ , Kiyotaka added in his mind.
“I have no interest in contributing to society,” the prince flipped his one strand of a hair bang, “Besides…
“What about those sitting in the other seats?”
At this, the guy beside Kiyotaka shifted his position back to leaning on his own seat, wearing a scrunched expression. He noticed Kiyotaka’s stare rather quickly, “What?”
“Your face definitely said ‘I wanna punch that guy sooo bad’ ,” Kiyotaka deadpanned.
The black-haired guy blinked, then smirked, amused, “This is my resting face.”
“The difference between priority seats and others seems rather trivial to me,” the prince added to his retort.
The old lady, finally, croaked her feeling, “R-really, I’m fine. But thank you,” which is defeat.
Not giving up, the young girl looked around the bus, to her fellow passengers with a pleading look, “Excuse me! Would any of you be willing to give up your seat?”
This time, Kiyotaka’s seatmate opted to mouth , ‘Not giving up your seat?’
‘No,’ Kiyotaka mouthed his reply.
‘Great, I’m not giving up mine either.’
‘Then why asking me?’
‘If you would, I would join you.’
It was at this point of their silent conversation that Kiyotaka noticed, that no other passengers were willing to offer their seats. They faked their attention on anything else, keeping their heads down or to the side. That was until a woman in a suit a few rows behind Kiyotaka meekly raised her hand, “Um, you can have mine.”
The young girl beamed at the offer, “Thank you so much!”, almost like she was more thankful than the old lady she’s helped.
When Kiyotaka turned his attention back to his seatmate, the guy was leaning with one hand against the window, staring back at Kiyotaka with a less intense gaze he’d shot at the prince. This guy… he doesn’t even look like he’s trying to hide anything. But somehow, Kiyotaka felt like all the readings he made in his mind about this guy were all wrong.
Kiyotaka continued where they left off, “And why would you follow me if I gave up my seat?”
Not wanting to get involved with that kind of stuff is understandable, but why bother following others who would?
The guy tilted his head just as the scenery behind him changed, to a gradation of bright blue sky to the sea. Sunlight flooded into the bus, touching all except Kiyotaka, whose light was blocked by the black-haired guy’s figure. The backlight turned the guy’s shadows darker, hiding his expression from Kiyotaka to read. Although, a smile could be heard still in his answer,
“I’m not going to abandon my new friend, would I?”
Kiyotaka stepped off the bus along with the other students. Most of them walked on their own towards the school gate, unlike the black-haired guy who stuck beside Kiyotaka even when he stopped in his tracks to take in the new scenery.
“You brand us as ‘friends’ , but I didn’t even catch your name,” Kiyotaka pointed out.
“I didn’t throw it,” the guy gave a cheeky grin, which would’ve made anyone else do an eye-roll. Receiving no reaction, the guy’s expression softened back to a sleazy smile as he pats Kiyotaka’s shoulder, “I’m Katagiri Yuuichi, freshman. You?”
“Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, also freshman.”
“Cool!” Yuuichi linked his right arm with Kiyotaka’s left, smiling a bit too wide for someone who just introduced himself, “ Now we’re friends, right?”
Kiyotaka didn’t fight having his arms linked though, “Eh, sure.”
Yuuichi snorted a laugh at his copy-paste response.
A new friend… Kiyotaka hadn’t even stepped into the school yet. What a feat.
“So, this is our new school, huh?” Yuuichi looked around like a lost child in an amusement park as he pulled Kiyotaka along.
Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School; A school established by the Japanese government to nurture the young people who will support the country in the future. It boasts a 100% employment and college entry rate, and with thorough, state-directed teaching methods, it spares no effort in pursuing the nation’s desired future.
Hopefully, that desired future would save some peaceful normalcy for Kiyotaka.
He glanced at Yuuichi.
…Hopefully, the road towards that will be too.
They’re in the same class?
“We’re in the same class!” Yuuichi grinned, claiming a seat in front of Kiyotaka’s, “What are the chances?”
“Whatever it is, it must be a good chance for you, right?” Kiyotaka sat down on his seat that is beside the window. From their previous interactions, Yuuichi should be the type to not let go of his friends that easily. A good type for Kiyotaka to have on his very first day.
