There is no guarantee that the things taken for granted until yesterday will continue to stay that
way.
It's not just people or your surroundings, even material stuff as well.
The desks and chairs which were melting into our daily lives. The sense of discomfort from one
of them missing wasn't easy to get used to: the empty seat caused by the expulsion of a
student.
The seat on my left was empty from the beginning, but the one across that empty once again
belonged to Kouenji. And the seat in front of his used to belong to someone who used to be
here.
Looking at that empty space, I reminisced about the events taking place right after the opening
ceremony.
PART 1
April. After being led into our new classrooms, the newly appointed 2nd year students was met
with a new event.
"Well then, looks like everyone is here."
After verifying all 39 seats were occupied, Chabashira began speaking as if not wanting to
waste more time.
"As the opening ceremony has ended, your second year has officially started. Thus, the first
thing we have to do is to change your seats."
While our classrooms may change, I'd believed we keep the same spots for all three years, but
that doesn't seem to be the case. Hearing this, some of the students began to laugh merrily
among themselves. Still, there were a few who weren't that pleased with the news. Anyway, it
looks like seating changes were something that usually happen, I guess.
"We are now going to decide on which seat you are going use for this year. Most of you have
changed seats a lot during elementary school and middle school. Most of you probably used lottery to decide on the seats I presume as that's the standard. It doesn't take much time and it's
fair."
I have personally no memory of ever changing my seat. Whenever a student didn't show up in
the White Room, their seats would remain empty that whole day. The next day, their seat would
be removed entirely.
As Chabashira said, doing it by lottery seems to be the easiest option.
"This school has also used lottery for most part. This will change from today as we will be
implementing a new method never used before."
Chabashira presented a chart on the monitor. All 40 seats were displayed. 8 columns and 5
rows. The seat in the upper left near the windows was number 1. The seats behind were
number 2 and number 3. The seat I was sitting in right now was 2nd counting from the back and
number 7 according to the chart. Horikita's seat to my right was the 7th on the 2nd column so it
would be number 15.
"There are 39 students in this class so one seat will obviously be empty. The most unpopular
seat among the 5 seats at the back will be left as the empty one."
Those seats would be number 8, 16, 24, 32 and 40. Since we aren't going to decide using
lottery, her mentioning the most unpopular must indicate something.
The interesting point was that in those boxes indicating the seats were another set of numbers.
For example, the seat closest to the door at the right, number 33, was marked with 6000 pr. My
own seat was marked with 60 000 pr, so it was expensive. The seat right behind me was 80 000
pr. It was the most expensive one.
1 – 45,000pr 2 – 30,000pr 3 – 32,000pr 4 – 35,000pr 5 – 40,000pr 6 – 50,000pr 7 – 60,000pr 8 – 80,000pr 9 – 4,500pr 10 – 4,500pr 11 – 3,000pr 12 – 3,000pr 13 – 4,500pr 14 – 6,000pr
15 – 10,000pr 16 – 65,000pr
17 – 2,000pr 18 – 1,500pr 19 – 1,500pr 20 – 1,000pr 21 – 1,500pr 22 – 2,500pr 23 – 4,000pr 24 – 50,000pr
25 – 4,500pr 26 – 3,500pr 27 – 3,000pr 28 – 3,000pr 29 – 4,500pr 30 – 6,000pr 31 – 10,000pr 32 – 60,000pr
33 – 6,000pr
34 – 7,000pr 35 – 9,000pr
36 – 12,000pr
37 – 15,000pr
38 – 20,000pr
39 – 25,000pr
40 – 40,000pr
The 'pr' behind those numbers must be the S-System's abbreviation of Private Points, no doubt.
"I think you have realized what these numbers mean, but this is the starting price, the 'lowest
bid' per say."
To think we'd have to 'compete' and bid for our own seats.
The seats by the window and the corridors were popular in general and the closer you got to the
centre of the classroom; the market value tended to drop it seems. And the seats towards the
back were all rather expensive. The seats in front were rather cheap, maybe because they were
the closest to the teacher in front. The exception was the seat up in front by the window and it
was probably seen as somewhat special as the value on it was remarkable. Seats that a lot of
students want will be more expensive in other words. No students should have exactly zero
private points right now, but if that was the case, they wouldn't even be able to buy their own
seat.
