The Advanced Nurturing High School.

It was revered around the world as the absolute elite of schools, boasting an amazing 100% employment and college entry rate. Their sole purpose is to cultivate potential youths into becoming the very pillars that will shape the nation to become something greater.

At this very school, a certain young man could be seen walking through the halls of the first-year building. The male looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old, with slightly pale skin and smooth yet somewhat spiky black hair that was brushed back and a bit to the right, he also sported a pair of royal blue eyes.

This young man was none other than Ryuga, Tenshi Ryuga.

Ryuga had only recently just arrived here at ANHS, and was currently making his way over to where his classroom was apparently located. He wasn't given much instruction, simply to make his way to the classroom he was assigned using the provided map on his phone.

"I shouldn't be far now..." Ryuga muttered to himself as he gave the map sent to him via the school phone before sliding it back into his right pocket. 'It's weird though. There's supposed to be an entrance ceremony the first-years are supposed to attend, right? Why am I being asked to go immediately to the classroom...?'

On his way to the building, he had passed by a number of other students who had been making their way to what he assumed was most likely the auditorium. Although he didn't know why he wasn't to follow them, he just decided to follow the instructions.

In any case, the phone he was given was quite a piece of technology. It far surpassed any other phone currently on the market, and also had an astounding battery life that's supposed to last more than three whole damn days. From what he was aware, the highest battery life for a phone on the market was around twenty or so hours.

Considering this school was funded directly by the government, he honestly shouldn't be surprised that they'd be supplied with the most advanced technology, that was within reason that is. This school wasn't considered elite for no reason.

Anyway, Ryuga had just over an hour before classes were actually supposed to be starting for the day. He didn't exactly have anywhere else to go, nor was he aware whether he could go walking around the campus right now. So, he might as well just go to the classroom.

"Strange though..."

Ryuga could only raise an eyebrow when he stopped in front of a flight of stairs, which obviously were leading up to the next floor. Unless he counted wrong, this next staircase should lead him up to the fourth floor.

If the given information on the map was anything to go by, then the fourth floor was a floor that had access restrictions. It specifically stated that unless you were a staff member, then all access to the fourth floor of this building was currently off-limits.

The key word is 'currently', meaning that the restrictions could be lifted in the future.

"Excuse me."

Ryuga snapped out of his thoughts before turning his head to the side, and when he did, he saw a female his age walking over to him from one of the branching hallways. Just from the uniform alone, she was obviously a student like him. The girl had a rather slim physique, with darkish-red long hair and a pair of rather dull violet eyes.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for the Class-X building. Do you know where it is?"

"Class-X? If you're looking for the building, why don't come along with me then? It seems like we'll be classmates if that's the class you'll be attending."

"Eh?" The girl seemed to be relatively surprised by this as her eyes widened a bit after hearing Ryuga's words. She soon relaxed though before giving a small smile, along with a nod before extending her hand. "Then it's nice to meet you. I'm Makise Kurisu."

"Nice to meet you, Makise-san." Ryuga gave his own small smile as he shook her hand lightly. "Tenshi Ryuga, feel free to call me by either name."

"Tenshi Ryuga?" Kurisu seemed to once again widen her eyes upon hearing his name. "I'm sorry if I'm wrong. But, aren't you the person who ended up proposing as well as inventing the latest virtual technology that's currently in its prototype stage?"

"You mean the Virtual Dive technology?" Ryuga blinked at the unexpected question. Hearing this, Kurisu nodded her head. "If you're referring to the one currently being explored by Code Brain, then yeah. My dad is the one who took over while I'm attending here."

"It's very impressive!" Kurisu spoke up after her assumptions were confirmed. "Being able to not only propose the idea, but also put it into successful action is an incredible feat. In your proposal, you stated that you wanted it to simulate all the human nerves within a realistic virtual space, that's an incredibly arduous task. Especially, considering the current technology."

"A science person, are you?" Ryuga chuckled a bit as he scratched the side of his face with one of his fingers. "I'm flattered by your praise. However, you can just treat me like any other person, it would also be appreciated. I'm here for a school life after all."

