When we left the cruise ship, the students began lining up in their classes. As expected, we were all split up based on the nations we were placed in. As me and Nora were both in Drachma Red, we joined the line with the most red tied students. There, I had managed to reunite with Yukina.
"Oh, there you are. Good to see you again." I said.
"Good to see you too. Are you excited?"
"Kind of."
Nora became shy again when I greeted her. Near the front, I saw Matsushita and Akihiro talk to each other about something, with Mitsuba listening in.
Nearly everyone had exited the ships. One of the last people to come out of the cruise ship was Yukimura, and this time, he had his red tie on. It was done in a poor fashion and looked like it would fall apart in seconds.
He trudged to the back of our line and the people who stood next to him shuffled forward. He radiated off a pissed aura. Nora shivered and poked my back.
"Can we... switch places?"
I nodded and I let Nora stand in front of me. It seems like he didn't like the idea that Yukimura was in the same class as him.
After confirming that everyone was present, the faculty guided us through the massive gates and into the school. From there, we were lead to our classrooms.
Our class was E Class.
We were instructed to sit in the seating plan displayed on the electronic whiteboard and wait for our homeroom teacher to arrive. I quickly scanned for my name.
I fist-pumped, because I got the best seat in the entire class. I went to the back row of the class and sat down on the seat right next to the window. Ah, my luck was finally turning around.
I gazed out of the window, admiring how beautiful the sea was and how wonderful this upcoming school year would be.
Forget that I was labelled the "worst student". I was having a surprisingly good time already.
A few minutes later, everyone had filled out the seats in the room. Sitting next to me was a girl named Tadokoro Yumiko. She looked a bit like a country bumpkin and kept to herself. I didn't feel like bothering her, so I didn't say a word.
Next to Tadokoro was Yukina. Well, I suppose there had to be a catch to this. Of course, my perfect seat was also the seat second closest to Yukina. At least we could have a conversation from where we sat, even if Tadokoro was able to listen in on it.
Nora had landed a seat right in front of me. He turned around and looked excited at this placement. However, in our same column was Yukimura, who was sitting at the front. While I couldn't make out his face perfectly, Yukimura seemed really mad he got a front-row seat.
A few seats away from Yukimura was Akihiro, on the same row. On the row behind them were Mitsuba and Matsushita. So overall, I knew quite a few people in the class just from exploring the cruise ship alone.
The first bell rang, and the door rattled open. Stepping inside was a beautiful older woman who looked to be in her thirties. She had delicate features and her hair was in a ponytail. The boys in the class looked very surprised at her appearance, and Yukimura wolf-whistled when he laid his eyes on her.
Of course... I purposefully forgot to mention the fact that she was extremely voluptuous. It's most likely the reason why so many people were surprised to see her enter the class.
But regardless, I didn't want to think about that side of her. After all, she was wearing a suit and carried a tablet in her hands. She was obviously a teacher. Despite her onee-san charm, she looked dead serious. Her shapely eyes wandered all over us, and when our eyes met, they narrowed.
I unintentionally shivered.
Putting her device down, she stood in front of the teaching podium and cleared her throat. The boys who were murmuring about how big her breasts were and the girls muttering about her beauty fell into silence as her presence overtook the atmosphere of the class.
"Good morning, students of Drachma Red. My name is Chabashira Shizuka, and I will be your homeroom teacher. In this academy, we do not change the classes for each grade, so I shall be taking care of all of you for the next three years of your time here. As such, I hope to get to know all of you."
The boys of the class erupted into cheering hearing those magical words leave her mouth. I sighed, realising I was stuck in a class full of perverts. The last thing I wanted.
"The entrance ceremony will be held in the gymnasium one hour from now. But first, I shall hand out the written information about this school and your new phones."
Did I hear that correctly? New phones? Just how generous was this school? First a luxury cruise ship, and now new phones too? The class couldn't help but break into excited whispers. Some people groaned because they had already brought their own phones with them - like me - but they were confiscated when we entered the cruise ship.
Chabashira-sensei began walking up and down the class, handing us a large booklet similar to the one we received in the mail before we were admitted. Of course, it was information we were already familiar with, but... there was some new information.
