Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If I may,

I'd like to pose an interesting question. 

Are all human beings truly equal? 

The noon twilight shined brightly on the falling petals of the Sakura blossoms. They brushed past the cheeks and hands of people elder and young alike, dancing beautifully as the wind carried them across the streets. The spring air was remarkably vibrant. A single petal fell onto the back of an old lady, who was too busy making her way onto the bus in front of her to notice. 

These days, everywhere you go, there's talk about the fight for equality. As a wise man once said, "Heaven does not create one person above or below another." People like to throw his words around; That's not the whole quote. 

As she slowly made her way up through the steps and into the isle, a pale, short-haired girl turned to look at her from her left. 

He goes on to say that while we are all equal at birth, pretty soon, things begin to change. Academic effort is what sets some people apart, to rise above the others. In other cases, a lucky circumstance and an opportunistic outlook is enough to divide the weak from the strong. There's also a degree of intrinsic potential at play; it's impossible to define, but some possess more of it than others. When amazing natural talent, as well as remarkable external effort are combined, a breed of human thats completely separated from the rest is created. In the face of that phenomena, equality might as well be made of glass. Before the old lady knew it, the bus began to take off before she could find a seat-- not that there were any left. 

In a superficial sense, those who are born into an enviable environment with elite naturalistic ability, as well as having a will strong enough to tempt fate, could easily be seen as inhuman. It isn't hard to see why; if you were a normal person, and you found yourself confronted with an individual of such a stark superiority, you might mistake them for a different animal entirely. There's a distance segregating monsters like that from regular people.

And in reality, monsters who exemplify that dysphoria, in both their nature and nurture, utterly dominate society. That sort of difference is difficult for most people to accept, but.. In such a world, could a fantasy like equality seriously be considered by anyone? 

"...Excuse me? Would you mind giving up your seat, please?" A polite voice echoed, completely disrupting that train of thought. That girl was trying-- and, from the look of it, failing-- to convince a rather prideful looking guy to give up his seating for his senior. "That's actually a priority seat.. I think you should let this elderly lady sit there, okay?" 

Her opponent looked like he was fighting to hold back his smirk. "I understand that this is priority seating, honey, but there's no law forcing me to give it up. You think I should have to stand up, just because I'm still young?" He decorated his rebuttal with a pompous chuckle. "What a bunch of ageist nonsense." 

At their silence, he continued. "Sure, I'm younger than her, but standing uses way more energy than sitting. Tell me, why must I sacrifice my health for this lady's sake?" 

Across the isle, a brown-headed young man of similar age started to observe their little exchange, be it from the corner of his eyes. Immediately, he noticed they were both wearing the exact same uniform he was-- not surprising, seeing as they were all headed to the same place, for the most part. He watched quietly, as the girl scrambled to come up with an excuse that wouldn't escalate the situation. "Because.. you'd be contributing to the greater good of humanity." She eventually decided. "And just take a look at her, she's having trouble staying upright.."

Unfortunately, an appeal to ethicality like that wouldn't suffice here. "I have zero interest in contributing to the greater good.. and anyway, there are plenty of other jerks who could give up their seats." Taking a look around, he hadn't exactly been wrong. Nobody else seemed exactly ecstatic to contribute to the greater good, either. "Furthermore, I don't see much difference between a priority seat and a regular one, so ask someone else to be a hero." 

"..To tell the truth, dear," the lady in question started, throwing on her best smile, "I don't mind standing, don't worry. But thank you all the same." 

That response seemed to disatisfy the younger girl. "Excuse me! Would anyone on this bus be willing to give up their seat to this sweet lady?" 

The brown-haired boy considered it for a moment, then turned his head to the side. He wasn't the only one disinterested in helping out, evidently. To his left, he noticed another girl his age reading a book, who was even less considerate than him, by the look of it. There might've been a story behind that. 

Before he could wonder about it any further though, a hand shot up into the air, in the seat directly behind the girl he'd been staring at. 

Another brunette-- though the color of his hair was slightly darker-- was offering his seat to the pair. His skin was on the paler side, compared to everyone else around, but not too much so that it seemed out of place. If anything, it strengthened the charisma he was seemingly radiating. His build was lightly remarkable; lean, but clearly fit. In combination with his sharp, hazel eyes, his confident body language conveyed a sense of sociability and self-assuredness. Most importantly, he'd been wearing that same uniform. 

"I'd be more than happy to give up my seat." He announced, to the girl's joy, before moving moving towards the middle of the isle and grabbing hold of one of the safety bands hanging from the ceiling. 

"Thank you very much, sir!" She bellowed in response, leading the lady over to the newly evacuated seat. Her disposition was extremely cheery, almost like something out of a book. It would've seemed unnatural if it didn't fit her so well. Returning his attention to the boy who got out of his chair, the still seated young man resumed his assessment. His posture was fine, just shy of perfect, really, and he seemed entirely unbothered by the fact that he now had to stand. His eyes were closed, and his free hand was resting in his pocket. ..Huh. 

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji took a moment longer to study what he'd seen before he was satisfied. With the artificial island approaching in the distance, he saw fit to give the matter some more thought later. 

𝕭𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖉𝖔𝖒.

At the present moment, that word alone provided the most accurate description of the life of Light Yagami.  That sort of thing happens, when you're naturally talented at everything. There were small moments and hiccups of interest, but they never lasted. Not in a world like this one. 

The son of Japan's chief of police, Soichiro Yagami, he relished in a comfortable, upper-middle class life, never once having to worry about things like food and necessities. In school, he was the textbook example of an honors student; flawless grades, remarkable athleticism, and even a fair bit of popularity. Studying and training, it all came naturally to him, and he appreciated his position in life, as well as the family that got him there. But that same position is precisely why he's so bored. 

Day in and day out, everything's pretty much the same. People do the same jobs, perform the same chores, and the same exact tragedies happen on repeat. The news never changes. 

With that monotony in mind, he was praying that the new school he was enrolling at would provide some form of stimulation. It was the best bet he had, seeing as it was quite literally the most prestigious academy in the country. When he approached his mom and dad with the proposal to attend the TNHS once he graduated junior high, their approval was through the roof. They'd been trying to convince him that he was smart enough to apply for months, so as soon as he started showing interest, they were ecstatic. Who wouldn't be? They weren't celebrities or anything, but their family was known enough to warrant a fair amount expectations. Making the decision to go to a place like that seems to have appeased them. Sayu was a bit sad and whiny when he told her he'd be leaving for the next 3 years, but that couldn't be helped. It was adorable in its own way. 

The tests he took as an application were a breeze. Harder than what than material he was used to, sure, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He'd rather not come off as cocky, or arrogant, so he purposefully didn't go for a perfect score-- but he still wanted to make a good first impression on the administration, so he got a clean 99 on all three of the entrance exams. Turns out, like usual, he was number one on the scoreboard. It was sure to get him some decent attention. 

From what Light had heard, the school's testing and evaluation methods were a lot different than any other places. They kept a pretty tight leash on any information regarding the specifics of what students had to do each year, but it sounded like some unique stuff. Sports competitions, cross-class working periods, things like that. Apparently, competition is encouraged heavily, almost to a scary degree. Most importantly, the school prides itself on merit, and that's the biggest deciding factor on who will and will not be successful there. That actually sounded enticing, and maybe some fair amount of competition would be enough to sate his inescapable boredom. 

It was cold on the bus, but quiet. That's just the way he liked it. He'd noticed that a couple of other kids his age had filled into all the seats, wearing the same uniform he was. These'll be my new peers, I guess. 

There wasn't anybody he recognized; that wasn't surprising. He meant no offense, but he doubted anyone from his middle school could make it in to where they were going. But, if he remembered correctly.. 'Wasn't there a girl I met before that's supposed to be going here?' 

"...Excuse me? Would you mind giving up your seat, please?" 

His eyes turned to from the window to the source of the soft voice he'd heard in the middle of the isle. 

It was time to disembark, it seemed, as the bus reached its stop at the entrance a while later. 

Taking his first steps out onto the new stronghold that lied before him, Ayanokoji took a moment to breath it all in. This place really was something else, and with the trees being in full bloom, it was almost like a cherry-colored red carpet inviting its new students to depart. 

"Well.. this is it. My new school." He spoke aloud, for the first time. He didn't waste very much time admiring the scenery; that wasn't really his thing, and he had the entrance ceremony to worry about, anyway.

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing Highschool. He ruminated on his way to the front gate. Established by the government to raise people who've been deemed our country's future leaders.. movers and shakers, if you will. And it works, too.

