Heaven-Defying School

Uesugi Hara listened to the boring speech from above while glancing toward the other classes.

Class B looked remarkably harmonious; the students sat upright, and even their occasional whispered conversations carried a gentle air.

Wait, that girl...

His gaze paused, landing on a pink-haired figure in the Class B formation—he remembered her name being Ichinose, right?

She had come to this school too?

Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow, though he wasn't particularly surprised.

Her family background wasn't great, so this school, which boasted of being tuition-free, was certainly a path she would choose.

His thoughts drifted involuntarily back to a few months ago.

At that time, he was still working a part-time job at an accessory shop.

Relying on that eye-catching face of his, he never lacked for part-time opportunities, though he was plagued by a bit of "bad luck"—the places he stayed never lasted long.

The shop owner, however, quite liked him, saying that whenever he stood at the counter, the number of customers would increase by thirty percent.

That afternoon, he was organizing the shelves when he caught a glimpse of a girl clutching her hem, hurrying toward the door. Just as her fingertips were about to touch the door handle, Uesugi Hara's voice followed, unhurried: "Your hair clip, did you pay for that?"

Ichinose Honami's body stiffened abruptly, as if she had been nailed to the spot. She turned around slowly, still forcing a look of confusion on her face: "W-what are you talking about?"

"Classmate, I wasn't specifically talking about you." Uesugi Hara curled his lips, his tone carrying a hint of playfulness, though his gaze swept lightly over the spot in the display case that had just become empty—a popular star-shaped hair clip had been sitting there.

The color drained from Ichinose's face instantly, turning as white as a sheet. Her lips trembled, and the panic in her eyes was almost overflowing. After a long while, she finally pulled the hair clip from her pocket, her fingertips turning white from the pressure: "Please... don't tell anyone else, okay?"

Uesugi Hara took the hair clip, his fingertips tracing the cold metal edge, not answering immediately. He looked at the girl's reddened eyes and suddenly asked: "You really wanted it?"

Ichinose bit her lip and nodded, her voice as thin as a mosquito's hum: "Yes."

"Why?"

This question seemed to strike her weak spot, and tears welled up instantly. She sniffled, her voice thick with a sob: "Because... because my little sister really likes this. My family doesn't have the money to buy it, and I... I really had no other choice..."

By the time she finished the last few words, her head was hanging even lower, her shoulders trembling slightly as if she were prepared to be scolded.

Uesugi Hara's fingers, holding the hair clip, paused. Looking at her tearful appearance, he suddenly curled his lips: "How about this: help me organize all the accessories on the shelves and make them neat, and I'll pretend I didn't see this."

He shook the hair clip in his hand, his tone casual: "How about it? Trading labor for a chance, that's fair, right?"

Ichinose Honami looked up abruptly, a flash of disbelief in her eyes: "R-really?"

"Of course." Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow and placed the hair clip casually on the counter: "I never lie."

"Okay!" She agreed almost immediately, as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw. She hurriedly rolled up her sleeves and walked toward the shelves, her movements filled with an eager, flustered energy: "I'll organize them right now, I promise to make them look spotless!"

Watching her back as she buried herself in organizing the accessories, Uesugi Hara rubbed his chin.

He wasn't exactly being kind-hearted; he just felt that rather than pushing someone into a corner, it was better to try another way—after all, it was just a small matter, not worth making a scene.

Once Ichinose Honami had organized the shelves into perfect order, even aligning the labels straight, Uesugi Hara gestured at her with his chin: "Come here."

Ichinose walked timidly to the counter, her fingers nervously twisting her hem.

"Take it." Uesugi Hara grabbed the star hair clip and tossed it into her arms.

As the hair clip landed in her palm, the cold sensation made Ichinose look up sharply, her eyes full of shock: "T-this is..."

"Your wages for the hard work." Uesugi Hara leaned against the counter, his tone casual: "I can't have you working for nothing."

"But this is too expensive..." Ichinose hurriedly tried to hand the hair clip back, her cheeks flushed bright red: "I can't take this."

"I told you to take it." Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow, deliberately putting on a stern face: "Don't tell me you want me to go back on my word and report what happened earlier?"

Ichinose's hand froze in mid-air. She bit her lip and looked at him for a long time. Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, she carefully clutched the hair clip, her fingertips trembling slightly: "Th-thank you... I will pay you back for this later!"

