After the heavy atmosphere of the opening ceremony dissipated, the sea of students began to flow toward the main school building like a school of fish.
Ichigo, however, remained rooted to the spot just outside the gymnasium doors. He watched the polished shoes of his peers click against the pavement, his eyes narrowed in thought.
"You guys go on ahead," Ichigo said, shifting his bag over his shoulder. "I want to look around first. Get the lay of the land before we're locked in a classroom for the next few hours."
Orihime tilted her head, her orange hair catching the morning sun. "Can I come too, Kurosaki-kun? I want to see if they have any interesting statues or maybe a pond with giant koi fish!"
Ichigo gave her a small, tired smile. He knew having Orihime around usually meant a lot of distractions, but her presence was grounding. "Sure. Just don't get distracted by every shiny thing you see."
Tatsuki looked between the two of them and gave a curt nod. She knew Ichigo's "instincts" were rarely wrong; if he felt the need to scout, there was a reason.
"Fine. I'll head to the classroom and make sure no one tries to claim the back-row seats for themselves. Meet you there." She turned and walked away with a confident, athletic stride, leaving the two of them behind.
Once she was out of earshot, Orihime looked up at Ichigo. "What are we really looking for, Kurosaki-kun?"
Ichigo exhaled, his expression darkening. "This school is suspicious, Inoue. That President guy... He keeps emphasizing about how this school strictly follows meritocracy and basically made it sound like a threat."
"Yep." Orihime replied, "I noticed it too."
"...And did you remember what he said? 'If you cannot meet the standards of the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, you have no place here', with how he says that It basically confirms what you said on the bus. They're weeding out the 'wilting flowers', leaving behind only the beautiful blooming ones."
Orihime nodded, her expression suddenly shifting from her usual dreaminess to a startling, focused seriousness.
"It's like a game where the rules haven't been explained yet, but the players are told to play and do their best while the loser gets sent away." She paused, then a small, curious chuckle escaped her lips. "This school... it's really interesting, isn't it?"
Ichigo looked at her, slightly bewildered. "Only you would find this death-trap 'interesting,' Inoue. Anyway, let's go. Let's see what the older students are up to. Whatever is this school hiding, those guys would surely have some clues."
They bypassed the first-year wing and headed toward the second-year building. The architecture was identical, but the vibe was vastly different.
Where the first years were loud and chaotic, the second-year hallway was eerily quiet. Ichigo led the way until they stopped just outside the door of Class 2-D.
Peering through the narrow glass window of the door, Ichigo observed the students inside.
They were chatting, some laughing, but there was a strange, frantic energy beneath the surface—like people celebrating on a sinking ship.
His eyes drifted to the large blackboard at the front of the room.
Most of it was covered in complex equations, but in the top right corner, there was a list of figures that looked out of place.
Class Points.
Class 2-A: 1200
Class 2-B: 600
Class 2-C: 300
Class 2-D: 100
'Class Points...what does that mean? Or rather, if they are points, why are they way too uniformed? As if someone deliberately made them that way.'
Ichigo pulled out his phone, the shutter clicking softly as he captured a photo of the board.
"1200 down to 100," he muttered. "That's a hell of a gap. Aside from the hundred, the rest are exact half of the other."
"What are you two doing here?"
Just then, sharp and resonant void carrying an undeniable weight of authority sounded behind them.
Ichigo and Orihime turned simultaneously and there, standing a few feet away was a tall, striking young woman with long, flowing white hair.
She wore the school uniform with a casual, almost defiant looseness. Her eyes were sharp, gold-flecked, and held a predatory glint that Ichigo recognized instantly.
Orihime blinked, her eyes traveling from the woman to Ichigo and back again.
'She's just like him,' Orihime thought.
The woman possessed that same "lone wolf" aura as Ichigo, someone who was clearly capable of handling themselves, someone who didn't give a damn about social hierarchies or the opinions of the masses.
Even her 'scent', that metaphorical air of fierce independence, was a near-perfect match for Ichigo's.
"You look unfamiliar," the woman said, her lips curling into a permanent, mocking smirk. "First years? You guys aren't allowed in the senior wings on your first day. Breaking the rules already?"
Her gaze dropped to the phone in Ichigo's hand, then flicked to the classroom window where the class points were written.
She blinked, her grin widening as she realized what the orange-haired boy was looking at.
"Senpai, sorry! We got lost! Hehe," Orihime intervened, stepping in front of Ichigo and tapping her forehead with a clumsy, theatrical gesture. "We were just looking for the... uh... the library? And we ended up here by mistake!"
The woman didn't look like she believed a single word of it, but she seemed amused by Orihime's antics.
"Kiryuuin Fuka," she introduced herself, ignoring the lie entirely.
She then pointed a thumb over her shoulder toward the corridor they had come from. "The first-year building is that way. You're a long way from home."
"Nice to meet you, Kiryuuin-senpai!" Orihime chirped, her genuine warmth seemingly unfazed by the woman's intense aura. "I'm Inoue Orihime, and this is Kurosaki Ichigo. We're both in first-year Class C."
Fuka's eyes lingered on Ichigo for a moment longer than necessary. She seemed to be measuring him, checking the width of his shoulders and the steadiness of his gaze.
After awhile, she reached out and patted Orihime on the head, ruffling her hair briefly as if she were a particularly cute stray cat.
"Class C, huh? Interesting," Fuka mused, before her expression shifted, becoming a bit more guarded. "You'd better leave quickly. This school doesn't just give out rewards for merit, it also hands out 'penalties' for those who break the rules. And trust me, the penalties here hurt more than a lecture."
With a final, knowing smirk at Ichigo, she turned and strolled away, her hands in her pockets and her white hair swaying behind her.
She moved with a grace that suggested she feared nothing in this entire complex.
Ichigo watched her until she disappeared around the corner.
"Penalties," he repeated, his frown deepening. "...I guess she isn't just talking about suspension or expulsion, is she?"
"She's very kind, isn't she?" Orihime said softly, touching the spot on her head where Fuka had patted her.
Ichigo looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Kind? She looked like she was ready to pick a fight just for the fun of it."
"No," Orihime smiled, her eyes following the direction Fuka had gone. "She's just like you, Kurosaki-kun. She looks fierce and scary, but she was warning us because she didn't want us to get into trouble. She's honest in her own way."
Ichigo sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He couldn't argue with Orihime's intuition, it was usually more accurate than his own logic.
"Whatever. We got what we came for. Those numbers on the board... I don't know what they mean yet, but if they are displayed right there, it must be very important."
"Indeed," Orihime agreed, her voice uncharacteristically grim.
"Let's get to class," Ichigo said, turning back toward the first-year building. "I hope our homeroom teacher actually explain to us our own 'points' as I want to hear exactly how this school plans to sc
rew us over."
As they walked back, Ichigo looked at the photo on his phone one last time before tucked it away.