Class 1-D

"Gurgle~"

No sooner had Onizuka Tsukasa stepped off the bus than his stomach let out a protest.

He had been in such a rush this morning that he hadn't had time to eat a thing. After asking around, he headed straight for the cafeteria.

The assembly time required by the school was still a while away, and arriving early served no real purpose. Since he didn't know anyone, staying there would just mean sitting around idly.

As someone who had transferred from the most remote island, he at least had that much confidence.

Pushing open the cafeteria doors, a wave of heat washed over him, mingled with the aroma of various foods.

He made a beeline for the serving counter. Looking at the menu, Onizuka Tsukasa frowned: "Hmm... pork cutlet bowl, tuna sashimi... everything is so expensive!"

He sighed slightly, preparing to choose something cheaper.

Just then, his gaze was drawn to a prominent sign—"Free Fruit and Vegetable Set!"

Onizuka Tsukasa's eyes lit up; as long as it filled his stomach, that was enough. Without hesitation, he stepped forward, deciding to try this free set first.

Recalling the body search at the school gate, he couldn't help but frown; all his money had been taken away, under the pretext that it wouldn't be needed inside the school.

The school operated on an independent currency system, which had left him feeling helpless for a moment.

Originally, Onizuka Tsukasa had planned to borrow some money from a senior to buy a meal and pay them back once he had funds, but it seemed he wouldn't need to go through the trouble after all.

He used the student card issued at enrollment to purchase the set without hesitation, then carried his tray to a seat to start tasting this free "Fruit and Vegetable Set."

The fruit and vegetable set was unexpectedly not terrible, but it was still a bit hard to swallow.

Perhaps because it was free, the ingredients were paired in a simple and crude manner; while it was barely enough to fill him up, that was all it was.

Onizuka Tsukasa chewed on the lettuce, mindlessly poking at the carrots on his plate.

Just as he was about to finish, a few people walked past him with their noses in the air. After casting strange looks at Onizuka Tsukasa, they muttered something to each other and walked away.

He could only catch fragments of their conversation, the most crucial being: Class 1-D, losers, and class points; aside from that, there were just meaningless insults.

Onizuka Tsukasa pondered to himself, had the free fruit and vegetable set become a calling card for Class 1-D in this school? Though, he was indeed in Class 1-D.

This was clearly unreasonable, but for some reason, Onizuka Tsukasa could only bury his doubts deep in his heart.

Time flew by, and seeing that the assembly time was approaching, he hurriedly returned his tray and rushed toward his classroom.

Class 1-D

When Onizuka Tsukasa walked into the classroom, it was already full of people. Just as he had expected, several circles had already formed and were chatting happily.

Whether he arrived early or late, he was certain he would never be part of those groups.

Scanning the room, he easily found the seat with his name tag.

Back row, by the window, the king's... ahem.

Sitting in front of him was the conflicted boy he had seen on the bus earlier, and interestingly, sitting next to him was the ice-cold girl he had sat next to on the bus.

Ah~ what a coincidence.

"Hello, my name is Onizuka Tsukasa. I saw you both on the bus earlier, and I'm glad to meet you again in class."

"Introducing yourself so suddenly? You really are the same type of person as him," the ice-cold girl said with a sharp tongue. It seemed she was gaining another label.

The boy beside her, however, acted quite differently, replying with honorifics: "My name is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, nice to meet you!"

"No need to be so formal. We're classmates who will be spending three years together, so feel free to be casual."

"Then, Onizuka-kun? Is it alright to call you that?"

A very standard way of replying, as if it had been copied straight out of 108 Ways to Greet Friends. Perhaps it was just his imagination.

"Of course, Ayanokoji-kun."

Just as an awkward silence fell between me and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the ice-cold, sharp-tongued girl next to him said to someone:

"Horikita Suzune."

"Hm?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka interjected from the side: "Her name."

Oh~ so she's a tsundere after all! Too bad tsunderes are out of fashion now!

"Nice to meet you, Horikita-san."

I tried my best to remain polite, struggling not to let my inner thoughts slip out. I had a hunch that if I laughed here, I would definitely face at least three years of retaliation from this girl.

"You seem to be thinking of something very rude?" Horikita Suzune turned back to stare at me.

"Just an illusion!"

I really wish you weren't so sharp in this regard...

After that, a strange silence returned. Perhaps they would have been able to chat well without me? Unfortunately, I had barged in. My apologies, Ayanokoji-kun.

I then began to observe the classroom and the surrounding students.

The facilities were incredibly complete and advanced; as a government-sponsored school, it would be more suspicious if they hadn't achieved this, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

What was truly strange were the surveillance cameras installed around the classroom, with one in every corner. For a classroom, wasn't that a bit excessive?

Forget it, I'll just assume the school has plenty of funding. This sort of thing isn't uncommon within corrupt Japan, always spending money on such meaningless places; it's not like those politicians are paying out of their own pockets anyway.

Aside from the classroom facilities, the surrounding classmates were also quite eye-catching. The gentle girl and the blond guy I saw on the bus earlier had actually been assigned to Class D as well.

I watched as the blond guy propped his feet up on the desk, pulled a pair of nail clippers from his bag, and began grooming himself, ignoring the noisy environment around him to focus on his own business.

He's certainly confident, or perhaps overconfident. People like that are never popular, though it's easy to tell that he wouldn't care about such things anyway.

As for that gentle girl, she was surrounded by a large crowd. This school recruits from all over the country, so the possibility that these people all knew each other from middle school and advanced together is practically zero.

This goes to show that her social skills are quite strong, or rather, extremely strong, so maintaining a friendly relationship with her is probably important.

However, Onizuka Tsukasa couldn't help but feel that there was something off about this girl; it seemed as if she were emitting a faint, lingering sense of malice while chatting with others.

Having been immersed in such an atmosphere since childhood, Onizuka Tsukasa was extremely sensitive to these emotions. It was a pure yet restrained malice; it seems this classmate isn't as simple as she appears.

A few minutes after I snapped back to reality, the bell rang, signaling the start of class for the school representative.

My life at Advanced Nurturing High School has officially begun, Onizuka Tsukasa thought to himself.