This world is moved by one thing and one thing alone. No matter the environment or community they will always sway in the direction of this characteristic. This is the truth I have found applicable to every situation in life, no matter age, gender, economic status, social status. It's all bullshit.
These systems that are put in place only continue to function thanks to the ridiculous sacrifices of those lesser than. They will continue to topple over and drag each other into the dirt for the chance of the crumbs from those higher up. The inevitable truth of this universe is just that: power moves all.
Someone you don't like- remove him from your sight with superior strength. A company is bad competition for you. Use your own economic capital or foul play to completely demolish the company from the inside, alternatively give them no choice to join your company through overpowering resources. Need money and don't want to work for it? Find some pushover that lacks the drive to fight back and take it from him.
Every single being will cede to violence that they can't compete with. My earliest memory of this irrefutable truth was during elementary school. Our class had travelled for a school trip, during which we had traversed through the local woods to reach a temple. The destination of the trip, not like it matters. The temple was unimportant.
Whilst walking through the woods in our huge class we had come across a snake. Being tiny children and propositioned with an animal that could be poisonous and fatal to us it was only natural that the children froze on the spot unsure of how to react. Completely shackled by the chains of fear. My surprise in the moment, however, was that the same fear was evident on the face of the adults. The guardians tasked with taking care of us were quivering like the same useless children on that pathway. They weren't scared for the children, or at least that wasn't the primary concern. Instead, these adults were focused on how to get through this situation, probably thoughts of keeping their jobs, not getting hurt or poisoned ran through their minds.
At that moment I felt an immense sense of disappointment in my fellow man. Adults twice the size of me, with all the ability to combat the threat had absolutely no intention of fighting it. At the time I thought that every person there was a coward, irredeemable through and through.
So, being the only person unshackled from that fear. I chose to fight the predator on the spot grabbing a large stone bashing it directly into the snake's skull repeatedly until its body ended that useless writhing and the rattling of its tail ended.
After thoroughly conquering the beast, I was disillusioned with my surroundings. Why? Why is everyone looking at me like that? Isn't it only natural? A threat presented itself, so I destroyed it. However, in the eyes of the class I was some sort of foreign being. Maybe some of them thought I was worse than the snake from that point on. Students I had otherwise been amicable with before this, were ignorant to my calls and the class withdrew from me.
Despite the cold shoulder I was free to do as I pleased. Not a single student attempted any sort of aggressive behaviour to me. In fact, if I were to instigate it, they would quickly crawl into a ball like an herbivore hiding from the top predator.
The events subsequent to my first battle had shown me that immovable truth of the world. They weren't cowards, I just had no fear. Having no fear, I am better, they cannot offer me a worthwhile battle.
Understanding the world to this degree at such an early age left a huge impression on me. Instead of the games, toys and friends that children my age were taken with. I myself had yearned for real challenge. Tests couldn't immerse me when I could easily cheat or brute force the studying process. Instead, I began to assert my will over the people around me. Classmates, acquaintances, even people I knew nothing about.
Determined to step on the toes of someone who would eventually give the thrill of a real fight and defeat. Through all those years I tasted defeat, probably hundreds of times. But it was always unsatisfactory, I never felt the heartrending, crushing feeling that prevented others from getting back up. It became a trend for me to pick a fight with seniors all of which could beat me in a fight, yet despite being felled hundreds of times. Eventually when I got my inevitable first win, they would keel over and submit to me.
What a joke. I got my ass kicked hundreds of times just for this guy to straight up bitch out when he was laid out once. It made me believe that my goal was fruitless, there would never be a single enemy that was more than a momentary obstacle.
Then a great opportunity came to me. My acceptance to a top high school- ANHS. This school was only accepting the future leaders of Japan and had a 100% employment rate for alumni.
Obviously, I was happy for two reasons: One I had a good chance to immediately get a suitable well-paying job and find something to do with my life, now that my dream had become pointless. Two, to try for the last time to find a worthwhile fight.
Too many aspects of this school are shrouded in mystery and some points are just straight up incongruent. For example, I shouldn't have been accepted. I pride myself on my strength, but that's willpower not physical. In terms of scholarly achievements, I'm also lacklustre, in that case why was I accepted? The fact that a teacher even recommended applying here was a ridiculous notion itself.
Second, how exactly does this acceptance rate work? And how do we verify this with alumni? What if I wanted to switch career paths immediately before graduating, would they still find a place? What if I wanted to be an athlete but lacked the physicality?
Third, how does a state-funded school like this have absolutely no information come out from it? In fact, why is restriction necessary in the first place?
Just these few questions raised innumerable alarm bells. Obviously, I was beyond intrigued about this school. And thankfully they seem to be interested in me as well. Over the course of my first week as a new high school student, I believe I was getting closer and closer to the answer. Those thoughts were brought to a rest as I ended up at the entrance to the small convenience store near the school.