“Oh, speak for yourself, mate,” Yuuichi shifted to lean against the window frame, “You look beyond ecstatic to have a friend around.”
Kiyotaka crossed his arms on his desk, “How did you know?” he asked with a voice as monotone as his expression.
Yuuichi puts one arm to lean on Kiyotaka’s desk, smirking slyly, “Just a guess,” he hissed the last word.
The two boys’ gaze drifted to the rest of their class, individually assessing their classmates. Funnily enough, they are also in the same class with the prince—Yuuichi faked a gag at his sight—and the nice girl from the bus. Most of the girls are chatting about their various tastes in various things, no doubt to categorize amongst each other, while the boys simply lounge around or group up as fellow geeks and what-not.
Some interesting-looking fellows would include an athletic red-haired guy who looks like your typical delinquent at the far end across Kiyotaka’s seat— “Yeah, definitely avoid that guy,” Yuuichi whispered, voicing out Kiyotaka’s thoughts—while the complete opposite of that guy is a prim and proper black-haired girl sitting right beside Kiyotaka.
The girl has a book in her hands, but it looks like she’s using it more to distract herself from the environment than actually being interested in said book. Point proven as she felt the boys’ gaze enough to speak up, glancing at them, “Why are you guys staring at me?”
“Why are you so pissed? I was staring at him,” Yuuichi pointed at the delinquent guy, who thankfully didn’t hear—or maybe he did and just ignored him.
The girl frowned, and simply went back to her book without any follow-ups.
“Can you not cause any trouble?” Kiyotaka plainly voiced his concern. If this type of behavior goes on, Kiyotaka might get dragged into the troubles it may cause sooner or later, “Not everyone could handle your personality as I could.”
“Aw, you like my personality?”
“That is very much not my point.”
Suddenly, a voice pulled everyone to attention, “Everyone, may I have a moment?” Kiyotaka and Yuuichi turned to look at one of the boys standing in front of the class with a charming smile, “I was hoping we could all introduce ourselves to get a jump on getting better acquainted. The teacher doesn’t seem to be here yet, anyway. How about it?”
“I’m in!” shouted the nice girl cheerily, of course, she would. The others followed suit with some “Sounds fun.” , “Yeah, I don’t even know anyone’s names.”
“Thanks. Okay, I’ll go first,” the charming guy started, “I’m Hirata Yosuke. Just call me Yosuke. No need for formality. I play all kinds of sports, and I intend to join the soccer club at this school. Nice to meet you all!”
As the others cheer, Kiyotaka and Yuuichi make a silent bet that Yosuke will end up being the class leader through glances.
“I’ll go next!” as expected, the nice girl is next, “My name is Kushida Kikyo. My goal is to become friends with each and every one of you! I’d like to make lots of good memories, so don’t hesitate to invite me anywhere!” and she ended with a bow. The boys in particular cheered louder for her, she’d be popular with both guys and girls. She’s already got that ‘I can be friends with anyone’ aura about her.
“Not interested in her?” Yuuichi wiggled his eyebrows at Kiyotaka.
“…Not in what you meant. You?”
“About the same,” Yuuichi’s teasing fell flat, “There’s something about her that icks me,” he whispered.
Meanwhile, the introductions go on.
“Me next! I’m Ike Kanji! I love girls and I hate hot guys! I’m always accepting new girlfriend applications!”
“I’m Yamauchi Haruki. In elementary school, I went to nationals in ping-pong. In middle school, I was the baseball club’s ace and cleanup hitter. I’m still recovering from an injury I got during the Inter-High.”
These introductions will determine everyone’s standing in the class. Should he try for a joke? Bet he can get a big laugh if he’s really energetic… or maybe he’d just creep everyone out. It’s not like Kiyotaka has any talents or hobbies, anyway. He’s just a white bird, flying free…
Oh, it’s Yuuichi’s turn.
“My name’s Katagiri Yuuichi. I’m good with pretty much everything except maaaaybe history. Used to live alone. And…” he shrugged, “That’s it,” and he sat back down, followed by polite claps.
