High-Spec School

High-Spec School was a school dedicated to cultivating the pillars of tomorrow's society. It was famous for its 100% employment and university admission rates.

With the government's backing, the school provided students with the best possible support for their futures. This meant that after graduation, students could freely pursue their dreams—and even rise to a higher social class.

The school offered a free and open learning environment with state-of-the-art facilities. Though it was a school, the campus had karaoke bars, arcades, gyms, upscale shopping malls, cinemas, and more. The school was committed to providing students with the best possible support for their physical and mental well-being.

Most of the above came from the school's official promotional brochure.

The entire campus supposedly covered around 600,000 square meters. It was as if the whole city had been built around the campus, gathering all its resources there.

On a bus bound for the school, Konoe Hirakawa boredly browsed the campus website on his phone.

The boy had very fair skin, and looked rather unhealthy. His face was still somewhat youthful and cute; if he weren't wearing a boy's uniform, his somewhat feminine features might have led people to mistake his gender.

Girls his age used to strike up conversations with him often. He preferred to be alone, and had unconsciously developed an air that kept strangers at a distance.

"Excuse me, could you give up your seat?" a girl said to Konoe. "That's a priority seat. I think you should let this elderly lady have it."

Konoe looked up. An orange-haired girl in the same uniform was speaking to someone seated beside him. This whole row was reserved for priority seating, which meant Konoe's seat was one too.

"No, no. Cute girl, 'priority seat' is just a label. There's no legal obligation to give it up. I'm supposed to offer my seat just because I'm young? Haha, that's ridiculous."

The muscular blonde boy in uniform replied firmly.

"Even if I'm young, standing takes more energy than sitting. So why should I do something that offers me no benefit?"

Faced with such an unexpectedly forceful refusal, the girl looked troubled, but soon composed herself and replied, "But I think doing this is a way to contribute to society. And this old lady is holding a cane and looks uncomfortable, so..."

"I have no interest in contributing to society. Besides, why don't you ask the other people sitting in regular seats? By your logic, it shouldn't matter whether it's a priority seat or a regular seat."

The blonde boy's voice was clear and firm, and for a moment, the bus fell silent.

"It's all right. I'll just stand. Thank you." The old lady thanked the girl kindly, easing the tension. But the girl didn't seem satisfied; she looked around with a troubled expression.

Wait... wasn't there another student in uniform sitting in a priority seat? A black-haired boy?

Before the girl, noticing his gaze, could ask him, Konoe Hirakawa said, "Sorry, I'm not feeling well."

Then Konoe closed his eyes.

"Heh." A quiet laugh came from the blonde boy beside him.

"Would anyone else be willing to give up a seat?" The girl turned to ask the passengers in regular seats, and the bus fell silent for several seconds.

Luckily, an office lady soon responded and helped her.

"Please, take my seat if you don't mind."

"Thank you so much!" The girl thanked her with a bright smile, looking delighted.

The bus slowly pulled into the stop.

The enrollment procedures were unexpectedly over the top. The School Administration required students to hand in all their communication devices before entering, then had them go through security screening.

Konoe was a little glum—not because of the small incident on the bus, but because the enrollment procedures had forced him to wipe his phone before handing it in. He didn't want any chance of his privacy being exposed.

As a replacement, the School Administration issued him an electronic Student Terminal to use as his student ID.

After handing in his phone, Konoe was directed to a rather ornate hall for the entrance ceremony. The red seats were naturally filled to capacity. He guessed that the hall might also be used as a theater.

As the principal, teachers, student representatives, Student Council President, and others spoke one after another, Konoe nearly fell asleep in his seat. But he didn't want to make a bad impression on his first day, so he forced himself to stay alert and listen to a lot of pointless drivel. He was in a terrible mood. He hated anything meaningless—in short, he couldn't stand a hassle.

At last, he reached the classroom. His student ID showed that he had been assigned to Class 1-D. He walked over to the desk with his name on it and sat down.

"This classroom's really well equipped. Looks like the rumors were true."

It was the blonde boy who had argued with the girl on the bus. It seemed they were in the same class.

The boy walked over to the desk marked Kogenji and sat down. Then he propped his feet up on the desk and began humming to himself, clipping his nails as if no one else were there.

Konoe Hirakawa sat near the middle of the last row—the second column from the door. After tidying his desk and locker, he began observing his classmates.

Then he noticed that the orange-haired girl from the bus was in the classroom too.

If I'd known we were in the same class, I wouldn't have minded doing her a favor, Konoe thought.