"We will now take bids for the seats of your choice starting from number 1. If there are multiple
bidders for a seat, the highest bid will get the seat. If nobody bids for a seat, we will repeat the
bidding but set the lowest bid to half of the previous round. There is no 3rd bidding round. If
there are several seats left after bidding is done there will be a lottery at the end, and it will be
free. If there any of you don't mind any seat, do remain silent until the end.
I see. So, if a student doesn't care where they sit, they can just sit on standby and still receive a
seat without paying any points at the end.
To think the 2nd round will be half the price. This means it would be better to wait for the 2nd
round I guess, but that means it's likely that the seat you were aiming for could be sniped by
someone else. And since the 2nd round started with a lower bid, who knows what may happen
with all that competition.
Taking the price during the 1st round in mind, you may have to read your opponents' mind and
pay more than them. Depending on how it ends, it may even be cheaper to just bid during the
1st round instead.
"While some of you may be dissatisfied by having to use up your Private Points for this, but this
may also be a chance for you to be able to sit where you want depending on how you look at it."
Certainly, this could many students the feeling of 'satisfaction' that you don't get using the lottery
system. Nothing beats getting to sit where you want after all. On the other hand, it means other
students will be forced to compromise.
"Students who haven't placed a bid can do so as often as they want. However, once you win a
seat, you aren't allowed to change so please take that into consideration."
"What are you aiming for?"
I tried asking my neighbour as there was a high chance we would get separated after today.
"Anywhere is fine, really. I'd just watch until the end. I have no intention of wasting any Private
Points on this foolishness."
That would mean there was a high chance she would end up at the front or in the middle.
"We don't have much time, let's begin. First up is seat number 1."
First round, the place by the window at the front. The lowest bid allowed was 45 000pr. Any
seats by the windows weren't cheap and this one was the 7th most expensive one.
I'm not sure any students would even raise their hand…
The students were looking at one another, no signs of anyone wanting to bid.
It was plainly just way too expensive, right?
No, there's more.
I noticed one more thing about this game of changing seats.
While getting to choose where to sit was important, what was at least important, maybe even
more, was whether you had friends surrounding you. That must be the case.
Sudou was easy to read he was turning around and taking glances at Horikita.
If Horikita willingly chose one of the cheaper seats in the middle, Sudou will aim for any seats
close to her. Seat number 12, 19, 28 or 21, may be the most unpopular seats, but to Sudou,
they were worth a treasure. While cheap, it was the ones with the highest value to him.
Still, Horikita doesn't seem to have any intention of buying any seats right now so he's choice of
strategies are limited right now. If he ends up just watching it all unfold, he may have to just pray
for the random assignments at the end. That may look like he's lost the game before it even
started, however.
I could give him some advice to raise his chances of winning but… well, this isn't limited to just
Horikita and Sudou after all. Depending on my advice on how to sit beside the one he wants, to
get the seat he wants, it could all end up just backfiring. Romance wasn't the only motive;
popularity was another one and sitting close to Yousuke or Kushida must be the aim of a lot of
the students. A seat which had no value at first glance, may become the one with most value in
the end.
Bidding for our seats, right? This may be quite interesting after all.
And so, nobody would be bidding for the first seat in the first place.
Despite it being by the windows, it was in the front row, it was expensive, and you had no
control who would end up behind or your right. There was no way anyone would want to be the
first one bidding.
"Excuse me, teacher! Can we talk among each other first?"
The girl, Maezono, asked.
"We want to avoid seats getting reserved at the start, so you are not allowed to intervene."
If we could discuss this with one another first, we would easily be able to sit with the people we
wanted, and a lot of students placed their hopes on Maezono's proposal. Chabashira promptly
shot it down, however.
"However, it may be hard to just buy a seat just because you are told to do so. You aren't
allowed to talk among each other, no small talk. But I will allow you, just this time, to use your
tablets or your phones to text each other. No more interferences allowed from now on however."
Us using our tablets or phones to communicate was no problem it seems.
Starting from Maezono, the rest of our class quickly took actions.
If any students were way into messaging each other, the others could simply just ignore them
without them become a hindrance. If any seats they wanted got taken, they had no right to
complain.
Most girls looked at their phones and began concentrating. After a bit, the boys started doing
the same. But while all that happened, time continued to pass.