“Next up…” Yosuke’s eyes landed on Kiyotaka, “You!”
The pointed one blinks, “Huh? Me?”
Yosuke smiled.
Well, there’s no getting around it. He’d better muster up the energy to introduce himself.
Kiyotaka stood up.
For the sake of his school life.
“Uh… Um… I’m Ayanokoji Kiyotaka,” not a fantastic start, “Uh…” he glanced down towards Yuuichi, who was staring up at him with that same sleazy smile of his, “…I look forward to studying with you,” he could feel dozens of eyes piercing his soul, “Ah, um… I’m not good at anything in particular. Uh… I’ll work hard to get along with everyone,” very, very hard.
…
Kiyotaka sat back down, followed by very, very polite claps.
“Nice to meet you, Ayanokoji-kun, Let’s be good friends,” it would be better if you stopped smiling so pitifully, oh, Yosuke.
Yuuichi is the only one to openly smile mockingly at him, “You blew it.”
“I blew it,” Kiyotaka nodded solemnly.
A chuckle escaped Yuuichi’s throat, shaking, he was trying so very hard to not let it slip into full-blown laughter.
“You hurt me, Yuuichi,” deadpan.
“Sorry, Kiyotaka,” grinning.
BANG!
All but Kiyotaka jolted at the sudden noise. Heads turned towards the delinquent guy’s desk, whose owner had kicked, “Introductions? Please,” he scoffed, “What are we, little kids? Do that if you want, but leave me out of it.”
Fortunately for them all, before a fight could ensue, the sound of high heels clacked into the classroom,
“Everyone… Take your seats,”
and a mature woman’s voice commanded with an expectation of discipline.
The class immediately scrambled to their seats.
The woman carried a stack of books, which she placed on the teacher’s desk. She then turned to the class, her hazel gaze sharp, “I’m Chabashira Sae, the homeroom teacher for Class D,” so she is a teacher, “There will be no changing of classes in this school. I will be responsible for you for the next three years, until you graduate.” Miss Chabashira lifted one of the books she brought to show its cover, “First, I’ll hand out the school rule book. Take one and pass it back.”
When the book reached Kiyotaka’s hands, he was mildly surprised that it was quite thick. There can’t be only rules in this book, unless this school is really that strict… Besides, the cover only has the school’s name as its title, so it might not be too far off to assume that it may contain stuff like the school’s map or history and such.
“We have special rules at this school,” the teacher started to explain, “First, you will live in dorms. While at school, your ability to leave campus and contact the outside world will be limited.
“But don’t worry. The school offers a variety of facilities. Everything you need can be found here, including entertainment.”
Then she showed the class her phone, “To buy things, you’ll use points stored in the school’s official computer system. At this school, you can buy anything using points. Points are allotted on the first of each month. One point is worth one yen.”
Kiyotaka opened his student account, and the screen displayed his ID along with a set of numbers under it indicating the amount of points he currently has.
“You have already been allotted 100,000 points for this month.”
Shock and excitement were murmured around the room. Kiyotaka heard a breathy ‘Holy shit’ from Yuuichi.
Miss Chabashira smirked, “Are you surprised by the size of your allotment? This school judges students based on merit.
“You are attributed significant value just for being accepted here.”
Beep!
“Thank you for your purchase!” a robotic voice chirped from the scanner.
Kiyotaka checked his account and, true to his teacher’s words, his points decreased according to the price of the items he bought.
It really does work like money.
“Twenty-five students per class, and four classes per grade. That makes 300 students total,” Yuuichi, who was browsing the shelves beside Kiyotaka, spoke, “If each student gets 100,000 yen per month…”
“That’s 360 million per year,” Kiyotaka finished off.
“Strange, right?” Yuuichi quirked his eyebrows, eyes on the bath products, “Even if it’s government-funded, doesn’t make sense that they would spend so much money on just students of all people.”
Kiyotaka had roughly figured out the situation, still, he can’t help but ask, “What are you suggesting?”