It boasts 100% college entry and employment rates. Using experimental, state-derived teaching methods, they pull out all the stops to build a bright future for Japan.

"--Hey, you." 

An unpleasantly commanding and authoritative voice assaulted his earlobes, intercepting his thoughts. Looking up, he noticed the black-haired girl he saw reading on the bus was standing before him, a flight of stairs separating their positions, and creating a weird sense of hierarchy. Her tone didn't sound fun.

"I noticed you staring at me on the bus," she continued. "Why was that?" 

Guess I wasn't as subtle as I thought. He figured. It can't be helped. "..Oh. I'm sorry, I was just curious, 'cause.. well, you didn't wanna give up your seat, either. I was wondering if, like me, you'd rather stay out of it."

"..I'm nothing like you." Came her response, decidedly impolite. "In my case, I stayed silent as a matter of principle." ..Uh-huh. That makes her worse than me.

"If that's all, then goodbye." And she took her leave, like she said. He had to admit, he wasn't exactly sad to have that interaction over and done with.

But before he could start making his way up the flight of steps and down towards the auditorium, another voice called out to him from behind. It sounded familiar. 

"Pretty cold, don't you think?" 

Ayanokoji turned around, just in time to recognize the other boy he'd seen earlier. He'd greeted him with a moderately friendly demeanor, and he seemed well-intentioned enough. "You're that guy who gave up his seat on the bus.. right?" 

A cool breeze bristled the bangs in front of his face. He nodded. "Yeah, that was me." 

Ayanokoji didn't respond for a moment, instead simply staring at the stranger with an indecipherable look in his eye.

"..I.. guess I'll see you arou--" The boy was half a second from walking off, when he finally spoke. 

"If you don't mind me asking, why exactly did you give your seat to that old woman?" 

It was his turn to be silent, now, as he gave Kiyotaka a contemplative stare. Assuming the question sounded strange, he elaborated. "That probably sounded funny, didn't it? I don't mean to criticize what you did, or anything like that. It's just some mild curiosity." 

"..I suppose I did it because it was the right thing to do." He replied. "Or so I'd like to say, but really, I just find arrogant guys like the one we saw earlier annoying. His self-important preaching got on my nerves, so I took action."

So it was for personal reasons, then. Ayanokoji seemed satisfied with that answer, nodding in response.

"Now, for a question of my own. Would you mind telling me your name?" The boy asked, smiling faintly. 

He meditated on it for a second, but eventually, he decided it was fine. The guy seemed nice enough; who knows, maybe he'd even make an acquaintance on the first day. "It's Ayanokoji. What's Yours?"  

"Ayanokoji, hm?" He replied, offering his arm for a handshake. This guy seemed pretty personable; the guesses he made earlier were clearly correct. 

"As for me, I'm Light. Light Yagami." 

He eyed Light's hand, before accepting the shake for what it was. "You've got a pretty interesting way of thinking, if you ask me. It's nice to meet you." 

"You too," Light replied earnestly. "I don't know that it was anything special, but I appreciate the compliment." 

He scratched the back of his head as he checked his watch. "We've got the entrance ceremony coming up, right? I'd rather not be late. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah. See you around." Ayanokoji said, nodding again. He watched idly, as Yagami's waving form disappeared into the distance in front of him. 

Light... Yagami, huh?

Luscious hair. Warm eyes. Soft skin, and a beautiful smile. It was all so close, he could almost touch it. 

Those happy days, back when he could avert his eyes from the dark, even if it was just a little bit. The hallmark of blissful ignorance, where the ugly truth of humans could almost be forgotten. An amazing woman who'd actually take worthless garbage like him in. 

He swore he could hear her voice.

"..Yuuichi, dear. I want you to remember that there's something more important than money in this world.." 

Sentiments like that went against everything he knew. To a poor orphan like him, who's only knowledge came from firsthand experience in the back-alleys, something more important than the magical word "money" was inconceivable.

People worked for money. People fought for money. Some people even died for it. That word is just one of the ways you could describe the lifeblood of continued existence in this world. That's how I thought about it at the time.

So, for a kid like that to imagine something of a greater value than such a currency.. it was probably next to impossible. Nevertheless, he was curious.

"More important than money.. what is it?" 

His tone echoed a naive innocence. The response she gave him, he couldn't ever forget it.

"Your friends, of course." 

His eyes shot open at the head-splitting sound in his ears.

A swarm of applause illustrated the auditorium, students old and new as far as the eye could see. That memory was so vivid, it only made sense that he was half asleep. ..Right. I forgot I was here, for a second.

Katagiri Yuuichi was more accustomed to the quieter sort of school assembly. From what he remembered, the gatherings at his middle school were always self contained, and not nearly as loud as this. He supposed he should've expected that, considering where he was. 

Originally, he wouldn't have ever come here, even if a gun was pointed at his head. An elite governmental establishment like this one is way out of the leagues of a beggar like him. After how much of a chore his middleschool life had been, he was content to live out the rest of his days in relative solitude, gathering funds here and there to get by. He's not just living for himself anymore, though.

One of the last wishes that woman ever had for him was to find a nice school, live well, and make true friends. He'd spent the entirety of junior high working whatever jobs he could, trying to save up enough money to go somewhere decent. He still didn't entirely understand everything she said, but he could at least see there was some merit in her will. It was to the end of satisfying that will that he ended up here.

An Advanced Nurturing Highschool, apparently destined to produce the next generation of revolutionaries for Japan's future. It sounded like a joke, almost like something out of a manga on the surface, but when he did some digging to see if he was eligible for their entrance exams, he was surprised. Funding wasn't even a significant part of the enrollment requirements. As long as your numbers on the papers were high enough, and as long as you fit into their "personal criteria" (whatever that meant), you could make it in, even if you were relatively poor. Each year, the government directed a lofty sum of money just to support the school's students and all of its facilitations; this place was expensive in every sense of the word. Not only that, but how you're graded at this school is supposedly different from everywhere else, too, though the online forums and official description didn't go too in depth as to how.

He was never the best when it came to being book smart, so the scores he got on the application tests weren't anything noteworthy. That's not to say he was unintelligent, or even bad at the subject material-- it was really just a fault of his own laziness. Math, Science, History and the like were just so uninteresting. He still managed to get decently into the 75-80 range, but his results on that front definitely weren't doing him any favors. But looking around, his competition probably didn't do much better, so as long as nobody went sniffing around in his business, he should appear pretty average.

The incessant nagging of whoever was mouthing off at the podium that put him to sleep before wasn't getting any better now, so he decided to put his observational awareness to the test and get a good idea on the kind of classmates he'd be having from here on out. There were some pretty unique faces, none of them intimately familiar, but definitely more diverse than his eighth grade demographic had been. I know I'm not exactly the most outgoing, but.. I wonder if I'll end up making any friends here.

The noise filtered into white, and he heard that warm voice in the back of his head again.

...More important than money, she says. Essentially, the reason we're all here is to secure our livelihoods after we graduate, right? No matter how you look at, good futures are privileges reserved by the wealthy. Lofty results like that always come with competition, even if they get up on stage and talk about teamwork for half an hour. If you ask me, that seems kind of contradictory. Friends or Money, which are we really here for?

"—And now, a word from our Student Council President!" 

He was broken out of his thoughts, when he saw a raven-headed young man take the stage. 

"..Thank you for the introduction. I'm Manabu Horikita." A dark-haired man announced as he took the podium, baring a remarkable resemblance to the abrasive girl Ayanokoji had seen earlier. 

"Newcomers, as a representative of the upperclassmen, and as your Student Council President, I extend a warm welcome to you all." He began. "As I am sure you're aware, our school is known for its prestige and distinction on all fronts, and boasts impeccable employment and college entry rates across the board; we take pride in this." He adjusted his glasses.

"In fact, it's our school's number one priority. We all work together to uphold the standard of excellence. Now you are apart of that too. We expect greatness from all of you, and we know you are capable of.." He droned on. Ayanokoji took the opprotunity to get a good survey on the type of crowd he'd be enrolling with this year, and he saw some interesting faces. Most of them were unfamiliar, but he did see Yagami across the room, near the center of a different group of students-- probably Class A or B, he figured. When he took a look next to him, he even saw that girl he'd spoken with a few minutes prior; considering the fact that they were lumped in with the same people, they were probably both in the same homeroom, for better or for worse. We're even in the same class? 

Later, after all the classes had been properly assembled, in Classroom 1-D.