72, 73, 74… That looks like the last of them in this area. I was working on a theory about this school, though some pieces weren't in place, leaving a messy picture of the whole puzzle. There's still some time left in the day, but I'm getting a little hungry. I don't want to spend too much at the moment, we don't know what else it could be used for. Guess I'll just grab something from the store.
Retrieving a large cup of instant noodles, I exited the shop and made do with the primitive seating outside. Lowering onto the steps I prepared to take the first mouthful of food. Before a group of upperclassmen appeared in front of me.
"Hey, firstie what are you doing. You're in our spot, get moving." The guy at the front had a particularly aggravating face.
"I don't see a name anywhere. Fuck off."
"Ooh! Firstie's got a mouth on him. Quite an obnoxious little underclassmen we have, don't we? This is our spot, look our things are already here." One of them dropped their bags with a plop, the other two laughed loudly at this.
"Ah, so it is. Whoops my hand slipped." I spilled broth from the noodle pot all over his bag, I hoped the inside was damaged as well.
"The hell are you doing, you little shit?!"
"My bad. My bad, an accident really. I suppose you should be more careful where you leave your things." Regressing my focus back onto the food I shovelled another mouthful of the noodles into my mouth.
"Just wait a dumbass like you will experience hell real soon."
"Hell? Now that is interesting. Who's bringing this hell, you and your boyfriends?"
"That's it!" If he wanted to fight here, then I wasn't going to stop him.
"…Oi." One of the two behind him grabbed his blazer, not saying anything more but shaking his head. His eyes focused on the store and back at the annoyed boy. I guess they weren't that stupid.
"…Right. What class are you in, underclassman?"
"Now why would my class matter at all?"
"…"
"Oh well. Class 1-A."
"You're class A?" He asked with obvious confusion on his face, the two behind him were also perplexed.
"Is there a reason I would lie about it?" At this moment he thought there wasn't one. I just lied for the hell of it.
"…No. Fair enough. I'll apologise for now. Not many other senpai will be so forgiving." He grabbed his bag in a hurry and prepared to scuttle off.
"Wait."
"What?"
"I'm really curious now. Is hell not coming for Class A? Why is that senpai? Would you mind explaining yourself?"
"…Tch. We're going." They turned on their feet immediately, not risking exposing any more information to me. I watched as their backs disappeared from sight.
Now, I wonder how the eavesdropper viewed that conversation. My eyes met my neighbour as he pretended to have not noticed me. His eyes clearly set in the direction of the school once more. Now that is strange. Just what did an inconspicuous person like him have to do there? I continued to follow him with my gaze as he did a remarkable job of completely ignoring my attention.
He was an unusual one…
He wasn't bothered by most methods of social interaction. I attempted to make snide comments, derisive jokes and generally unpleasant statements, yet they never seemed to get under his skin. Then there was what he said in the cafeteria.
It was an observant statement, but now it appeared a bit too on the nose. He commented that there were quite a few students that willingly chose the vegetable meal set, and most of them were upperclassmen. I even tried the meal set myself to test that theory. It wasn't great, or at least it was a recognisable downgrade in relation to the other meals. The question remained why would students that get such a ridiculous allowance willingly eat the poverty meal set, when they have much better, affordable options.
They didn't have the money to afford it. That was the simplest conclusion I could make. A week after their allowance had been sent, they still couldn't afford a decent meal. That led to two possibilities: They simply didn't get as much as we did, the 100,000 private point allocation wasn't universal. Or they had already used the entire budget on something else before that time, meaning the points can be used for things other than on campus services and goods.
That led to the next question what would they have spent it on? Did we receive fees after the first month? We didn't pay any rent or utilities costs right now, but perhaps that would change? That was just backwards though, it made more sense to simply not give the students the money that would be used for those things and automatically do it through the school. This place was a closed economic system, it wasn't the same as out in the real city.
Setting that aside it made more sense if the budget given to students in the latter years wasn't the same as ours now. But if that's the case then; why isn't every student in the upper years eating the vegetable meal set? I'd wager that it's because they don't have the same allowance either. I'd have to look into it more. Now all I had to figure out was whether the variance in allowance is an individual concern or the concern of the class itself.
If it's individual that will make things a lot more complicated, so let's assume that it's derived from each class. I'll get the same amount of points as my neighbour, and he'll get the same as every other member of class-C. Then what dictates the number of private points we receive? There has to be a metric to decide that. And judging by the upper classes there has to be a way to decrease that deciding metric, as of now we have no idea if we can increase it. But at the very least there must be a way to reduce the monthly budget from 100,000 points. Thinking again, keeping a cap on the point output wouldn't entice greater results from the students so I would assume we can increase beyond 100,000 as well even without evidence for it.
The only thoughts I came to were general behaviour and test results. That seemed dull. As well as the obvious fact that you could only score so well on a test and only act in such an exemplary way. A school for elites would have access to the smartest and most well-behaved students in the nation, that would make the variance in points insignificant. Pair that with my general classmate, they seemed average. The fact that someone like me was even accepted into the school already brings that idea into question.