That strange, too-wide smile returned on Yuuichi’s face, “Y’know, this school, with all its fancy facilities, always gave off a strange vibe to me,” he tilted his head, “Like, they gave us a huge amount of ‘money’ in abstract form to distract us from the fact that we’re all uniformed people isolated from the world.”
Kiyotaka nodded, “Like a prison.”
“Exactly! And what kind of societal structure is commonly shared in most prisons?”
The two boys made finger guns pointed at each other, both answering at the same time, “Hierarchies.”
“In a school setting, it would be student rankings,” Yuuichi added.
“Or class rankings,” Kiyotaka suggested.
The black-haired one nodded, “True, true.”
He hadn’t noticed earlier, but Kiyotaka had inched closer towards Yuuichi following their conversation. At least the latter doesn’t seem to mind. Good, they probably should’ve been more secretive like this since the start. But not too close—Kiyotaka took a single step back—people would think it’s weird.
“It’s pretty easy to figure out,” Kiyotaka hummed, might as well tell Yuuichi his piece of mind. It’s not like he’s the one starting this discussion, “Miss Chabashira did say that the school judges students based on merit. That was enough clue on its own. The amount of money we receive would most likely depend on our academic performances.”
“Hah, most definitely you mean,” Yuuichi snorted, “You think they would judge us based on our behavior too?”
“From how thick that rule book was? Most definitely.”
Yuuichi murmured something under his breath, then groaned, “Fucking knew it.”
Kiyotaka tilted his head the way Yuuichi did, “What’s wrong?”
“I sleep at classes,” Yuuichi clicked his tongue, “A habit.”
“You do look like the type,” Kiyotaka glanced at Yuuichi’s uncombed hair, “I could lend you my notes—”
“Really?”
“—If you ask.”
A laugh, “Oh, I will.”
From how intently Yuuichi was staring at the shelves, Kiyotaka was surprised to see Yuuichi moving to a basket beside the shelves containing various products with a sign that said, ‘FREE’ . The guy rummaged through a bit, and grabbed some of its products.
“You haven’t spent your money yet, right?” Kiyotaka plucked a random hair gel from the shelves and waved it at Yuuichi, “You could buy better stuff than those almost expired ones.”
“But these are free, though?” Yuuichi argued like he was stating a basic fact.
“Those are for students who are…” Kiyotaka paused, “…broke.”
“Yes, and?”
Kiyotaka stared Yuuichi down for a solid minute, before he finally spoke again, “Suit yourself then,” he turned towards the door, “But hurry, I won’t wait long.”
Yuuichi proceeded to grab so many of the free stuff, it almost looked like a robbery scene.
It wasn’t long before groups began to form within the class. A common trend shared between them was flaunting the things they’d bought to their peers: food, gadgets, jewelry, you name it. The more you spend, the cooler you are, so it seems.
Kiyotaka didn’t fit in any of those groups. Since the first day, he and Yuuichi had been stuck to the hip. They don’t hang out much outside the class, but with just a few exchanges, it’s clear that they don’t really have the energy to do so with anyone else, anyways. The two of them are also always in the same group when the school task calls for it. Kiyotaka had to admit, it is quite nice to have a friend who could also go toe to toe with him in discussions, and boy, do they love civics.
So, it could be said that, Kiyotaka didn’t fail at making a friend for the very least.
And speaking of spending, Kiyotaka and Yuuichi made a bet on how long the latter could go without spending a single point—Yuuichi’s idea. Yuuichi bet until after the mid-terms, Kiyotaka bet before that.
“If I win, you must let me use your shower—and bath products—for half a semester,” Yuuichi bargained.
“Then, if I win, I won’t lend you my notes for half a semester.”
“I could ask the others.”
Kiyotaka tilted his head, the way Yuuichi would, just with a poker face, “Do you think I would let you?”
They both sealed the deal after that.
“Hey, wanna hit up the cafeteria?” Yuuichi asked, getting up from his seat. This, too, has become their common routine. Yuuichi doesn’t even need to ask at this point if he wanted. Kiyotaka could just stand up and Yuuichi would take that as an invitation for him to link their arms all the way to the cafeteria. But no, Yuuichi always asks, and Kiyotaka always accepts.