Class D was pretty lively, all things considered. The girls especially seemed to hit it off quite well, with the boys being more spread out and self-contained. It hadn't gotten too loud, thankfully, but for the most part, everyone was just chatting away like normal highschool students. Glancing around the room, Ayanokoji recognized some of the people he'd apparently be spending his next semester with; the bubbly girl from the bus was clearly popular with the chicks, and it wasn't going to take too long for her to become a hit with the guys, if her looks had anything to do with it. The pompous blondie she'd been debating with had both of his feat kicked up on his desk. Apparently, he was filing his nails. As far as confidence goes, there's at least one person he won't have to worry about here, it seemed. 

To his right, he noticed he'd been seated next to that same girl from before again. The chances of it all were starting to get a bit comedic. She has the seat next to me?

"An annoying coincidence." She replied, almost as though she was reading his mind. Sure enough, she didn't drop the distant attitude for even a second. 

"Feeling's mutual." He sighed. 

His ended his contemplation, when he noticed a certain green-haired extrovert taking center-stage at the head of the classroom. Introductions were in order.

Light was having an admittedly easy time getting adjusted into Class B. He'd always been decently sociable, so from the start he never expected to have any trouble making friends or forming social connections. He wouldn't exactly describe it as enjoyable, but he figured he'd atleast utilize the opprotunity to get a good read on the type of people he was being lumped together with.

Luckily enough, everyone he spoke with was agreeable, for the most part. The worst case scenario-- that he knew of, anyway-- was having to deal with problematic classmates for an extended period of time here. As far as his current understanding goes, it's unclear just how long they'll actually have to work together; it could be months, or as long as years at a time. The teachers haven't properly established the duration of the class rosters, or whether or not they can change each year. Carrying deadweight for the unforeseeable future was an outcoming he'd distinctly rather avoid. Again though, he was lucky that everybody seemingly got along well.

He sat back in his desk, looking out into the narrow streets that lay below. Idly, he started spinning a pencil in his hand. 'Forming solid social pathways will probably end up being important later on. This school is infamous for its unpredictable examinations, as well as its unorthodox evaluation methods. I shouldn't rule out the possibility that cooperation and teamwork will be one of the benchmarks on which we're graded. Outside of that, there's also the fact that I'd just like to enjoy my highschool life as much as possible. When it comes to people who actually catch my eye, there've been a few.

His attention turned to a blonde-haired girl, chatting and laughing with a couple of others in the opposite corner of the classroom. For only knowing eacother for an hour at most, they were all hitting it off quite well. That one there is Honami Ichinose. I spoke with her earlier; she's pretty outgoing, and not at all a bother to be around. With her here, we'll have enough optimism for the entire class. I think she'll get popular in no time, so I'll have to do my best to make sure she doesn't outshine me too badly. He smiled.

Light shifted his gaze to a purple-headed boy near the front desk of the classroom. His expression was somewhat stern, but he wasn't unapproachable, seeing as he was managing to both read and talk to some of the other guys in the class simultaneously. His name is Kanzaki Ryūji, if I recall. If I'm purely going off of initial impressions, I can't really say too much about him, but he seems like a diligent guy. He's pretty serious on the outside, but once you get to know him, I'm sure he's the considerate and helpful sort of person. Besides Ichinose, I think he's the most likely to become class representative. 

Finally, he looked over at the silver-haired (or.. was it Teal? Cloudy blue, maybe?) girl sitting in front of him, seemingly staring at the desk beneath her. Her body language was remarkably stiff, and she didn't seem too privy to talking. Shiranami.. Chihiro, was it? From what I can tell, she's kind of anti-social. I did my best to chat with her, but it'll probably take a little while longer before she let's her guard down around the rest of us. He turned back to the window, relaxing a bit further into his seat. 

Overall, it's not perfect, or anything, but I think this is my ideal class. With the scores I got on the entrance exams, I was a little bummed about not getting assigned to Class A, but I'm not about to start complaining when what I got instead is this decent. If things stay like this, I should have a fairly pleasant semester in front of me.. 

"—Alright, Class! Listen up, Okay?" Called a jovial, feminine voice, as the classroom doors slided open. Light was not prepared for the handful Ms. Hoshinomiya would end up being. 

"To start with, at the Tokyo Advanced Nurturing Highschool, be aware that the people you find yourself with now will remain your peers until the day you graduate." The teacher, who had introduced himself as Sakagami Kazuma, started his deliberation. "Unless, of course, you earn yourself an expulsion." 

That shit-eating grin, combined with that totally insufferable tone.. Yuuichi suppressed his scoff. He wasn't having the best time right now. For one, his classmates were shaping up to be uncooperative, and that could end up becoming an issue pretty soon. There were a few he could actually get along with, like Ibuki and Shiyori. The former was spunky, with a little bit of an attitude, but once he'd found something they both hated (90's kung-fu movies), he got the most of her abrasive shell to crack. She was actually pretty funny. Shiyori was quieter, and less extroverted. She lit up like a light when he recognized the book she'd been reading, though.

The issues started when Kakeru Ryuuen introduced himself earlier, and effectively tried to put the rest of the class under his boot. Him and his lapdog, Albert, were probably going to end up in charge of the class, because no one was exactly enthusiastic about challenging them. I'm not sure how he did it, but It's almost like he'd already had a posse going for him before he even got here. It was still smarter not to make any blatant enemies for the time being, though. So even if he didn't enjoy the way it seemed like things were going to be operating, Yuuichi decided he'd have to stomach his authority until a while later. Being in the spotlight this early on wasn't really his thing, anyway. 

But the final nail in the coffin was when their class's teacher finally showed up, and started listing off a bunch of technicalities in the most arrogant way possible. He was seriously trying not to fall asleep. Why'd I have to get stuck with this guy?

"Now then, I'm going to hand out the school rulebook to the students at the start of each row. Take one of them, and pass the rest behind you." Yuuichi started skimming the rules as soon as the book had been handed out. Nothing like a headstart, he figured.

"As you can see, our school's guidelines may be a bit more refined than whatever it is you're used to. Living in the school dorms is a requirement, and the contact you have with your friends and family outside of this campus will be strictly limited. That includes any prolonged visitations. If that arouses any sort of concern, be not alarmed; our school offers more than enough facilities and entertainment centers to quell each of your attention spans." 

I get it. Yuuichi mused, flipping a page. It's like we're trading our agency for better security. But in that case, for how much they indulge us, there has to be a price. 

"That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Well, it's not free. Nothing is, in the adult world, and that is what we aim to prepare you for. You will pay for these commodities using the point system, which is tracked by the computer network, of course." Sakagami held up his cellphone, and promptly demonstrated the point system in question. It was just as he thought. "So long as you've accumulated the proper amount of these, there is absolutely nothing on this campus you cannot buy." 

..Nothing you can't buy, huh..? He turned his head, getting a good look at the classmates around him. It was sort of funny, how easy everyone was acting, even in the middle of a lecture this important. Especially considering that Ryuuen guy, it wasn't a matter of if they were going to caught in the jaws of a snake, but when. We'll see about that. 

"Your points will be distributed to each of you on the first of every month, no sooner, no later-- and all of your points are worth one yen. Check your phones; when you do, you'll see that 100,000 of them have already been alotted to each of you." It was true. Sure enough, when he opened up his phone, one-hundred thousand of the points he described were listed under his official student classification. Sounds of awe, excitement, and disbelief echoed throughout the classroom. People could barely contain their joy.  

"Surprised?" Kazuma asked, his smirk widening. "Please, don't be. Our judgements of you at this school is based purely upon your merit. 100,000 points is the value you deserve, getting into an establishment like ours. Presently, this is what we believe you are worth. But of course, that is subject to change." 

Idly, Yuuichi stared down at the cellphone in his hands, at the numbers displayed on the screen. His reaction was a bit more controlled than the rest of his class. 

..100,000 yen, just like that?

He tapped the button on its side, shutting it back off.

Yeah, sorry, but that's too good to be true.

It's too good to be true, Ayanokoji thought to himself, staring at the bag of groceries in his hand he'd just bought. He opened up his phone again, to check if the transaction went through like Ms. Chabashira had described. Not without a catch, at least. 

..It really does work exactly like money. There it was, right under his student profile. He wasn't actually down any points, since he'd decided to stick to the free items for now, but you could see the necessities he bought in his purchase history. 25 students per class.. and four classes per grade.. that makes 300 of us in all. If each kid gets 100,000 a month, that's 360 million per year. How can the government afford to pay for all this?

Eventually, he snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed the girl standing next to him. It was that same chick he'd been seated next to; his new associate for the next three years, supposedly. It seemed like she'd noticed him from the corner of her eye, too. 

"Another annoying coincidence, it seems." This was getting tiring.

