Friends

At this hour, going to the cafeteria was obviously impossible. After all, meals were served at set times,

Luckily, there was a convenience store downstairs in the dormitory where he could buy something to eat, like Instant Noodles and pineapple buns, as well as the eel rice that was all the rage across Sakura, and cold boxed meals,

Beihai bought a tub of Instant Noodles, three sausages, and two eggs. It was downright extravagant. It was seven in the evening,

For quite a lot of people, the nightlife was just getting started. The same was true for Beihai, perhaps even more so than for some others,

He sprinkled the seasoning packet into his cup of noodles, then waited nearby for the water to boil,

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka sat across from Beihai, also waiting for the water to boil. A cup of noodles sat on the table in front of him,

Beihai's gaze was fixed on his Terminal, while Kiyotaka Kiyotaka watched the groups of people gathered nearby, shopping at the convenience store,

As he watched, he suddenly said, "So this is youth?"

Beihai reflexively raised his head and looked around too,

"What are you talking about? What youth?

You mean these people, kept in the dark, who'll fall into hell next month and turn against each other, unable to even stay friends?

School life in your youth is way more interesting than this. If living here, eating here, and getting free tuition weren't all free, who'd want to come?"

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka nodded. He didn't disagree with Beihai's answer,

If he'd been talking to anyone else, he might have played dumb and asked why they'd fall into hell next month,

Then he'd have praised them for being so amazing or something,

But that approach no longer worked with Beihai,

The other guy had already figured out his personality while they were playing games,

It was a little presumptuous,

And besides, after they finished playing, Beihai had come right out and said that they'd be short on points next month. He'd already laid his cards on the table,

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka had a feeling that if he denied it or played dumb, all he'd get in return was a contemptuous look and a request to end their friendship,

He didn't want that. This was someone like him, someone who could see into his heart,

Two souls that didn't belong in this world, two souls with no sense of belonging, had been drawn to each other,

People like that were incredibly rare,

Otherwise, he wouldn't have spent all his points on a Game Console and gone upstairs in person,

"What do you think the three years of school life in your youth are really like?"

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka had no idea what school life was like. His earlier comment had just been a pretext; what he really wanted was for Beihai to answer this question,

Without realizing it, he picked up a pen and a sheet of paper, ready to take careful notes,

He was genuinely curious. In fact, after escaping that place, he'd wanted nothing more than to enjoy these three years of school life,

Would he get a girlfriend, or fool around with friends?

He wanted to try all kinds of things and learn about them. If necessary, he could even go on dates with people, learn what it felt like, then dump them and declare the transaction over,

(Don't doubt his skills in gal games.)

Beihai hadn't expected him to suddenly come out with a question like that. But school life in your youth—he'd thought about it too,

"As for school life in your youth, I can't speak for girls, but for guys, of course you need a few close friends, along with some acquaintances you just nod to,

Especially friends you can open up to. With them around, school life won't be boring,

You'll get to experience the perfect school life: good friends messing with each other, friends standing together to face difficulties, and sometimes even skipping class together."

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka listened intently. He even started making plans in his mind for close friends, as well as friends he could use on the surface,

"But honestly, I don't think you'll get to experience that at this school,

You've noticed this school is different, haven't you? And when I said I'd run out of points, you didn't even ask why,

I'll let you in on it: this school has Special Exams every month, along with Class Points. That means we're bound to be both united and competing with each other,

If you want to avoid being bullied and survive here, you'll have to pull all kinds of stunts. You won't be able to stay friends, at least not truly close friends with people from other classes. It'd be a real pain if they stabbed you in the back,

The classes are divided up here, too. We're Class D, the worst one,

And there are other problems. If you're too capable, they'll get wary of you and gang up on you,

If you're too weak, they'll bully you and treat you like an ATM, then abandon you when it suits them,

Only by acting like them can you avoid attracting attention and getting dragged into trouble."

Beihai poured in the hot water, then began peeling the red wrapper off one of his sausages,

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka understood him perfectly. It would be hard to have a normal youth at this school, but there wasn't much he could do about it,

If he could, he'd want to go to an ordinary school too,

But an ordinary school couldn't protect him from his father's methods. It'd be easy for his father to force him to drop out,

Only at this school, under the government's jurisdiction, could he preserve his freedom for these three years to any real extent,

Still, Beihai was impressive for telling him all that. Some of it was stuff he hadn't figured out himself. Was this what it meant to be close friends? Or maybe just a friend who gave him a hard time?

Then those guys from Yamauchi's Group were only friends on the surface. He'd sensed as much,

If something happened, they'd definitely throw him under the bus. So they were fair-weather friends he could abandon, ready to cut ties the moment their interests clashed,

He'd never experienced this kind of thing before. Should he try it and learn? But he couldn't truly open up to them,

Would opening up to someone feel different?

"Hey, your noodles have been sitting too long. They won't taste good if you wait any longer. Leaving them to soak does make them bigger, but they taste awful."

Beihai kindly reminded him from nearby, unaware of what Kiyotaka Kiyotaka was thinking. If he'd known, he would've had something to say,

He'd noticed something was off about this school, but he hadn't investigated. He was even a little lazy and just wanted to focus on his studies,

And the reason he'd told the other guy everything he knew was simple: the month was almost over,

Even if he told the others, it wasn't just a question of whether they'd believe him. There simply wasn't enough time,

Anyway, once next month came, everyone would learn about these rules,

"Beihai, are we friends? The really good kind?"

Beihai was baffled by the question and found it a little out of nowhere, but he nodded anyway,

Making friends was simple enough. Say hello and have a meal together, and you could call each other friends you could talk to. The real bond could come later,

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka heard Beihai's answer, nodded, opened his cup of noodles, and started eating without replying.