Today, though, they were stopped at the door by a certain nice girl’s voice, “Um… Ayanokoji-kun, right?”
The two boys turned their heads, lo and behold, there the nice girl stood, fiddling her fingers. She must’ve only noticed Kiyotaka’s companion, because it took her a second to add, “Oh! And… Katagiri-kun too.”
“Yeah. Um…” Kiyotaka trailed.
Yuuichi whispered, “It’s Kushida.”
“Kushida?”
Kushida’s face brightens up, “Thanks! I’m so glad you remembered my name!”
The other two glanced at each other, “Yeah… I guess,” Kiyotaka mumbled.
“Then…” Kushida briefly eyed Yuuichi, “Can I borrow Ayanokoji-kun for a bit?” she smiled sweetly, “I want to talk,” then she looked up to Kiyotaka, “Can we?”
Before Kiyotaka could answer, he felt a tug around his right arm. And it felt familiar enough for him to know it was Yuuichi linking their arms together.
“Right, no, sorry, we’re going to get lunch,” Yuuichi answered flat.
Kushida looked scrambled at the response, “W-wait! It would be just for a bit! Um… a minute!”
This is bad. Kiyotaka can’t let any ill will ruin his daily life, especially one involving the popular nice girl. “Well, it’s just a minute, Yuuichi,” Kiyotaka reasoned, “I don’t think the cafeteria would run out of food for us anytime soon.”
Kushida let out an awkward laugh, “Ahah… Actually, I just—”
“Yuuichi will join us too,” Kiyotaka tugged Yuuichi closer to him, intentionally not bothering with the latter’s baffled expression, “Right?”
Yuuichi and Kushida exchanged a look for a second too long, before the two answered with a thin smile on their faces,
“Right.”
Kushida brought the boys to a secluded spot around a hall’s corner. The girl ignored Yuuichi’s presence all the way there, but at least Yuuichi was a bit more chill about it—having let go of Kiyotaka’s arm to stuff his hands in his pockets. Yuuichi stood beside Kiyotaka when Kushida opened the conversation, “Ayanokoji-kun, I noticed you sit the closest to Horikita-san.”
Horikita… Oh, that brooding girl who sits beside him. “Yeah, but…” Kiyotaka shuffled one foot closer to Yuuichi’s, “I wouldn’t say that we’re really close ourselves…”
“But still…!” she insisted, “You’re the only one who’s ever been the closest to her presence.”
“And Yuuichi spoke to her once on the first day,” Kiyotaka argued.
Yuuichi made a disgruntled face that said, ‘Oh, I know where this is going.’
“Well, um… I don’t think jabbing at her again would help…” Kushida pouted, and she started swaying nervously as she looked up at Kiyotaka with those pinkish eyes of hers, “You know… I want to be friends with everyone in school. So, I asked Horikita-san for her contact information, but she turned me down… She said she doesn’t want to be friends with anyone!”
“I think that’s just how she is,” Yuuichi shrugged. Kiyotaka nodded in agreement.
“But I want to be friends with Horikita too!” Kushida reached forward to grab Kiyotaka’s hands, but Yuuichi pulled him back by the arm, so now she’s just standing awkwardly close to Kiyotaka. Though she acted like she didn’t just make the attempt, immediately putting her hands behind her back—her ample breasts jutting out of her chest, “Won’t you help me?”
“Help you?” Kiyotaka did a quick glance between the frowning Yuuichi and the pleading Kushida, “I don’t…”
“You…” she tilted her head like a puppy, “…won’t?”
Is it a trick by the sunlight, or does Kushida’s eyes look glassy?
“This school really is indulgent,” Horikita suddenly spoke, that Kiyotaka just had to turn.
The girl was staring at Yuuichi’s napping form at the desk—arms folded, face down. The afternoon light bathed his mess of black hair in a warm glow, and if one dared to touch, one may feel its warmth. Kiyotaka gave Yuuichi’s left shoulder a few gentle taps as he slipped his notebook into Yuuichi’s bag.
“Students play around and nap in class, but the teacher never calls them out,” Horikita finished tidying her desk, “Is this really an advanced school run by the government?”
