“Sorry, I have somewhere to be, I’ll take my leave.”
He reacted incredibly fast.
In less than a second, he created distance, bowed in apology, turned around, and bolted away, all in one smooth motion.
However, things didn’t go as smoothly as he hoped.
“Hey, wait!”
Shiki hadn’t even taken two steps before a strong force yanked his back collar, instantly choking him.
“Cough, cough!”
Knowing he couldn’t escape, Shiki rubbed his sore throat, turned around, and looked helplessly at the silver-haired upperclassman standing in front of him.
“Can I help you?”
“Nothing much.
I just noticed a sneaky guy popping up in a completely empty school building, so I got curious.” The silver haired senpai spoke to him as if they were already close friends.
“Objection.
I walked in here completely out in the open.
It just happens to be empty right now”, Shiki protested.
“Then why did you come at this exact time?
For freshmen like you, shouldn’t you be out playing with your new classmates or buying things for your dorms right now?”
“I just wanted to get familiar with the campus layout first,” Shiki said, half lying and half telling the truth.
“Whoa, you really lie as easily as you breathe, Kouhai-kun,” the silver haired senpai said with a look of surprise.
She guessed, “You must be a master at deceiving people.
Do you often trick innocent little girls?” (TL:Insert Hayasaka gif)
“Slander.
That is pure slander.” Shiki became highly emotional, acting as if he had just suffered a massive insult.
“I could never do something like deceiving women!
Senpai, you can question my morals, but you cannot question my personality!”
Acting totally outraged, he turned his head and marched off toward the dormitories.
The silver haired senpai once again grabbed the back of his neck, stopping Shiki right in his tracks.
This unknown senpai was very tall, far exceeding the average height of a Japanese girl.
Just by looking, she was definitely over 170 centimeters.
“Let me go!” Shiki kept up his angry act, hoping to use it as an excuse to slip away quickly.
(Why is this school completely filled with weirdos!)
“Haha, sorry, sorry,” her voice was completely cheerful, not carrying a single ounce of actual regret.
“It’s rare to run into such an interesting kouhai.
I don’t want to let you slip away so easily.”
Shiki wasn’t moved at all.
Just as he was about to yell at her to stop being so unreasonable, he heard the silver haired senpai laugh.
“It’s dinner time anyway.
How about I treat you to a meal?
Consider it my apology!”
Shiki instantly stopped struggling.
He slipped out of her grip, shoved his hands in his pockets, and started walking forward—just in a different direction.
The silver haired senpai stared blankly at her empty hands.
A hint of shock appeared on her usually wild and confident face.
Noticing that the person behind him wasn’t moving, Shiki looked back at the woman and frowned.
“Hurry up, Senpai!
If we wait too long, it’ll get crowded and we’ll have to line up!”
Hearing her junior rush her, the silver-haired senpai snapped out of it, a slightly dangerous, almost bloodthirsty smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
She quickly caught up, throwing an arm around his neck and pulling him into a headlock like they were best bros.
“You sure change your tune fast, kid!
The second I mentioned food, you turned into a completely different person!”
Smelling a faint, pleasant fragrance, Shiki desperately clawed at the overly friendly upperclassman’s arm, trying to create some distance.
“Senpai, manners!
Have some manners!
Don’t get so close!”
“Hahaha, just accept your fate, Kouhai-kun!”
________________
“Thanks for the food.” Staring at the massive, luxurious set meal in front of him, a genuine smile finally bloomed on Shiki’s face.
“You really don’t hold back at all, picking the most expensive meal on the menu.” The silver haired senpai seemed to be complaining, but her tone wasn’t petty in the slightest.
Instead, it matched her outward appearance—surprisingly bold and generous.
She just wanted to tease him a bit.
“As the saying goes, only a total idiot turns down a free ride.” Shiki took a bite of his tempura, the crispy batter crunching loudly in his mouth.
“Besides, Senpai said I could order whatever I wanted.”
(This senpai is so generous.
She’s a good person.)
“Don’t worry, I definitely won’t scam you.
Didn’t I already pay the points?” While eating, the silver haired senpai showed a completely different side of herself.
She chewed slowly and ate with flawless manners, making it impossible to find any faults.
“Kouhai-kun, what is your name?”
“Tsugikuni Shiki.
And you, Senpai?” He felt things were getting a bit ridiculous.
They were already eating lunch together, yet neither knew the other’s name.
“Kiryuin Fuuka,” the silver haired senpai smiled confidently.
Shiki gave Kiryuin a surprised look, clearly seeing the untamed, rebellious spirit in her eyes, before lowering his head and focusing back on his grand task of destroying his meal.
“It suits you perfectly.
It sounds incredibly dominating.” The name ‘Kiryuin’ was super cool, wasn’t it?
It sounded exactly like a boss villain from an anime.
Come to think of it, if this generous senpai really was a villain, she would definitely be the type to act like a tyrant, bullying everyone around her.
“Haha, of course it does.