"— Nobody has claimed seat number 1. We will then move on to the next seat. Those bidding
for seat number 2, raise your hands."
The students were all just in the starting phase of their discussions so, but Chabashira simply
continued.
[Hey, how about we all group up?]
As the bidding for seat number 2 began, I received a message from Haruka. A message for the
whole Ayanokouji group.
Then as if waiting for that moment, the message was marked as viewed by everyone.
[Well, not a bad idea. That could be fun.]
Keisei replied in agreement.
[So which area would be good?]
[Number 13, 14, 15, 21, 22 and 23 would all be fine, don't you think?]
Not counting the seats at the back or in the corners, she suggested these seats. They were
cheap and rather close to the windows. Not a bad choice.
[I agree! I don't care where if you are there with me]
Airi added.
[I rather like 35 or 36 myself as it's close to the hallway. But it's so expensive as heck so to me
that's fine]
It wasn't Akito's optimal choice, but he agreed to it.
[So how do we do it? Number 15 is a bit pricey still.]
Seeing as we all agreed to sit together, Keisei moved the conversation forwards.
The seat Haruka mentioned, number 15 was expensive at 10 000pr.
[Since I suggested it, I will try to get it I think]
And so, the seats we were aiming for was set in stone.
Number 13 for Keisei, 14 for Akito, 15 for Haruka, 22 for me and 23 for Airi. But this was rather
hard to accomplish for sure.
We also had to assume other students wanted to group together with their friends.
When it came to the bidding itself, it all depended on how high it went and that would influence
our decisions.
Few students opted to bid during the 1st round. The bidding for the 5th and 6th seats were
ignored and it was time to bid for the seat I was sitting at.
I was quite interested in getting this seat again, but 60 000pr will make even me hesitate.
And I couldn't ignore the will of my group either.
Then the bidding for the most expensive seat started, the one furthest at the back by the
windows at 80 000pr.
"Anyone bidding for the 8th seat, please raise your hands."
Four people raised their hand. The boys: Sotomura, Okitani and Miyamoto. As for the girls, only
Onodera raised her hand.
"Four people? Then look at your tablets and enter a higher bid. Enter all the digits up to the last
one."
After a bit, everyone was done and Chabashira confirmed the results.
"The highest bid is— 100 001pr by Miyamoto."
"Alright! Wasn't cheap but I got the window seat at the back!"
100 000pr is just ridiculous. I saw the others looking a bit disappointed but accepting the loss.
Guess that means the gap between their bid and the winner was large, I guess.
In other words, Miyamoto had secured the most popular seat for one year.
Maybe it was rather cheap depending on how you look at it.
Seeing how Miyamoto had gained seat number 8, as the first person to do so, though rather
surprisingly, the others began to act. While seat number 9 was skipped, seats from 10 to 12
were successfully secured by some girls who all had no competitors. We arrived at the seats we
were aiming for, starting with number 13.
"Those bidding for seat number 13, raise your hands."
Keisei's hand shot up in the air. As for the other students also bidding for it— none.
"Seat number 13 is secured by Yukimura for 4500pr."
Keisei quickly finalized the payment on his phone, and thus his seat as well. The first seat for
our group easily secured, followed by Akito gaining the 14th seat.
Soon the bidding for seat 15 arrived.
Haruka was of course bidding for it, but Ike also raised his hand. I wasn't surprised at all. It was
probably due to Miyamoto gaining seat number 8 that Ike wanted to bid for this one.
"Both of you, please place your bids."
This was a battle they couldn't afford to lose since they both wanted to complete their own
groups.
But since this seat costs 10 000pr, who knows what they will end up bidding.
Since neither were allowed to discuss it with the others, they had to enter something they could
afford on their own.
"Seems like you are done. Then let's look at the results."
The results were projected on the monitor.
"Seat number 15 is— taken by Haruka with 30,000pr."
Ohhhh, could be heard across the room.
It was three times the lowest bid. Seems like she did her best to secure her seat among the
others in the Ayanokouj-group.
"The hell, 30,000 points!? I just lost by an inch!"
He screamed, but strangely enough, he didn't look that frustrated.
He may have said it was an inch, but the gap must have been larger, I guess?
Anyway, that left my and Airi's seats left.