“Maybe they want to encourage student autonomy,” lies, he and Yuuichi knew it was to set up the students for failure on their new term; and teach them a lesson that money won’t come until they work hard. Probably they’ll cut the number of points the bad students would receive, or something.
“Perhaps,” Horikita said curtly. Then, as she was about to stand up, a hand went and suddenly grabbed her arm, “Wh—”
“I want to apologize!” The culprit turned out to be Yuuichi, hair disheveled and eyes slightly red from just waking up. He slouched slightly too, making him appear a bit shorter than Horikita, “I… want to apologize, for being rude to you on our first day.”
Horikita wrestled her arm away from Yuuichi’s grip, brows furrowed, “Right…”
“I want t-to make it up to you!” Yuuichi bowed his head lower, lips trembling, “I… I’ll treat you something. I heard there’s a café in the mall that girls like so…”
“You’re such a bad liar,” said Horikita coldly, making Yuuichi flinch, “It’s been weeks, and now you suddenly cared about your attitude towards me?” Horikita narrowed her gaze, “What are you after?”
A heartbeat, then, Yuuichi straightened himself. His face returned to normal, with his signature tacky smirk, “Fine, I lied,” he rolled his eyes, “There’s this café that has a ‘Buy 1 Get 1’ discount for my favorite drink, but only for couples… And as everyone can see,” Yuuichi spread his arms, “I have a total count of zero girlfriends.”
Horikita was quick to put two and two together, “So you’re saying…”
Yuuichi nodded, “I’ll even give the other drink to you as compensation,” determination burned in his eyes, “I promise!”
And what is a human before the offer of free goods?
Not even Suzune is immune.
It’s been a while since she treated herself, as the expense of saving money. Of course, buying things like sweets and the like is out of the question.
But just this once, Suzune thought to herself, just this once; as she stood in front of the aforementioned café, waiting for Katagiri to order the drinks. Suzune didn’t want to… stain her image by doing a lovey-dovey act inside a café full of high school girls, so they resorted to just taking a fake couple pic with Katagiri’s phone to show to the barista.
It didn’t take long for Katagiri to re-emerge from those glass sliding doors, holding two paper cups of strawberry latte and a bag of something else. “Thanks, Horikita-san!” The boy smiled gleefully as he handed Suzune one of the cups, “God, I don’t know what to do if you had refused.”
“It’s just a drink,” Suzune sipped the strawberry latte, its sweetness permeating in her mouth.
Katagiri took a long slurp himself, and tutted, “Wrong, it’s my favorite drink,” he slurped again, “And the discount only lasted for a day, so I’d say this is a big win.”
The ‘couple’ stood there, enjoying their drinks too much to move to a seat or converse. Which is good, because Katagiri’s goal has been fulfilled, and Suzune refuses to attempt small talk like a neglected girlfriend.
Their silence didn’t last long though, when Katagiri made a sudden small gasp, “Hey, have you done that chemistry homework for tomorrow?” he asked.
Suzune paused her sipping, “Yes, why?”
Katagiri did a full-body turn towards Horikita, his face a mix of panic and shame, “C-can I copy yours…?”
The girl put one arm on her hip, her mood turned sour, “You really think, I would give you my hard work for free ?”
“Oh, of course, not!” Katagiri chuckled nervously, and then it went lower, as his mirth formed a grin, “I don’t think that strawberry latte in your hand was bought with your points.” A blush crept up Suzune’s cheek,
and Katagiri’s grin grew wider, “And you seemed to enjoy the taste very much,”
the blush turned redder.
“You—!” Suzune took a deep breath, and sighed, “I see, this was your intention all along… Fine ,” she fetched her phone from her bag, and typed in irritation, “My homework’s at my dorm. I’ll give you my phone number, so I can send you them by pictures.”
“Hell yeah!” Katagiri took his phone out too, smiling giddily, “You really are my savior,” he praised, earning him a slap on the arm.