You have a good eye, Kouhai-kun.” Kiryuin Fuuka accepted the compliment without a hint of modesty.
Then, she cut straight to the chase.
“Alright, tell your senpai the truth.
Why did you specifically come to the second year floor to investigate?”
“Are we finally showing our daggers now?” Shiki decided to give up resisting.
“Senpai, you already know the answer.
Why bother asking me again?”
“Because I don’t know exactly how much you’ve figured out yet.
Come on, tell your senpai.” Kiryuin acted like a creepy old man asking a pretty girl to show some skin.
Shiki’s eye twitched.
He really didn’t want to deal with this type of person; people who were too self centered were just a massive pain.
“I just figured out the basics.
This school is not simple.
The classes are probably divided by merit.
The points we receive are tied to the class’s overall evaluation.
And that 100% college entry and employment guarantee the school boasts about is probably only reserved for Class A…” (TL:I will need lore-man to fact check this, the part where college and employment only reserved for Class A)
Kiryuin Fuuka blinked.
“What the heck, isn’t that practically everything?!”
Shiki didn’t answer and just kept totally focused on his food.
“You’re pretty capable, Kouhai-kun.” Seeing that he was ignoring her, Kiryuin reached out with her chopsticks and stole his steak.
“Tell me, how did you figure all of that out?”
Shiki watched in deep pain as the steak disappeared past her cherry pink lips, practically visualizing the meat getting completely destroyed.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he said, depressed.
“When a normal person is suddenly handed 100,000 yen for absolutely no reason, the first reaction might be joy, but the second should definitely be suspicion.
Besides, I know myself pretty well.
Things like free money falling from the sky are not luxuries I have the luck to enjoy.”
“You’re a bit too pessimistic,” Kiryuin shook her head.
“You’re telling me.” Shiki nodded.
Then, with lightning speed, he snatched her steak with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.
Kiryuin narrowed her eyes and stared at him.
(TL:You are not that hungry bro)
“Ahem, anyway, back to business,” Shiki quickly changed the subject.
“Since the points aren’t just given to us for free, there must be conditions.
And the clues to those conditions were directly in what the teacher said.”
“Even though Chabashira-sensei—our Class D homeroom teacher—said a bunch of nonsense, if you filter out all the useless filler, you are left with a few key sentences:
‘You can buy anything with points at this school.’
‘This school evaluates students based entirely on merit.’
‘These points represent the school’s evaluation of you.’
“So the answer is very clear.
If the school decides we don’t hold the corresponding value, we aren’t worth the points.
I’m guessing the evaluation exam for us freshmen is about to…
no, it has already started.”
“As for the class rankings, that goes without saying.
Just by looking at the number of desks and chairs in the classrooms, it’s easy to spot a strange trend.
Every first year class has exactly forty students, no more, no less.
But the second year floor is different.
Class D is missing a few people.
Class C is also missing some, though not as many as Class D.
From Class D up to Class A, there is a clear pattern of decreasing dropouts.
This leads to a very interesting theory: those missing students have likely already been expelled.
So their desks and chairs vanished along with them.
Keep in mind, every desk has a permanent name tag attached to it.”
“Based on all that, I made a bold guess.
The school’s promised post graduation benefits are only given to those who meet specific conditions, and that condition is absolutely graduating from Class A.
After all, a school that heavily promotes a ‘merit based’ system would never give such a massive promise to the weak.”
After Shiki finished his explanation, the smile on Kiryuin Fuuka’s face grew even deeper.
“Oh?
But there’s a pretty obvious flaw in your final theory.
If it truly is a system based strictly on merit, then why make Class A the requirement?
Why not just grade based on individual ability and guarantee the benefits to the top forty students in the grade?”
Shiki looked at her like she was an idiot.
“Then what would be the point of dividing us into classes?
Did their brains short circuit?”
“You brat, you’re insulting me indirectly, aren’t you!
I bet you’re trying to say ‘my’ brain short circuited!” Kiryuin stood up, unleashing an iron grip to violently mess up his hair until it looked like a bird’s nest.
“Senpai!
Manners!
Have some manners!” Shiki groaned.
Why did this generous senior have zero sense of personal boundaries?
Mind the personal space, dammit!
“Heh, you’ve got a sharp tongue, Panda-kouhai!” Kiryuin took a sip of her canned drink, her eyes narrowing.
“Want me to give you a sneak peek and tell you what the exam is?
If you beg me nicely, the beautiful and kind hearted Kiryuin-sama might just give you a hint.”
“Beautiful and kind hearted…” Shiki’s eye twitched.
“What?
Is there a problem?” Her purple eyes suddenly turned sharp and threatening.
“No.
Senpai is definitely beautiful, and your personality is also…
nice to look at.”
He wasn’t exactly lying.
Kiryuin Fuuka was undeniably stunning.
Her glossy silver hair fell perfectly straight like a cascading waterfall.
With her tall, 170+ centimeter frame, her figure was curvy, elegant, and proud.