The seat behind Haruka was taken by the Professor with no competition. Since Miyamoto was
sitting furthest at the back it seems its value had been reduced as nobody wanted to compete
for it. On the other hand, Haruka seems to be displeased by it. The value of the seats was ever
changing, and it was telling by her face.
Then seats 17 and 18 was up for bidding but nobody did.
We arrived the seats closer to the centre with seat number 19. This one was rather cheap at
only 1500pr. The one raising her hand for this seat I didn't think would get a bid was no other
than Wang Mei-Yui, Mii-chan. There was reason she wanted that spot. I wanted to give some
advice to Sudou but hesitated and perhaps she realized it on her own. If someone wanted to
save their points, they could have just waited until the end like Horikita. But going to the trouble
of paying for such a seat?
She had no competition of course and got it easily. Then we moved to seat number 20. It was
the cheapest seat at 1000pr, right in the middle. The places in front and back of this seat were
most likely going to end up being the least popular.
"Those bidding for seat number 20, raise your hands."
Since it was the cheapest seat as I mentioned earlier, nobody would usually raise their hands. If
they were worried at the price, it was better to just wait for the random seats after all. Even
waiting for the second round with half the starting bid wouldn't be a bad choice either.
The only human willing to sacrifice himself for this spot was of course—him.
Chabashira looked at that raised arm.
"Seat number 20 goes to Hirata, no competitors."
And thus, Hirata who so valued his class was left in the least popular seat.
At this very moment, the atmosphere in the class changed.
The situation in class suddenly changed once Hirata was put into that very cheap seat.
There should be several girls in class who liked Yousuke. Thus, the seat right in front, back left
and right of him shot up in value.
The girl who got seat number 12, Ishikura was left agitated at this surprising outcome.
While the heat was going up, the bidding for seat number 21 began.
The first one who raised their hands were, surprisingly enough, Kushida. Several other girls also
looked like they wanted to pursue, but that wasn't so easy after all since it looked like they
already had decided on which seat to take on the chat.
No matter how much they wanted to sit by him, they couldn't make light of their friendship. In
other words, Kushida aiming for seat 21 can be said to be expected as that was what they all
had agreed on beforehand.
Yousuke and Kushida. To think the top two most popular students would end up there. The
chain of actions resulting from the information blockade. No, this wasn't that surprising, maybe
this was the most likely outcome from the beginning? The seat's values would get reduced
towards the centre of the room and this they became the least popular spots that nobody
wanted to take. If nobody took those seats during the 1st round, then the second, they would
complain when you were assigned those seats. There is no way Yousuke would have ignored
that possibility and therefore tried to do something with it. It was inevitable he would offer himself for his classmates' sakes. And the one after Yousuke, Kushida probably took a similar
stance as well. They both contributed to their class by taking seats number 20 and 21.
—I see, that's how it goes after all.
The fact Mii-chan took seat 19 mean she already anticipated that Yousuke would throw himself
at number 20. I can't be certain, but now that Yousuke had taken that seat, all seats around him
after this will fetch a premium. Even seat 19 at 1500pr would have a lot of competitors. And
there was also the fact that blatantly trying to aim for a seat closer to him would expose her
feelings for him too. By securing her seat in advance she avoided competitors and was within
reach of Yousuke at the same time. In that sense, Mii-chan's strategy worked to a perfection.
She was a cut above Sudou, a splendid performance.
"We will move towards the next seat then. Those bidding for seat number 22, raise your hands."
Chabashira started taking bids for the next chair as our classmates started to get rowdy, taking
sidelong glances at each other.
It was my turn to secure a seat.
As I was raising my hand, I noticed that another one shooting up.
"Yes! Me, me!"
It was Ike who had previously fought Haruka for her seat and lost.
I had assumed he was likely to gather around seat 8, but it seems he has moved to this area
instead.
Looking at Miyamoto and his friends' expressions, it seems Ike had gone on some sort of
rampage.
It was a display of desire to sit right behind Kushida.
The eyes of a girl who he had been getting closer to lately, Shinohara, looked at him coldly.
But he didn't seem to notice it as he excitedly yelled.
"I won't lose, Ayanokouji!"
You're wrong, I don't care about sitting behind Kushida or whatever…
The mood made it easy to misunderstand my intentions. If I was to bid too high, it would seem
as if I really, really wanted to sit beside Kushida. That being said, going too low meant I wouldn't
be able to get that seat.