Right after they exchanged numbers, the café’s doors slid open once again, and a group of girls walked out. One of them was Kushida, who noticed Suzune on sight. She said her farewells to her group, and ran to Suzune’s side, waving her hand, “Horikita-san!~ and—oh…” Kushida slowed down at the sight of Katagiri, blinking once, “…Katagiri-san?”
“’Sup,” Katagiri greeted with his lips back on the lid of his cup.
A pause, then, Kushida turned her attention back to Suzune, “Are you going back to your dorm too?” she grabbed a hold of Suzune’s hand, “The other girls are going somewhere else, so I’m left alone… Let’s go walk together!—”
Suzune brushed off Kushida’s hand, “No, thank you.”
“Please, Horikita-san!” Kushida pushed with pleading eyes, “I just want you to be my friend!”
“I want you to leave me alone,” Suzune gritted her teeth, “I won’t trouble the class.”
Kushida drooped, “But you’ll be lonely all by yourself…”
“I have never once felt lonely by myself,” Suzune took a step away from Kushida’s suffocating attitude, “Every word that comes out of your mouth disgusts me.”
Suzune snuck a glance towards Katagiri. He looked like he wanted to say something, but decided not to, and just watched the scene in front of him while drinking his beverage. She adjusted her bag on her shoulders, “I’ve been lonely for the last nine years. Longer if you include kindergarten,” and stepped away from the scene, not even bothering to cast a final glare at Kushida,
“Your efforts are nothing but a waste of time.”
Kushida’s plan ended in failure. She could only look sullen, as she watched Horikita’s back walk away, “Maybe I can never be her friend…” she muttered.
“Stop looking like a kicked puppy,” Yuuichi waved his phone in front of Kushida’s pitiful face, “I got her number.”
“E-eh?!” Kushida looked rapidly between the phone screen in front of her and the guy holding it, appearing to be genuinely shocked, “B-but…”
“This is what you want, right?” Yuuichi pressed, “Does it matter how you obtain it?”
“Well… Um…”
“If she asks, just say that you want to copy her homework or something and so you asked her number from me. Simple,” he shrugged, “I’ll probably get stabbed with a pencil or whatever. I don’t care.”
“I…” Kushida moved to input Horikita’s number into her contacts, her eyes wide, “…Thanks?”
Yuuichi only nodded, then walked back alone to the dorms, slurping his strawberry latte empty.
“I’m home~”
“Yuuichi, this is my dorm.”
“Welcome back~” the guest answered his own greeting and flopped face down onto Kiyotaka’s bed like it was his own. Yuuichi held out his hand, a paper bag in its hold, “Here you go.”
Kiyotaka huffed through his nose as he paused his chemistry homework, and spun around in his swivel chair, “What’s this?” he took the bag and opened it on his lap.
“My ’thank you’ gift for lending me your points,” Yuuichi answered, his voice muffled by the bedsheets, at the same time Kiyotaka fished out a strawberry-chocolate bombolone from the paper bag.
“…I would’ve preferred that you returned the excess,” Kiyotaka said, still, he took a bite of the sweet-filled donut, “Did our plan work?” Oh, this is way sweeter than he thought.
Yuuichi shifted to lay on his sides, facing Kiyotaka with a gleam, “Flawlessly,” he chuckled, “Damn, you should’ve seen Kushida’s face! She looked so distraught that I was there instead of you.”
Right, Kiyotaka was the one who agreed to help, she would’ve expected him to be the one to act out her scenario too.
That was, until Yuuichi pulled Kiyotaka aside when she was gone, and said to him in a conspiratorial tone, “I have a much better plan.” And they discussed there, in a corner of an empty hall. Yuuichi’s back against the wall, the side of their foreheads barely touching, their bodies close—while their mouths mutter revisions of Yuuichi’s ‘better plan’ .
Kiyotaka isn’t even the type to talk out any of his plans or thoughts to anyone before he would at least act upon them. But with Yuuichi, it felt like he was devising with a copy of his brain. They have different perspectives, and methods too, yes—Kiyotaka didn’t even expect Yuuichi to be someone who could come up with such multi-layered lies. They had their debates, their banters, but to conjoin their minds like that—it felt…
Kiyotaka swallowed, “I’m not as expressive as you. Our plan wouldn’t have worked if I was the one inviting Horikita-san,” then took another bite, “Good, now everything should be fine.”