As I scanned the booklet, Chabashira-sensei placed a phone in front of me. I put down the booklet and picked up my new phone... I was thoroughly impressed. It's one of the newest models available on the market and was very expensive. This was a clear upgrade to nearly everyone in the classroom.
When I turned it on, there was a passcode lock on it already. I raised my eyebrow, but my attention was caught again by Chabashira-sensei who was standing at the podium once more.
"Don't worry. Your new phones have all the data and information as your old phones. It's a perfect replica, except the device model is different. We took your phones for this very purpose. As such, you may keep these even after graduation."
The class got into another uproar. So this wasn't even detrimental - this was a hard upgrade. I typed in my usual password and it let me in. Figures that I'm the only person who still uses this old school method. Everyone else had either face recognition or fingerprint to unlock their phones.
"Now, in addition to your existing data, the school has installed the relevant school app. An exclusive application for you to connect to your classmates and to check your points on the School System, or the S System for short. Now please, listen carefully. This is very important information. If you do not understand anything of what I am about to say, please refer to your guidebooks."
Her words made everyone fall silent.
"Your phones double as student I.D. cards. That app has your student I.D. and has private points on it. These points are your currency in this school. You can use points to buy anything, as long as it's within reason. The method to use the points is simple, so you shouldn't get confused. Loaded on your account already is 100,000 points. At the start of every month, points will be allocated automatically to your account. Each point is worth one yen, so please keep a watchful eye on your spending."
The classroom erupted once more. To put this in other words, we've just been given 100,000 yen allowances every month. I had heard this school was good, but to think they'd go so far for their students... I was shocked to the core. It was free of charge as well, with no strings attached.
I entered the preinstalled school app and went to my account. Displayed under my name and student image was my points. 100,000 Pr (which stood for private points), just as Chabashira-sensei said.
Chabashira-sensei looked extremely amused at her new class's reaction. She continued, "Don't feel so surprised. After all, you were admitted to the GEN Academy. Being here proves your value and potential. The amount you've received reflects the evaluation of your worth. You can use your points without restraint as they'll be carried over to the next month. We won't take them away from you. Once points are deposited to your account, it's up to you on how you'll spend them. Do as you like. You may even transfer points to other people if you wish. But, do not try to extort points from your peers. If you do, a harsh punishment awaits you."
Leaving that threat hanging in the air, the students broke back into raucous chatter. Even I couldn't hide my excitement over this predicament. 100,000 points... every month... this school was too generous. They're paying us to go to the school. This is insane...
Chabashira-sensei then went up and down the class again, distributing a little earpiece to everybody. When she returned to the front, she began speaking about the item in question.
"Now, I'm sure you are all aware, GEN Academy has a special compulsory course known as "War Time". Those earpieces I've just handed out are your War Visors, or V Visor for short. It's imperative that you do not lose or break them, as without a V Visor, you cannot participate in wars. To use them is simple. Put the visor into your ear, and press the top button to activate it. However, because we are not in a war, they won't activate. I'll explain about it more in-depth at a later date when you all enter a war, but for now, keep it safe."
I immediately stashed the visor into my inner pocket along with my new phone. Chabashira-sensei scanned the room once more and nodded her head.
"Since no one has any more questions, I'll conclude homeroom here today. I hope that you enjoy your time here as students."
Chabashira-sensei left the room. When she did, the students began cheering even louder than before. Mitsuba was screaming the loudest.
"THIS SCHOOL IS THE BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEST!"
I nodded my head in agreement with his banshee-like screeching.
Though, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. This school was being obscenely generous. I know the government funds this school, along with a handful of large companies and conglomerates, but to give so many valuable items to your students on the first day seemed excessive. I'm not complaining, but this felt too dream-like.
Even though I had my doubts, I came to the conclusion that this school was seriously the best. Looking around the room, it felt like a normal classroom with excited, hard-working students. After all, we were going to become Japan's next elite. It was only natural that we'd get this preferential treatment... right?
Well, for a bunch of supposed elite students... some of the people in my class were still very childish. Even though we were nearly sixteen, some of us acted like middle schoolers still. I'd imagine this class would be more controlled or have more self-restraint since we are supposed to be some of the best students.