Assuming the students were scholars behaviour and test results probably weren't the most effective means of changing the monthly stipend. Pair that with the words of those upperclassmen. They assumed I was in a class other than A, they were visibly confused when I said that. I just wanted to test something, but they gave me more to work with. That reaction alone tells me that there's an inborn difference between the classes. He also said we would experience hell, assuming we were a class other than A. Consolidating everything we knew I could make the conclusion that classes below class A received less points, that also made it obvious there was a caste system. I didn't think that they received less points simply for existing, the individuals of each class must have habits which lend to reducing the average point distribution. I was in Class-C. Tokitou, and that Oda guy were experienced with delinquents. With an objective look you could say our disregard for rules was the most likely contribution to reducing our points.
So, there was an obvious caste system between the classes with class-A reigning at the top. I could only assume that it continued alphabetically down to class-D. Now the only thing there was left to figure out was the reasoning for this system…
There had to be a prize for the top class beyond a higher number of private points every month, you could still survive with the free items and free lunches the school provided after all. So long as you survived to reach graduation you could be employed anywhere you desire.
Anywhere you desire.
100% Guaranteed employment…
…It was a working theory. Lined up with the information available about the school as well, which is to say not much. Alumni aren't allowed to comment about the nature of the school. What reason would there be to hide the school system if it were normal? It's staged as a flight risk as the school is home to the future generation of Japan's leaders, but really, they're using that guise to hide the fact that the 100% employment guarantee is only reserved for the top graduating class!
A reasonable reward for the top class and the mere mention of it would be enough to breed competition between the other classes.
That was why we weren't told about it yet. This month is a formative phase, we would find out either way when our next allowance comes in. It'd be hard to not notice our monthly budget decreasing.
There were no formal tests this month, not that we've been notified about anyway, that must mean the main dictating force behind class hierarchy this month is behaviour in and out of class. That fits with the upperclassmen as well, they were immediately on guard after seeing the camera.
How should I go about this? Most of my evidence is circumstantial, most people will simply shrug it off, too stupid to realise it for themselves even if I were to point it out in front of them.
Should I just let them flail uselessly this first month? I could get the backing of the majority of class if I'm proven right in the end. No, in fact I have an even better plan.
Divide and conquer.
Plenty of the class already seem to be acquainted with the typical delinquency mantra. I'd pose myself as leader of the class and let them form their own groups. As soon as they make those choices clear it'll be easy enough to break each of them individually. Before that I need to complete my view of the campus and test a few other things.
There was also the problem of my neighbour. If he really was dropping that hint with full understanding of the situation I needed to test him further. Add onto that the average grades of the class. I didn't think that grades were the be all end all of the class competition but as a school it would no doubt serve a purpose. From the lack of participation in class and general attitude I guessed most were the same as me and didn't particularly care about schoolwork. Which led to lower scores across the board. There's no telling what disadvantages there were for that.
The last mouthful of noodles escaped from the bowl and rest in my stomach. I tipped the bowl back to drink the remains, only to realise very little of the hot liquid met my lips. Oh right. I forgot I already spilled it. The best part of my meal was gone. How annoying.
Well, I already set my eyes on an even tastier dish. Who would've thought my surveying the school would become this useful? If no one else has discovered anything about this school by the end of the month, I'll be beyond disappointed.
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Word count: 3099
A more plot-based chapter this time. I don't think it seems unbelievable for Ryuuen to have figured this much out by now. He already had his reservations before getting accepted and had plenty strange occurrences during his time in the school. Sakagami wording things a certain way and his answer to Ryuuen's joke question when asking if he could attack another student.
Beyond that he'd realise it's strange to be accepted into the highest rated school in the nation. Ryuuen is a troublemaker, delinquent and underachiever. Why would the custodian of the next generation ever take him in?
Finally, we know that Ryuuen must have pulled something early on since he gets control of the entire class early in the series, possibly before the end of the first month. In canon he has very little trouble wrestling control out from the individual students of his class, I think I'm going to make it a bit more difficult for Ryuuen in this story. Because to be honest, outside of Ryuuen the class-C basically has no other students capable of facing the other classes. You could argue this is the case for B and A as well, but I believe they at least have a chance.
Class B has Kanzaki if Ichinose were taken away. I've heard Ichinose has had some development recently, but you could argue that Class B would be in a better position if Kanzaki gathered support early on.
Class A has Katsuragi which might sound like a joke because he's basically lost every battle he's ever had. But you need to realise he was also fighting an internal battle at every step through both Sakayanagi and Hashimoto who sold insider information to other classes. Not saying he would be particularly offensive opponent, but I think he could at least hold his position pretty well.
That's it for my explanation. I do wonder if the way I've written Ryuuen seems way too similar to other characters or just OOC. I kinda struggle with giving unique voices to some of the characters so I do worry that a lot of the monologues especially sound the same between characters. Do let me know. It's something I need to work on a lot, amongst a thousand other things.
Hopefully, you all enjoyed the chapter. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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