Normally, that seat would go for 2500pr, a reasonable price. Looking at how the outcomes of the
previous bidding rounds, going for 4 times the starting price seems to work. 10 000pr then?
I entered 10 500pr on my tablet and sent my bid.
Soon, the results were in.
"Seat number 22 goes to… Ike with 30 000pr."
A roaring current went through the class.
Ike managed to secure his seat paying 12 times the starting amount.
It was simply overkill.
I was honestly terrified of this Kushida-effect.
"Oh yeah!!"
The person himself didn't look like his expense was hurting at all in his excitement.
Even we repeated this round two or three times, there was no way I was going to pay 30 000pr.
During my bidding, the group chat was proceeding.
[What shall I do, what should I do?]
Airi was starting to panic due to this unforeseen event.
[Kiyopon unable to get that seat hurts us, but it will be fine. The seats by the windows are still
free, 5, 6 and 7. Anyway, you should try to secure the seats we agreed on.]
Taking Haruka's advice in mind, Airi raised her hand.
It was true there were 3 free seats by the windows, but they were all expensive.
Even though the starting price would get halved by the 2nd round, it was a big problem for me
moneywise.
Well, my problems aside, the question now what whether Airi could get a seat near Haruka or
not. It was the important seat number 23, but with it being right behind Ike, nobody else wanted
to bid for it.
Airi managed to get the seat to the right of Haruka and they both smiled at each other.
I was the only one in my own group without a seat.
Then the bidding for the seat at the back in the middle started. It was quite expensive but
perhaps due to the rows of boys to the left, Kouenji managed to secure it without competition.
The seat on Airi's right was rather cheap, but it being so far from the other members, it felt
wrong to say it was part of their group.
… What should I do now?
[Hey, can you go for 5, 6 or 7? They aren't cheap though]
[Honestly speaking, it will depend on the price. And there will be several people aiming for those
starting the next round.]
[How about we all threw in the points so you could just go for it? With 100 000 or 150 000pr?]
[No, I will be playing into the school's hands then.]
This special game to change seats. No, maybe it was like a special exam even. While we could
get the seat we wanted, all the points would go back to the school. That sum would be quite
large at that.
Those private points would become an important resource when competing against the other
classes. Paying that much wasn't in our best interests.
[I agree with Kiyotaka. The private points spent on this will weaken our class.]
[I know but, but then Kiyopon will be separated from the rest of us, right?]
The competition for the seats by the windows will surely fierce. It won't be easy.
By the way, there were people beyond the Ayanokouji group who was interested in which seat I
was aiming for as well. I can think of Karuizawa Kei as one of them.
She was a classmate I had spent a year with and someone I confessed to during spring break.
She reciprocated and we officially became lovers.
That was still unknown to our classmates and the rest of the school.
I recalled the phone call from Kei the night before the opening ceremony.
[Can we… Is it okay to keep our relationship a secret from everyone?], she asked me.
My reply was this:
[If that's what you want].
The cons would have outweighed the pros, but this had changed just recently.
I wanted to tell her that if she wanted to tell others, she should do so.
And the result of that was…
[Sorry, but can we keep it a secret for a bit then? I smell trouble, you know?]
That was her reply. I consented of course.
There was for example, Kei's friend Satou who had just confessed to me. Kei had been
supporting her at that time and if she was told we had become a couple, their friendship may be
at stake. And then there was the fake relationship with Yousuke. If Kei suddenly went out with
me, that may lead to unnecessary rumours too. It was a decision based on that fear.
[What seat are you aiming for?]
A message from a new sender outside of my group arrived.
I knew who had sent it without looking at the name, it was Kei.
The fact she had stayed silent until now was probably because she was chatting with her friends
and because there were still a lot of empty seats left for grabs so no need to worry or something
like that.
However, Chabashira had already begun taking bids for seat number 30.
She was probably taking interest in the fact I hadn't made any moves ever since bidding for the
seat behind Kushida.
[I want to secure a window seat, but that seems difficult now.]
While we were texting, seats were secured one by one. Minami managed to get seat 31 close to
Airi, and we moved to seat 32.
[It looked like you were trying to group with Yukimura and them, right? What will you do now?
Even if you're still unsure, just tell me, okay?]
She sent as if she had anticipated this beforehand.
I wonder what was she planning to do with that information?