"No need." Uesugi Hara waved his hand and pointed at the clock on the wall: "It's almost closing time, hurry back."

Ichinose wanted to say something else, but meeting his eyes—which seemed casual yet brooked no refusal—she swallowed her words. She bowed deeply, her voice choked with emotion: "Thank you so much! My name is Ichinose Honami, if there is anything I can do to help in the future, I will definitely..."

"Alright, go on." Uesugi Hara waved his hand to interrupt her and turned around to pretend to organize the accounts.

Not until the shop door was gently closed did he turn his head to look at the figure walking away quickly outside the window—the girl was clutching the hair clip tightly, her steps as light as if she had shed a heavy burden.

Uesugi Hara chuckled and picked up a rag to wipe the counter.

What a silly girl.

He looked down at his own palm, as if the chill of the hair clip still lingered there.

Uesugi Hara gazed at the figure disappearing outside the window and clicked his tongue.

He was quite the fool himself, helping a girl he might never meet again for no reason.

Tsk, that hair clip was worth ten thousand yen.

It looked like he would have to go "foraging" again tonight.

He rubbed his brow, feeling a bit irritable—money had been getting harder to come by lately. The street corner he used to stake out seemed to have suddenly gotten smart; the punks there were cleaner than a whistle, and it was hard to even "borrow" some cash.

It looked like he would have to find a new spot.

Just as he was calculating where to "forage" for food that evening, the boss's voice drifted out from the back room: "Uesugi Hara, you don't need to come in starting tomorrow. Business has been slow lately, and we don't need that many hands."

Uesugi Hara froze for a moment, then immediately replied, "Understood."

Well, great, even his part-time job was gone.

He looked at the empty shop and suddenly felt that the ten thousand yen he had spent felt like an even bigger loss.

Uesugi Hara pulled his thoughts back.

It looked like the other party had been doing quite well for themselves afterward.

Shifting his gaze toward Class C, he couldn't help but frown.

Good grief, why were there so many fierce-looking thugs?

Uesugi Hara muttered to himself: Back when I was running the streets, I didn't see anyone acting like this bunch, practically carving the word "delinquent" onto their foreheads.

Especially that guy with the purple hair; when he squinted his eyes and looked around, his chin was practically pointed at the sky, wearing an insufferable expression that screamed, "I'm the toughest guy here."

Uesugi Hara scoffed—with that attitude, back where he used to hang out, he would have been pinned to the ground and rubbed into the dirt within three days. How could he dare to be so arrogant?

His gaze shifted to Class D.

Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself: I originally thought Ayanokoji and Kushida Kikyo were abnormal enough, but I didn't expect there to be even more ridiculous people in this class.

The most eye-catching one was a muscular boy who was holding a small mirror, checking his face from every angle, his fingers constantly fussing with the bangs on his forehead while he muttered to himself, "I am just so beautiful..."

Uesugi Hara frowned as he watched—what kind of time is this to be so obsessed with vanity? Fine, from now on, I'll call you "Beauty Brother."

Looking further to the side, several boys had their eyes glued to the girls, unable to look away, their eyeballs practically popping out of their sockets. That lecherous look made one feel stifled.

Finally, his gaze landed on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. He saw the girl from the bus sitting next to him poking his arm with a compass, yet Ayanokoji acted as if he didn't feel a thing, continuing to say something without even lifting his eyelids.

Uesugi Hara clicked his tongue in disbelief: No way, Ayanokoji, you're just going to sit there and let someone poke you with a compass for fun? If it were him, he would have slapped them back already. Is this guy just slow to react, or does he simply not care?

He withdrew his gaze and rubbed his chin, pondering: This Class D... is really... hmm... "full of hidden talents"?

Uesugi Hara pulled his gaze back, his mouth twitching, feeling inexplicably overwhelmed.

A moment ago, when looking at Class B, he had thought everything was quite normal, but how did he turn around to see that bunch of thuggish delinquents in Class C, the "Beauty Brother" in Class D admiring himself in the mirror, and those guys huddled together acting like creeps...

He couldn't help but wail in his heart: What kind of heaven-defying school is this?!

What happened to the promised gathering of elites? How are there so many weirdos?

He pinched the bridge of his nose, suddenly feeling that his own Class A was practically a breath of fresh air.