No response to that.
As expected.
The donut-chewing had to stop, “So, who did you upset?”
“You know me so well,” Yuuichi sat up in a crisscross, “Why are you so concerned anyway?” he stared Kiyotaka down.
“The options were messing up with the class’s popular girl, or with the sister of the head of the student council—yes, they have the same last name—and I chose the latter—”
“Because there must be a reason Horikita was placed in Class D and one of the possibilities was that they have a complicated relationship so it would be more unlikely to gain the ill will of the student council through her than the entire class?” Yuuichi cut Kiyotaka without a hitch.
“You know me so well,” Kiyotaka put the bombolone back into the bag for later, “The answer?”
A couple of message notifications rang from Yuuichi’s phone. The owner grinned like the Cheshire cat, head tilted, “Ho-ri-ki-ta,” then muted his phone.
Horikita didn’t even glance at Yuuichi’s direction since then. Good thing that Yuuichi isn’t bothered one bit, even better that Kiyotaka is completely out of it.
Most students decided to make the most of their school lives, without thinking too deeply about anything. Day after day, they blew through their monthly allowance of 100,000 like it was nothing. The teacher was very lenient, so in-class conversations, napping, tardiness, and absences became a daily occurrence. Extravagance, debauchery, and indolence were rampant.
And then, May 1st arrived.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
Confusion.
“Really? You too?”
Panic.
“How come?”
Two quiet boys in the corner compared their respective points. Kiyotaka’s 82,235 points from yesterday haven’t changed one bit, while Yuuichi still has his 100,000 points intact—when it should’ve been 200,000 per their monthly allowance. Knowing looks were exchanged between them. This is it.
The class’s punishment.
Familiar clacks of high heels strut into the room, “Take your seats,” with her, the teacher brought a roll of paper, “Morning homeroom will now begin.”
Immediately, one student voiced out their complaint, “Hey, teacher, we didn’t get our points!” no different from how a privileged child would whine when their credit card has run out, “We’re supposed to get them on the first day of the month, right?”
Miss Chabashira folded her arms under her chest, “No, this month’s points have already been allotted.”
“But…”
“The points have been allotted,” she repeated, “I can say that for certain. There is no chance that this class has been overlooked, either.”
Still, the students insisted as much, “But we didn’t get any points!”, one cried, “Yeah!” many more shouted.
Kiyotaka could feel, just from watching his back, Yuuichi’s smirk grow at the same time Miss Chabashira’s did.
“What a bunch of idiots you are,” the clamor was instantly replaced by stunned silence, “A combined total of 98 tardies and absences. 391 instances of talking and cell phone usage in class. Quite a month’s work,” dread settled in their guts, “At this school, your grades and performance evaluations are reflected in the monthly points you’re given.
“My assessment of you has resulted in the loss of all 100,000 points you were to be given. The points you’re receiving this month…
“are zero.”
Hearing those words directly forced the students to realize, just how much dire their situation had turned out, “You mean I have to live on no money this month?” some in denial still, “Wh-what the heck… No one told us that…”
“Did you really think that mere high school students were going to be given 100,000 yen a month to spend without a single catch?” that question by the teacher was basically the one Yuuichi had thrown months ago, one that both he and Kiyotaka had solved, “That’s absurd. Use your common sense.
“If you had doubts, why did you do nothing about them?”
Why indeed.
“Are we not going to tell our classmates?” Yuuichi had asked on their first afternoon of walking to their dorms together.
Kiyotaka thought for a bit on that, “The school would most likely punish per class, not student, as that would be the most unfair,” he closed his eyes, “But us telling the class that… They won’t believe us, anyway. We’re not close with anyone, and we certainly made a… um… less than a great impression.”
“Touché” Yuuichi shrugged, unconcerned.
Miss Chabashira grabbed the roll of paper she brought, “I told you on the first day, didn’t I? This school judges students based on merit. Which means you’re all worth nothing ,” she stared the class down like—
“You’re garbage.”