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 toward the dormitories. The
remaining students quickly formed into groups. Some made their way to
cafés, while the louder ones went out for karaoke. The hustle and bustle
quickly died down. On a whim, I decided to swing by the convenience store
on my way back to the dormitory. Of course, I went alone. I didn't have a
chaperone, or acquaintance, or anyone like that.
"My, what an unpleasant coincidence."
Entering the convenience store, I ran into Horikita once again.
"Come on, there's no need to be so hostile. Anyway, did you need to
buy something?" I asked.
"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 if you were a girl. Horikita took various necessities like
shampoo off the shelves and promptly threw them into the basket she was
carrying. I'd thought she would choose higher quality items, but she only
took the cheapest options.
"I thought girls usually made a fuss over what kind of shampoo they bought."
"Well, that depends on the person, doesn't it? I'm the sort who doesn't
know when you might need money," she replied.
She shot me an icy glare that seemed to say, Could you please not
inspect other people's purchases without their permission?
"At any rate, I was terribly surprised that you stayed for introductions,"
she said. "You didn't look like the type to hang out with a circle of classmates."
"I decided to participate precisely because I don't like trouble. Why
didn't you introduce yourself to them, Horikita? You could have gotten to
know several other students, and it would have been a chance to make friends."
Quite a few of the students had exchanged cell numbers, too. If
Horikita had participated, she would probably have become quite popular.
What a waste.
"There are several reasons why I objected, but I suppose it might be
better if I simply explain, hmm? My introduction might have sown discord,
depending on how things went. Thus, doing nothing avoided creating more
problems. Am I wrong?"
"But, statistically speaking, there was a high probability that you could
have hit it off with everyone after introducing yourself," I said.
"How did you arrive at that conclusion? Actually, if I argue this with
you now, we'll just end up in an endless debate. Let's say that the probability
of making friends was high, like you said. So, how many people did you get to know?"
"Ugh..."
She gazed at me.
That was a rather splendid argument. The fact that I hadn't yet
exchanged contact information with anyone worked in Horikita's favor. It
proved there was no guarantee that introductions led to friendship. I
instinctively averted my eyes.
"In other words, you have no evidence to support your claim that self-
introductions lead to making friends, do you?" she asked.
"Besides, I never intended to make friends in the first place. If I have no need to introduce
myself, then I also have no reason to listen to anyone else's introductions.
Have I convinced you?"
That reminded me of the disastrous first time I'd tried to introduce
myself to Horikita. Come to think of it, it might have been a miracle that I'd
managed to get her name.
When I asked her if I shouldn't have introduced myself to her, she
shook her head. People tended to have hidden depths, no doubt about it.
Horikita might have been a more solitary, more aloof person than I'd imagined.
We roamed around the convenience store without looking at each
other. Even though she was somewhat uptight, being with her didn't feel uncomfortable.
"Whoa! 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. Hey, it'd be nearly impossible to go through all your points; better to spend them.
"Noodle cups. They have so many kinds."
These were definitely one reason I'd come to the convenience store.
"So, do boys 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 whether that was expensive or cheap. Even though the
school 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 behavior, 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.
They exquisitely straddled the line between the two. The perfect size.
"Ayanokouji-kun. Were 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? This 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. Not 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 women.
"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 met 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. I would have thought girls cared
more about that kind of thing, too.
"Don't you think that this one is better?" I took an expensive cream off
the shelf and showed it to her.
"Unnecessary." She refused it.
"Well, but—"
"I already said it was unnecessary, didn't I?" she snapped.
"Yes..."
I gently returned the face wash as she glared at me. I thought I could
carry on a conversation without making her angry, but I'd failed.
"You don't seem adept at socializing. You're terrible at conversation."
"Well, if it's coming from you, then it's definitely true," I grumbled.
"That's right. I consider myself, at the very least, to have a good eye
for people. Normally, I wouldn't want to hear you talk anymore, but I will
put in a painful level of effort to listen to you."
I'd said that I wanted to be her friend, but, apparently, she didn't feel
the same. With that, our conversation abruptly stopped. Two new girls
entered the convenience store. It was a little strange, but I became aware of
something crucial: Horikita really was cute.
"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 strange, so she picked up one of the
items. Daily necessities like toothbrushes and bandages had been stuffed into
a clearance bin and labeled "Free." The bin 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. I recognized the
one with the thoroughly ill-tempered look on his face. It was the student from
my class, the guy with the red hair. He had his hands full of noodle cups.
"What's going on here?" I asked.
"Huh? Who are you?"
I had meant to appear amicable, but the guy with red hair scowled at
me. Apparently, he was under the mistaken impression that I was an enemy.
"My name's Ayanokouji. I'm from your class. I just asked because it
sounded like there was trouble."
At my explanation, the red-haired guy looked somewhat mollified and
lowered his voice a little. "Oh. Yeah, I remember you. 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 put 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. Thanks."
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."
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 servant? Or are you doing this to make friends?" she asked.
"I didn't care about making friends. 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 defenseless 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.
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 to 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 the school benefit from giving us this much money?"
"I wonder. The campus has 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,
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 his 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.
"Look, I'll admit that Horikita has a bad attitude, but you're taking this too far."
It was apparent that Sudou's patience had run out. "Huh? What was
that? She has a bratty, obnoxious attitude. That's bad, especially for a girl!"
"For a girl? That's rather outdated thinking. Ayanokouji, 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? Goddamn 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. Sudou grabbed his noodle cup once again,
ripped off the cover, and began eating. Just a little while ago, he'd fought in
front of the register, too. He probably had a short fuse.
"Hey, you guys 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. Sudou shot up, slamming his
noodle cup against the ground. The broth and noodles splashed everywhere.
"'First-year punk,' huh? You tryin' 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. I, of course, didn't want any part of it myself.
"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!"
As Sudou barked at them, the boys grinned and stepped backwards.
"Aw, you poor things. Since you're 'defective,' we'll let you off the
hook, just for today. Let's get going, guys."
"Hey, don't run away! Hey!" Sudou shouted.
"Yeah, yeah, keep on yapping. You guys'll be in hell soon enough anyway."
Be in hell?
They appeared calm and composed. I wondered what they'd meant.
Previously, I'd been certain this school would be filled with upper-class young men and women, but there seemed to be plenty of rowdy, combative
people like Sudou or those upperclassmen.
"Ah, damn it! If those had been nice second-year students, or cute girls,
that would've been great. Instead, we had to deal with those annoying morons."
Sudou didn't bother to clean up his mess. He thrust his hands into his
pockets before heading back. I looked at the wall outside the convenience
store, discovering two surveillance cameras.
"This might lead to problems later," I muttered.
Reluctantly, I bent down, picked up the cup, and started cleaning up the
mess. Come to think of it, as soon as those second-year students found out
Sudou was in Class D, their attitudes had changed. Although it ate at me, I
couldn't explain it.