"..You don't have to be so prickly." Really, he didn't have much of an idea as to why she was making herself out to be so difficult to communicate with. He wasn't overjoyed at the prospect of dealing with her everyday until graduation either, but he was at least making an effort.

When she went from slighting him to ignoring him, he changed his approach. "Well, since we have to sit by eachother, we should attempt to get along. What's your name?" He asked.

Her silence wasn't much of an answer.

"..Really, you won't even share with me that much?"

"So..?" She finally responded. "You got a problem with that?" 

"No, but it would make things weird for the next three years.. to sit next to 'ya, and never know your name." 

Eventually, she turned away from the shampoo bottles and tooth brushes long enough to give him her full attention. It seemed to be something she did more out of resignation than anything else, if the sharp look in her eyes had anything to say about it.

"It's Suzune Horikita." She introduced. It was a step in the right direction, at least. But that last name sounded familiar.

"..Horikita? Like the guy who spoke earlier?" 

Unfortunately, with introductions over, she seemed to be content with ignoring his existence again. She went right back to picking out the basic need products, as if he wasn't even there.

"Why are you buying all cheap stuff? You've got lots of money." He asked, switching the topic. "You could stand to buy more expensi-"

"I don't need all that." 

"..Yeah, but you could--" 

"I told you, I don't need that stuff." 

"..Right." He eventually gave up, demeaning the argument not worth his trouble. With how quickly she interrupted him, it's a miracle she could even tell what he was going to say.

"You're weird." She said, breaking the silence she created. "You aren't very good at interacting with people.. no conversation skills."

"Yeah, I know. But you don't seem to be much better than I am." 

"That's true, but I'm not the one who said they were going to "work hard to get along with everyone else"." Came her rebuttal, as she turned her head towards a table in the corner of the shop. On it were free necessities; "up to three per month", the sign said. "..These're free?" 

"Maybe that's for people who use up all their points before the first of the month," Ayanokoji replied, taking the logical approach. "I guess."

"How could one use up a hundred thousand points? This school is too indulgent."

He was about to respond, when he heard a certain carrot-topped hot head having an altercation outside.

After being properly introduced to the campus, the facilities, and the S-system, it didn't take too long for people to start forming real friend circles. Light thought to himself, as he chatted freely with Ichinose and a couple of the guys. Settling into the school proper had been easier than he could've imagined. The clicks are already beginning to bubble up, and in that timespan, I've been able to build a pretty decent reputation. 

If I had to pick one thing people have been bonding over, it'd definitely be the points. More specifically, what everyone has bought with them. Some people went for luxuries, like game consoles, or expensive jewelery.. others found clothes or common commodities they liked. When it comes to making friends, there's nothing that can build and maintain a strong bond like materialism. He was able to get a pretty good look at everyone around him, since he and the others were standing at the front of the class. Just as he said, everywhere you looked, people were holding up their cellphones, taking about this or that thing they'd bought or that they were planning on buying. A handful of people were even pooling small portions of their funds to save up and buy things altogether. 

Luckily for me, I was able to get in good standing with the class, and retain a minimalistic approach at the same time. I guess I can thank being an okay conversationalist for that. With what we know now alone, I can't haphazardly spend any of my points in confidence. With how much money a program like this would theoretically cost the government, I can't imagine a scenario in which there isn't some sort of caviat to this much of an allowance. The teachers told us themselves; this school is all about merit. With that in mind, I'm pretty certain they're just waiting to reveal the latter half of the explanation later, using our personal autonomy as a yardstick. 

Most people decided to make the most of their circumstances, without giving anything any actual thought. The days sort of flew by, as people ran threw the allotment we'd been given like it didn't even matter. Our Teacher, Ms. Hoshinomiya, never once disciplined us-- but I'm not sure how much of that is purposeful, or just a product of her own discoordination.

As far as the limits of the benefit of the doubt we've apparently been given, there doesn't seem to be any. Not on the surface, anyway. Yuuichi silently contemplated, crouching his head further onto his arms, which were on his desk. He was awake, the least he could do was keep up his attentiveness, but he couldn't say the same for everyone else. Sleeping, and chatting in class, tardiness.. even blatant truancy. It's all been "ignored". The rules are lenient at first glance, so everyone just took it for how it was. 

That's a mistake on their part. His eyes darted around the classroom, scanning the faces of all of his associates. Just because the rules of the game haven't been properly described, doesn't mean there aren't any. I bet they're just waiting for us to demonstrate our own hubris before cracking the whip. As long as money's involved, you can bet your ass that there's gonna be strings attached. That's how life works.

And this game in particular is no different. You'd have to be a special kind of idiot to think you're exempt from evaluation on this. What's interesting is that people actually made friendships over the similarities they share with others on what they bought; whether it's intentional or not, the existence of funding has been the biggest motivator for the cultivation of nice relationships here.

Which means, if that motivator were to disappear.. 

 On May 1st, everything changed. 

Homeroom, Class 1-D. 

It was raining outside. All sorts of confusion and disbelief ran rampant throughout the classroom. After all that hedonism, people simply couldn't believe that there might've been an underlying method to the madness that was a free 100,000 points on the first day of schooling. 

Checking his own phone, Ayanokoji noticed that his points hadn't increased at all either. They were sitting at around a comfortable eighty-two thousand. There wasn't much time to contemplate on that fact before Ms. Chabashira took the podium.

"Hey, Teacher?" A boy, who he'd come to know as Yamauchi, called out with an oblivious ignorance. "Nobody here has gotten any more points yet. It's the first of the month, so shouldn't they have already been refilled by now?"

"Of course." She replied, crossing her arms under her breasts. "This month's alottment has already been distributed."

"..Uh, mine aren't there." 

"As I said," she repeated, "the points have been allocated. I am certain about that. And I know for a fact that this class has not been overlooked by the administration."

I get it. Light thought quietly to himself, a smirk gracing his face. He was pleased to see his point total increase so substantially, and this development also proved the suspicions he had about the S-system's true nature. Ms. Hoshinomiya's droning faded into the background, as he turned to the clock in the corner of the room.  So, it's just like I thought. 

No one's that frivolous with something as precious as their money. Yuuichi threw a hand over his face, barely able to keep his chuckle from being heard by the entire class. Especially not the Japanese government. There's no way you guys are seriously that ignorant! 

"At this school, your grades and performance evaluations aren't handed out. They're reflected in your monthly points alottment." Chabashira elaborated. "Your unconscionable behavior, and that alone, has resulted in the withholding of your points allowance for this month. The points alotted to this class for May comes out to a total.." 

"..of 0." 

At the class's outrage and refutations, she continued. "Did it never occur to you to question your circumstances? You're only children, why would you be given such an extravagant sum? Didn't you think there'd be a catch?" 

Her explanation just confirmed the ideas Ayanaokji had about the school's real intentions with the lackadaisical first month of entry. It didn't surprise him that there was more to the system than what had been explained, but it did surprise him that nobody seemed privy to fact. Well, almost nobody. 

"Your assumptions were wrong, and now, you must all pay the price." She finished. "If you did have doubts.. why, then, did you refuse to act upon them? I told you on the first day of class, didn't I? I was perfectly clear; this school judges it's students on merit alone."

"..So, as it stands now, we think you're all garbage." 

That was the kicker. 

"You're worth nothing, so you get nothing."

..The textbook definition of a meritocracy. Yeah, this truly is.. the Classroom of the Elite.

Chapter Text

After how harshly our class was berated by Ms. Chabashira, you'd think we'd have a tough time going on like we'd been before. 

"Hey! Stop splashing me!" 

"Couldn't help myself, sorry.~ It doesn't hurt to have some fun here and there, does it?"

  You'd be wrong. Here we are in the indoor swimming pool, playing around like we're not at a huge disadvantage compared to the other classes. Class D being the only one in the grade to receive a combined total of 0 points sounds like a pretty effective wake-up call on paper, but I guess it didn't land as hard as I thought it would. They seem to be coping with our loss fine enough.

He wrote it off as him just taking a moment to work on his observational prowess, but the truth is, Ayanokoji stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of such a socially active environment. Most of his peers were frolicking around, attacking eachother with waves of water, having fun.. especially the girls. Speaking of which, this is the first time he'd seen women his own age in swimsuit, and now that they were all approaching an age where their bodily maturity was becoming apparent, certain.. assets they possesed were becoming harder to ignore. He wasn't at all the perverted type, but he was a guy, through and through. 

Ah, free time during swim class. People have naturally broken up into groups, which makes sense, I guess. He huddled his legs a bit closer to his torso as he monologued. 

..It's official. I have utterly failed at making friends. I'm destined to be a loner. 