Her long, slender legs wrapped in black tights were incredibly eye catching.
Not to mention her wild, unrestrained aura that was impossible to ignore—she was exactly like a red rose covered in sharp thorns.
Even though he had seen his fair share of beautiful women, Kiryuin’s appearance alone made her top tier, let alone her incredibly unique personality.
As for whether she was actually ‘kind hearted’…
well, as someone who was currently getting a completely free meal out of it, Shiki was willing to passionately argue that she was, indeed, extremely kind hearted.
Feel free to debate him.
“So?
Have you thought about begging me yet?” Kiryuin crossed her legs, rested her chin in her hand, and looked at him with a highly amused smile.
“I refuse to beg,” Shiki said coldly.
“Oh?
Why is that?” Rather than getting angry, she asked with genuine interest.
“Do you think I’m an idiot, Senpai?” Shiki sighed.
“The school must have given you all a strict gag order.
And it’s probably backed by extremely severe punishments.
Otherwise, with such a massive opportunity to earn points sitting right in front of everyone, there’s no way people would just ignore it.”
“No one ever complains about having too much money.
If the risks were low, even if you were forbidden from explicitly telling freshmen the rules, seniors would still skirt the red line.
They would use clever wording to bait the freshmen and sell them information for points.
One of humanity’s most primal instincts is to test the waters and walk the very edge of danger.
People might not be geniuses, but they are absolutely experts at finding loopholes to make a quick buck.”
“Haizz, I didn’t expect you to see right through it, Kouhai-kun.
I just wanted to mess with you a bit.
What a shame,” Kiryuin said, not looking sorry at all.
(No, I don’t see a single trace of ‘what a shame’ on your face.)
Shiki complained in his head.
Suddenly feeling incredibly mentally drained, he looked down at his perfectly clean plate.
All he wanted to do was head to the dorms and sleep the rest of the afternoon away.
He was really reaching his limit.
After finally shaking off the generous senpai, he didn’t immediately go to the supermarket to buy daily necessities.
Completely mentally exhausted, all he wanted to do now was get a good sleep.
He picked up his room key from the manager on the first floor.
The room number was 404.
It was an incredibly bad omen.
Even as a firm materialist, Shiki still felt a slight twinge of discomfort in his chest.
Fortunately, he had long since accepted his terrible luck.
If a bird flying overhead had to drop a smelly load of crap onto exactly one person’s head, there was no need to guess—it would definitely be him.
That was just the kind of luck Tsugikuni Shiki had.
Taking the elevator to the fourth floor, he swiped his keycard and opened the door.
Walking past the short, narrow entryway and small hallway, he arrived in the main living space where he would be spending the next three years.
The room wasn’t huge, but it had absolutely everything.
It functioned as both a bedroom and a living room, and came with a kitchen and bathroom.
It even had a fridge, a TV, and a computer.
The handbook said water, electricity, and gas were totally free, though students weren’t allowed to recklessly waste them.
This level of luxury undeniably put Shiki in a great mood.
Who cares if the school used shady tactics to trap students?
For this exact minute, he was the school’s most loyal defender.
Shiki didn’t even have time to think.
The moment he laid eyes on the bed, sleepiness crashed over him like a massive tidal wave, instantly destroying his defenses.
He fell straight back onto the mattress like a stiff wooden pole, pulled a corner of the blanket tightly around his neck, and fell into a deep, baby like sleep.
When he finally woke up, the evening sun was shining into his room at an angle.
It dyed a small patch of the floor a brilliant, blood red color, looking just like spilled paint.
Shiki stared blankly at the ceiling for five full minutes.
Then, without warning, he rolled out of bed.
After a quick wash up in the bathroom, he grabbed his school phone and headed out to buy some food and daily supplies.
While riding the elevator down, Shiki spotted quite a few girls.
It was honestly a bit weird—the boys’s and girls’s dorms in this school were actually in the exact same building.
They were split by upper and lower floors.
Boys were strictly banned from going to the girls’s floors at night, and breaking this rule would result in severe punishment.
However, girls running over to the boys’ floors was completely unrestricted.
Having been personally locked in a dark basement by girls before, Shiki felt incredibly offended.
This was unprecedented discrimination!
It was blatant sexism!
Boys needed proper protection too!
Girls shouldn’t be allowed to enter the boys’s floors at night either!
Just as his righteous anger reached its peak, his stomach growled loudly.
In the very next second, he instantly calmed down and completely sobered up.
He headed toward the food court, planning to find something quick to fill his stomach, leaving the hunt for hidden gem restaurants for another day.
But after wandering for just a little while, he spotted a pizza shop right in front of him.
Shiki was overjoyed.
He actually loved foods like pizza.
Not only did it taste great, but it could also be eaten quickly—fast and highly convenient.
After ordering a slice and thoroughly enjoying his meal, he headed toward the nearby supermarket to start his shopping, feeling entirely satisfied.