Perhaps I'm analysing this situation too deeply. After all, my body is still pumping with adrenaline after the shock that was 100,000 points every month. It's like my head was trying to rationalise this disconnect between elite students and how we actually acted. I don't think I can blame them though, since we are hot out of middle school.
Since the homeroom lasted about fifteen minutes, we still had about forty-five minutes until the entrance ceremony. Being the first day, normal lessons weren't on. It was like a grace period for us to settle down in our new lives in this dream-like school.
"Everyone, before you leave, can you please listen to me for a moment?"
A girl with blonde hair stood up from her seat and called out to everyone. She looked like a foreigner. Her cute face and outward spoken personality caught the attention of everyone. She was definitely a bijin.
"My name is Sakigamiya Alice. It's nice to meet you all! I'm half Japanese, half French, but I can speak Japanese fluently, so don't be scared to talk to me. I'd love to get to know all of my classmates, so let's have everyone do an introduction session together! Is that okay?"
Sakigamiya effortlessly appealed to us all with her amazingly cute side. She was unbelievably confident and took the initiative to bring this class together. It seemed like she would probably end up becoming the class representative or something. Her popularity must've been increased greatly by this perfect introduction.
Most of the class was in agreement, and Matsushita stood up next to speak. The girls were immediately captivated by his good looks. It seems that while the boys had Sakigamiya to ogle, the girls had Matsushita. The power of riajuu are endless...!
"I think that's a great idea. I'm Matsushita Isogai, but you can just call me Isogai. I actually went to the same middle school as Alice-chan, and to think she'd be here too is a real shock to me, he he. Anyways, my main interests are sports, mainly football, and making new friends. If anyone wants to eat lunch together with me today, I'd love to."
A situation like me and Yukina, huh? The boys and the girls looked depressed at this revelation. The two most popular students were already well acquainted with each other, and the law of the universe dictates that they'll probably date each other. It's alright though, Sakigamiya isn't my type anyway.
When Matsushita bowed to finish his introduction, the class fell silent over the loud bang from the corner of the class.
Yukimura had kicked his desk over and stormed out of the class with a severely agitated expression. When he left, some girls and boys in the back of the class began giggling.
"Wait, Yukimura-san-"
Despite Matsushita's earnest efforts to stop him, Yukimura ignored him and left while flipping him off. Sakigamiya frowned at this.
"Ah... did I say something to upset him?" Matsushita said that to himself.
"Don't worry, forget about him. He has issues." One of the girls spoke up to reassure him.
"On the cruise ship, I saw him flip out on someone just for being in his way. He's trouble." One of the girls said another tidbit about Yukimura.
Nora, who sat in front of me, became reclusive. That noise must've shaken him up. Feeling guilty for him, I tapped his shoulder.
"It's alright."
Nora nodded and turned back to face the front.
"Can I say something?" A boy in the back spoke up. He looked daunting, primarily because of his large stature. He looked like he'd be good at rugby, and could probably pass for a 2nd Year if he wanted to.
"Go ahead." Sakigamiya said.
"This is stupid. We're not in elementary school, are we? If you want to learn each other's names, do it in your spare time."
"But, that's..."
"I'm sorry, is this how they do things in France? We're in Japan, Sakigamiya. Get accustomed to the culture."
With that insult, the boy left. Following him were a few other students who held no interest in participating, including Tadokoro, the girl who was sitting next to me.
"That was rude of him..." Matsushita said.
"It's fine, Isogai-san. I'm used to racist remarks." Sakigamiya laughed slightly.
I suppose I could relate. Despite being Japanese, I was half-English. My naturally blonde hair reflected this. I've been teased about it before, but I never felt upset over it, because I'm glad to have blonde hair just like my mother.
"Does this mean everyone else here is okay with going with our plans?" Sakigamiya asked. The class nodded unanimously. "Shall we start from the front then?"
"My time to shine. Sup, I'm Ishima Akihiro and I love Vanguard. If you ever want to play, just ask! Also, because I have a sister in another class, it might get confusing to call me Ishima. So, just call me Akihiro."
A very casual entrance. He seemed like a laidback guy, despite the scary face. The girl next to him stood and grinned. Hey, I recognise her...
