Chapter 6

I'd expected this school's opening ceremony to be special in some way judging by what I knew of how the school operates but it was actually pretty generic.

After the ceremony, 70-80 percent of students headed back to the dormitories since we don't have anything left to do in school for the rest if the day. I decided to visit the convenience store on a whim.

I was lost in thought as I walked. I was pondering how much I should hold back at this school, if at all. Usually, I would do my best to just blend in and become a completely average student, allowing me to live a peaceful, ordinary student life.

However, that is practically impossible now. I'd been assigned to Class E - the 'experimental class' which is a small group of generational talents. Come next month when Class E is revealed to the rest of the student body, my standing out will be inevitable even if I try to pass my allocation off as a mistake.

In fact, if I try to act like a regular high-schooler I will probably stand out more in my class which is full of geniuses than I would if I didn't try to blend in.

The question, then, becomes this. How much should I hold back? If I become the weak link in the class I will surely be the centre of attention, at least in that classroom. Conversely, if I put myself forward as the most superior student, I will probably be challenged often and perhaps even end up with a target on my back born of jealousy.

Would I be accepted by the rest of Class E if I were to reveal my full capabilities? I couldn't be sure at this time. I'd only met my classmates earlier in the same day, after all. For now, I'll just do my part and sit at the average of my class. Of course, the average level in Class E is still probably far above even the best students in the other classes.

"My, what an unpleasant coincidence."

A sharp voice cut through my thoughts and grounded me back in reality. I looked toward the source. It was the girl who'd sat next to me on the bus, starting at me with contempt.

"There's no need to be so confrontational. My name is Ayanokōji Kiyotaka." I replied calmly.

"And you just introduced yourself like that?"

"Is there a problem with that? We've met each other multiple times now. Sharing my name is common courtesy, no?"

The girl didn't respond. I scanned my eyes over the shelves of various necessities like shampoo and thought about what I should buy. Cheap products should be the way to go for me, seeing as blowing through all my points could potentially have severe consequences - not just for me but for the rest of Class E as well.

"Horikita Suzune."

"Hm?" I involuntarily responded.

"It's my name. Don't get the wrong idea though. We aren't friends. I have no need for things like that."

"I see..."

Really, I thought that I had got off to a bad start at this school but Horikita seems to be doing arguably worse. I couldn't exactly call my classmates friends but our group seemed to get along fine collectively. Then again though, if Horikita was choosing isolation voluntarily then perhaps she's more content than I am.

I picked up a basket and dropped some basic necessities into it. I went for the cheaptest options because I didn't feel the need to be overly luxurious. I glanced in Horikita's direction and noticed she had also chosen the cheap 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?

"So, what was your first day here like?" I asked in an attempt to further the conversation.

"You don't seem like the kind of person to care about that."

"I'm just trying to make small talk."

"... I see. The opening ceremony was tedious, as was my classroom. Everyone decided to do introductions so I made a swift departure." she finally responded.

"You're going to be here for the next three years you know. Are you sure you want to be alone for that much time?"

"I've been alone for pretty much my entire life. Another three years is nothing to me," she told me a rather depressing fact.

"And what about you? I suppose you have already made a number of friends in the double-digits, which is why you're lecturing me, right?" she continued in a challenging tone.

"Ah, well, uh, not exactly..." Was all I could say

"That's the difference between you and I then. I am alone by choice, whereas you are alone because your social skills are tragic."

Ouch.

The ding sound that signifies when the door is opened reverberated in my ears, and I looked over to the entrance. Someone from my class had entered the store.

"Hey, Ayanokōji. So, you came here too?"

"I guess I was just curious," I responded.

He took a few seconds to look between me and Horikita, before speaking again.

"Don't tell me, you two are already dabbling in the dating scene?" he asked.

"Me, with this guy? Don't joke around." Horikita said coldly.

"You don't have to be so harsh about it," I sighed exasperatedly.

The new arrival smiled at our antics, and turned to address Horikita.

"I'm Yagami Light, Ayanokōji's classmate."

"Why does everybody feel the need to introduce themselves at every opportunity?" Horikita asked incredulously.

Light and I shared a quick glance.

"That'd be because it's social etiquette. Do you really think you can get far with that attitude?" I responded.

"I can get farther than you all on my own, thank you very much. I don't need your concern."

Light looked at me with a smug grin just before he was about to speak. Somehow, I felt like I knew what he was going to say.

"You've gotten yourself quite the interesting girlfriend, Ayanokōji. What's her name?" he asked.

He had purposely said that and asked me for her name rather than asking her directly to get under her skin. And it seemed to have worked, as Horikita's expression turned to one of irritation. I decided to play along.

"She's called Horikita. Quite the Ice Queen, isn't she?" I replied.

"What could you two idiots possibly be talking about, I wonder," Horikita said, clearly annoyed.

I was about to retort when something caught my interest. 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.

"Hey what's up with that," I said, pointing towards the clearance bin in the corner.

"Free?"

Horikita obviously also thought it was strange. Her irritated expression was replaced by a quizzical one. Light, on the other hand, just kept his relaxed smile. He probably already had an idea of why a store on campus would have free necessities.

"They must be emergency relief supplies for students who use up their points. This school is so incredibly lenient," I said

"What kind of idiot could burn through 100,000 yen in a month?" Horikita asked condescendingly.

My eyes met Light's and we both understood the same thing. Despite the air of superiority that surrounds Horikita, she hadn't noticed anything suspicious about the S System yet.

"Hey, shut it! Just wait a sec! I'm looking for it right now!"

A sudden, loud voice dornwed 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 didn't recognize either of them, but one stood out as a well-built man with striking red hair. He had a thoroughly ill-tempered look on his face and his hands were full of noodle cups.

I was about to approach him and speak up, but Light grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"He's clearly forgotten his student ID card. You were about to do something stupid like offering to pay for him, weren't you?"

It appears that Light had seen right through my intentions. I didn't think it was a particularly big deal, though.

"It's a few noodle cups. They're only around 150 yen each," I replied.

Light just looked at me and shrugged, as if to say Whatever, you do you.

I approached him and spoke up.

"What's going on here?"

"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 Ayanokōji. I just asked because it sounded like there was trouble."

At my explanation, the red-haired guy looked somewhat pacified and lowered his voice a little. "Oh. Gotcha. 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 card was necessary for payment hadn't clicked in my head until Light mentioned it, 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 Sudō," he said. "Thanks for helping me out. I owe you."

"Nice to meet you, Sudō."

Sudō 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 from the start. Do you intend to become his servant? Or are you doing this to make friends?" she asked.

"You know, people sometimes do things just to help another person out." Light interjected.

"That's right. I wasn't particularly planning on becoming his friend."

"You don't seem to be afraid." Horikita observed.

"Afraid? Why? Because he looks like a delinquent?" I asked.

"A normal person would try to keep someone like him at a distance."

"But Horikita, he doesn't look like an especially malicious person, he just seems a bit short-tempered. Besides, you don't look scared either." Light said in his usual, relaxed tone.

"Obviously, that's because only defenseless people would be frightened. If he acted violently, I could easily keep him in check."

"Easily, huh?" Light said with a raised eyebrow.

"We'd better finish up here. We'll be a nuisance to other customers if we linger around." I said before Horikita had the chance to snap at Light's remark.

They both nodded in agreement so we presented out student ID cards to the machine by the register. Since we didn't have to deal with small change, our transaction was fast and efficient.

"You really can use it like money..." I said to no one in particular