He lamented the sorry state of his social life with a sigh. When it came to this sort of thing, he knew he wasn't any good at it, but could he truly be this hopeless?

"..What are you brooding about over here?" A curious voice broke him out of his reverie, but not before the approaching footsteps did. It was Horikita, presumably here to pour a bit of salt in the wound. 

"Well, I was just embroiled in a painful internal struggle." He took the honest approach. His social ineptitude was too obvious to try to play off, so he might as well be try to retain some of his integrity.

Suzune studied him for a moment, before curling up beside him and continuing. 

"How can these losers even enjoy themselves? You'd think that they would be more deflated." She pondered aloud.

"Maybe that's how these guys cope," Ayanokoji proposed, his tone as dead as ever. "They wanna have some fun while they still can." 

"..Maybe you're right. Still, they're having a little too good of a time." 

He didn't blink as he watched his classmates continue their pool party, the response on his lips leaving almost before he realized. "It's early in the spring for swimming to start, and they're first years on a free class period. It's normal for them to enjoy themselves, don't you think?"

"They're like a bunch of gradeschool kids," Horikita didn't let up on her admonishment. "Although I suppose I can't really fault them for it."

Her gaze traveled from the social butterflies, splashing around in the water, to a lone red-headed moth, pouting against the window.

"..But in the S-system, they're going to suffer for that attitude."

"Aren't you and I just like them?" He countered.

"Maybe." She conceded.

But her rant on their class's behavior got him thinking about something. 

...The S-system, huh?

Ms. Chabashira's lesson on its inner-workings was more like a scolding than anything else, but I guess I can't blame her. Not only were our personal points withheld, the existence of another type of evaluation called "class points" was revealed to us as well. 

Class D not only received 0 personal points, but we're also at the bottom of the scale on the class points ranking as well. Currently, Class A sits at the top with 952 points total. That kind of starting disadvantage may as well be a death sentence for Class D. Even if you factor in the 100 class points we could gain during the midterms, there's still no hope of ever catching up to even Class C, let alone the other 2. Not at this rate, anyway.

"..Considering this most recent development, everyone in class is gonna have to completely change their habits, and that's only to get us a few meager points. So if everyone doesn't ace the midterms, we're all going to be royally screwed." Ayanokoji spoke, moving the topic from his mind into the actual conversation. 

"That's right." 

"And if we're going to measure up, and achieve the high college entry and employment rates they promised us, we're going to have to push ourselves from this point on to overtake Class C."

"Beating Class C has to be the primary goal now," She agreed, "'cause if we can't even do that.. "we have no hope of advancing.""

He blinked. 

"..Were you doing an impression of Chabashira just now?" He asked.

"No, why?" 

"Sounded like her. A little."

Their chat was interrupted when one of the girls in the pool suddenly swam up to the poolside. Out of the corner of his eye, Kiyotaka noticed Horikita's eyes narrow. 

"–Hey there, Horikita!" Kushida Kikyo greeted, as bubbly as ever. So far, it was no exaggeration to say she was the queen of the social circles in Class D, and it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon. She had pretty much everything valuable in an idol for both genders; she was kind, impossibly friendly, and physically attractive, though that went without saying. That's why he was so curious as to why Horikita seemed so intent on avoiding her. I guess some people are such big loners that even someone like that doesn't seem worth associating with. "Do you maybe wanna come swim with us?" She asked. 

"Would you please leave me alone?" Suzune shot back, her disinterest not hidden by her tone in the slightest.

"You don't have to be mean! Are you a bad swimmer or something?" Kushida pressed, not too discouraged by the blatant refusal. If nothing else, she was persistent, especially considering how she was shut down back at the Cafe.

"No, I'm an incredibly average swimmer–"

"–Back in middleschool, I was probably the worst swimmer in the whole wide world! But then I practiced really hard, and nowadays, I don't think I'm that bad at all!" The blonde interjected, taking the encouraging approach. On someone who wasn't so diametrically opposed to socializing, that answer would've been fine, but the correct response here would be "I promise, I won't bug you anymore after this. I can keep my distance while you swim, if that'd help." Sorry, Kushida.

"..Wow. That's fascinating." Her voice was absolutely dripping with sarcasm as Horikita stood up, before making her way out of the indoor pool. 

"She's totally aloof, isn't she?" Ayanokoji tried to mend the situation. He felt a little bad, since Kushida was trying so hard.

"..I wish I could find a way to get along with her better. But maybe we really won't ever be friends." 

There was no response from Ayanokoji. He didn't see the need for one, and besides that, his mind was somewhere else at the moment. 

On the subject of our class' standing, I don't think the situation is entirely unsalvageable. He thought to himself, looking over to the rest of his classmates, who were starting to gather on the poolside now that the free period was wrapping up. The proof lies in the hidden meaning of the Class Points. Basically, for the points we lost against the other classes, we're going to have to..

We'll have to win them back.

The rays of the morning sunlight sparkled through Light's window, illuminating his face, as well as the dormroom bed he was laying on.

It was the first free period they've been given in a while, and the first one they'd gotten after the school's big unveiling on the first of last month. Normally, he'd be using this time to hang out with his classmates, to study, or to buy a thought provoking book or the like from one of the stores on campus. But he'd been doing so much of that lately, the monotony was starting to get to him, so for once, he decided to spend his free time alone in his room, relaxing on his bed; it gave him some time to reflect on the new information he'd received, at the very least.

From the hierarchical proceedings Ms. Hoshinomiya described, I'd say my class did pretty well for itself, all things considered. We ended up with a grand total of 679 class points, compared to Class A's total of 952 points, and Class C's total of 520. He chose not to mention the frankly embarrasing state of Class D. Not a bad way for us to start things off, but I'd like to keep the gap between the two leading classes as small as possible.

Sensei told us that we were primarily evaluated on our net academic success and our general conduct, making what was previously just a hypothesis a law of this campus. When you look it at like that, it makes sense that the students who were first and foremost placed into the top class would have the overall highest point turnout. They have the natural advantage. Luckily for us, this development also verifies my other theory about class competitions, which I'm assuming is the only way for us to mitigate that weakness from here on. They haven't explicitly said anything about it, but the very existence of the class point metric is confirmation enough; there'll be some sort of cross-class examinations at this academy without a doubt. 

Using those, we'll leap the divide between us and Class A, usurping their position in the process. It won't be easy, but who knows? It might be fun. 

Bzzt. Bzzt.  

The ring of his phone broke Light out of his thoughts, his eyes moving from the middle of his ceiling to the nightstand on his side. 

The time on the lockscreen was 10:49 AM. Right underneath it was a chat icon. A text? I have the group chat on mute, and I don't think I made any plans for today. Who could want something this early?

He tapped the icon, opening up his messanger app to see who it was.

S.K.: Hey, got any plans for lunch today? Ichinose and I are hanging out later, so we were wondering if you'd like to come too. And there's something I want to talk to you about. 

So it was him. 

He wants me to come eat lunch with him and Honami?

Light contemplated his options for a moment, before quickly typing out a response.

L.Y.:  Sure, I don't mind. See you there. 

Idly, Light wondered what it was he wanted to talk about. But nevermind that; he had to start getting ready.

Things've been going well enough for Class C. 

With his free period finally over, Katagiri Yuuichi was strolling down the halls, making his way towards the cafeteria for lunch. He'd been kind of conservative with his spending when it came to food and snacks, so he was looking forward to eating something actually decent today. The intricacies of the S-system were on his mind first and foremost, that said.

I mean, we're still behind Class A by 432 points, but the gap between our class and Class B isn't that bad. Besides, if things turn out like I think they will, we'll have the perfect opportunity to pull the rug out from underneath them before we know it. 

The real problem is Ryuuen. He's an "iron-fist" kind of dictator, and from what I can see, he's the type that thinks violence can solve any problem. Over the last month, Yuuichi'd been slowly pricking and prodding and Ryuuen's mental state to get a better understanding of it, going out out of his way to elicit certain reactions so he could file them away in his memory. Some days, he'd deliberately be confrontational and snide, undermining his decisions to try to get under his skin. Other days, he'd asked him questions about his family life and his philosophy, attempting to get some bait out of him. He'd even indriectly goad some of the other students into breaking one of Ryuuen's rules or disobeying his orders to see just how he delt with insubordination. The answer was always violence. And that was a clear weakness. 

People who think like that always end up equating relentlessness with success. If they think it'll help him win, they'll run into a brick wall over and over again, never once changing their overall strategy. You might think violence is the end all be all, but what happens if you run into someone with a higher capacity for violence than you? You can't evoke any fear in them, and you can't outgun them. At the end of the day, they'll just devour you like an animal. He's got some guts, and a bit of smarts, both of which are decent qualities for leadership, but with him at the wheel, it's game over for our class for sure.