"My name's Jomko Akari. My speciality is dart throwing and survival. I used to go camping a lot when I was little."
That's right. Our parents know each other, so we've run into each other a couple of times before when I was young. However, she lived in Kyoto while I lived in Tokyo.
"Hello everyone! My name's Mitsuba Jun and I love collecting cards! If you have any rare cards you don't want, pass them along to me, please?"
Mitsuba was extremely energetic. The class laughed at his antics.
"Ah, my turn. Hi, I'm Kiba Ichika, but Ichika is just fine. I like archery."
Kiba looked like the older sister type. She's probably going to be popular.
"My name is Kawaguchi Masaru! I play Vanguard and use Gold Paladin. Akihiro, let's play!"
Kawaguchi had a mop hairstyle that made him stand out. After challenging Akihiro, they joined tables and began playing. Sakigamiya looked happy that her classmates were already being friendly to one another.
"Ummm, I'm Katsumi Kou! Kou's just fine though! I want to be friends with everyone!"
Ah, the genki girl type. She was radiating positively clumsy yet cute energy. It really hit home with the boys.
"I'm Misogi... Ki... Ki..."
The next girl who spoke up stammered mid name. It seemed after a string of near-perfect introductions, the pressure got to her and made her tongue get tied in the back of her throat.
"Take your time. Don't worry." Matsushita said with a charming smile. Misogi, being encouraged by the ikemen, got a spur of energy and pushed through with her introduction.
"I'm... Misogi Kikyou! I'm sorry about that, my nerves got the better of me. But... I hope you'll treat me well."
It was Nora's turn. He took a deep breath and stood up, looking around the class with an awkward smile.
"Um... My name is... Nora Takayuki. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Getting over his nerves, Nora did a short and brief introduction. Nothing impressive, but he was a lot more confident after spitting those words out.
"Demiza Taiga! Taiga's just fine though, he he."
Demiza was a small girl, similar to a loli. She was smiling cheekily and sat on the table in a seductive position.
"Hi everyone. I'm Hono Ria, and I love talking to new people. I guess I'm a bit of a social butterfly."
Hono smiled bashfully after her introduction.
Now... it was my turn. Don't screw this up, Yuuto.
All of E Class's eyes landed on me. The pressure was on for sure.
I stood up and cleared my throat.
"Takanori Yuuto. Likewise."
I sat down and let my words sink in.
Yeah, I messed up.
"Likewise...?" Sakigamiya muttered.
"N-nice introduction, Takanori-san!" Matsushita began to awkwardly clap. Everyone else did as well.
I groaned, burying my face in my hands. How was my asinine attempt the only one to receive a standing ovation? I was really embarrassed.
The last person to their introductions was Yukina. She stood up and smiled.
Of course, because of her natural beauty, the boys were ogling her. Even the girls were surprised to find such an attractive girl in this class. She was definitely the most beautiful girl in our class. Her popularity must've tripled at least, just from her looks.
"Good morning everyone. I'm Kazuraba Yukina, and I went to middle school with Yuu-kun over there. The one with the bad introduction."
The class began laughing. Hey, why am I being the target of abuse here? Yukina, I thought we were friends!
Well... that's what I thought at least. I realise that someone like me stood no chance with hanging out with someone like her now that we're in high school.
Even though we were friends in middle school, we'll probably drift apart and stop talking to each other in the first semester. That's how large the gap in our social status were.
Yukina, grab ahold of that riajuu life and become the bijin you deserve to be. I'm cheering for you.
"Really, though. Yuu-kun is a very nice person when you get to know him. Please don't judge him too harshly for his introduction."
I can't tell whether I was being cruelly singled out or having my introduction salvaged by her.
"I like spending time with my classmates and helping others. Are there any questions?" She asked.
"You two are quite friendly. Are you dating, perhaps?" Sakigamiya said.
"Ah, umm..." Yukina's face became dark red when the topic of dating came up.
With my extensive knowledge of how these scenarios will end up, I need to do something to stop people from getting the wrong idea. After all, the "popular beautiful girl who is close friends with the boring plain guy being mistaken as a couple" is a common trope that usually ends up in hellish hijinks for the plain guy.