"Of course, Tenshi-san. Please take care of me."

"Naturally, ready to go?"

"Yeah."

With that, Kurisu followed after Ryuga as he began ascending the stairs. Each staircase to the next floor wasn't too long, so they quickly arrived before immediately walking down the hallway in front of them. Seemingly to prevent awkward silence, Kurisu decided to speak up.

"Isn't this floor off-limits? Why is our class here?"

"I'm confused about that as well. It's not the only weird thing, we seem to be the only first-year class that isn't attending the entrance ceremony, if the lack of other students is evidence enough. Not only that, the number of cameras is bothering me..."

Hearing this, Kurisu seemed a bit confused. "The cameras?"

"Not sure if you noticed, but there are an extensive amount of security cameras around this building. Not just the building either, but outside as well. I understand that this is an elite school, but the amount is just insane."

"Don't you think you're being a bit paranoid?"

"Let me tell you this, Makise-san." Ryuga smiled slightly as he glanced at Kurisu, who gave him a curious look. "There's no such thing as being too cautious, only not being cautious enough. If you ever suspect something, while it doesn't mean you need to immediately act on it, it's best just keep it in mind."

"I see..." Kurisu seemed to ponder those words before nodding. "I'll keep it in mind."

"That's good, it'll serve you well."

Both he and Kurisu just continued having idle chatter as they made their way towards the classroom, passing by other areas such as the toilets. There was something Ryuga noticed though, there were barely any rooms to speak of. It's as if this entire floor was for them.

Whether or not he was thinking about things too much or not, that didn't matter right now as both he and Kurisu finally arrived in front of their classroom. How did they know this was their classroom? The obvious plaque that read Class 1-X, that's why.

Wasting no time, they both entered the classroom silently.

Upon entering, they noticed how clean and spacious the room was, but the strangest thing was the number of desks. Despite the size of the room, there were only a total of six desks with them being arranged in rows of three, leaving quite a bit of space between each desk.

Speaking of the desks, a few of them were already occupied, with only three remaining desks unclaimed. Two of those desks obviously seemed to belong to Ryuga and Kurisu, to which they both nodded slightly at one another before making their way over.

As they did, Ryuga glanced at the other students with a curious look in his eyes.

The first person, or people really, that he saw were a strange pair that were currently sitting at the same desk. The one sitting on the chair was a decently tall male with spiky maroon-coloured hair, he also had an obvious pair of dark bags under his eyes, maybe he didn't get enough sleep or something.

Strangely, the other person was sitting on the male's lap. This student was a short girl whom Ryuga honestly couldn't see as any older than twelve, at least physique-wise. Having long and rather messy white hair with various tints of colour, and a pair of large golden-red eyes.

Ryuga's first thought was that they were a couple, but immediately threw that out the window after a bit more observing. They didn't show any signs at all of being in a romantic relationship, if anything, he'd have to guess that they were either siblings or were just really close.

The final other person aside from Kurisu and himself was a young female who was minding her own business and sitting at her desk with her arms folded under her chest, she had long purple hair with a single braid tied using a black ribbon. She also had a rather pale complexion, although not an unhealthy one.

After noticing his gaze, she did return his glance almost immediately afterward, to which they both soon looked away.

'Did she know me...?' Ryuga couldn't hlep but wonder as he noticed the slight widening of that girl's eyes when they crossed his. 'Eh, whatever. Maybe she's a science person like Makise-san or something.'

After placing away his bag into one of the provided lockers at the back of the classroom, Ryuga took out the essential supplies he'd need before sitting down at his assigned desk, which he had managed to find thanks to a nameplate.

Fortunately, the entire classroom wasn'te ntirely in silence as Ryuga was seated right next to Kurisu at the back. The seat order went as follows, the two siblings or couple were currently at the front left desk, the purple haired girl was located on the front right, and both her and Kurisu were seated at the back right and middle.

"Eh~? Now this is interesting!" A sudden new voice immedaitely shattered the silence in the room as Ryuga and Kurisu stopped their low idle chatter before looking towards the door. "Quite the small class we got? Heh!"