It didn't take long for him to psycho-analyze the heavy hitters of Class C at all. Ryuuen, Albert, Ibuki, he felt like he had a pretty good read on everyone. 

"Huh~? Yuuichi, don't tell me that was your stomach I just heard.." Teased a seductive, giggly voice. 

Or, well, everyone but the girl walking beside him.

Enter Yumeko Jabami, another one of his classmates, and frankly, a complete lunatic. 

A long, dark-haired girl with almost porcelain skin and piercing scarlet eyes that were nearly unforgettable. She possessed an.. admirable frame, to say the least, and she had the second best exam scores out of the entire class, with only Hiyori beating her out. None of those details are what stand out most about her, though. 

That would have to be the fact that this girl a chronic, obsessed, utterly compulsive gambler. 

Between all of the first years, she might have the single largest collected amount of private points in the entire grade, although I've heard that there's one person with even more points than her. No small feat, in fact it almost sounds impossible on paper, but when you consider that gambling your points away isn't prohibited at all by the faculty, the picture starts to clear up. 

From what I've seen of her, she's got a pretty impressive memory, and some honestly frightening planning and foresight. But half of the time, it doesn't even seem like she wants to win, more like she just wants to experience the risk of losing. Even going by my standards, she's completely crazy; she's the exact type of person who a certain someone would tell me to avoid at all costs, which makes it all the more concerning when she asks to bet with me.

Yuuichi sighed. "Don't give me that crap. You lost the bet fair and square, which means you're paying for our lunch today, got it?" 

Yumeko giggled again in response. "I know, I know. You should really learn to loosen up a little.. it's hard to be a good gambler if you're too uptight.." 

"Well, I've still got some of my sanity left, unlike you. So I don't really see a need to get better at gambling." He jabbed. "Besides, I was good enough to beat you, now wasn't I?"

The bet in question was on whether Class C's point total would end up odd or even. Suffice to say, his bet was odd, and her bet was even; 679's an odd number, so she lost. The agreement was that the loser owed the winner a nice lunch. Normally, he wouldn't dream of gambling with someone like Yumeko, but he promised to indulge her with a bet in exchange for her help studying for mid-terms, so this time it couldn't really be helped. 

"You're such a meanie, sometimes.." She pouted. "Oh! By the way, Yuuichi, I've been meaning to ask you about your thoughts on something."

"..Hm? Okay, what is it?" 

"Well.. to be specific, I wanted to know what you think about the S-system, and our standing in the class rankings." She elaborated, turning over to get a good look at him. Her eyes were a little entrancing.

"I was actually just thinking about that," he responded. "I think things are pretty decent right now. I mean, it's not perfect or anything, but what we don't have now, we'll have plenty of chances to get later."

"Oh?" She asked, her lips curling at the edges. "What makes you think that?"

"It's the points. Our class points, I mean. Think about it, why would there be a class ranking system if the classes weren't meant to directly compete? Exam scores are one thing, but I'm pretty certain that the school is gonna provide us with opportunities to plunder points from the other classes with no formalities." Katagiri summarized. 

"..I see." Yumeko said, apparently satisfied with that. There was a lull in the conversation as they approached the doors to the cafeteria, but as Yuuichi moved to open them, she spoke again. 

"So it's like I thought. Honestly, I'm kind of glad I'm not the only one who's put some thought into this." When Yuuichi raised an eyebrow, she continued. "Don't get me wrong, I like all of our classmates just fine, but most of them aren't very impressive when it comes to critical thinking besides Ryuuen, and I don't think any of us like him." That was understandable. "So I guess I'm just glad there's someone else who gets the full picture like I do." She giggled. 

"..Yeah, I feel you on that." He agreed, smiling. "Now let's get moving before my stomach grumbles again. I'm so hungry, I could die." Yuuichi said, walking onwards into the cafeteria. 

"Patience is a virtue, you know! You shouldn't rush the moment; after I win our next bet, it'll be your job to buy me lunch." 

"You think I'm an idiot?" He said, frantically snapping his head around in time to catch her giggling again. He kept walking. "Who in their right mind would ever gamble with you agai–"

THUD.

"–Oww!" A dull pain rushed into Yuuichi's head, as he realized he was now on the floor. Looking up, he realized there was a lunch tray on the floor in front of him, as well as a disconcerted-looking brunette student.

Shit, did I bump into someone?

Well.. there goes my lunch. 

Staring at the scene unfolding in front of him, Light drew a blank. The lunch tray he'd just bought for himself lay spilled across the floor, right next to a raven-headed boy he didn't think he recognized. Behind him there was another dark-haired girl he hadn't seen before, a somewhat surprised look plastered on her face. The both of them were probably from one of the other classes, he figured.

He wasn't really upset about his lunch; it was cheap, anyway, and he wasn't exactly hurting for private points, so he could always just buy another one. And that fall looked like it took some of the wind out of the poor guy, so he reached down and offered him a hand. 

"..Sorry," Light started. "I should've been paying better attention to where I was walking." 

"..Huh?" Rubbing his forehead, the boy took a moment to look up a Light, before his expression changed from pained to apologetic. "Oh, dude, this was totally my fault, you shouldn't be apologizing for anything!" He said, taking Light's hand before lifting himself up. 

"I kinda got caught up talking to this friend of mine here," The boy explained, jabbing a finger over to the girl standing just behind him, "..and I stopped looking where I was going. 'Cause of that, your lunch is wasted. My fault, man.." 

Light shook his head in response, giving him an easy smile. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't anything to expensive, so I'll just buy another one." 

"No way," The boy rejected, shaking his head. "This one's definitely on me, so I'll go ahead and pay for the replacement." 

"That's awfully kind of you, I appreciate that." Said Yagami, radiating an approachable and affable charm. "Does the savior of my appetite have a name?" He joked. 

"..Oh, right. My name's Katagiri Yuuichi, from Class 1-C." Yuuichi introduced himself with a lighthearted smirk, ruffling the hair on the back of his head. "I probably should've lead with that, huh?" 

"Light Yagami, from Class B. I'm a first year, like you." He said, returning the favor. It was the first time Light had really interacted with a guy outside of his class' social circle. That's not to say he didn't know anyone from the other classes; he knew tons of the girls that seemed to follow him around, and there were a handful of people he spoke with went he and his friends set up events with some of other popular kids from each class, but most of them were female, so he didn't really remember much about the guys. "And who's this?" He asked, gesturing to the girl who until now had yet to introduce herself. 

Her eyes– he noticed now that they were a deep crimson– blinked twice, before she gave him a bubbly giggle. 

"I'm Yumeko Jabami, and I'm from Class 1-C as well. It's really nice to meet you!" 

"Likewise," he shot back easily. "How're things going in you guys' class, by the way?" 

"Well.." She sweatdropped, her head drooping a little bit. "As far as the rankings go, we're not all that far behind you guys, so we're okay on that end. But, mmm.. how should I put it.." 

Katagiri thought up an answer for her, since she was clearly wondering aloud. "We have a bit of a domestic problem. It's nothing too serious." 

"Oh? For your sake, I hope that doesn't mean any infighting." Light said. "Even one screw out of place can make things tough for everyone, right?"

"Dude, you don't even know the half of it.." Yuuichi replied, sounding a bit deflated. Light quietly wondered what kind of scenario could have a Class' social structure start wobbling this early on. Could be that there's a few abrasive people making things troublesome, or maybe something like a power struggle? I guess it's not really any of my concern.. right now, anyway. "On that note, what about you guys over at Class B? You all are doing pretty good when it comes to class points, you're barely even 200 behind Class A." He asked, changing the topic."

"It's all smooth sailing over here." Said the brunette, a she moved to pick up the leftovers of his old lunch off of the floor. "We're academically sound, we've got a good work ethic, and best of all, my classmates are totally unified. Everyone's quick to put eachother before themselves.." He tossed an apple into the trash. "I guess that kind of thing happens, when people are under the right leadership." 

"–That's right!" Yumeko chimed, bumping her fist into her palm. "B Class is the one with that popular chick.. Honami Ichinose, was it?" 

"I've heard about her too, it's like everybody knows her, or something. But to be honest, I've heard a thing or two about you as well, Yagami.." Katagiri followed. "You two are pretty infamous for being the closest things to leaders in your class."

"It's nothing like that," Light waved away his claim, too humble to think of himself as anything resembling a leader. "We're just social butterflies, is all. I honestly owe it all the success to my friends." 