While our relationship was still unknown to them, her blatantly trying to secure a seat next to me
would look strange to others. Satou or Matsushita would easily see through her.
[I know at least what you are thinking about, you know?]
I received another message while I was thinking.
[Just for reference].
For reference, eh?
I honestly should try to think of a place then.
To be honest, anywhere was fine really. It anything, it was easier to spell out what I wanted to
avoid and that was being in the centre. People will be going back and forth and that would
happen during lessons as well, thus it being so cheap.
[If I really had to pick a seat, then maybe, yeah, the one at the back, number 40 I guess]
[Sounds like you, got it]
The first round was over, and we moved on to the 2nd bidding round with half the starting
prices.
The seats of notice were several empty ones by the windows and the areas around Hirata and
Kushida. The seats close to the hallway should be somewhat attractive as well, but I'm not sure
how many would take the bite. I should be aiming for seat number 3 by Keisei, Akito and
Haruka, but the competition and price for that one will be high.
While people didn't bid for those seats during the 1st round, this time there were several. The
time between when Chabashira started taking bids for a seat to her moving to the next one was
a mere 5 seconds. This was repeated again and again.
So, from seat 5 to 7, I was planning on waiting 4 seconds before raising my hand, a strategy
trying to scout for other competitors. Though I never managed to apply that strategy as several
people started bidding for seats from 5 to 6. I ended up just observing the market forces. Seat number 5 with the halved price of 20 000pr went for 70 000pr. Seat number 6, originally at 25
000pr went for over 80 000pr. And the students who didn't win continued to bid on the next
seats. The battle for seat 7 looks like a brewing war at this point…
Miyamoto who bid over 10 000 at an early stage must have felt elated. If they didn't manage to
secure their spots after the 2nd round, it would all be decided at random. That most likely
affected the prices as well.
In other words, they wanted to avoid being assigned at the seats at the front in the middle at all
costs. Seat number 7 was coming up for grabs. I wanted to fight for it within reason and decided
to bid 100 000pr for it.
To think this seat I'm currently sitting on would be worth this much.
To think this seat I've been sitting on like it was the most natural thing in the word, would be this
valuable.
The result was—
"Seat number 7 goes to Ijuuin with 115 000pr"
I lost with 15 000pr and had to leave the seat to Ijuuin, thus failing in regrouping with my group.
[Sorry, that didn't go well]
[Kyo-chan taking number 21 was unexpected so… what are you going to do now, Kiyopon?]
[Seat 31 next to Airi is already taken. Sorry, but now that it has come to this, can I just choose
whichever I can?]
No matter how much I struggled, there was no way I was able to sit together with them
anymore.
I had to settle for somewhere I could accept with no regrets.
I got their permission and started to look objectively at this case.
Interestingly enough, whether it was luck or not, the bidding proceeded until seat 40 without
anyone bidding as if they were all steeling for the random assignments. Thus, I was able to get
seat 40 without competition. 20 000pr wasn't cheap but being able to secure a seat like this in
the corner could be said to be a good buy after all.
In the end, after the 2nd round, seat 17, 25, 32 and 37 were still empty. The remaining students
were Horikita, Sudou and Okiya. Just three students left.
"Seat 32 will be left empty while the 3 remining seats will be randomly assigned the last 3
students. I have prepared tickets with the seat numbers so please come and draw yours."
Whether it was luck or abilities was hard to say, but the end was to be determined by a simple
lottery, no machineries.
For Sudou, this was his one and only chance after staying silent until the very end.
Seat 17 was next to 25 so Okiya only had to draw 37.
If that truly happened, he would win a seat next to her. It wasn't that unreasonable. But if either
Horikita or he drew 37, everything would fall apart.
While taking a deep breath Sudou went forward and drew his lot. The other two soon drew
theirs.
And then the time of judgment had arrived.
Sudou taking a firm stance unveiled his number with excitement before closing both of his eyes
while gritting his teeth.,
Horikita and Okiya unveiled theirs and returned the lot back to Chabashira before walking to
their seats.
"Horikita gets seat number 17, Okiya gets 25 and Sudou gets 37."
Biding for the right time until the very end, Sudou drew the one number that spelled his doom.
Sudou, you really have no luck at this…
Sudou went to his seat bathed in a shower of sympathetic glances.