The person who appeared at the door was a male with blonde hair that was a bit on the unruly side, along with having a pair of purple eyes. In contrast to the rather quiet individuals already in the room, this one seemed to be quite expressive, along with having a rebellious smile on his face.

if he were describe the guy's impression, he looked like your typical high school delinquent.

"Alright, everyone. We'll be starting homeroom." Another new voice entered the room, to which they all looked to see the door opening again to reveal a tall male with a serious look on his face holding a stack of books. Glancing downwards, the teacher noticed the blonde. "Please take a seat."

"Yes, yes!"

The blonde calmly walked on over to where his desk was, which was the final seat located at the back, meaning next to Ryuga's desk. Ryuga had also noticed the short girl who sat on the other male's lap too had sat herself down at her own desk.

After sitting down, the blonde gave Ryuga a smug smile to which Ryuga's just scoffed a bit before nodding, the blonde gave a small laugh before nodding as well.

Despite his demeanour suggesting that he was a delinquent, Ryuga could tell already that this guy was actually much more mature and friendly than his actions suggested. In any case, they all looked forwards towards where the teacher was now standing at the front.

Their supposed new teacher was wearing a fancy black suit, along with having spiky black hair, and he looked to be around his late twenties or so at most. He also had a pair of sharp black eyes, with no sense of playfulness at all present within them.

"My name is Karasuma Tadaomi, I'll be the one serving you as your homeroom teacher for the next three years." The way Karasuma spoke was both serious yet also polite. "Some of you might be aware, but your classmates will also remain the same during the time you attend this school."

Ryuga was already aware of this, and the others too from their lack of reaction.

"Before I say anything further, I'll first hand you these books. They give you specific details regarding the school rules, so make sure you have a read over them whenever you can."

As Karasuma walked to each desk while handing out the books, each of them opened it up upon receiving them. The book itself could honestly be comparable to that of a small textbook. Considering this was an elite school, it was expected to have more rules and regulations.

After Ryuga received his own, he skimmed through the first few pages to see that it wasn'[t just a rule book, but also had various details about other things as well like different locations within the school grounds. There was even another map aside from the one on their phones.

"I know you're curious, but please close them for now. To start with, you should all know that you'll be living here in dorms, no exceptions. On top of that, your ability to leave the campus as well as contact the outside is highly limited. In other words, any activity and people you communicate with for the next three years will be strictly prohibited to those within school grounds."

After summarising that part, Karasuma then casually took out his own version of the school phone before holding it up for all of them to see.

"You won't be utilising the currency you're familiar with, instead you'll be using points. Your phone will act as a credit card of sorts, so make sure you have it if you're intending on buying something. As for points, you'll receive more at the start of each month. You'll all see your available points on your phone, and so you can understand, each point is equivalent to a single yen."

Ryuga and the others all simultaneously took out their school phones, and with some quick navigation, Ryuga soon found the listed number of points that were soon displayed on his phone. Seeing it, he could only widen his eyes slightly before narrowing them.

.

『School Phone』

● Student ID: X01 X000001

● Name: Tenshi Ryuga

● Date Of Birth (M/D): 12/25

● School: Advanced Nurturing High School

● Points: 100,000

.

'If what Karasuma-sensei just said about a single point is true, then that means we each already have 100,000 yen. It's not an insane amount, but definitely quite a lot for a Japanese high schooler to have each month. Hm...'

Glancing around, he also noticed that the others too were all contemplating their current situation. He was glad, it seemed that none of his classmates were naive enough to think that this money didn't come with a potential cost, no pun intended there.

'100,000 each month, that's way too much even for a government-funded high school. Considering there are around one hundred students for each grade, that's the government giving out around 360,000,000 yen per year for us students as a collective. No fucking shot there isn't a catch.'

Fortunately, Karasuma soon shed some light with his next words.

"I'm sure you're surprised, it's quite a lot of money, no?" Karasuma stated as he glanced at each student. A small smile then appeared on his face, probably the smallest possible smile of all time, as he saw each of their speculative looks. "This school judges you based on merit, and just being accepted here already places significant value on each of you."