"A friendly environment like that.. I'm a little jealous, honestly. I'd hate to go up against that kind of teamwork." Said the raven-head, the last part of his sentence picquing Light's interest a bit. His words implied that he might be expecting the classes to compete directly at some point, though it wasn't clear whether or not that was intentional.

So there are people in other classes who've got a grasp on the idea the school has in mind. Huh.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be too worried. It's hard for even the best team to work well on an empty stomach." Light said, jokingly referring to his lack of a meal again.

"–Right, I almost forgot.." Katagiri pulled out his phone with a sharp quickness, while Yumeko silently laughed behind him. "What's your contact info? I'm thinking I'll just transfer the points into your account directly, and save us some trouble." 

"Aww.~ Lunch was on me today, and yet here you are, paying someone back for the food you wasted.." the girl teased, unwittingly provoking Yuuichi, who pointedly began to scold her.

"I don't want to hear that from you! It's because of your nagging that things ended up like this in the first place!"

A couple of giggles and choice words later, and their banter was still going strong. 

They're certainly an interesting pair.. Light couldn't help but think, a bead of sweat starting to form on his forehead. 

"..Yeah, no problem." He said, grabbing his phone as well. "Here, my student ID number is.." 

"So this is where you've been."

A familiar voice interrupted Light's train of thought, beckoning his vision over to the side, where now company was approaching. 

A fair-skinned boy with deep brown hair and piercing blue eyes was making his way over to the group of three, the lightly accusing glint in his eyes accompanied by a cheeky smirk. Despite his rather mild posture, both of his hands being in his blazer pockets, he was somehow casually radiating a social confidence that might even challenge Light's own. 

The eyes of multiple onlookers widened as he strode, and Light noticed that even Jabami and Katagiri looked slightly suprised. He couldn't blame them; with him here, it was almost like having a celebrity walking the school halls. 

"How can a guy as social as you have such a poor sense of time?" The boy asked, his tone flattening almost comedically. 

"–What's that supposed to mean?" Light immediately defended. "I totally got here on time. It's not my fault you can't pick someone out of a crowd, 'o wise detective." 

"Don't give me that," He waved off his excuses with a hand. "I can tell from the smell of your cologne that it's only been on you for a few minutes, or else the scent wouldn't be so strong. You don't have your bag on you, so I can assume you put it on a few minutes ago, when you left your room." 

Astute observation as always. Light thought. 

He wouldn't expect anything less. This was the Modern Day Sherlock Holmes after all, or at least That's whay the media liked to call him.

He sighed. "Alright, fine, you got me.. in my defense, I happened to get caught up while I was picking up my food. If it wasn't for that, I'dve found you already." 

"Uh-huh.." Shinichi drawled, before the two of them both burst into chuckles. 

Casual banter like this was common for them. Truth be told, they'd known eachother even before they arrived at the Advanced Nurturing Highschool. With Kudo's role as the Great Detective of the East so often involving him with law enforcement, and with Light's dad being the Chief of Police, it was inevitable that they'd have crossed paths at least a few times. Light had even helped him out on a case or two, when the task force allowed it. They weren't the best of friends, or anything of the sort, but it had certainly gotten them acquainted. Having coincidentally been assigned to the same class at the same school just gave them an opportunity to get to know eachother a bit better.

"You're cool with Shinichi Kudo?" Yuuichi asked, drawing their attention back to him. "Well, I guess you would be, since you're both from Class B..." 

"I worked with his dad a few times before," Said Kudo. "So I've sort of seen him around. I'm Kudo Shinichi, by the way, though I guess there's not really a point in introducing myself." 

"Yuuichi Katagiri." 

"Jabami Yumeko!" 

The two present Class C students returned the favor by introducing themselves. 

"It's still a little hard to believe someone like you is enrolled here as well.. I'm honestly a little curious as to what made you come here of all places," Yumeko admitted. 

"Detective work may be my Forte and all, but that doesn't mean I'll neglect my studies. This is pretty much the best highschool in the nation, so it goes without saying that I'd apply here. Isn't it the same for everyone else?" He asked.

"That's true.." She conceded, though there was still some lingering curiosity in her tone.

"Man.. Class B is so stacked.." Yuuichi moped, visibly slumping. "They've got an all-star lineup, while I'm stuck with the benchwarmers.." 

"Rude!" Yumeko pouted. "What's with you today?"

Ignoring their antics, Shinichi turned to Light. "So what happened here, anyway? You said something about a wasted lunch?" 

"I bumped into Katagiri on accident, dropped my tray in the process. Which reminds me," he glanced to Yuuichi. "Here's my info."

The raven nodded in response, a small pause forming in the conversation, before a jingle made simultaneously by both of their phones signaled that the transaction had went through. 

Kudo, for his part, didn't question much else. He figured pretty quickly that they were trading points so Yagami could get another meal. But something on each of their phone's screens suddenly made his eyes narrow. 

"..Hm? Is something wrong?" Light asked, mild confusion coloring his face. 

Shinichi was out of it for a split second longer, apparently focused on whatever it was he'd just seen, before he snapped back to reality. "–Huh? Oh.. it's nothing." 

The three of them stared at him incredulously for a moment, before Yuuichi spoke up. 

"Anyway.. now that that's done.. someone owes me a lunch of my own. I'm gonna hop in line." 

"It was nice meeting you two! We'll see you around, okay?" Yumeko added. 

"Of course." Light responded. "Let's all do our best this school year, alright?"

"See ya." Katagiri said, throwing a wave over his shoulder as they walked off towards the lunch line. 

"Interesting pair," Kudo commented, watching them fade into the crowd.

"That they are." Light agreed. "So what did you want to talk about?" He asked, changing the subject. 

Kudo grinned. 

"Well, let's eat, then."  

A sprawling, lively scenery of students of all grades stretched from one end of the cafeteria to the other, an enticing aroma wafting through the air, drifting from dished cooked so finely they could possibly even contend with a five star restaurant's. 

Ayanokoji clasped his hands together, more for the gesture than anything else. He wasn't a devout believer in any faith, but he felt like this sort of thing was just natural to do in a social setting like this. 

Horikita had invited him out for lunch; a prospect which was as surprising as it was suspicious. The first class meal sitting on the tray in front of him was a result of her patronage, and it wasn't cheap, either. He certainly had his thoughts about why exactly a person so ice cold was going out of her way for this, but his stomach got the better of him. For now, he decided he would just enjoy the food.

"Thank you for the food. I have to ask, are you sure it's okay that I put this super expensive lunch on your tab? I feel awkward.." 

"..Yes." She quickly reassured him. "I told you to get whatever you wanted, and I meant it. Lunch today is my treat, so don't feel awkward." 

His aloof gaze incited a more forceful approach.

"Is something wrong with you, Ayanokoji? Dig in already." 

"..Right." He finally caved. With her expression permission, he happily started eating. But not a second later than his first bite..

"Now listen, I want you to hear me out on something important." 

And just like that, the lighthearted lunchtime atmosphere vanished. 

"I'm aware that Hirata and the others worked out a plan of action earlier today." She started. "They're all forming a study group; their plan is to make sure they ace the test."

"Study group?" Ayanokoji questioned between chews.

"Yes, but three of our classmates refused to join. And it just so happens they're the ones with the lowest scores." She explained. 

"..Sudo, right?" He did the math. 

"Yes, and Yamauchi and Ike as well."

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Those three never did strike me as the studious type." 

"I don't see how anyone could fail a test.. nevertheless, the fact remains, they did. There are kids out there who don't even know what it means to be a good student." Horikita pondered, her tone conveying equal amounts of annoyance and pity. "I guess some people really are that pathetic."

"That's cold." He said, before taking another bite. "Don't you have any sympathy?"

"Would being sympathetic keep it from being true?" She shot back, ice lacing her voice. "If we don't do something, they're most likely going to fail." 

"And if we want to overtake Class C, not only do we have to stop our class from hemorrhaging points, but we've also got to do everything in our power to start gaining them back."

Ayanokoji eyed her impassively. "Are you saying you want to start a study group too? You're willing to help Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi get good grades on the midterms?

"Yes." Her answer conveyed an almost naive security in her plan.

"Seriously?" He asked again.

"Of course. If left to their own devices, they'll sink, and bring the rest of Class D with them. I may have been relegated to the lowest class in school, but not for long. I will claw my way up to Class A." She confirmed, a blind determination in her eyes.

"Wait a minute.." 

"What now?" 

"Did you just say you wanna be Class A?" 

"..You heard right."

"You sure you didn't mean Class C?" He asked. 

"I meant what I said. I find my assignment to Class D utterly offensive and unacceptable. I intend to change it." 