I was that plain guy in this situation, for sure. In fact, I could feel some of my classmates stare at me with jealousy. I stood up and cleared my throat. Before I could say my piece though, Jomko said something before me.
"Don't worry guys, I know Takanori-san from way back. Our parents were friends. He had a crush on his mom, so there's no way he'd be dating Kazuraba-san!"
I immediately sat back down in my seat and buried my head.
What the hell. How did she find out about that dark secret.
"Woah, seriously?!" Mitsuba began laughing at me.
"To be fair, he was four at the time." Jomko said, adding that key piece of information at the end after everyone went into an uproar over my secret.
For the record, I don't have a crush on my mom anymore. But at any rate, weird rumours about me being into incest are going to spread around school. I need to do something about this!
"Guys, let's not berate Takanori-san over this too much. It's in the past, he clearly doesn't have a crush on his mom anymore, right? I'll share an embarrassing secret of my past too." Matsushita said. He smiled bashfully while his cheeks went red slightly. "It was in 2nd grade. I accidentally wet my pants during maths lesson because the teacher didn't let me go to the toilet. It was really embarrassing and people teased me for it non-stop for at least the rest of the year."
Instead of laughing at his face like everyone did for me, everyone had sympathy and felt bad for Matsushita instead. Seriously, the power of ikemen are limitless.
How did he turn such an embarrassing moment in his life into something people sympathised over instead? Where's the laughter and giggling? I felt really isolated.
I appreciate the effort, Matsushita, but this was a huge failure on your end.
At least we moved away from the topic of my past crush very quickly, and people seemed to forget about it. The class began chatting about embarrassing situations and other things about the past.
"Didn't you say you were going to marry her?" Yukina said to me while giggling. I looked up from my buried head, and it seemed she had moved seats to sit next to me.
"Hey, don't bring that up... the last thing I want is to be known as is "the boy with a crush on his mom"."
I'd sound like a real pervert if that got around. No way was I going to get lumped in with those types of people.
"But it's a funny memory. Everyone was laughing over it."
"Laughing over my misery. Plus, you were singling me out in your introduction! I thought we were friends!"
"I wanted to help you out. That introduction was really bad, Yuu-kun."
"I'm aware... you don't have to rub it in."
"I'm not trying to. At least I didn't blurt out something so embarrassing about you like Jomko-san did."
"Day one at our new school and I'm already a laughing stock. Do you think I'd have a better chance asking for a class transfer?"
"You're going to leave me alone?"
"I don't want to spend the next three years of my life surrounded by people who know me best as "the boy with a crush on his mom"."
"I thought you wanted to steer away from that topic."
"It's like I can't escape it..."
Yukina laughed. "Well, if your classmates tease you like that, you have two options. You can either accept this fate or tease Matsushita about him wetting his pants in 2nd grade."
"Both of them are terrible options. If someone like me even looks in the general direction of that ikemen, the girls' gazes are going to tear right through me. They'll all judge me as pathetic. I don't stand a chance against someone so powerful."
"Then you have to accept it and take responsibility."
"What kind of words are those? I'm not having a child."
"Well... there is a third option."
"What would that be?"
"You just have to make a name for yourself, but by doing something else. Something even greater, so that people don't look at you as the "boy with the crush on his mom"."
"That's incredibly difficult."
"It will be, for someone like you. You're unbelievably average, Yuu-kun. Your greatest achievement in life is being captain of the Go Home Club back in middle school."
"I'm aware... you can stop teasing me so much."
Yukina flashed a small frown, but put on a smile back quickly. "I'm sorry about that."
I felt guilty after that apology. "It's... fine."
We let the silence sink between us and we observed our classmates interacting with each other.
I honestly wanted to overwrite any people's perceptions of me by doing something great, like Yukina said. Though, I'm going to have a hard time since I don't have any stand-out traits or skills. I might be stuck as "the boy with a crush on his mom" after all... well, I guess that's not too bad.
I like my mom anyways. I love her.
After a bit, the class' rowdiness was dying down. People got acquainted, disinterested, then left to go explore the school, meet other new people, etc. With only ten or so minutes until the entrance ceremony, I decided to try and make the most of it.
"Hey. Want to go around the school for a bit?" I said to Yukina.
She nodded with a small smile. "I'd love to."