Immediately after hearing this, seemingly every student in the class perked up in their own ways. The short girl sitting in front of him slightly sat up straighter, the male she sat with before had a devious smirk on his face, same with the blonde beside Ryuga.

As for the purple-head sitting at the front, she merely narrowed her eyes, which Ryuga was only barely able to catch from his sitting position. Glancing to his right, he also noticed that Kurisu was deep in her own thoughts as well.

'Merit and significant value, huh? I think I've got a decent hold on how these points work, though whether or not that's all there really is to it is unknown.'

"That's all I can say to you for this period, everything else you'll need to know is already in that rule book I gave you, so please do read it. If you don't have any questions for me, I shall take my leave and wish you the best of luck for your next class tomorrow."

Karasuma went silent for a bit as no one seemed to raise their hand, seeing this, Karasuma nodded before making his way out of the classroom. The silence continued for a few moments before it was eventually broken, the reason being the male sitting at the front.

"So, I'm guessing I'm not the only one who thinks this is all highly suspicious?"

"Hehehe~! You're referring to the number of points as well as how ridiculous it is for us to be given so much for free, right?" The blonde male laughed a bit before saying this. In response, the other male turned sideways in his seat before smirking in response. "You heard what I said. It's ridiculous."

"100,000 for every student here in this school, and for each month?" The purple-haired female muttered, though it was heard by everyone in the room. "It would be foolish of us to think that there isn't some kind of catch. Speaking of which, I think we all already have some clues."

"Woah, slow down there! Let's talk about that after." The spiky-haired male sitting on the purple-head's row chuckled as he said this. "I think it's common courtesy to first introduce ourselves, no? We can't continue talking without even knowing each other's names. Anyone got a problem with that?"

Looking around, each of them glanced at each other before they all just nodded. They were going to be classmates for the next few years, so they'd all eventually come to learn each other's names anyway, so they might as well start.

"Great! Then allow me to start, then we'll move down the row before starting with the next." The male nodded before coughing into a closed fist. "My name is Sora, and that's my little sister Shiro. She doesn't talk much. Together we form the duo known as Blank, nice to meet you all."

'I see, so they were siblings.' Ryuga thought simply to himself. 'What is this Blank duo though? Meh, I can just ask later or whatever.'

"Kirigiri Kyoko." The purple-haired female was the next person to introduce herself. "I work as a detective outside of school, nice to meet you all."

"Eh~? A detective, huh?" The blonde male hummed after hearing this. "Impressive for someone our age."

"It really is." Kurisu chimed in before noticing that it was her turn to introduce herself. Standing up, she gave a small bow before speaking. "I'm Makise Kurisu, and I really enjoy anything related to the science field. It's nice to meet everyone."

After introducing herself, Kurisu sat back down before everyone turned towards the next person.

"Tenshi Ryuga." Just like Kurisu, he too stood up before giving a respectful bow. "I don't have anything in particular that I specialise in, but please do take care of me from now on. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"Tenshi Ryuga...?"

"Yeah, it's definitely him. Huh, Shiro?" Sora muttered aloud as both he and Shiro seemed to react quite visibly upon hearing Ryuga's name. This earnt them strange looks from everyone, including Ryuga. "You wouldn't happen to have played a game called Cyber Crisis Online a few months ago, did you?"

"I think I did, why?"

"Just asking..."

"I see..." Ryuga was a bit confused since both the siblings were giving him critical looks. In the end, he just ignored them in favour of turning towards the last person in the room to introduce themselves. "Your turn, buddy."

"Of course, saving the best for last, huh?" The blonde joked with a casual chuckle in his tone. As the male stood up, a rather smug grin formed on his face as his introduction began. "Sakamaki Izayoi at your service, both dangerous and unrefined. Crude, vicious, and hedonistic are but three of many other words to describe myself. Nice to meet you all! Just don't play with fire, or you're going to get burnt!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

No one had any idea how to respond to such an introduction, they could only stare silently as the blonde male sat back down on his seat. Like before, this silence only broke after Sora once again spoke up, this time with a sweatdrop running down the back of his head.

"Wow, you're definitely vicious."

"I know, right?!"