"..So, step one is to rehabilitate the failures?" 

"Since you've grasped that, you can guess what's next." 

". .I'd rather not." 

Internally, Ayanokoji sighed.

I could've sworn I read about this. As the saying goes, "Despise the Free Lunch."

"Do you enjoy your lunch?" She asked, as if pulling the thoughts out of his mind and into the conversation. "An extravagant meal like that doesn't come free. Even an idiot could see you're expected to provide something in return. And don't think I've forgiven you for conspiring with Kushida and taking me to that cafe on false pretenses. That was foul play." 

"That's not cool?" He tried playing the ignorant part.

"If you want to make it up to me, then you'll work with me to help save the whole class. Your job will be to round up those three losers and convince them to join my study group. Here's my phone number and email," She elaborated, sliding him a small pink envelope, before standing up from the table.

"Alright. Contact me if you need anything along the way.. but don't think you can reach out whenever you want."

And like that, she was gone.

Ayanokoji couldn't help the pessimism seeping into his mind. 

This is how I get a girls number for the first time in highschool? Pathetic. I'm not even happy that she gave it to me.. but I'd better save it anyway. 

Speaking candidly, he technically never actually agreed to follow along with Horikita's little rescue mission. There were a number of reasons why it was a bad idea; for starters, Horikita possesed an isolationistic modus operandi and a condescending personality. She was terrible at working with others, even without trying to teach them. Secondly, her dedication to studying would make the range of things those three could understand seem stupid in comparison, and there was almost no way she could handle that fact politely. And on the matter of convincing them, he himself was nowhere near in good enough social standing to even have a shot in the dark. 

I have a feeling I'm gonna end up needing a certain someone's assistance, but just in case, I should at least try to talk to them on my own. For practice's sake, if nothing else. 

It was a cold night for early June, Shinichi noted.  The stale breeze  was tickling against his face, his hair slowly drifting up in down in the wind. 

Here he was, walking back to the boys' dorm after an evening out at the library. It was one of the only peaceful places he could find, not overly polluted with the distracting chatter of other people, and plentiful in its selection of Doyle novels. 

On top of that, there were a couple people there he got along with quite well, and that weren't too concerned with his reputation as the "Great Detective of the East". Like Hiyori, a girl from Class C he'd seen there a few times. She was a bit reclusive, but kind, and certainly smart, if her grades had anything to say about it. Speaking of smart..

His talk with Light at Lunch the other day had been productive, to say the least. Having found out that he had also pieced together the direction of the School Year's advancement on his own, the two of them were able to bounce ideas off of eachothed like a soundboard. 

Personally, Shinichi had figured out most of how the S-system worked in the first few days. Or a rough estimate of how it was going to work, at least.. a detective's induction was never quite bulletproof. The first clue he noticed were the various cameras situated at multiple angles across the classroom. It's definitely not unheard of for a classroom to have a camera somewhere inside for security purposes, but the number of them, as well as the fact that they seemed specifically placed in a way that would allow them to pick up every student in the class from both the front and back lead him to believe that they were being monitored for something else other than basic security. The second thing he noticed was the suplliance of free goods in the student convenience stores; obviously, there'd be no need to stock something like that if 100,000 points were guaranteed to everyone on the first of each month. Third, the expense of a 100,000 yen allotment to each student in each grade was mathematically impossible for the government; Japan had gotten better financially over the years, but it just simply wasn't in the cards for millions of taxpayer dollars to be funneled into a highschool, and that's not even counting the staff or the campus maintenance. 

So yeah, he'd figured out the inner workings of the personal points pretty much on the first day. 

Then there was the Class Points, and all that they entailed. He and Light had both come to the conclusion that there were going to be specific instances of direct competition between classes, with Class Points on the line as the ultimate reward. Given the fact that some of the students in a few of the 1st year classes were.. academically unsound, it could be inferred that academics weren't the only scale the school was using the weigh their merit. 

If I had to guess.. I'd probably say that social, academic, and athletic prowess are the three main things they're looking for. It wouldn't make sense for them to let certain people in, otherwise. He thought back to an infamous red-headed delinquent he'd seen here and there across the campus, stirring up chaos wherever he went, and definitely not emanating an intelligent vibe. He almost shuddered. 

That aside, as a former soccer player, a famous detective, and a mildly popular kid, he wasn't particularly concerned about any of the criteria listed above. He was sure he was doing just fine, but it remained to be seen how conventionally his skills could be applied in whatever examinations the school had lined up for them. 

If he was being honest, the most pressing curiosity on his mind was what he saw on Katagiri and Light's phones the other day.

It wasn't anything strikingly major. At least, not at first glance. 

All it he saw was a symbol underneath both of their profiles, and two key words.

"E Candidate".

Normally, he wouldn't read too much into something like that, if it weren't for the fact that the same two words were underneath his own profile, a fact he noticed the very first time he purchased something with private points. Off of just that much, there wasn't too much he could confidently say about what it was supposed to mean, although he certainly had his theories. But he could be absolutely sure that at least both he, Katagiri, and Yagami were all "candidates" for something. 

His main suspicion was whether it was just the three of them, or.. if there happened to be others included in this supposed candidacy. His intuition was leaning towards the latter conclusion.

Well.. He thought to himself silently. I guess there's no point in running my brain ragged about this. The important thing is that Yagami and I were able to work out a decent enough strategy for the midterms. But I have to wonder.. if there are others with that insignia, is that a good thing or a bad thing? How would I go about finding them? And what kind of people would they even be?

His thought process stopped just as abruptly as his feet did, his eyes noticing a shadow move a few meters in front of him despite how dark it was. It took him a second to recognize who it was, but the realization hit him like brick.

Hold on, is that.. the Student Council Prez? What could he be doing out here so late? His eyes squinted, more out of curiosity than suspicion.

He trailed his gaze to the opposite direction of where Manabu had just come from to a vending machine, where two students, one male and one female, were talking a little too low for him to hear.

Oh?

 The bottom of vending machine rumbled as the pop can hit the deposit. 

It was late out, Ayanokoji was mildly tired from the day's preceedings already, and that prior exchange just now with the Student Council President had left him a little bit thirsty. 

"...I'm sorry you had to witness all of that." His company apologized, quelling the silence that was beginning to turn awkward. 

He finished sipping his drink, before responding. "It's okay. It was sort of a relief to see you acting like a normal girl and not kind of–"

Horikita glared him into silence.

"I didn't even say anything."

". . ."

". .I'm impressed by your skills," She commented idly, clearly trying to change the subject. 

"It's just piano and tea ceremony," he denied, not too excited to take any credit for what'd just happened.

"You said it was calligraphy." There was an accusatory tick in her tone. 

"Yeah, I do calligraphy too."

"How did you doctor your scores on all of the entrance exams? Tell the truth." She switched topics again.

Asking the questions that matter, I guess. 

It was obvious she was trying to pry personal information out of him. He didn't take too kindly to that, and besides, there wasn't exactly anything special to him about the entrance exams anyway. 

"I told the truth. Coincidence."

"I don't get you at all. You're such a weirdo". She said after a short pause, apparently conceding that particular battle.

"..Sure. So we're you serious about disbanding the study group?" He asked.

"Yes. It's a waste of my time. If those losers wanna fail, that's their prerogative. It makes no difference to me."

"Even though failing would get them expelled?"

"I don't care what happens to anyone but me," she fervently denied. "And their exit would motivate the rest of is to be better. I don't see a downside to any of that."

She stood up from the ledge beneath her, before continuing. "Without them, it'll be easier for our class to advance. I don't think I could've asked for a better solution."

Ayanokoji quietly analyzed her frame, from top to bottom, before switching his gaze to the midnight sky. 

"That sounds like flawed thinking. Maybe you're just lying to yourself." He criticized, unanchored neutrality in his words. 

"It's a short coming. You make the assumption that other people hold you back, so you always keep them at an arm's length as a rule. Have you ever considered that your isolationist philosophy might be the very thing that landed you in Class D in the first place?" 

She hated his words from the bottom of her heart. But from the impartial look in his eyes, to the logical through-line that decorated his argument, it could not be denied that there was absolute truth to them. 

Whether or not she could accept that fact was another story. 

Horikita scoffed. "Ridiculous."

Ayanokoji took another sip from his can.

Eventually, she left without another word, and he had nothing but the company of his own thoughts.

It's starting to look like it'll be up to me to come up with a strategy for the midterms. 

He tossed the empty can into the trash, before taking his own leave. 

Well, let's see here.. 

Pulling out his phone, he opened his messanger app, staring at one contact in particular.

..Yeah, I think this should work well enough.